With the proliferation of online Real Estate lead-generation services–including Zillow.com, HomeGain, HouseValues, and HurryHome–seasoned real estate agents who haven’t exactly embraced 21st Century technology are beginning to get a little nervous. How are these Internet lead-generation services going to affect the industry? More importantly, what effect will these services ultimately have on my bottom line, and what can I do to remain competitive?

Although Internet lead-generation services are certain to shake up the industry, this technology is only the most recent to affect the way we do business on a daily basis. When colleagues ask me what they can do to remain competitive, I offer the same advice I have been giving throughout my career as a real estate mentor, coach, and author:

1. Embrace change.
2. Master new technologies.
3. Market wherever your customers go.

1. Embrace change

Whenever a new technology affects your industry, you have three choices: resist it, accept it, or embrace it. Those who resist almost always lose their competitive edge. As soon as the competition adopts the new technology, you fall at least one step behind. The early you adopt the change, the sooner you can master the new technology and the easier it is to keep up with changes as it matures.

Real Estate agents who adopted Internet lead-generation technology in its infancy (2003-2004) have discovered ways to reduce bad leads, optimize their conversion rates on good leads, and minimize costs. Those who wait face a much steeper learning curve. I encourage you to get started today.

2. Master new technologies

At first, adopting a new technology may cause a slight dip in productivity, but over time, they almost always boost productivity. I can remember the time when the only gadgets I used to run my real estate office were a telephone and a handheld calculator. Now, I have computers, fax machines, a PDA / Blackberry device, a digital tape measure to estimate room sizes, broadband Internet access, numerous websites and blogs, email, instant messaging, access to a conference call center, and more. I can travel to Kenya while closing on a house in Detroit and talking with a virtual assistant who works out of her home in Mexico City.

Every technology, no matter how easy it may be to master requires some investment and “getting used to.” The same is true of Internet lead-generation services. If you are accustomed to “by referral” prospecting and print-marketing techniques, this new method may feel a little awkward at first, but I would bet that when you first entered the business, the whole thing felt a little awkward.

3. Market wherever your customers go

To thrive in sales, in any industry, you have to market via any and all media that your customers rely on for information. In the past, that meant marketing in print publications, via direct mail, on television and radio, on billboards, and by word of mouth. With more and more people seeking information on the Internet, you had better have a presence there, as well.

I encourage you to have your own website or blog, where people can find information about you and your business, homes you have listed for sale, information about the neighborhoods in your farm area, and any other information that current and prospective clients will find useful.

In addition, sign up for an Internet lead-generation service. These services provide one of the easiest ways to tap the power of the Internet for leads without having to market extensively. Lead-generation services do the heavy lifting — marketing a service to prospective home buyers and sellers, gathering their information, filtering out lower-quality leads, and delivering promising prospects right to your computer.

Remember, only you hold the answer to the ultimate question: “Internet Lead Generation: Boom or Bust?” By embracing new technology and new ways of doing business, you can capitalize on a host of new opportunities. Resist the change, and you’re likely to become technology’s latest casualty and the Realtor everyone used to talk about.

As anyone who follows me knows, real estate and mortgage fraud is on the rise! Despite increased attention to fraud prevention, statistics for 2006 show a 44 percent increase in mortgage fraud suspicious activities reports over 2005. The changing real estate market has resulted in a plethora of new fraud schemes and new twists on old techniques.

The Mortgage Fraud Blog is a leading site for mortgage fraud news and information, and its editor, Rachel Dollar–who is my co-author on “Protect Yourself from Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud”–is one of the people at the forefront in the fight against fraud. The Mortgage Fraud Blog Conference is focused on guiding lenders, mortgage brokers and other Real Estate-related industry participants in identifying and preventing fraud and recovering losses when lenders are victimized. Led by industry experts such as Rachel and myself and top-notch attorneys, the conference will begin a new dialogue and provide participants with tools to use in their daily efforts.

At the Mortgage Fraud Blog Conference you will:

• Learn to develop and effectively present evidence to management, attorneys and law enforcement.
• Watch prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys argue common fraud issues and learn
• Hear about options for recovery of fraud losses and find out what types of recovery actions are most successful
• Discover effective arguments on both sides of the repurchase issue

After attending the Mortgage Fraud Blog Conference you will:

• Know what the new schemes are and how they operate
• Understand what industry experts and law enforcement believe are the next vulnerable areas that fraudsters will target
• Be able to identify your organizational objectives and structure policies and procedures to meet them
• Know how and why appraisers commit fraud and how to protect your company
• Understand the industry and legislative initiatives being developed to combat fraud

For more information about the Mortgage Fraud Blog Conference or to reserve your spot at the, visit the Conference Registration page.

When the housing market is in a free fall and you have to sell, what do you do? You want top dollar and may also need to sell in a hurry — especially if moving day is right around the corner.

In a tight housing market, remember that you are competing with all of the other homes for sale in your neighborhood. The key to success is to make your home and the deal itself more attractive than what the competition is offering without giving away too much.

