Posts Tagged ‘Real estate’
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?
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.
Will the Real 2012 Housing Market Prediction Please Stand Up…
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Trends on January 3rd, 2012
When you search for housing market predictions 2012 on Google, it returns roughly 1,650,000 results. As you start scrolling through these well-respected sites and their corresponding articles, you are left scratching your head and wondering what to believe. From gloom and doom naysayers to cheery hopefuls saying the worst is behind us, experts are heard quoting a spectrum of possible outcomes.
CBS News strongly feels that the nation’s real estate balance sheet is slowly turning around.
To further quote the positive article, the official unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent, even as the labor participation rate dropped to about 62 percent. But the better news is that the U-6, which is the broadest measure of unemployment, fell below 16 percent for the first time since the Great Recession started.
Of course turning around the housing market begins with well-paying jobs so that people can once again afford a mortgage and insurance premiums.
Fannie Mae chief economist feels that people will not undertake the financial obligation of homeownership until they are positive their personal financial situations are on the upswing. But according to their November National Housing Survey homeowners do believe their home value will rise at least 0.2 percent over the next year.
Another positive sign is that interest rates continue to hover at a historic low level, saving homeowners who can refinance hundreds or thousands of dollars per year.
New construction still leads the industry in the slow bounce back. There are even some markets where existing home sales are picking up as well, which benefits agents, appraisers, attorneys, and mortgage lenders.
CBS News also notes that the biggest indication that the housing market might begin to normalize is that the number of homeowners who are seriously delinquent in their loan payments is shrinking.
Does this mean the market will magically shift to normal in 2012? No, but hope remains that it will be a better year overall for real estate.
What do you think? Which news source resonates best with your own personal and professional outlook of 2012?
How Are Builders Catering to the Single Woman Buyer?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Demographics on December 15th, 2011
Single women continue to be a major force in the real estate market, according to MSNBC and the National Association of Realtors. The demographic accounted for 20 percent of all homebuyers in the past year, whereas single men only made up 12 percent of the total.
Realtors and builders are taking notice of this trend. In new home construction, builders are putting in extras such as security features, gourmet kitchens and yards with little to no maintenance required.
What else is important to this demographic?
Safety. Industry experts also say a building’s proximity to public transit and parking factor into this equation. Late working professional women would take notice of a parking garage and controlled building entrance.
Socializing opportunities and luxury touches. Events, areas for entertaining, spa, massage room and fitness centers with all the bells and whistles are a huge draw for the savvy woman buyer.
Respect. There’s unfortunately still a perception that single women are gullible—that they can be suckered by a wily contractor. In today’s market, that’s an unfair characterization: they’re smart. They’ve done their research. They probably know more about a building’s floorplans than the salesperson.
When women buy for themselves, they are excited about turning the home into something that reflects them and who they are—this is a continuing trend that should not be ignored by builders and developers.
Rentals on the Rise
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Trends on October 11th, 2011
Home sales may still be struggling, but the rental industry is booming. Aside from the housing market woes, more and more Americans are downsizing. It’s no surprise that rentals are on the rise.
Gen Y is not as interested in garden-style apartments. So will high rises gain popularity? Or will they be looking for a new product not yet designed?
We know they will expect wi-fi, iPod docking stations and apartments that truly reflect who they are.
The high foreclosure rate is not the only factor in the accelerated transition toward leasing. Today’s housing demand has actually shifted toward smaller dwellings; with Boomers downsizing to urban centers offering more amenities and the Millennials just hitting their single, urban life stage. Generation X is one of the smaller demographic groups right now, translating to a much weaker demand for traditional neighborhoods with single-family homes.
As the economy is now starting to lift, those who took on roommates or moved back with their parents are just starting to emerge into the real world again. Often the majority of these groups start with a lease.
Apartment developers are already responding to the growing demand for rental housing, but with so many construction firms out of business or in slow recovery there may soon be a rental shortage in many metropolitan areas.
