Zillow's 'social CEO' sounds off on Twitter, company's future

Connect speaker profile: Spencer Rascoff

BY PAUL HAGEY, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2012.

Inman News®

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff on stage at Real Estate Connect San Francisco.

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff has had quite a year.

Zillow signed agreements in 2012 to acquire four companies (RentJuice, Buyfolio, Mortechand Hotpads) and at the end of the third quarter had 508 full-time employees, up 54 percent from a year ago.

The nation's most-visited real estate website also boosted the number of "Premier Agent" advertising subscribers by 80 percent (to 26,703 as of Sept. 30), unleashed a free online foreclosure database, and launched its firstnational TV ad campaign.

To help fuel this growth, last year Zillow pulled off a $75.7 million initial public offering -- helping bring back the market for IPOs in the process. The company recently raised another $156.7 million in a secondary offering that closed Sept. 24.

Rascoff, 36, was named to Fortune Magazine's "40 hottest rising business stars under 40."

He's been called a "social CEO." He writes a blog, contributes to LinkedIn's "influencer" program, and Tweets frequently.

Social media lets brokers get proactive about recruiting

Once prospects are identified, vet them closely

BY MATT CARTER, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2012.

Inman News®

Job interview image via Shutterstock.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- With housing markets on the mend, competition for top agents is heating up, and real estate brokers should be using social media sites like LinkedIn to proactively target agents they want to recruit instead of posting a help wanted ad and waiting passively for responses to come in.

That's the advice former headhunter Daniel Abramson had for real estate brokers attending the National Association of Realtors' annual Realtors Conference and Expo in Orlando today.

But identifying good prospects is only half of the equation, said Abramson, the president and founder of training and coaching firm StaffDynamics. In-depth interviews are needed to determine who's got the right combination of people skills and determination to succeed.

Social networking "is only a vehicle for bringing in people. You still have to interview them," Abramson said.

Fannie, Freddie fee hikes eyed in 5 judicial foreclosure states

Regulator: Cost of repossessions higher in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, NJ and NY

BY INMAN NEWS, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012 Inman News®

Gavel image via Shutterstock.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is seeking public comment on a proposal to raise the guarantee fees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge lenders in five states where costs related to foreclosure practices are significantly higher than the national average.

These five states are Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York. According to the proposal, lenders would have to pay an upfront fee of between 15 and 30 basis points -- 0.15 to 0.3 percent -- for each single-family mortgage originated in those states and later acquired by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

That increase means that a borrower in an affected state obtaining a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of $200,000 could see his or her monthly mortgage payment rise by about $3.50 to $7, the regulator said.

The FHFA chose the five states based on three factors: the expected number of days it takes Fannie or Freddie to foreclose and obtain title to a property; the average per-day carrying costs Fannie and Freddie incur in a state; and the expected national average default rate on a single-family mortgage acquired by Fannie and Freddie. The size of the fee increase will depend on how much a particular state deviates from the national average.

The real cost of social media

Landing prospects through social media requires an investment of time

BY DAVID FLETCHER, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2012 Inman News®

Infinite time image via Shutterstock.

With the help of a marketing professional with a doctorate in psychology, I am gradually overcoming what I thought was an incurable disease: socialmediaphobia.

I fear what I don't understand, and I have not understood exactly what social media I needed, why I needed it or what it would cost.

Fortunately, thanks to LinkedIn, a social media site known for its business contacts, I met someone who could help.

Barbara Lemaire, owner of Social Media Made Simple.info, invited me to connect with her on LinkedIn. When I saw that she was a Ph.D. with a website that said she was "first and foremost a marketing professional," I practically blurted out my concern about social media and its cost to operate.

Health Care Reform Real Estate Tax

The facts from NAR:

The most important takeaways for REALTORS® when it comes to the 3.8% tax that’s part of health care reform:

1. When you add up all of your income from every possible source, and that total is less than $200,000 ($250,000 on a joint tax return), you will not be subject to this tax.
2. The 3.8% tax will never be collected as a transfer tax on real estate of any type, so you’ll never pay this tax at the time that you purchase a home or other investment property.
3. You’ll never pay this tax at settlement when you sell your home or investment property. Any capital gain you realize at settlement is just one component of that year’s gross income.

Report: Countrywide tried to influence policymakers Lawmakers positioned to affect GSE reform received discounted loans

BY INMAN NEWS, TUESDAY, JULY 17, 2012 Inman News®

Gifts image via Shutterstock.

Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp. gave sweetheart deals on mortgage loans to members of Congress and other influential Washington policymakers with the goal of reaping political and financial benefits, according to a Congressional committeereport.

The report, released earlier this month, is the result of a three-year investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.

The investigation began after the news media began reporting that several lawmakers and other government officials got loans through a VIP program referred to as "Friends of Angelo." Angelo Mozilo was CEO of Countrywide.

Find the 'why' and they will buy | Instead of segmenting buyers, scope out their attitudes and feelings

BY DAVID FLETCHER, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 Inman News®

Fortune teller image via Shutterstock.

Today I issue a wake-up call to real estate agents everywhere: Stop worrying about reaching specific market segments.

You don't need to know about Generation X, Generation Y, Millennials, or the up-and-comers or the down-and-goners.

You want to label your prospects? I have the only three you need: ready, willing and able. Your problem is not the number of prospects you are working with. Many of you have more than you can handle now. Find the "why" and they will tend to buy.

Take your photo strategy beyond listings | Realtor Notebook

BY TERESA BOARDMAN Inman News®

St. Paul, Minn. Victorian home photo credit Teresa Boardman.

Home buying and selling activity started picking up a few months ago and is still going strong. But for me, it is also photography season.

I have an endless, inexhaustible need for photographs for blog posts and for advertising, and everything seems to look better in June. Some of the photographs I will take in the next two months will be sold next winter, and others will bring me clients.