Wow, I have been so busy the past while helping others with their business that I have neglected to spend adequate time on my own business it seems. Crazy that this is exactly what I tell others to avoid doing. So what is one to do but get right back at it and to pick up where they left off. This is a far better choice than avoiding getting back to business and using your procrastination as another excuse to continue to avoid things.
So without further delay, I am back. I have tons of great things to share and lots of new developments in the past few months. I look forward to uploading them onto my blog here and my outisde blog on Lethbridge real estate. One of the quick things I would like to mention is that I have a friend who is joining AR right away and launching a website and possibly an outside blog on Calgary real estate. Keep an eye on her website and see it launch in early 2012.
I plan to spend the next few hours catching up on my reading and seeing what my AR friends have been up to.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
This is a great post that discussed internet traffic. It is something that I enjoy studying and something that having an understanding of can be of a huge benefit to you.
I have to admit, I can sometimes be a numbers geek. I’m one of the few people who actually enjoy looking at Google Analytics.
There’s one graph in particular that always seems to stay constant no matter what real estate website I review. It’s the graph that compares Organic Traffic (the traffic that comes from natural search engine optimization) vs Paid Traffic (Google Pay Per Click advertising). It always shows the same thing. Organic Traffic yields far better visitors than Pay Per Click. But, don’t just take my word for it. Let’s look at some numbers.
You can see that the particular site we are looking at has about the same amount of Organic Traffic vs Paid Traffic.
But, that’s where the similarities end.
The organic traffic has almost 3 times the amount of pageviews - Wow!
That’s not all. Let’s take a look at time on site. Pay Per Click traffic only clicked around the site for 2:30 vs 4:16 from Organic Traffic.
I can go on and on with numbers like these but I know not everyone is a data geek like me.
What Does PPC Really Cost You?
Looking at these stats, it’s easy to see that Pay Per Click Traffic costs more than just the cost of advertising. It can also cost you quality traffic.
The "Why" Behind the Numbers
I think one of the key features (and conversion points) of a real estate website is to be a solid resource - a research tool. Many potential home buyers and sellers start out in the “information gathering” stage. As a result, they want a site that has quality information and doesn’t put everything behind a forced registration wall. Most people automatically assume a company that is buying keywords to be in the “sponsored results” is going to try to sell them something. Sites that show high in the natural rankings are there because they have killer content (amongst other ranking factors). As a result, people know the site will probably be information rich.
So, What Do You Do?
If you know people are seeking killer content, then give them killer content. Be THE resource for Hoboken condos. Offer extensive information about Maui real estate. Whatever the niche, make it abundantly clear to your target audience and to search engines that your site is the information hub. You’ll not only grow your organic rankings but also gain higher quality traffic.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
For investors looking to maximize their return on investment, here’s all you need to know: building an income suite is by far the most profitable homeowner reno.
How do I increase the value of my property? That’s the question on every homeowners mind. There are two key survival strategies. The first is to think long term, have a plan and stick to it. History shows that this plan of action can pay off.
The second tactic is to outperform the market. This means ensuring your property increases in value at a greater rate than those in your surrounding market. One way to do that is through renovations – but not all projects are created equal when it comes to generating a return on investment (ROI).
Here are the top five “renos for ROI”:
1. Building an income suite Also known as a rental suite, this is by far the most profitable reno a homeowner can undertake. Income suites typically have a 150% to 250% ROI.
2.Painting This is an inexpensive way to freshen up a property. Picking neutral tones and doing a good job are key. This simple reno project gives 100% ROI.
3.Renovating Kitchens and bathrooms Kitchens should be bright and spacious with a smart layout. Replacing old appliances with inexpensive and more efficient newer ones also adds a lot of appeal. Bathrooms are equally important. The more you have, the better the ROI. This delivers about 75% to 100% ROI.
