Video Gaining Popularity Among REALTORS for marketing

REALTORS continue to search for tools that provide impact to potential buyers. One of the latest trends is REALTORS using videos of both properties and themselves to drum up business. Are they alone? It appears not. According to a 2008 comscore report Google owned YoutTube actually overtook and passed Yahoo for number of searches. Aside from the obvious implications that come from Google now holding the first 2 spots in searcn sites, it says something about what users what. They appear to want video as well as plain search. YouTube is a popular platform with REALTORS due to the exposure that they can receive from that alone.

Bigger, Better Home Buyer Tax Credit Taking Shap

If the $8,000 first time home buyer has proven to bring reluctant first time buyers into the market then the recently proposed $15,000 tax credit to all buyers could be a game changer. The real estate market has been in the doldrums for the past few years and with the introduction of the first time home buyer credit earlier this year the market has finally begun to see home sales increase with 40% of first time buyers making up the market.

The idea behind the most recent bill, introduced in mid-June 2009 and referred to the Committee on Finance, would be to increase the current home buying credit from $8,000 to $15,000 and to release the restriction that the home buyer must be purchasing their first home in order to be eligible for the tax credit. The bill, S. 1230: The Home Buyer Tax Credit Act of 2009, was originally introduced by Sen. John Isakson [R-GA] and is currently co-sponsored by 15 Senators.

The bill is unlikely to see much face time until the current first time home buyer credit runs its course and expires on December 1, 2009. As unfortunate as it may be, delaying the passing of an increased home buyer credit until the expiration date passes on the current incentive makes perfect sense. Rather than first time buyers holding off on their purchases in anticipation of an even greater credit they will continue purchasing homes through November 2009.

That said, should a $15,000 home buyer credit eventually come to fruition for buyers in 2010 the potential for an increase in the sale of luxury and new homes is significant as more buyers and current homeowners are able to take advantage of the new credit.

Have you seen a dramatic increase in home buyers eager to take advantage of the current $8,000 tax credit or has it been business as usual? Will a $15,000 tax credit make a difference? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Promote Your Value Now More Than Ever!!!

July 31, 2009-Extra services provided by real estate companies-such as inspections, appraisals and legal and moving company recommendations-have become increasingly important to home buyers and sellers, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Home Buyer/Seller Study.

The study, now in its second year, measures customer satisfaction of homebuyers and sellers with the largest national real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining three factors for the home-buying experience: agent (47%); office (28%); and package of additional services (25%). Four factors are examined for the home-selling experience: agent (34%); marketing (34%); office (17%); and package of additional services (15%). For both buyers and sellers, the agent is still the most important driver of overall satisfaction. However, the importance of agents has declined substantially from 2008, while the importance of additional services has increased considerably-by 12 percentage points among buyers and 8 percentage points among sellers. In addition, actual usage of many of these services has decreased from 2008, likely due to cutbacks made by real estate companies in response to a depressed market. “In a tight market, every aspect of service offered will be scrutinized very closely,” said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates. “For this reason, it is critical for real estate companies to promote the value that they bring to buyers and sellers, not only in any additional services they offer, but also in their agents and operations.” In the home-buyer segment, Keller Williams ranks highest for a second consecutive year, with a score of 806 on a 1,000-point scale.

Keller Williams also performs particularly well in the agent factor. Following in the rankings are Coldwell Banker (801) and RE/MAX (798). Coldwell Banker performs particularly well in the office factor. Among home sellers, Coldwell Banker ranks highest with a score of 815 and performs particularly well in all four factors. Keller Williams follows Coldwell Banker in the segment ranking with a score of 801. The study finds that the proportion of first-time home buyers has increased considerably-to 56% in 2009 from 44% in 2008. Many of these first-time buyers may be attracted by improved home affordability and the perception of a strong buyer’s market. This presents both challenges and opportunities for real estate companies. “The presence of more first-time buyers is encouraging, as it indicates that the real estate market is returning to more normal activity, with fewer speculators,” said Howland. “However, real estate companies and agents must carefully manage first-time buyer expectations. Although these buyers may believe otherwise, they must still overcome the traditional barriers to purchasing a home, such as being able to fund down payments, closing costs and monthly payments.

Solid advice and service from agents may assuage these first-time buyers’ concerns and build customer loyalty.” Additional noteworthy study findings include: -Home sellers report that, on average, 3.2 open houses were conducted for their property in 2009, compared with 4.5 in 2008. -Approximately 64% of home sellers used a website listing to market their home in 2009, up from 61% in 2008. -The 2009 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes more than 3,100 evaluations from 2,801 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008. The study was fielded between April and June 2009.

