1. Learn to sort the three lead types quickly.

Before you fire off a blanket reply to a potential customer, identify whether the consumer is looking for a fast answer to a question, for research and insight, or for you to reach out with a phone call, and respond in the best way.

• If they’re asking for information on a listing or to set up a showing, you need to respond immediately with answers or an action plan for meeting their needs.
• If they are asking for your thoughts on a real estate situation or have asked multiple questions, they are expecting a more thorough response, so you may need more time to answer thoughtfully. For this lead, respond immediately with a message acknowledgement and let them know when to expect a more complete response. You never want to leave one of these high-interest leads waiting.
• Finally, here is the most important rule of dealing with an online consumer: If they give you a phone number, CALL THEM. Pick up your phone without hesitation and as soon as you can. They wouldn’t give it to you if they didn’t want you to call.

2. Draft your responses in advance.

Set yourself up for success by having pre-written email responses and mobile replies saved that you can paste in, customize, and send out.

The first draft response, which is an easy go-to if you are out with clients and can’t customize a response, is “Thanks so much for your inquiry/showing request/question. I’m out of the office right now but I will be back in touch at x pm today with an answer to your question.” You’ve given the instant response that the online consumer is looking for, and you can follow up with more information at a more convenient time later in the day.

You may also find it helpful to pre-write email answers to common questions that many of your clients or prospects ask. My two most used email drafts? One explains the difference between short sale and foreclosure listings, and the other gives my list of recommended lenders. I’ve used both of these more times than I can count.

3. Set up smart alerts and filters on your smartphone.

Use technology tools to give you a leg up. Your smartphone is smart for a reason, right? Filter incoming email leads into a priority folder so you can find and respond to them easily from your phone or tablet while you are on the go. If you’re a Gmail user with an Android, this is already set up for you. If you’re not, take advantage of the “rules” function in your Outlook or email service setup to automatically sort inquiries from Trulia and other lead generation tools into a special folder.

In addition to filters, you need to make sure you have special alerts set for incoming leads. On any smartphone you can enable text and voice notifications of new Trulia leads and set a noticeably different ringtone for leads coming in from your custom Trulia phone number. If you’re an iPhone or iPad user, you should also download the Trulia Agent App for iOS and be sure to set up custom alerts in your phone’s “Settings” app.

As busy agents, especially during the spring market, we have to keep an arsenal of time-saving tips within reach. Using these fast response ideas will help you easily win over the consumer who is ready and waiting for your assistance.

I have been on Trulia for many years. I get a fair amount of leads by answering questions in Trulia Voices. I’ve had listings, I’ve had buyers… it’s a good lead generation method that works nicely for me.

With some regularity I get “stock” leads through Trulia, and they always say the same thing:

Alan May, I am looking for a real estate professional to work with and came upon your profile on Trulia. Please reply to this email or even better please call me if you are interested in scheduling a time for us to talk. Thank you

It sounds “canned,” doesn’t it? So I press the “spam” button, and send them off into “lead purgatory” so they won’t bother me anymore. After all, I can smell a sales pitch when I see one. In fact, I had two of those this morning – sent both right into spam.

Every now and then, a member of the Trulia public will ask: “Why don’t any of the agents on Trulia respond to our contact requests?“… and I will answer: “Some agents don’t check their emails regularly” or “Some agents might have a profile on Trulia, but never check their account…” or something along those lines. After all, I can’t think of any legitimate reason why an agent wouldn’t respond to an inquiry.

Well…. yesterday I got a phone call while in the car on my way to an appointment … she started with “Hi… is this Alan? I am looking for a real estate professional to work with… are you interested in scheduling a time to meet with me?”

It was almost as though she was reading the very same language I’d seen in those spam emails. I wondered what they were trying to sell me now. So I responded rather curtly “What’s this about?” She went on to say that she and her husband were looking to purchase a home in the Evanston area, and they’re looking for an agent familiar with the area… etc… etc… etc… It’s a real call! I change my tone right away, and we set up an appointment to meet and go over their parameters.

So, as part of my exit conversation, I ask “So, how did you find me?”… and she tells me, “I found you on Trulia. You’re very prominent there, and I like the comments that you leave. You seem knowledgeable and friendly.” Then she drops the bombshell: “I pressed the ‘Contact Me’ button under your photo and sent you a note twice… but I guess it didn’t get through.”

Dunn… dunnn…. dunnnnnn.

So I go back into my leads on Trulia, and check… and sure enough, there’s her phone number attached to one of those “canned” inquiries. It’s then that I realize, that’s the standard language that comes up when a reader presses the “Contact the Agent” button. How would I know that, since I’ve never clicked on that button before?

Yikes!

I start to look backward in my leads, and there are two more recent ones. I call the numbers… and sure enough… they’re legitimate leads. Real people at the end of those calls, looking for real estate assistance from the guy they perceived to be on Trulia all the time, and thinking surely he’ll respond to their contact request.

