Worthington Ohio real estate

The debate about the viability and future of Multiple Listing Services has continued unabated for years. Brokers have locked horns about a number of issues ranging from how the data will be shared and what will be shared to the politics of 'leveling the playing field' and who's investment is being protected or squandered.  

While the battle has raged, players from various spectrum have stepped into the void to create options for consumers.  We're all familiar with the forays of Zillow and Trulia.  But less attention has been paid to the implications of another important element emerging in the online arena...the resurgance of Social Graphs.

What is is a Social Graph?

According to Google, a Social Graph is a network of connections that Google uses to identify RELEVANT social search results.  These are based on the following criteria:  1) Direct connections from your Google Chat buddies and contacts, 2)  Direct connections from links that appear on your Google Profile and 3)  Secondary Connections from links that are directly related to links from your Direct Connections.  In addition, content from blog posts in your Google Reader might also be included.

But Google is not the only Major Player experimenting with the Social Graph...

Have you checked your Facebook Privacy Settings lately?  You might be interested to know that you have been automatically 'enabled' to allow your 'friends' to see where you've checked into recently. And...NO, this does not have anything to do with Foursquare!  Yelp is using social graphing to link small business and owners and Multiple Open Graph projects around the world are developing applications for global mapping.

You may have noticed that when you checked into certain sites, you would see the profile avatars of friends from your Facebook page and would be encouraged to explore their experience with a particular place or product.  For instance a recent visit to the site trip advisor brought up several individuals who in some way were connected to the place I was thinking about planning a trip to.

So...What does this have to Do With Real Estate?

Well, a heck of a lot!  You might try typing in a search for your area's homes on Google.  If you page down to the bottom, there will likely be at least one link to an agent in your local network.  You can even explore WHY they were suggested.  You might be intrigued to find that they are linked to you via Flicker, or you subscribed to their blog or Facebook fan page...or perhaps, they are linked via your Blog Roll or their RSS Feed comes into your Reader.

Don't Get Hung Up on the Wrong Thing...

If you get hung up on the fact that this agent is a competitor, you'll miss the power of the implications of this potentially HUGE momentum shifter.  It's all about Relationships Folks!  

People who are forming those connections across the web today are in a sense building city scapes; vast arenas of virtual landscape in which the web of viral connectivity is being constructed - created via the links of shared interests.  

The Future of Real Estate Search?

Is there a possibility that in the future, real estate agents will not be identified through listings or MLS database profiles?  Will your next customer lead find you within a shared base of connection which is simply awaiting the barest whisper of a mouse click to guide their search to the one they have known and trusted online for a long, long time?  A paradigm shift to be sure...but one that has the potential to impact the fundamentals in profoundly important ways.

Suggested Additional Reading:  Facebook: One Social Graph to Rule Them All

 

 

 

Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate.  Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area.  We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511. 

           

Take one house with closets already overflowing, throw in holiday decorations and a few deliveries from UPS and soon you have a house that is ready to explode. The holidays are a great time to put your home on a diet. A clean up of all of those items that have been sitting on the closet shelves for a year that you haven't used, clothes that you don't wear and old magazines gathering dust.

Over the years I have become acutely aware of the clean up and throw out process. With my numerous moves as a military spouse, emptying out my parents home of 45 years, downsizing and combining households, it has been a constant battle to sort out what is important and what needs to go. Along the way I've come to know my way to the local dump, Salvation Army and the phone number for various charities that will pick up larger donations. We are coming up on the anniversary of the last purge and have made a pact that anything in a box, except holiday decorations and true family heirlooms, must be tossed. If we didn't need it for a year then we can live without it forever.

When you are driving around do you ever notice the number of storage facilities that seem to be on every corner. In today's "throw away" society it seems a bit odd that there should be so much of a need for storage facilities. What is lurking behind all of those locked containers? Is it stuff we really need or is it easier just to tuck it away instead of dealing with it? How much money is being spent every year to store things that really should be headed to the dump or donated to a favorite charity? Could you have a vacation with the money instead?

Need some help getting started on the de-cluttering? It is over-whelming I can admit it! So here are a few ideas that helped get me started on the stuff purging:

• Pick a room-doesn't matter where you start
• Set a timeframe-only work on the room a couple of hours at a time
• Sort through it-look at it once and decide if it is a keep, toss or donate
• Don't reminisce-high school is long over, the faded corsages have got to go
• Keep the space organized-have trash bags and plastic bins handy so that you aren't surrounded by piles
• Repeat the process on the next room-move on the next day or next weekend to another space.
• Reward yourself-trust me after you have made a run to the dump you want a reward

So take a look around and decide what you really need and what is ready to go. You might be surprised how good it feels to have put your house on a clutter diet.