Top 7 Social Networking Sites for Real Estate
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Marketing, Real Estate Trends, Social Media on October 6th, 2011
Here are the top seven social networking sites that benefit anyone in the Real Estate industry.
1. Facebook
Now reaching 800 million active users, Facebook is one of the easiest ways of finding prospective customers within any given area. For real estate you can target very specific groups according to your business needs and reach your prospective customers where they already are.
572 members in the Atlanta area are using Merchant Circle’s free marketing tools to find new local customers. You can link up with other local businesses, create special deals, and fill your profile with influential reviews.
3. Trulia
Trulia is an all-in-one real estate site that’s jam-packed with the most useful and timely information on homes for sale, apartments for rent, neighborhoods, markets and trends to help you figure out exactly what, where and when to buy. You can also follow popular real estate blogs and get advice and opinions from local experts on Trulia Voices.
4. ActiveRain
ActiveRain is one of the few networking sites that are exclusively meant for real estate professionals. Join 214,063 professionals on the world’s largest real estate network — it is still free.
RealTown is a resource for a wide variety of real estate related articles from industry experts, syndicated columnists, Real Estate magazines, vendors and members. It is an internet portal that features everything real estate. Developed back in 1995, RealTown is one of the oldest and most respected communities in the real estate industry.
Realtors are beginning to leverage the power of Linkedin.com for their business. The growth of the site’s traffic and user base coupled with opportunities to join Groups, engage in Q&A’s, and broadcast information makes Linkedin an absolute necessity to any Realtor.
Zillow is a free online real estate site where you can search for homes for sale, find home prices, see home values, view recently sold homes, and check mortgage rates.
Bonus: Google +
Not quite in the top tools list yet, Google+ offers a steady concentration of traffic from affluent demographics that could create the perfect conditions for luxury marketers.
How about you? What are your favorite real estate social networks?
Boomers: Is the Housing Market’s Cavalry Here?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Demographics, Real Estate Economics, Real Estate Trends on September 22nd, 2011
Being able to easily meet today’s required 20 percent down payment, boomers should be ready and able to bail this generation out of the housing muddle. So why is this not happening?
Unfortunately, the boomers are too busy taking care of the Gen-Xers that CAN’T qualify for a mortgage in today’s restrictive market.
I still think there’s hope for the market to be recovered by this steadfast generation. For one, they did not purchase their first home during the recent housing boom, so this means they will have a larger home equity cushion and the ability to secure a reverse mortgage.
They are also looking for a different lifestyle and product and are ready to buy. According to the NAHB, specifically appealing to boomers are single-story homes and with all living space on one level.
The 55+ demographic actually account for almost a quarter of all new custom-home purchases, so builders should be catering to this group of middle agers. Unfortunately, homebuilders are contending with a huge overhang of existing homes on the market, and having a harder time getting banks to sign off on construction loans.
Do you think the boomer generation will lead the housing revival? We’ve already seen signs, do you think it’s just a matter of when? Let us know by commenting below or posting on our Facebook page!
What is a Home Energy Rating?
Posted by Sibet B Freides in Green, Real Estate Trends on September 15th, 2011
Based on the home’s construction plans, a Home Energy Rating is performed using an energy efficiency software package which yields a projected, pre-construction HERS Index.
Upon completion of this analysis, a Home Energy rater will work with the builder to identify the energy efficiency improvements needed to ensure the house will meet ENERGY STAR performance guidelines. The rater typically conducts onsite inspections and uses the results of various tests to generate the HERS Index for the home.
A home energy rating is a recognized tool in the mortgage industry, as it quantifies the energy performance of a home.
The HERS Index
The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home scores a HERS Index of 100.
Each 1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home.
Why should builders choose to build ENERGY STAR homes?
- Homebuyers will save money every month and have a more comfortable and safer home.
- Homeowners’ requests to save energy have become high demand. Some buyers will even use projected energy savings to pay for high-end upgrades.
- Protect the environment, and openly promote that as part of your brand.
- As an Energy Star builder EPA allows you to use their produced marketing and technical resources at no cost.
What things do you consider when choosing whether or not to build an Energy Star home?
