From the category archives:

Real Estate

Real Estate Leads 101: Website + Blog = Leads!

by admin on December 14, 2009

As a former employee of a nation real estate service, I’ve spoken with hundreds of real estate agents regarding their methods of following up with their real estate leads and marketing of themselves and their services in general. I was shocked at the amount of agents I spoke with who did not have a personal website and even worse, didn’t see the point of having one! Don’t they realize how many real estate leads they’re missing out on by NOT having a website? Oh, and for the record, having a contact page on RE/MAX’s site doesn’t count. When I say personal website, I’m talking about a fully loaded, information packed site – the kind that can generate it’s own real estate leads, has all your listing information, as well as valuable resources and information for any visitors to the site.

Why should every agent have a website? Well the number one reason is always real estate leads – a website is yet another avenue from which to gather real estate leads. You can put up a contact form, a comments page and even offer a free home value estimate and have people fill out contact information to get one – all three of those will result in real estate leads. The second reason you need a website is because over 75% of people looking to buy or sell a home are going online to do their research first – and as an agent, you want to be sure they’re finding YOU as opposed to the competition. If they look at 5 different agents’ websites, you definitely want to make sure you’ve got the best looking site in the biz. To be honest, any agent worth their salt won’t need any other reason to start a site other than the fact that websites = REAL ESTATE LEADS!

As GetMyHomesValue co-founder Dave Conklin says, “It used to be just having a website made you credible. It’s not like that anymore, now you have to take it to the next level.”

So what is the next level? You’ve already got a website with tons of useful information, tons of contact pages – it even lists all the homes for sale in your area, not just your own listings! What more can you do to get people to visit your site again and again, and turn a good portion of those visitors into real estate leads? According to Conklin, blogs are a smart addition to any agent’s site.

“If you’re a real estate professional and don’t have a blog, start one NOW,” says Conklin. “It’s all about your first virtual impression and building on that by engaging in dialogue with your real estate leads and prospects.”

Conklin goes on to compare the success of blogs on the Internet with reality TV. According to him, reality TV is so huge because people like to look at the inner workings of other people’s lives. A blog enables you to show that you’re an expert in your field by answering questions people have have, interacting with them and by building a more personal relationship with prospects by sharing your opinions, thoughts and experiences on all kinds of things, not just real estate. “It helps for people to look at you as being ‘real’ and not just a face on a business card.”

And that is the heart of the matter, when it comes to turning real estate leads into clients. Most people don’t want a stuffy, cold agent who acts “professional” all the time – they want a personable agent, someone who is as human as them and who has shared similar experiences and so can relate to them. Real estate leads are EVERYWHERE for agents – it’s just a matter of having the right tools to ensure the real estate leads are coming your way, rather than someone else’s.

“It seems that most agents either have a blog and don’t take it seriously by updating it regularly or they don’t bother with blogs at all. That’s a huge mistake,” warns Conklin. “The internet is getting more personal. Smart agents will recognize this and maintain a blog.”

Although some people may still look down their noses at blogs, they are fast becoming a force to be reckoned with on the Internet (just look up the term blogosphere). As a real estate agent, having a website AND a blog is one of the best things you can do to produce your own real estate leads. Combine that with subscribing to one or more lead generation service, and your pipeline of real estate leads will never be empty.

Ashley Lichty
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/real-estate-leads-101-website-blog-leads-134163.html

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Why Seek The Help Of A Real Estate Agent

by admin on December 11, 2009

It is typical for people to face, at same point in their lives, the prospect of selling or buying an investment property or a real estate. Because of the innate complexities accompanying the deals and conditions, and even the system of buying and selling itself, people need to seek the assistance of real estate agents to do for them all the works. In return, such agents would be sharing a small percentage of the total earning from the sale.

Normally, the percentage would run from 4% to 6%. However, this could still vary depending on the agreement between the broker and the homeowner.

Why enlist real estate agents? Why not sell or market the house on your own?

Well, as we have said earlier, the process of buying and selling real estates does not fall on elementary conditions. It is bounded by complex tax regulations, marketing and advertising schemes, and complicated mediums of selling. Thus, for ordinary people who have no orientation on either sales or laws, selling real estates is not just difficult, it is undoable.

