5 Surprising Demographic Trends for 2012
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Trends on January 25th, 2012
The National Association of Realtors’ latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers has some unexpected statistics about who is buying and selling in today’s market. Now that the first-time homebuyer tax credits have ended, baby boomers have replaced Gen Y and Gen X as the dominant players in the real estate market.
This year’s profile revealed these surprising statistics:
1. Bottomed out at last. Prices appear to be stabilizing in some areas. This is the first step in climbing out of the rocky bottom we have been in for the last several years.
2. Boomers are the key players. In 2010, due to the first-time homebuyer tax credit, the median age of first-time buyers dropped to 31. In many markets, the number of first-time buyers hovered at the 50 percent level. The smart move in 2011 was to market to Generation Y.
Over the last 12 months, however, there has been a substantial change that can have important ramifications for your business in 2012. In 2011, baby boomer purchases substantially surpassed the number of Generation Y buyer.
Why is this surprising? There are more Gen Yers than there are boomers. Generation Y is also at its peak buying age – marrying, establishing new households, and having children.
Furthermore, boomers are actively driving the second-home market. As a result, it may be smart to revisit your business plan for 2012 and to place more emphasis on working with boomers who are currently the dominant players in terms of purchasing.
3. More buyers are using agents. 89 percent of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker – that’s up from 69 percent in 2001. What are some ossible reasons?
Realtors shorten the search process when there are huge amounts of inventory on the market and people are pressed for time. Most likely, though, it’s the difficulty of the loan process both on the buyer’s side in terms of qualifying for a loan, and on the seller’s side based upon the appraisal process that marks the need for realtors.
4. Married couples or single female buyers? The trend since 2001 has been a substantial decline in the share of buyers who were married. From 2001-2008, the number of married couples purchasing homes dropped from 68 percent to 58 percent.
A historically high percentage of Gen Xers are actually unmarried. As a result, the market saw a huge proportion of single female buyers – the smart market niche for 2011.
In 2012, it’s an entirely different story. The number of single female buyers is still relatively high at 18 percent, but that’s the lowest number since 2004 and represents a reversal of a major trend. It’s time to focus on marketing that reaches couples and families in 2012.
5. Life changes drive real estate sales. The primary reason to purchase a home among repeat buyers is often because of life changes: the desire for a larger home, a job relocation or move, desire to be closer to family and friends, or a change in a family situation.
How will you focus on these 5 new developments for 2012 to reach more sales?
iPhone Apps that Help Real Estate Agents
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Trends, Social Media on January 24th, 2012
Being a real estate agent can sometimes get hectic – you may feel disorganized. Have you also ever felt you didn’t have enough information handy to help your clients make the best decision possible? Here are some new and convenient ways to remedy your situation with apps and place you above your competitors:
Sketches
Sometimes pictures don’t support the message you’re trying to convey with your clients. With Sketches, you can take a photo and then draw on it. For example, you might use arrows to point out certain features or write down the distance between two properties.
Around Me
Being able to give your clients instant information is essential. With this app you can quickly tell clients about the restaurants, banks, grocery stores and other shops in the area, making it much easier for a client to make a decision.
Walk Score
People in busy cities want to be able to walk to everything. This app will give you the ability to tell customers exactly how far the nearest restaurants, grocery stores, shopping and more are from their new home. It even has a built-in GPS so users will never have to type in an address to get results.
Real Estate by Smarter Agent
One of the biggest factors for an agent is knowing what comparables are selling for or what sellers are currently asking. Being able to access this information immediately is necessary in today’s instant gratification society. You’ll never believe how fast the contract can be drawn up once you download this app.
What apps help you in your real estate career?
Children Being Evicted?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Trends on January 19th, 2012
As the economic downturn bears down on families, an increasing number of grandparents are stepping in to raise their grandchildren, and it’s presenting complicated issues when it comes to age restricted communities.
It’s Not a Minor Issue
The problem seems to be growing.
In one senior community in Florida, 10 cases have been discovered in the past six months where children were living with relatives. These families are faced with a choice of evicting the child or selling their home within a set amount of time.
