when i first began blogging i was very excited i found out a way to reach the world and express my thoughts.My Real Estate blog began to be filled with content and awesome articles. As i continue to blog and expand my aduiance and continue to grow my business i have found myself exhausted and overwhelmed. I am exhausted every article requires time and thought something that i really dont have. i recently began looking for a ghost blogger but guess what i havent found one yet. Does any one have any suggestions?
Hi All, I thought a positive message going into the holidays was needed. May everyone take time to recharge and plan and execute towards a successful 2009 season. Austin Smith is an active blogger on our team and I loved his most recent post and felt inclined to syndicate it here - Happy Holidays!
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By Austin Smith, Product Specialist - Goomzee.com more...
Yet another product of our faltering economy is the rise in the rate of foreclosure throughout the country. But how do we go about fixing it? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I support the concept of extended terms and reduced interest, as opposed to billing me, the taxpayer, for the bailout. more...
Keeping it real-and being grateful for my friends and associates at Inman:
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Thanks to all for your thoughts and comments-(;-])
...Blog ON!
Steve
Obeoman
The days of Googling your keywords to measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy are coming to an end. According to Bruce Clay of PubCon, there will be big changes in ranking. In the name of Top Shelp Organic SEO, Google will be tuning into the specific behaviors of individual users to serve up more customized results.
What this means to the end-user is better results and less spam. more...
My friend Gustavo Farfan, has prepared this article, hoping to turn the mindset of our community from negative to positive thinking. I hope he is right,lets see what you think about his view. Gustavo Blachman. SHOULD I BUY NOW OR WAIT UNTIL THE PRICES DROP MORE? I hear the same line of question from clients and Real Estate agents. more...
Real estate professionals need to think differently about the future. They need to do more and they need to move faster. It has now been more than 10 years since my first book on trends, Real Estate confronts Reality, and many of the changes that we have been writing and speaking about are now coming to fruition. Things are definitely changing, and on a large scale. Within the next five years the real estate brokerage industry will significantly have changed and brokers and agents that don’t adapt now will not enjoy the benefits of the next economic upswing. more...
Last June, the South Florida Business Journal announced a Fort Lauderdale proposal for a new streetcar system called, The Wave, to replace the current downtown Sun Trolley. The proposed running date: 2012. The proposed price tag: $150 million.
The present Sun Trolley (on wheels) conveys approximately 100 passengers per day. The Downtown Development Authority of Fort Lauderdale, which is planning The Wave, believes this jazzy new, electric streetcar system will attract 6,000 riders per day, especially with plans to link it to the Tri-Rail system. more...
Call to action for my fellow Real Estate & Mortgage friends. I wrote the following article this past weekend. I am sharing it with you and encourage you to pass it on to those who might be able to affect change. I have been sharing this with our Minnesota legislators as well as the news media.
Open Letter Concerning The Crisis In The Markets-Real Estate, Mortgage, Securities more...
Call to action for my fellow Real Estate & Mortgage friends. I wrote the following article this past weekend. I am sharing it with you and encourage you to pass it on to those who might be able to affect change. I have been sharing this with our Minnesota legislators as well as the news media.
Open Letter Concerning The Crisis In The Markets-Real Estate, Mortgage, Securities more...
What do “chi” alignment, the number 27, “space clearing” and “hungry ghosts” have in common when selling a residence? Feng Shui. Yes, you read correctly. An article in November’s Realtor magazine says sellers experiencing long periods between listing and selling their properties are hiring Feng Shui practitioners to use the ancient Chinese technique to dissipate the negativity of financial woes by realigning the “chi”, or energy, of the property.
And, guess what? The article says it’s working. more...
Change seems to be the buzz word this year, with Barack Obama touting “Change We Need,” John McCain promoting “Real Change” and even Hillary Clinton saying “Change you can count on.”
