Vin’s Tweets for the Week

• They way commercials should be! RT @jburslem Best. Real Estate. Ad. Ever http://bit.ly/EIh6i #

Vin’s Tweets for the Week

• come on yanks… bottom of the 12th! #

Vin’s Tweets for the Week

• Technology will NEVER replace real estate professionals, but real estate professionals with technology WILL. #

Vin’s Tweets for the Week

• Bridging real estate’s generational gap - What buyers want in today’s Web 2.0 world | Inman http://snurl.com/s7429 #

William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty Acquires Six Brokerage Offices in Litchfield and Westchester Counties

Company strengthens its Connecticut operations and expands into New York State

Norwalk, Conn. - William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty today announced the strategic acquisition of adjacent Sotheby’s International Realty operations in Litchfield and Westchester counties. In total, six residential real estate brokerage offices previously owned and operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. were included in the transaction - three in Westchester County, N.Y., and three in Litchfield County, Conn. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Each of these offices will continue as members of the powerful Sotheby’s International Realty® global network, and the offices will be co-branded in their local markets. The offices in Washington Depot, Kent and Lakeville, Conn., will now operate under the banner of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty. In Connecticut, William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty now has a total of 24 offices and more than 700 agents operating in Fairfield County, Litchfield County, New Haven County, and the Shoreline markets.
The three offices in Larchmont, Rye and Scarsdale, N.Y., will now do business as Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty, a name that connects their strong local heritage in the Westchester market to the renowned Sotheby’s International Realty brand.

“We are pleased to welcome these fine Sotheby’s International Realty sales associates to our family,” said Paul Breunich, president & CEO of William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty and Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty. “We are excited to continue our firm’s growth in Connecticut and to extend our brokerage operations into New York State. We are especially pleased to enter the Westchester market with a proven local/international branding strategy that has worked so well for our firm and our clientele in our Connecticut markets. This was a unique opportunity for us, and we plan to be very focused on quality growth in Westchester County as well as continuing our strong market presence in Connecticut.”

Owned and operated by NRT LLC, the nation’s largest residential real estate brokerage company, Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. now has 35 offices and over 1,500 agents doing business in 16 luxury markets across the nation. The broader franchise network managed by Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC currently has more than 10,600 sales associates located in approximately 500 offices in 40 countries and territories worldwide.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished in these local markets, but we made a strategic decision to strengthen our focus on our longstanding core market areas in the Tri-State area, which include Greenwich, Manhattan, the Hamptons and Palm Beach,” said Kathy Korte, president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. “We have great respect for Paul Breunich and his team at William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, so this was a natural fit. It empowers our real estate experts to continue to serve these markets while maintaining their close referral ties with our offices and the other fine firms within the Sotheby’s International Realty network.”

About William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty

One of the top-producing real estate firms in the nation, William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty (www.WPSIR.com) accounted for more than $2 billion in closed sales volume in 2008. The firm has approximately 700 sales associates in 24 offices throughout Connecticut from Stamford to Stonington along the coast and north through Litchfield County. A full- service real estate company, the firm has over 60 years of experience with residential, insurance, mortgage services, rental, relocation, luxury home and new construction divisions.

Visit The Business Of Extraordinary Living | wallstreetjournal.com/sothebysrealty

Vin’s Tweets for the Week

• Optimistic Fed all but declares recession over - USA Today - http://bit.ly/1ntdMp #
• RT @agentgenius 5 Clients to Dump Now (and how to do it) | Real Estate Opinion MAG - AgentGenius http://bit.ly/2rb2n9 #
• RT @agentgenius How One Company Conquered Video | Real Estate Opinion MAG - AgentGenius http://bit.ly/gykTD #
• What the housing ‘rebound’ means for you - CNN Money | http://snurl.com/s645b #
• RT @BillKeleher Well said! | “Consistent relationship building acts as the foundation for almost every successful venture.” - Bill Keleher #

