Category Archives: Southwest Florida Real Estate

Market updates and news and information about the SW Florida real estate market

Using Video to Augment Your Message

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Let’s face it, as agents we’re either promoting properties to sell or educating the public about changes in the real estate market or tips professionals know that the public may not. For years agents used traditional print marketing, TV, radio, billboards, mail outs, signs, banner advertising, and more. Many of these are still very effective and they’re used by large and small companies to this date, however video has exploded on the scene as a medium anyone can use to further illustrate a message.

Ellis Team at RE/MAX in Fort Myers YouTube Channel
Ellis Team YouTube Channel

Newspapers are using video as a way to compete with TV stations. Large news organization post videos provided by viewers, Viewers become extra eyes in the field. Courts are using video from police cars, and defendants are using video to tell their side of the story.

Video doesn’t replace older media, but it does open up new ways of reaching consumers. The Y generation would just as soon search the Internet and watch videos about a subject than watch the news or visit a library, so reaching younger consumers requires change. If I comment to my children I’m having difficulty hooking something up, they’ll have a YouTube video up in about 15 seconds thoroughly explaining the task. I guess those bad instructions in the box don’t matter so much now.

High definition video cameras make it easy to produce video. The trick is proper lighting and sound. We’ve created some high quality videos and some quick videos that tell a simple message about the market without all the bells and whistles. What we’ve found is viewers don’t seem to care about the bells and whistles as long as the video is informative, timely, and matches what they’re looking for.

We’ve created a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/brettellisfl Currently we have 113 videos uploaded and about 45,000 views. Our property tours are located on another channel, so these 45,000 views are simply people tuning in to hear about the market or timely news affecting real estate.

Marketing really works when you tie all the media together. For instance, our print ads show our website. Our website has links to our YouTube channel, property tours, MLS search, and more. Our MLS search has links to the others as well. In this way we get all the marketing tools we invest in to work together, in concert. Together these tools can be so much more effective than if we just used on over the other.

Consumers are like cable TV viewers. If you’ve ever flipped channels you’ll notice there are a lot of things on at any one time, and they’re competing with each other. Younger viewers like MTV, while older viewers might like the History channel or national news. There is a place for each, and while they cross over, each definitely has a certain target demographic.

Marketing is similar. Each method could potentially reach everyone, but realistically there are target demographics, and getting them to work in concert with each other increases frequency and reach. It also sends out a message to the public when they see you more than one place. They think you’re everywhere. No matter where an agent puts their marketing dollars, the message is critical. It pays to be clear, concise, and topical. The public enjoys getting this information in print, on smart phones, and certainly in video form.

Look for video to play an increasing role in the dissemination of real estate information. Video will help companies and agents differentiate themselves and allow consumers to decide who they best want to do business with. It could be the information, the look, the professionalism, etc. Video opens up an array of ways a consumer can evaluate who they do business with and assist in making a choice. And if you ever want to know how to unclog a sink or hookup a BluRay player, consider doing a video search, or ask a 10 year old.

Tune in to the Future of Real Estate.  This week’s show is the April 2011 SW Florida Real Estate Market Update

 

SW Florida April Real Estate Breakdown

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The past few weeks we’ve laid out in detail how prices have increased and some reasons that would explain why. This week we thought we’d illustrate how the distressed market is faring versus the traditional or normal resale’s and look at how that impacts prices.

Breakdown of Distressed Sales Versus Normal Sales SW Florida
SW FLorida Distressed Sales Breakdown

As you can see from the chart, distressed sales are down about 4% in 2011 versus 2010. We all know distressed sales have weighed down the SW Florida real estate market for several years. Prices didn’t just fall in half, they fell in some cases to about 25% of what they were back in 2005 or early 2006.

We’ve often said sale prices have fallen artificially too low and the only thing holding them that low was a flood of continuing foreclosures entering the market to keep the prices down. For the most part, investors and 1st time buyers bought every foreclosure they could and prices stayed low because there were new foreclosures coming on to satisfy buyers appetite.

