Jeff Cole

Pay per Click or Blogging, Where do you spend your time and money?

I have to admit that at first I was not a huge fan of Blogging as my initial impression was that

it was little more than a giant black hole, sucking all my time away.

I started with active rain years ago, reluctantly posting here and there,

unfortunately not paying enough attention to searchable rich content.

Just recently however, my opinion been changed. After following

a few posts on the statistics, I have made an effort to quantify our results. We have been working hard to increase our online presence over the years, building new residential real estate websites, CoastalHomeInfo.com and JeffColeGroup.com,

focusing on buying or selling homes in San Diego County, California. We hired website optimization companies in attempts to boost our ranking on Google, Yahoo and the other main search engines, played with pay per click, adwords and guaranteed 1^st page results optimizers. A year ago we committed to pay $700 a month, guaranteeing 1st page results, it boosted our hits on our newest website from 3500 clicks per month on average to roughly 15,000-20,000 a month.

Since Blogging more purposefully in just the last year and discontinuing the pay per clicks 6 months ago, I was expecting to see the numbers drop off dramatically. I was pleasantly surprised to see the hits increase to 25,000-40,000 a month, mostly due to blogging.

The cool thing is that the old blogs continue to grow in hits, silently contributing to our website and I feel less compelled to restart paying someone else to optimize for us.

Hey why are all those letters after your name? CRS, SRS ,e-PRO, RDCPRO, Premier Property Director, Broker

It is funny how many agents ask me if there is any benefit to having these multiple professional designations.

I feel the importance of designations in the field of selling Real Estate in San Diego County or any where else for that matter cannot be overstated. Over the past decade and more dramatically the housing bubble years of 2002-2007 (particularly here in California), there have been floods of new licensees looking for that perceived quick and easy income. This eager new wave brought with them some level of unprofessionalism, unpreparedness, lack of ability in varying degrees and have done little to boost our image in the eyes of the public (which seems to currently place us just a little higher than the used car salesman). Not to say that only this group of new agents benefit from more education, I believe we all benefit from higher learning and increased skill. Raising the trust of the general public toward the real estate agent will be a natural byproduct of more competent professionals doing a better service for their clients.

Now more than ever, agents need to raise the bar. Only by embracing new technologies, staying abreast of changes in the law, adjusting more rapidly to market conditions, the ability to market and network more effectively will we be at pace with this modern day marketplace and adequately represent those we serve. All of which coincidentally is a direct or indirect benefit of acquiring new designations. I have been fortunate to have had several very successful and generous agents share helpful tips over the years and one of the best pieces of advise I have received to date was simply to know my business well. The best way to know my business well other than by just knowing the inventory is to continue in education. While being stretched and challenged during this on the job training can be a fun ride, how great it is when you can do it right the first time and avoid some of the pitfalls of ignorance. I don't feel I could live and work in a better place. The pristine beaches, the perfect San Diego climate, the beautiful North County people and its healthy lifestyle tend to draw a more affluent and sometimes litigious Buyer and Seller. Those agents who don’t take this profession of selling real estate seriously will either end up in a law suit or eventually join the numerous others who are now in another line of work.

Even in challenging times as these, work can bring a type of satisfaction and enjoyment, especially when you know how to do your job well and your efforts benefit others. Then as if by cause and effect, your client base grows and the money follows.

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There is plenty of benefit in knowing a good REO agent when shopping for bank owned or foreclosed homes in San Diego County. Like many parts of the country where investors are gathering to scoop up bank owned and foreclosed homes at below market pricing, California and particularly in San Diego County as in my case are very competitive. The coastal homes below $1,000,000 and especially below $500,000 are less available than some think. With Banks reluctant to Foreclose and sales data improving in both average sales price and units sold, the competition for the relatively few bank owned homes on the market has heated up.

Knowing a good REO agent that has relationships with multiple banks and outsourcers is key. Without a strong agent on your side guiding you along the way, you can count on writing offer after offer and being constantly outbid, not responded to or on the other side of the coin, paying thousands too much.

When looking for a REO agent, start with identifying an agent who represents more than one Bank or Outsourcer. Agents with multiple bank relationships usually carry larger Bank owned inventory and may have a property in pre-listing status that they can guide you to ahead of the pack.