Random Tweets

• Trulia Gaining Market Share… foreclosure.com leaves Hitwise Top 20. Woot! [Inman News] - http://twurl.nl/kg72gy #
• Training agents on core differentiators and competitive advantages we offer at Prudential Connecticut Realty - great experience!! #
• Privacy: Online Ad Tracking Makes Life Easier for Consumers http://adage.com/u/2dOB4a #
• 11 million sold off the Internet this year sputs agent to innovate more. [RisMedia] - http://snurl.com/n7t7l #
• RT @nypierre: @trulia Trulia July Home Price Reduction Rpt - Sellers Cut $27.1 Billion from Asking Prices: photo c.. http://bit.ly/u2L4R #
• CyberHomes launches new Market Forecast Reports… are they really becoming the new seers for the real estate industry? http://bit.ly/dkz96 #
• RT @CT_RE_Unleashed: Just Read: Interesting post.. Motivation Makes the Real Estate Market Go ‘Round http://tinyurl.com/mjtv25 #
• World’s Largest Real Estate Listings Domain Portfolio: 2600+ Geo-targeted URLs to be auctioned June 11. via @swanepoel http://bit.ly/Edlca #
• The award for most emails in a day from a leader for June 1 goes to @melissariley. Congrats, M~ #
• VIsiting all my friends in our Prudential Newtown office. http://www.prudentialct.com @prudentialct #pructrealty #
• Heading back to FFC from the Shoreline. Busy day at pru CT. Disappointed to see issues w/ listings being down @trulia. #
• Practioners Say Homes Prices Have Hit Bottom According to NAR and HomeGain.com [Realtor.org] - http://tinyurl.com/qbz436 #
• Join the National Association of REALTORS® fan page on facebook.com -
  http://tinyurl.com/qhlkwg #
• Watching Tom Vozzella on fire at a sales meeting in our Darien office. Drinks to follow at 1020. #
• RT @MelissaRiley: Abundance or Scarcity? Feeling like you have abundance in your life is much less stressful than feeling that you never … #
• Fun day at PruCT. Great to see peeps from Wpt, Darien and NC. @melissariley @westportmoves #pructrealty #
• Anyone hear of proxio.com? Sounds interesting… #realestate #
• RT @briantercero: April existing home sales rise by 2.9 percent - Buyers are taking advantage of prices - http://tinyurl.com/ooevjk via MSN #
• Reading: New Survey from Trulia Shows Buyers 2x as Likely to Look for Open Houses Online than in Print Newspapers http://snurl.com/iyraq #
• Hitwise vs Comscore Real Estate Rankings - http://shar.es/XHHc #
• The world resists change, yet without it there would be no progress. #
• TGIF #
• Reading “A missile-firing drill in North Korea.” Their lack of diplomacy is less than reassuring! http://tinyurl.com/nvp4u3 #
• Hi! If you think I add value to your network, do drop me a recommendation at http://mrtweet.com/vincentsocci?rec Much appreciated! #
• Watching a cool facebook webinar with @melissariley presented by @cyberhomes and @nik_nik #
• RT @tweetmeme Facebook Webinar Recap: 12 Facebook Strategies | CyberhomesBlog.com - Good information - http://bit.ly/EIXE0 #
• Heading home from the Rock… #
• Office… Busy day ahead! #
• Home Sweet Home #
• Right back out the door… Dinner in NC #
• Listening to the 80’s while heading up along the Shoreline. #
• RT @mcaldarone: Hooray for good news! http://tinyurl.com/cg9sbq — Home sales rise 5.1% as prices continue to decline… is the bottom near? #
• How Social Do You Have To Be in Todays Real Estate Market? Look into popular social networking sites - http://tinyurl.com/cuwea4 #
• RT: @mike_stelzner Just Read: Social Media Marketing Industry Report (Free) http://cli.gs/QYEpY2 #smreport #
• Watching Role Models then off to bed… Cookie Bakeoff in Southbury tomorrow @melissariley #
• RT @MelissaRiley: One of our PruCT agents @realtorkris (Kris Zack) is up for NARs 30 under 30. Pls give her a thumbs up! http://bit.ly/4ikY #
• RT @wharriman: Just read… Turn Out the Lights For Global Warming: This Saturday, March 25th, at 8:30 PM, the .. http://tinyurl.com/clbhb6 #
• Three accidents after x52 on the Merritt Parkway… Or should I say parking lot! #
• Life is what you make of it. #
• RT: 6 Tips For Building Deeper Connections With Twitter - http://is.gd/pp2S #
• RT @CosRealEstate: Just read Selling your home, it’s all about the internet: In today’s real estate market, it h.. http://tinyurl.com/c4hpnt #
• Tired after busy day. Great seeing everyone in Westport & Stamford… @melissariley, @westportmoves, @ellenchristian #
• TGIF… busy day at leadership meetings. Back from Old Saybrook and thankful for the weekend! #
• I’m starting with the man in the mirror… #
• “I use not only all the brains I have but all I can borrow.” - Woodrow Wilson #
• RT @donnabigda: ActiveRain: Branford CT Waterfront Community - Short Beach http://activerain.com/t/984200 — Beautiful area of CT #
• RT @PhxREguy: Realtor Tweet O’ the Day - RT @amiepowell: realtors probably shouldn’t use photoshop. http://is.gd/jt6J - Seriously! #