More yikes!

So… for all of you people who’ve tried to contact me through Trulia before and have reached a dead-end, I apologize. I will be looking at my Trulia leads far more carefully from now on.

UPDATE: After hearing about this, Trulia is brainstorming some new language for the standard contact comment. Now THAT’S responsive! Thanks Pete… thanks Emily.

Visit Your My Leads Inbox on Trulia to make sure you haven’t overlooked a legitimate lead.

Today Trulia announced a strategic alliance with Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, Inc. (BAREIS MLS®) to directly syndicate the listings of its 8,000 members to Trulia, providing consumers with the most accurate information on homes for sale in five Northern San Francisco Bay Area counties including Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, and Solano.

With the addition of BAREIS MLS®, the majority of the MLSs in the Bay Area are now working with Trulia. Trulia already receives direct feeds from MLSListings, Bay East, and Contra Costa MLS, meaning Bay Area homebuyers can have an extremely high degree of confidence that the data they see on Trulia is correct. As part of its alliance with Trulia, BAREIS will also participate in the Trulia Direct Reference program, under which Trulia notifies listing agents and brokers about any discrepancies between the data provided by the MLS and information from other syndicators.

Listings from BAREIS MLS® will now be seen by the more than 23 million* serious home-buyers and sellers coming to Trulia each month to get the inside scoop on real estate they can’t find anywhere else. BAREIS MLS® will syndicate all of its listings unless the listing is not approved for the internet.

“Our membership is dedicated to providing the most accurate data on the internet to buyers and sellers working with the real estate professionals in our region,” said Jim Branscombe, President and CEO of BAREIS MLS®.  “There is an explosion of data and a great deal of that information is not accurate or kept up to date. Building strategic alliances with major real estate portals like Trulia will ensure the best data is available to the public and support the efforts of our real estate professionals to list and sell property. BAREIS MLS® has operated its own public site for 14 years, and this relationship we are forging with Trulia is similar to the relationships we have with other public internet sites we have worked with in that we are providing all active listing data approved for internet display.”

As part of the agreement, Trulia will abide by the guidelines established by the Trulia Data Pledge for listing syndication that launched in January 2012.

This alliance follows the recent announcement of our partnership with MRED in Chicago and several other MLS’s that have joined our Trulia Direct Reference program. We look forward to our collaboration with these organizations and delivering high quality listing information to home buyers in these areas.

*Omniture, April 2012

April’s Price Rise Makes a Three-Month Streak

Nationally, housing prices have bottomed and are on the rise. Asking prices on for-sale homes were 1.9% higher in April than one quarter ago. A 0.5% month-over-month rise in April, on top of month-over-month price increases in March and February, makes for three months in a row of rising asking prices, after adjusting for typical seasonal trends. In fact, prices have been stable or rising for the past eight months, except for a dip in December 2011. This marks a new milestone: asking prices were 0.2% higher in April than a year ago. Before April, prices were still falling year-over-year.

Not only are rising prices starting to look like a real trend: they’re also coming to a market near you — if they haven’t already. Asking prices increased year-over-year in 44 out of the 100 largest metropolitan areas, with Miami and Phoenix leading the charge.

Why these markets? One factor is job growth, which boosts housing demand. Miami, Phoenix, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills (suburban Detroit) and Denver all saw strong employment gains in the past year. Another factor is the big price declines after the bubble, which attracted house hunters and investors searching for bargains to those markets. Most of the metros with the largest price increases in the last year had huge price declines during the bust, including Phoenix, Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills and the four Florida metros in the top ten. But among the metros with the largest price declines over the past year, only three–Sacramento, Las Vegas and Fresno–had huge overall price drops after the bubble burst.

Note: Rankings based on the year-over-year changes in asking price among the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas.

Seattleites, take heart: in the most recent quarter, most of the metros with year-over-over price declines have turned around. Prices rose quarter over quarter in 92 of the 100 largest metros, including in Seattle, Las Vegas and Atlanta.

Rents Keep Marching Upward

Rental demand remains strong, with rents rising 5.6% nationally year over year. One reason for this continuous climb is job growth, as the metros with the largest rent increases tend to have fast job growth, like San Francisco and San Jose. But another reason why rents keep going up is the decline in homeownership: foreclosures forced some owners to become renters, while tight credit and the weak job market put homeownership out of reach for many others. The result: rents have risen even while prices were falling, and now that prices are rising, rents are rising even faster.

Note: Rankings based on the year-over-year changes in asking rents among the largest U.S. metropolitan areas.

Let’s Get Local: What About Prices and Rents in My Neighborhood?

Even within a metro area, neighborhoods have their own price and rent trends. This month we looked at trends within five large metros: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC and the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the New York area, prices rose year over year in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island, while declining in the rest of the region. But rents rose everywhere – both in the City and suburban areas.