It’s not surprising that there are more multigenerational households with the current economy, but bending the rules for even one child could get an age restricted community in serious trouble.
Up to 20 percent of residents in age restricted communities can be under the set residency age, but this exception is for adult children who inherit property. The rule is never used to accommodate minors. If a community is found to exceed the 20 percent limit, it could lose its exemption status.
There’s also the matter that senior communities aren’t equipped for children; there are plenty of safety hazards that would have to be addressed, such as golf cart transportation and swimming pool specifications and insurance.
Do you think there should be a policy created that both maintains age-restricted enforcement and considers extreme family hardship? Or should families in these situations have to choose between their homes and their children?
Let us know your thoughts by commenting below or on our Facebook page.
Five Key Issues for 2012 Housing
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Trends on January 18th, 2012
While many housing markets rose together during the boom and fell together during the bust, they’re coming out of the downturn at very different speeds, and so it’s no longer a matter of a “national” housing market. We’ve seen recovery happening on a local market level, and at very diverse rates.
With that in mind, here are the five key issues as published by the Wall Street Journal that will determine the housing market in 2012:
1. Confidence and jobs: The housing market still needs the economy to add more jobs to stimulate demand for home purchases and to prevent mortgage delinquencies from rising. The good news is that housing is more affordable than it has been in decades. But many that are considering buying are not striking because they are concerned that the prices will continue to drop. Others don’t want to buy a house until they have more evidence that they’re not going to get laid off or see their hours cut back.
2. Foreclosures: Whether home prices hit a floor this year also relies on how banks manage a huge overhang of foreclosed homes that they haven’t yet taken back and resold. Banks and other mortgage investors own around 440,000 foreclosed properties, but there’s another 3.4 million loans in foreclosure or serious delinquency.
3. Rents: Apartment rents are rising as vacancy rates drop. If low mortgage rates aren’t enough to give urgency to buyers, rent hikes could accelerate their decisions to take the plunge. This is a good thing.
4. Mortgage credit and rates: Federal policymakers have taken extraordinary steps to keep mortgage rates low and federal-backed entities are responsible for backing nearly nine in 10 new mortgages. But it’s still hard for many buyers to get a loan because banks are demanding lots of documentation of borrowers’ incomes, and appraisals are tanking some deals. Banks will need to put their loan problems behind them before there’s much easing in lending standards.
5. Regulation: Many analysts don’t expect Congress to make major changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the election year, but several major regulatory changes could significantly reshape the future of the lending landscape in 2012.
Meanwhile, the regulator that oversees Fannie and Freddie is revamping the way that mortgage companies are paid for collecting loan payments.
What other key things do you think will affect the market this year?
Is Facebook Affecting Our Happiness?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on January 17th, 2012
The Huffington Post published a thought-provoking article on th
e growing role Facebook is playing in our life and what the adverse effects or real-life consequences are.
You can read the entire post here. Here are our key takeaways from this post:
- Facebook’s explosive rate of growth and recent product releases focus on one goal: encouraging more sharing.
- Behind the liking, commenting, sharing and posting, there seem to be strong hints of jealousy, anxiety and even depression.
- Facebook is fundamentally altering our daily sense of well being in both our personal and work lives.
- It’s creating a den of comparison: users have a strong bias toward sharing positive milestones, and avoid mentioning the more humdrum, negative parts of their lives. This magnifies a culture of competition and comparison.
- Comparing ourselves to others is a key driver of unhappiness: as we judge the entirety of our own lives against the top 1 percent of our friends’ lives, we’re setting impossible standards for ourselves, making us more miserable than ever.
- Because of our fragmented time, hundreds of millions of people are less “present” where they are. Constant “tabbing” between real-life tasks and Facebook provides constant distractions that lead to late and poor-quality output.
- Perhaps the biggest: a decline of close, real-life relationships. As Facebook adds new features such as video chat, it is fast becoming a viable substitute for meetings, relationship-building, and even family get-togethers. People are missing opportunities to interact more deeply than Facebook could ever accommodate.
