DotLoop Blog

Is a sales call free speech?

At what point is calling intrusive?

And finally - is there ever a convenient time to call someone to make a sales pitch?

This week, the National Do Not Call registry topped 200 million people, or about 66% of the population.

So, I think it's safe to say that people loathe being contacted and sold to while trying to eat dinner.

Of course, tech-savvy agents know this. Time was, the only way to immediately contact people was intrusively - either knocking on their door or calling them on the phone.

But now, technology has made contacting people less intrusive. Text-messaging has surpassed phone calls on cell phones not because text-messaging is easier (although some argue it is), but because it's less intrusive.

E-mail and text messaging have made it possible to communicate and not irritate.

At DotLoop, for example, your clients can be notified via text message or e-mail that their offer has been approved or that their electronic signature is needed. It's convenient for them and it respects their time.

Besides, they may be busy trying to convince the sales guy on the other end of the line that they don't need replacement windows or vinyl siding.

Remember front porches?

Like bell-bottoms and vinyl records, they're making a comeback. Well, maybe not bell-bottoms - I really don't know for sure about those. I'm no fashionista.

But front porches - they're hot right now.

It seems people are tired of not knowing their neighbors. As new urbanists take hold of their neighborhoods and try to recapture the lost art of conversing with the neighbors and leaving their cars at home, front porches are back en vogue.

And it couldn't have come at a better time.

With the uncertainty surrounding almost all aspects of our daily lives today, it's good to know that you can still count on your neighbor and have an authentic conversation on your front porch.

Of course, here at DotLoop, we talk an awful lot about community, because we believe a house is more than just bricks, mortar, and copper wiring. Homes help build neighborhoods, cities, and lives.

And sometimes, it all starts with a porch.

Your cell phone may be killing you, and eggs are bad for you.

Or not.

Not sure if you heard the news (and if you heard it from your cell phone, you're really not going to like this), but it turns out that cell phones may cause brain tumors.

Or not.

The truth is, nobody knows for sure, but then again, nobody knew if ships would fall off the edge of the world until they tried, either.

This weekend, however, the cell phone industry sued the city of San Francisco over its new labeling law, which gives consumers access to the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) limit of each cell phone at the point-of-sale.

It turns out the cell phone industry does not like making those numbers readily available to consumers who are enamored by their shiny phones.

I for one think the labeling is fine - even needed - and that this lawsuit is about as silly as the first cell phones.

After all, information is power, and the more information someone has, the better informed their decisions are. It's just like the recent calorie labeling enacted in New York. Who wouldn't want to know how many calories are in a "low-fat" blueberry muffin?

The science of cell phone tumors is still up in the air, so, whether cell phones turn into the new asbestos or they turn out to be as innocuous coffee, knowing all of the information available now can only be a good thing.

Who knows, maybe if home buyers knew more than the banks were legally responsible to tell them, our economy wouldn't be so unhealthy.

Putting a cap on this week, we thought we'd recap last week's Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco with a tally of some of the Innovator Awards winners.

As mentioned, DotLoop partner The Goodlife Team won top honors for being the Best Brokerage, but a special mention should be made to TechSavvyAgent, who came away as the Best Blog. Congratulations, Chris!

The other winners:

• Best Brokerage or Franchise: The Goodlife Team from Austin, Texas
• Best New Technology: ZipRealty’s Home Scan
• Best Web Service: Houston Association of Realtors’ Realtor Match
• Best Blog: Tech Savvy Agent (Chris Smith)
• Best Media Site: ProPublica Eye on Loan Modifications
• Innovator of the Year: It was a two-way tie between Sherry Chris, Better Homes and Garden’s CEO; and Dale Stinton, National Association of Realtors' CEO

Congratulations to all the winners! Keep on innovating and have a wonderful weekend!

Does less paper equal less environmental damage?

Before you answer "of course!", think about it, because context is important.

As mentioned Wednesday, Amazon.com recently celebrated its 15th anniversary of selling everything from Tolstoy to trombones. Obviously, the retail giant has changed the way we buy goods, but with e-books now outselling traditional paper books, it's also completely changed the way we do our summer reading.

The knee-jerk reaction, though, is to assume that that's great for the environment.

But what about the environmental impact of creating a Kindle? Sure, less trees may be destroyed to sell the latest Dan Brown novel (which is a shame, really - that Dan Brown gets to keep making novels, not the saved trees), but how much energy goes into making a Kindle?

It's an interesting question, especially with the nearly monthly onslaught of new, better, and faster e-readers coming to the market (iPad, included).

That's not to say that this latest evolution in reading-from scrolls to scroll bars-is a bad thing; ultimately, any process that makes it easier to access information is a good thing. But before upgrading to the latest and greatest, think about the environmental impact of all your gadgets, or, recycle or re-sell your old gadget after you upgrade.

At DotLoop, we understand just how powerful a paperless transaction can be, not just in terms of saved time, stress, and gas, but with saved trees as well. With the average negotiation taking up to 100 pages of paper to complete, and no need for a specialized e-reader to finish an online negotiation, DotLoop certainly helps the environment.

No ifs, ands, or bytes about it.