What’s new on the Web for real estate brokers and salespeople? Who’s doing it and how well is it working? Inman News asked Web site developer Advanced Access in Anaheim, Calif., for the answers. The company has 140 employees serving 22,000 clients.
IN: When was your company founded?
AA: J. Williams Inc. faithfully served the real estate industry from 1985 to 1998, forming Advanced Access in 1998. The firm currently works with real estate salespeople, brokerages, MLSs, associations and mortgage brokers.
IN: What is your company vision?
AA: The company’s vision is to continue to build upon this solid reputation in the industry, and also to continue to develop long-standing partnerships and cooperative ventures with related industry-wide associations, companies and vendors to enhance the products and services that can be offered by participating members of the real estate industry.
IN: How did Advanced Access get started?
AA: John S. Morris is the founder of Advanced Access, a subsidiary of J. Williams, a California corporation headquartered in Anaheim that has served the real estate industry with customized presentation software since 1985.
After serving in the U.S. Army, Morris became a remarkably successful real estate agent at his office in Canyon Lake, Calif.
In 1985, he and his wife Jerra founded J. Williams, the renowned software developer of the popular Sellmore, EasyFlyer and ShowPro. The couple sold the products to IRIS in 1998, then created the fast-growing Advanced Access Web design and hosting company.
IN: What is your business model?
AA: Advanced Access has designed a complicated business model that is an intricately woven plan that utilizes and draws upon both traditional models and the newer kinds of models that rely on an effective Internet presence. Advanced Access combines certain standards including those from both advertising and subscription models. These designs take full advantage of business-to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer markets.
IN: What is the most popular feature of your products?
AA: The firm is well known for its popular Classic Package Web site and more recently its newer and improved Classic Package 3.0 upgrade. Another unique feature is its IntelliC@rds program, a powerful and systematic e-mail marketing program.
IN: What are your prices?
AA: Classic Package 3.0 costs $599.95 for a comprehensive Web site resource with more than 900 pages of information for the real estate consumer. Monthly hosting is only $39.95, with annual options available.
IntelliC@rds costs $399.95 for this powerful and systematic e-mail marketing program. Both monthly and annual options are available.
IN: What are cutting-edge Realtors doing with their Web sites today?
AA: The increased usage of Internet data exchange (IDX) and virtual office Web sites (VOWs) to draw more buyers to their Web sites is certainly becoming more common if not necessary. Once potential buyers have found your Web site, creating valuable content to keep them at your site is equally important, while going through the actual transaction of buying and selling a property. Content such as community information, school and educational data, municipal or political reference pages or even public utilities, are often now being added to make sites both informative and convenient for the consumer. Also, creating private property update sections for the client to login on their Web site while our customer keeps them updated are being utilized.
IN: Are leads playing a bigger role in your Web business?
AA: Our clients’ leads from their Web sites are playing a larger role than ever before. Many of our customers report that a larger percentage than ever before of their real estate business is due to Internet leads.
IN: What changes do you see in the Web business in real estate?
AA: More buyers in the future will be relying on the Internet for their research. The percentage of those who will continue to seek out and utilize complete consumer services has steadily increased recently, and trends seem to indicate a continued rise with regards to this kind of consumer preference.
Recent advances in technology have changed the real estate industry as never before. Just as cell phones, electronic mail, increased signage, advertising, and yes, even those annoying faxes that we all receive, have changed the industry – there is still another milestone on the horizon. Advanced Access agrees with many industry experts in realizing the true importance of wireless technologies, and how they will certainly impact all real estate professionals in the very near future. Agents, who have always been motivated by profit grounded in customer service, will need to embrace this still-infant technology in order to improve that customer service philosophy.
The importance of continued improvement on both IDX data and VOWs as well as the continued integration with wireless technology will play an equally vital role because they offer both a complete and seamless solution for the real estate consumer who will demand, if not deserve, immediate, accurate and instant real estate data.
IN: How has your business changed?
AA: Family-owned and operated and internally funded, Advanced Access is a profitable organization with rapid and steady growth over the past five years. Our success has allowed us the opportunity to develop relationships with related industry-wide associations, companies and vendors to enhance the products and services that can be offered by us to participating members of the real estate industry.
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