Do you feel sucked in by these negative impacts? How do you avoid these traps? Quit cold turkey? Limit your time with set schedules? Avoid gossip and online Negative Nancies? Let us know by sharing on OUR Facebook page, or if you’ve already quit, feel free to comment below 
Will Social Media Play a Role in the 2012 Election?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on January 12th, 2012
According to a recent study by Digitas, six in ten social media users expect candidates to have a social media presence. Facebook has definitely had influence: Barack Obama’s fan page has 23 million likes, the most liked politician on Facebook.
The same study also revealed that four in ten social media users think they will use it to help decide who to vote for in 2012. That’s 38 percent of American social media users.
John F. Kennedy is considered the first television President; next year’s victor could very well be determined by the impact of Facebook and Twitter.
Eighty-eight percent of adults who use social media are registered voters – no other medium can compete with those numbers. Candidates should take advantage of this reach by inviting them to join the conversation about who will be our nation’s next President.
Has Social Media swayed you in a popular, public opinion? Will you use it to gain insight in the upcoming campaigns? Do you think it’s a positive move or will it unnecessarily complicate things?
Mobile-Friendly or Say Goodbye
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 11th, 2012
Is your website mobile-friendly? Do you still think that technology is not worth the 
extra effort? Not necessary?
With the increase in smartphone owners, iPads, Tablets, Nooks and so on, companies will have to make sure their website can be accessed through these devices. If your company has an outdated website that depends of flash technology, complicated fonts, or long loading times you can expect people to abandon it quicker than you can say www.
People often access their favorite websites from their smartphone or tablet while at work, in the airport, waiting at the doctor’s office, the bank, or just about anywhere else they find themselves having a moment of downtime. If they can’t access your business information, your company loses out.
What’s Important in a Mobile Site?
Creating a mobile version of your site doesn’t have to be painful or expensive. In fact it’s typically a smaller version of your existing website with a more simplistic design. The important thing is to identify the key actions you want your customers to take when accessing your mobile site.
Here are some basic tips:
Screens are smaller, which means the fonts are smaller. Eliminate non-essential copy.
People are not going to fill out long contact forms using their phone, especially with coffee in one hand or while driving. If you must have a form, keep it simple: name and email only.
Phones will never be as fast as laptops. Try to limit the size of files and images on your mobile site to minimize loading time.
All numbers should use this simple code that will initiate a call when your customer clicks (or touches) on the phone number on your mobile site. No one will make the extra step of writing down or memorizing your number and then dialing it manually. It’s 2012!
Most smart phones are equipped with GPS technology. Make sure your location is “findable” to mobile searchers.
All in all remember: when creating your mobile presence, simpler is better. Reduce the content and file size, limit the amount of typing your customer is required to perform, and take advantage of smart phone capabilities by adding click to talk numbers and location finders.
Is your site mobile-friendly? Has it affected your business in a positive way?
What’s Effective in 2012 for Real Estate Marketing?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Real Estate Trends on January 10th, 2012
So, it’s 2012 and there are a multitude of options for marketing real estate. What should you spend your advertising dollars on? What funds allocated in your budget will offer the biggest reach, influence and return in the new media world?
ActiveRain, the largest blogging platform and professional social network in real estate, conducted a survey of 1,910 real estate professionals asking the simple question of “what is the most effective real estate marketing or advertising that you do?”
Here are some highlights from the survey results and how you can make it work for your community:
- Referrals and word of mouth were the most preferred, making up an overwhelming 26% of the responses.
- Second place was tied with 13% of responses: Blogging and traditional Direct Mail. This includes postcards, mailers, and printed newsletters.
- Next 12% of responders listed Internet Marketing as a general category. It can be assumed that this category is comprised mostly of pay-per-click ads, such as Google AdWords.
- Finally, networking received 8% of the responses. This includes partner referrals and face-to-face meetings.
Most Effective Real Estate Marketing Plans
Even in this digital age, real estate professionals continue to favor more traditional offline, hand-to-hand marketing techniques: referrals, direct mail, networking, and open houses. Blogging is viewed as an effective medium as well, but it must provide value in order to stay in that 13%.
