Most real estate practitioners recognize that they face competition from all directions. As such, and because the Internet is now one of the best avenues for flagging prospective clients, it is critical that agents devote the appropriate amount of time and attention to promoting and branding their Web site.
This means not only putting the URL on business cards and mailers, but also finding unique and creative ways to build the brand.
One prime example comes from Chicago-based real estate practitioner Diane Freeman, who uses her Web site address as a watermark on the six floor plans for the condominium building she represents. If she distributes copies of the floor plans at an open house or to clients who have expressed interest in the property, her domain name will be right at hand; and chances are good that she will be the first person that will be contacted by someone who is looking at the floor plans. It also means greater brand recognition, increased Web site traffic, and ultimately more sales.
Source: "Brand Your Real Estate Website....ON EVERYTHING," RealtyBizNews (04/26/2012) & Information, Inc.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Get more people to your website
Many real estate professionals have a website for their business, but how do they get potential customers to actually visit it? Here are a few of ideas for boosting web visitor traffic:
Increase your SEO (search engine optimization)
Search engine optimization lifts a site’s visibility in search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, by focusing on keywords. Websites that appear early in a search tend to get more clicks, and it helps to use keywords in text that reflect your market and target audience. Also, focus more on incorporating backlinks or inbound links, which link your site to, and from, other web pages.
Do more blogging
Write original content, but also consider guest blogging for already-established blogs as a way to ramp up traffic. “Writing for other prominent blogs in your niche is even more beneficial in generating traffic,” writes Ilya Pozin at Forbes.com. “By including a link to your website in the biography at the end of your guest post, you can draw in new visitors from a source that likely gets much more traffic than your current blog or website.”
Try Facebook ads
A recent study conducted by Nielsen found that people are 68 percent more likely to recall seeing an ad when it’s viewed within a social context. Facebook is the most popular social networking site, and it doesn’t cost much to start advertising on there. You can set a daily budget or pay per clicks. With Facebook ads, in particular, you can target people by location, friends of your current fans, or even those who “like” other pages that reflect your target market.
Generate good PR
Good public relations in the community can also increase web traffic, according to Forbes.com. “Through public relations strategies, you can brand yourself as an expert in your niche and build your credibility,” writes Ilya Pozin, a Forbes.com contributor.
He suggests serving as an expert source in local news articles. Also, send press releases to the local media and highlight a newsworthy event or service.
Source: “10 Proven Ways to Market Your Web site,” Forbes.com (April 11, 2012) & INFORMATION, INC.
Increase your SEO (search engine optimization)
Search engine optimization lifts a site’s visibility in search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, by focusing on keywords. Websites that appear early in a search tend to get more clicks, and it helps to use keywords in text that reflect your market and target audience. Also, focus more on incorporating backlinks or inbound links, which link your site to, and from, other web pages.
Do more blogging
Write original content, but also consider guest blogging for already-established blogs as a way to ramp up traffic. “Writing for other prominent blogs in your niche is even more beneficial in generating traffic,” writes Ilya Pozin at Forbes.com. “By including a link to your website in the biography at the end of your guest post, you can draw in new visitors from a source that likely gets much more traffic than your current blog or website.”
Try Facebook ads
A recent study conducted by Nielsen found that people are 68 percent more likely to recall seeing an ad when it’s viewed within a social context. Facebook is the most popular social networking site, and it doesn’t cost much to start advertising on there. You can set a daily budget or pay per clicks. With Facebook ads, in particular, you can target people by location, friends of your current fans, or even those who “like” other pages that reflect your target market.
Generate good PR
Good public relations in the community can also increase web traffic, according to Forbes.com. “Through public relations strategies, you can brand yourself as an expert in your niche and build your credibility,” writes Ilya Pozin, a Forbes.com contributor.
He suggests serving as an expert source in local news articles. Also, send press releases to the local media and highlight a newsworthy event or service.
Source: “10 Proven Ways to Market Your Web site,” Forbes.com (April 11, 2012) & INFORMATION, INC.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Google adds to cloud options
Google Drive is finally in gear. The oft-rumored – and delayed – data-storage service made its debut Tuesday, adding the biggest name to a high-tech scrum over consumers and small businesses.
Drive lets people store photos, documents and videos on Google’s servers so that they are accessible from any Web-connected device and easily shared with others. If you wanted to e-mail a video shot from a smartphone, for instance, you could upload it to the Web through a Drive mobile app and e-mail a link to the video rather than sending a bulky file.
“Drive is at the heart of what cloud computing is,” says Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and apps. “It was created to be the center of the Google application experience.” For example, Google Docs is integrated into Drive. And Drive took awhile to launch, Pichai says, because Google wanted it to work seamlessly and securely with Google and third-party apps, as well as across multiple languages and devices.
Google’s foray into the consumer cloud market officially makes it a free-for-all, with nearly every major tech player – including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.com – making a play for small businesses and consumers.
“This puts Google directly in the game for personal cloud services,” says Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. “It’s likely to appeal to consumers, especially those who are already engaged in Google services, as well as business users, who can leverage the integration into Google Docs.”
Google’s entry raises questions about the future of Dropbox, its start-up rival in the space. Google intends to drop the digital hammer on Dropbox with cut-rate pricing. While Dropbox charges $10 a month for 50 GB, Google sells 100 GB for $4.99 a month.
Drive is also offering consumers 5 GB of free storage – more than twice the 2 GB of free storage offered by Dropbox. Google’s service is available for Macintosh, Windows and Android devices. An iOS version is weeks away.
Dropbox has gained the attention of consumers for its elegance and simplicity – and of suitors, such as Apple and Google, both of whom were spurned. Its promise as an IPO candidate has made Dropbox the target of Google, whose tactic at this point is: If you can’t buy ‘em, beat ‘em.
Dropbox, which says it “does one thing and better than anyone else,” this week added a feature that lets users share files through a link.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Drive lets people store photos, documents and videos on Google’s servers so that they are accessible from any Web-connected device and easily shared with others. If you wanted to e-mail a video shot from a smartphone, for instance, you could upload it to the Web through a Drive mobile app and e-mail a link to the video rather than sending a bulky file.
“Drive is at the heart of what cloud computing is,” says Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and apps. “It was created to be the center of the Google application experience.” For example, Google Docs is integrated into Drive. And Drive took awhile to launch, Pichai says, because Google wanted it to work seamlessly and securely with Google and third-party apps, as well as across multiple languages and devices.
Google’s foray into the consumer cloud market officially makes it a free-for-all, with nearly every major tech player – including Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.com – making a play for small businesses and consumers.
