realtors: You Guys are the In the Trenches, What Do YOU Think?
- 08/30/11 12:37 AM
You Guys are In the Trenched, What Do YOU Think? Recently Scott Stratten was a guest on my favorite podcast "The Social Hour". Scott is a long time social media guy who has some pretty strong opinions about how social media should be used. Scott (@unmarketing) has something like 300,000 Twitter followers, and has a huge following in the SM world. That being said, it does not change my opinion that how one chooses to use their social media accounts is that persons business. So why am I bringing this up? Well, ARU is going to have Maya Paveza on today … (6 comments)
realtors: When You Look into the Future of Real Estate What do YOU See?
- 05/16/11 12:44 PM
When You Look into the Future of Real Estate What do YOU See? I just spent the better part of the day at a extended meeting of sorts. There was a nice collection of Realtors, Title Company Reps, & Appraisers. The days events explored the different aspects that are currently affecting our Real Estate market. What I thought was the most interesting topic was people's view of where the Real Estate market would be in 5 - 6 years. The answers and views were all over the board. Some folks had the opinion that the "big" companies were going to buy … (8 comments)
So Bob Stewart threw down the challenge, go paperless. It is great to see so many people here in the Rain sharing their ways of going running an Eco Smart office. It got me thinking about the whole concept, is paperless where we can stop, is paperless all we need to be thinking about? As I stated in my post related to the challenge I believe that simply getting people to recognize the amount of energy, paper, etc waste. I would really like to take that next step. … (8 comments)
realtors: Are Banks Going Hyper Local
- 02/12/11 03:43 AM
Are Banks Going Hyper Local The Status Quo Has anyone else noticed the change in banks behavior these days. Not too long ago banks everywhere were touting there "online" services and they were making sure that everybody knew they were using technology to it's fullest. Banks were not concerned with being a local bank, they didn't even know the concept of hyper local banking at the time. Small banks were working to show good balance sheets in the hopes that a big bank would come and scoop then up, and scoop they did. It seemed for a while there banks were … (6 comments)
realtors: Are You Ready for a Virtual Walk through?
- 02/07/11 07:33 AM
Are You Ready for a Virtual Walk through?As most all of you know I love technology, and I have found me a new cool toy to play with. This technology could change how we Realtors go about our jobs. As with all our new technology it is not so much that the tool does, but how do we apply it.Take for example QR codes, (Quick Response) they have been around a while and the debate on whether they are useful or not. I will be posting in the very near future that I am involved with of an idea that I … (7 comments)
realtors: We are thinking about buying/selling in the future, when should we meet to discuss.
- 02/04/11 11:47 PM
We are thinking about buying/selling in the future, when should we meet to discuss.This post was actually inspired by a post by Sharon Tara, but it got me thinking about some of the similarities between out two professions. While Sharon makes some excellent points about the why it is important for the client to meet at an earliest convienence, I immedately went through the thought process of why it is important for the Realtor to make contact early. As we all know the majority of individuals that are thinking of doing something, anything in the real estate market do so after … (7 comments)
realtors: I am Interested in Doing a Flip, Is the Market Ready Again, How do I get Financing, & a Hundred More ?'s
- 01/16/11 05:28 AM
I am Interested in Doing a Flip, Is the Market Ready Again, How do I get Financing, & a Hundred More ?'sWhile doing an open house yesterday I had a young man who turned out to be a great lead for future business, once again proving that open houses have a purpose other than selling the listing. The home I was doing the open for is an Eco Smart historic home renovation, and Bob really loved the work that was completed. We got to talking and he mentioned that his family is in the construction industry and that they thought that … (3 comments)
realtors: Addiction beyond ActiveRain - Is It Real
- 01/11/11 02:22 AM
Addiction beyond ActiveRain - Is It RealRecently Pat Kennedy came up with a great idea and wonderful concept in creating a contest to blog about how addicting ActiveRaincan be, and how many of us spend an unusual amount time on the platform. I took the not so serious path in responding to the task, writing about my need for a program. While it was somewhat tongue in cheek as I do spend a large amount of time in front 4 large screens getting way deeper into the workings of websites and crawlers, bots, meta tags, I am hooked. But I digress, … (24 comments)
realtors: Do You Believe the Big Banks
- 12/28/10 11:59 AM
Do You Believe the Big BanksA short time ago I wrote a blog about the positive and negative things going on within our world of real estate. That was a few days ago, but one line from that post has stuck in my mind, and it generated more than a few comments. In that post I mentioned that the government used our tax dollars to bail out the big banks, yet the banks lending setting such stringent lending guideline that most that need the help cannot possibly qualify. So I ask the question, do you believe the banks? I … (16 comments)
realtors: Are You a Member of RPAC You Should Be
- 09/26/10 07:02 AM
Are You a Member of RPAC You Should BeBeing a member of RPAC (Realtors Political Action Committee) and being naturally politically active it is a gimmie that I am going to be a member of RPAC. Many of you that read my blogs on a regular basis know that I am often critical of NAR, PAR, as well as my local association RAYAC. That is simply because I have something to say, and I feel that we should all be making our voices heard. Especially when a political organization that takes our money and is our collective voice is not listening. … (7 comments)
realtors: Is your Market Plan on Track and Ready for the Hills Ahead?
