Making Social Networking Sites Work for You

real estate 3The housing market is still a mess.  You need an edge, you know.  More importantly, you need to speak to a new generation of clients.  The same old, same old just is not going to work in this day and age.

Now, what do we hear about all the time?  What are all the “kids” doing?  They are doing the MySpace thing.  They are doing the Facebook thing.  They are on LinkedIn and they are on Twitter, tweeting to their hearts’ content.

Why can’t you do that as well?

You can, of course.  More than that, you should. With the exception of LinkedIn, these are social networking sites, true.  However, they can and should be used for business as well.  Using them will keep you, your business, and your properties out in the open.  People can read about new listings more easily than they might be able to anywhere else, and that will certainly benefit you in the long run.

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Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 agents No Comments

Real Estate Investing: Watch Out For Scams!

09-01_beware

We all know about the advertising scam that real estate agents are constantly falling for right?  Well – those infomercials that you see on late-night TV are something that is not going to make you millions.  By far, one of the most popular infomercials is all about how you can buy a home with no money down at all – while that is plain and good, what do you do with the home once you buy it?

Another thing that you need to worry about is your credit – if you do plan on trying some of these infomercials, well … you have to have good credit.  Having good credit and a good income are only two of the things that you need to make this system work.

Personally – I think that all of these real estate scams are terrible and if you are truly looking to break into the market of real estate, do your research.

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Friday, September 11th, 2009 real estate No Comments

Some Tips for New Landlords

landlordWhen you decide to rent out your house, a timeshare, or even if you buy into an apartment building or duplex, suddenly finding yourself in the position of a landlord can be tough. In the case of renting out something you own, you need to first talk to your mortgage provider. If there is a mortgage on your property, you will have to have permission to lease.

Unless you already have tenants in mind, you also have to make your property presentable, so it will look good to prospective renters.

It is not a good idea to let out a rental property all on your own, unless you have a binding lease of your own in effect. A real estate agent can help you negotiate everything from rent to fees and beyond.

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Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 Renting No Comments

Having An Open House? Make It A Success!

open-house-signHaving an open house is something that is very, very difficult – it takes a hell of a lot of work and you certainly want to make sure that you put your best foot forward in order to truly attract a lot of potential buyers to your open house.  There are many different ways that you can do that and the first one is going to be by getting the house in order on the outside.

You truly have no idea how the curb appeal of the house is going to attract all sorts of potential buyers to the house.  A prospect could pull up to the curb of the open house, not like the outside and just drive off because the house does not look incredible on the outside – that is something that you need to truly think about and put a lot of time into… really!

The exterior of the house is just as important as the interior and it could take the house from a ten into the one hundreds!

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Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 agents, real estate No Comments

How To Buy A Home On A Budget!

repossession_homeBuying a home is a big deal – do not let anyone ever tell you that it is not.  Buying a home is honestly going to be the biggest purchase that you make in your life and it is not something that you should be taking lightly – after all, people go into debt every single day simply because they end up buying a home that they can not afford.  Do not let that happen to you!  Below, we are going to outline a few things that you help you in the future when you want to buy yourself a house.

One of the first things that you need to do is make a list of how much money you make a month – do the lowest amount that you make and take away any overtime that you might be getting right now.  You always want to make sure that you base your payments and budget by the lowest amount of money you make.  Next, make a list of all of the bills that you have – this includes gas for your car and food for your fridge.

Once that is all done, figure out how much money you have left every single month that you think you may be able to afford in rent or a mortgage – that way, you can make sure that you get a home you can afford!

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Friday, August 7th, 2009 Property, real estate 1 Comment

Renting Costs More In The Long Run!

RentingWhile I know in earlier posts, I talked about how renting is truly a fantastic option, there is something that I left out – it is the fact that renting actually does cost more in the long run than buying a home.  When you buy a home, it is truly an investment of you and it is somewhere that you and your family can truly grow up and live in.  A home is also a reflection of yourself – how you place a certain pot or keep your home on the outside as well as the inside is all a reflection of you.

If you are renting a home, there are usually a ton of different rules that you need to follow and you truly can not make it your own.  Also, in the long run you are going to be spending more money than you if actually ended up buying a home.  Renting is something that is a good option for some people but not everyone.

While I currently am renting a home – I know that eventually I will end up buying my own home so I can have a place of my own that I can do whatever I want to.

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Saturday, August 1st, 2009 Renting, real estate No Comments

When Is It Not A Good Time To Buy?

home_imageWhen you are dealing with buying a house – there are so many things that you have to think about, but do you really know when it is the best time to buy a house?  That is the question that is on everyone’s mind right about now with the economy the way that it is.  To be completely honest, the decision to buy a house is yours and yours alone, no matter how bad the economy is doing – if you are ready to settle down, you should consider purchasing a house.

However, you want to make sure that you do some research and make sure that you truly are ready to settle down.  In this market right now, it truly is a buyer’s market and you really can get anything that you want and pay any price that you want.  You just want to make sure that once you purchase a home … you are not going to try to sell it again for another few years.

Buying a home is a big step – a very big step and you want to make sure that you are ready for it before you actually take it!

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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 real estate 1 Comment

How Much Is a View Really Worth?

ny viewThat’s the big question, isn’t it?  How much is a good view really worth?  After all, we have pretty much all heard the story of how people in places like New York City and Paris will play enormous amounts of money to get, say, a shoebox sized apartment with a killer view.  Is there truth to that?  Is the skyline — or any other stunning view — really worth it?

Well, you have to consider a few things and come up with that decision for yourself. What does the view contain? If you have a water view, or the view of a coveted skyline like New York City’s, then you can definitely expect the value you to be high.

You also want to consider the distance between the property and the view. So, ocean front properties, lake front properties, et cetera, will always be of a higher value as well.

The height of the property is an important consideration as well, and wide views are more valuable than narrow ones.

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Monday, July 13th, 2009 Property No Comments

How To Determine When A Prospect Should Become A Client!

1321Are you constantly finding that you are spending too much time on prospects that could become clients but half of the times do not?  Well, there are many different ways that you can tell whether a prospect that you are considering should become a client and you sort of needs to take a systemized approach to this.  For example, have you come up with a questionnaire yet that you give out to all of your prospects so you can figure out if they are serious or not?

Coming up with a questionnaire for your prospects is something that you definitely need to do, that way you can really determine what type of business you prospects are looking for and you can decide if you want their business or not.  The thing to keep in mind is that you do not have to accept every single piece of business that comes your way.

Prospects are not always going to turn out to be clients, but some of the time they will and that is something to keep in mind.

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Saturday, July 11th, 2009 Property, agents, real estate No Comments

A New Approach To Selling Older, Historical Homes: Check It Out!

6a00d8341c3c5c53ef00e54f5fa8cc8834-640wiSelling an older home is something that can be extremely difficult, especially when you are dealing with a younger cliental lately.  However, there are a ton of different techniques that you can use and most of the time it is all going to be based around the age of the home … which is pretty interesting!  The age of the home is something that you can actually use to your advantage and just how goo condition it is for being that age.  Personally, that is something that I would want to know about if I was looking into older homes.

Most of the time, buyers that are actually looking for an older home want to connect with the past and if you know the history of the home itself, that might be able to help you sell it.  So make sure that you do quite a bit of research on the home itself and its past, which way you can really blow any potential buyers out of the water!

As you can see, getting an older home off of the market is slightly difficult, but it is so worth it once you do it!

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Sunday, July 5th, 2009 Property, agents, real estate 1 Comment