The Global Leader in Web-Based Real Estate Software

Masterkey, the region's leading provider of web-based real estate software has inked a deal with emerging real estate portal http://www.beeyoot.com, giving brokers a unique opportunity to promote property side-by-side with owner-investors of UAE real estate.

"This partnership is instrumental to improving our liquidity and strengthening our plans to welcome brokers this quarter," says Beeyoot.com CEO Hashim Ahmed.

"We understand the advantages of working respectfully in the same real estate market with local brokers. By joining our portal, brokers can grow their real estate revenue online and enhance their brand by connecting with our high value visitors."

With thousands of properties available in the market, buyers and renters, by necessity, are more discerning in today's market. The partnership between Beeyoot and Masterkey allows brokers to populate and update their properties directly to the online portal via Masterkey. As a result, hours of time and overhead is avoided, and brokers ensure they are displaying the most up-to-date and accurate information about their properties - all with the click of a button.

Masterkey sees this partnership as integral addition to their Portal Partner Program, and represents an important step in the company's evolution toward a market-driving platform solutions company. For more information on Masterkey and its Portal Partner Program, visit the Masterkey website at http://www.gomasterkey.com.

What makes a good property portal? How do you differentiate between a portal that will ultimately generate an abundance of worthwhile leads and one that will waste both time and money? Here’s a list we’ve compiled of the top 7 things to look for in a property portal:

 

1. Cost per lead

While the number of leads generated is an important measure, your cost-per-lead is one of the most important measures of how well a property portal is doing for you. Simple in concept and difficult in practice, you’ll need to have well organized data and a tracking mechanism that shows you the number of leads generated.

 

What you need: The number of leads generated by the specified portal (see #2 below) and how much you’ve spent on advertising with that portal. Simply divide the two, and there you have it.

How hard is it to measure?  Very hard. To ensure every lead is tracked is a difficult but surmountable problem, and ensuring you know the total expenditure should be relatively easy. The results though, will definitely help you on your quest to stretch every marketing dollar spent.

Not relevant if: you’re conducting a branding exercise, lead quality is poor or the portal is free (infinite rate of return!).

 

2. Number of leads generated
While a precursor to #1, the number of leads generated only looks at what’s incoming, not what’s outgoing. You can achieve a high number of leads by paying top dollar, but is it worth the money? Regardless, it’s still an important factor, given it was voted the most measured factor by the subscribers of Property Portal Watch.

What you need: A tracking mechanism that covers all contact methods (phone, email, walk-in) and a CRM database to manage the leads.

How hard is it to measure?  Reasonably hard. Some portals track this for you, some do not. Go through your process and ensure that at every point of contact you have an accurate means of measurement.

Not relevant if: you have more business than you can handle.

 

3. Number of unique visitors
This is one of the most contested statistics between portals. It’s commonly thought of as simple math. More visitors equal more leads… right? Normally, yes. But with property portals you want to ensure people are inquiring about the property, not just browsing past them and taking no action. The portal needs to encourage visitors to find out more, look through the photos and to hit submit. While this can be a good statistic to compare portals on the surface, if the numbers are roughly the same, dig a bit deeper.

 

What you need: Most portals will give this information without you asking.

How hard is it to measure?  Easy. Just ask if they don’t give it to you off the bat.

Not relevant if: You have a niche product (such as a high end developer targeting a small group of people), or if you’re helping a portal get started.

 

4. SEO Ranking
To determine a portal’s SEO ranking, type in the keywords that you want to be listed under and count how far down the portal appears. Better yet, try typing in the keywords that your customers will enter. SEO (or Search Engine Optimization) is a tough, highly competitive market in real estate. Not only do portals fight for obvious keywords such as ‘Dubai Real Estate,’ they also have to fight for communities within the market. Remember that there are two types of rankings when it comes to search engines – natural search and paid advertising. If a portal tops the paid ads section, they may not be there for long. Natural search almost always enjoys a long term result.

 

What you need: SEO ranking tools. Surprisingly, you can Google (or Bing) such tools. An example would be: Google Rankings.

How hard is it to measure?  Easy. Search your favorite term and evaluate.

Not relevant if: Your website is higher than the portal’s, or online advertising is not interesting to you and you don’t want to be found.

