I don't think it's just me. But, I wondered if some of you are also having the experience of running into great potential home buyers, who are buying their first home, and have somehow MISSED the news about the FREE money they can access if they buy a home this year? Up to $8,000 worth to be exact!
This has happened several times within the past couple of weeks. I've learned not to ASSUME that everyone who needs to know does. I've started asking everyone if they've heard about it. The other issue is that even those who have heard about it are often not clear about how it works.
I'm not sure why this message seems to have been lost in the mix for so many. Perhaps, because it has been sandwiched in between news about bailouts and bank failures. I would hope that this opportunity does not pass by numerous people for whom it would be a substantial benefit simply because for whatever reason...they just didn't get it.
I wonder if the real estate community could be more effective in delivering the message. After all, with the tools now available through social media to reach the world, a coordinated message outreach by a MILLION of us would be huge. What if for just one 24 hour period, every agent did just one of these things:
24 HOUR TAX CREDIT AWARENESS ACTIVITIES:
1. Twittered about the tax credit @ least 2X
2. Mentioned the tax credit on their facebook page
3. Updated their status on 1 social network asking people to contact them about FREE money
4. Wrote a blog post and referred people to a lender to answer questions
6. Wrote a blog post explaining how the tax credit could benefit people in their local community
7. Volunteered to answer a question or posed a question about the tax credit on LinkedIn, Trulia or Zillow
8. Sent out a message about the tax credit to 10 of their friends & asked them to pass it on
9. Asked the next person they talked to about buying a house if they'd heard & understood
10. Set up a Page or Group online in their local community about the TAX credit
WHAT CAN A MILLION AGENTS DO?
I'm thinking that in one 24 hour period, 1 MILLION people would do what the media could never accomplish. Why aren't we using our power to connect more effectively? NONE of these suggestions needs to take more than 10 minutes of your name...many can be done in 10 seconds.
pictures are courtesy of aussiegalls photostream on Flickr
*New home buyer defined as someone who has never owned a home or who has not owned a home within the past three years.
No copyright on this post. Feel free to share and repost.
Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate. Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area. We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511.
;)
;)
I know people are misinformed. I ran into someone a week or two ago that said they read an article that had just been posted (at least according to her it was) and it said that the credit had to be paid back. I told her that was the way last year's credit worked, but the $8000 credit does not have to be repaid. Not sure she actually believed me since what she read was in "print" and I was just giving her my "word"....
~Chanda