About.com Real Estate Business

FHFA Index Posts a First Since 2007

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:24:21 +0000

The new FHFA Index numbers are out for the third quarter.� For the first time since the second quarter of 2007, the Composite is positive, though only by 0.23%. Of the nine census divisions tracked, four are negative and five positive. The area of the country faring the best is dead-center, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa.

The full report is below, and you can use the >> in the corner to enlarge and print it. There are some interesting charts and graphs this time around.

FHFA Index Posts a First Since 2007 originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 12:24:21.

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Not Silly Real Estate - Silly Realtors

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:51:06 +0000

I have a search in Hootsuite for tweets with "twitter" and "real estate" in them. Mostly I see a lot of people trying to sell the latest hot tip or service to Realtors in how to make money with Twitter. But, this morning there was a tweet with this: "Silly twitter. I tweeted a band called Real Estate and now I have realtor followers."

One of the reasons I don't follow a huge number of people on Twitter is that I actually like to at least skim their tweets for useful information. I can't possibly do that following hundreds. Here we obviously have real estate people who have set up automated following mechanisms for the words "real estate." There's a big difference in a search and following. This person was interested in music, and picked up Realtors. She doesn't care, as they are following her, not the other way around.

I believe that Twitter is already a useful tool in the business of real estate. And, I think it will get more valuable over time. But, it will be valuable only to those who learn that it's not about 10,000 followers if only 5 of them even know what you do, where, and care.

Added note: I had to edit this to apologize to any Realtors who followed this young lady in San Francisco because they play in a band.

Not Silly Real Estate - Silly Realtors originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 08:51:06.

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Tech Notes: Insert HTML Signatures in Gmail

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:03:50 +0000

There are a number of resources to insert html signatures in Gmail.� But, since I want more than one to handle multiple email addresses I'm sending to Gmail, it was difficult to find one that would allow me to choose a signature based on which entity I was emailing as.� Well, there's a solution using bookmarklets.

Go to this site, and you can set up multiple html email signatures as bookmarklets.� Then you just drag the bookmarklet to the brower toolbar, and you have what you need.� I have four signatures done this way, and just click on the right one when I'm in the body of the Gmail.

One little weird thing, though.� The checkbox to "Insert signature above reply," seems to do just the opposite.� It could just be that I'm thinking backwards though.� Try it first without that box checked, as that's the way I found worked best for me.

Tech Notes: Insert HTML Signatures in Gmail originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 19:03:50.

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C'mon Trulia, Zillow, NAR and Now Google - Make My Day!

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:50:30 +0000

It's all about national search engines for real estate, and Google is easing its way into the fray. NAR has just announced their new Realtors Property Resource national database. Google is releasing "place pages" for every property in its maps database, and growing Google's presence in all areas of real estate marketing.

There is a lot of worry out there about the dilution of the Realtor's control of information. Actually, destruction is a better word than dilution. As I like to work with buyers more than deal with holding the hands of over-priced listing clients, I find that I'm not at all nervous about all of this. Every one of these sites, and more to follow, will have different variations and coverage depth of the listings there. It should bring plenty of confusion to the market. I'll bet there will even be conflicting information, with data entry from different sources. And, my job is to bring it all together for a client, removing the confusion factor.

Then there's the different coverage depth we already see out there. My local MLS doesn't even allow the Acreage field in the IDX seach display for a home. Realtor.com takes descriptions from the MLS and restructures them for the site. So, I think it's safe to say that NO site will have ALL of the information about ALL of the homes and land for sale in an area. But, my plan is to be the go-to broker for just that.

C'mon Trulia, Zillow, NAR and Now Google - Make My Day! originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 08:50:30.

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PPC & Organic Search Play Well Together

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:09:22 +0000

Thanks for a tweet by Tim O'Keefe about a study at New York University of the interdependence of paid click advertising and organic search results. It looks like they're using some very sophisticated models to look at one retail advertiser's results when they have both paid and free organic listings for certain keywords and phrases on the first page in a Google search.