“This puts Google directly in the game for personal cloud services,” says Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. “It’s likely to appeal to consumers, especially those who are already engaged in Google services, as well as business users, who can leverage the integration into Google Docs.”
Google’s entry raises questions about the future of Dropbox, its start-up rival in the space. Google intends to drop the digital hammer on Dropbox with cut-rate pricing. While Dropbox charges $10 a month for 50 GB, Google sells 100 GB for $4.99 a month.
Drive is also offering consumers 5 GB of free storage – more than twice the 2 GB of free storage offered by Dropbox. Google’s service is available for Macintosh, Windows and Android devices. An iOS version is weeks away.
Dropbox has gained the attention of consumers for its elegance and simplicity – and of suitors, such as Apple and Google, both of whom were spurned. Its promise as an IPO candidate has made Dropbox the target of Google, whose tactic at this point is: If you can’t buy ‘em, beat ‘em.
Dropbox, which says it “does one thing and better than anyone else,” this week added a feature that lets users share files through a link.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Jon Swartz, USA TODAY
Now free to sign onto Fla. do-not-call list
It’s now free for Floridians to sign onto the state’s Do Not Call program, which protects Floridians from unsolicited phone calls. A resident may add any residential, mobile or paging device to the Florida Do Not Call program.
“Last year, we heard complaints from nearly 20,000 consumers about telemarketing,” says Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. “Now, we’re able to offer protection from unsolicited calls to Floridians at no cost.”
“Realtors are sometimes confused about the do-not-call laws because there is a state program and a federal program,” says Donna Ryan, one of Florida Realtors attorneys. “However, we advise members to check with both the state program and the federal program before making a sales call to a private residence.”
While the Florida program uploads phones numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry, it takes time to do so. A do-not-call phone number could appear on the state list and be subject to Florida fines before it appears on the national list. For businesses, the state do-not-call list costs $120 per area code, per year, or $400 for the entire state.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services maintains the state’s Do Not Call list and updates it quarterly. The 2012 Florida Legislature changed the law to make it a free service for consumers. Previously, Florida residents paid $10 for a new subscription and $5 for renewal. The state will lose over $500,000 by nixing the consumer fee, but it plans to make up for the loss through increased fines charged to people and companies that break the law by calling numbers on the do-not-call list.
Consumers can find out more by calling 800-HELP-FLA or visiting the Florida Do Not Call Program website.
Realtors and brokers who want to order the do-not-call list or get other information can access frequently asked questions here.
Source: Florida Realtors®
“Last year, we heard complaints from nearly 20,000 consumers about telemarketing,” says Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam. “Now, we’re able to offer protection from unsolicited calls to Floridians at no cost.”
“Realtors are sometimes confused about the do-not-call laws because there is a state program and a federal program,” says Donna Ryan, one of Florida Realtors attorneys. “However, we advise members to check with both the state program and the federal program before making a sales call to a private residence.”
While the Florida program uploads phones numbers to the National Do Not Call Registry, it takes time to do so. A do-not-call phone number could appear on the state list and be subject to Florida fines before it appears on the national list. For businesses, the state do-not-call list costs $120 per area code, per year, or $400 for the entire state.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services maintains the state’s Do Not Call list and updates it quarterly. The 2012 Florida Legislature changed the law to make it a free service for consumers. Previously, Florida residents paid $10 for a new subscription and $5 for renewal. The state will lose over $500,000 by nixing the consumer fee, but it plans to make up for the loss through increased fines charged to people and companies that break the law by calling numbers on the do-not-call list.
Consumers can find out more by calling 800-HELP-FLA or visiting the Florida Do Not Call Program website.
Realtors and brokers who want to order the do-not-call list or get other information can access frequently asked questions here.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Make Video Marketing Work for Your Business
To answer questions about how to ensure marketing videos are successful and whether adding such videos to Web sites can improve search engine rankings, CIO.com interviewed several video experts.
CIO.com's attempt to find out who can benefit from video marketing and what it takes to successfully market a video found that it’s complicated. Experts say firms that sell a visual or hard-to-explain product or service should employ such videos because customers can see exactly what they are getting.
But getting customers to watch the video can be a challenge in itself. Experts recommend that firms define the target audience, script the video, and have a clear call to action.
When making such videos, it also is important to shoot them in a quiet place, use the correct lighting and choose the right music. Video experts say that companies should remember that less is more — go easy on the flashy effects, in other words. Unless a luxury product is being sold, no one is going to care about slick production.
Humor is an excellent way to hook customers, but only when appropriate, according to the experts. Other tips include keeping the video fairly brief, including testimonials from past clients, and placing a video sitemap on the Web site.
Because videos are meant to be shared, firms should consider hosting them on YouTube, which is the No. 1 destination for people to watch videos, according to comScore. The experts told CIO.com that video marketing is 10 times more likely to generate a viewer response than traditional marketing options, translating to an increase in Web traffic and higher sales.
Source: "How to Make Video Marketing Work for Your Business," PC Advisor (April 20, 2012) & Information Inc.
CIO.com's attempt to find out who can benefit from video marketing and what it takes to successfully market a video found that it’s complicated. Experts say firms that sell a visual or hard-to-explain product or service should employ such videos because customers can see exactly what they are getting.
But getting customers to watch the video can be a challenge in itself. Experts recommend that firms define the target audience, script the video, and have a clear call to action.
When making such videos, it also is important to shoot them in a quiet place, use the correct lighting and choose the right music. Video experts say that companies should remember that less is more — go easy on the flashy effects, in other words. Unless a luxury product is being sold, no one is going to care about slick production.
Humor is an excellent way to hook customers, but only when appropriate, according to the experts. Other tips include keeping the video fairly brief, including testimonials from past clients, and placing a video sitemap on the Web site.
Because videos are meant to be shared, firms should consider hosting them on YouTube, which is the No. 1 destination for people to watch videos, according to comScore. The experts told CIO.com that video marketing is 10 times more likely to generate a viewer response than traditional marketing options, translating to an increase in Web traffic and higher sales.
Source: "How to Make Video Marketing Work for Your Business," PC Advisor (April 20, 2012) & Information Inc.
Common real estate ad mistakes on Craigslist
Posting ads on Craigslist is an effective and money-conserving strategy for marketing real estate to prospective homebuyers. However, agents should avoid common missteps.
The headline is critical. It’s what attracts viewers to either open the ad or pass it by. In most cases, the headline should not be creative.
Many property professionals mistakenly focus on particular listing details rather than on the factors website viewers use to nix some postings and focus on others – the immediate parameters of location, size, and price. A headline such as “Downtown 2 Bdrm Condo at $1,900/month,” for example, draws more interest than one that reads “Two Bedroom Condo w/Stainless Steel & Hardwood.”