 

5. Up-to-date and content-rich listings?
Many brokers and agents overlook the importance of having fresh and detailed listings. Customers want real and relevant data on properties BEFORE they enquire. Out-of-date listings and barren, lacklustre listings fall through the cracks.

 

Your listings should come alive with rich content listings such as interior and exterior images, maps, 360 views and more. The more information available on a property, the more likely visitors are to send an enquiry. This also helps to ensure you are receiving your most qualified leads because users are getting a genuine glimpse of the actually property and registering their interest.

 

Failing to keep updated listings and ensuring customers have the most up-to-date information is another barrier to success for portals. The real challenge with portals is not really getting listings on the website, but knowing when to take them down. With old, irrelevant and outdated listings a portal can often build traffic temporarily only to lose it again.

 

What you need: Ask the portal for the number of return visitors. This is a measure for who comes back to the portal more than once and will help determine visitors are leaving in search of other websites. You can also randomly check listings to see if they still exist.

How hard is it to measure?  Easy, but tedious. The hardest but most effective way is to spend time calling a random selection of listings to verify accuracy and status.

Not relevant if: The portal lists properties only from Masterkey (which guarantees accuracy), or has a guaranteed method to remove old listings.

 

6. Ease of listing a property
It’s important not to overlook the time it takes to list a property on each portal. Sure, you can try listing the property on each portal one by one but you’re going to be there a long time, and that’s a lot of overhead. It’s better and easier to find portals that allow you to upload directly from your property database. This may sound like shameless plug for Masterkey’s portal partners, but the reality is that the ability to list directly using an upload tool, or via XML in some way, will save you a lot of time.

 

What you need: Tech-savvy people to figure out the integration.

How hard is it to do?  Easy. All you need is a team of experts who make it easy for you, or use Masterkey. We will integrate with any portal that our clients demand.

Not relevant if: You like spending a lot of time in front of the computer and not with your clients.

 

7. Ease of searching for a listing
How quickly can you find your listing on the portal website? Can you go straight to the listing with a property reference code? Does the portal allow you to use your own reference code? Can you search for the building name and the name auto-completes for you? If this is going to be your main advertising channel, you must ensure it’s accessible.

 

What you need: A stop watch, mouse and computer.

How hard is it to measure?  Easy.

Not relevant if: You want your customers to spend hours looking for your property. Never underestimate the value of providing a user-friendly and manageable way for your customers to find what they’re looking for.

 

Lastly, we invite you find out more about the Masterkey Portal Partner Advantage here.

2009 has come and gone, and it was an interesting 12 months to say the least.  Looking back on a year most of us would just as soon forget, there are some valuable lessons that we can take with us into 2010.  While we may still be riding this economic roller coaster, the general consensus is that the forecast looks good.  It’s a new year and with it comes a new start.  It’s time to start thinking about our New Year’s Resolutions.

 

No doubt at some point in your life you’ve committed to ‘get fit’.  Physically, you feel better, look better, and have more energy to do the things you enjoy.  But what about your Real Estate business?  Here are a few other resolutions to help your business get fit in the New Year. 

 

Get Organized
At home or at work, when the things around you are in order, you tend to be more productive.  When it comes to Real Estate activities, this idea is even more relevant.  Whether it’s your property listings, client details, leads or payment plans, keeping track of your information is as vital as the information itself.  Let’s face it:  In the Real Estate world, your data is your business.  When you can’t find what you’re looking for or if your data is located in too many different places, deals can slip through the cracks.  In today’s environment, you can’t afford to lose any business.  In 2010, why not commit to keeping your most valuable asset—your data—in one location, safe and sound?  Let Masterkey help you get organized with a secure, centralized and online database of all of your vital information.

 

Save Money
With competition increasing and profit margins decreasing, it has never been more important to minimize expenses and maximize your return on investment. Companies around the world are looking at ways to cut costs, increase the bottom line and operate at maximum efficiency. Given the global climate and the dynamic Real Estate industry, this has never been more important. In 2010, plan on spending less money on your marketing efforts, yet maximizing your exposure to your audience. Through Masterkey’s direct e-mail campaigns, broad reaching network of listing portals and creative e-marketing solutions, your business will enjoy maximum reach by the most efficient and cost-effective means.