Every year the Swanepoel TRENDS Report identifies, analyzes and then details out the imminent changes that are expected to impact the real estate industry over the coming 12 – 18 months. The 2009 Report is currently in the final 60 days of research and writing and obviously with all the recent financial disasters, the energy crisis, the housing collapse and foreclosure catastrophe this has made 2008 the worst year in real estate and financial history. more...
How, in this market, do you effectively market yourself as a Buyers Agent or Broker to potential buyers and how do you educate the often paranoid listing agent and seller as to your value?
Paul SlayBaugh wrote a post the other day on his Blog regarding foreclosures. I shared this concept as a comment on his Blog, and now want to expand on it a little, and get an Industry opinion.
Paul said, "What many prospective tenants do not realize when shopping for a place to hang their hats for the next year or two is that the new landlord might be on unstable footing. Unable to keep up with mortgage payments and unable to sell, leasing the home is becoming the trendy way to staunch, or at least slow the bleeding for many struggling homeowners." more...
After watching a disturbing video on Inman on home foreclosures in Southern California, I became acutely aware of how much Americans caught up in the net of losing their homes to the volcanic mortgage situation lost something more precious than their homes: They lost their integrity.
The video showed abandoned, completely furnished homes being “trashed out” by a company hired by the banks to empty the property to be ready for sale. Brown lawns are being spray painted green to improve curb appeal for marketing. What are these people thinking? more...
Looking to make possible changes to my site colors graphics, info.
Please review.
Your input is appreciated!
Christine in Chicago
Looking to make possible changes to my site colors graphics, info.
Please review.
Your input is appreciated!
Christine in Chicago
The south Florida Business Journal reports that despite tight credit restrictions, houses in Florida continue to be in demand for purchase. The Florida Association of Realtors reported that for the second month in a row, single family home sales were up in response to the lowering prices. more...
How is your open house traffic in these challenging times? As the Internet gains momentum and videos become the popular option to preview properties, what is the future for open houses?
Typically, the main open house traffic is on Sunday afternoons from 2 pm until late afternoon. Increased gas prices and reduced leisure time may also be impacting the traditional open house habit. What are real estate professionals experiencing in other areas? more...
Hello Inman News Bloggers and Masterminds.
My name is Gustavo F. Blachman, I am the broker-owner of Terrabella Realty in Miami, Florida. my website is www.goterrabella.com and my email is info@terrabellarealty.com
Here’s my take on the short sale practice: more...
Coming soon to a cell phone near you: The ability to project images and videos via a built in micro sized pico-projector on any surface up to 100 inches. more...
An article in September’s Realtor Magazine (pg.27) states that, no matter how clear client’s goals when buying or selling a property, decision making often becomes emotionally and sometimes irrationally driven when negotiating high-end purchases. This is not bad, mind you, just a proven fact on how the human mind works when analyzing what most people regard as a critically important decision to buy or sell. more...
Realtor Magazine* cites an interesting article by a marketing company who segmented homebuyers into five “tribes”-- in which they promise that consumers will recognize themselves as at least one. They believe real estate salespeople can target their advertising based on the following tribes: more...
The Financial Market Disaster of 2008
September 2008 is exactly two weeks old today, but what a September it has already been. The events of late are unsurpassed in living history and I think that 9/08 may very well be remembered as the worst financial disaster in history. more...
Today we remember the brave men, women and children who lost their lives seven years ago and the heroes that responded to the emergency. There are many different video tributes of that day but I thought that this one was particularly well rounded. http://attacked911.tripod.com/
God Bless America!
The results for the XXIX Real Estate Olympiad are in.
Wow, what a huge undertaking it has been to tally the scores, taking all factors into consideration, weighted scores, removing highest and lowest scores and of course double checking the hanging chads. Thank you to all paticipants, nominees,voters and judges!
So the Medal Winners of the 2008 Real Estate Pacesetter Award, as voted by the Inman Real Estate Trends Group, are: more...
The Florida Finance Network, a nonprofit consortium of organizations, exists to ensure that small to medium sized Florida companies have access to affordable capital they need to succeed. FFN delivers financing assistance from state and federal programs. Most Florida businesses established for two years are eligible. Start-ups are also funded, but might require assistance from the Florida Small Business Development Center Network.
