Real Estate Marketing | Real Estate Marketing Tips

Real Estate Opportunities in Popular Vacation Destinations

2008-09-26T07:30:00.003-07:00

It is common knowledge that tourism impacts real estate markets, and Orlando Florida is no exception to this rule. Fun and sun seekers from all over the world fly into central Florida everyday to visit Disney World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, or the many other, world renowned, central Florida attraction. So many people visit Orlando each year the city's economy is visibly impacted by the influx of capital from tourism.

Luckily high-end tourism or VIP travel is one of the few recession proof markets and the Orlando Florida real estate market is fueled to a large degree by tourism. Droves of affluent tourists the world over come to Orlando Florida yearly to enjoy all that is offered, and some like it so much they want permanency in the region. With the resources available buying a home in the central Florida area is attractive. "We are seeing more and more homes being purchased by out of the area buyers and fully furnished as a vacation home," say Brad Fletcher, founding owner of a successful real estate marketing and home staging firm in Orlando Florida. Brad goes on to say "The trend is undeniable as the dollar weakens against other currencies and property values decline in the United State. People from all over the world are buying their little piece of paradise.

Many real estate professionals around the Orlando area do well marketing to international clientele, most notably English speaking tourists. Whether they are looking to buy pre-construction investment townhouses, condos, vacation homes, or condominiums in our many new luxury high rises - now is the time to do it.

Bottom line is real estate in Orlando Florida is looking more and more attractive to the foreign investor as the dollar weakens, other currencies increase in value and the American housing market declines. Foreign investors that jump on now are the ones that are going to profit. Investment real estate in popular tourist destinations in the USA is very attractive to affluent foreign nationals. They know real estate values in popular tourist destinations are insulated to some degree holding their value during down times.

This could be the next booming market over the next several years. Wealthy foreign and domestic travelers realize real estate in the USA is at rock bottom prices. Do they want to miss out on one of the biggest real estate opportunities of our time in the United States? Of course not, that's why real estate professionals should explore advertising to the global market place, specifically English speaking tourists. "Why English speaking tourists: Simply because the language doesn't present a problem when it comes to communicating marketing messages", explains Brad, "luckily for Americans the international language of business is English."

Marketing is the Key to Your Real Estate Success

2008-09-26T07:30:00.002-07:00

There are literally dozens of ways of marketing your real estate investing business. Some are time intensive, while others require you to open your wallet and spend a few bucks. In order for you to see maximum impact from your marketing efforts, you need to sit down and develop a comprehensive marketing plan for your fledgling business. It's not hard, but it does require some thought and the ability to get the best return possible from your investment of time and money.

If you master your marketing efforts, real estate investing will always provide you with more than enough money for your needs, wants, and desires.

Initially, you may have more time on your hands than cash in the bank, so I'll start with a number of techniques that will cost you next to nothing. Keep in mind, though, that your best results will come from cluster bombing your chosen investment area with a combination of marketing techniques. Classic money advice has always held that you should never put all your eggs in one basket; the same advice holds true for your marketing efforts.

I advocate a marketing technique I call Real-Time Investing. Your investment here will primarily be time and gasoline, but what is involved is simply driving around areas in which you would like to invest looking for signs of distress. The signs of distress that I'm referring to here are things like overgrown lawns, newspapers piled up on front porches, and deferred maintenance on houses. By combining Real-Time Investing with certain guerrilla marketing techniques, you can get really good results without breaking the bank.

Some of the different techniques you can utilize that don't cost much money are things like bandits sign, flyers, and canvassing the area looking for motivated sellers. Marketing efforts that require a little bit more money can generally be broken down into two basic categories: shotgun marketing and target marketing. Shotgun marketing is considerably less expensive than target marketing, but the results you get won't be nearly as good. However, it's still a good idea to utilize both techniques because you will get some results from shotgun marketing at very low cost.

Shotgun marketing is a general technique that is the marketing equivalent of carpet bombing. Instead of honing in on specific targets, you shoot at everything that moves. For example, in a direct mail campaign you could send a postcard out to every home in a particular ZIP code looking for motivated buyers or sellers. However, you can improve your results by targeting only specific properties or addresses. Instead, you might consider sending a postcard to people who are 30, 60 or 90 days past due on their home loans. In addition, if you're looking for people that might be interested in buying properties that you have available, you might send postcards to apartment dwellers or people who have recently been turned down on home loan applications.

Remember, there a dozens of ways to market yourself and your real estate investing business. You may not have the resources to spend much money on highly targeted radio or television ads, but the results you get can very quickly pay for the cost of the ad. The key here is to target the right demographic groups with the correct media. Talk radio stations and certain cable television channel will yield you tremendous results. Do your due diligence and research your options before spending your hard-earned money and you'll get astonishing results.

Mastering the Market in Turbulent Times

2008-09-26T07:30:00.001-07:00

In turbulent times, real estate professionals have a unique opportunity to step up and successfully guide buyers. You will be ahead of the game if you help clients separate the facts from the hype and clarify how national real conditions affect local markets. Buying a home can be stressful under the best of conditions. When you add in general anxiety and confusion about the housing market, you're bound to have buyers waiting on the sidelines for a better day.

Go local. The Internet puts today's consumers a click away from a world of real estate information. You can't know all the news that's available to your clients, but you can maintain the information advantage by becoming the expert on local markets. Focus on information your clients don't have. Local market information gathered from your experience, your MLS, and your network of local contacts is unique and provides value to your clients that other sources can't match.

Do the math. You don't need to be an expert in statistics, but you should know what the key numbers mean and how to explain them clearly. Numbers like days on market, units closed, list-to-sales price and pending sales can provide great insight on where your local market is headed. It's also impressive to clients when real estate pros know how local trends stack up against national numbers.

Show and tell. Using your MLS and marketing tools such as eNeighborhoods, you can provide personalized reports that show current neighborhood information and local demographic information such as schools, crime, employment and education. Provide branded leave-behind reports and materials homebuyers can reference later. When you become the local source who can explain market conditions with current statistics and visual summaries, you gain an advantage over less-prepared agents. Bring the bad news. Yes, prices are falling through the floor in many areas, particularly where activities like sub-prime lending, overbuilding and investor speculation occurred. The media tends to focus on areas where these abuses occur, bringing the bad news into sharp focus. You can help clients understand that falling prices in these areas are part of a natural - and necessary - market correction. As prices continue to fall, the real estate market will begin to recover as part of its normal cyclical process. Be sure to keep your prospects and clients engaged throughout the recovery process. Changes in local sales, home prices and inventory are good indicators of your local market's health. The national real estate market will inevitably recover, and those buyers who are on the fence now may be ready to purchase in the near future as some sunlight begins to emerge from the market's dark clouds.

