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your virtual wizard: An Interview with Elayne Wooding of Showhomes, St. Petersburg - 06/10/10 10:38 AM
This article is from a real estate column I am running in my June 2010 newsletter, “Wizard’z Wordz”.Sign-up here for my quarterly newsletter featuring free software tools, blogging tips, real estate interviews, coaching tips; "Charming News from a Virtual Assistant's Universe"
An Interview with Elayne Wooding of Showhomes, St. Petersburg
Considering that many of the readers of “Wizard’z Wordz” are real estate professionals, I thought to dedicate this month’s feature interview column to a real estate professional.
If you are not in the real estate industry, perhaps you are selling or buying a home or know someone who is…you may … (0 comments)
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your virtual wizard: 10 Home Features Buyers Want but I Say, Some Home Builders Force These Features - 02/01/10 02:44 PM
I read an article in Realtor.org magazine entitled, "10 Home Features Buyers Want" as listed here: 1. Large kitchens with islands 2. Energy efficiency, including energy-efficient appliances, super insulation, and high-efficiency windows. 3. Home offices 4. Main-floor master suite 5. Outdoor living space 6. Ceiling fans 7. Soaking tub in the master suite and/or an oversize shower with a seating area 8. Stone and brick exteriors rather than stucco or vinyl 9. Community walking paths and playgrounds 10. Two-car garages, but three-car garages are even more desirable Recently, I toured several new home communities in my area. I found that some … (4 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Showing a Home Using Dubious Language Lowers Buyers' Expectations - 01/08/10 12:55 PM
Last evening I was watching an HGTV homebuyer’s show and I noticed that the agent was using what I term as ‘dubious’ language to show the home.
In search of new real estate, the buyers desired a large master bedroom and the option to build a swimming pool. During a tour of one particular home, the buyer turned into the hallway between the bedrooms and poked her head into a random room. She said to the agent, “This must be the office” and the agent said, “This is only the master bedroom.”
This struck me as strange … (5 comments)
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your virtual wizard: How to Find Topics For Articles For Your VA If He/She Is Not Familiar With Your Business? - 11/06/09 01:16 PM
One of the services I offer as a real estate virtual assistant is blogging and article marketing. It is a valuable resource that is in great demand in our virtual industry as more clients understand the potential for good SEO. As article marketing increases online presence it also helps to classify the agent as an industry expert. Additionally, articles can reap a ‘better bang for the buck' as they can be repurposed into blog entries, newsletters and press releases. Strategically placed, and slightly edited, one article can have many lives.
I recently had a very intuitive consultation call with a potential real … (0 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Safety Week Tip: Showing Empty Properties - 09/18/09 06:26 PM
Here's another great safety tip article for agents as featured from this article in Realtor Magazine, September 18, 2009.
When you're showing an empty property, you can take these simple steps to empower yourself against attack or theft.
Be sure to use the lockbox property-key procedure that has been established to improve real estate agent safety. A reliable, secure lockbox system ensures that keys don't fall into the wrong hands. Preview the property and don't go into a neighborhood that you perceive as unsafe. Be familiar with the area so you know the location of the nearest police station. Drive … (3 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Safety Week Tip: Marketing Shouldn't Be Personal - 09/16/09 09:35 PM
This is an interesting article from Realtor Magazine, September 16, 2009
If you're like most real estate practitioners, you put a great deal of thought and effort into your marketing materials, including advertisements, signs and business cards. You want to make every dollar count-but how much consideration do you give to the safety afforded by these communications? How much information are you giving the public that many people go to great lengths to keep private?Here are some very important steps that you should take to ensure your marketing pieces are both smart and safe:
All of your marketing materials should be polished and … (2 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Nigerian 419 Scams: Lonely Hearts and Real Estate Transactions - 08/27/09 11:12 AM
After recently receiving a slew of what are known as ‘Nigerian 419 Scam' emails in my inbox recently, I asked myself, ‘Who are these people who do this? And who are the people who respond to these fraudulent emails?" Poking around the ‘net, I found an in-depth Washington Post article, by Karin Brulliard which answered my questions, prompting a commentary here.
