Though I've written about this before, it's a pet peeve, and it is a business killer for a lot of real estate agents out there. I sent an email to a real estate professional at their business email address this morning. I received this automated reply: "The message you sent requires that you verify that you are a real live human being and not a spam source."

Though my question was about their website, I could have been a buyer who found one of their listings on the Web. My interest is general at this point, but I would like to know if there is a restriction relating to outbuildings for the property (example). I'm all over the Web looking at listing information, but there is mild interest in this one, if I can add a workshop. I'm sending the same question to half a dozen Realtors this morning.

My interest doesn't extend to "proving that I'm human" to this listing agent. Nobody hates SPAM more than I do. However, the last thing I would do is allow it to further damage me by losing potential business because it annoys me to scan through a spam-catcher file once a day.

I am indeed human. That's why I'm prone to annoyance when I'm required to jump through hoops to give you my business. Probably unreasonable on my part, but there are others out there like me...I think.

I really enjoyed reading Mike Farmer's discussion of the future of the individual real estate professional in garnering search engine position and the resulting business. The advantage of the deep pockets that come with the large organizations and franchises is definitely a factor.

And, over the past few weeks, I've posted here about the arguments for and against community blogging for the real estate agent. Some believe it dilutes focus, which should be on writing for those most-desired key phrases for real estate. The more you write about the local stray animal shelter, the less you're showing Google when it comes to "YourTown Real Estate."

There is also a great deal written about the "long tail" approach to the search engines. Working the less competitive and more detailed search terms is certainly an approach that brings traffic, hopefully followed by business. I wonder whether we should be thinking "big net" more than "long tail." A successful community blog will be a valuable and widely-used resource for the local residents, as well as housing a carefully crafted real estate resource segment.

I have taken this approach for my own personal real estate business, starting (January this year) a new community real estate blog with a WordPress theme that presents like a magazine, with lead and feature stories. It has already gotten me a feed from the town's PR firm and special notices from the town government. In its four month existence, I've built up almost 400 posts and pages. A great many of the posts are contributed content from local government, the PR firm, the Chamber of Commerce and businesses. The searches that bring traffic are all across the board, and few are related to real estate at this point. However, I just popped up on Google with a PR3 and thirteenth and fourteenth positions for the two most coveted "real estate" key phrases in my area.

I'll, of course, be studying how this concept flies. I expect the Google positions to improve, as well as the Page Rank. I'm adding real estate specific content on at least a weekly basis, but there is probably twice as much or more community content going up. Though I'm happy with initial results, my goal is to build a loyal repeat visitor base. Most of these visitors aren't in the real estate market right now, but they almost assuredly will be in the future. The trick for me is to get them to visit that real estate portion of the site at the right time.

Thanks to Realtor.org for a short article that illustrates an entirely new way to look at "feeding on the misfortune of others." In warm weather markets with high foreclosure rates, it seems that a fish, the Mosquitofish or Gambusia affinis, is being used in swimming pools to control the insect problem until the home sells.

I particularly like the statement that, in some areas, the agencies that placed the fish will also come back and "round them up." I've visualized a netting process, but it seems like draining the pool to catch them would be easiest...so why didn't we drain it in the first place?

In a Seeking Alpha article, CAR Forecasts 24% Price Drop for California Houses, there are some interesting charts and graphs that illustrate the still-falling home prices in California.

At the same time, the author of an article on The Mortgage Reports Blog predicts lower interest rates over the next 30 days. He is in the minority in the Bankrate.com survey, but seems convinced. Quoting from the survey: "Evidence of an economic recovery leads the U.S. Dollar higher and that should be good for mortgage-backed bonds."

Federally backed mortgage limits have been increased as well. We seem to have a trifecta of good news for the CA real estate market. The lines to buy a home in CA should start forming soon...

A couple of days ago, I posted about what might be a tidbit of good news from a Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers. It referenced an article that graphed an improvement in loan demand. The author states that his take on the report is that it shows a different picture than what we see on the news, meaning a positive piece of news.

That's why it's interesting that I received multiple feeds and Google alerts today with media negative commentary on the very same report. The article "Loan report belies talk of recovery," is a completely negative interpretation, focusing on the statements that loan standards are being tightened.

I think that I'll continue to focus on the possible good news of increased loan demand. It would hopefully indicate a return of buyers to the market.

