Smart Realty Solutions

[pguyton3]

First of all I would like to say thank you to the SEOGUY staff for a great job in helping me to develop my website, www.PrestonGuyton.com. That is not the reasoning for this post. I have tried a few different IDX and VOW solutions in the past and I am now using the www.smartrealtysolutions.com IDX and VOW. It is more expensive than most of the sloutions out there, but I have not seen any solution that compares to there product.They are starting to move into different areas on the east coast, I think they just moved into the New Jersey market place. If you do not mind spending a little extra money I really think that there is not another solution that compares to it. If anyone is able to check it out on my website or the Smart Realty Solutions website let me know what you think.

[sellinggalveston]

what kind of price range?? thanks

[pguyton3]

It depends on what you set up, if you just get the Virtual office site it is about $1700 to set it up and $70 a month. They are making some changes to the Virtual Office, actually adding some great and needed tools. I have been really happy with the amount of transactions I have been closing directly from there product since I added the Virtual Office. Of course I would not have the traffic if I did not have the REW website. The Virtual Office is a great tool to keep them coming back to my website.

[frobn]

It depends on what you set up, if you just get the Virtual office site it is about $1700 to set it up and $70 a month.

That's expensive even for a custom IDX.

[cmeesoon]

Yes 1700.00 + 70.00+ per month is their min...then all the way up to 5000 + and nearly 300. per month for all their toys....just for a virtual office that tracks what clients look at on your sites DB? and the only way they get into a VOW office is they "Have-to" register...no ifs ands or buts......and Preston would not get any of those leads without a well SEO ranked site....and that is where I would spend my money [first]. Getting the people to your site is the "First Priority" and there are far better ways of capturing leads for less $ -and not require their blood type etc. before hand LOL

I would pay "mlsfinder" / wolfnet.. that kind of $ for their mapping solution with VOW before I would ever pay $ to smart idx solutions ....at least with mlsfinder you would get "ooohhh & aaahhhh" effects from clients that would then book mark your site! .....and to be honest I would not pay for either myself ..There are to many other great vendors out there that will do it as a custom one-time charge without the monthly fees.

Hey ...and if you want to get started with some better search results for your site do something like what Preston did above and put a direct link to your "home page" in your post on some top PR sites like this one...

[Falcon Living]

Preston you have a great REW website. I am the Chicago REW guy so you probably saw my design. I have a similar Virtual office solution also. but the only difference is I make sure the process is completed in one page so people know that when they give away private information they will see something. My solution is only Chicago based of course but I believe it works. But again you are a single agent and I am a brokerage. It makes all the difference.

[pguyton3]

I am starting to realize with the "registering", people do not mind giving there email address and name. This is my personal experience with my website, I also have an option where they do not have to register to search. Personally I tried a couple different IDX sloutions to no avail. I tried IHomefinder and because of the local mls they made it complicated and the search NEVER worked correctly. I am happy with VOW I use and it is a local company so it is easy for me to get changes made. Once they move into a more nationwide market I am sure there prices will drop, beleive me I would love to see it happen. As for now it works for me, I am getting about 10-20 visits a day to my Virtual Office. Closing enough to make it well worth the investment. BTW I have checked out the Chicage website, I really like it. I have not seen a REW website that I was not impressed with. That is why I came to them to design my website. I am not here to tell anyone what they should or should not use, find something that works for you and fits in your budget.

[jackwoodw]

Preston's Smart Realty Solutions IDX and VOW combination website is awesome compared to any I've ever seen. And I've looked at many all around the country.

Frobn,

"That's expensive even for a custom IDX"

Ever heard of ROI? Let me exaggerate to prove my simple point. If my website cost $20,000 to setup and $500 month that too expensive? Sure if you're not making a good money. If the same $20,000 website netted me a million dollars per year in profits, I'd laugh at you guys all the way to the bank. ROI, ROI, ROI. What I like is that most of the Realtors in my area are not business people, so they don't purchase from Smart Realty Solutions website, because they don't have any concept of ROI.. Most realtors look for a web presence, not a profitable system that works on the internet. This is great for me!

Cmeesoon.

"..and the only way they get into a VOW office is they "Have-to" register...no ifs ands or buts".