Once an ad has an effective headline that entices readers to click it, the posting must have plenty of photographs. Otherwise, a Realtor risks wasting both his/her time and that of house hunters, who schedule appointments based on a “detailed description” in Craigslist that ultimately doesn’t meet their needs. A multitude of professional photographs, however, along with a floor plan, gives prospects a good idea if the listing is something that truly interests them.
Lastly, use templates that automatically generate Craigslist ads, and make sure they’re formatted correctly. When this step is ignored, a real estate ad can appear odd – rather than clean – with links misaligned and other visual problems. That, in turn, can turn off viewers – who may skip the listing altogether and move on to the next one.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
The headline is critical. It’s what attracts viewers to either open the ad or pass it by. In most cases, the headline should not be creative.
Many property professionals mistakenly focus on particular listing details rather than on the factors website viewers use to nix some postings and focus on others – the immediate parameters of location, size, and price. A headline such as “Downtown 2 Bdrm Condo at $1,900/month,” for example, draws more interest than one that reads “Two Bedroom Condo w/Stainless Steel & Hardwood.”
Once an ad has an effective headline that entices readers to click it, the posting must have plenty of photographs. Otherwise, a Realtor risks wasting both his/her time and that of house hunters, who schedule appointments based on a “detailed description” in Craigslist that ultimately doesn’t meet their needs. A multitude of professional photographs, however, along with a floor plan, gives prospects a good idea if the listing is something that truly interests them.
Lastly, use templates that automatically generate Craigslist ads, and make sure they’re formatted correctly. When this step is ignored, a real estate ad can appear odd – rather than clean – with links misaligned and other visual problems. That, in turn, can turn off viewers – who may skip the listing altogether and move on to the next one.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Blogs are slogs, so companies just quit
With the emergence of social media, more companies are replacing blogs with nimbler tools requiring less time and resources, such as Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.
A survey released earlier this year by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth says the percentage of companies that maintain blogs fell to 37 percent in 2011 from 50 percent in 2010, based on its survey of 500 fast-growing companies listed by Inc. magazine. Only 23 percent of Fortune 500 companies maintained a blog in 2011, flat from a year ago after rising for several years.
The trend in business is consistent with the broader loss of interest in blogging among all consumers. In late 2010, the Pew Research Center said blogging among adults ages 18 to 33 fell 2 percentage points in 2010 from 2008. “Blogging requires more investment. You need content regularly. And you need to think about the risk of blogging, accepting comments, liability issues, defamation,” says Nora Ganim Barnes, a professor at the university who wrote the report. One benefit of a blog: “It’s a tool and content you own.”
It’s not just mom-and-pop shops that dropped blogging. Those no longer updating or creating a blog range from Bank of America and building materials maker Owens Corning to Sport Chalet and dating website OkCupid. Others “never started a blog. They just went straight to social-media tools,” Barnes says. T.J. Crawford, a Bank of America spokesman, says the bank dropped the blog because its social-media strategy is focused on Facebook and Twitter. “We want to be where our customers are,” he says.
OkCupid, whose blog was ranked one of the 25 best by Time magazine last year, stopped updating in April 2011. It plans to revive the blog.
Companies often underestimate the amount of work a blog requires, says Pete Steege, director of marketing communications and Web strategy for Rimage, a digital storage device maker. “They think it’s like a newsletter or an ad.”
Others, such as Core-Mark Holding, stay on the sidelines, lest they talk too much. The fresh-food distributor, which is publicly traded, doesn’t have a blog because it’s worried about running into trouble with federal regulators about proper disclosure, says Milton Gray Draper, its director of investor relations.
Lou Hoffman, a communications consultant, says many corporate blogs fail to attract readers because they exist solely to pitch products and are badly written. “Companies don’t understand that the content on a blog shouldn’t be ‘about me.’”
Still, engaging blogs can serve crucial marketing goals – especially executives out to establish expertise in their industry, says Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
A survey released earlier this year by the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth says the percentage of companies that maintain blogs fell to 37 percent in 2011 from 50 percent in 2010, based on its survey of 500 fast-growing companies listed by Inc. magazine. Only 23 percent of Fortune 500 companies maintained a blog in 2011, flat from a year ago after rising for several years.
The trend in business is consistent with the broader loss of interest in blogging among all consumers. In late 2010, the Pew Research Center said blogging among adults ages 18 to 33 fell 2 percentage points in 2010 from 2008. “Blogging requires more investment. You need content regularly. And you need to think about the risk of blogging, accepting comments, liability issues, defamation,” says Nora Ganim Barnes, a professor at the university who wrote the report. One benefit of a blog: “It’s a tool and content you own.”
It’s not just mom-and-pop shops that dropped blogging. Those no longer updating or creating a blog range from Bank of America and building materials maker Owens Corning to Sport Chalet and dating website OkCupid. Others “never started a blog. They just went straight to social-media tools,” Barnes says. T.J. Crawford, a Bank of America spokesman, says the bank dropped the blog because its social-media strategy is focused on Facebook and Twitter. “We want to be where our customers are,” he says.
OkCupid, whose blog was ranked one of the 25 best by Time magazine last year, stopped updating in April 2011. It plans to revive the blog.
Companies often underestimate the amount of work a blog requires, says Pete Steege, director of marketing communications and Web strategy for Rimage, a digital storage device maker. “They think it’s like a newsletter or an ad.”
Others, such as Core-Mark Holding, stay on the sidelines, lest they talk too much. The fresh-food distributor, which is publicly traded, doesn’t have a blog because it’s worried about running into trouble with federal regulators about proper disclosure, says Milton Gray Draper, its director of investor relations.
Lou Hoffman, a communications consultant, says many corporate blogs fail to attract readers because they exist solely to pitch products and are badly written. “Companies don’t understand that the content on a blog shouldn’t be ‘about me.’”
Still, engaging blogs can serve crucial marketing goals – especially executives out to establish expertise in their industry, says Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Real Estate Agent Among Best Business Jobs
Real estate agents earned a place on U.S. News and World Report's recent compilation of the best business jobs, alongside such other professions as human resources specialists and meeting, convention, and event planners.
In addition to putting the customer first and other tips, insiders say that staying on top of business trends is critical for success. Often, according to Destin Real Estate Company owner Blake Morar, real estate agents allow emotion more than anything else guide their recommendations to home buyers and sellers, which he says is the wrong way to go about it, since evaluating housing markets is a huge part of the agent's responsibility.