How It's Actually Possible to Start Selling Income Property Today

2008-09-26T07:30:00.000-07:00

If you're a real estate agent that does not sell multifamily or other investment real estate at least some portion of the time, then you're missing out on a great opportunity to build your real estate business.

Moreover, I believe that any real estate agent can sell multifamily property just by learning a few basics, whether they're a novice to real estate investing or not.

Hey, when I started in real estate, I moved from residential real estate to income property sales almost overnight. Just six months into my real estate career I sold a shopping center and made a $24,000 commission...and I knew less about real estate investing then what you're about to discover in this article.

But I digress.

The point is that you don't have to become a commercial real estate specialist to sell rental property. Yes, commercial expertise is necessary to service some properties, e.g., leasing, but ordinary real estate agents can typically handle multifamily property transactions quite successfully, and generally do when they want to. That's how I did it, and so can you.

Moreover, don't sell yourself short. If you're a real estate agent, then you are certainly in a great position to work with income property sellers and buyers. Remember what we learned about real estate, that it's a "contact sport". Think about it. Investors walk and call in to real estate offices, are previous customers, relatives, friends, and neighbors. In truth, we're surrounded by potential real estate investment customers.

Finally, strike the thought that any effort you make to sell rental property won't be worth it. The untold secret about investment property, what others would not want you to discover, is that real estate investors typically purchase more than one property over time. Moreover, unlike home buyers (who purchase one house), real estate investors are known to purchase multiple properties plus, are often willing to sell for the "right price" because there's no emotional attachment like with a home.

In other words, when you get the opportunity to work with one investor on one transaction, you potentially are setting the stage for multiple transactions.

Okay, now let's go down the list.

1) Make the Decision

Foremost, decide to make some portion of your real estate business investment business. You don't have to sacrifice residential. If you want to keep selling houses, great, just don't get started with rental property half-heartedly. If you need an incentive, bear in mind that investment properties can easily generate multi-million dollar transactions equal to three or four residential transactions; therefore, a golden opportunity to bolster your annual earnings in this troubled housing market.

2) Learn the Basics

Unlike residential property, where amenities like kitchen size and school district are important to buyers, other than how they impact rents, amenities generally mean little to those who buy investment property. Real estate investing is about the numbers.

As such, investors are less impressed by an agent's style and panache than they are with the agent's ability to discuss investment property and provide timely numbers and reports. It's not about Armani and Mercedes. Listen. When an investor asks, "What's the property's cap rate?" and you have the answer, that's all you need to start making the right kind of favorable impression that will keep the investor from dumping you for your competition.

At the very least know how to compute capitalization rate and gross rent multiplier and be able to create an APOD. There are numerous websites devoted to real estate investment definitions and formulas where you can learn what you need easily, including my website.

3) Tool Up

Investing a few dollars for quality real estate investment software that enables you to create cash flow, rates of return, and profitability presentations is one of the best tools you can procure for real estate investing, bar none. Here's why.

Foremost, it makes a statement to investors that you work with rental income property. Presenting quality reports with concise financial data suggests to investors that you're serious about investment property, can assist in a sound buying decision, and might genuinely care about how the investor spends his or her money. It's about winning investor confidence.

Secondly, it tells your colleagues that you work with rental income property. This benefits your business because it gives you income property credibility and in turn can lead to additional referral business.

Thirdly, you can learn about rental income property. Almost by default, the formulas, returns, and reports generated in real estate investment software tend to rub off. It's as a customer of mine remarked, that my software contains everything about real estate investing it took him 15 years to learn. You get the idea.

4) Prepare

You're making a crucial mistake if you wait until you're confronted by an investor to learn the terms or buy the software. Urgency is always an issue when investors make the decision to buy or sell investment property, and if they see you pause or scramble for answers, they're not going to have qualms about calling someone else. Winning or losing a sale often rests solely on the perception a customer develops within seconds during the first encounter. Don't blow it.

5) Promote

Finally, let people know that you work with multifamily property. Foremost, call your residential customers and ask whether they've considered investing in real estate. Remember, investors are homeowners. Tell your relatives and friends. Obviously, the more people that know you're prepared and equipped to do a real estate analysis and run rates of return for them, the better. I'm preaching to the choir, here, of course, but I can't emphasize enough the impact your preparation for investment real estate will have on others.

Determining Your Preferred Marketing Cost Per Deal

2008-09-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

What is your target marketing cost per investment property you buy? What is your maximum marketing cost per deal? And, why should you care?

Here's why. For the most part, real estate deals cost money to find. Spending less to get the same results is better than spending more. Therefore, it makes sense to seek out ways to find as many deals as you can with the least amount of money spent.

If you're doing one deal per month and are spending $2,000 on ads each month, imagine if you only had to spend $1,000 per month to do the same number of deals instead. What would you do with an extra $1,000 every 30 days ($12,000/yr)? Pay yourself? Pay down debt? Or, maybe you'd spend that $1,000 on more advertising and find one more deal every month. Now we're cooking with gas.

Of course, you can and should find deals through marketing methods that cost little or nothing, like networking, publicity, etc. But if you're in a hurry (and considering the time value of money, I would be), you will have to spend money to find deals to do now. This is a business, after all, and businesses need to tell the world they exist-even the huge ones, and especially the small ones.

So what are you willing to spend to find one deal? $1,000? $2,000? $5,000? Heck, I'd spend $100,000 to find a deal (assuming, of course, that I had 1) that kind of cash laying around, and 2) 100% assurance that it would result in a no-money-down transaction resulting in a $2,000,000 cash profit with no risk. Until this pipe dream becomes a reality, though, I'll stick with smaller numbers).