 

Do More Business
Once your information is neatly organized and your marketing efforts maximized, it’s time to start closing deals. Real Estate is about relationships, not paperwork. It’s about meeting people, not sitting in the office doing administrative tasks. The more time you’re able to spend with your potential clients, the more opportunities you have to do more business. Make 2010 the year you resolve to maximize your income. Get more leads, close more deals. Execute transactions and generate contracts in minutes, not hours or days. Whether you’re selling, leasing, or managing properties, Masterkey will make you more efficient. It’s a new year—a fresh start. It’s time to make the most of it. Give yourself the tools you need to be successful in 2010.

Google is at it again. They continue to shape the environment and circumstances that dictate how we as businesses exist on the web. It is essential as real estate professionals to stay informed about the advancements in technology as they pertain to your customers shopping and selection experience. We all know that the web has supplanted the more traditional forms of search and selection when it comes to consumers finding what they want. What's more important than acknowledging this, is involving yourself with the new methods and game-changers as they occur.

Knowledge breeds preparation breeds action.

On that note, take a look at this article on how Google is changing how people use the web.

Google Gets Real-Time, Personalized Search

If you have any thoughts on the article, we'd love to hear them. Just post a reply to this thread.

Best Regards,


The Masterkey Team 

  

Communication through Google and social media has significantly influenced how people make decisions and find information. Today, interactive information sharing on the World Wide Web, better known as Web 2.0, has changed the way users communicate around the world. According to Mashable, the world's largest blog dedicated exclusively to Web 2.0 and Social Media news, business professionals who aren't actively involved in social media will be left behind, and catching up won't be easy. We're here to give you some valuable tips and ideas to get you started in social media.  

Become a Butterfly on Social-Networking Sites:

Social-networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin rank in the top four most visited websites. According to Mashable, more than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos) are shared on social-networking sites daily. Individuals who get involved are taking over their businesses and building incredible audiences around the world. In one instance, Starbucks updated their status on Twitter about a promotion for free coffee all day. The effect was tremendous, making it the #1 Rank on Google for that day. A separate initiative by Dell offering expensive-to-sell refurbished computers on Facebook generated approximately $2 million in revenue. Pretty serious.

Get Started: Set up Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn company accounts and plan a social media strategy. There are a number of webinars and whitepapers out there to help you facilitate your strategy, just Google it. Your best bet is to get out there and start meeting people like it's your business. Don't alienate your audience though, avoid one way- targeted marketing and focus on building a strong brand presence through interaction. Become part of the community and strive to learn, share and meet. In the end, it really is like going to a social gathering, the more friends and connections you make, the more popular you'll be at the party. So, get out there and meet some people.

Be Viral and Be Interesting:

Viral marketing can be an extremely effective marketing tool, but it's not easy. Being Viral is all about communicating interesting and creative content to your audience via newsletters, emails, text messages, etc. The key to successful Viral marketing is creating content that your audience finds so rewarding that they want to share it with others. Think about a really funny email that you receive in your inbox and immediately forward on to a friend because it was just that good. That is the essence of being Viral. Viral marketing isn't for everything though, and is best used as a technique to increase brand awareness. By nature your content should not usually generate a specific commercial action from your audience other than for them to spread it around. Viral marketing relies heavily on word-of-mouth delivery via the network effects of the Internet, you must keep that in mind.

Get Started: Create a monthly newsletter that provides value and/or entertainment to your target audience. Publish interesting stories that directly affect or relate to your audience and industry to a blog or your social media accounts. Create a company Wikipedia page that dishes the details about your organization and your members. If you think your concept is good enough, you can even take a stab at a publishing content onto YouTube. Whatever you do remember that with Viral, content is king. If what you're posting is interesting and relevant to your intended audience, it can spread like a wild fire.

Blog with the Best of Them:

If you don't know what a blog is by now, there may be no hope for you. But just in case, a blog is basically a website where individuals post commentary, opinions and/or news on a number of subjects. Blogs serve as a digital soapbox for anyone, and in today's world literally everyone, to express themselves. Blogs come together to create a vast social network called the Blogosphere. The Blogosphere consists of all blogs and their interconnections. Strong blog involvement in the Blogosphere essentially creates a large discussion group for like-minded people to meet, receive feedback on ideas, share business ideas and bring out the personality of their company. C-suite business executives, celebrities, authors and every day people are gaining popularity around the world for sharing their opinions online. Drop by your favorite company or celebrity's website and you are almost guaranteed to find a blog.

