It is not often that I am solicited by 1031 exchange companies looking for exposure. Yet every once in awhile somebody in the blogishere contacts me with their version of the latest and greatest. Yesterday just such an animal came knocking on my door. The business model is a online national database for 1031 exchange professionals and investors called 1031NetEx.com. Below is the email comment about this new company. Read the comment below and then I will give my initial impression of 1031NetEx.com.
Michael D. Fox | drfox@1031netex.com | 1031NetEx.com | IP: 209.31.48.34
Interested in 1031 exchanges? Be among the first to participate in the next revolution in real estate by becoming a member of 1031NetEx.Com — the only national online platform that combines all the tools, resources, and community necessary for real estate investors and professionals to effect successful 1031 exchanges.
Visit http://1031netex.com to learn more — including how to list your properties for free and receive your free copy of “1031 Exchanges Made Simple,” the complete, practical guide to avoiding capital gains taxes, building wealth, and moving up to more productive real estate through the multi-billion dollar 1031 exchange market.
Sep 11, 10:13 PM — [ Edit | Delete ] — View post “How to Avoid an Okun or McGhan? Gary Gorman’s Expert Analysis May Be Helpful for Consumers During The Due Diligence Process”
With no pun intended it is a bit odd that this comment was sent on Sept 11th. In the interest of being fair I will ask for everyone to provide their “impressions” or “thoughts” about this new business. But me first:
1. In 2007 the 1031 exchange industry has suffered some major disasters involving presumed embezzlement of investor funds. The Southwest Exchange (McGhan) and 1031 Tax Group (Ed Okun) problems have been well documented here and around the country. With the industry suffering a severe lack of consumer confidence, how will an “online” based business model like 1031NetEx.com be able to provide confidence to consumers?
2. With that being said, there is a niche to be filled in regards to a national database of 1031 exchange professionals. The Federation of Exchange Accommodators does a very solid job in both qualifying QI’s, via certification, and fighting for 1031 issues in the political arena around the country. Can 1031NetEx.com become a more nimble and hands on referral system for investors to find property, 1031 exchangers to find buyers or sellers, and for everyone involved to benefit from this type of database? Will they gain the traction they need in order to become a “go to source” for consumers and 1031 exchange professionals? Only time will tell.
3. The value add for 1031NetEx.com is to put 1031 exchange professionals “together” on a national basis by being a one stop shop. The site claims to have “tools” that will help professionals; they also claim to provide information on how to get “free” property listings for investors and 1031 professionals.
The challenge, as I see it and it is only my opinion, is that 1031NetEx.com is starting from ground zero in the blogishere. Simply put they currently have very little traffic or “reach” to entice investors or 1031 exchange professionals to become members of their site. 1031NetEx.com may employ a “SEO” professional for help in gaining google “juice” in order to improve their google search positioning. Or they may be more innovative and employ a blogging consultant who understands how to greatly improve their traffic on and ongoing basis. Either method is necessary in order for, again in my opinion, 1031NetEx.com to have the type of traffic that will result in increasing membership/subscriber numbers throughout their infancy as a company.
Why do I believe that traffic might be a challenge for 1031NetEx.com? I simply looked them up on two of the most respected blog monitoring sites in the blogishere: Technorati and Alexa.com.
Here are the results made available by Technorati for September 12, 2007:
The Technorati results are expected for a new site. Yet they show no links coming in from other blogs or web sites making reference to 1031NetEx.com information or company.
Alexa.com’s results for traffic is a measure of the amount of traffic a site receives that is a percentage of the overall traffic on the internet. Here is what Alexa.com had to say about 1031NetEx.com today September 12, 2007:
In order to be fair I will provide my traffic ranking from Alexa for September 12, 2007:
Deansguide (you will never see me capitalize deansguide again) is some 800k behind 1031NetEx.com in rank. Yet I have been lucky enough to draw between 150 and 200 unique visitors a day to my blog. What does this all mean? In my opinion there is a need for a database 1031 site if it is done properly. Tell us what you think about the 1031 industry and this new idea.
DeansGuide 