Buyers: I promise to help you determine how much home you can actually afford, as well as provide insight on additional ways to accrue the down payment, and explain alternative financing methods. I can also improve your negotiating position by introducing you to a mortgage counselor for "pre-approval," enabling you to achieve your home-buying objectives faster and with less stress. As your buyer's agent, my resources all me access to all available homes in the multi-list system where I am able to evaluate them in terms of your needs and affordability, creating a precise list of homes just for you, and when you find your dream home, my commitment is to negotiating the best price and terms for you.
There are several reasons why RE/MAX is one of the most-recognized names in real estate. RE/MAX is a company built on the promise of exceptional customer service. Not only do we sell more real estate in the world, but the RE/MAX Balloon is strong advertising logo at every level of the system, from agents to everyday people. Tens of billions of advertising impressions are generated annually through our website, one of the most-visited real estate websites in the world. The combination of our powerful advertising, our involvement in charities such as Children's Miracle Network and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, sponsorship of major sporting events, and millions of yard signs around the world, tens of millions of consumers automatically think RE/MAX when they think real estate.
Whether you are selling your home, or searching for that special place to call your own, you deserve to work with someone that has your best interests in mind. I realize that something as valuable as your trust must be earned. My commitment to loyalty, honesty, and respect is a sure recipe for success. Superior service is my goal and I want to help you define and achieve your goals in buying and selling a home.
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Disappearing are the bold-colored suit jackets, poufy hairdos and stilted smiles that, for decades, have been plastered across newspaper pages pushing real estate to potential homebuyers. In their stead: informal blogs, online video tours and sophisticated consumer targeting.
The recession and a cratered housing market have curtailed real-estate advertising overall, and many companies have cut back significantly on newspapers. Realogy Corp., parent company of Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby's International, and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, among others, spent 31.7% less on measured media in 2008, according to TNS Media Intelligence, down to $129.3 million from $189.4 million in 2007. And more than half of the decrease, $31.8 million, came out of newspapers. At the same time, Realogy upped its internet spending 29% to $8.6 million. The internet ad dollars pale in comparison largely because the internet is less expensive, but the trend toward online is unmistakable.
Christina Lowris, exec VP of marketing and advertising at the Corcoran Group, a real-estate firm with properties in New York City, the Hamptons, and South Florida, said Corcoran spends "a lot less" on print classifieds than it used to, and views that change as permanent.
Behavioral shift
"It is very antiquated to think that people are opening up the Sunday paper and looking for real estate. It just doesn't happen anymore," she said. "The behavior has changed. It's been a major shift in behavior, and I don't see that going back at all. I don't think that people are not necessarily going to read newspaper, but I don't think they'll be looking for real estate in newspapers."
Nearly nine in 10 homebuyers used the internet as an information source, and one in three found a home on the internet, according to 2008 data from the National Association of Realtors. Newer, growing "aggregate" sites such as Zillow and Trulia -- which pull together listings from a variety of brokerage firms, in addition to providing other services -- have made it easier to find more property information online. All this has catalyzed marketing activity for real-estate companies.
"There are more places for people to go to get more information," Ms. Lowris said. "It's making everyone kind of raise their game."
Despite record foreclosure rates and depressed home sale prices, the real-estate industry anticipates selling 5.3 million homes this year, many to first-time homebuyers -- so there's still a consumer market to fight for.
Perhaps no real-estate entity has taken the web by storm as much as Realogy. Among its digital pushes: Coldwell Banker launched a branded YouTube channel earlier this month; Century 21, which is handled by McGarryBowen, moved all of its national TV advertising dollars to the internet in January; and Better Homes Twittered about its live-streaming launch press conference last July, said Camilla Sullivan, senior VP-marketing.
Where customers are
Better Homes and its executives are on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, LinkedIn, you name it, and they have a blog, too. But all this activity is not just for keeping up appearances.
"It's not Facebook for Facebook's sake," she said. "We're finding that's where the community lives."
Better Homes is built around Meredith Corp.'s 85-year old Better Homes and Gardens magazine and has invested heavily in its website. The Infinia Group is its agency of record. Realogy entered an agreement in October 2007 to license the Better Homes name for 50 years, with an option to renew for another 50 years.
With the transparency of information on the internet, consumers are more empowered when it comes to finding and purchasing a home, Ms. Sullivan said. And during a recession, they're searching for even more relevant, educational information about value. "People really want to be armed with information," she said, adding that Better Homes has online advice for a host of things -- from enhancing a home's appearance for an open house to making an offer -- in addition to its real-estate listings.
Coldwell Banker views its YouTube channel, created with the help of FD Kinesis, as "game-changing," said senior VP-marketing Michael Fischer. "We felt there was a huge unmet need in the market," he said. "With video, we can really show a property off."
The decision to go to YouTube was "natural," Mr. Fischer said. It is the second-largest search engine in the world, behind Google. And when it comes to finding properties, "users are going to go where they want to go," he said. "We need to go where they go."
City cites public safety, says 30 pecans, elms near pool could topple.
By Claire Osborn
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The City of Austin will cut down 28 trees in danger of falling in the Barton Springs Pool area of Zilker Park as soon as possible, officials said Wednesday.
City workers will also restrict public access to two trees in the Sunken Garden area that eventually need to be removed.
"Public safety is our No. 1 priority," said Sara Hensley, the director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
One of the trees to be removed is the pecan tree that leans over the pool's north side and has a trunk filled with concrete, said Walter Passmore, the city's urban forestry program manager.