4.New Flooring This has a dramatic impact and hard surfaces are the way to go. Laminate flooring is inexpensive, easy to lay, durable and looks great. With modern styles and improved design, it has become the flooring of choice for real estate investors. New flooring can generate an avg. of 70% to 90% ROI.
Light Fixtures and Door Hardware These can reveal the true age of a property. Installing proper lighting and a few nifty fixtures in the right places, namely the kitchen and dining room, will brighten up the space and create atmosphere. With the right touch, updating light fixtures and door hardware can generate 60% to 75% ROI.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Prices in Lethbridge are still under downward pressure. Housing inventory in the City remains above normal and sustainable levels. Today's activity through the real estate board included:
September 27, 2011 Activity at Lethbridge Real Estate Board
24 New Listings
6 Conditionally Sold listings
5 Cancelled Listings
6 Sold Listings
24 Price Changes
In summary, an increase of only 6 new listings and 24 price reductions, however when that happens day after day in the local real estate market, it has a cumulative effect that is enormous.
As we head into our winter season in the near future, sales start to drop dramatically in Lethbridge real estate. The influx of sellers also slows, but not as much as the buying dries up. I expect to see the housing inventory continue to remain well above average in numbers and expect to also see many more price reductions coming on a daily basis. The market does not care how much you paid 3 years ago, how much you owe on your mortgage, or how much you want to get in your pocket.
Only serious sellers who price their home properly will see it successfully sell before it slips farther in value. So price it right people and hire yourself a real estate salesperson who does more than blow smoke up your butt and make excuses why they spend more time trying to get your to reduce your price instead of actually trying to sell your houses. Price it right and it will sell!
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Well here is a quick refresher. The Bank of Canada created and set a minimum qualifying interest rate in an effort to make sure that homeowners did not take on too much debt just because interest rates are low. (at least that is what they say their motivation is). Because I can currently get you many short term interest rates on terms under 5 years that are around 3% or lower, the Bank of Canada fears that anyone taking those rates might be in for a shock if interest rates were to rise, and may be unable to afford their payments. So as a precautionary measure, even though you may be getting a 1, 2, or 4 year mortgage at approximately 3%, the Bank of Canada makes you qualify for that mortgage as if you were getting a 5.19% rate.
So you can see how they are forcing you to be conservative. They are making sure that even if rates rise, your mortgage will be affordable and you will not have over spent on your real estate purchase.
Lethbridge Real Estate solution: The best way to deal with this situation is to lock into a 5 year mortgage rate. If you lock into a 5 year fixed rate mortgage, then the Bank of Canada qualifying rate does not apply. The justification being that you are protected by having a stable mortgage payment for 5 years and so that should be ample time for you to anticiapte and prepare for interest rate increases or changes in the economy.
Right now 5 year fixed mortgage rates are as low as 3.39%. They may in fact go slightly lower due to the sluggish economy and the fact that the US and Europe are dragging us down.
If you would like to know just how affordable a new Lethbridge mortgage is or if you have a mortgage coming up for renewal, give me a call and lets talk about interest rates.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Okay, this is a pretty random content post. I just came across a bunch of links to some recent articles and I had posted and wanted to consolidate them into one spot. I am going to temporarily stick them here into a blog posting so that I can refer to them again when i get more time.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Just had a professional make me a quick 50 second video for my Lethbridge real estate website - Lethbridge real estate.
Take a look at it and please feel free to leave me a comment or even better a thumbs up on the video if your able to. Every single one helps out with the ranking and placement in search results, and I really appreciate the support of all my friends.
This video will run automatically when someone visits the Lethbridge real estate website and will hopefully encourage them to spend a bit of time there, click the LIKE or RECOMMEND buttons, or maybe give me a THUMBS UP or a +1.
Each of those small actions has great impact on the overall search engine rankings of the page and of a single post. So please be kind, help your friends out and give their blog or posts some link love when you can.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
As September is upon us the prime season for selling your home in Lethbridge has come and gone. While the weather is still decent for the most part buyers and sellers who are serious about moving have already done so. It is a fact that our local Lethbridge real estate market revolves highly around the school year. This is partly due to the large number of young families in Lethbridge, but also due to the large number of students who come here to attend the University of Lethbridge or the Lethbridge College. Both of those puts a large amount of pressure on the Lethbridge real estate market.