Sorry Cmeesoon, you are completely wrong. There are many ways to get contacts into Smart Realty Solutions VOW without them having to register. .

1.) All property inquiries made from the anonymous IDX search automatically registers them into the VOW. This occurs transparently in the background. So, you always get legitimate contact names, and email addresses, because the reason their making a property inquire is because they have a question, not because they want to see a picture of a home. Plus these individuals have already spent time on my IDX, so by the time they've made their inquiry, they've done most of the leg work on choosing their house without me having to lift a finger.
2.) Serious users that are ready to give up their anonymity will do so in exchange for the more powerful searching, saving properties, property notification via email, property watches when price/status/pictures change, etc, etc.. Most VOW policies don't require the agent to display the listing agent or listing office, where as IDX policies usually require one or two of both. Plus most IDX policies have some hidden IDX fields, such as address, however addresses are available in VOW. If you explain this properly on your website, some users will dive straight into the VOW registration. Blood type is not required, just First Name, Last Name and email address is only required. The agent has the option to make the phone number required.
3.) Your existing database of contacts can be automatically imported into your VOW the VOW will send a quick invitation to all of them with a few clicks. .
4.) Any walk in, phone in, meeting at a party, open house, etc., can be manually added into the Smart Realty Solutions VOW and the VOW will send a quick invitation to all of them with a few clicks.

cmeesoon

Getting the people to your site is the "First Priority",

is most certainly the wrong way to do it. That's like opening a candy store down town with thousand of pedestrian traffic each day, but once they go into your store, if the candy selection is poor and the information is inadequate, you've created a bad first impression. Ever been to a restaurant that just opened up and had a bad meal and bad service? You'll never go back, even if they change the owner, the cook and the menu. Get your IDX/VOW website up and running first, then do the SEO.

Falcon Living I checked out your website. That is no VOW website. You're simply forcing people to give up their personal information before they can even see one picture of a home. What's the point? There are several 100's of websites in Chicago that allow people to search without giving up any personal information. Why would they register in yours just to see pictures of homes? Preston's allows people to search all listings with out registering (IDX). Also, Falcon Living's property display occupies less than a third of the horizontal space, where as Preston's Smart Realty Solutions website uses the full width of the screen regardless of the resolution, with nice sized images. After all, isn't the point of an IDX website to display as much property information as possible? I only see one picture per property on your Website. Preston's Smart Realty Solutions website shows all the pictures in their original size all on one page.

I personally purchased Smart Realty Solutions IDX and VOW 3 years ago and I have tripled my business each year and have to work fewer hours. Smart Realty Solutions has made over 100 improvements in the last few years and all of them have been free! My ROI is incredible. Think ROI business people, not price! I've added a team of agents that work under me and Smart Realty Solutions has some nifty automated lead distribution systems, floor duty systems and was to preserver the loyalty of the lead sent to the team site to the team member that generated the lead. I've NEVER seen features that that anywhere. This saves me several hours per week and prevents all the bickering between agents about not getting their fair share of the leads.

[frobn]

Preston's Smart Realty Solutions IDX and VOW combination website is awesome compared to any I've ever seen. And I've looked at many all around the country.

Hmmmmmm. "Awesome to any you compared." Is it possible that I or others have seen better?

Frobn, Ever heard of ROI?

Ever heard of comparison shopping? Are you happy with your purchase? Great! Has anyone asked you to dump it? No? What's your gripe?

[pguyton3]

I know there are cheaper and solutions that are just as good as SRS. SRS works great for me and fits in my budget. If I was not closing deals by using it I would dump it. I did not intend on this to get in a heated debate about which VOW/IDX is the best. As long as the VOW/IDX gets you to the closing table and is within your budget that is all that matters. BTW jackwoodw, have you seen the new features they are adding to the VOW Dec 6? They are changing the setup to make the VOW more user friendly. You will also be able to send out custom emails(not invites, or property scout) within the VOW to the whole contact database. It is great for me because I can email all the people in the my contact database about new developments in MB, without exporting them out of the VOW. I sent out one on Monday and signed 15 people up for a houses in a new development in MB. I have been testing out the new VOW for them, if you have not seen it you will be impressed with the new features.