As I posted in "Time to Motivate your Sellers" in my local blog, the peak season for real estate is winding down. Sellers who are tempted to "wait until next year" need to be reminded about the effect of interest rate increases and REO inventory on prices.
Concern about inflation makes it likely that interest rates will be higher next spring. The rising number of foreclosures and NODs makes it likely that there will be more bank owned properties on the market next spring. Sellers who want top dollar need to price their listing agressively to generate offers now rather than waiting until next spring when higher interest rates and more REOs will likely drive prices down even further.
In my local market, "wait until next year" is a bad plan, unless you are willing to wait 3-5 years. What about your market? Is your local paper reporting increases in foreclosures and NODs? You can't fight facts, so you might as well make them work for you. Have a heart to heart with your sellers about why waiting for market prices to go higher doesn't make sense. Signs point to even lower prices in 2009 in most areas.
Does that mean buyers should wait until next year? Not necessarily. Interest rates determine the amount of their monthly mortgage payment, so even if buyers can purchase the same home for less money next spring, they might still end up with a higher monthly payment.
Jim Klinge was recognized as an outstanding real estate blogger for using a balanced presentation of the market to earn credibility and generate business.
A timely reminder of the importance of making sure links are working on your website and on your blog, especially the link to your contact information.
An article about bus tours for first time homebuyers in Philadelphia led to a discussion of the benefits of organizing a first time homebuyer tour in your area.
Jim Klinge understands that credibility is one of his most valuable assets.
It takes chutzpah to name your blog "bubbleinfo.com" when your brokerage is located in Carlsbad, California, the epicenter of North San Diego county's real estate meltdown, but Jim Klinge understands that the best way to sell your real estate services in any kind of market is to be knowledgeable and honest about market conditions.
Jim doesn't shy away from discussing high inventory, increases in the number of NODs and REOs, or even the dreaded Neg-Am Recasts that threaten to drag out the current lending crisis for years. In Jim's own words, "What you read here is based on what's really happening in the marketplace, not theory or speculation. I have no investment in the bubble, and I'll hopefully be selling homes whether the market is going up or down, so I'm not looking to influence one way or another. My goal is to provide an accurate description of what's happening, and present all the facts to help people make clear decisions about their real estate!"
As you read through Jim's blog, you won't find much local interest content, but that is because Jim targets serious real estate investors. Sophisticated buyers understand that all real estate is local and that good deals can be found in any market. They turn to Jim because he has a lot of credibility, even outside the industry on the dreaded "bubble" blogs.
The leaders of organized real estate seem to think that it is acceptable to oversell market conditions at the expense of credibility. NAR already had to replace David Lereah with Lawrence Yun following a series of embarrassingly wrong books and bogus bottom calls by Lereah. Jim doesn't try to dress up the market by cherry picking facts and figures. Sophisticated buyers respect that, which is why Jim's blog is generating plenty of business, even in a tough market like Carlsbad.
Jennifer Fivelsdal knows how to use a real estate blog to generate business.
You may not have heard of Jennifer, but she's well known in her community through her "Rhinebeck Living" blog on ActiveRain and her posts to Localism.com. Jennifer is getting leads and closing deals by focusing on her local community, Rhinebeck, New York.
Jennifer's blog covers everything in her area including upcoming events, scenic destinations, and local cuisine, with regular market reports and occasional real estate topics as well. From Bard College to a local produce stand to a local Thai restaurant, Jennifer presents the rich cornucopia of country living in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
Jennifer reports that she gets email from local readers as well as thank you notes from local businesses who appreciate being featured in her blog. If you've ever studied the Buffini System, you know the importance of reaching out to local businesses. Jennifer is doing that through her blog and she's getting results.
Some famous real estate bloggers scoff at platforms like ActiveRain, insisting that serious bloggers use WordPress or designer blogs costing thousands of dollars, but Jennifer's blog is proof that what you write is more important than the blogging platform you use to publish it. What really matters is appealing to people who live in your market and to people who are thinking about relocating to your market. That's not to say that Jennifer doesn't take advantage of the latest technology. On her blog, you'll also find plenty of videos and very cool slide shows.
Two things set Teresa Boardman apart from most real estate bloggers.
The first and most obvious is the incredible pictures that grace her blog. Teresa produces original, amazing photos of local architecture, nature, and lifestyle that are so compelling they make you want to visit Saint Paul and perhaps even live there.
In fact Teresa's photos are so good that she's becoming known mainly for her photos. That's a shame, because the second thing that sets Teresa apart from most real estate bloggers is that she writes about her city and its neighborhoods as much as she writes about real estate.
Too many real estate bloggers focus on their daily real estate chores or industry issues. That approach attracts peers rather than clients and prospects. Teresa balances useful real estate information with focused local content. The real estate information qualifies her as an expert and reminds her readers about how she can help them, but the local content, with great photos, is what keeps her clients and prospects coming back.
