Paul Silverman

We are all bombarded daily with the latest figures on the masses of people joining social networking sites. From Facebook to Twitter and all those between, the world is becoming far more connected than we have ever been. Any real attempt at quantifying the numbers of people joining these sites would be inaccurate by time the ink on this article had time to dry or the time it would take a webmaster to upload it to a server. While there are several reasons to join these sites, social connection and business networking are among the top two. What we must look at is where is the balance between these two benefits and both the positive and negative roles they play when they mix.

Let me first say that I am a huge fan of social networking sites and I have seen first hand how these sites can help connect with old friends and I can track two business transactions that I completed due to my presence on Facebook. On the dark side of social networking, I have also seen friendships strained, marriages ruined and jobs lost due to some fairly common social networking actions and some actions that let temptation overpower rational thinking. This is where the concept of "division" is derived from. There must be a division between those you feel comfortable sharing your life with versus those who you only want to keep contact information for a rainy day or to market to. Social networking is not a contest of how many "friends" or "followers" you can find unless it is for purely networking or marketing reasons. If you are interested in only growing networking contacts or to market your product, LinkedIn, Twitter and group or company pages on Facebook are the places for you. These non-intrusive sites contain mostly professional or product information and are easy to add contacts and communicate to your network because you are essentially only sharing your resume or business information, not private information about your life.

When it comes to sites like Facebook and My Space, we journey past the professional value and move into a more personal sphere of communication. There is a common term nowadays called "internet voyeurism" that sounds much worse than it really is. While we think as a voyeur as the man hiding in the bushes peeking through a window, internet voyeurism is simply the ability we have to look at information or at other people's lives via multiple social networking or internet sites without the party or company knowing. We are all guilty of internet voyeurism weather it is checking to see how much your neighbors home is listed for online or looking at pictures of a Facebook friend. The issue begins to be where we establish that line between those who you want to know all the details you post versus those that we just don't want to offend by ignoring their "friend request". It is best two keep business and personal contacts separated on social networking sites. I could probably come up with a list of situations where these two worlds collide but several of them are pretty obvious. When you can't update your status because you don't want every one of your online friends to know, your worlds are mixed. When the fun and socialization of these sites is ruined by the thought of "what if I post that", your worlds are mixed. Finally, when those who are important in your life that aren't on social networking sites don't know about new jobs you have taken, new relationships, etc... because the only way you are communicating is through a status update, you are choosing social networking over relationships. So by now, a lot of you are wondering how to reduce the list of 300 friends without stepping on toes, hurting feelings or ruining business contacts. The answer is easy. If you are already up to your eyes in online friends, create a separate profile and notify only those who you want to interact with on a regular basis. By doing this, you gain a higher quality of page by having only relevant friends. This helps reduce the temptation of taking friendships too far or posting something that might have a social value to your friends, but might negatively influence your job or business network. Keep your old profile and periodically post content, pictures, or status updates to make it still look alive. You never know when you might need one of those 300 friends. By doing this, you can keep your original profile open and people that you might want to connect with can find you and you don't have to worry about the dreaded process of deleting friends. As a novice behavioral scientist, I actually wanted to judge the impact on the average user being deleted as a friend so I periodically changed my status to "Friend list is getting too long, let the culling begin" and "Quality of friends is better than the quantity, the culling begins tonight". It was amazing to see postings from friends that had never commented on any status before, asking to stay on my list. For the record, I never actually deleted anyone after these status postings and it might not have been the best idea to use friends as test subjects. The most interesting response was when I changed my status to "pondering life without Facebook, considering trying it". The hard core Facebook addicts like me came out of the woodwork with their own admissions of trying to scale back the time they devote to the site.

So let's move on to how we make social networking sites relevant, this is the conquer section. Whether your page or profile is for business or professional, we make social networking sites relevant by posting quality content. Quality content can be product information or personal information, but not irrelevant information. Let's cover two examples. All of us that are on these sites have friends that post the most unimportant content. I think the most useless I have ever seen was a friend that changed his status to "ordering at Sonic" I really can't think of anyone in my life that important to care them about ordering fast food. On the business side, there is a Realtor friend that is insistent on updating her status every time she goes on a listing appointment, signs a contract or has a closing. This is known as yelling, not selling on social networking sites. I compare this to another Realtor friend that updates his status on meetings with politicians, broad real estate information and other relevant content that brands him as an expert without "yelling" at his friends. It poses no harm to occasionally throw in a promotion for your business but when Facebook is used to constantly sell to friends, you become irrelevant and just plain annoying really quickly. So to conquer social networking sites and build a quality following of close friends or business network, make sure what you post is worth reading or at least entertaining. Some of the best viral marketing campaigns have been launched and succeeded out of pure creativity, not extensive product promotion.