Morar, whose firm is based in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., suggests that would-be agents “become a student of the business,” learning as much as possible about the process before diving in head first. That advice is in line with what other professionals in other fields say about launching a successful business career, along with maximizing flexibility and looking proactively for a job opportunity that’s the right fit.
Source: Information Inc.
In addition to putting the customer first and other tips, insiders say that staying on top of business trends is critical for success. Often, according to Destin Real Estate Company owner Blake Morar, real estate agents allow emotion more than anything else guide their recommendations to home buyers and sellers, which he says is the wrong way to go about it, since evaluating housing markets is a huge part of the agent's responsibility.
Morar, whose firm is based in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., suggests that would-be agents “become a student of the business,” learning as much as possible about the process before diving in head first. That advice is in line with what other professionals in other fields say about launching a successful business career, along with maximizing flexibility and looking proactively for a job opportunity that’s the right fit.
Source: Information Inc.
Ready for Your Open House? Nationwide Event Starts April 28
With housing affordability at record highs, real estate professionals are hoping this year’s REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend event will be a big jump-start to the spring buying and selling season for housing markets across the country. The REALTOR® Nationwide Open House Weekend will be held April 28 and 29, in which REALTORS® and real estate associations across the country and worldwide hold thousands of open houses in their local communities.
Nearly half of home buyers visit open houses during their home search, according to the 2011 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®.
The nationwide open house will allow buyers the opportunity to visit several homes in their area as well as learn more about home ownership. REALTORS® will be available at the open houses to talk about local market conditions as well as answer any questions about the buying process.
Housing in many markets has been showing signs of improvement in recent weeks. Mortgage rates continue to hover around record lows and with falling home values, affordability is at record highs.
Learn more about how you can prepare for your open house next weekend at REALTOR.com and REALTOR.org.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News
Nearly half of home buyers visit open houses during their home search, according to the 2011 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS®.
The nationwide open house will allow buyers the opportunity to visit several homes in their area as well as learn more about home ownership. REALTORS® will be available at the open houses to talk about local market conditions as well as answer any questions about the buying process.
Housing in many markets has been showing signs of improvement in recent weeks. Mortgage rates continue to hover around record lows and with falling home values, affordability is at record highs.
Learn more about how you can prepare for your open house next weekend at REALTOR.com and REALTOR.org.
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Daily News
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
How to Get More Customer Attention With Your Web Site
Many real estate professionals have a Web site for their business, but how do they get potential customers to actually visit it? Forbes.com recently offered up ideas about how to promote your site. Here are a few of their ideas for getting more Web visitor traffic:
Increase your SEO.
Search engine optimization is a way of lifting your site’s visibility in keyword searches on search engines such as Google and Yahoo! How do you get your site closer to the top of the search results? Edit the content on your site to include keywords that reflect your market and target audience. Also, focus more on incorporating backlinks or inbound links, which link your site to and from other Web pages, the article notes.
Do more blogging.
Write original content on your site to try to bring in new visitors. But don’t forget about the power of guest blogging for already-established blogs as a way to ramp up your traffic, too. “Writing for other prominent blogs in your niche is even more beneficial in generating traffic,” writes Ilya Pozin at Forbes.com. “By including a link to your Web site in your biography at the end of your guest post, you can draw in new visitors from a source that likely gets much more traffic than your current blog or Web site.”
Try Facebook ads.
A recent study conducted by Nielsen found that people are 68 percent more likely to recall seeing an ad when it’s viewed within a social context. Facebook is the most popular social networking site, and it can be a minimal cost to start advertising on it (you can set a daily budget or pay per clicks), the article notes. With Facebook ads, in particular, you can target people by location, friends of your current fans, or even those who “like” other pages that reflect your target market.
Generate good PR.
Public relations and increasing your reputation around your community also has the potential to increase the traffic to your site, the Forbes.com article notes. “Through public relations strategies, you can brand yourself as an expert in your niche and build your credibility,” Pozin writes. He suggests serving as an expert source in news articles (which often will include a linkback to your Web site in the article then). Also, press releases sent to the media can help you get more traffic by highlighting a newsworthy event or service.
Source: “10 Proven Ways to Market Your Web site,” Forbes.com (April 11, 2012)
Increase your SEO.
Search engine optimization is a way of lifting your site’s visibility in keyword searches on search engines such as Google and Yahoo! How do you get your site closer to the top of the search results? Edit the content on your site to include keywords that reflect your market and target audience. Also, focus more on incorporating backlinks or inbound links, which link your site to and from other Web pages, the article notes.
Do more blogging.
Write original content on your site to try to bring in new visitors. But don’t forget about the power of guest blogging for already-established blogs as a way to ramp up your traffic, too. “Writing for other prominent blogs in your niche is even more beneficial in generating traffic,” writes Ilya Pozin at Forbes.com. “By including a link to your Web site in your biography at the end of your guest post, you can draw in new visitors from a source that likely gets much more traffic than your current blog or Web site.”
Try Facebook ads.
A recent study conducted by Nielsen found that people are 68 percent more likely to recall seeing an ad when it’s viewed within a social context. Facebook is the most popular social networking site, and it can be a minimal cost to start advertising on it (you can set a daily budget or pay per clicks), the article notes. With Facebook ads, in particular, you can target people by location, friends of your current fans, or even those who “like” other pages that reflect your target market.
Generate good PR.
Public relations and increasing your reputation around your community also has the potential to increase the traffic to your site, the Forbes.com article notes. “Through public relations strategies, you can brand yourself as an expert in your niche and build your credibility,” Pozin writes. He suggests serving as an expert source in news articles (which often will include a linkback to your Web site in the article then). Also, press releases sent to the media can help you get more traffic by highlighting a newsworthy event or service.
Source: “10 Proven Ways to Market Your Web site,” Forbes.com (April 11, 2012)
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Choosing a Real Estate Domain Name
When choosing a domain name for their Web site, real estate agents should consider incorporating the name of their market, keeping in mind that domain names with large cities likely have been taken already.
Rather than using their own name, they should incorporate keywords to help boost the site's ranking in Google. In addition to the market or city name, they would be wise to use such terms as condos, homes, real estate, or realty.
Once they have created a domain name that has not been taken already, they should consider whether to buy all the extensions of their domain name, including .com, .net, and .org. Such a move makes it more difficult for an unscrupulous individual to create a similar Web site and mislead consumers into thinking it is the agent's site; and it also prevents a similar site from earning a better search engine ranking.
Source: Information, Inc.
Rather than using their own name, they should incorporate keywords to help boost the site's ranking in Google. In addition to the market or city name, they would be wise to use such terms as condos, homes, real estate, or realty.