Only you can determine what the maximum is that you're willing to spend to find one deal. It will depend on the following factors, which I will cover in order in the 4 articles to come:

1) How dedicated you are to testing and tweaking new advertising methods to get the most bang for your buck
2) How much money you have available for ads
3) How confident you are in your ability to close deals
4) How quickly you will get paid from your deals

Once you have carefully considered each of these, you will be in a position to know exactly how much your ads should be costing. Then, you can avoid wasting money, and you will also avoid opportunity costs from not advertising enough and missing out on deals.

Three Key Points to Market Strategy

2008-09-20T04:45:00.005-07:00

This article will discuss three key points on your market strategy. To look at your market strategy, you will first want to define your market. You cannot make any credible decisions until you have defined the market you are going after along with the submarkets and your acquisition strategy.

The first key points when looking for a market and what to buy is that it must be a good deal. This is easier said than done. There been many companies and individuals who have bought overpriced deals in the past based upon the faith that the property would appreciate. You want your deal to be good enough that you can hold onto the property through a down cycle and still make money. Set yourself up so that in case some kind of disaster happens you are able to hold onto the property and still make money.

A good example is the current market. There has been a downturn within real estate residentially over the last three years but this does not necessarily correspond to the commercial side as well. There have been 10 to 12 years when everything has been going ip but ultimately when it comes on economics, everything is cyclical. At some point there's going to be down cycle.

The second key to your market strategy is to not put all of your eggs in one basket. Because real estate goes through cycles, you want to have some reserves in place so that if a down cycle does take place, you have an opportunity to take advantage of some of the deals which will occur. The down cycle is almost always one of the best ways to find new good deals due to how many sellers are on the market at that time.

The third key when looking at market strategy is to know what your exit strategy will be. It is very important to know what to look for in buying a property but half the battle is knowing how to sell a property as well. If you buy a property for cheap and sell it for cheap, have you made as much money as you can? Have set guidelines in place for the type of return you would like. Knowing your exit strategy and what the market will allow will allow you to maximize your return. If you are not aware of the market and what is selling, you are cheating yourself out of money that you could have made. You have to work hard to turn around the deal so why not work on getting the most of your hard work that is possible?

You should have both a short-term and long-term view of your market strategy. Figure out what you need to do in the short term to make money but also have a long-term plan in place which you are continually building upon. Your short-term plan should build upon your long-term plan.

Hopefully this article on market strategy has given you some insight into what you need to do to create a good market strategy. A good strategy will help you avoid many mistakes and provide you with more opportunities as you'll know what you want to look for.

Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials - The Power of Differentiation

2008-09-20T04:45:00.004-07:00

The power of differentiation in the luxury arena applies to people, products and service. Luxury real estate marketing professionals can learn important lessons by studying successful branding in all three categories. A crowded market can still offer a perfect opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competition and build a distinctive personal brand.

A new stand out in vodka clearly makes the point. It is called Prairie Vodka. Prairie is organic and kosher. There is an organic brand on the market called Square One that comes in a square shaped bottle. However, there is no organic vodka that is also kosher. The kosher part appeals to dietary rules in this segment of the market.

Part of their slogan says that it is crafted on the Minnesota Prairie. The prairie conjures thoughts about the pioneer days that was romanticized by Garrison Keillor's radio shows,A Prairie Home Companion. Mr. Keillor is also from Minnesota. A sense of place, the origin of the product, offers another layer of distinctive branding.

Another slogan is Let the Prairie In. The ad shows the nighttime cityscape behind the vodka, as well as two wolves flanking a woman with very big hair on a penthouse balcony. She is dressed in a white gown, running with the wolves. It is dramatic and implies different, new, and edgy. The wolves represent the prairie, the wild, the freshness and the undiluted as expressed by the word organic.

The company is a fifth generation family of spirit makers which shows their expertise. It also implies that they have a tradition of making good products.

They are in partnership with over 900 farmers. These farmers are partners in the distillery. This shows the support of the farmers and their core values.

The taste of the vodka, described by Prairie as beautifully smooth, is lowest on the totem pole in terms of being a strong differentiator. However, it is everything you would expect from a premium vodka.

This example shows the manifestation of a brand position and brand differentiation. Every aspect is thought out, and everything in the ad supports the competitive difference including the look of the bottle which is clear and very simple.

The target market is not just vodka drinkers. It is vodka drinkers who 1) appreciate the integrity of the ingredients (organic); 2) have dietary restrictions (kosher); 3) are proponents of the environment and community life (900 farmers and partnership); 4) want expertise and tradition (fifth generation spirit makers). By purchasing Prairie vodka and drinking it, you are expressing all of your personal values because you are in agreement with what the brand stands for.

Real Estate Lead Generation

2008-09-20T04:45:00.003-07:00

Real estate lead generation has always been a hot topic with Realtors. With many Realtors no longer door knocking or cold-calling, the Internet has become a focus point for Realtors looking to generate real estate sales leads. With fierce competition and buyers and sellers 'shopping around' before choosing someone to represent them, Realtors now need to offer free tools such as user friendly websites that are about the client, not about the Realtor.

Below are 5 tips how Realtors can increase their real estate lead generation. Not only will these tips increase the amount of real estate sales leads, but they will also show Realtors how to convert leads into sales!

1. Get high placement in search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Most Buyers and Sellers start their searches here and you need to have high ranking websites! This can be accomplished by having separate websites for Buyers and Sellers. As search criteria is different for Buyers than for Sellers, you need to have high ranking websites for both types of clients.

2. Offer free services with your websites.

Don't make them about you, make them about your clients! A free service such as CMAs where they don't need to call you. This can be done via an 'online form'. Sellers don't want to always give out their contact number but usually have no problem giving out their email address.

3. Go above and beyond!

A free daily email of new listings and price adjustments is great, but follow up with personal emails! Don't forget about them after you have them on your email list.

4. Make your website very user friendly.

If searching for a CMA in a certain area. Sellers don't want to navigate thru 3 pages of your website just to spend time composing a long email about their home. They want a basic template where they fill in the fields. A user friendly website is a great tool for real estate lead generation.

5. Offer free Buying and Selling tools to your clients.

Most Buyers and Sellers do lots of research before choosing to work with a Realtor. Get the upper edge on your competition by offering a free eBook.

