Houston Real Estate Blog

From the monthly archives:

September 2010

John Daugherty Realtors Makes Leading Real Estate Companies of the World List

September 22, 2010

By: Michelle Sandlin
Director of Global Relocation Services

Each month, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® puts out its “Most Improved” lists. I am very proud to report that for the second time in 4 months, that John Daugherty, Realtors appears on that list! For the month of August, we made the list of “Most Improved Outgoing Revenue-Generating Closings” with a ranking of #4. Back in May, we were included in the list of “Most Improved Sales Production Rate,” and were ranked #5. This is a very noteworthy accomplishment for us, as I have been working very closely with the agents at our company since taking the reins of our Global Relocation Services Division, to ensure that we are capitalizing on Broker-to-Broker referral opportunities with our Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® partners.

So what am I doing to promote Broker-to-Broker referrals, and to keep them top-of-mind with our agents? Well, for one thing, I am always included in our weekly Sales Meetings, which gives me an opportunity to recognize and thank the agents each week who have sent outgoing referrals. I am also congratulating those who have had recent closings as a result of outgoing referrals sent to our partners.

To read more, click on: Houston Relocation Blog

Google Has Acquired Quicksee – 3D Video Tour Software

September 20, 2010

On September 13th, MentorWave Technologies announced on their website that Google has acquired their product, Quicksee, for $12 Million. Quicksee is video tour software that allows you to take your video camera and shoot a video of your surroundings, then upload it to create a 3D video. Visit their website for a demo, it’s some pretty cool stuff! This works the same way that Google’s street view works; it allows you to pan the area 360 degrees. What makes this cool is you don’t have to have an expensive camera to create your own virtual tour any more. You can use your own video camera or iPhone! Click here to check it out

It will be interesting to see what Google will do with this technology. However, I can definitely see a good use for it in the real estate industry. In my opinion, this is better than the traditional virtual tours that real estate agents use today. This technology creates a virtual tour as if you are actually walking through the house, not just standing in one room spinning around, as most virtual tours do. Being able to create a virtual tour of your listings on the fly with your iPhone is absolutely amazing! What a great way to promote seller’s homes on the web.

I am looking forward to seeing this in action soon.