If you find yourself having to sell into a slow market, here are some tips to help you make your home more attractive and sweeten the deal to generate more interest in your home:

• Price it to the market, don’t be greedy. Most sellers tend to set the price too high, thinking their home is worth more than it really is. Check the sales prices of comparable homes that recently sold the asking prices of comparable homes that are currently for sale in your neighborhood.
• Obtain an appraisal in advance, so you know what the house is officially worth (based on the appraiser’s professional opinion).
• Use a seasoned Realtor, a veteran who has already experienced price wars in the housing market. According to the National Association of Realtors, a home sells on average for 16-percent more when the seller uses as certified Realtor.
• Have your home professionally inspected before showing it. Get everything repaired so lookers won’t have an excuse not to buy.
• Have your home professionally staged. A professional stager can transform an empty or overly cluttered house into a warm and welcoming home.
• Don’t move out before it sells, or if you have to move out, make sure you leave the home staged, so it looks lived-in. Vacant houses feel more like uninhabited caves than homes.
• Be willing to pay closing costs for the purchaser, up to 6-percent. A slow market is usually that way due to a slow economy. Buyers are strapped for cash and may need you to help in some way with the financing.
• Give your Realtor copies of all improvements to the home and any guarantees for anything like a new roof, furnace, or hot water tank.
• Make sure your Realtor is marketing your home on at least eight Internet sites, including Craigslist and Backpage.
• Realtor commissions are negotiable. Consider offering a higher commission to your Realtor as an added incentive.
• Keep your home in ready-to-show condition at all times. Do not require a 24-hour notice.
• Focus on curb appeal and making a good first impression. You do not get a second chance to make a good first impression.
• Be open to negotiating on things like leaving furniture or appliances behind.

Although you may be tempted to take the first offer that comes along, be careful. Not all offers are created equal. Here are some warning signs to watch out for:

• Someone tells you to take your house off the market for a period of time, and in exchange, the person will pay you more than the asking price later. This is usually a sign that the person plans on using your home as part of a mortgage fraud scheme in which he obtains a loan for more than the house is worth, pays you a little more than what you were asking, and pockets the excess proceeds.
• A cash back at closing deal in which the person offers you more than the home is worth if you agree to kick back the extra money at closing. (For more information on the problems associated with Cash Back at Closing offers, read my article, “ Cash Back at Closing: Appealing Arrangement or Sinister Scam “
• The buyer is not pre-approved for a mortgage loan. This person can tie up your home, preventing you from considering better offers.
• The person is offering no or very little Earnest Money Deposit. The lower the EMD, the more likely the deal will fall through.
• The prospective buyers make the purchase agreement contingent upon their home selling, and for that to happen, several other transactions must occur first. This is know as the domino effect, and you should avoid it, if possible.

You can successfully sell a home into a declining market and even profit from the sale, if you set realistic goals and work a little harder at it than your competitors. Just remember to work hard, stick to it, and avoid some of the common pitfalls described in this blog posting.

More and more people are exploring real estate investing as a way to generate additional revenue and perhaps even fund their retirement accounts. They gobble up every new book that hits the shelves, yet, most of them rarely have the confidence to take the first step.

As a Realtor, you can tap into a whole new market by catering to investors. In my book, “Flipping Houses For Dummies,” I encourage readers to avoid flying solo and build a strong investment team, consisting of a Realtor, mortgage broker, title company, appraiser, home inspector, attorney, and contractors. You probably already have a Rolodex packed with the names and contact information of professionals who can take on these roles. All you need now is an eager and capable investor to acquire the financing and put the project in gear, and you can start generating business and profits for everyone on the team, including yourself.

If you need some additional business, consider marketing yourself as a buy-fix-and-sell real estate investment team builder. Attend local meetings where real estate investors gather to talk shop and offer to speak on the valuable role that a Realtor can play on their investment teams. Let them know that you can put them in touch with the people who can simplify the process of investing in real estate.

Although many Realtors shy away from servicing investors, realize the many benefits you stand to gain:

• Increased business on both ends of the transaction — when you help an investor buy a property, that investor is more likely to hire you to sell it.
• Increased referrals. As you refer business to other real estate professionals, they are more likely to refer business to you.
• Investment opportunities of your own. As you begin to work with investors, you become exposed to investment opportunities that you may want to take advantage of.
• Other opportunities. Once you have several investors as clients, you may spot the need for other services, such as property management services for clients who choose to lease their investment properties rather than sell them.

Remember that success in any field requires that you do what you’re best at and find others to fill the gaps. Sure, all of these people charge money, but the investor simply needs to calculate everyone’s cost, including your commission, into the equation. GetFlipping.com provides a Purchase Price Estimator that can help investors determine how much they are likely to profit from a given investment property, after covering all costs, including your commission.

Remind real estate investors and would-be investors in your area, that they can manage more investment properties and increase their profits by teaming up with professionals who are already geared up to handle various aspects of the transaction. This team-based approach not only reduces the risk for novice investors, but also maximizes their profit potential.

As team leader, you act as the rainmaker and coach, putting all the pieces together. As a result, you give yourself the opportunity to tap into a totally new and potentially lucrative market.