Most real estate boards provide Realtors with standard tools that ALL Realtors are able to offer their clients, making competition fierce. In order to separate yourself, you should explore different options. I feel internet marketing is the way of the future and with Buyers and Sellers shopping online; YOU NEED to put yourself in front of them. You could be the best Realtor in your market but without the proper tools, you will continue to struggle.

Real Estate Sales Leads

2008-09-20T04:45:00.002-07:00

Starting a career in Real Estate? Need to Generate real estate sales leads? Although unexperienced, entering the market with the right tools and knowledge will take your jump-start career and take you to the next level.

With over 90% of buyers and sellers, starting the process online, it is no secret that every Realtor have an online marketing strategy to obtain online leads with real estate lead generation.

There are 4 pillars of process which must be addressed in order to become successful online. They are:

1. Market Research

2. Product Development

3. Traffic

4. Conversion

1. Market Research - for a Realtor this is an easier task - you know your product. However, you must think of a way to distinguish your product from the competition. This industry is very saturated, and if you don't stand out you are bound to be average, or out of business. So think of your target market, get specific. Realtors now specialize in areas, sub-areas, type of dwelling etc. For example to survive in the Manhattan market, to really stand out you have to brand yourself. If you were really creative you might brand yourself in a certain area (Greenwich Village), and even more you might be a loft specialist. When any Buyer or Seller is thinking of buying or selling in Greenwich Village you want to be one of the first people that comes to mind, especially when dealing with a loft - you are the authority on the subject. So online, you need to come up with key phrases that target this niche, so when a Buyer or Seller (90% of them) is searching online, your website is at the top of the list!

2. Product Development - you need a product that will lead to traffic coming to your site, and ultimately converting that traffic into real estate sales leads. Of course many Realtors have blogs and personal websites which are great for personal branding and web presence, but is your name or your company's name usually typed into a search engine? Most of the time the answer is no. For example, if I want to buy a loft condo in Greenwich Village unless I already have a Realtor (we are not looking for these people) I would type in "Greenwich Village Lofts" or something like this. So to capture the potential clients we are looking for, we need to have that key phrase (our niche) to be a prominent result in search engines. It is the phrase not your name, or your companies name that will produce results.

3. Traffic - here comes your marketing skills. As a Realtor you MUST have them or you are doomed. Niche marketing is likely the most effective and efficient tool for real estate lead generation. Having niche targeted websites is becoming the future of online marketing for Realtors! Having a personal branded site is important but you also need a website that gets top page rankings for Buyers, and another website that gets top page ranking for Sellers. To obtain this, you need websites that are Search Engine Optimized (SEO) and tailored to your target market.

4. Conversion - this is what truly matters. All of the traffic in the world means nothing unless you can convert. After some Realtors obtain areal estate sales lead, they will offer a free Buyer's or Seller's eBook as a way to introduce themselves. When you have reached this point, it's time to do your job as a Real Estate Professional and provide them with your expertise.

3 Tips on How to Make Effective Real Estate Postcards

2008-09-20T04:45:00.001-07:00

Real estate is a business that thrives on how well you project an image and how well you can connect with the needs of others. There are many marketing materials that you can use to help you in your endeavor but none of them are as cost effective as real estate postcards. Real estate postcards give you the flexibility in the design that you need in creating impact in various ways.

For example, here are the types of real estate postcards that you can create:

"Farming" postcards

Farming postcards allows you to have a personal connection with your audience since these types of post cards usually offer free insider information about certain buildings or properties that are currently on the market. These postcards include pictures of properties that are considered to be bargains as well as tips on how to get the least prices out of real estate investments.

Just listed postcards

This is a nice way to advertise new properties that have recently been added to the market. These postcards give your audience an idea of the latest developments in the real estate world. Try and use high resolution images of properties so as to build interest among your audience.

Just sold postcards

Just sold postcards are not so much to market real estate. These materials are to let the people know that you just close out a deal and that you are a reputable real estate agent. Add a little endorsement from a satisfied customer and your golden.

In terms of the layout of these postcards, here are some ideas that you can play around with:

NEVER LEAVE ANYTHING TO CHANCE

• First, plan your approach and chart out your path towards success. Be sure to have it written down so that you can check every once in a while if you are straying out the path that you lad out for your self.

• Hire help. Face it, you cannot do it alone. You need to have people that will work for you. you need experience professionals that will give you advice on what you can do with your postcards. You already are pre occupied with the real estate part of your work, you should have someone handle your marketing or at least have someone who will help you handle it.

• Write down where, when and how many prints you want to have. Plan everything down so that you do not use excess amounts of your resources. Also plan a budget and stick to it no matter what. Having a rigid budget keeps you from overspending.

NEVER LOSE FOCUS

• Be specific in everything that you design. The more specific you are, the easier it is to draw responses to your prints. Be personal in your approach so that it will be easier for you to connect with your readers.

• Also it will be better if you have a set goal that you want to achieve. It will be easier to determine if your campaign is a success or not if you have a goal that you can get back to and gauge your results.

Real Estate Marketing Advice - Reason 5 - Sellers Need to Perform Property Inspections Before Market

2008-09-05T08:27:00.002-07:00

Before a seller places a property on the market they need to have all property inspections performed before they self market or list for sale thru a Realtor.

The reasons that performing these inspections before you seek a buyer are so important include:
1. Establishment of price
2. Learning the exact nature of the property
3. Misrepresentations
4. Avoiding price renegotiations
5. Error and omissions insurance coverage
6. Maintain arms length negotiations

Reason #5 is entirely for the Sellers self-protection.

The inspection companies (and every professional) that the seller hires, must possess and show proof of proper error and omissions insurance or general liability insurance coverage. These insurance certificates are to be requested and obtained by the seller before any work is paid for.
The property inspection company is providing the seller with a fairly in-depth report concerning the exact nature about the property condition. This report will become the basis by which several different groups will form some very important decisions upon. The sellers shall base the worth of the property on the condition of how the property does or does not compared to other properties. Buyers will use to it formulate what they believe the property will need for repairs or improvements in the immediate future.