They found that the presence of both paid and organic listings improved overall performance of the ads, including CTR (click through ratio) and other ad success measurements. I think I understood correctly that the free organic listings seemed to help the paid listings more than the other way around.

Though I stop for a while now and then, I am currently running PPC for my top three key phrases for my real estate business. I also move between fourth and sixth position on the organic results for my most competitive key phrase. So, it looks like I should keep the paid ads going, as I'm only spending on average around $0.68/click for the best phrase.

It seems that PPC and organic listings working together has been a hidden benefit. I think I'll stick with the PPC a while, as my budget is only $150/month is bringing 200+ click-throughs most months. Since I do no other marketing, print or otherwise, my website and subsequent referrals from Web clients are the sole sources of my business leads. Thanks to the students for this study, as I can refer to it whenever deals aren't piling up in the pipeline and I'm considering killing that $150/month expense.

PPC & Organic Search Play Well Together originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 09:09:22.

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Where's That Credit Card I Hid?

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:45:07 +0000

Well, it's going to be a great Christmas, because I can go into a bit more debt. At least that's what Lawrence Yun at NAR says. My income, and yours by the way, is going up 20% next year! I really need to find that credit card I hid from myself.

Of course, my income's been down about 60%, but up is good right? I'm already feeling richer. It might have been better if I hadn't read that article till I got back from my wife's school conference this weekend at a Casino hotel. Then again, it sounds like my luck is changing, so look out blackjack tables!

Where's That Credit Card I Hid? originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 16:45:07.

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Missing the Point of Social Media

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:26:09 +0000

Social media is a sinkhole that absorbs time, effort and money that could better be spent on finding listings and selling houses. Powerful words from Mike Parker, and you should read the article.

But, as someone who spends less than an hour a week on all my Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts combined, I can't agree with all of his statements. I also don't spend any money on social sites, though I tried a paid upgrade to LinkedIn that I'm not going to renew.

First, I've helped a lot of people to buy and sell homes and land in my market. Note that I didn't say I sold them anything, and would recoil at the thought. I provide a service, and it's helping buyers and sellers of real estate to locate property to buy, or market property for sale, and then to get from contract to closing as efficiently as possible.

And, I do agree with Mike that a great many real estate professionals are spending a lot of time and effort on social media, and most can't peg a transaction to this effort. I have not had a stellar year in my small resort market this past year but, as in every year since I've been here, 100% of my transactions have come from my website, or referrals from clients who came from my site. I've changed it over time, several times, evolving from a static site through a site with a blog attached, to a WordPress based site.

I'm very laid back in my marketing, but do employ RSS and Twitter and Email subscriptions for my content. I also have lead generation forms that add people to my list who want more extensive local real estate reports or automated alerts for their search criteria. I don't call leads, in fact, don't even ask for a voluntary phone number in my forms. It's not my style, and I'm sure it costs me business. But, it's a comfortable way of working for me.

Mike says that you shouldn't listen to those telling you that you must participate in social networking, and that you don't need it to succeed in "selling houses." I agree with that. But, my style, and my way of looking at my services to my customers, is one of a local expert who will always try to keep them out of trouble in a transaction, negotiate the best deal, and realize their goal of buying or selling property in my market.

My blog positions me in my market in line with my business style, and my audience. According to Quantcast, my visitor base is heavily weighted to the high end of income, college graduates, and post-graduates, and the 35+ age group. All of those are the people who buy vacation homes and ski condos. Doing automated posting to Twitter of my blog post headlines, answering any questions that come in via social media, and broadcasting market alerts via social media all reinforce the presence I want to have on the Internet. None of this costs money, and I have my broadcast and delivery systems set up to minimize the time invested.

