Every year since 2004 I have been adding my own dumb and dumber awards. Usually is it a hard slog getting so many out the door, but why was 2007 different? Anyway sit back and have a giggle at some of the dumbest moments in real estate and technology for 2007.

PBL & MICROSOFT
1. It was without doubt the most anticipated launch of 2007 and is without doubt the worst major real estate website in Australasian history. I still cringe when looking at it. How could two major companies, Ninemsn and Microsoft get something so drastically wrong? Agents found themselves subscribed to a site they had never subscribed to, with listings sold years earlier. Agents also found that agents who no longer worked at their agency were listed alongside listings no longer under their agencies control.

2. MyHome struck a cord with only themselves and thus will fade further into oblivion in 2008 unless someone steps in and makes some radical changes. MyHome incorrectly perceived themselves as pretty cool. The standout memory for me was Senior Management in the Applesque (Steve Jobs) photo pose splashed in newspapers across the land. Soon, after all senior management had gone, the site tried in vain to claw back some respectability.

3. What do you do when you have a website with only 30% of your competitors’ listings and exactly the same data within that small percentage? What do you do when statistical data tells you that people stay on your website for less time than it takes to boil a kettle? It seems MyHome’s idea was to spend millions of dollars just telling everyone about it. When will it run out? Well, as soon as the people paying the bills ask one very simple question “What are we getting in return for our money?”

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A number of my readers have had some interesting conversations with sales people from a certain real estate portal (Not Domain and not REA) and have communicated this to me on a number of occasions. I let this slip for the first one or two times but recently this has become a bit of a regular occurance.

This is how it all works. Salesperson chats to agent about joining said portal. Agent brings up some interesting comments about the portal, salesperson asks if they read this blog. Now here is where it gets interesting.

Salesperson informs agent that I am funded by one of the large portals (REA) and that a CEO of this portal (Simon Baker) is an investor in my company/this blog. I am unhappy to report that this is 100% untrue and that I have never received any monies or favours from any portal or company from this site or any of my companies. I dedicate my time and resources to this site FREE of any affiliations or involvement in any other entities other than my own.

So please come up with something better in the future, because this tactic is obviously not working. Clear?

Last week we took a look at Domain. Today we will take a look at MyHome.com.au

Overview: MyHome was announced last year as the latest real estate portal to come into play. PBL and Microsoft formed a partnership to bring a new and exciting real estate portal to the market. Many in the media panned the idea and told of delays and delays in getting the real estate portal live. But the truth be told there was not one PBL announcement of a launch date and it was more about media trying to protect and more than likely humiliate a new rival. Not forgetting that media I mean newspapers and both major newspaper chains in Australia own Domain and REA, so nothing new there.

Humiliate they didn’t, in fact they didn’t need to, MyHome self destructed on launch because of poor use of technology, little understanding of the market and an interface design that said MyHome Circa 1997. I can remember the day before the launch. I stayed up very late, excited to know that they would set it live sometime during the night early morning to make sure all was working fine. I remember just sitting there shell shocked at what I was witnessing. How can these two large companies create such a disaster? I wrote about it and blasted the whole development.

Little did I know that it really had nothing to do with the people working on the project and more to do with the half wits in charge. Note that these half wits have now moved on and we have a fresh team trying to repair the damage. These half wits are now more than likely sitting on a board of another large IT company or using someone else’s money to bring us something at least as catastrophic. John Howards’ Workplace Laws should include branding these people like cows so that no one else gets burnt the way MyHome has been. I can still see that photograph of these people sitting around a desk like they were Steve Jobs look a likes!

As for the Microsoft involvement, rumour has it no one has ever seen them around the MyHome stables and it is more of just putting a name to it.

So that was then and this is now.

MyHome do have the same problem going forward as Domain REA and that is the impending arrival of the large new entrants such as Google, Yahoo and MSN entering with their FREE classifieds websites. Domain are in bed with Google (well sort of) but big decisions are not made locally for this behemoth (Google or MSN) and we will see some holding of hands in some areas and competing in others.

Another problem is continued rumours ( I get calls and emails) that they are being shopped around to be sold by Bell Potter or somebody like them. I doubt there would be a buyer, but then again I have been wrong many times before. I did speak to a person at MyHome and they told me they have heard nothing of this, so who to believe?

So let us assume they are not being sold.

As for the current website, I have to say that it has improved considerably but still needs a real designer to come in and give it some spark. I have got a quote for them as well from one of the worlds leading interface designers and it comes in at $7,500. This would actually make the site a lot sharper to look at and immediately show they have a quality product. I am happy to provide them direct access to this person.

A look under the hood and it performs quite well. There is still usability issues as you go deeper but over time these things should (emphasis) be solved. They do need a usability expert to come in and clean up a few things but again this will not cost too much.

Screen space could also be used more effectively but yet again the problem with all of these sites are the fact that they have to accommodate 3rd party advertising and that just makes them look ungainly with white space all over the place, white space is fine if it looks clean but on this site it is white space waiting for advertisers. I really cannot stand to look at this site - it really grates me.