If the analysis of the inspection company should contain any incorrect information the sellers must have the security in knowing that they reiterated information that came from a reliable and fortified entity and that they are protected not just by the inspection company themselves but also by the insurance company that insures the inspection work.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, part of the largest real estate sales companies in the country has customers sign a "Disclaimer regarding service providers" which states the following "Coldwell Banker has not conducted an investigation into the qualifications or financial status of these service providers. So if the largest sales company feels the need to use this disclaimer the seller should demand that the service provider has adequate insurance coverage.

"It is nice to believe that the firm that is hired will stand up and cover their work by making good on any errors or oversights. However a seller needs to be guaranteed that this is actually the case? Sellers do not know the financial shape or ability of the inspection company as to whether they are able or not to make the seller whole after an unexpected issue arises. The seller is on a completely different footing if they know, in advance, who the actual insurance provider of the inspection company is.

At some point in the sales process it will become inevitable these reports are performed.
It is entirely in the SELLER'S BEST INTEREST to maintain this control and have these inspections performed at their own expense. In the long run it will always save the seller time, aggravation and money.

James Joseph has more than than 25 years experience in the Real Estate Industry. As a Principal, Builder and Developer he has purchased and sold hundreds of properties and he has Brokered many, many other transactions.

In his soon to be published book "The Real Estate Revolution" he demonstrates how the shift in focus of the marketplace to the Buyer has all but left the Seller as an abandoned class, without the benefit of proper representation by the Real Estate Community.

Real Estate Call Capture Hotlines - 3 Secrets to Increasing Leads and Conversions

2008-09-05T08:27:00.001-07:00

Call capture hotlines have been around for many years now. Real estate agents are using them to generate leads, increase conversions, track and test their advertising campaigns, and stay in contact with their clients and prospective clients. You will find call capture hotlines in the arsenals of some of the top agents in the country as well as newbie agents just starting out. They can be used to supplement marketing that is already working or to help create a marketing campaign from scratch. You will find people that swear by them and by the success that they have brought them in their real estate business and you will find others that don't believe they work at all. So if they are so flexible and widely used, why don't they work for everybody?

Call capture hotlines are a tool just like any other. If you don't know how to use it, you will not get the results you seek. If, however, you educate yourself on how to use that tool you can use it to get the results that you seek and more. Here are 3 secrets experienced and successful users of call capture hotlines know and use to increase leads and conversions:

The Right Copy Will Encourage Calls. When it comes to ad copy there is a certain psychology that you need to employ if you want to encourage people to pick up the phone and dial your toll free number. Statistics show that people looking to buy a house want "Free 24 Hour Recorded Information". Let's break it down:
- FREE - 90% of Americans report using a toll free number and studies show that using a toll free number in your advertising can increase your response by 30%.
- 24 HOUR - 94% of people looking for a new home do so at odd hours of the day or night.
- RECORDED - 53% of home buyers avoid calling a real estate agent for fear of getting into a high-pressured sales pitch.
- INFORMATION - 88% of home buyers browse neighborhoods in their cars looking for homes for sale. 94% of people find it important to have access to home information as they browse from their vehicles. Luckily, 78% of people carry a cell phone. Using the right copy on your advertising will greatly improve the number of leads you generate from your call capture hotline. Using "Free 24 Hour Recorded Information" in your ads will break down barriers, tell your prospects they are going to get the information they need, let them do it at their convenience and ultimately increase calls to your hotline.
Get Callers To Connect To You. Obviously call capture systems are great at generating leads by capturing your caller's information even if they just listen to your recording and then hang up. However, wouldn't it be great if 1/3 of those people also pressed that key to connect to you right then and there? To ensure that this happens, your property listing recordings need to encourage them to do so. You can do this in a number of ways. First, you can let them know that due to changing market conditions the pricing information on the property would need to be updated nearly every day. Let them know that rather than re-recording the messages daily, they can simply press "7" and you would be happy to get pricing information for them. Secondly, make sure you are creating excitement with your recordings. Spark their curiosity with statements like, "Homes in this neighborhood are the most sought after properties in this community. Press 7 now to find out why." Or another example might be, "The family that currently lives in this home hates to leave it. To find out why, press 7 now." Give your callers a reason to connect to you live to increase your conversions. Just make sure that when they do, you can fulfill your promise to satisfy their curiosity.
A Personal Touch Converts. One of the things successful agents do on their call capture hotlines is to make their own recordings. Don't be tempted to use a professional voice service to make the recordings on your call capture hotline. People like it when the voice they hear in the free recording is the same voice that answers the phone when they get transferred to a live person. They like it so much it can increase your conversions up to 30%. An increase in conversions of up to 30% is completely worth the few minutes it will take you to make that listing recording.

Real estate call capture hotlines are great marketing and lead generation tools. But just like any tool, if you don't use it correctly you will not get the results you are looking for. The above 3 secrets that successful users of call capture already know will definitely get you on your way to getting the most from your hotline. Use the right copy to encourage your prospects to dial your toll free number, encourage them to want to speak to you live by sparking their curiosity with your recordings, and make sure those recordings have an added personal touch by being in your own voice. Those 3 simple tactics will easily increase your leads and conversions and help you get the most from your call capture hotline.

Marketing Real Estate

2008-09-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Through the past few years the real estate market showed low growth. The main reasons are foreclosures and falling market prices. This is a strong reason why you should market your property. In the current market it is the people with the money in the bank that control the market and can make the choices.

Why Market you ask? Without marketing, who will know what you have to sell. The more people that know about you and your property the larger the interest will become in the property. The key players in the real estate business make use of this powerful tool named marketing. Without marketing most of the developments would not be able to grow.

How do you market? Make use of professionals, make use of competent firms, and make use of online websites to market your property. If you want top dollars for your property you will have to be better than your competition. If your marketing strategy is better than your competition you will get the client and make the sale. You will even have a choice who you want to sell to.
In short if you want the sale, market, market, market. You will be successful.

It is important not to only focus on one way to market your property though. This could cause difficulty in selling the property.

Why not use a realtor?
People make use of realtors to sell their property because of the marketing tools available to them. Realtors make use of placing the property online as well as a listing in the newspapers. To most people using a realtor makes sense as most of the prospective buyers use these services to find properties. Although these marketing tools gets some results, you will have to try something special, because the competition is great and following the norm will not necessarily sell your property. You will have to use proven marketing ideas.