Once they have created a domain name that has not been taken already, they should consider whether to buy all the extensions of their domain name, including .com, .net, and .org. Such a move makes it more difficult for an unscrupulous individual to create a similar Web site and mislead consumers into thinking it is the agent's site; and it also prevents a similar site from earning a better search engine ranking.
Source: Information, Inc.
SurfEasy vows ‘plug-in privacy’
You’re frequently in front of someone else’s computer. But whether surfing at an airport, library or client’s office, you surely don’t want the next person using the machine to know who you ogled on Facebook or which politician you read up on.
A USB by SurfEasy, a venture-backed start-up in Toronto, promises “plug-in privacy” when you browse the Internet from any public or third-party PC or Mac. The SurfEasy drive launches a password-protected browser that encrypts your cyberactivity without leaving any traces. No Web history, bookmarks, passwords or other personal information remain on the local computer. It’s as if you were never there.
Instead, all that information is stored on the USB key. If you plug the drive into another computer – and enter the password you signed up with the first time you plugged SurfEasy into a USB port – you can access your surfing history, plus stored bookmarks and Web passwords. You might also be taken to the last site you visited, though that wasn’t always the case.
Local searches are kept private. SurfEasy uses your Internet Protocol (IP) address to determine your whereabouts, but only tells Google for search purposes the city you’re in, not your specific IP address. You can also disable the feature. SurfEasy’s own IP addresses are in the U.S.; international locations are coming.
Employers and parents may not appreciate one other feature. The drive can help you bypass firewalls and other off-limit sites.
There’s nothing complicated about SurfEasy’s set-up: Just insert the drive. My first inclination was to insert it the wrong way because of where the logo is. Inserted properly, a blue light appears. You click an icon to launch the browser.
SurfEasy costs $59.99 and includes 2 gigabytes of encryption per month, covering about 45 hours of weekly Web browsing, the company says. If you plan to stream a lot of video or engage in multimedia-heavy activities while on somebody else’s computer, you can purchase a $5 per month ($50 per year) 25-GB encryption plan or $10 per month ($100 per year) 75-GB plan. HD video chews up bandwidth in a hurry. You can track usage on the SurfEasy website.
SurfEasy says it uses the same industrial-strength encryption as banks. Internet traffic is driven through its own secure virtual private network. The browser is powered by Mozilla, the folks behind Firefox, so you can add Firefox extensions and plug-in software. Still, SurfEasy fires up a generic warning that the act may decrease privacy because add-ons could store information on the local computer or transmit data outside the encrypted SurfEasy network.
SurfEasy works with PCs dating to Windows XP and Intel-based Macs running OS X version 10.6 or later. A few Web pages took awhile to load, but I didn’t detect slowness overall.
The drive arrives in a plastic credit-card-size holder that’s meant to protect it from damage and prevent you from losing it. You can slide the USB drive back into the holder and stash it with the credit cards in your wallet. But the holder is slightly thicker than typical credit cards. The company says it considered different designs but rejected a keychain version. If you do lose the drive, the person who gets hold of it would need your password to access your information.
SurfEasy says its drive can last up to 10 times longer than a conventional USB drive and, as with a conventional drive, you can store extra files on it. (As with any browser, you can dispatch files to the usual Web-based storage repositories, from Google Docs to Dropbox.) Still, I fretted a little about the way the thin plastic tail hung out about an inch on the computers I used for testing – an accident waiting to happen.
If you need to go offline suddenly, you can yank the USB out of the computer without shutting down an application first. Whatever site was on the screen disappears.
You can employ any Web browser on the local computer at the same time you’re using SurfEasy, but those browsers aren’t safeguarded by SurfEasy. Same goes for local instant message or e-mail programs. To avoid confusion about which browser you’re working in, a blue (or red, if encryption is turned off) SurfEasy tab appears to the left of the address bar at the top of the browser.
Modern browsers include tools that let you surf privately to some degree. And SurfEasy is not the only company trying to keep you anonymous online. But it is a simple solution for folks worried about privacy and security as they peruse cyberspace from a computer not their own.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Edward C. Baig.
A USB by SurfEasy, a venture-backed start-up in Toronto, promises “plug-in privacy” when you browse the Internet from any public or third-party PC or Mac. The SurfEasy drive launches a password-protected browser that encrypts your cyberactivity without leaving any traces. No Web history, bookmarks, passwords or other personal information remain on the local computer. It’s as if you were never there.
Instead, all that information is stored on the USB key. If you plug the drive into another computer – and enter the password you signed up with the first time you plugged SurfEasy into a USB port – you can access your surfing history, plus stored bookmarks and Web passwords. You might also be taken to the last site you visited, though that wasn’t always the case.
Local searches are kept private. SurfEasy uses your Internet Protocol (IP) address to determine your whereabouts, but only tells Google for search purposes the city you’re in, not your specific IP address. You can also disable the feature. SurfEasy’s own IP addresses are in the U.S.; international locations are coming.
Employers and parents may not appreciate one other feature. The drive can help you bypass firewalls and other off-limit sites.
There’s nothing complicated about SurfEasy’s set-up: Just insert the drive. My first inclination was to insert it the wrong way because of where the logo is. Inserted properly, a blue light appears. You click an icon to launch the browser.
SurfEasy costs $59.99 and includes 2 gigabytes of encryption per month, covering about 45 hours of weekly Web browsing, the company says. If you plan to stream a lot of video or engage in multimedia-heavy activities while on somebody else’s computer, you can purchase a $5 per month ($50 per year) 25-GB encryption plan or $10 per month ($100 per year) 75-GB plan. HD video chews up bandwidth in a hurry. You can track usage on the SurfEasy website.
SurfEasy says it uses the same industrial-strength encryption as banks. Internet traffic is driven through its own secure virtual private network. The browser is powered by Mozilla, the folks behind Firefox, so you can add Firefox extensions and plug-in software. Still, SurfEasy fires up a generic warning that the act may decrease privacy because add-ons could store information on the local computer or transmit data outside the encrypted SurfEasy network.
SurfEasy works with PCs dating to Windows XP and Intel-based Macs running OS X version 10.6 or later. A few Web pages took awhile to load, but I didn’t detect slowness overall.
The drive arrives in a plastic credit-card-size holder that’s meant to protect it from damage and prevent you from losing it. You can slide the USB drive back into the holder and stash it with the credit cards in your wallet. But the holder is slightly thicker than typical credit cards. The company says it considered different designs but rejected a keychain version. If you do lose the drive, the person who gets hold of it would need your password to access your information.