The foreclosure machine hit a snag in late 2010 due to legal concerns in Florida and 10 other states; however we expect that foreclosures will return in the 2nd qtr of 2011. The question is how many more are left, and how long will it take the banks to work through them. I guess the other question is how long will the economy be stagnant further forcing teetering homeowners over the brink?

Assuming we’re in the 7th inning of the foreclosure crisis and that any wave of future foreclosures won’t be as robust as past waves, prices should continue to rise. Official numbers for March won’t be released for about 3 weeks, but preliminarily we’re seeing median prices rising about 3.45% over last year and mean average prices rising about 16%. Stats were pulled as of March 29, and it does take several days for all sales to be entered into MLS, so these are very raw and preliminary numbers, but they do coincide with what we’ve been seeing and predicting the last several months.

As prices rise, more and more sellers will qualify to sell without being a short sale or foreclosure, which will also change the charts. Nobody should expect an overnight turn around as our market is still healing, and even though we’re in the latter stages of the correction, healing can be painful. Sellers expecting a return to 2005 prices might be waiting years or a decade or more.

We’ll also be anticipating Congress submitting and passing a budget. Many do not realize that last year’s Congress didn’t do that, so we haven’t had a budget in 2 years. They’ve kicked the can down the road and left it for others to do. Because Congress didn’t do their job last year, it’s making it tougher this year, and everyone knows we need steep budget cuts. Inflation will rise as we cannot continue deficit spending. This throws the capital markets off and interest rates could rise, which could also affect real estate prices as increased rates dig into buying power for buyers. When rates go higher, buyers have to offer less for homes in many cases to afford the property. Increased interest rates are like a hidden tax on real estate, so we’d hope for our country to get it’s spending in order for a lot of reasons.

Stay tuned and we’ll watch together how these forces play out and affect our market. Nothing is as simple as one variable dictating prices. We have several variables at work, and time will tell.

Watch our April 2011 SW Florida Real Estate Market Update

Prices on the Move in SW Florida

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As expected, SW Florida median single family home sale prices rose in February, up 4.1% over last year’s numbers and up 3.39% from this January’s numbers. Sales volume was down 12% from last year and up 3.17% from this January.

SW Florida Real Estate Sales Prices
Single Family Home Prices in SW Florida

These sales numbers were not unexpected as we’ve definitely seen an uptick in 2nd home buyers from up North looking to secure their piece of paradise before prices go back up. Banks have also lowered inventory due to legal issues with the foreclosures which has dried up inventory at the lower end. Investors are finding it more difficult to find lower priced homes to flip. We’ve entered a period where the short term investor is being squeezed out and we’re left with long term investors who can purchase and rent the property with a positive cash flow, but can’t flip right now and make a guaranteed home run.

Actually the market is healthier and more balanced in this period than it has been since 2005. It’s always dangerous to buy something with the immediate expectation of a flip. This is all well and good when it works, but too many speculators didn’t have a plan B if the market turned, which it obviously did. Back in 2005 prices a property wouldn’t cash flow, so when the flip didn’t work, neither did the rent for cash flow. Today investors truly should focus on long term. Prices are still well below replacement cost and artificially too low, so there is automatic built-in price increases on the way, it’s just a matter of time.

Positive cash flow buys time, and a great investment provides cash flow and long term appreciation, not to mention possible tax benefits. For regular homeowners we always recommend buying a home that suits your needs and you can be happy in. Long term, a home is usually a good investment, but why suffer with a home that doesn’t meet your needs in the meantime? In the end the numbers work themselves out but you have to live with the home. You might rent a home you’re not crazy about, but why buy something you don’t like just because it appears to be a good investment?

Home affordability is high, although inventory selection has been declining. Unless banks start listing foreclosures again, we should see another decline in inventory levels this month as sales have been strong. The perfect opportunity for a buyer was probably between April 2009 when prices were at their lowest and December of 2009 when inventory was it its highest. Since then prices are higher by 7.02% and inventory countywide is down 8.70%

We’ve been hearing from banks and Fannie Mae that they could start releasing inventory again in the next month or two. We’ve seen listings trickle in, and we expect more in the coming months.