What now?
Firstly it depends if you are selling property once of or if you want to make money. If you want to make a career out of selling property you will have to build a name for you and your company. On the internet you could set up a website for people to list their properties. The property listing would include pictures of the properties to give a visual to the potential client. Get people to list their properties by making it worth while for them to place their home or business on your website. The more properties you have listed the more the interest by potential buyers.

What information to place:
1. Place interesting information about the area that the property is situated.
2. Stats about the area that the property is situated.
3. Services in the area. Like shops, hospitals, libraries, etc.
4. Playgrounds, attractions, site seeing sites, etc.
5. Safety of the area.

The idea is to make your website unique and get prospective buyers to connect through your website to the sellers.

Real Estate Investing Websites - Avoid These Deadly Keyword Mistakes

2008-09-05T08:26:00.001-07:00

If you have done any work with the Internet or real estate investing websites then I am sure you have heard of the term keyword. Keywords are the words on your web page that are relevant to the type of traffic that you would like to visit your site from the search engines. When search engines send their spiders to gather information about your page they will be searching for your keywords. Your keywords will help the search engines direct your placement within the search engine itself.

I am going to come at this from the perspective that you are new to building your real estate investing website. I am going to review just a few of the errors that I have seen so many other rookie web designers make when creating real estate investing websites.

Mistake #1 Using keywords that are too generic- If your web designer uses keywords that cover to broad of a spectrum then you will never get placement near the front page of the search engines. Getting your site listed on the front page of the major search engines should be a priority in order to quickly start collecting prospects from your site. For example some specific keywords for getting leads for Austin, TX motivated sellers would be: sell our Austin home, Austin home buyers, Austin Realtors, selling homes in Austin, avoiding foreclosure in Austin. Now some examples of bad keywords would be: Sell our home, avoid foreclosure, sell real estate. The reason that the second example is so useless is because there are so many sites across the nation competing for the same keywords. Because of the heavy competition your site has almost no chance of capturing front page placement.

Mistake #2 Not putting your keywords in the correct places- For optimal search engine placement, keywords should be placed in the headings, near the beginning of your web copy, and also near the end of your web copy.

Mistake #3 Not checking out your competitors- If you want to win the war for the front page of search engines, then visit the sites that currently show up on the search engines. Once your at the site you can go to the top of the page and go to the view section of the tool bar. Under the view section hit the view source or view page source button. That is going to give you the code behind the website that you are viewing. Look for the keywords that your competitors are using near the top of the page.

If you can avoid these mistakes when building your real estate investing website then you will be well on your way to success.

Mortgage Marketing - Switch From Teaser Rates to Answers Marketing

2008-09-05T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you have been in the mortgage market for any length of time you are familiar with the classic, "Refinance your $300,000 mortgage for only $800 per month, increase your cash flow!" This probably didn't beg a lot of questions from the borrower and with rates plunging and documentation no barrier--there wasn't a lot to explain.

Things have obviously changed for borrowers and lenders, but has your marketing?

Ask Questions Borrowers Are Asking

Barraged with terms like FHA, GSE, Reverse Mortgage, ARM Resets, Loan Modifications, Foreclosure, and a whole host of others--fills borrowers with questions.

Pile on to that media coverage that headlines bank closings, government bailouts, economic catastrophe, and dangerous mortgages with payment shocks--fills borrowers with fears.

You first ingredient in building a successful marketing campaign in this market environment is moving your presentation from payment to questions. Make sure that your marketing materials and sales approaches fundamentally starts with the questions borrowers are asking.

Answer Questions Borrowers Are Asking

Asking questions certainly is not servicing those borrowers, but at least it is calming their nerves a bit. It is reassuring them that they are asking the right questions.

Asking questions is also helping to direct them to you. Whether it is a postcard or a search query. Matching questions tells the potential client you are on the same wavelength.

Now the art of marketing means that you quickly transition to a value first approach. Answer the question. Short, simple, and direct. No acronyms or mortgage jargon.

Use your answers to set expectations--be clear who you can help. Those you can't give them good advise on who or what can.

Do It Everywhere

You are prepared to ask questions and answer questions, but where? Everywhere.

This is the current state of our media. There are few places to reach everyone. People are splitting their attention and looking for answers across the full spectrum of media. Your challenge is to be everywhere.

This is a tough order--especially if you are attempting to achieve any level of scale. I break it into two approaches broadcasting and listening. You should use both. Here are some quick online ideas:

Broadcasting Answers:

Answer questions on Blog
Answer questions on Yahoo Answers
Answer questions via Article Marketing

Listening for Questions:

Listen for questions in traditional media
Listen for questions in RSS Reader
Listen for opportunities on Twitter

Do It Often

Unlike the heyday of marketing in the mortgage refinance boom, one payment ad doesn't get the deal.

When you are marketing answers it takes credibility and depth. That means proving your expertise and showing your endorsements. That takes frequency.

The effects of an answers-based marketing campaign will ramp slower, but will yield exponentially and builds a long-term base.

Austin's Top Public Schools

2008-08-26T08:41:00.004-07:00

Families moving to a near city have obvious reasons to be concerned about the quality of education available to their children. The skills that children learn in their early years of school will shape their future ambitions and success. Not to mention that most children spend at least six hours out of every weekday at school. Any involved parent would want the environment in which their children spend so much time to be as pleasant and rewarding as possible.

Many people do not realize that even child-free families have good reasons to be concerned about the schools in their new neighborhoods. Schools are often indicative of the quality of the neighborhood overall; good schools, low crime rates, and well maintained public spaces tend to all go hand in hand. Additionally, when a person is ready to sell their home, being located in a good district is an excellent selling point that can easily help him get a higher price for his property.

So if you are planning to buy or rent a new Austin home, what schools should you keep an eye out for? Based on research into the opinions of parents and state educational programs, here are some of the best that this city has to offer.

Elementary Schools

Barton Creek Elementary: BCE receives consistent praise from parents of students for its high levels of safety and discipline, eagerness to work with parents, and the useful academic skills it teaches its students. It belongs to the renowned Eanes ISD.

Canyon Creek Elementary: The parents of CCE's students highly recommend it if your child is academically gifted for his or her age. The principle and teachers are well known for being very caring and involved in students' lives. It is located in the highly ranked Round Rock ISD.

