Mediaboss Marketing

As more prospective home shoppers use their phones to find a place to live, The Real Estate Book has released a new Android App to help them find homes, interior photos, maps, and more.

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – Feb. 21, 2012 Finding a new place to live just became easier for consumers - who can now browse homes on their smartphones. The Real Estate Book recently launched an additional mobile tool - a free Android App to make looking through photos, maps, and more information a better experience for home shoppers.

Consumers may download the app for free from the Android Marketplace. According to Nielson Research, more people will own smart phones than personal computers or laptops as soon as 2013, and ComScore Research indicates that 73% of local searches (such as looking for a home) are currently performed through mobile web browsers. “Shopping for a home is an inherently mobile experience; driving through neighborhoods, in and out of cars and homes. We've always known this and this need for portability was an early contributing factor to making The Real Estate Book digest sized" says Scott Dixon, Real Estate Vertical President, Network Communications, Inc.

“Today we have combined the usefulness of a handy printed piece with the power of the mobile phone to further extend value to our advertisers and the home shopper. Our goal remains to help people find a place to live whether in print, online or mobile.”

The Real Estate Book Android App Features

Search by city, state OR zip Search Results (in Map or List views) Home Details (Photos, Price, Description, Call/Email, etc.) Save to Favorites, Save Notes, Driving Directions, Map Location, Email to a Friend Widget for Android Home Screen View in Landscape and Portrait Mode Android Operating System: 2.1+ Located in the Android Market as “Real Estate Book”

About The Real Estate Book

The Real Estate Book has been helping real estate professionals connect with buyers and sellers for over 30 years. Available in print and online in over 400 markets across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, The Real Estate Book delivers credible, proven results to its advertisers who benefit from a wealth of experience and an integrated media platform that showcases their listings in a variety of ways. With 6 million magazines in print every 4 weeks, The Real Estate Book gets nearly 2 million unique visitors on its Web site, http://www.TheRealEstateBook.com , and features thousands of homes for sale, new home communities, and local information.

About Network Communications, Inc.

Network Communications, Inc. is a leading local media company providing lead generation, advertising and Internet marketing services to the housing industry. The Company’s leading brands are Apartment Finder, The Real Estate Book, Digital Sherpa, Unique Homes, New England Home and Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles. NCI has market representation in more than 500 local markets around the United States. The Company’s strategy focuses on providing high-quality and measurable marketing solutions to local clients by leveraging its proprietary prospect-focused distribution and content management infrastructure. NCI distributes more than 9.4 million local print catalogs of apartments for rent and homes for sale every month through more than 300,000 distribution points; NCI’s websites are leading Internet destinations for consumers looking for homes to rent or buy, with an average of 2.0 million unique users every month; and it provides Internet marketing services using social media tools to its customers.

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The Real Estate Book Releases Android App to Reach More Home Shoppers On the Go

VOL. 127 | NO. 35 | Tuesday, February 21, 2012

By Sarah Baker Updated 4:54PM

First seen in Japan in the mid-1990s, quick response codes could add momentous efficiency in the residential real estate world, allowing virtual tours of houses to take place on mobile devices.

But only 14 million American mobile device users have interacted with a QR code, according to recent study by digital business analytics firm comScore Inc. That means less than 5 percent of the American public has scanned a QR code.

The QR code technology was invented by the Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, according to independent digital news website Mashable. The two-dimensional barcode was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

QR usage is growing fastest in Canada and Hong Kong, but the codes are also used frequently in the United Kingdom and the United States. That’s because Americans are often relatively slow adopters to new technology, said Joe Spake, broker with InCity Realty in Midtown.

“Japan is much more mobile than we are,” Spake said. “I think what people really don’t get about QR is that it’s a totally mobile technology. The thing that really bothers me the most is when you scan one and it doesn’t resolve to a mobile page. Or the link will be dead. Or the link won’t work. There seems to be more problems with them then them working right.”

A 15-year real estate agent, Spake is also a consultant, blogger, and self-proclaimed “techie” and social media junkie. He said because real estate has always had such a strong “push-marketing” aspect – with advertising, listings and so on – agents don’t always grasp the interaction.

“Some marketing person will say, ‘You need to be using QR codes!’ and they do,” Spake said. “They just place the QR wherever they want to and don’t bother to have the landing part of it optimized to mobile. They don’t know any better or they’re not checking. You can optimize any website to be optimized for mobile, to come up on a phone in that kind of format.”