The market has always had a thirst for more inventory, so that won’t be an issue. The lack thereof will create price increases, so the true test will be how much more bank owned inventory is on the way compared to market thirst. The answer is prices will rise; the question is how high and how fast. We’ll be keeping an eye out for the inventory as that will be the leading indicator for the answer to how high and how fast.

Jumping to Conclusions

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One of two things will happen, and possibly both. Banks may start releasing more inventory in the coming months, and home prices could begin to rise as inventory levels drop off.

Listing Inventory
SW Florida Residential Single Family Home Listing Inventory

We’ve been noticing a distinct pattern the past few months. Inventory levels have been dropping just as pending sales have been increasing. We can thank the banks for this as they’ve withheld inventory due to legal concerns over title and the foreclosure process. We’ve also seen an increase in closed short sales. Lastly, we’ve seen a rise in regular sales, all leading to a decline in inventory levels. County-wide levels were down 4.32% from last month, and yet we’re seeing sharper declines like Cape Coral which had a 7.18% drop, or Lehigh Acres which experienced a 10.22% drop in available listings.

Combine this with season and buyers from up North scooping up bargains and it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that home prices have to rise. In fact, we predict they already are. Last month’s numbers showed a drop in prices, but we’re not too concerned with that. Next week official numbers will be released and we believe they will be higher. Sales may be down from last year because the inventory isn’t there, but prices could very well be up. We wouldn’t be surprised to see prices gain close to 10% from last year’s numbers.

If you read this article weekly, or our blog, you know that we’ve been predicting a decline in sales transactions combined with price increases at some point in the future. That point could be now. We would say definitively, however there are still some external wildcards that can influence transaction volume and prices in the short term.

Those wildcards are banks releasing backlogged inventory once the title issues are worked out, and every indication is banks will start releasing again in the next month or so. The question is how much do they have left in SW Florida. We believe nationwide there is much left, however nobody knows about SW Florida as we’ve been in this crisis the better part of 4 years now. Possibly we’ll emerge as the rest of the country deepens, but something tells me we still have more to work through as well.

Other wildcards include the US economy, oil, and Mideast stabilization as it pertains to energy. If the Mideast settles down and oil returns to normalcy, there are signs the US economy is headed for a modest recovery. Combine all this with the fact we believe we’re in about the 7th inning of the SW Florida foreclosure crisis, and we could be on our way to higher prices. We’re not predicting a return to 2005 prices, but rather a sustainable march to replacement cost prices. Once we reach replacement cost, builders will start building again, which will further fuel our local economy.

Should the governor be successful in landing some companies to relocate to Florida, this could be a wildcard on the positive side. Bottom line is many factors are at play, but for the past year or so investors and Northern friends have realized Florida is on sale, and they’re buying.

If we don’t see the negative wildcards, prices almost certainly have to rise. The reason we don’t believe they’ll double or triple anytime soon is because appraisals won’t support that, consumer spending may not support that, and we have hidden inventory that may enter the market. No, we’re not talking about the shadow inventory of banks, but rather shadow inventory of regular sellers who would sell if they could, but can’t because they’re currently upside down on their mortgage and do not want to suffer financial implications of a short sale. Once prices rise, we could see more sellers test the waters and attempt to sell.

That’s a lot of variables influencing the market, and the most likely outcome we believe will be modestly rising prices, at a sustainable and healthy level. Once this becomes well known, more buyers will line up because they will have seen we’ve hit bottom and bounced back up. They will have missed the bottom, but this will be close enough to make them feel good and jump back in.

We also believe banks will loosen credit standards this year. They’ve been too tight with the money looking for any reason not to lend, and this will change in 2011. Combine this with buyers realizing the bottom has passed, and we the conclusion we jump to is modestly rising prices. Let’s watch for the numbers next week. What conclusion do you reach?

