Inman’s Agent ReBoot Hits Austin, Tuesday October 4 – An Austin Real Estate Quiz

Inman’s Agent ReBoot is coming to Austin, tomorrow, Tuesday October 4. I have some hot free tickets for the first two people who can tell me two things: 

1. The address of Rick Perry’s first home (in Texas)

2. What was Rick Perry’s capital gain on thr Austin lot he sold to Michael Dell?

What, you may ask, is Agent ReBoot and why do I want to be there?

Short answer:  ReBoot is a mini Inman Connect for brokers, agents, investors, anyone interested in the latest real estate technology news. In one day you’ll hear experts from across the country tell you how to use technology more effectively to “reboot” your business, retool yourself with the latest real estate hotties to get properties sold.

Inman News is an on-line real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary, always reported with a tech overtone. Geared for industry professionals and real estate consumers, it’s the place where you learn what’s going on in real estate before anyone else does. I attended my first Inman Connect in San Francisco, by accident, about four summers ago and thought I had entered if not another world a part of California where English was not the primary language. I heard about this thing called Twitter and Blue Skies and Cloud computing when the concepts were so new, so foreign, I thought perhaps this was the new tongue of Cali. My meeting is what inspired me to start a real estate blog! I soon learned that Inman was a place that didn’t focus on what real estate is doing now (and wring hands, and sigh), it focused on tomorrow and how technology was shaping the future, how it could be used to re-tool agents, to survive. You know who’s a scary guy? Craig Newman, founder of Craig’s List. He’s scary to agents because his site lists homes for sale without agents. Craig spoke at my first Connect and was grilled by the agents. But my best memory is seeing Spencer Rascoff, co-founder or some executive of Zillow (because we just love Zillow’s Zestimates, especially here in Texas, NOT!) getting not just grilled but skewered by agents and national experts. Two years ago Inman brought Bob Shiller of the famously gloomy Case Shiller report to NYC Connect to a packed audience of agents so terrified of the cratering market I heard the pharmacies near the Times Square Marriott had a run on anti-depressants.

Inman basically takes your worst fears, places them in front of you, and says OK, let’s get the convo going.

And let’s face it: some Austin agents are still having trouble turning on a computer. I love the agents who call what I do “blobbing.” (You call it whatever your heart desires!) They want to FaceBook, not sure how. Video? Oh my. Only .8% of agents across the country use video in their listings even though it helps promote your listings amd sell homes tremendously.  Inman is where you will get the know-how and learn how to use video and other tricks to increase your SEO.

My what? SEO?

I told you, you need this course! Especially if you are getting tired of spending big bucks on print. In fact, the sub-head for this event may well be: How To Save Your (Thousands) of Dollars on Useless Print Advertising and Start Using Internet Tools to Market.