You can pay people to help your blog get high Google rankings, but if all visitors find is a bunch of copied and pasted posts where you've turned all the city names into hot links to your website, they probably won't come back. Teresa Boardman's approach is designed to generate retention while also presenting her knowledge and experience. She's not just selling herself, she's selling her neighborhoods.
There's a famous scene in "Glengarry, Glen Ross" where Alec Baldwin berates the salesmen of a boiler room operation selling worthless vacation lots. One of the many great lines that sticks out in my head is "Go and do likewise!"
I've written numerous posts about how to write a great real estate blog. The advice in those posts was based on a survey of great real estate blogs I found on the internet. I've decided to recognize the best consumer oriented real estate blogs individually in the hopes that agents reading this blog will pay those blogs a visit, make the connection between what I'm recommending and what those bloggers are doing, and "go and do likewise" on their own real estate blogs.
Two years ago, there was a lot of buzz about outside companies trying to develop real estate web portals. Would they attempt to replace agents the way online travel portals had replaced travel agents or would they merely steal viewers from agent websites and then sell those viewers back to agents through sponsorships? Two years later the same questions remain, but a lot has changed in the growing real estate web portal sector.
Online Listings Are Now A Commodity
Trulia was one of the first outside sites with online listings. Last year Zillow joined the online listings derby. Six months ago, Zillow announced that they had almost 1 million listings. Two months ago, Overstock opened their new real estate marketplace with over 2.5 million listings. Clearly online listings have become a commodity. There are more than a dozen real estate web portals that now include listings. Most of these sites reserve the right to edit and sublicense your listings to other sites, so no matter where you or your broker send the listing, it will probably end up on most of the sites anyway. If the same listings are available everywhere, how will real estate web portals attract consumers?
Online Property Valuations Are Now A Commodity
Zillow's property valuation "Zestimates" were a great source of consternation when they debuted two years ago. Consumers loved the ability to see how much their home was supposedly worth, but real estate professionals disliked valuations that were based on incomplete data and a "one size fits all" formula. These days Zillow has access to more data and they have refined their formula, but it hardly matters. Competing real estate web portals carry online property valuations from Zillow, CyberHomes, and Eppraisal all on the same page. As with listings, it appears Zillow sublicenses their Zestimates. This raises an obvious question. Why settle for one valuation when you can compare several at once? If property valuations are available everywhere, how will real estate web portals attract consumers?
Agent Blogs Are Now A Commodity
ActiveRain was one of the original social networks for real estate professionals. The main draw was free blogs for real estate agents, brokers, and related vendors which were organized into interest groups and geographic communities. ActiveRain recently celebrated their 100,000th member. The same week it was discovered that Trulia was testing their own agent blogging platform. Trulia had already created a mechanism for agents to interact with consumers called Trulia Voices. That feature has been copied by other real estate web portals, too. If agent blogs and agent forums are available everywhere, how will real estate web portals attract consumers?
You Are The Only Competitive Advantage Left
Low barriers to entry and content syndication have made it easy for once innovative real estate web portals to copy each other to the point where none of them can offer consumers a unique, compelling reason to prefer their site. The only thing that can't be cloned or resold is you, the real estate professional. Your knowledge of the local area and your expertise in the area of buying and selling real estate is the only point of differentiation that is still available to real estate web portals, so when considering where and how you want to publish your knowledge and expertise, choose wisely!
When I worked in the title industry, my company used to quote their bond rating to agents and consumers as a sign of security. During the boom years, few people paid any attention. Given the sudden demise of several title companies and downsizing throughout the industry, agents and consumers would be well advised to pay more attention to the underlying health of title companies before making their choice.
Good luck to the former employees of Financial Title, to everyone in the title industry, and to all the former customers of Financial Title who are now stranded.
For those who couldn't make it or decided to spend $800 (plus hotel and travel) on something else, here are links to six posts on the tech4REpros blog covering many of the same issues.
In brief, blogging is a new publishing model. Real estate blogging is like drip marketing, the goal is to attract and retain clients and prospects by providing value to them on their terms. Because real estate blogging doesn't require printing and postage, you can communicate with clients and prospects more often. Frequent updates encourage frequent visits which increases retention.
You'll notice that "other agents" did not appear anywhere in the preceding paragraph. Would you send your newsletter or market update to other agents? No? Well then you shouldn't be blogging for them, either. Treat real estate blogging like the watercooler at the office and you will get sympathy. Treat real estate blogging like networking with your neighbors and you will get deals. What would you rather get out of real estate blogging, sympathy or deals?
This is a digest of Microsoft Outlook posts here at the Technology for Real Estate Professionals blog. If you would like more information about an Excel feature I have not yet discussed, please click comments and post your questions or suggestions here or contact me.
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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