Note: In these tables, asterisks (*) denote areas where sample sizes are too small to report year-over-year changes in rents.

In Los Angeles, asking prices increased only in the downtown area. Prices fell elsewhere throughout the region, most of all in Long Beach. As in New York, though, rents rose throughout the region, except for Long Beach, with downtown LA experiencing both the biggest increases in prices and rents.

All evidence points to the fact that we are entering the mobile era, and if you’re holding back on embracing mobile for your business because you think it’s a passing fad or a slow-moving migration, think again. Technology changes fast, and consumers are keeping pace.

Here are some of the key reasons why now is the time to go mobile for your business:

1. PCs are just one tool consumers use to search.

iPads, tablets, and smartphones, oh my! With these amazing new innovations that fit in a purse or pocket and keep you connected while you’re on the go, it’s no wonder that the PC is losing its place as the primary tool to surf the web. Smartphone sales surpassed PC sales for the first time in 2011 and tablet sales are expected to surpass PC sales in just 2-3 years.

Bottom line: Make sure that your profile and listings are available not just online, but on mobile as well! You can reach Trulia’s mobile audience with the brand-new Trulia Mobile Ads.

2. Apps are where it’s at!

Apps are a lot more than fun games and productivity tools – they are the mainstay of how content is consumed on mobile devices. The regular browser just doesn’t cut it. and recent studies show that people are actually spending more time using mobile apps than they do on websites!

At Trulia we’ve seen our own mobile traffic grow 250% in one just one year, and we are hard at work perfecting the mobile search experience to meet the needs of today’s on-the-go house-hunter.

Bottom line: Your listings must be on the latest and greatest mobile apps! Trulia Mobile Ads give you premium placement on Trulia’s top-rated iPhone and Android apps.

3. Mobile consumers are action-oriented and ready to connect.

Mobile consumers are motivated consumers. They want what they want when they want it and, thanks to their 4G connection, they don’t have to wait to accomplish a task, search for information, or make a purchase. Research shows that 70% of all mobile searches result in action, and 61% call after they search.

Bottom line: Your contact information needs to be front and center to home-searchers using mobile! With Trulia Mobile Ads, buyers in your area can reach you with the touch of a button.

4. You need to reply fast and first!

When a buyer finds the home of their dreams, they don’t want to waste any time, and that includes time spent waiting for a reply from a real estate agent. The odds of reaching a prospect are 100 times better when called in 5 minutes versus 30. If you don’t pick up the phone or reply within just a few minutes, your potential prospect will call someone else who is available.

Bottom line: Leverage mobile technology to maximize your efficiency and availability. You need to be using a mobile device to ensure that you’re accessible when your next lead finds their new home.

This is only the beginning of the coming mobile revolution. Get in on the ground floor now so you don’t get left behind.

House hunters are increasingly turning to mobile devices to search for their next place to live – on Trulia we’ve seen mobile traffic grow by 250% in the past year alone and mobile now accounts for more than 30% of Trulia’s weekend search traffic as buyers drive through neighborhoods and visit open homes. What’s more is that buyers using mobile to search are serious and ready to engage with a real estate professional. Our research has shown that buyers searching for homes on mobile devices are 60% more likely to contact an agent than buyers who are searching on traditional devices.

Clearly, the expansion of the mobile consumer audience brings with it exciting new possibilities and prospects, and that’s why we’re delighted to unveil our newest product that will help you generate more exposure for your brand and provide more opportunities to connect with your most valuable clients: Trulia Mobile Ads!

Trulia Mobile Ads are an exclusive opportunity to target the most serious, transaction-ready buyers as they search on their mobile devices. When you purchase Trulia Mobile Ads you’ll enjoy the following benefits:

Premium Placement on Trulia’s top-rated iPhone and Android Apps

A branded banner ad with your photo, name and phone number will display at the top of the map search results screen and will link to a full screen ad with a prominent lead capture form. Consumers browsing Trulia’s mobile website using their phones will also see your ad.

Hyper-Local Targeting and Exclusive Access

With Trulia Mobile Ads you will own the most exclusive ad spot on Trulia in the zip code of your choice. Five ad spots are available in each zip code and you can buy them all to own your mobile market.

Easily Captured Phone Leads and Calls

Trulia Mobile Ads let buyers in your area reach you with the touch of a button. Buyers can call you right from the banner or the ‘Call Now’ button from your full screen ad. With Trulia Mobile Ads your next client is truly just one touch away.

Don’t miss out on your chance to get in on the ground floor of this exciting new product and to define yourself as a leader in this new lead market. Mobile is the future of real estate and you are officially invited to call now and reserve your spot in this exciting, new real estate marketing space.

Make sure your current clients and prospects know what to expect during the selling process and how they can help get their home sold with this free guide.