Ms. Brulliard interviewed a Nigerian man named Banjo for the article. Banjo explains how much more difficult it has been during tough economic times to bilk naïve Americans of their monies. "We are working harder. The financial crisis is not … (2 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Do You Edit Your Listing Photos Discreetly? - 08/26/09 12:44 PM
While I have posted on my website about the importance of taking good real estate photos, a good article appeared in the Realtor.org magazine today which included a quick list of tips for taking good pictures (copied below). There was one suggestion I had not thought of previously:
Edit discreetly to get rid of extraneous distractions like wires Most of the photos I work with do not require any editing at all. However, there have been a few agent photos which I suggested should simply be retaken. On one occasion, I was working on an agent photo in which the dog … (5 comments)
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your virtual wizard: So You Want To Work with a Virtual Assistant? 10 Things to Know Before You Search for a VA - 08/13/09 11:49 PM
1) Have a good understanding of what you want the VA to do for you before you search. Keep an ongoing list next to your desk of responsibilities you really want to delegate. List those items which keep you from doing the work you enjoy.
2) Prioritize that list. Break the list down to three categories: Items which should have been done yesterday; those which need to be done this week and those which can wait until next month.
3) Decide how much your budget will allow to contract with a VA. If you can spend $200 a month … (0 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Some Cities Filling Abandoned Swimming Pools With Mosquito-eating Fish to Combat the Spread of West Nile Virus - 04/22/09 07:59 PM
I came across an interesting article in the Realty Times today explaining what many city officials from Washington D.C. to California are doing to combat the spread of the West Nile virus due to unattended swimming pools in foreclosed homes. As mosquitoes can lay eggs in only a few inches of stagnant water, abandoned swimming pools with larger surface areas have become a widespread health problem for many cities.The answer is rather logical...release mosquito-eating minnows in vacated swimming pools to consume mosquito larvae.
Cities such as Phoenix, AZ have seen an increase in foreclosed homes with abandoned pools rise from 6,000 in 2007 to 14,000 this year. And, as many warm weather-located … (0 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Dealing with Pool Dealers: A Sopping Wet Experience - 04/02/09 09:06 AM
I've had it with pool contractors, dealers and salesman. The entire pool buying experience has been a nightmare.
We (husband and I) have been trying to build an in-ground pool for more than a year and a half. We have exhausted nearly every dealer in our area.
What We are Looking For
I'm a virtual assistant and I work with real estate agents regularly. I did my due diligence in deciding whether the addition of a pool to our 2005-built Florida home would be a valuable asset to the resale of the property. We live in a small, slightly upscale subdivision … (7 comments)
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your virtual wizard: For Sale By Owner: Six Simple Ways To Advertise a Home Ineffectively - 03/30/09 12:29 AM
A lovely home in my town recently went on the market ‘For Sale'. The problem with this listing is that one cannot read any of the details on the ‘For Sale' signs unless viewing from a few feet away. It IS important to be able to clearly see a sign from the street. Afterall, that's what a lawn sign is for; to capture the attention of drive-bys! But some FSBOs do not see advertising from the perspective of the consumer.
I happened to have my camera in the car, so I snapped a quick video to give folks a view of what it is … (8 comments)
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your virtual wizard: Florida Judge Burns a Hole In Lenders' Wallets: Fine Them and They Will Come - 02/12/09 12:13 PM
I was in the library yesterday and picked up a copy of the Herald-Tribune, a Sarasota, Florida newspaper and read an article worthy of summarizing on my Activerain blog.
In 2008, Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice area ranked 11 in the country among the nation's top 100 metropolitan areas for lawsuit foreclosures. Due to the excess in the courts, 12th Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth put a new rule into place. The lenders' law firms must meet with the homeowners to discuss alternatives to foreclosing. The lenders' attorneys must show up in court. But even with this requirement, of the 79 foreclosure cases set for hearings … (4 comments)
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Janine Gregor, MSM
Parrish,
FL
More about me…
Your Virtual Wizard - Marketing Magic When You Wand It!
Address: PO Box 282, Ellenton, FL, 34222
Office Phone: (559) 492-7348
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