Get Started: This one is simple. Start a company blog and start publishing. Find a niche topic for your business, write about yourself, what you think, what you believe. Start sourcing other interesting articles and publishing them on your blog. Promote yourself by promoting others. Seek out the blogs of your peers and respected professionals and listen. Well don't just listen, talk back as well. Create a web of dialogue surrounding what you find interesting and helpful and others will engage. Think of it like going to the gym, if you just take the steps to get started, it's all downhill from there. Pretty soon, you'll even start enjoying yourself.

These are just a few tips to help you get the ball rolling. The truth is that the world's biggest and most powerful businesses are involved in social media and benefit greatly from it. With so many involved businesses, catching up won't be easy, but if you communicate in the right way and reward your audience with great material, you're heading in the right direction.

Stay tuned to the Masterkey Blog for updates with marketing tips, real estate industry news and loads of other interesting stuff coming soon.

Masterkey, the leading provider of web-based real estate software in the UAE has partnered with regional property portal, www.justrentalsdubai.com. This partnership gives clients the opportunity to take advantage of the current market conditions by listing rental properties with Just Rentals Dubai directly via Masterkey.

 

This partnership comes at a critical time for the UAE market, given the recent shift from a purchase focused environment to a market now dominated by rental transactions. “While Dubai has seen a sharp decline in purchase transactions over the last ten months, rental transactions continue to climb. As real estate professionals, we can’t ignore that,” says Daniel Hart, Masterkey’s Director of Business Development. 

 

The Masterkey integration with Just Rentals Dubai gives users the ability to reach their most qualified audience through cost effective and targeted advertising. Just Rentals Dubai is the Emirate’s only web portal dedicated solely to property rentals, offering a complete and extensive range of up- to-date rental properties including apartments, villas and offices across Dubai. As a result, companies will not only increase exposure and receive more qualified leads, but they will be able to benefit from the current market trends at a much lower cost as compared to traditional advertising mediums.

 

Masterkey sees this partnership as a key component of their Portal Partner Program, which launched in January of this year. Masterkey is constantly working to expand its network of portal partners with which clients can integrate directly through Masterkey. For more information on Masterkey and its Portal Partner Program, visit the Masterkey website at www.gomasterkey.com.

 

About Just Rentals Dubai
Just Rentals Dubai offers a one-stop rentals portal for all prospective tenants looking to rent in Dubai. It offers a complete and extensive range of up-to-date properties to rent including apartments, villas and offices across Dubai from leading real estate agents. For more information on Just Rentals Dubai, visit their website at www.justrentalsdubai.com.

 

Another Cityscape Dubai has come and gone, October is half finished and similar to last year at this time, uncertainty about the health of the real estate industry lingers. As familiar as that may sound and feel though, it’s different.

There was no light at the end of the tunnel following last year’s Cityscape event, just darkness. Desperation and denial saturated the event, and as a result, the industry ever since. The real difference between now and then is the slight bit of optimism slowly creeping onto the scene.

Cityscape Dubai 2009 resembled little of its past life. Investors did not flood the exhibition halls, grabbing anything and everything they could from developers. Property launches were non-existent. Surprisingly, arrogance was checked at the door which provided for an unexpectedly pleasant environment and encouraging mood. But most important, was the measure of optimism that began to mount in the waning hours of the show.

While optimism is neither a guarantee of our future, nor a key indicator of how and when the market will bounce back, it does represent an important shift. Not a shift in the market itself, but in us. the real estate professionals. It represents the shift from finger pointing, blaming and self pity to a “we can do this” mentality and a sense of responsibility. Responsibility in the sense that we are the ones who can change the industry for the better. that we can learn from our mistakes and most importantly that we can move forward. The fact that we can say that means we already are.