I'm not sure how many of these people who have worked with me would have done so if I was too pushy in getting their contact information in their visits to my site. And, I NEVER do mass or drip email. But, I usually make a nice living in my small market, and I enjoy doing business with the kind of people my low key and high information approach bring to my site. I do fine on Google for my most competitive key phrases, and even do a very low budget, but consistent, bit of PPC on Google because it brings me very targeted traffic.

I absolutely agree with Mike that fast response is critical, but my response is not a phone call or unsolicited email after a site visit or form submission. A form is submitted for a report or MLS search results, and that's what I send, very quickly. But, no phone call or subsequent emails follow, unless they ask for something. I have several hundred subscribers via email and RSS to my posts, and that's all the push marketing I do.

So, some of Mike's comments may apply to you, and some may not. It may come down to style and the way you want to do business. I never intend to be a Top Producer in my area, and don't want the volume headaches that would go with it anyway. But, I do believe that content is king on my site.

Missing the Point of Social Media originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 10:26:09.

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Tax Credit Close to Extension

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:18:44 +0000

Realtor.org's article released today, says the home buyer tax credit is close to final approval and signing. The Senate has passed the new version, and the House and President are expected to approve it as well. Here are the high points:

Extended to May 1, 2010
$8000 for first time buyers
$6500 to repeat buyers with limitations on time of residence
Home price capped at $800,000
Income limits now $125k individuals and $225k joint filers
Reduced credits for $145k individuals and $245k income joint filers
Contracts in place by April 30 will get 60 days to close

May the next flurry of activity begin!

Tax Credit Close to Extension originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 14:18:44.

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WordPress and Real Estate Done Right - NOT

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:51:16 +0000

One of my daily Twitter searches is on the keywords "wordpress" and "real estate." Most of the tweets are of little interest, but there's a gem every now and then. One caught my eye this morning with the message in the tweet: "WordPress and Real Estate Done Right."

If you've read some of my many articles on using WordPress as your real estate website, you know that I think it's the very best way to go. So, this tweet got a click to the site. When I arrived, almost my entire 21 inch screen was filled with one image of a house and a picture of a real estate professional holding a Sold sign. It was one of her listings. Though there were buttons across the top linking to other parts of the site, there was nothing to indicate where to go to search listings in the area.

I was curious now, as the URL was actually her home page at hername.com. So, I opened another browser and went to the domain again, and found a different listing filling the screen, with the same buttons along the top. Yep, it's WordPress, but Nope, it's far from "done right." Basically, every time the site home page loads, a different listing is the entire presence. The tweet that sent me there turned out to be one from a web design site.

Realtors are the target of every web marketing wannabe out there. And this is a great example of how NOT to spend your money. They took an excellent platform, WordPress, and managed to create a useless website for this Realtor. Now, maybe if all she uses this one for is to impress sellers, it has a little bit of value, but as her main site?! And it's just my picky side that doesn't like the misspelled word in one of her navigation buttons.

Please read a lot of the free material here and on other sites about how effective WordPress can be for your main web presence. But, don't let someone who has no idea of why blogs work so well and the nature of the content that makes them so effective take your money to design a site that will bring you zero, zip, nada for business.

Is it here that I put the disclaimer that I don't work for WordPress or get any money or freebies from them?

WordPress and Real Estate Done Right - NOT originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 08:51:16.

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Vigilante Justice in Mortgage Mod Business

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:41:30 +0000

Hat tip to Cyberhomes Blog for pointing me to a Reuter's article about five people arrested in California for torturing two men in the loan modification business. The men were lured to an office, tied up and beaten. One escaped, and authorities were alerted, arresting those allegedly involved.

It seems that those doing the torturing believed they were swindled in a loan modification scheme. People in trouble with their mortgage are in a vulnerable position, and there are plenty of schemes out there to get their money. Though they could go to prison for life, maybe their actions will bring more attention to the problem.

Vigilante Justice in Mortgage Mod Business originally appeared on About.com Real Estate Business on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 09:41:30.

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