So we will wrap up with profiting from social networking sites. From a business standpoint, the biggest attraction is the ability to reach potential customers directly of through referrals and building a following. This does not happen over night and takes some time and patience. While it takes a while to build your network, other than the cost of your time, it is usually free and in this economy, we can't say no to free. What we do need to keep in mind is that social networking sites can be a big time zapper so there must be some time limits imposed. In addition, while viral marketing is good, depending on the breadth of your product offering, sometimes the numbers of followers are not as important as their quality and purchasing ability. In addition, marketing vehicles such as press releases, websites, product and company branding, and proven advertising methods should not be reduced or ignored. On a personal note, social networking site where you are free to communicate and freely post as you wish can be profitable in many ways by creating a social gathering place for friends and family. Every Friday on my Facebook page, I post a weekend status update video that has developed quite a following. Rather than calling everyone to let them know of my plans for the weekend, my friends can watch an entertaining video. I even had a recent comment from a friend whose mother passed away that week and how watching the video was the first time she had smiled in days. Those kinds of profits from social network sites are unbeatable.

So as we end this journey, I will change my status to "just completed writing informative article", I will Tweet a 140 character description of the article with a shortened URL, and upload it to LinkIn. The morning of a social networking addict is now complete.

Paul Silverman is a Realtor and Marketing Director for a custom builder in Houston. He currently hold 8 Real Estate designations and has won local, state, and national marketing awards. To contact him, please visit www.ourfirstnest.com or email paul@ourfirstnest.com.

Here are the top 10 reasons to buy a new home in Houston

1. You are still outgrowing or unsatisfied with your current housing no matter what the economy does
2. Interest rates are still at all time low, unlike the last recession when they were at over 18%
3. Qualify for the new $8,000 First Time Buyer Tax Credit. Watch the Video Here
4. There is currently a good supply of homes on the market for you to find a home to call your own
5. Prices have held relatively stable and builders are stilloffering some great incentives on their completed homes
6. Renting is always a 100% loss, not an investment like purchasing your own home
7. Houston has repeatedly been ranked one of the top cities for its affordable housing costs and employment outlook.
8. Houston has one of the healthiest housing markets in the country. Texas is the state with the highest job growth and one of the lowest unemployment rates.
9. Many top local economists feel that there has been a pent up demand for housing by people "sitting on the fence", when the economy starts to turn and more people enter the market, there will be a shortage of housing which will cause prices to rise
10. Purchasing a home is just like other major decisions like having children, getting married, and career changes. Waiting for the "perfect time" is giving into FEAR (False Expectations About Reality)

How much home can you afford is always a great starting place when looking into buying a home. By understanding your purchasing power, you can focus your time on looking at properties that fall within your price rance. There is a great page on the HUD website that contains a affordability calculator. Here is the link: http://www.ginniemae.gov/2_prequal/intro_questions.asp?Section=YPTH

What do I look for in a new home?

Many people looking for a new home in Houston have asked me what to look for in a new home. While most people concentrate on the model home, this does not really give the consumer a real idea of the capabilities of the builder. To get a real idea of what a builder has to offer, start with selecting a community or area of town you would like to live, then find builders in that area. Rather than drive around for hours, save yourself the time by going to one of the online portals such as Move.com to narrow down you search of builders, plans and price ranges. After you have done this, visit the communities first and talk to some of the neighbors about the community and the builders. It is important to get first hand testimonials and evaluate the community. When driving through the community, pay attention to the conditions of the homes under construction. A well run community will have clean job sites, homes that appear to be progressing through construction and have an orderly appearance. One you have narrowed down the builders and toured their models, make a spreadsheet of their standard features to evaluate what is included. This is a good way to compare the value proposition. For me information about selecting a builder, please visit our website http://www.ourfirstnest.com/

Courtesy of the National Association of Home Builders:

Buying a home is one of the smartest purchases you can ever make. One reason is that homeownership has many positive tax implications. The three most important sources of tax savings for home owners are the:
deductions for mortgage interest
deductions for real estate taxes
capital gain exclusion for the sale of a principal residence
The deductions for mortgage interest and real estate taxes reduce the annual cost of homeownership by reducing the home owner's tax liability each year. For example, a home owner with $10,000 in annual mortgage interest payments and real estate taxes and who falls in the 25 percent tax bracket could realize up to $2,500 in tax savings each year. Home owners who itemize their taxes can deduct from taxable income interest allocable to a first or second home for up to $1 million of mortgage debt and $100,000 of home equity loans. And most state and local taxes paid on homes are also deductible.

When the home is sold, the capital gain exclusion can again provide home owners a tax benefit. Under present law, sellers of a principal residence can exclude from taxation profits from the sale of a home, up to $500,000 for married taxpayers and $250,000 for single taxpayers. With capital gain tax rates expected to increase from 15 to 20 percent in coming years, these tax savings can be substantial.

Research by NAHB economists has estimated the tax savings for home owners for certain income and mortgage amounts. For a married couple with an income of $80,000 per year and an initial mortgage amount of $250,000, the tax savings from the mortgage interest and real estate tax deductions are estimated to save the couple more than $11,000 in the first five years of homeownership. Assuming the couple owns the home for twelve years, these savings grow to more than $25,000 over the time period. Combined with the capital gains exclusion, the total tax savings for the entire period of ownership exceeds $52,000.

For a couple with an income of $60,000 and an initial mortgage of $180,000, the five years tax savings total more than $6,000 and the total savings over a twelve year period are estimated to be more than $33,000.

Combined with the current $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit (www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com), available for qualified purchases on or after Jan. 1, 2009, and before Dec. 1, 2009, the tax savings from homeownership make buying a home today a rewarding financial decision.

For more estimates of the tax savings of homeownership, check out NAHB's "Opportunity Knocks" brochure.