Cityscape Dubai 2009 was all about moving forward – making progress. Progress was the inkling of optimism that came forth on October 8th, and that’s what this year’s event will be remembered for. It won’t be remembered for the larger than life stands and free giveaways, or the throng of unrealistic development projects only the richest of the rich even consider, because none of that was there. Instead it was us, the true professionals, meeting each other, talking, brainstorming, connecting and thinking. These important interactions have been far too absent in the past and that’s why a sense of optimism has been as well. Now that we have it again, we must not squander it. Instead, with optimism firmly in hand we must collectively push forward and progress.

To everyone who attended and exhibited at Cityscape Dubai this year, congratulations and good luck. If we take anything from this year’s event it is that as the leaders and influential members of the industry, we have a lot of work ahead of us. For the first time in a long while, that is a good thing.

Q. What are the major challenges for the real estate development and investment industry looking to the short to mid-term, as we enter the final quarter of 2009?

 

A. Financing for developers has been difficult because with a large portion of the world is still reeling from the global downturn. The spillover effect is that sales of off-plan property worldwide are at a low. These developers will need to work on having enough capital to finish the projects that have begun and manage the supply delivered to the market in next few years. The majority of off-plan transactions that took place in the region prior to the financial crisis were based on speculation. Speculators have now, either been badly burned and left with limited investment capital, or have escaped with what they can and are not looking back.

 

Q. Are emerging markets still an attractive option for global investors beyond the current situation?

 

A. Emerging markets will always remain an attractive option for global investors because of the general lack of transparency and regulatory infrastructure in those markets. These markets allow investors with a large amount of flexibility to speculate and ride the wave of an upward rising market cycle and then depart when convenient. One thing to remember is with price drops come opportunity.

 

Q. What are the realities for the recovery timeline for this region? Is there a sense of optimism or is the industry still adopting an extremely cautious stance?

 

A. 2009 is the year of correction. 2010 is the year of stabilization. 2011 is the year of recovery. When the marketing price-point and the laws of supply and demand cross, there will be a consistent recovery. The industry is not adopting an optimistic nor a cautious stance, but more of a realistic market-driven approach. The general market sentiment started off extremely negative. Due to government intervention and viral optimism from well established companies in the region that believe in the region’s strong global positioning and robust services-driven foundation, the sentiment has steadily turned more positive and that trend is slowly continuing.

 

Q. What lessons do you think the industry has learned from this experience?

 

A. Three lessons to always remember:
1. Be realistic and don’t try to grow too fast.
2. What goes up must come down.
3. Bubbles always pop… it is inevitable.

 

Q. Do global investors look to regions where fiscal stimuli have being initiated as good indicators of potentially sound future investment opportunities/markets?

 

A. It really depends on the stimuli. I would question markets that have borrowed to stay afloat. I would also look at the leadership and decision makers there and the ability for the leader to make tough calls. Going into these markets means you need to factor in a larger margin of error or understand the dynamics of the market extremely well.

 

Q. What are the inherent strengths of this region (or the market in which you operate)? And are there particular areas of weakness that need to be addressed as we move forward?

 

A. Strengths: Cash reserves, oil, geographic location, services-centric business culture, focus on technology, good long term prospects, business hub, tax savings Weakness: Political relations due to regional instability, lack of established compliance and regulation, bureaucratic, tedious and costly immigration, labor, business licensing processes, oversupply

 

Q. Is there any particular government legislation you believe could boost confidence at consumer level as well as within the lending community?

 

A. Established compliance and regulation in the real estate market could boost confidence to protect all parties. Also giving individuals the ability to retire in the U.A.E. would boost confidence.

 

Q. Is it more important than ever to have the opportunity to network with your peers at events such as Cityscape?

 

A. I would not say it is more important. It is just as important as ever. Topics change, but the communication needs to continue.

 

Q. Do you have plans to attend future Cityscape events? If so, which ones?

 

A. Yes, worldwide.

 

Q. What are your expectations (business-wise) from this year's event?

 

A. I would expect to generate brand awareness and significant interest, bring on new customers, showcase on how complex challenges in real estate decision can be solved through business intelligence and 3D visualization and to meet many partners looking for way to join forces and leverage on each other’s expertise.

 

Q. What do you think will be the hot topics at this year's event?

 

A. See above questions.

 

Q. Which conference discussion sessions or investor round table sessions do you plan on attending and which particular speakers are of interest to you?

