Anthony Crecco

Tech Savy Realtors! Do This

11-27-09

These days, it is foolish to dismiss the power and the opportunities provided to all by the World Wide Web. All sorts of entrepreneurs, companies, businesses and corporations - big and small - have seen the need for them to have an online presence and make themselves much more visible on the internet.

Real estate is not exempt from this. There are so many opportunities out there to be had for agents, as more and more people are becoming dependent on the web for their needs, at for some that includes looking for real estate properties to buy to agents to sell pieces of property. Either way, the prospects available to you through the internet are just too much to simply ignore or dismiss.

Another advantage of the internet is its ability to enable you to reach out to as many people as possible with minimal effort on your part. Whilst before, you had to rely on expensive traditional marketing techniques that sometimes did not give enough value for the cost you shelled out. Online marketing is a much better way to help you establish yourself in the industry and make you known to prospective buyers and sellers.

Establish yourself as an expert.

The first thing to do is to establish your credibility on the web. You need to start a blog or website where you share you knowledge and experience as a real estate agent. This way, people will see your expertise as well as the extent of the experience you have had as a real estate agent. This will help people make a better decision on whether you are competent enough for the job.

Be a part of the online community.

Online groups are very commonplace, so try to be a part of one for real estate. Usually these online communities are filled not only with real estate agents but also buyers and sellers of real estate property. These kinds of discussion boards and forums are filled with a wealth of information you can use to your advantage. You can also use this as a way to help yourself get known through being active in the community.

Take advantage of the multimedia options available to you.

Since the internet is a multimedia platform, its best that you take advantage of it to maximize your marketing strategy. For example, you can upload walkthroughs of the best properties you are selling so that prospective clients can see not only the properties you are selling, but also a glimpse of the way you work. You can incorporate presentations like these with your blog and / or website.

Always update your content.

Also remember to update your content for your blog / and or website as people get tired of seeing and reading the same thing over and over again. You won't need to overhaul the whole thing, of course, just update blog entries and videos so that visitors see your online activity.

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Seven Social Media Tips For Real Estate Agents

11-02-09

Anthony Crecco

If you are a real estate agent, then understanding how to use social media to draw in business is not difficult. There is a whole world full of ways to get your name out and among people that may become a potential customer and bring you their business. Let's discuss the seven social media tips for agents. Tip #1: Beneficial Real Estate Sites The first tip is, you can use a social media site set up exclusively for real estate professionals like Active Rain, to help aid you in connecting with people that are local and within your community. Sites like this one is geared towards you particular field of Real Estate and networking. Tip #2: Facebook How To's Second tip, is register and use a site such as Facebook. This site is growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. This site is growing everyday at an astounding pace and professionals in any field are into keeping up with one another and their clients within the network. The site also allows for agents to become close to and develop long lasting business relationships, as well as making contacts that may become a potential customer. You can also use their ads to help grab the attention of your audience. Tip #3: Keeping an Updated Profile The third tip is if you are a Real Estate agent you will want to check out LinkedIn. This site lets you develop long lasting relationships with many other Real Estate business and professionals just like you. You can sign up for free on their site. Take extra care with filling out your profile when registering, as the keywords and information you list to describe yourself, will allow others to find you better. Reach out across the web! Tip #4: Twitter for Business Connections Tip number four will be to sign up with Twitter. Another site to stay connected to people, yet a bit different from others. Twitter uses a posting platform, a sort of mini-blog if you will to stay connected or make connections. This site will allow you to follow others and others can keep up by following you. Make sure you create interesting and informative posts for your followers. Tip #5: Using Real Estate Networking Sites Signing up with WannaNetwork will be tip number five. This site allows you to blog, use a forum to ask and answer questions, find groups and Real Estate professionals. This site is everything Real Estate community related. It is site with a community platform that is ideal for making connections, keeping up with buyer and seller information as well. Tip #6: Letting Your Audience Get To Know You Tip number Six will be to use YouTube to get your message out and help people find you. You can post webinars that are informative, helpful and vital to your audience. Also creating videos telling the world about what you do. Use keywords wisely in the title of your webinar or video, so people who are interested can easily find you. Tip #7: Creating Your Own Real Estate Forum on Your Website Finally is tip number seven. If you have your own website, you can network and create your own strategies through use of a forum on your website. A really great way to exchange links that may help you grab potential customers.

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Seven Social Media Tips For Real Estate Agents

11-02-09

Anthony Crecco

Tip #1: Beneficial Real Estate Sites

The first tip is, you can use a social media site set up exclusively for real estate professionals like Active Rain, to help aid you in connecting with people that are local and within your community. Sites like this one is geared towards you particular field of Real Estate and networking.

Tip #2: Facebook How To's

Second tip, is register and use a site such as Facebook. This site is growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis. This site is growing everyday at an astounding pace and professionals in any field are into keeping up with one another and their clients within the network. The site also allows for agents to become close to and develop long lasting business relationships, as well as making contacts that may become a potential customer. You can also use their ads to help grab the attention of your audience.

Tip #3: Keeping an Updated Profile

The third tip is if you are a Real Estate agent you will want to check out LinkedIn. This site lets you develop long lasting relationships with many other Real Estate business and professionals just like you. You can sign up for free on their site. Take extra care with filling out your profile when registering, as the keywords and information you list to describe yourself, will allow others to find you better. Reach out across the web!

Tip #4: Twitter for Business Connections

Tip number four will be to sign up with Twitter. Another site to stay connected to people, yet a bit different from others. Twitter uses a posting platform, a sort of mini-blog if you will to stay connected or make connections. This site will allow you to follow others and others can keep up by following you. Make sure you create interesting and informative posts for your followers.