Big Changes Coming in Mortgage Market

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On April 17 rates are going up. How do we know the date? We know because that’s the date fees change under guidelines designed to attract private money into the lending system and reduce or eliminate FNMA, GNMA, and Freddie Mac, the three quasi-governmental agencies that insure mortgages and bundle them for securitization. They’re not really governmental, but they might as well be as the government has funded them until now. They are private companies that pay investors profit, but tax payer funded when they lose money, so something had to change.

Big Changes Coming in Mortgage Market

Big Changes Coming in Mortgage Market
Interest Rates Will Rise in April

So what is changing? First off, rates are going up. This will increase yields, which will attract banks, hedge funds, and other large sources of capital into the market. Large companies will actually compete to make more of this money. A lot of money has been bottled up sitting on the sidelines and this may be the conduit to free up that money.

When rates go up, home prices usually go down. Not so fast! In this case, prices could eventually rise. Many ask how this could be. The answer is complicated, but noteworthy, so we’ll do our best to explain.

Under the new guidelines to get the best priced loans, borrowers will have to put more down. The old 20% down will now be 30% down. However, credit scores will also be lowered for qualifying. Imagine many of those people that sold via short sale being told they wouldn’t qualify by FNMA for 5 years. It turns out they may be eligible after just 12 months under certain conditions.

While rates may go from 4 7/8% today to possibly 6.5% in April, more people will qualify. We still have FHA for low down payment options. Some people are predicting another real estate boom coming sooner than later nationwide as pent-up demand for housing intensifies, and more borrowers being eligible to purchase.

Imagine having a 540 credit score and being able to purchase a home. Those days may be coming again, if you can scrape together a down payment. Home prices are artificially too low in SW Florida and are in fact below replacement cost. This has caused multiple bidding situations for prestigious properties in short supply even in the upper price ranges in certain parts. Naples and Bonita have experienced a resurgence in prices, and many feel this is bleeding north up into Estero and Fort Myers. We are currently being driven by 2nd home buyers looking for deals.

As prices get closer to replacement cost, building will begin to pickup, which will bring jobs. As the SW Florida economy grows, the real estate market could gain traction very quickly, especially with Snow Birds and existing residents qualifying sooner than expected for their next mortgage.

Keep in mind 7,000-10,000 people are retiring or entering the social security income stream everyday. Florida stands to gain from the Baby Boom generation relocating or buying 2nd homes.

Many on Wall Street are anxious to cash in on the looming change to the capital markets coming in April. In fact, Wall St is waiting like a tiger to pounce. Some are predicting a feeding frenzy for housing and rapid price gains.

Some people believe the change to FNMA and Freddie Mac will damage the markets by increasing borrowing costs and raising down payment requirements. Others believe borrowing was next to impossible anyway the last few years and banks only lent to those who really didn’t need it. I don’t know who is right, but I will say if we open the door for more people to buy, the market could recover quicker than most expect.

2011 could really be a year to watch and keep an eye on the financing markets. If Wall Street gets greedy like last time, it could be a boom for real estate. The difference is, FNMA and Freddie Mac, and the US taxpayer won’t bail out bad loans, only systemic losses due to financial meltdowns. Hopefully we’ll enjoy the next boom with no meltdown, and higher down payments will help with that. If our markets stabilize like we think they will, even low down payments won’t affect the market because the market won’t be in freefall, and we’ll be adding jobs to the economy versus losing 8 million like we’ve done the past 3 years.

Bottom line, keep an eye out for sunny days ahead in the real estate market and we just might see them sooner rather than later. And mark your calendars for April 17. This will be the beginning of something. Time will judge the ending.

Underwater Mortgages in SW Florida

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A recent study by Core Logic reports that over half of the mortgages in SW Florida are underwater, meaning people owe more than the property is worth.  WINK News interviewed Brett Ellis of the Ellis Team at RE/MAX Realty Group in Fort Myers about these properties in the Cape Coral and Fort Myers area.