• A real estate ‘Tomorrowland’ - Interesting insight… [Inman News] - http://tinyurl.com/cj6vgu #
• Just read “Facebook Sending More Traffic Than Google to Some Sites” {AdAge.com} - http://tinyurl.com/dcz3t7 #
• Organic Search is the Best Form of Advertising (RISMedia.com) - Cleaning the articles out of the in box… - http://tinyurl.com/ce4svh #
• back on the grid after a few days away… #
• Just read: It’s time to take up ‘tweeting’ - Inman - http://tinyurl.com/abrf3x #
• Recharging the batteries - I’ve been in a whirlwind all week. #
• In the office at 5:30 am… Lots to do! #
• Wondering what will the net effect of plummeting housing prices in Manhattan be on Fairfield County real estate? Thoughts anyone… #
• Heinous Ads May Cost Go Daddy Customers… http://zi.ma/324137 [AdAge.com] - I didn’t mind the SuperBowl commercials… got ppl talking! #
• Great example of a real estate blog from the Harriman Team in Wallingford CT — http://www.wallingfordwired.com/ @wharriman Great job! #
• Zillow Buzz: Some pretty great market reports from our friends at zillow… they cover about 5 cities in CT - http://zi.ma/8e26a6 #
• Follow-up: For a complete market report about the Connecticut Real Estate Market visit prudentialCT.com - http://zi.ma/69c565 #
• Facebook Info Furor: NY Post - May not be happy with it but the sad truth is I’m still gonna use it… you? http://zi.ma/c264b8 #
• Who’s ready to shine in ‘09?? #
• Reading “In the Metropolitan Area, Would-Be Sellers Feel Trapped” - NYT.com | Real Estate - http://zi.ma/c8c8ba #
• A Go-To Web Site for Home Buyers… Trulia is on fire! [WSJ.com] - http://tinyurl.com/ckd68y. Congrats @trulia @nypierre #
• Going to see “Taken” in Trumbull… #
• RT @mashable: Does Social Media Make Us Better People? (Please RT!) http://tinyurl.com/chkgqy … Better ppl. IDK… #
• Got an email from WannaNetwork. New WordPress community platform is up and running - http://wannanetwork.com/ - checking it out tomorrow… #
• RT @jburslem: RT @spencerrascoff: Zillow’s traffic numbers are in for January - 7,529,360 unique visitors, up 61% versus Jan08 #
• RT @LaniAR: Just finished reading.. REALTORS: this boat rocker is worth the 10 minute read: http://agentgenius.com/?p=9843 #
• Super frustrated. TGIF! #
• Traffic sucks! #
• Out in Stamford celebrating my brother’s 21 birthday!!!! #
• Can’t find Wii Fit anywhere… Guess I’ll just have to order it online. #
• RT @BHGRE_Sherry Words to live by- “We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools” …Martin Luther King Jr. #
• signing off… t-minus twelve hours and counting for change - http://bit.ly/cgsc #
• Busy day in Southbury, Connecticut. Excited for the weekend! #
• What’s your feeling on http://dwellicious.com/? delicious for real estate. #
• Working on strengthening our luxury homes marketing program - Fine Homes International. http://bit.ly/2NDwbV #
• RT @Cyberhomes: Online vs. offline? A distinction without a difference: http://budurl.com/trl9 - Interesting… #
• Spending time at the hospital with my Dad… thankful they have wifi!! #
• Interesting article regarding online ad rates declining… http://snurl.com/apvue [AdAge] #
• Rested and Relaxed. Can’t wait to get back to the office!! #
• Dinner @ Outback. Now going to see Yes Man! #
• Thought YES Man was really funny. Heading off to bed! #
• Back from vacation — digging through mounds of paperwork and responding to all my emails from the past two weeks! #
• Finally leaving the office — tired after a long days work!! #
• Finishing up ppt presentations and hand-outs for tomorrow’s meetings. #
• Busy day with two leadership meetings. Leaving Old Saybrook, homeward bound! #
• Ugh! Got into an accident on I95. #
• The dunkaccino is back! #
• What’s going on with the Panthers? #
• Wow! Still in a state of shock from the outcome of the Giants game. Major disappointment. #
• Listingbook training in Westport. #
• QUESTION Anyone been using Listingbook for their clients? If so, are you finding it useful? #
• RT @vincentsocci: QUESTION Anyone been using Listingbook for their clients? If so, are you finding it useful? http://www.listingbook.com #
• calling it a day, or should I say a night. #
• Welcoming C21 into the 21st Century. http://snurl.com/a2i4w — Shift has happened… the key is now educating both agents and sellers. #
• RT @perrybelcher: A breakdown of social network users by age http://bit.ly/11JRF - interesting look into social media and adults #
• Real World Brooklyn then off to bed. #
• Busy day… meeting with NYT, followed by a visit to our friends in the Danbury office. Out to dinner then heading home. #
• Interesting study for why real estate brokerage’s need to adopt SEO into their overall marketing strategies. http://bit.ly/Eemk #
• With all the sites, social networks, and blogs we’re on, it only makes sense to create a table of contents: http://vincentsocci.extendr.com/ #

