Copyright © 1995-2003 IRED.Com, Inc.
All the time, money and creativity in the world won't make a Web page successful if no one knows it exists and can't find it easily.
As a convenience first to myself (in the beginning, way back in February, 95!), I gathered together all the URLs of real estate sites and began sorting them according to location. 45 sites were all I could find then. Today, November, 95, I have exceeded 2000 RE sites and I suspect there are hundreds more growing like mushrooms in the dark. I know there are a couple of hundred waiting in my email files for my review and IREDnews listing.
IRED took on a life of it's own as real estate agents and consumers discovered it and let me know it was equally useful to them.
The purpose of IRED is to make all of these sites equally available and visible to the consumer to whom they are targeted.
By the time I had found 100 pages I recognized the need to help Web surfers find the better
ones before they got discouraged by construction barriers and detour signs. Then I began using icons
to indicate those I felt were truly exciting innovations and sources of inspiration: these I called
Excellent sites, which provide solid content and good
design I gave a . Many promised far more than
they delivered, so I marked them with a doghouse .
Commercial sites seemed to beg for distinction so I use a to denote commercial; then as more began to call themselves buyers agents, I
granted a to denote
the buyer's agents. Only TRUE Agents are also listed separately under
True Agents (my own personal prejudice, but I pays da money,
I makes da rules!).
Sites with enough property listings to be worth the download time for the consumer or agent who is
actually using the Web to shop, merit a 
, and
those with a search tool included are identified with a magnifying glass.
Some pages are so bad, either in design or execution, that I just couldn't resist indicating they should
be avoided until further notice. I first used the email and online ASCII convention of a "frownie," that little
:( sidewise face to indicate my disapproval...now promoted to a
.
While my opinions are purely subjective, and I can speak only for my own tastes, I bring to the table experience as an editor and 7 years as a buyer's representative whose job has always been to get inside other people's heads and see through their eyes. While I prefer warm colors to cool colors, I do not bring that kind of prejudice to the table. But I do consider that astigmatism is common enough to drive a substantial number of people running to the medicine cabinet with some of the Netscape Hyper- enhanced graphics. The psychedelic WIRED® look is great for selling CDs or soft drinks, not for selling real estate.
True agents don't sell houses, they sell information and skill at analyzing information. I want to make sure the information is palatable enough that we don't drive the buyers and sellers off the Internet before they find us.
In fact, to sell real estate via the Internet it is probably more important to sell a community than to try to sell inventory. Educate consumers about your market, what is available, what they can expect in lifestyle and value. Use the Web to demonstrate the value of YOUR service. This is your storefront. Don't waste your valuable showroom and window space.
If you have a real estate Web page, but it isn't listed in IRED, you are not on the Internet! Write with your URL, description and location so you may be listed now.