SurfEasy says its drive can last up to 10 times longer than a conventional USB drive and, as with a conventional drive, you can store extra files on it. (As with any browser, you can dispatch files to the usual Web-based storage repositories, from Google Docs to Dropbox.) Still, I fretted a little about the way the thin plastic tail hung out about an inch on the computers I used for testing – an accident waiting to happen.
If you need to go offline suddenly, you can yank the USB out of the computer without shutting down an application first. Whatever site was on the screen disappears.
You can employ any Web browser on the local computer at the same time you’re using SurfEasy, but those browsers aren’t safeguarded by SurfEasy. Same goes for local instant message or e-mail programs. To avoid confusion about which browser you’re working in, a blue (or red, if encryption is turned off) SurfEasy tab appears to the left of the address bar at the top of the browser.
Modern browsers include tools that let you surf privately to some degree. And SurfEasy is not the only company trying to keep you anonymous online. But it is a simple solution for folks worried about privacy and security as they peruse cyberspace from a computer not their own.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Edward C. Baig.
Gas price surge is likely finished
This year’s surge in gasoline prices appears over, falling short of the record highs some had feared heading into peak summer driving season.
Prices have held at a national average of $3.92 a gallon the past week, below 2011’s $3.99 high and July 2008’s record $4.11.
“By the behavior of the market, things are just running out of steam,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior analyst for price tracker gasbuddy.com. “Barring any major event – refinery problems, Iran – I think prices have peaked.”
DeHaan said the national average could dip to $3.70 a gallon by early May. Typically, prices peak shortly before Memorial Day.
Providing relief at the pump: slumping crude oil and wholesale gas prices and lower consumer demand. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.4 percent to $101.02 barrel Tuesday, a two-month low on fresh signs that U.S. oil inventories are rising and another selloff on Wall Street.
In a Tuesday forecast, the federal Energy Information Administration predicted prices will average $3.95 a gallon through September and could peak at $4.01 in May. But those estimates reflect crude oil at $110 a barrel. EIA is forecasting a bit of a break in 2013 prices – $3.73 a gallon. That’s 8 cents lower than this year’s $3.81 average, but 20 cents higher than 2011 prices.
Signs that the global economy is slowing should keep a lid on short-term prices, said Telvent energy editor Brian Milne, who notes that crude oil imports in China fell 6 percent in March.
There’s also optimism that the political tensions with Iran – which boosted crude oil prices by $15 to $20 a barrel on speculative trading – could soon ease, Milne said.
Gas prices in some of the nation’s priciest markets, such as Los Angeles and Chicago, have already dropped 12 to 20 cents a gallon.
That adds “confidence that the overall market is heading down,” said industry tracker Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey. “Even if demand were to surge, we have flush supplies, a lot of refining capacity and repeated assurances that Saudi Arabia would step in and hike production if there are problems with Iran.”
Tom Kloza, of the Oil Price Information Service, said gas prices could spurt on unexpected news, but says fears of skyrocketing prices are unfounded. “Perhaps its time to call out all of those false prophets who thought that $5 gas was a certainty,” he said.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Gary Strauss.
Prices have held at a national average of $3.92 a gallon the past week, below 2011’s $3.99 high and July 2008’s record $4.11.
“By the behavior of the market, things are just running out of steam,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior analyst for price tracker gasbuddy.com. “Barring any major event – refinery problems, Iran – I think prices have peaked.”
DeHaan said the national average could dip to $3.70 a gallon by early May. Typically, prices peak shortly before Memorial Day.
Providing relief at the pump: slumping crude oil and wholesale gas prices and lower consumer demand. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.4 percent to $101.02 barrel Tuesday, a two-month low on fresh signs that U.S. oil inventories are rising and another selloff on Wall Street.
In a Tuesday forecast, the federal Energy Information Administration predicted prices will average $3.95 a gallon through September and could peak at $4.01 in May. But those estimates reflect crude oil at $110 a barrel. EIA is forecasting a bit of a break in 2013 prices – $3.73 a gallon. That’s 8 cents lower than this year’s $3.81 average, but 20 cents higher than 2011 prices.
Signs that the global economy is slowing should keep a lid on short-term prices, said Telvent energy editor Brian Milne, who notes that crude oil imports in China fell 6 percent in March.
There’s also optimism that the political tensions with Iran – which boosted crude oil prices by $15 to $20 a barrel on speculative trading – could soon ease, Milne said.
Gas prices in some of the nation’s priciest markets, such as Los Angeles and Chicago, have already dropped 12 to 20 cents a gallon.
That adds “confidence that the overall market is heading down,” said industry tracker Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey. “Even if demand were to surge, we have flush supplies, a lot of refining capacity and repeated assurances that Saudi Arabia would step in and hike production if there are problems with Iran.”
Tom Kloza, of the Oil Price Information Service, said gas prices could spurt on unexpected news, but says fears of skyrocketing prices are unfounded. “Perhaps its time to call out all of those false prophets who thought that $5 gas was a certainty,” he said.
Source: USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc., Gary Strauss.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Top 6 Social Media Web Sites
Where are your clients increasingly hanging out in the social media world? Facebook isn’t the only place.
Pinterest, in particular, is growing rapidly, seeing its Web traffic surge nearly 50 percent in February compared to January, according to recent data from Experian Hitwise. The site now ranks as the third-most-popular social media site, behind Facebook and Twitter. What’s more, the site has been growing as a source for referrals to other Web sites: Pinterest users referred traffic to more Web sites in January than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined, according to a separate study by the site Shareholic.
Ninety-one percent of adults online use social media sites regularly, according to the report.
Experian Hitwise reports the following top six social media Web sites, based on total visitors from March:
Pinterest, in particular, is growing rapidly, seeing its Web traffic surge nearly 50 percent in February compared to January, according to recent data from Experian Hitwise. The site now ranks as the third-most-popular social media site, behind Facebook and Twitter. What’s more, the site has been growing as a source for referrals to other Web sites: Pinterest users referred traffic to more Web sites in January than Google+, LinkedIn, and YouTube combined, according to a separate study by the site Shareholic.
Ninety-one percent of adults online use social media sites regularly, according to the report.
Experian Hitwise reports the following top six social media Web sites, based on total visitors from March:
- Facebook: 7 billion
- Twitter: 182 million
- Pinterest: 104 million
- LinkedIn: 86 million
- Tagged: 72 million
- Google+: 61 million
Monday, April 9, 2012
Gov. Scott signs two Florida Realtors-endorsed bills
Two bills endorsed by Florida Realtors – HB 1127 and HB 7125 – became law on Friday when signed by Gov. Rick Scott.
Under HB 1127 by Rep. Ben Albritton (R-Bartow), private property insurers get more time to pay the state-owned insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., if the state insurer goes broke following a catastrophic storm. The bill’s effective date is July 1, 2012.