Besides, real estate agents are in a way the authorities in the market within their communities. They know exactly how to give prices on various properties and they know exactly which property would best suit a future owner. They also have the access on financing as well as the laws and local zoning.

In a nutshell, real estate agents are the intermediaries between the sellers and the buyers.

Real estate agents are normally independent workers who work on a contract basis with real estate brokers. Brokers are the business people who sell other people’s real estate properties, or manage them for a fee. These brokers would give the agents commission on the sold properties.

However, both agents and brokers could go beyond the sales. They also spend significant amount of searches and time to obtain listing of properties that would agree to fall under their firm. This may sound easy enough since there are lots of people who always search for assistance but this is further from the truth as you might have first perceived. Often, this would set the difference between succeeding and failing. In the absence of properties to sell, there is logically no earning. But that doesn’t stop there.

Even with some listing of properties, there is still no assurance of succeeding unless they have established themselves enough. This will vary depending on the credibility the agents and brokers have gathered, the accomplishments, the years they have existed and their fang with competition.

Most real estate agents and brokers contract and sell residential properties. However, some focus or at least specialize on industrial, commercial and agricultural types of real estate. Each specialty would need a great extent of knowledge on the field.

As with the process, this often starts with the meeting between the agent or the broker and the client. This would supply enough information and the feel of what property suits the client. This would also establish rapport between both parties which would help them become transparent with each other. His qualifying stage would also help determine the extent of how much the buyer could afford. In fact, the acquaintance between both sides would help create a good environment. After the initial meeting, they might meet for several times more and discuss on the agreements and issues they both would be facing.

Mario Churchill
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/why-seek-the-help-of-a-real-estate-agent-134347.html

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Using A Real Estate Attorney in For Sale By Owner Transactions

December 9, 2009

Even though you are selling your home without an agent, the assistance of a professional is still needed at various steps in the home selling process. The requirement of a real estate attorney depends on the laws in your state. Even if you live in a state where a real estate attorney is [...]

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Investment In Real Estate – A Growing Sector

December 9, 2009

Can we really stop wanting to buy houses? We are constantly developing, constantly making progress, and of course, constantly adding to the population. The more the development, the more the place that is needed by the businesses; and of course the growing population only means added demand for housing. In such a scenario, the real [...]

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Is Real Estate Investment Really Safe?

December 9, 2009

Well, for starters, its definitely safer than the stock market. If not for any other reason, than that the r/e has fewer fluctuations than the incomprehensible to many, stock market! Many other markets such as currency investing, mutual funds, gold and silver trading etc, also do not have a regular timeline, and this makes real [...]

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Investing in Various Types of Real Estate Securities

December 9, 2009

For example, it does not require you to deal with management hassles. Again, you do not need to spend time for the various formalities involved in a direct property ownership. It is in fact an indirect real estate investment, and it can effectively produce high yields and substantial capital appreciation for you. If you are [...]

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Take Advice From Real Estate Gurus

December 9, 2009

Though there is a lot of money that you can make through real estate investing, it still remains quite a tricky business. Some achieve success whereas others fall into a loss making venture. So if you are interested in real estate investing and planning to make a foray into the market then it is best [...]

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Real Estate Investment: Why Invest On Real Estate?

December 9, 2009

It’s all about money. And if there are other things included, they will be found somewhere in between.
Not that we are trying to be too materialistic here but lets face it, we all need some security that would run down through the years. And that’s exactly what a real estate investment is.
Unquestionably, the benefits that [...]

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Should you Hire a Real Estate Property Management Company?

December 9, 2009

To start off, I don’t own a real estate property management company, nor am I trying to send business to any real estate property management company. The purpose of this article is to make sure that you think things out (Look before you Leap) when you purchase your first rental property!
If you currently own rental [...]

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How Real Estate Preconstruction Can Be A Great Profit Maker

December 9, 2009

If you are interested in buying real estate there are many ways that you can go about doing this.
(there is a free ebook, that shows you how you can make $50,000 per deal from preconstruction for you to download at the bottom of this page)
Not only can you buy new homes, but there are also [...]

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