Matt Warmack

Foreclosures and real estate auctions are sexy! But are they the best deal for a first-time home buyer? I'm going to throw this out there for comments: The best deals for Seattle First-Time Home Buyers come from builder closeouts and super motivated new construction sellers. Times are tough for builders and they are ready to move some real estate inventory in the spring of 2009.

A lot of the Seattle condo projects are in high density areas, such as Belltown, South Lake Union, Queen Anne, Fremont, Ballard, and Capitol Hill. You don't find as many short sales and foreclosures in these downtown core neighborhoods as you do in the north end and south end of the Puget Sound Metropolitan area.

• Fewer foreclosed and bank owned properties in the downtown Seattle core.

• Short sales are becoming more common with King County Real Estate. However, it is often difficult for a first-time home buyer to get through the short sale process without moving onto a transaction that doesn't take as long and isn't so emotionally draining. This is not always true. The pros and cons of buying a short sale as your first purchase should be discussed with your Washington Realtor. You want to have a skilled professional on your side with short sale experience if you are going to attempt a short sale as a first-time home buyer!

• Individually owned properties that have only been held for a few years might have little equity in the property. They might present a challenge to negotiate an "amazing deal" as compared with some of the excess new construction inventory in the Seattle Condo market. Having your Realtor check the outstanding loan balance versus the listing price will help you determine how much room might exist to negotiate on price. I'm seeing that those that wish to sell right now have little equity in their condos and those with a lot of equity in their condo don't have their place listed for sale - this is general comment and is not always true.

• A motivated seller, along with a properly priced unit, will always get a buyer the best deal. First-time home buyers should look forward to the spring 2009 buying season for Seattle condos. These deals exist in ample numbers to help you make a great investment.

Builder closeouts and motivated builders may provide an amazing buy for the first-time home buyer. Here are some recent projects that have reduced prices or have advertised specials to motivate buyers: Seattle Homes For Sale at The Parc, Gallery, Brix, Leona, and Ruby.

Don't forget that interest rates are low, the federal government will give you a $8,000 tax credit and sellers couldn't be more motivated to negotiate. Do your research, but know that this is a great time to buy. I think we will look back in 10 years and say that those that bought in 2009 got a great deal.

I've also posted this and other condo information at www.myurbanabode.com & www.mattwarmack.com

I'm also on Facebook - "fan" my public page which is 'Matt Warmack - The Warmack Group - Realtor'

10 ways to improve your Keller Williams eAgentC website

This is not something that happened in one day for me, it's been a process. Setting up my web site and tweaking it to get better Google results took time. Here are some of the things I think all agents should be doing if you are utilizing the Keller Williams eAgentC website templates.

•1. Post a picture and utilize it with Market Center web site

It amazes me that most Market Centers have very little participation with agent pictures. Your profile picture with your Keller Williams Web site also populates your Market Center agent directory. I'm not sending an agent a referral that can't post a profile picture - it's just not going to happen.

Example: www.mattwarmack.com has both some custom graphics and my profile picture. The color photo at the bottom of the page is the agent photo, but you can also turn that off under 2.4 "Display Agent Photo on HomePage". That same photo goes automatically to your Market Center web site in the agent directory. Example of my picture on my Market Center web site : http://greaterseattle.yourkwoffice.com/mcj/user/AssociateSearchGetAction.do (Search for Matt Warmack or All Agents)

•2. Change default content

You can start with the default or template text provided when you start your web site. If you don't change this content - you won't rank high on Google or look unique. You must change your content to become unique in your customers and Google's eye.

•3. Change the URL to your own domain

Changing (example.yourkwagent.com) the default URL to your own URL is very important to brand yourself. This can be done a few different ways. I'm www.mattwarmack.com because I purchased the domain through GoDaddy.com before Keller Williams started offering a domain service. You can now purchase your domain directly from the Keller Williams Web Site Agent Administration tool under section 1.1 and purchasing from the KWDomainStore.

Once you have your domain purchased you need to direct traffic to that URL. Keller Williams Domain Information. GoDaddy information.

•4. Properly use Meta tags

You need to understand the reason and process of meta tags. Then insert meta tags in Section 2.4. Some background information can be found here. Once you get a Google Webmaster Tools account - you will better understand how to pick the correct words and not to repeat them (see #7 below). This will be a journey for you to select the right words. At first it's going to be hard to get Seattle Real Estate ranked high in your search results, but it might not be hard to achieve Cristalla Condos as a first page, organic Google result. This is due to the popularity and uniqueness of the words you are trying to optimize.

•5. Link to your blog or incorporate it into your site

I use WordPress for my blog at www.myurbanabode.com but there are many, many options. It's important that you make a connection between your blog and your website in both directions. Send your blog to your website and send your website to your blog.

•6. Sign up for Google Analytics

Step 1 is setting up a Google Analytics site at www.google.com/analytics

Step 2 is taking your Google Analytics ID and putting it into the KW Web Site Template by inserting it in Section 2.4. Your Google Analytics ID looks like this UA-3699999-1 but this number is unique to your account so don't use my example ID.

•7. Sign up for Google Webmaster Tools

This is for advanced users. Go to www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ to get started. Verifying your site with Google Webmaster Tools was a bit tricky at first. For Keller Williams templates - use the Meta verification method (not the HTML Page method). Cut and past the middle section of the Meta tag (example: yA8+1fbKKSyOeBAuQgkJsRUC/1444S/JbcJp4KN+O64=) and put it in the Website Agent Administration Tool Section 2.4. If it won't verify your site, then you have not changed your CNAME Record and go to #8 below.

•8. Change your CNAME Record

I had to change my CNAME record to get Google Webmaster Tools to verify my web site. More information can be found here for KWDomain Store users and here for GoDaddy and others. You might notice the KWDomain Controller appears to be a KW Branded version of GoDaddy's - so it's a very similar process and screens.

Make sure you verify all CNAME Record changes the following day. Verify your web site by typing both mattwarmack.com and www.mattwarmack.com (with and without the www in front of your domain name) to make sure you have not caused any errors. If you have caused any errors then your web site will be down.

•9. Personalize it with your tools

If you utilize software such as TopProducer - you need to incorporate it into your web site. Add your Market Snapshot capture forms. www.mattwarmack.com

WolfNet needs to be set up in Section 4.1 and leveraged as much as possible. Take note of the links at the bottom of www.mattwarmack.com with WolfNet searches. Take the time to figure out how to leverage technology you are already paying for into your web site.

•10. Attend local, regional and International training events to better your web skills

A lot of what I learned was a process from other amazing people in Keller Williams sharing their knowledge with me. 2009 Family Reunion was a huge breakthrough for me by attending some of the technology sessions of top agents! See you in 2010. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the agent at Family Reunion that said this, but it was good advice "Give me 30 minutes a day for 6 months and you will see results!". It's not going to come overnight and IF you don't improve your web presence ... then why are you in the real estate?