Finally they have dumped the 180,000 listings in all advertising - but will not tell me how many they have simply stating they have a policy of not publicising these numbers and confirming they are less than 180,000. Well I have less than 180,000 clients, I have less than $180,000 and less than 180,000 girlfriends (possibly tied to having less than $180,000)

Threats: REA and Domain will take them seriously publicly but privately the joy these companies must have shown at launch would have been interesting to note. Add all of the struggles with franchisers and talk of legal action, it really has been a bumpy ride. They will never eat into Domain and REA whilst they continue to charge fees to agents whilst they are still yet to show any real results. Things will get worse for them. Google, Yahoo and MSN are all looming large with their FREE classifieds offerings and this will have an impact on annual agents revenues. They also need to either quash the rumours of the sale or announce that they are on the market.

Future: MyHome only have one choice. Speaking with them they truly believe that they are doing a good deed for agents and trying to help them save money. They see Domain and REA as expensive and interested in the bottom line only and I am sure they market this way. My problem with this is that the owners are not warm and cuddly people, they are in business to make money just like Domain and REA. If the companies visitor numbers were reversed would MyHome still be the cheaper alternative? Not a chance in a hot place! REA and Domain charge fees they know the agents will pay, they increase fees because they know the agents will pay, I trust MyHome are the same and the only way they can prove they are not is by going 100% free.

Let’s face it, MyHome will have to be 100% free in the next few years anyway (Google Yahoo and MSN classifieds), so why waste time? Why take too long to build up listings and in turn visitor numbers? To my understanding property listing have gone down considerably since the fees were introduced.

With a new interface, a few tweaks here and there and a free listings model - MyHome could grab a big slice of this pie. If PBL are serious about this site then they will at least invest the money needed to bring the site a more professional feel, and if they have any idea about building this up they will offer it for free. Let’s face it, it is either finished or flourishing, that is what is at stake here. By being a free portal that eventually brings results to agents they will get their support and will actually really help bring competition pricing down.

This is all about what PBL are made of - so let’s see what PBL having ticking inside their hearts here. Owning a site they can be proud of building up and succeeding here after a rocky start or just giving up and selling it to someone else!

Links:
www.domain.com.au
www.realestate.com.au
www.yahooclassifieds.com
www.liveexpo.com
www.googlebase.com
www.myhome.com.au
www.commercialrealestate.com.au

Next Week: The Others - Many of Them

It seems real estate portal marketing to agents these days is all about ……..well I really don’t know what is going on. Whilst REA continue to talk about visitor numbers (at 3.7+ million and growing, why wouldn’t you?) Domain talk about how much better they are or how much faster they are growing than their competitors (easy of a lower base) and MyHome seem to be in fairyland just making stuff up.

So who can you trust? Trust your own results. If a real estate portal (small and large) wants you to give them a try, then ask for a 6 month FREE trial, if they are confident that they will bring you business then this is what you should do. New portals such as MyHome might seem cheap but if you are paying $700 per month on REA or $400 per month on Domain and you are getting plenty of enquiries then $165.00 a month for MyHome or any other portal that brings little to no results will end up being more expensive. Portal marketing will be all about their strengths, be sure to check out their weaknesses.

1. Ask for a minimum 6 month free trial with a 2 year subscription at the end of a trial if you get the results you set out.
2. Sit down and set some result benchmarks (email enquiries are the only accurate measurement) per property.

If these portals are so confident of what they can produce then they should have no problem giving you a free trial. In my opinion 3 months is not enough time to truly gauge results, so try and push for more. Remember the sales person more than likely gets paid for results, so he/she may well be a little flighty with the whole truth.

Get all agreements in writing or take a screen-shot of their terms and conditions page.

Should you export to FREE portals?
In one word yes! But there has to be some rules in place. Make sure that they have systems in place to detailed reports back to you on what listings have been added, sold, withdrawn, under offer or leased. Make sure that these reports come back to you each day and that they give you all of the details of the listing that you need without having to go to their website and check. You want to spend your time answering calls NOT checking listings or calling portals asking them to remove properties that were sold months ago. FREE portals will spring up everywhere over the next 12-18 months but do not expect to see results in the short term, often these sites take a lot longer to become successful not only for them but also for yourself. Be sure to check:

1. What is their policy on future subscriptions? Is it free for now or forever?
2. Will they ever have different types of packages, such as premium, platinum or any of that kind of rubbish?
3. Do they report back to you on each upload?

Finally, get all agreements in writing or take a screen-shot of their terms and conditions page. Oh and if they call themselves the ‘Google of Real Estate’, show them the door!

It seems MyHome are confident that they can now begin charging agents to list properties on their website. The charges will be $175.00 per month exclusive of GST (minimum 12 months @ $2,310 per annum/per office including GST). These fees are far less than the realestate.com.au and domain.com.au monthly fees.

However most agencies are more concerned with the return they receive from these portals whether they charge or not, as in many cases it does take time to post this data and check that data on many of the websites agents are subscribed to.

I would like to know how many of you regularly receive email enquiries that lead to sales or rentals? Also if you are a current member will you continue under a 12 month contract? Also are agencies still having problems with out of date and incorrect listings?