Building your Personal Brand

Meet more prospects or Earn thier respect?

In a market as tough as this, Realtors often want to know what they can do to meet more prospects and get more business.

And while that’s certainly

a good question, I’d submit that an even better one exists when it comes to growing your business.

Instead of, “What can I do to meet more prospects?” how about, “What can I do to earn the respect of the prospects I meet, so they actually want to do business with me?”

You see, as Agents we can’t con

trol a lot of things when it comes to having a person buy or sell a home with us. We can’t control their job situation, their credit rating, or even the timing of their desire to move.

But what we can do is significantly impact their desire to want to work with us when it comes to facilitating the buying or selling of their largest personal asset. And if you’re able to do that on a consistent basis with a majority of the prospects you meet, then you’ll have a much better chance of getting more business, simply because it’s a byproduct of their desire to want to wo

rk with you.

So with that said, how can you increase your credibility – in their eyes – so that more prospects make you their Realtor of Choice? Here are a couple of my favorites.

Ask the right questions. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people mess this up. Asking the right questions is less about your desire to want to close a deal, and more about developing an understanding of your prospect’s situation.

Some examples include:

• Why are you thinking about making a move,
• What do you want to see in your ideal neighborhood,
• Name a feature in your old house that you want to see in your new home,
• What kind of commute do yo u have now and what’s your tolerance going forward?

Those are all good questions because they focus on your prospects and their situation. From there, you’ll want to provide some ideas and options of different neighborhoods that fit their criteria.

Obviously you’ll want to do a more comprehensive search on MLS to make sure you’re getting everything that’s out there, but saying something like, “Ok, so you don’t want more than a 30 minute commute from downtown and you’re looking for a quiet neighborhoo

d where you can raise a family, right? Have you taken a look at the XYZ subdivision lately? I was showing that to a client the other day, and it really looks like they’ve got some good deals on some nice homes. It’s located about 20 minutes from downtown, and from what I’ve seen, it looks like a really nice neighborhood to raise a family.”

You see how that automatically increases your credibility in the mind of that other person? You gave them information that they probably didn’t know, and you related it to their specific situation.

If you do that enough times, you see how it’s almost im

possible for this prospect to not at least consider working with you?

Take my word for it: If you want to get more business in today’s tough market, asking the right questions (and providing insightful points) is always a great start.

Become a Problem Solver. A lot of times you’ll run into situations where a person wants to buy or sell a home, but there are some roadblocks standing in the way. I’m talking about things like credit rating, curb appeal or anything else that impacts your ability to fa

cilitate their purchase, but falls outside of the traditional “Realtor” role.

If you want prospects to really want to work with you, then becoming a problem solver to handle those situations is the way to go. Instead of just saying, “Well it looks like you’ll need some help on getting your credit back into shape”, how about actually having a person – that you already know – who helps people out with these situations.

Instead of saying, “Boy, you really want to consid

er some landscaping work on the yard before we can even think about selling this house for top dollar”, how about having the name of a handyman or landscaper whose work you’ve personally seen, who can help out with some loose ends around the house.

You see how you identified the problem and provided an option for solving it?

Any Realtor can say, “Do this an

d do that”, but you’re now coming with options and solutions…which is exactly what you want to do when it comes to earning their respect.

The Bottom Line Buying or selling a house can be a stressful time for even the calmest of people. So when challenges start piling up (as they always do), you want to be the person who can ask the right questions, and provide some answers and options for moving things forward

.

Sales of new homes rose in June by 11 percent!!

The National Association of Home Builders is reporting that sales of new homes rose in June by 11 percent.

“Today’s report is good news that indicates the nation’s housing market may be in the process of turning the corner,” said Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “That said, the key to moving us out of recession is to get Americans back to work. Congress and the Administration should know that housing can be a significant generator of good jobs. We need to make housing a priority in the recovery process, otherwise we could continue to bounce along a bottom for some time.”

Regionally, onlly the South saw a decline (5.3 percent). All other regionis rose by double digit gains:

• Northeast – 29.2 percent
• Midwest – 43.1 percent
• West – 22.6 percent

Rates Rise

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate inched up to 5.56% from 5.55% a week ago, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey released Thursday. The average 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.88%, down from 4.89% last week. The average jumbo 30-year fixed rate rose to 6.62%. Adjustable mortgage rates were mixed, with the average one-year ARM dropping to 5.08% and the five-year ARM rising to 4.95%.

$8,000 Tax Credit

From the sign to the cell

For more information or to purchase mobile ID please call 347-445-6119