With Getting to Sold they’ll learn:

• The biggest selling mistakes to avoid
• How agents use comparables to find the right home price
• Open house dos and don’ts

Download it now to give your sellers the advantage — along with some much-needed peace of mind.

Here are my top three strategies to build a rental client list:

1. Use your current network (beyond just real estate).

Just like sales, the rental business is a relationship business. To build your client base, make sure all your networks – including sales clients, community groups, and social networks – know that you work in rentals. You can do this with simple tactics like adding rental listings and data to your email newsletters, business cards, and online profiles or mentioning rentals occasionally when you post on Facebook.

You never know who is moving into your area or when one of your contacts knows someone who will be soon. You’ll only get the referral if people know you have the ability and desire to help them.

2. Market your listings online.

In real estate, nothing attracts consumers’ eyes like the product itself. Posting listings to websites – like Craigslist and Trulia – where renters search for their next home is important if you want to catch clients. Your listings are a chance to make an impression, so make sure to take great photos and include detailed and accurate information.

3. Find the “Doormen.”

Each rental market is unique, so learn as much as possible about your market in general and your ideal niche within it Introduce yourself to key players and brand yourself as a rental agent. In New York City, where potential renters often walk into professionally managed buildings without an agent to inquire about upcoming vacancies, I found that doormen were key players. I got to know the doormen in my area and made sure they had my business cards so when these situations arose, they would pass along my card or call me and I’d get the client. The lesson is simple. Find the “gatekeepers” to rental information in your area and make sure you get connected.

Building a network that helps you make money in rentals takes both effort and creativity. Use these strategies to start your networking, and you’ll be well on your way to attracting new renter clients who can improve your bottom line.

How can you leverage video for marketing your business and listings? We’re glad you asked. Here are some ideas you can use immediately:

1. Give a better picture of your listings.

Still shots can sometimes leave prospects unsure. Video tours can help your audience judge a space and see important details they might miss in a photo.

Prospective buyers want good information they can consume fast. Using your smart phone or camera, you can offer a much-needed live look at a home, impress your seller clients, and attract more buyers by sharing more information.

Whether you’re adding the link to your listing on Trulia or sharing it on Facebook, if you learn a few of the best practices, video tours can be a great way to enhance your marketing efforts by giving prospects a real look inside the property.

2.  Prepare buyers and sellers with a local market update.

Reading stats can be a bore for most consumers. However, as popular segments on the Today show and many other news programs show, people like to watch real estate experts talk shop.

Consider giving a market update for your area as a video and sharing it on Trulia Voices, your blog, and Facebook. These videos put prospects in touch with both your personality and expertise.

3. Share video testimonials from clients.

Clients are talking about you already to their friends and networks. Why not ask them to have that conversation on video?

A video testimonial is a great way to make a current or past client feel important, increase your exposure to that client’s network, and develop great content to share in your marketing.

Now that you can manually add recommendations from elsewhere to Trulia, you can use quotes from a video recommendation and a link to full video on your Trulia profile to share with future clients.

Don’t overthink the production. Shoot it as an interview — ask a few leading questions and see where the conversation goes.

Some good conversation-starters:

• What were the top two benefits of working with me?
• Why would you choose to work with me again over another agent?
• Describe how I helped you work through some of the hurdles involved in your transaction.

Get more tips and advice on shooting, editing, and sharing….

Video can be a great tool if you know how to produce high-quality videos with the resources you have. For help on how to bring your video marketing aspirations to life, register for this upcoming webinar with video expert and real estate agent Brian Copeland: Using Video to Close More Deals

March data, released over the past few days, showed:

—Construction starts slipped in March. The decline in annualized starts from 694,000 to 654,000 pushed starts from 21% of the way back to normal in February down to just 17% in March.

—Existing home sales also slipped, from 4.60 million to 4.48 million. Home sales fell from 48% of the way back to normal in February to 41% in March.

—The delinquency + foreclosure rate improved. (Remember, on this measure, lower is better.) In March, 11.23% of mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure, versus 11.70% in February, which means that this measure improved from 32% back to normal in February to 37% in March.  As we learned from Truila’s December 2011 consumer survey, this is key for consumer confidence: 47% of Americans said fewer defaults and foreclosures would give them confidence that the housing market is getting back on track – more than any other indicator of recovery.

Averaging these three back-to-normal percentages together, the market is now 32% of the way back to normal. That’s a bit lower than in January and February, when the market was 34% of the way back to normal, but still higher than it was in 2011. In fact, the market was only 23% of the way back to normal this time last year.

Bottom Line: The housing recovery is progressing, though it’s taken one step backwards after a few strides forward.

About the Housing Barometer: This update is Trulia’s Chief Economist monthly roundup of new construction starts, existing-home sales and the delinquency-plus-foreclosure rate to see how far away we are from a normal housing market.