They usually are in constant communication with asset managers and have multiple loan officers that frequent their office, which helps them, stay more up to date on current government programs, lending issues and interest rates and know what the banks are looking for in an offer.

Second look for an agent that has multiple designations such as CRS, SRS, e-PRO etc. These agents tend to value continued education and pride themselves on staying ahead of the pack as well as being on top of the latest technologies and marketing strategies.

I prefer agents that have established systems so they are not reinventing the wheel on every transaction and team members that can support them in the tasks that are better delegated as to help them focus more on you and your needs. That is assuming they are not too big that they pass you off to their team and never are available to you again.

Now is not the time to be working with an unseasoned agent or one working part time in the industry to help you find a home. Frankly, they just are not equipped to do the research and be on top of everything that you need of your agent in this market. Timing is critical; this may be the best time in our lifetime to invest in real estate, even if the average sales price continues to deteriorate. There is plenty of money to be made in a down market. There are more homes that cash flow in San Diego County than there has been in the twenty years I have been watching this market. There are also many homes right now that can be purchased and flipped for a healthy profit. That is why you need the right professional in your corner.

In many of the San Diego Coastal communities like Del Mar, La Jolla, Solana Beach, Cardiff by the Sea, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Oceanside, San Marcos, Olivenhain, Rancho Sante Fe and the like there are more buyers than Bank owned homes and multiple offers above the list price have become the norm.

So, weather you are an out of area agent looking for a agent to refer to or you are a local agent tired of getting your offers rejected or not responded to and want to save your hope of earning a commission and reputation with your buyer or you are the wise buyer looking to capitalize in this foreclosure cycle, now is the perfect time to establish a good REO agent relationship.

Many of my bank relationships are now saying they anticipate the foreclosure backlog we have been waiting to release since June, should start breaking free in November 2009. Good news for those of us with buyers scampering for the limited Bank Owned homes currently available in San Diego County, but will it actually come and does it even matter? Most of the sales these past few years have been sub $500,000 and many less than $300,000. If you are hoping to find one of those, or the even more competitive sub $200,000 detached homes which have been selling in Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido from the first sub prime wave, that opportunity may be waining or may have even already passed. This next wave consisting largely from 5/1 arm resets and HELOC's and are generally more expensive. A direct result in the limited programs helping real people avoid foreclosure. Most of us fail to qualify for the Making Home Affordable program especially here in Southern California where many of our loans were jumbo. Who by the way are those government programs helping? less than 3% of defaulted homes qualify despite reports from Washington. It will be interesting to see how many foreclosures we will actually see and at what price points. There is a shortage of good inventory in all price ranges right now and the foreclosures we have all heard were coming have managed for the better part of a year to allude us. If you believe all the hype from the press and our administration, we have seen the bottom of this financial mess, I however don't share their optimism and believe the hardest of times are ahead of us. Which begs the question do you buy now or wait? If you are waiting, you have to consider the cost of money and your purchase power. The fed is printing dollars like no tomorrow, the value of our dollar is at an all time low, Interest rates have been on the rise and are expected to continue to do so. It may not be long before we see rates over 8%. Even if prices drop another 40% the interest rate difference will most likely wipe out any savings on purchase price. One thing for sure, we are in for an interesting ride.

This is that wonderful one story home you have been looking for. Located in the desirable community of Whelan Ranch. This home sold in 2004 for $650,000. Situated on a large lot with unobstructed views of the surrounding hills, this home has 3 spacious bedrooms plus an office with built-ins in addition to a large bonus room which could easily be converted to a 4th bedroom. The family room is inviting with stone fireplace glass doors to the outdoor living area. There is an abundance of natural light, A/C, high ceilings and a well executed, open floor plan. The kitchen has a large island with cook top, new stainless dishwasher and hot water circulation system. Enjoy views from most rooms. Outside is a garden lovers paradise with raised beds, outdoor sink, greenhouse and lush colorful landscaping. There is a gazebo, water fountain, new spa, built in BBQ and indoor/outdoor speakers that convey perfect for relaxing or entertaining. This home comes with many extras as in the washer and dryer, sound system and even the delightfull children statues convey. Prime location in beautiful neighborhood, low HOA and walking distance to the Oceanside Golf Course. For more information visit our website at www.JeffColeGroup.com