How Trulia Pro will promote yo…

How Trulia Pro will promote your single-property site and Home Suite: http://tinyurl.com/5om8nt

Secure Listings With Single Property Sites

More and more often, I am passing ‘for sale’ signs that have a rider with a vanity domain plastered on it and I think to myself, it’s finally catching on! Single-property sites are powerful, cost-effective tools to promote property listings both online and offline and for a long time I think they’ve been an overlooked resource that Realtors® haven’t fully taken advantage of. Back in February 2007, Joel Burslem wrote a post about single-property sites on the future of real estate marketing blog. Since then a number of providers have joined the single-property site arena - AgencyLogic, SPS, ListingDomains.com, VFlyer, and Postlets to name a few.

All the sites have the same general features allowing for you to create 123anywhere.com - adding photo tours, lengthy descriptions, branding information, links to more information and syndication capabilities to sites like Trulia, PropSmart, Google Base, Yahoo!. Agents can attract prospective buyers to the site with sign riders and by adding the URL to all their advertising. With prices ranging anywhere from $9.95 to $50 it’s a small investment in your overall marketing strategy.

Prudential Connecticut Realty has their own exclusive Home Suite technology allowing for agents to establish these same custom websites dedicated to their listings. Web browsers can easily navigate several pages of useful information targeted towards the specific property, including features like video, aerial photography, community profiles, custom descriptions, and links to additional information. Prudential Connecticut agents have taken advantage of this free tool and are not only creating a distinct web presence for their properties but some are enjoying the SEO benefits of linking back to their personal sites. Click here to view a Home Suite example.

Living in a web 2.0 world, consumers are demanding fresher and more descriptive information about homes for sale. While I do agree with Joel that agents should make their first priority getting their listings on their own site, I think single-property sites are exceptional ways to not only ‘seal the deal’ by wowing your sellers but are also a great marketing tool that allow you to center your marketing strategy around an easy to remember URL.

The All New Realtor.com

There’s been a lot going on at REALTOR.com® recently. Among a number of new features the site has released, the find a Home search path has been reconstructed to dramatically enhance consumers home search experience - making it faster and easier for them to access information and complete a search. According to the website, The REALTOR.com® home page, Search Results Page (SRP), and Listing Details Page (LDP) have all been completely redesigned as well.

Additional Details and New Features

A New Face On The Home Page

• Warm color pallet, visually clean presentation, and streamlined design.
• Rotating Photo Carousel presents engaging images of homes currently for sale rather than stock photos. The display learns from a consumer’s search behavior, changing from Extreme Homes – highest priced homes in America, to homes relevant to their search criteria.
• Find a Home search box now allows searches by MLS ID, and address from the home page.
• Increased visibility for Find a Neighborhood, and Find Home Values.
• Better presentation of the tools and navigation links currently in the left rail on the Classic site.
• My Listings & My Searches personalization features are integrated into the navigation bar.

Search Results Page (SRP)

• Search results now match search criteria exactly, include all property types by default, and are sorted from high to low price.
• Seamlessly navigate between three different views of SRP: List, Map, and Photo Gallery view to quickly visually scan listings.
• Featured Homes receive enhanced visibility and exposure at the top of all three SRP views.
• Removal of interim search and transitional ad pages allows immediate access to search results.
• Refine Your Search widget moved to left rail, creating a persistently visible search experience.
• Improved presentation of listings, displaying street address on the title line, an eye-catching additional photos badge, and high-impact yellow bar on showcase listings.

Listing Details Page (LDP)

• Multi-page tabbed structure removed to display everything on a single page, with certain “Calls to Action” opening up in layers.
• Map integrated into the page layout, this is a precursor to the addition of the school and neighborhood reports on every LDP.
• Basic listings display four photos, and the photos are larger.
• New Showcase Listing Enhancements:
  • Photo gallery, driving directions and email forms display as separate layers.
  • Agent & Office information displayed in new integrated business card format on the LDP.
  • Showcase listings are visually highlighted by a yellow background.
  • Photos of Agent’s/Broker’s other listings are displayed on the LDP.

The Benefits of the New Realtor.com

• All listings can now display four photos, and will include neighborhood and school information prior to ‘General Audience’ release.
• The search algorithm has been changed to addresses frequent consumer requests that all property types be included, and that search results match their search criteria exactly.

All in all, Realtor.com is certainly working hard to add a fresh new look and make searching for homes for sale easier than ever. I also like the fact that they will be updating information every fifteen minutes, which means listings will continuously be updated and will always remain accurate. Having added the minimum photo display to four is an added benefit as well, especially for agents that don’t subscribe to the added marketing features offered for the site.

Watch the video below to get more information regarding the new Realtor.com:

Source: http://www.realtor.org/realtor_benefits/benefits_partners/realtor_com/the_new_realtor_com_