 

Emotional Roller Coaster

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It seems on every appointment we go or every speaking presentation people want to know if our market has stabilized and finally headed up.  The answer is it seems that way, but our market is still in the process of healing.  The more complete answer is we are headed for better days; it’s just a question of where we are in the process.

Sales Prices in Fort Myers Cape Coral Florrida
Sales Prices and # of Sales in SW Florida

To illustrate where we are, we made a new chart that shows a timeline of median sales prices compared to sales volume, or # of transactions.  Sometimes as prices go up or down it can affect transaction volume, so we thought we’d study that and show you.  We’ve also included a graph of the Emotional Housing Cycle we brought to you in a State of the Market Report several years ago.

Emotional Housing Cycle
Emotional Housing Cycle

When we first presented this concept we were illustrating that our market needed to go through a healing process and there would be pain ahead. Back in January 2006 when prices peaked we were in the Euphoria stage.  We went on TV in October 2005 telling people this market had run its course and wasn’t going to sustain price increases and people had better start looking at the fundamentals of the market.  We pulled investors from new opportunities.

We bring all this up because back then it was a herd mentality, and we weren’t afraid to alert the market to a forthcoming change.  People of course made fun of us and said this market was a run away train and we couldn’t stop it, as if we were trying to.  Fast forward to 5 years later and you’ll find that we’ve gone through the painful process and we’re probably past Desperation and approaching Hope.

I know if you’re home is in foreclosure or has been foreclosed and times are desperate, you might not be feeling the hope.  From an overall market perspective, there is hope.  A few weeks ago at the CCIM Outlook a question came from the crowd asking where we are in the foreclosure crisis.  I answered I think we’re at about the 7th inning.  We do see more foreclosures coming, but they are not at the pace and intensity we’ve seen in years past.   Once we get to the point of fewer foreclosures, and fewer short sales, prices can increase rapidly.  We’re not there yet.

We’ll also keep an eye out for signs the overall economy is improving, and of course we always need to pay attention to wildcards like foreign oil supplies, interest rates, and financing availability.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be privatized and lower down payment options may dwindle to FHA and VA loans.

2009 was a record year for sales.  If you look at the graph, even though prices are down from last months numbers, transaction volume is higher than 2009.  2009 pumped out foreclosures at a record pace, so we probably will see less volume in 2011 simply because we’re seeing fewer foreclosures.  Short sales are still a tricky proposition and not guaranteed to close in a timely fashion, if at all.  Someday we’ll write a book on all the shenanigans we’ve seen banks play with short sales.  We have sold several, we’re just saying don’t always count on banks to do the logical thing or what’s in the best interests of even the bank.

We wouldn’t be surprised to see a rise in median prices next month and good sales volume as we are seeing a backlog in pending sales.  We’ll be releasing our 2011 State of the Market Report soon which will cover some of these trends.

 

Single Family Home Median Sales Prices Drop Unexpectedly in SW Florida

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The Florida Association of Realtors released official numbers, and as expected the number of sales were down, but fairly steady with last year. We predicted in last week’s article they’d be right where they are. We also said last week that we didn’t study the sales prices, but that we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw them rise again in January. Perhaps we should have studied those numbers because they did not rise, they actually fell 3.86% from last year’s numbers and fell 4.32% from December’s numbers.

Median Sale Prices SW Florida Homes
SW Florida Single Family Home Median Sale Prices 2009-2011

We can’t put too much emphasis on one month’s numbers, especially January numbers because there was a flurry of activity in December to get homes closed by the end of the year. Many sales have stalled or pulled due to title issues. We’re just now getting a few listings back from the banks in the higher priced end that were stalled due to this, so this can have an impact on closings and prices temporarily.

Just the same, we half expected prices to rise again as we believed fewer sales would equate to rising prices. Because more of the foreclosure sales in the past have been in the lower price points, fewer foreclosure sales means the median sales prices gets pulled up from the top and pushed up from the bottom. This evidently did not occur. It is possible that as more short sales went through they were in the lower price points.