- 05/26/10 06:21 AM
Is your Market Plan on Track and Ready for the Hills Ahead?It is no secret that our current real estate market is unstable. Just because we are on unstable ground doesn't mean that we as Realtors need to interpret unstable as not profitable. If you have a solid marketing plan that is on track and ready for hills ahead, you can make it through unstable conditions and come out ready for the boom that is on the horizon. Many of us "seasoned" Realtors have seen markets like this before, does anyone remember the 80's and the land of the 18% mortgage? … (4 comments)
realtors: New Home Construction-Existing Inventory-Lending- Appraisals-I have a Headache
- 05/18/10 04:23 AM
New Home Construction-Existing Inventory-Lending- Appraisals-I have a HeadacheHow can anyone out there make any kind of serious prediction regarding where the Real Estate market is going? We Realtors have seen a nice jump in activity in the first quarter of 2010, with existing home sales showing signs of recovery throughout the nation. It is too early to tell however whether the tax credit was the catalyst that pushed that recovery trend.The real long term health of the entire real estate market is what we need to be focusing on. The real estate market on a whole needs to addressed, not just existing … (3 comments)
realtors: so You Wanna Be a Realtor
- 03/05/10 06:00 AM
so You Wanna Be a Realtor Recently I posted about the number of agents that have been leaving the real estate industry. Personally I believe that in a real estate market such as we are currently experiencing, now would be a good time to get into the real estate industry. At some point the real estate market will make a robust return and with so many Realtors leaving the real estate industry, that leaves more of the market share for those that have stuck it out and hung on. So at that point there should be less Realtors to manage a … (3 comments)
In Nov of 2009 the United States Congress passed legislation that extended the Home Buyers tax credit program. Not only did this legislation extend the benefits, it also included some changes. Changes that all Realtors should know.
Attributes Old Plan New Plan
First time home $8,000 $8,000 Buyers credit
Current home $6,500 $6,500 Owners credit
FTHB No residence ownership N/A Eligibility for 3 previous years
Binding contract N/A contract in effect by 4/30/10 Rule must close by 7/1/2010
As the song goes "I've got the power", it really is true when you think about the benefits of belonging to the Activerain community. When I got to Activerain I was not at my best, the economy was in the toilet, the real estate market was in the tank, and I was completely disillusioned about where the market was heading as well as where my real estate career was heading. Then a funny thing happened, a instructor for a real estate class introduced to me Activerain. It did not take me … (6 comments)
For the first time in 27 years the size of new homes being built in the United States has declined. On top of new home construction stats that came out this week showing new home construction is still declining, the average square footage of those new homes being built is down as well. Top priorities for new home buyers have shifted from oversize to energy efficient. The numbers of bedrooms, numbers of bathrooms as well as luxury items are all on the decline in an attempt to hold costs in line … (1 comments)
Over the last few days Wall Street has taken a beating, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of last week saw the market fall all three days. Analyzing and pontificating as to why doesn’t help any bodies bottom lines. The outlook for health care costs, energy costs, as well as simple cost of living increases has changed the financial landscape for many soon to be retired Americans. Clearly traditional means of retirement income will most likely not be enough for most to get through. With that outlook on the horizon many soon to be retirees are looking to an … (0 comments)
Yes that’s my plan for the 2010 selling season. I will be working harder, smarter, and with a keen focus on success. A big part of my plan for 2010 success will be my “sleeping my way to the top” exercise.
Dealing with being a small business (which is what we Realtors are) can be very hard on a body, add to that the state of constant, and lighting fast change rate, and stress levels can skyrocket. How many nights have you spent wide awake with your mind racing obsessing about … (6 comments)
realtors: Advise Your First Time Home Buyers Away From These Mistakes
- 12/07/09 10:42 PM
Advise Your First Time Home Buyers Away From These Common MistakesOur jobs as Realtors include a fiduciary obligation to our clients. What does that term fiduciary mean. The Oxford Dictionary defines Fiduciary as follows; Fiduciary; involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary. In other words, it is our job to look out for our clients. What we want for our first time home buyers to walk away from the experience with a positive attitude. We as their trusted Realtors can help them avoid the following pitfalls. Where most first time home buyers get into … (6 comments)
Blog site for Studmuffin Media Arts in Gettysburg Pa. Services include Social media managment, community building, content management, SEO, blogging, video, photography, graphic design, website evaluation and builds. We cover any and all aspects of the Social media, marketing world..
You Guys are In the Trenched, What Do YOU Think? Recently Scott Stratten was a guest on my favorite podcast "The Social Hour". Scott is a long time social media guy who has some pretty strong opinions about how social media should be used. Scott (@unmarketing) has something like 300,000 Twitter followers, and has a huge following in the SM world. That being said, it does not change my opinion that how one chooses to use their social media accounts is that persons business. So why am I bringing this up? Well, ARU is going to have Maya Paveza on today … (6 comments)
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