I stumbled onto a Federal Reserve site with dynamic maps of the status of sub-prime mortgages. It is updated through December 2007, but there are some options that look forward at ARM resets over the next 12 months.

These are really great maps if you like pictorial data more than numbers. You get both anyway, as mousing over a state gives you the numerical representation. Remember that these are all sub-prime loans. Here are some interesting "top three" highlights:

• Sub-prime loans per 1000 housing units - Nevada, Florida, California
• In foreclosure per 1000 housing units - Florida, California, Nevada
• REOs per 1000 housing units - Michigan, Minnesota, California
• State's share of ARMs - Nevada, Alaska, Minnesota
• Share of loans current on payments - Oregon, Wyoming, Alaska
• Share of loans 90+ days delinquent - Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama
• Share of loans in foreclosure - Florida, Wisconsin, Ohio
• Share of low or no doc loans - California, Hawaii, New York
• Share of ARMs resetting in 12 months - Arizona, Hawaii, Florida
• Share with late payment last 12 months - Michigan, Georgia, Mississippi

Make your own judgments from this data, but I know I'll be watching these maps in the future. They make it easy to get a national picture quickly.

Statistics, opinion, or a little of both? I'm not sure, but it's nice to read anything positive about the housing situation right now. An article at TheMortgageReports.com presents a graph showing improving demand for home loan products. Far from great, "improving" is still a nice word to hear about any aspect of the housing market.

The opinion is based on data from a quarterly survey of 84 banks conducted by the Federal Reserve. It is entitled "Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices." There is also a great deal of commercial loan data, as well as HELOC demand. I think I'll just read it again...it's a nice complement to my morning coffee.

Both the House and Senate are pushing through legislation to provide tax credits to home buyers in an effort to alleviate the current housing market woes. They are similar in amount, but very different in who is eligible and on what type of properties they can be taken.

Thanks to NAR for laying it out simply in this graphic document. The House version would give first time home buyers the nod with a $7500 tax credit. The Senate bill lets anyone use their $7000 credit, but only on foreclosed and certain other properties.

In a post about the evolution of the acronym MLS, Dave Phillips over at Bloodhound Blog links out to some historical information, especially what the MLS was originally designed to do...let brokers cooperate contractually to make sure we all get paid for our services.

Real estate is fun, but few of us would do it for free. The MLS has always created an environment where brokers could share listing information and pre-agree as to who gets paid what for bringing the buyer. The public has a completely different perspective, viewing an MLS as a "Multiple Listing Service," database for their use to locate information on property listed for sale.

As these two functions become ever more separate in today's Internet world, it does appear that NAR has lost control of use of "MLS." I like BLC, the Indianapolis acronym for Broker Listing Cooperative. Dave, do you know who holds the trademark to that one, Indianapolis or NAR?

Our Taos MLS uses the FNIS Paragon online system for listings. It's pretty widely used around the country. There are many others, but I'm sure that most have main features in common. One of the most valuable features is the ability to create a custom search for a buyer. Once created, the system can be instructed to alert them automatically with an email with new listings that match their search criteria. I have more than 100 buyers receiving these alerts once a day when they have matches.

One thing about it though, is that the alert goes out once, the day the new listing enters the MLS. Keep in mind that these alerts are going to a buyer who has indicated that they want for example, a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on 1+ acre with mountain views and a price between $300k and $400k.

Jane (or John) Doe, a local agent, is in a hurry to get a matching listing into the system for other agents, and posts it without the photos. After all, they'll be in within a couple of days, right after they are tweaked for brightness, contrast, etc. The only problem is that the buyer who has specifically indicated an interest in homes just like this one, will get an alert only once, and without photos.

Sure, they can keep the MLS number and keep checking. But that's a poor substitute for an alert email with all the information, attached applicable documents, and most of all, super photos to whet their appetite. All listing agents should keep this notification function in mind, and do a complete listing profile with images before hitting the "Submit" button.

Which brings me to my rant from yesterday. I'm sure that one reason some of these listings go out on alerts without images is that the listing agent is too busy getting that agent email flyer prepared. Let's see, who do I want to really get this stuff out to in a hurry...a buyer prospect looking for a home exactly like this, or hundreds of totally uninterested agents? Hmmm.