It is season now and we have pent-up sales and rising pending sales, so again going forward we will not be surprised to see rising prices. In fact last year this happened as evidenced by the chart.

This past week we attended the News Press Market Watch National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun gave some insightful statistics that may impact the US and SW Florida markets. He expects interest rates to hit 6% by the end of the year and 6.5% sometime in 2012 as rising deficits lead to inflation.

Mr Yun still believes we will see 50-60% distressed sales in the SW Florida real estate market this year, and we have 2-3 years total before all foreclosures are worked out of the system. If President Obama enacted an elimination of the mortgage interest deduction it would have an immediate effect of lowering prices nationwide by 15%, and our economy doesn’t need another big hit from real estate.

Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist NAR and Brett Ellis

He expects about 3% GDP growth and unemployment to be around 9% in 2011 returning to a normal 6% by 2015. Businesses are making money, but they’re afraid to hire due to uncertainties with new health care costs and banks aren’t willing to lend to businesses due to blank pages written into new banking rules. By blank pages he referred to pages that state a future committee will determine actual rules, so banks are hoarding cash and not lending.

Mr Yun says Washington DC is to blame for businesses not hiring due to uncertainty. If we could give certainty back, business may hire more quickly, and this would speed up time lines for recovery dramatically. For instance, we’ve lost 8 million jobs since Obama took office, and in 2010 we created 1 million jobs. 1 million jobs is pretty good, but nothing compared to what we lost. At this rate we’ll create 2 million jobs in next 2 years, but we’re still way down from levels just 2 years ago. If we could speed up businesses hiring, we could speed up the recovery, which would help real estate. Wall Street is doing OK as we’re seeing record profits, but no motivation to hire due to Washington.

Sales are near record levels. To put this in perspective, in 2001 we had 376 single family home sales. We had 443 in 2002. In 2011 we had 1,072, down slightly from 1,115 in 2010. Our sales are on fire. Our prices leave a little bit to be desired, unless you’re the buyer. Buyers realize SW Florida is on sale and they’re buying as fast as they can. We can see light at the end of the tunnel, and prices should increase going forward. Just don’t expect 2005 pricing to come roaring back anytime soon. We’re looking for modest gains, and as Dr. Yun says, cities like Las Vegas and Fort Myers might even see some occasional surprises on the upside of pricing going forward.

January 2011 Sales Mirror 2010

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Take a good look at the graph. Headlines next week when official numbers are released may report that sales were down versus December numbers, and this would be true. However, preliminary sales numbers we track indicate January 2011 sales mirror very closely January 2010 sales, and pending sales are on the rise again. Last year’s graph showed rising sales peaking in March and holding fairly steady through June. This seems entirely plausible as Southwest Florida typically experiences seasonality in the market, and the pending sales bear witness to potential closings going forward.

2010-2011 SW Florida Home Sales Chart
Single Family Home Sales SW Florida 2010-2011

Pending sales countywide in February aren’t quite at 2010 levels but they’re close. Currently we have 2,704 pending sales in the Greater Fort Myers and Bonita-Estero Association of Realtors MLS compared to 2,758. Pending sales in just Fort Myers and Cape Coral are off a little bit more, but in any event we expect to see rising closing numbers as we go through season.

In fact, our Current Market Index now stands at 4.18, down from 4.66 last month. We developed this index to measure pending sales activity against inventory levels to determine strength or weakness in the market. In years past, sometimes sales were down simply because there were few homes on the market, not because the buyers weren’t ready willing and able. We account for this in our index.

Current Market Index-SW Florida Real Estate
SW Florida Current Market Index

Listing inventory is down slightly in both single family homes and condominiums. Prices last month rose about 3% and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them rise again, although we didn’t specifically study prices for this report. As foreclosure sales fell 12.50% this past month, it’s natural to assume less low end homes sold which would help push the median price up. Additionally, short sales fell 7.45%

Banks have pulled many foreclosures from the docket until they have more time to check their paperwork; Most of these homes will eventually come back to the market. In a perfect world we’d like to see the banks increase their efforts in selling via short sale. Citi Mortgage and Bank of America have done this and are promising faster turnaround times. We have noticed a distinct difference in the turnaround times at Bank of America and Citi has a new program rolling out now.

