Google Video has allowed people to upload their own videos for some time now. This might provide sellers an opportunity to promote a listing, but the medium doesn’t offer the kind of targeting that would make the effort worthwhile. This is also a problem when using YouTube to promote a tour. How do you distribute to the right people? You could send a link, but built-in distribution and targeting is better.

Good Adwords w/Video does enable targeting. So if you have a listing that you want to promote in Eugene, you would simply join Adwords, upload your video, choose your keywords, and geotarget to Eugene. The only catch to this is that you may not get the distribution you might expect, at least this early in the game. There aren’t a lot of websites locally that offer Google video adsense ads and target home buyers.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Here’s a list of Eugene real estate agents from agentline.com, a beta site designed for people shopping for agents. The problem here is that when I “narrowed” it down to Eugene real estate agents, I ended up with 818 agents total, with only 10 per page. If I were an agent named Abe, I’d be thrilled. But the shopper? And the agent? What they need to do is create a dynamic table so that you can sort by realtor, or rating, or something. I know it’s in beta, but how hard can it be to output your data to a table vs an ordered list?

Regardless of my complaints, this could be useful in helping people determine who has the most experience, or at least who has the most friends to click on their ratings! What would be more helpful would be a way for people to post moderated comments. I get far more out of the first 2-3 most popular comments in Amazon than I do the total rating. And for services, qualifying the experience for others is even more important.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Doug Palmer has done it right. His site is basic from a design perspective, but that doesn’t matter at all.

Doug explains the benefits of working with him in the first menu link. Other links include a hilarious photo tour of Doug inspecting a home, fee tables are easy to read, and he even provides graphical examples of a finished report.

This guy knows how to merchandise services online. If he’s smart enough and dedicated enough to put this amount of content on a site, that communicates to me that this guy understands business, that is, people.

Popularity: 11% [?]

I like this video. I would prefer to hear the owner or a voice over discussing some of the features, but really not a bad way to sell a home. The video was added five days prior to this post, and has been viewed 16 times. Not bad for free!

My guess is that most of the cost here is in the production of the video. I have no idea what a professional video production costs and agent, or homeowner.

Anybody know?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Amazing how some companies are starting to change how transactions take place. Take Prosper.com. The entire site is the ebay of petty cash level financing.

If I were a lender, I would jump all over the opportunity to accept loans from pre-screened borrowers. Not only are they prescreened – there’s also the law of supply and demand at work in the bidding process. It’s transparency that reminds me a lot of my employer, Right Media. Right Media is doing the same thing for online advertising, and helping to reshape an industry in the process.

Gotta be bold! Step up lenders, there’s a lot to see here and here.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The R-G has a good article about the mortgage industry in Oregon, specifically, about mortgage brokers.

It sounds like a few market forces have combined to generate miscommunication between brokers and buyers:

• Young brokers with limited experience.
• Young buyers who might not be in the market for a house if not for interest-only loans and the like.
• Record home sales – a real estate market that’s been on fire.

The Oregon Dept of Finance and Securities is doing a good job of bringing everyone to the table. They’ll be hosting an event in Eugene for brokers and/or buyers who want to learn more, or, just complain to someone. It will be from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Eugene Hilton.

Popularity: 5% [?]

CNN Money posted an article showing predicted growth in home prices for 2006, and California has been hit hard.

Eugene-Springfield on the other hand appears to be in a good position. CNN Money is predicting 5.2% growth in 2006. And since their 16.6% growth amount for 2005 is slightly lower than the 18.9% reported by the media, I suspect that growth may be closer to 6-7%.

What this should tell the first-time homebuyer is that there’s no point in waiting for a drop in Eugene home prices. Many of the cities that may see growth are small cities near metropolitan areas. Many of the cities seeing a decline in home prices are in the bay area or Southern Cal. On the other hand, a slowdown in home price growth may mean more opportunities to buy – more choice than in the past.

Popularity: 4% [?]

This is really interesting. While adding an insertion order to MSN’s Adcenter, for “eugene real estate” and similar terms, I discovered this little tidbit of information (sorry for the resizing problem – sadly I only have MS Paint to work with..):

Apparently, there are more Portlanders searching for “eugene real estate” on MSN, than there are Eugenians. I expected to see a lot of searchers from California, but Salt Lake City? Apparently, the air is too dry there?

Popularity: 4% [?]