Middle Schools

Bailey Middle School: Known for its consistently high test schools, BMS is recommended for academically gifted students. Its music and art programs are also highly praised and enjoyed by it students. BMS is part of Austin ISD.

Canyon Vista Middle School: Parents of CVMS's students often praise its talented and caring teachers, art and music programs and high level of safety. It is also part of Round Rock ISD.

High Schools

Lake Travis High: LTHS is known throughout the city for its strict but fair discipline, high test scores and wide variety of extracurricular activities. It is larger and more diverse than some schools in the area, which many of its students appreciate. Naturally, it is located in the Lake Travis ISD.

Westwood High: WHS belongs to the IB program, a series of rigorous courses for talented students. Its fine arts program is highly praised and all of its teachers expect great things from their kids. It is part of the acclaimed Round Rock ISD.

Tips For Choosing Your Perfect Real Estate Agent

2008-08-26T08:41:00.003-07:00

If you're buying a new home for your family or selling one you currently own, a few simple steps can help you find just the right real estate agent to fit your needs. With so many choices available, it can be hard to know which agent is going to do the best job for you, but here are a few things to look for when choosing an agent.

Agents For Buying A Home -

If you're looking to purchase a home, notice how much time each agent you interview spends asking questions about your family's needs, then how much time they spend listening to your answers. An agent who spends more time asking about your family finances or your ability to obtain a mortgage - rather than about the size of your family, whether or not you have children, and what sort of schools you may or may not be looking for - might not have your best interests in mind.

Also, make sure the real estate agent you choose is willing to work around your schedule when it comes to showing potential properties. In today's technological age, many agents save time by sending out general lists of listings to potential buyers. You may be better served by an agent willing to work around your schedule; regardless of whether sending you listings that actually match your criteria, or taking the time to show potential properties in person, when your schedule allows.

Agents For Selling A Home -

If you're looking for a realtor to help sell your home, an agent who examines your house with a fine toothed comb for the things needing fixed or changed is concerned about helping you sell for the quickest and best price. Also, look for a real estate agent who will help you to stage your home so it looks best for potential buyers. Staging may involve repainting the walls if they are too loud a colour, removing large pieces of furniture to make the home look bigger, and rearranging other furniture to make your home more appealing.

Overall, choosing a real estate agent who will work for you doesn't have to be a difficult process. The main thing to remember is your agent should be working for you, and not just for the commission they earn when you either buy or sell your home.

Learning About Real Estate

2008-08-26T08:41:00.001-07:00

Today I'm going to be talking about some real estate hunting I did with my girlfriend last week. As some of you may know, I'm not located in the United States, I'm currently living in Toronto Canada so it seems like a good idea to throw that out right away.

Anyway, me and my girlfriend were looking somewhere we could move into. First we looked at houses downtown--omg can you guys say overpriced? You won't believe how expensive it is to have a house downtown in Toronto. I can't believe the price some people were giving us for what had to be one of the smallest, most enclosed areas I'd ever seen in my life. Literally, you cannot find a smaller area to live in than these places in downtown Toronto.

Bottom line guys, if you're looking for real estate in Toronto, or any major city for that mattor STAY away from downtown. Go for the suburbs and get a nice place with large square footage (ie. tons of room) and that way you can be sure you'll actually be getting value for your money. It's really up to you guys what you do of course, but you can bet both myself and my girlfriend decided that there was no way we were living downtown and instead are going to the suburbs next week to see what the housing situation there is like.

I'll be updating my Toronto real estate adventure on a week by week basis so make sure ot keep following all these articles if you want to learn a lot about real estate!

Why the Sub Prime Market Failed!

2008-08-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

The Globe and Mail has done a great job telling the story of the collapse of the Sub Prime Mortgage market. You can read the whole story here or hang out here for my summary.

When the real estate market in the US was extremely hot a few short years ago. People were getting loans to buy homes with no documentation, less than stellar credit, financing more than the purchase price, qualifying for the loan based on a discounted teaser rate and investors were buying these loans up like they were going out of style. They were betting that the market would never cool off and home values would continue to rise, probably using the old adage " they are not making any more real estate". However what they failed to realize is that some of these people could not afford to continue making payments.

Reality set in last year when investors started to loose interest in buying ABCP from lenders whose pools of mortgages presented too high a risk. This combined with adjustable rate mortgages resetting to higher limits forcing people into foreclosure, created the perfect storm in the real estate market. People were loosing their homes, investors were loosing the shirts and those on the sidelines were unable to get in the game as sub prime and prime lenders were dropping like flies.

The end result is that the consumer has fewer options available to them for financing their home. However the strange part of it is that there is a silver lining. The lenders with questionable lending practices are now gone and homes that were out of the reach of some people are becoming a possibility. So do your home work and consult an investment advisor like my friend Steve Cox.
before investing your hard earned money and when you buy your house make sure you leave your self room to live as well.

The Internet Home Buyer - Reach Them With a Real Estate Website

2008-08-17T00:36:00.000-07:00

You've tried to avoid it for years...a real estate agent website. You figured word-of-mouth, newspaper, fliers and signage would cover your advertising for years to come. Well, if you haven't crawled out from under your rock already, it's 2008. We live in a digital world...where Facebook and BlackBerry addictions have supreme reign. Where blogging, texting and e-mails are our communication lines of choice. People use the Internet now to buy their groceries, rent a movie and order their favourite Chinese take-out. If your real estate business has yet to embrace the online age, where does that leave you? Probably miles behind your competition. So isn't it time you capitalized on the Internet revolution?

Start by understanding that more and more people are relying on the web to learn about the entire real estate process. There has also been a shift in consumer from Generation X to Generation Y. First-time buyers from GenY will have different communication needs, purchasing behaviour and housing requirements than their earlier counterparts. Now more than ever, it's vital for all real estate professionals to understand why the Internet is so crucial to today's industry, and why choosing not to get involved would reduce their profits and competitive edge.

As today's potential client has less time than ever before, they desire their information served on a silver platter. So why not deliver the information they want and make it available to them 24 hours a day? Give them a one-stop-online-real-estate-shop to help them buy their dream home? That's what they're looking for. Nowadays, they expect it.

So why are customers so apt to house-hunting online?

