Zillow’s New Take On Listing Photos: The Real Word

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Byron Lazine and Nicole White are two agents in Connecticut who give us their thoughts on the week’s news every Friday in “The Real Word,” a weekly video column on Inman.

This week, Lazine and White are talking about Zillow’s acquisition of VRX Media, the hottest housing markets for 2023 and topics from left, middle and right.

Topic No. 1: Zillow Group acquires VRX Media

Zillow has acquired VRX Media which will live under the ShowingTime+ platform. VRX Media has aerial drone photography, 3D tours, virtual staging and other products to create enhanced visual elements for marketing listings. Lazine believes that from things Zillow execs have said, interactive floorplans and virtual tours are a big impetus behind this purchase. Release is scheduled for 2023.

Topic No. 2: Hottest housing markets for 2023

Realtor.com has come out with its 2023 predictions for the hottest metropolitan housing markets. Ranked in order, they include:

1. Hartford-West Hartford, Connecticut
2. El Paso, Texas
3. Louisville, Kentucky
4. Worcester, Massachusetts
5. Buffalo-Cheektowaga, New York
6. Augusta-Richmond County, Georgia
7. Grand Rapids, Michigan
8. Columbia, South Carolina
9. Chattanooga, Tennessee
10. Toledo, Ohio

Left, middle right

10-year Treasury yield falls after lighter than expected inflation reading

According to Lazine, if we see the same reaction to this that we saw last month, we could see buyers coming out of the woodwork in the end of December. Too many agents are saying “next year” and forgetting that there is still some time left in this year. If rates are in the fives, it’s time to reach out to buyers and keep working with this good news.

Agents call out San Antonio’s negative traits on YouTube

The media is attacking a San Antonio agent for saying negative (and honest) things about the city on his YouTube channel in order to keep it real for those who are moving there. Lazine and White said that people need real information and generally you can build trust by being authentic and giving solutions.

Twitter Blue relaunches, now costs $11 per month if you subscribe from an iPhone

If you’re thinking about getting this service, you need to have your account up for more than 60 days and you need a verifiable phone number attached. Lazine loves what’s happening on Twitter lately because there’s so much conversation around it. If you’re an agent who uses Twitter, consider paying the $11 and going through the review process, but be aware that it’s not instantaneous.