One of the platforms on WordPress.com offers a plug-in where “it does it for you, you don’t even have to think about it,” Spake said.

For his property listings, Spake goes through a company called SinglePropertySites.com, for which he pays a monthly fee to pull information from the Multiple Listing Service. The service also allows him to upload unlimited pictures and “all of the embellishments.”

“They have in their software built in to mobilize it,” Spake said. “It actually takes the elements of the website and simplifies them and puts them down to where it’s mobile-optimized. It’s got a bunch of the information, it’s got links to the other information, but if you went back to your computer or laptop and pulled up that same URL, you get a 1,200-pixel, full Web page with bells and whistles.”

But there are also security risks related to QR codes, Spake said.

“You’re scanning stuff that you have no idea what it is,” Spake said. “They could probably run some code that would suck all of your contacts and everything away.”

Which is why he sees more Mobile Visual Searches (MVS) on the horizon in the future, such as Google Goggles.

“It’s basically an app that you take a picture of just about anything and Google will figure out what it is,” Spake said. “One of the coolest things it’ll do is Sudoko puzzles; it’ll solve the very hardest one in seconds.”

While both QR and MVS technology is slow to take hold in Memphis, Spake estimates that within five years, real estate flyer boxes will be completely obsolete.

But for now, many local residential real estate firms are banking on prospective homebuyers driving around on Sunday afternoons and are equipping flyers with QR codes, whether they have practical usages or not.

One of the first residential real estate firms to adopt QR codes in Memphis was Prudential Collins-Maury Inc. In June 2010, the company launched a new advertising campaign that packaged email blasts, social media and traditional print advertising in newspapers and postcards, both of which featured QR codes.

“We’re trying to stay on cutting edge of the latest technologies that are out there and Prudential, on a national level, has a great platform that supports QR codes, so we’ve tried to introduce it into the local market,” Prudential Collins-Maury vice president Neil Hubbard recently told The Daily News. “It’s a great way for being to see video tours of homes, photos of the homes and get in contact with our agents on a mobile platform.”

Prudential’s marketing strategy goes back to the company’s philosophy to capitalize in areas where the competition chooses not to, said relocation director Angie Ware, adding that in the dour housing market, it’s important to implement a multi-platform tool to reach one’s audience.

“We’re not targeting one type of buyer,” Ware said. “We’re targeting Internet-savvy buyers or people who have never been on the Internet, so you’ve got to be everywhere.”

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Local QR Real Estate Usage Grows Slowly

A roundup of the morning's news from The Oregonian's business desk:

Markets: Stocks are trading higher during the first day markets are open this week.

Real estate: Pat Kilkenny's bet on an 'arena district' real estate deal at the University of Oregon pays off. And the Portland Housing Bureau awards $9 million to three low-income housing developments.

Dispute: Online travel companies go on the offensive to avoid Portland’s hotel tax.

Foreclosures: A House proposal would weaken Senate foreclosure protection bills and validate MERS. Unanswered questions remain in states' foreclosure settlement.

Healthcare: Salem Health wants Oregon's new health organizations to be federally approved nonprofits -- that stay out of campaigns.

Find the latest Oregon business news at The Oregonian's Business Center or follow us on Twitter.

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Tuesday business roundup: Pat Kilkenny's Eugene real estate deal; Internet travel sites dispute Portland's hotel tax ...

Irvine, California (PRWEB) February 21, 2012

Deed and Record provides new internet service to verify California real property has been transferred into trust. Additional internet service is available to transfer real property into the trust. Deed and Record prepares California quit claim deeds and records the deeds with the county recorder’s office. This service also includes preparing and filing Preliminary Change of Ownership Report and the payment of all filing fees.
Title verification is available at http://deedandrecord.com/trust_transfers/deed_research

California trust transfer by quit claim deed is available at http://deedandrecord.com/trust_transfers/trust_transfer_deed

Call 949-474-0961 or go to http://www.deedandrecord.com for more information.

Save Money
Deed and Record is the low cost provider in quit claim deeds. Save $150 compared to other online services. The service includes recording the deed with the County Recorder’s office and payment of all filing fees at no additional cost.

Asset Transfer by Trust is a Two Step Process.
First, assets are transferred into the trust while the person is living.
Second, when the person dies assets are transferred from the trust to persons who are living as directed in the trust.
California home owners who have a trust but have not completed the transfer of assets into the trust will not avoid probate. The trust is in reality a glorified Will.
Deed and record will prepare a quit claim deed to fund the living trust, prepare and file required transfer tax exemptions and record the deed with the proper county recorder.