1. Well first, it saves them time, and plenty of it. Who has the energy to flip through a mile-high pile of messy newspapers? Or make 20 preview appointments with a REALTOR? Certainly not the urban jet-setters, soccer moms or suits of today's world.

These Internet savvy buyers will take an average of 4.5 weeks to look for information on homes and neighborhoods before ever contacting a real estate professional, as compared to a traditional buyer that takes only 1.5 weeks. However, once the initial information gathering is complete, Internet buyers spend significantly less time with their agent and preview far fewer homes, spending 2 weeks, compared to 7 weeks for the traditional buyer.

2. Online buyers also enjoy a greater sense of control. Real estate websites of today embrace a more user-friendly attitude than ever before. The Internet helps these buyers better understand the whole home buying process, and puts them in better control of that process. They can refine their needs and wants and comparison shop to paint a more detailed picture of their dream home for you. In the end it also helps save you time, so you can steer clear of what they don't want, and deliver on what they do.

Just know that if they're looking for a '4-bedroom, 3-bathroom raised bungalow with a salt-water outdoor pool and white picket fence, close to the highway yet nestled in a quiet community and close to a nature trail'...you'll be the first to know.

3. Internet buyers tend to be global risk-takers. They are more willing and able to relocate now more than ever. These buyers are looking to move to different parts of the country, and use the Internet to scope out the hottest trends. They want to settle into a new lifestyle and status, not just a new home. With it they'll earn a trend-setting label among friends and colleagues, and a life experience they'll never forget.

Internet buyers are expanding their families at a slower pace, having children significantly later than their baby-boomer counterparts. As a REALTOR, you need to appeal to their sense of freedom, mobile lifestyle and ability to live in an exciting new place, whether on their own or with a partner.

4. The information they need is available at the touch of a button, anytime, anywhere. Whether they're searching for a home on their lunch break or at 2am, they have all the resources they need on their timetable. They don't have to play phone tag to answer their questions. Everything they need is ready and waiting for them online.

Keep in mind that Internet home buyers want as much detailed information as possible. Therefore, real estate professionals that offer websites with specialized, inside information and detailed listings including plenty of quality photos and virtual tours, will be more likely to capture these customers.

So, who exactly are these Internet savvy home buyers, anyway? Let's take a closer look at the Internet home buyer profile and how they differ from traditional buyers.

They enjoy a controlled environment. The Internet empowers this type of consumer. They have control of the search process, by way of privacy and freedom. They can regulate the level of communication they choose to have with an agent or agency, and therefore feel less pressured and more comfortable in the decision-making process.

They are usually first-time buyers.The Internet buyer tends to be new to the real estate purchasing market, and is younger, wealthier, more likely to be married and better educated than a traditional buyer.

They want to be as informed as possible. These buyers want a complete understanding of what they'll be jumping into. Not just listings and prices, they want information on the entire real estate transaction, from agent negotiations to legal procedures. They want all the real estate marketing tools wrapped into one complete package.

Internet savvy real estate professionals are at an advantage to fill in the gaps for these types of clients. Armed with this buyer profile and the proper real estate internet marketing tool, you can learn to better recognize and understand the requirements of this market niche. Think of real estate professionals like a GPS Navigation System for the Internet homebuyer. The Internet is their road map, but they still need detailed navigated directions to get to their destination; a guide to help them through the negotiation and transaction processes of home buying.

Remember, these Internet buyers will judge your competency based on your online perception. Establishing an online presence through a user-friendly real estate website and e-mail has become a benchmark of professionalism for all business. So, if you find your business is lacking in this department, keep in mind that valuable sales are being lost each passing moment. A website can therefore only compliment your role in the home buying process. Take action and get your real estate business online. Farming, referrals, sign calls and traditional advertising can only take you so far in the 2008 marketplace.

© Copyright 2008 Sonia Fratia

Sonia Fratia is the Copywriter & Marketing Assistant for InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions. Sonia has a strong educational and professional background in the advertising and marketing platforms as a Copywriter.

InCom Real Estate Web & e-Marketing Solutions is a real estate website design, hosting & e-marketing company. They provide real estate software that focuses on online lead-generation and search engine marketing. They provide real estate agents and broker owners with valuable tools to convert real estate leads. Visit http://www.incomrealestate.com for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sonia_Fratia

Using Web Sites to Help Your Real Estate Business

2008-08-17T00:35:00.000-07:00

Good real estate agents agents are experts in their industry and are servants for their clients. However, just because you are good at what you do means your customers believe in you.

Especially in the current market, in this housing slump of 2008, you need to do everything you can to ensure your customers have 100% faith in you.

One excellent way is to have a web site. However, just throwing up anything on the web and calling it your own can have the opposite effect. Web sites are good at giving you credibility, but if it looks like your neighbor's kid put it together, your clients may wonder if you are really legitimate. So here are some tips to make sure you create a site that is professional and works for you without breaking the bank.

1. Don't use free website tools. The old saying you get what you pay for typically applies. Think of your own industry here. The FSBO services seem good because they are free, but in reality you are missing out on the benefits of working with an agent. Same holds true here. If you go for something free, you are very likely to create a pile of junk that nobody wants to visit.
2. Buy a .com domain name. Keep it simple, if your name is available, make it yourname.com. If you work for a small company, try your companyname.com. If that's not available, you can always add the city name in front or behind your company. For example NYCcompanyname.com OR companynameNYC.com. Use whatever has a better ring to it. Don't use a .net or other domain extension. The standard is .com. You don't want someone typing in .com when in reality you are .net and going to another business, or worse, a spam web page.
3. Get a professional logo. Your logo is your brand. Even if you go by your name only or work with a company like ReMax, you should have your own logo. Why? Logos build credibility, and are unique to your business. That way when clients see a logo they think of you. Logos don't have to be expensive.
4. Hire someone to design your site. There are great, cheap tools that come with many hosting/domain companies like Network Solutions or Go Daddy, but if you use the generic free templates you will look generic and not professional. Again, this is something that you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for. Many times you can get away with paying just a few hundred dollars up front.
5. Put your web site on your business card. Once you have a nice site, be sure to get it out there. Get it on your business card and other marketing materials. This will be one more outlet for you to show off your new site, and build up that credibility that you need.

Andy @ The Logo-Mat
Real Estate Agent Logo Design at a Fair Price.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andy_Ketter