Most Effective Real Estate Websites
Real Estate professionals polled consistently listed ActiveRain, Craigslist, Facebook, Zillow and Google as the most effective sites for their business. There were very few mentions of WordPress, though as an agency we find it to be at the top of the list for delivering valuable information and gaining a targeted audience. Noticeably absent were Trulia and Realtor.com.
What do you think? Do you agree with the poll? Is there something that works for you that the survey left off?
If you need help with your 2012 marketing plan, let us create a balanced, effective mix of traditional and new media customized for your community’s needs.
What Are Your Advertising Resolutions?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Social Media on January 5th, 2012
With the cusp of a New Year upon us, it’s common for us to start to plan resolutions in our personal life. Perhaps you want to lose weight, get in better shape, or stop smoking. But what about your advertising methods? Couldn’t they use a little resolution list as well?
Will you use video this year?
Video is a great way to reach customers, yet fear often stops people from utilizing it to its fullest potential.
With the latest changes to the YouTube homepage, the experience is more of a social feed now, which gives marketers a powerful opportunity to enhance their brand exposure.
Rich media, in conjunction with video, is now more effective than simple Flash. When considering rich media campaigns, also think about including video to increase intent.
Will you start to mix social media with your display advertising?
Making display ads social increases the conversation with your customers, which is the top goal for all new media.
Do you try making your social media pages a primary destination rather than the website? How about setting up banner ads for interaction rather than broadcast only?
Social sharing is now becoming the norm when it comes to ads, blog posts, and even websites.
Are you going mobile with your ads?
I know you’re afraid, but its inevitable – users are now moving more and more to a multi-screen experience via desktop, mobile, and display and marketers must create these experiences in order to keep up.
Most mobile advertising now includes location-based strategies automatically – learn to use them creatively.
Remember – there’s no one right mix for every customer or client. By constantly being aware of your social media presence, you can evaluate the right person, the right timing, and the right message for your business.
Social media is not going away any time soon, but it will keep refining itself. Are you doing the same with your message?
Using Technorati to Find Blogs About You
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Social Media on January 26th, 2012
Today, bloggers are a main source of news for millions of readers. Their articles are typically better researched, more detailed, and more honest than newspaper or magazine articles. They may also be completely false, as bloggers do not fall under the same editorial scrutiny that media must comply with.
When something negative is said about your company through a blog, you may not find out about it until it has spread virally, doing extensive damage to your image, even if the information is not true. To combat this, you can use technology to keep an eye on what is being written about you and your company.
Technorati is a search engine designed specifically to search for blogs on the Internet using three types of searches: 1) keywords, 2) tags, and 3) blog directory.
Technorati also provides tools that allow you to keep on top of blog posts for specific subjects.
Here’s a small guide to keeping an eye on your business:
Search for your company on Technorati
Finding blogs that already contain some reference to your company can give you a rare look into your customers’ minds. People used to pay top dollar for market research that would take weeks to access this priceless information. Now you can see firsthand what your customers are saying, in real time.
Stay on top of your “social footprint”
Technorati allows you to save your searches as “watchlists.” Watchlists may be viewed in RSS format, which means they may be imported into an RSS reader to make it very easy to consistently keep track of who is writing about your company.
What do you do when you locate something?
When you find a blog that mentions your company, leave a comment on their blog. This lets them know that you respect them writing about you. If the post was negative, it also shows that real people from your company are reading what they’ve written, and are savvy enough to respond to it. Bloggers are almost always more cordial and less likely to be critical if they know they are being read by the person they are criticizing.
When someone writes something negative about you, it’s important to read all the comments before responding. You may find that a fan of your company has already defended you nicely and an “official” response may not be necessary. This happens more often than not, which is one of the biggest perks of today’s social media.
Have you ever had negative comments or reviews on your company’s social profiles? How did you handle it?
Tags: bloggers, blogs, comments, Idea Associates, IdeaViews, keywords, negative feedback, Real estate, social footprint, Social Voice, Technorati
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