Why a Quit Claim Deed?
A quit claim deed does not contain any implied warranties. The owner who “quit claims” real estate simple conveys whatever ownership interest he or she has along with any debt or loans secured by the property. The quit claim owner makes no promises and the property is taken “as is.” A quit claim is the easiest and cheapest way to transfer ownership to a trust.

Why Preliminary Change of Title Report?
Each county assessor's office in California reviews all recorded deeds for that county to determine which properties require reappraisal under the law. Proposition 13 requires the county assessor to reassess the property to its current fair market value as of the date the change.
Since property taxes are based on the assessed value of a property at the time of acquisition, a current market value higher than the previously assessed Proposition 13 adjusted base year value will increase the property taxes. But there are exclusions.
Transfers in and out of a trust are exempt. To obtain the exclusion, the grantee fills out a form for the county assessor entitled Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR).

Why Record the Deed?
The deed must be made part of the public record so the world knows there has been a change of ownership. The deed must be recorded in the county where the real property is located.

Make it “Legal”
A properly prepared quit claim deed must have a legal description so the county recorder’s office can add the deed to the public chain of title. The legal description is not the street address. The legal description has at a minimum the map, block and lot number of the real estate property. County recorders will not accept a quit claim deed without a legal description.

Receive Personal Service
Now home owners can use the internet to verify title and fund trusts. Homeowners can stay at home while at the same time receive personal service from a real person.

Contact
To begin or for more information please go to http://www.DeedAndRecord.com, or call Mark at 949-474-0961 or email to Mark(at)DeedAndRecord(dot)com.

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Read more here:
New Service for California Home Owners with Unfunded Trusts

Hosting and Web domain name registration company, Melbourne IT (ASX:MLB), has suffered a net profit after tax (NPAT) loss of 16 per cent in its 2011 financial year.

NPAT was at $13.5 million, down from $16.1 million in financial year 2010.

Revenue dropped five per cent to $179.8 million.

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) plunged 11 per cent, impacted by the strong Australian dollar and $3 million transformation investment. Earnings were also affected by instability in the European economy since the company has operations in that region.

Melbourne IT embarked on a country-wide transformation project in 2010 after completing a number of acquisitions. The object was to integrate the acquired business, including disparate IT systems, into Melbourne IT and growth revenue as a result.

The project is entering its final year of implementation.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was down 13 per cent to $25 million.

Operating cashflow was, however, up two per cent to $19.1 million.

Melbourne IT CEO, Theo Hnarakis, said the losses matched projections from last year and is optimistic about the future.

“With enormous confidence, we believe we’ve managed to deal with the various challenges and positioned Melbourne IT for future growth,” he said. “We’ve probably had our two hardest years behind us and looking ahead we think there’s some great success ahead of us.”

While the first half of the year was challenging for Melbourne IT, Hnarakis said there was a significant rebound in the second half. He expected the rebound to continue into the company’s 2012 financial year.

In terms of revenue in each business unit, digital brand services remained steady and actually grew by eight per cent to $55.3 million.

Enterprise services, on the other hand, dropped 15 per cent to $26.8 million. The company blamed this on absence of larger project contracts in 2011 but it managed to stave off further losses by refocusing efforts on annuity revenue in the second half of its financial year.

Hnarakis said, while the results are fairly average this time around, his company has invested heavily into that division, which is expected to have double digit growth in revenue and profit.

As traditional businesses begin to seriously invest in online strategies, Melbourne IT is expecting significant opportunities to emerge.

The company is also looking forward to getting a slice of a multi-billion dollar market as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) lifts restrictions on top-level domain names in 2013.

It is currently sitting on 120 applications for .brand domain names to the ICAAN. Melbourne IT charges between $50,000 to $100,000 processing fee per application. The company expect more applications to roll in before the close date.

Melbourne IT’s SMB and reseller program, global partners solutions, segment was down nine per cent in revenue to $89.4 million. Within that division, domain registration revenue was down 13 per cent to $54 million.

Hnarakis said the company is still committed to the partner model but it does have plans to initiate a strong direct selling strategy which would be detrimental to the revenue of its channel partner.

As a way to turn the tides, Melbourne IT is looking to expand into emerging markets with new partners already signed in the Philippines and India.

The company noted IT services revenue continued to grow with services and consulting making up 63 per cent of revenue in its 2011 financial year.

Net debt for Melbourne IT is at $21.2 million.

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Updated: Melbourne IT profit down 16 per cent