Until the bill goes into effect, insurers must pay Citizens up to 18 percent of their premiums within 30 days of being assessed – before they can recoup the money from policyholders. It’s hoped that HB 1127 will attract new insurers to Florida and keep existing insurers here.
Under HB 7125, a bill by the House Economic Affairs Committee and Rep. Ken Roberson (R-Port Charlotte), real estate sales associates and broker associates are exempt from paying local business taxes (formerly known as occupational license fees) if required in their city or county. Under Florida law, these individuals already affiliate with a real estate broker who will continue to pay local business taxes.
Repeal of the tax will save Florida real estate licensees $3.8 million annually. Its effective date is Oct. 1, 2012.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Under HB 1127 by Rep. Ben Albritton (R-Bartow), private property insurers get more time to pay the state-owned insurer, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., if the state insurer goes broke following a catastrophic storm. The bill’s effective date is July 1, 2012.
Until the bill goes into effect, insurers must pay Citizens up to 18 percent of their premiums within 30 days of being assessed – before they can recoup the money from policyholders. It’s hoped that HB 1127 will attract new insurers to Florida and keep existing insurers here.
Under HB 7125, a bill by the House Economic Affairs Committee and Rep. Ken Roberson (R-Port Charlotte), real estate sales associates and broker associates are exempt from paying local business taxes (formerly known as occupational license fees) if required in their city or county. Under Florida law, these individuals already affiliate with a real estate broker who will continue to pay local business taxes.
Repeal of the tax will save Florida real estate licensees $3.8 million annually. Its effective date is Oct. 1, 2012.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Big changes to BofA short sale process this weekend
Bank of America is set to roll out a new short sale process and documents designed to reduce the approval process to 20 days.
The changes are so extensive that the Equator platform will be down for 10-12 hours during the overnight hours starting Friday, April 13.
If you’ve submitted a short sale with Bank of America, be aware that before April 13 you must complete the following tasks or risk having your file declined: Submit Short Sale Offer, Upload Offer Documents and Upload Supporting Documents in Equator.
Links to these documents and other vital information is available at the Bank of America Short Sale Resource Center. Consider bookmarking this page and subscribing to email updates.
On April 14, Bank of America’s short sale process will change as follows:
Five documents will be required for short sales initiated with an offer:
• Purchase Contract including Buyer’s Acknowledgment and Disclosure
• HUD-1
• IRS Form 4506-T
• Bank of America Short Sale Addendum
• Bank of America Third-Party Authorization Form
All email communications between Bank of America and the sales associate will occur in Equator. Salespersons will be alerted via email that a message is waiting in their Equator mailbox. Florida Realtors attorneys recommend brokers obtain their sales associates’ logins/passwords to ensure the short sale transaction proceeds smoothly if a salesperson changes firms.
New timeframes. Currently, salespersons have 14 days to submit a counteroffer in Equator. On April 14, that will be reduced to five days. What’s more, Bank of America is limiting prospective buyers to two counteroffers. Responses will be given within three days.
Realtors are invited to view a Bank of America webinar about the new process on Thurs., April 19 from 4-5 p.m. EST. Click here to register for the webinar.
For its part, Florida Realtors has notified the Florida Real Estate Commission and Department of Business and Professional Regulation of the new Bank of America short sale process so the information can be shared with all licensees.
Be sure to check the floridarealtors.org Short Sales Center for updates. However, please visit the Bank of America short sale center regularly, as it will contain the most up-to-date information.
Give us some feedback about the new Bank of America short sale processes. Send your comments to shortsalecomments@floridarealtors.org. Please note that Bank of America will not reply to individual comments.
Source: Florida Realtors®
The changes are so extensive that the Equator platform will be down for 10-12 hours during the overnight hours starting Friday, April 13.
If you’ve submitted a short sale with Bank of America, be aware that before April 13 you must complete the following tasks or risk having your file declined: Submit Short Sale Offer, Upload Offer Documents and Upload Supporting Documents in Equator.
Links to these documents and other vital information is available at the Bank of America Short Sale Resource Center. Consider bookmarking this page and subscribing to email updates.
On April 14, Bank of America’s short sale process will change as follows:
Five documents will be required for short sales initiated with an offer:
• Purchase Contract including Buyer’s Acknowledgment and Disclosure
• HUD-1
• IRS Form 4506-T
• Bank of America Short Sale Addendum
• Bank of America Third-Party Authorization Form
All email communications between Bank of America and the sales associate will occur in Equator. Salespersons will be alerted via email that a message is waiting in their Equator mailbox. Florida Realtors attorneys recommend brokers obtain their sales associates’ logins/passwords to ensure the short sale transaction proceeds smoothly if a salesperson changes firms.
New timeframes. Currently, salespersons have 14 days to submit a counteroffer in Equator. On April 14, that will be reduced to five days. What’s more, Bank of America is limiting prospective buyers to two counteroffers. Responses will be given within three days.
Realtors are invited to view a Bank of America webinar about the new process on Thurs., April 19 from 4-5 p.m. EST. Click here to register for the webinar.
For its part, Florida Realtors has notified the Florida Real Estate Commission and Department of Business and Professional Regulation of the new Bank of America short sale process so the information can be shared with all licensees.
Be sure to check the floridarealtors.org Short Sales Center for updates. However, please visit the Bank of America short sale center regularly, as it will contain the most up-to-date information.
Give us some feedback about the new Bank of America short sale processes. Send your comments to shortsalecomments@floridarealtors.org. Please note that Bank of America will not reply to individual comments.
Source: Florida Realtors®
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Agents seek work-arounds after appraisals
Appraisals that come in lower than the agreed-upon sales price are a source of frustration for homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals, as they can quickly derail a deal.
If an appraisal comes in 10 percent lower than the agreed-upon sales price, for example, a bank will likely only agree to finance the lower value, which means either a buyer must make up the difference, a seller must come down on price, or the deal falls apart.
Homes for sale in declining markets are particularly ripe for appraisal problems. On standard appraisal forms, there’s a box that even says “declining value,” meaning falling home prices in the area, which will likely cause banks to slash another 5 percent off the value, says mortgage broker Gloria Shulman, founder of Centek Capital Group in Beverly Hills. Foreclosures, which often sell for about 30 percent less than non-foreclosures, are also complicating appraisals when they’re inappropriately used as comps, agents say.
In some cases, real estate professionals have been successful in helping their clients get an adjustment on an appraisal, particularly when they can show that the comparable sales used were not good similarities to the sale property.