 

A. Conferences involving the heads of major developers are always interesting to talk to. Also, understanding what the real estate landscape outside the GCC region is perceived to look like amid the recession, so Day 2 and 3 of the Cityscape Conference in their entirety.

 

 

Master key Systems
Avinash Advani, CEO 

 

 

In years past, attending Cityscape Dubai meant you were going to see the biggest and best that the industry had to offer. Budgets were an afterthought, with companies from around the world barring no expense to ensure they had not only a presence, but made an impact at the event.

 

Cityscape Dubai is still largely considered the preeminent B2B real estate event of the year. However, this year uncertainty about the turnout of the event permeated throughout the industry. Yes, it is smaller, that much is obvious upon entering the exhibition center.  And yes, the foot traffic is nowhere near the crowds of past years. The stands are not as many or as big, and the giveaways are less flamboyant and far and few between. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s simply the reality.

 

For years, Cityscape Dubai resembled a social gathering rather than a showcase for serious professionals to connect and focus on business. That sentiment has changed for Cityscape Dubai 2009. The atmosphere of the event is calmer and geared more towards genuine networking and business connections. The sense is while you may not fill your rolodex with a flood of new business cards,  the ones you are collecting are more meaningful and more qualified.

 

Moreover, the feeling is one of realism, and that the event more accurately reflects the current conditions of the market. The big names are there, but not in the manner that they are accustomed to. It’s truly refreshing though, because one is actually able to approach the executives and staff, and engage in meaningful conversations that render genuine business relationships.

 

So, if you haven’t taken the time to stop by the exhibition, you really should. This year is unlike any in the recent past and more importantly it represents the reality of the industry. No more smoke and mirrors, but rather real professionals doing what they can to improve their businesses. It bodes well for the industry because the participants and visitors alike are actually acknowledging one another in a meaningful way.

 

Don’t forget to stop by our stand in Hall 4, stand 4A40 and tell us what you think about the event, we’d love to hear what your take is.

 

Best Regards,

The Masterkey Team 

In conjunction with this year’s Cityscape Dubai exhibition, Masterkey is offering a stimulus package valued at 1 million AED, as a catalyst to help real estate organizations world-wide climb out of the recent industry downturn.

The stimulus offering which runs from now through the last day of Cityscape Dubai, taking place October 5th through 8th at the Dubai International Trade Centre, is highlighted by our pledge to provide our industry leading software to one company free of charge for life.

What you can win:

1st place: One company will receive up to 5 user licenses and any initial license costs free for life.
2nd place: One company will receive up to 5 user licenses and any initial license costs free for 6 months.
3rd place: One company will receive up to 5 user licenses and any initial license costs free for 3 months.
*Everyone who registers with Masterkey will receive up to 5 user licenses and any initial costs free for 1 month.

Who qualifies?

Any individual or organization in the real estate industry can register for the Stimulus Package. Please note that the sweepstakes is open to new customers only. Employees or contractors of existing customers or any person directly or indirectly involved in the implementation of this competition, or their direct family members are not eligible.

How do you register?

Individuals or organizations may register here or in person at the Masterkey’s stand, 4A40, located in Hall 4 of the Dubai International Trade Centre.

        

Individuals or organizations can earn up to 4 additional submissions into the drawing by registering and connecting with Masterkey through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and by visiting the booth to be treated with a bonus submission. This allows applicants for a total of five possible submissions per applicant.

When can I register?

The offer runs from today through 6:00pm on October 8th, the last day of Cityscape Dubai. The winners will be notified by October 20th via email and telephone.

The details:

All submissions from registered companies will be placed into a drawing. All registered applicants will be notified when the drawing will take place.

The winning applicants will be notified directly via email and telephone by October 20th.

The winning applicants will sign a standard Masterkey License Order to obtain the free licenses and while any additional user licenses, if requested, will be charged at the standard rate provided by Masterkey.

Included are the Masterkey Professional Software License and 5 Masterkey Professional User Licenses.

Prize(s) is non-transferable and non-refundable. No prize substitution will be given, and cash will not be given in lieu of any prize.

However, Masterkey reserves the right to substitute a prize (or any part of the prize) with a prize of equal or greater value.

Read the Full Terms and Conditions