"Only 7 percent of it is solid wood" at the base, he said. The rest is concrete and rotten wood. Another tree facing the saw is a pecan tree in a cracked planter whose limbs lean over the roof next to the front entrance gate, Passmore said.
The affected trees make up 20 percent of all the trees in the area and include 13 trees inside the pool grounds, he said.
He said city crews will try to remove most of the trees on Thursdays, when the pool is closed.
The trees chosen for removal are mostly pecan but also include cottonwoods and elms, Passmore said. They will be replaced in the fall at the start of the next planting season with pecan and other species, he said.
Many of the trees in trouble have deteriorating root systems and can't pull as much water and nutrients from the soil as they need in times of stress, such as during hot weather, Passmore said.
Mark Nowacki, who arrived Wednesday afternoon for his daily swim at the pool, said he didn't agree with the city's decision.
Normal rainfall in 2009 still not enough to fix dry soil, low lakes, stressed plants.
By Andrea Ball
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Recent rains might have eased the drought that has sparked wildfires, battered farmers and parched lakes, but experts say Central Texas isn't out of it yet.
"People think just because we've had some rain that the drought is over," said Bob Rose, a meteorologist with the Lower Colorado River Authority. "Not even close."
For nearly two years, Texas has been suffering through one of the worst droughts in state history. It has cost farmers $1 billion in failed crops and dead or undernourished livestock; fueled wildfires that this year have destroyed 200 homes and scorched 424,000 acres across the state, including 1,500 in a Bastrop blaze nearly two months ago; and threatened coastal wildlife, including crabs and whooping cranes.
This month, Gov. Rick Perry asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to issue an emergency declaration for 199 Texas counties dealing with wildfire threats. A FEMA declaration would provide resources to help battle the blazes.
Cattleman Dennis Davidson of Georgetown , who has been farming with his brother Buster since 1977 , was forced to buy food for his 2,000 cattle because the oats he planted last fall didn't grow.
"We just didn't have the grazing because of the drought," he said
Many farmers have lost cattle during the dry spell. About 1,500 cows died in Williamson County, said Bob Whitney , an agent with the Williamson County office of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. About 1,000 are estimated to have died in Bastrop. Some died of malnutrition. Others got stuck in mud from evaporating stock ponds.
"Unless someone was out there to pull them out, (the cattle) pulled and pulled and then they died," Whitney said.
Over the past few months, rain levels have returned to normal levels. Between Jan. 1 and April 19, Camp Mabry recorded 7.33 inches of rain, just 0.03 inches lower than normal.
Consequently, Travis , Bastrop , Hays and Williamson counties recently lifted their burn bans. Cattle pastures sprouted long-dormant grass. Forecasters have predicted normal rain levels to continue over the next few months.
Good news, but not enough to declare the drought dead. Rose said Lake Travis is at 61 percent capacity and the soil in Central Texas is still very dry. It would take 8 to 12 inches of widespread, soaking rains across much of the Highland Lakes watershed to end the drought, said Mark Jordan, the LCRA's manager of river management .
Texas' current prolonged dry spell is among many to hit the state since the 1950s, said Travis Miller, associate head of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M University. The most severe drought recorded in Texas history stretched from 1950 to 1957 . That drought caused agricultural damage equaling more than $3 billion, according to a 1959 report by the Texas Board of Water Engineers, or roughly $24 billion in 2008 dollars .
Other serious droughts struck in 1996, 1998, 2000-02 and 2006, Miller said.
After a mostly wet 2007 that cost farmers $200 million in lost crops and cattle, everything suddenly went dry. The next year, Camp Mabry recorded 16.07 inches of rain - 52 percent lower than average, according to the LCRA. It was the driest year since 1956 and the fourth driest year on record since 1856 .
Many farmers lost entire crops, said Brad Pierce, an agent with the Travis County AgriLife Extension office. About 97 percent of the oats and wheat planted in Travis County has been destroyed.
The drought has hit in other ways.
"Our trees in Austin are suffering and even dying from the drought," said Sidney Mourning of Good Morning Tree Co. in Austin.
Spanish Oaks are hurting because of their shallow root system, he said. Some trees such as magnolias are faring poorly, as are the typically brittle pecan trees, Mourning said.
The best way to save trees that are stressed by drought is to water them three times as long as most people water their yards, he said. People need to soak the roots.
They should also replace dead trees with native and well-adapted trees such as white or Monterrey oaks, he said.
The drought is also affecting building foundations, said Jeff Griffith , the manager at Centex Foundation Repair . Dry weather can make foundations shift, causing cracks around doors, windows and other framed-in areas. It can cause plumbing problems and keep doors from closing.
Your house won't fall down, Griffith said, but taking precautions can prevent expensive problems by keeping moisture in the ground around the foundation.
"The most important thing people can do is maintain a healthy lawn," he said.
Bug troubles have also come with the drought, said Janis Reed , an entomologist with ABC Home and Commercial Services . Ants, pill bugs, silverfish and earwigs that usually thrive in mulch and soil are heading inside for water.
You might not be able to banish every bug, she said, but basic maintenance such as caulking windows and checking door sweeps can keep the problem under control.
 |
|
|
Being a member of the Austin community since 1989, I have fulfilled my passion to serve the public in many ways. Recently I decided to go into business for myself and joined RE/MAX's winning team!
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