Most often, to save the deal, however, agents find it takes renegotiating the sales price. For example, with a townhome sale in Roxbury, N.J., the buyers say the appraiser failed to take into account all the upgrades in the home they wanted to buy, which caused the townhome to appraise for 3 percent lower than the original sales price. Following the appraisal, the buyers’ agent asked the sellers to come down on the price, which they did by 2 percent. The buyers then agreed to come up 1 percent. The home sale could then move forward.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
If an appraisal comes in 10 percent lower than the agreed-upon sales price, for example, a bank will likely only agree to finance the lower value, which means either a buyer must make up the difference, a seller must come down on price, or the deal falls apart.
Homes for sale in declining markets are particularly ripe for appraisal problems. On standard appraisal forms, there’s a box that even says “declining value,” meaning falling home prices in the area, which will likely cause banks to slash another 5 percent off the value, says mortgage broker Gloria Shulman, founder of Centek Capital Group in Beverly Hills. Foreclosures, which often sell for about 30 percent less than non-foreclosures, are also complicating appraisals when they’re inappropriately used as comps, agents say.
In some cases, real estate professionals have been successful in helping their clients get an adjustment on an appraisal, particularly when they can show that the comparable sales used were not good similarities to the sale property.
Most often, to save the deal, however, agents find it takes renegotiating the sales price. For example, with a townhome sale in Roxbury, N.J., the buyers say the appraiser failed to take into account all the upgrades in the home they wanted to buy, which caused the townhome to appraise for 3 percent lower than the original sales price. Following the appraisal, the buyers’ agent asked the sellers to come down on the price, which they did by 2 percent. The buyers then agreed to come up 1 percent. The home sale could then move forward.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Survey: 68% of house hunters contact real estate pros after mobile search
Some 68 percent of house hunters who used a mobile device to look for properties sought out a realty practitioner for a showing as a direct result of that mobile search, finds a survey conducted by The Real Estate Book.
“Our research supports that homebuyers are turning to their smartphones and tablets in their search and taking action to reach real estate professionals,” says Scott Dixon, an executive with the Real Estate Book’s parent company, Network Communications Inc.
Of the more than 4,000 respondents who participated in the poll, which was done between Jan. 26 and Feb. 3 of this year, 52 percent confirmed using a mobile device in their property search, with 46 percent calling it an “essential” tool and 52 percent deeming it “helpful.” Of the 48 percent who did not use a mobile device to do a home search, 85 percent said they would consider doing so in the future.
The survey results indicated that 78 percent of mobile house hunters use their device to view photos and videos of for-sale residences; 66 percent request more information about a particular listing; 60 percent retrieve listing details, including contact information; 57 percent use GPS to locate a listing; 55 percent search for listings by city; 42 percent download a for-sale property search application; and 30 percent share listing data with other people.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
“Our research supports that homebuyers are turning to their smartphones and tablets in their search and taking action to reach real estate professionals,” says Scott Dixon, an executive with the Real Estate Book’s parent company, Network Communications Inc.
Of the more than 4,000 respondents who participated in the poll, which was done between Jan. 26 and Feb. 3 of this year, 52 percent confirmed using a mobile device in their property search, with 46 percent calling it an “essential” tool and 52 percent deeming it “helpful.” Of the 48 percent who did not use a mobile device to do a home search, 85 percent said they would consider doing so in the future.
The survey results indicated that 78 percent of mobile house hunters use their device to view photos and videos of for-sale residences; 66 percent request more information about a particular listing; 60 percent retrieve listing details, including contact information; 57 percent use GPS to locate a listing; 55 percent search for listings by city; 42 percent download a for-sale property search application; and 30 percent share listing data with other people.
Source: INFORMATION, INC.
NAR’s property database now accessible to many Fla. Realtors
Over half the Realtors in Florida can now access the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) database of all U.S. property – Realtors Property Resource (RPR) – through a partnership with RPR and their local MLS.
“Florida's Realtors continue to embrace RPR,” says Kristen Carr, RPR’s senior market manager for the Southeastern U.S. “We’ve seen a great increase in usage among membership over the last few months. Our goal is to give all Florida’s Realtors access by the end of 2012.”
RPR is owned by NAR and can be used only by Realtors. NAR sees RPR as a way to help Realtors stay at the core of every property transaction by being the most reliable source of market information in the face of rapidly expanding Internet technology.
At its heart, RPR is a massive database of all U.S. homes that will grow and expand over time. It currently taps into available public data, including tax assessment information, details of prior transactions and sales history, zoning, permits, mortgage and lien data, FEMA flood maps, neighborhood and school district boundaries, and “the largest database of foreclosure information by county in the industry.”
However, RPR works best if a Realtors’ local MLS participates in the program, says Carr.
“All Realtors will be able to retrieve the publicly available info on a property, but RPR works best when it operates in tandem with an active listing, creating reports and more to help buyers and sellers,” says Carr.
If an MLS chooses to partner with RPR, a Realtor can create individualized home reports that include pricing, mortgage and valuation history. A Realtor can even help buyers estimate the return on investment for any specific improvement project.
Because RPR uses a national database, it can also do nationwide property searches and create market-to-market comparisons for anyone who plans to relocate.
For more information on RPR or to sign up, visit the RPR website.
Source: Florida Realtors®
“Florida's Realtors continue to embrace RPR,” says Kristen Carr, RPR’s senior market manager for the Southeastern U.S. “We’ve seen a great increase in usage among membership over the last few months. Our goal is to give all Florida’s Realtors access by the end of 2012.”
RPR is owned by NAR and can be used only by Realtors. NAR sees RPR as a way to help Realtors stay at the core of every property transaction by being the most reliable source of market information in the face of rapidly expanding Internet technology.
At its heart, RPR is a massive database of all U.S. homes that will grow and expand over time. It currently taps into available public data, including tax assessment information, details of prior transactions and sales history, zoning, permits, mortgage and lien data, FEMA flood maps, neighborhood and school district boundaries, and “the largest database of foreclosure information by county in the industry.”
However, RPR works best if a Realtors’ local MLS participates in the program, says Carr.
“All Realtors will be able to retrieve the publicly available info on a property, but RPR works best when it operates in tandem with an active listing, creating reports and more to help buyers and sellers,” says Carr.
If an MLS chooses to partner with RPR, a Realtor can create individualized home reports that include pricing, mortgage and valuation history. A Realtor can even help buyers estimate the return on investment for any specific improvement project.
Because RPR uses a national database, it can also do nationwide property searches and create market-to-market comparisons for anyone who plans to relocate.
For more information on RPR or to sign up, visit the RPR website.
Source: Florida Realtors®
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