An interesting cycle occurs because of this situation. The low end of the Lethbridge real estate market sells very well during the summer months. Virtually every decent property for sale on the start home end of the prices is now sold. The ones that are left are junkers or over priced crap. Smart sellers priced their home right and got it sold during the peak season.
Take for example my neighbor. He called me in July and asked what his home was worth. I told him the truth. His home was worth $250k, however since there were 35 other homes on the Lethbridge real estate market at that price, he would need to price it at $248k and have it sold by the end of the summer. This was pretty basic. The home is nice, clean, renovated, and priced right it would have attracted a young family and sold on the August long weekend.
Instead of taking my advice he decided to call a dozen other Lethbridge real estate people. Eventually after having several come over and give him prices ranging from $230k on up to $270k, he listed his home for sale with a competitor of mine for a price of $265k. This made his home 25k over priced with only a month of prime selling season to go in the Lethbridge market.
As a neighbor, I watched as 2 open houses have passed with virtually no traffic. I watch cars pull up, take a flyer out of the flyer box, look at the price, and then put the flyer back. After less than 2 weeks on the market, the listing agent reduced the price. Now down to $257k. Still about 9k over priced and 2 weeks left in summer. Days go by and nobody shows up to even look at the house. Its obvious just from looking at it on the internet that its over priced. The seller is probably frustrated, the listing agent is a moron err I mean mistaken, for even taking it at that price, and now it is September and the prime season to sell Lethbridge real estate is over.
I expect that within the next month the price will drop down to under $250k. I expect that the seller will come up to me on the street and ask why his house isn't sold. Some how I will tactfully tell him that he hired an agent who knows nothing about properly pricing homes, that the marketing sucked, and that because he missed the prime selling season I now figure his home is realiztically worth only $239k. Will he believe be now?
I doubt it.
Heck, but what do I know. I have only been selling hundreds of homes, moving thousands of people, and involved in the real estate industry for 18 years. Some people list houses, but some of us actually sell them!
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Recently I had some SEO work done by a foreign friend. He wrote a couple of short articles and linked them back to a website which I own and to an internal page that deals with the subject of SEO. Here are the links to the short articles that he wrote. Not sure if they are yet indexed yet, but it is a great simple strategy.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Photo: University of Lethbridge at sunset by Robert May
University of Lethbridge and the Lethbridge College attract thousands of students to the city each fall. I believe the total number of students enrolled now is around 15,000 and I would estimate that at least half of those come from outside of the Lethbridge and move here just to attend school.
With this new influx in population the Lethbridge real estate rental market is strongly affected. Rent prices shoot up and vacancy rates drop to absolute zero. Literally every basement suite, duplex, apartment, house, or rooming house is full by the end of August.
For those who are arriving in Lethbridge at this time of the month they are probably already finding that the choices of accomodations are far below what they expected. As a result of the scarcity of accomodations, landlords and property owners are able to be ultra picky about whom they rent to. That translates into NO PETS and NO SMOKERS for almost all of my clients. These landlords rightfully choose not to rent to tenants who have a lifestyle which increases the potential for damages to occur to the rental property.
If you are a smoker or have pets, you will discover that the local rental market is extremely unwelcoming. This is unfortunate, but it is the truth.
My lethbridge real estate brokerage, Rainbow Realty, does not handle public rentals anymore. We do not assist tenants in finding properties. We do however work with landlords and lawyers and assist in tenant negotiations and evictions. This is something which no other property management company in Lethbridge has chosen to specialize in, so it is a niche market for us and something which we have a decent amount of experience at.
Let me share my 16+ years experience in the local Lethbridge real estate and financing market with you! It is the first step towards making a profitable real estate decision.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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