It's Friday night. If you're anything like me, Friday Nights are nights when you let down your hair and relax a little...perhaps dinner, a movie, or a show.  This past Friday is no exception.  We've still got a teenager at home who doesn't drive, so Friday night involves playing part-time taxicab driver too. 

As we're preparing to go out, I notice that he's busy at the computer.  I'm a "quasi hip" mom, so I presume he's checking out Facebook to see where everyone will be hanging out.  Imagine my surprise when he tells me he's downloading music because he's going to be the DJ!  I can barely contain my surprise..."You're downloading music for the dance onto your iPod?"  He barely gives me a sideways glance...continues tapping the keyboard and says..."Ya."

Now, you've got to understand, I can still remember the days of vinyl records.  The DJ's table was exactly that...a sturdy looking structure with various turntables, speakers, gadgets and microphones.  By the time things went totally digital...I'd started having kids and sleep was far more important than dancing into the wee hours of the night. So...for the me the trajectory was turntables, to CD's and then things dropped off.

Until they resumed this Friday night with my iPod DJ downloading songs for the party at school onto  a device that fit neatly into his back pocket.  I asked him how they would hear the songs.  He replied in mock disbelief.."We'll hook the iPod up to the speakers and if they don't like my selections, we'll hook up someone elses."  Wow...talk about feeling old fashioned! This type of DJ experience is not even on my radar...

So, it seems that while I have been sleeping, the world of dance music and entertainment has become much more portable.  Music travels hipster style to where the party is...not the other way.  It's a fluid movement of exchange and interaction which allows anyone with the right mix at the moment to step up to the turntable, hook in and share what they've got playing on their iPod.

It occurs to me that in a sense, this is not unlike what is happening in the real estate industry today.  The conversation online about real estate moves with fluid grace and sometimes jolting jerks...either way, it's a continuum of moving parts which includes websites, news feeds, blogs, video casts, podcasts, social networks and the mainstay of the real estate genre...MLS systems. 

Today, real estate buyers are surfing for the hottest offerings online.  The average buyer is visiting numerous websites to sample what's out there. 

Recently, I looked up a certain price range for homes in our local area online.  The results were interesting.  In the top 8 Search Results, the number of listings in "a particular search area" ranged from 1 home  to 32!  No wonder buyers feel they must look at all options...landing on the wrong site means that you may not be seeing 90% of what's available for Sale. 

That's one reason why connecting with a good real estate who is pluged in to one or more MLS systems as well as many of the other frequently visited sites which feature Homes for Sale is so critically important.  This is a partnership...a dance which requires coordination and synergy.  As a home buyer, you should move in perfect sync by:

1.  Clearly thinking and writing down what you would like to find in a home

2.  Choosing a real estate agent to assist you...preferably one who is connected online

3.  Link up with a good mortgage specialist to make sure your finances are in order

4.  Create your own Playlist...Surf online, take virtual tours, research various blogs and sites

5.  Be prepared to sync up with your agent on a regular basis, learn from them and create winning solutions.

What's wonderful about this new emerging conversation is that it is so portable.  You can find listings everywhere.  You can download them to a number of devices.  You can search for homes by Street Name through the  Search Engines.  Don't snooze now or you loose.  The best deals won't wait...they'll just twirl around to the next available player!

Vector photo courtesy of Sabrina Campagna's photostream on flickr.com

Dance photo courtesy of firutin's photostream on flickr.com

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