We’re keeping an eye on some interesting trends. Lehigh Acres distressed sales are continuing to rise to 73.85% of all Lehigh sales, while Fort Myers remained steady at 56.64%, down slightly from 57.19% the previous month. Cape Coral distressed sales were at 66.27% in January, up from 61.13% in December.

We expect Season to be very strong again this year. The national economy is picking up a bit. It will be interesting to see how the economy, interest rates, and bank owned inventory affects the market in the 2nd half of 2011. The first half’s course is pretty well set.

Topagent.com QR Code
QR Code Topagent.com

New Ways to Market Real Estate Using QR Codes

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Marketing real estate has definitely changed over the years. We like to say it has evolved to meet the changing ways consumers react to seeking information. Some media are effective at reaching actual buyers and some not so much. When evaluating a marketing idea, we must first look at the target market, and whether its use will be effective in reaching that market.

TopAgent.com QR Code
Visit our Website TopAgent.com

We’ve been sitting on a piece of technology for over a year we’ve been pretty excited about. We didn’t start using it until recently because we felt its application wouldn’t be realized by the masses, until now. As an agent we can be Leading Edge or Bleeding Edge. Last year would have been Bleeding Edge, so why introduce something until the public is ready?

This new tool is called a QR Code. It’s basically a barscan format that allows a Smartphone to read a code and do something with it. The typical uses of a QR code are to direct someone to a website, to text message, call a phone number, or just text information.

Google has promoted QR Codes so business can place a code in their store window, in print advertising, or on flyers or billboards so consumers can get detailed maps and directions to the business from their phone, store hours, and basic information about the business. Google even places QR codes now on Google Places accounts.

QR Code Virtual Tour Pine Island Waterfront Home
Virtual Tour of Waterfront Home in Pine Island

We’ve been placing QR codes in our newspaper ad directing people to our website, our Google Places account, and to our Virtual Tours of our properties. Agents can even place QR codes on their sign so prospective buyers can obtain much more information right on their phone, instantaneously. Anywhere you can print or display a QR code becomes potential business.

The more information you place inside a QR code, the larger and denser it becomes, which means it will take up more print space. Certain readers have a hard time reading dense codes, so we encourage you to keep them short and to the point. Every technology has a purpose, and must not be overused in ways it wasn’t designed. A QR Code is best for someone who’s visited your business, at a property, or sees your message online. Its use is to provide information to a mobile user in a mobile world.

Did you know that over 200 million people access Facebook via their mobile phone? Did you know 6.1 trillion text messages were sent in 2010. Did you know the mobile market is more than doubling every year? The mobile Internet is growing fast and will overtake the PC as the most popular way to access the web in coming years.

Video Updates on SW Florida Real Estate
SW Florida Real Estate Video Channel YouTube

So the question is, what do you do once you get them to your site? Is the site optimized for the mobile experience, or does it load just like a regular webpage that is hard to read on mobile phone. The people who solve this issue will win in a mobile world.

So take out your phone and have some fun. The next time you see a QR code, you’ll know what to do with it. If you’re interviewing agents, be sure to ask if their utilizing this technology. Next year you’ll see the Yellow Pages incorporate this into their larger ads, and you’ll start seeing this code popup on more websites and more real estate signs.

Make sure your Smartphone has a reader. I recommend Barcode Scanner but there are dozens. It’s fun to price shop at a store with your mobile phone. This is especially neat when the store offers price guarantees. There’s no bigger thrill then when you whip out the scanner and scan the UPC code of the product and find out the store down the street has it for $20 less. The store you’re in will verify and match that price.

Barcode scanner scans UPC codes and QR Codes. If you’ve never heard of a QR Code, or wondered what that funny looking graphic was next to a real estate ad in the paper, now you know. We’ve provided some examples. Good luck, and good scanning.