Housing News
Avoid Blah-Blah Conversation With This Voicemail Cloaking Device
Please Dear Lord, Don’t Let Them Pick Up, So I Can Leave A Voice Mail and Make A Quick Get Away.
You know those times when you have to return a phone call, share an update, remind someone about something? And those times where there’s no getting around it, you have to make the call and deliver your message, but you’re short on time, patience, courage, or ___________?
Guess What? I Have Good News For You.
There’s an App. for that, and it’s called SlyDial. At the Inman Reboot event in Houston, Chris with TechSavvyAgent dropped this cloaking device on us. Basically, SlyDial is a clever smart phone tool.
SlyDial allows you to make a call from your cell phone to their cell phone, but their cell phone won’t ring. Instead of their phone ringing, SlyDial lets you dial directly into their voice mail, and leave a message. Yeah, that’s right, call directly into their voice mail, and their phone doesn’t ring. Check it out, it probably works on your smart phone.
You can get more details and info here. The App. is free and straight forward. It looks like the picture below when it’s launched on the iPhone4.
It’s that simple. Good luck with it. I was wondering in which situations you’d use something like this?
Thanks for reading. Cheers.
PS. fyi, I don’t work for, nor am I in any way associated with, employed by, or even know anyone at SlyDial. In other words, there’s nothing in for me by saying nice things about SlyDial, except the pleasure of telling you about a tool you might find handy.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
Click here to continue reading this story…
Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Sheila Rasak
October 4, 2010 at 8:14 am
Groovy! But I’m not certain who I’d need to use this device on; I love my in-laws, so that’s out. Is there an application that makes asset managers respond within one hour?
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 11:10 am
Maybe a bat, or the belt. It worked for my dad when I was a kid. The belt not the bat. Cheers.
Paula Henry
October 4, 2010 at 8:26 am
Ken – Short on time would be my reason for wanting to touch base, but not have to converse, especially if I don’t have an update yet.
If my client calls me and I don’t have an update, my phone allows me to just leave a message on their answering machine without actually calling them. I can at least let them know the status and a time I will get back to them. This could be used for the same purpose before they have called you.
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Good ideas Paula, it’s better to have options than not. Cheers.
Fred Romano
October 4, 2010 at 8:39 am
Ohhh you sly agent, sneaky stuff but I’m sure your client would not be happy if they found out.
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 12:27 pm
The laws of duality apply to sly dial. It can be used for good or evil. Cheers Fred.
Steve Crossland
October 4, 2010 at 9:41 am
I don’t like these type of tricks and gimmicks. If I’m short on time I just start the conversation with “I only have a second but wanted to let you know ….”
For those who do want to dial directly into the voicemail of a client, all you have to know is the voicemail access number for the various carriers (the one your cell phone dials when you hold down the 1 key), and the phone number to key in when it answers. In other words, you can easily and manually perform what the service sells.
You can also forward your own voicemails to the cell phone of anyone else on your same network (ATT, Sprint, Verizon) by using their 10 digit phone number as the forward-to destination.
Steve
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I hear you Steve, sounds like you have a system worked out. For me, when I need it, this is fast and simple. Thanks for sharing.
Doug Lindstrom
October 4, 2010 at 10:16 am
Ken,
I have been using this service for a few weeks but it is not free. After you make a few calls, they will not allow additional calls until you go to their website and purchase the premium version.
Thanks!
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 11:11 am
Hmmmm, I haven’t hit the limit yet. Thanks for the update.
Vicki Lloyd
October 4, 2010 at 11:59 am
This would be useful when you are need to leave a message late at night and don’t want to wake anybody up, and your client isn’t likely to check email really early. Leave a voice mail reminder “Hey – the termite guy is coming at 9:00 am, so don’t forget to leave your key under the rock to the left of the front door.”
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Nice ideas, thank you:-)
Mark Geslock
October 4, 2010 at 2:03 pm
You can dial it directly at 267-759-3425. No app needed. It is free but it will play and ad.
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for the tip, I didn’t know that:-)
Chris Smith
October 4, 2010 at 4:16 pm
Thanks for the shout out Ken. I must say that on the Inman tour SlyDial is getting the most crowd reaction city after city. This post is also the only reference we have ever had on AgentGenius (a whole different topic) so thanks for that as well.
Ken Brand
October 4, 2010 at 9:13 pm
I bet it does. I think it speaks to how difficult it is to deliver some messages, we all wish it was easier when the news was unwelcome. I enjoyed and learned from your preso. Thanks man.
Laurie Matthias
October 5, 2010 at 7:56 am
I’ve been using this wonderful tool for about a year now. When you call the 267 number, there is no limit. I have some chatty clients, contractors, etc. that it’s perfect for when I need to give a quick shout to and don’t have the time or inclination to listen to their ramblings.