Tip #5: Using Real Estate Networking Sites

Signing up with WannaNetwork will be tip number five. This site allows you to blog, use a forum to ask and answer questions, find groups and Real Estate professionals. This site is everything Real Estate community related. It is site with a community platform that is ideal for making connections, keeping up with buyer and seller information as well.

Tip #6: Letting Your Audience Get To Know You

Tip number Six will be to use YouTube to get your message out and help people find you. You can post webinars that are informative, helpful and vital to your audience. Also creating videos telling the world about what you do. Use keywords wisely in the title of your webinar or video, so people who are interested can easily find you.

Tip #7: Creating Your Own Real Estate Forum on Your Website

Finally is tip number seven. If you have your own website, you can network and create your own strategies through use of a forum on your website. A really great way to exchange links that may help you grab potential customers.

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Real Estate Marketing in an On-Demand World: Considerations for Online Advertising

10-30-09

Anthony Crecco

In today’s technologically advanced society, homebuyers no longer solely rely on the Sunday classifieds
for help in their property searches. Accustomed to obtaining information whenever they want, most now
explore their housing options online. In fact, The 2008 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers revealed
87 percent of recent purchasers used the Internet in their search for a home.
As a real estate professional, it is essential that you remain up to date in this era of instant information to
remain competitive. However, it’s just as important to understand the risks of Internet marketing and how
you can help avoid them. Some of the issues you should keep in mind include:
Tell Them Who You Are.
You must disclose who you are and that you are a real estate practitioner in every online advertisement.
This requirement includes providing your name and/or firm’s legal name, office location, and license
jurisdiction(s). If you advertise on several pages within the same site, you should publish your
information on each page containing one of your advertisements.
If you discover another agent’s listing that you would like to add to your own site, you should first obtain
their consent to do so. Any such advertising should include the name of the property’s actual listing
broker and details of where and when you obtained the property data displayed on your site. You may not
alter any of the information you post about another’s listing, which is why it is important to divulge the
source of the listing.
Keep It Real.
Some of the benefits of marketing real estate online, such as full-color images and virtual tours, are also
potential pitfalls. Sellers may be able to exaggerate property features or conceal defects that would be
apparent in a physical visit. To help avoid these issues—and possible misrepresentation claims—you
should personally visit the property and urge all prospective buyers to complete an in-person walkthrough
before making an offer and hire a professional home inspector and other qualified experts. It is equally
important that you stress to sellers that all facts listed on your website (i.e. square footage, acreage, taxes,
etc.) are accurate. Even one simple typo could have potentially devastating consequences.
Change Happens.
If you learn of any changes to a property, you must update your listings accordingly. The Association of
Real Estate License Law Officials guidelines state, “any changes…should be updated online within 72
hours of the change.” If a third party controls the information, you must notify them of that change and
request that they “make needed alterations within 72 hours.” Additionally, the NAR requires that you
review the real estate marketing and advertising information on your own site “no less than every 31
days.” It is also advisable that you provide the date and time of the original posting or last update, and
always remember to remove any listings as soon as practicable after the closing.
By extending your advertising efforts to the virtual world, you could dramatically increase your
marketing results. You may gain clients from all over the country and even overseas. But if you don’t
implement proper risk reduction principles—including those listed here and that you already follow—you
could open yourself up to claims. Therefore, it is imperative that you are very cautious about
representations made on your site, that you properly document your procedures, transactions, and
communications, and remain current and compliant with all NAR guidelines and local, state, and federal
rules and regulations governing real estate advertising. By proceeding with such standards of care, you
could find the Internet to be a significant tool and powerful edge in your market.

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Foreclosure Activity Sets New Record in Third Quarter: Report

10-16-09

Anthony Crecco

Foreclosure Activity Sets New Record in Third Quarter: Report

Foreclosure activity in the United States set a new quarterly record in the three months ended September 30, increasing 5 percent from the previous quarter and 23 percent from the third quarter of 2008, according to new data released by RealtyTrac Thursday.

The online marketplace for foreclosure properties said that foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions – were reported on 937,840 properties in the third quarter. One in every 136 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the three-month period – the highest quarterly foreclosure rate since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in the first quarter of 2005.

For the month of September, foreclosure filings were reported on 343,638 properties in September, down 4 percent from August but up 29 percent from September 2008. Even with the decrease, however, September’s total was still the third-highest monthly total since the RealtyTrac reports began, behind only July and August of this year.

“Bank repossessions, or REOs, jumped 21 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter, corresponding to jumps in defaults and scheduled auctions in the previous two quarters,” said James Saccacio, chief executive of RealtyTrac. “REO activity increased from the previous quarter in all but two states and the District of Columbia, indicating that lenders may be starting to work through some of the pent-up foreclosure inventory caused by legislative delays, loan modification efforts, and high volumes of distressed properties.”

Nevada continued to lead the states’ foreclosure rates in the third quarter, with one in 23 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing – nearly six times the national average. Foreclosure filings were reported on 47,925 Nevada properties during the period, up nearly 10 percent from the previous quarter and up nearly 59 percent from the year-ago period.

Arizona posted the second-highest state foreclosure rate in the period, with one in every 53 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing. California was third, also with one in every 53 units receiving a filing. Other states in the top 10 were Florida, Idaho, Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, and Illinois.

Just six states – California, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois, and Michigan – accounted for 62 percent of the nation’s total foreclosure activity in the third quarter, with a combined 579,541 properties.

With 250,054 properties receiving foreclosure filings during the quarter, California alone accounted for nearly 27 percent of the nation’s total. Florida was second in number of foreclosure filings, with 156,924. Arizona was third with 50,342 properties, and Nevada, with 47,925 properties, was fourth.

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