Member organizations are: more...
So, I've been author of the Hamptons Real Estate Blog for just under two years now. The blog has been viewed nearly 90,000 times, yet I am not getting as much "business" from the blog as I anticipated. More importantly, I just closed my Remax office and I want to open an Exclusive Buyer Agency in the Hamptons, where I have been listing/selling/managing/brokering for ten years. I'm looking for a model that has successfully used the blog as an income/lead/business generating platform for a Buyers Brokerage in a luxury market. more...
Mason Pruner, Branch Manager of Wells Fargo on Glades Road in Boca Raton recently sent me this update from Washington on The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. If you haven’t already heard, I’m sure you would like to know the new facts. more...
This is in follow up to the post last week titled Real Estate Olympics
Recap of Beijing
Mark Spitz's 36-year old record of 7 gold medals at one Olympic event, across all Olympic sports, was shattered when 23-year-old swimming machine Michael Phelps grabbed his 8th gold in Beijing and 14 all-time gold medals. Who will ever forget his 0.01 of a second photo-finish with Serbian - Wow. more...
As a real estate professional you have an important task of keeping your clients satisfied. One of the key factors in keeping your clients satisfied requires you to be available to your client when they are available. After all, they've chosen you to work for them. (I know, I should be nicknamed "Captain Obvious"!) However, there is a fine line that can be crossed, and that's the line between your personal and professional life. When that line is crossed, it can eventually cause small sparks that lead to a fire in the relationship between you and your clients down the road. more...
It is my pleasure to share another exciting incentive enrolled by the governor’s office toward making Florida an environmentally sound and beautiful locale for living.
On June 24, 2008, the South Florida Water Management District began negotiating an agreement to acquire as much as 187,000 acres of agricultural land owned by the United States Sugar Corporation to reestablish a part of the historic connection between Lake Okeechobee and America's Everglades. more...
BREATHE EASIER IN FLORIDA: Reducing Greenhouse Gases
As of the 16th of July 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding was drawn between the United Kingdom’s Carbon Trust and the State of Florida. The memorandum, signed in London by Michael Rea, COO of The Carbon Trust and Governor Charlie Christ, is summarized as follows: more...
With the XXIX Olympiad - The 2008 Summer Olympic Games - officially underway in Beijing China I thought it would be interesting to have a small online real estate olympiad of our own. more...
Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Association of Realtors aggressively supported the now-passed Amendment 1, originally known as the Save Our Homes Amendment begun in 1995. For those residents unsure of how Amendment 1 affects their real estate plans, here are facts from Florida Realtor Magazine: more...
Looking back on the unprecedented growth in the real estate market for the past ten years, the well-muscled housing prices seemed to have been on . . . well, steroids. While lenders matched loans and interests rates to the swelling real estate market, many observers knew the day would come when the high would hit a low.
An interesting article in Continental Airline’s July in-flight magazine called, The Silver Lining Strategy, by Chris Warren, cites real estate developers and investors across the country excited about the new real estate diagnosis. more...
Mayfair International Realty (one of Premier Estate Properties’ affiliates), based in London, England, provides me with valuable market data and an opportunity to promote some of Fort Lauderdale’s finest luxury residences. The latest report from Mayfair International Realty revealed the following facts:
1. Some Florida Statistics more...
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (the Housing Act) was signed into law last week as the most sweeping housing legislation since the Great Depression. The new Act authorizes the Department of the Treasury to stem the tide of home foreclosures and provide a lifeline to mortgage lenders.
It’s significant as the last legislation addressing a large group of homeowners was the National Housing Act of 1934 that created the Federal Housing Administration and authorized the creation of Fannie Mae. more...
GOOD NEWS ON FLORIDA'S HOUSING PROGNOSIS
Florida Trend Magazine has an interesting article in the July 2008 issue. A ‘prognosis’ made by the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Competitiveness states that the U.S. will begin recovering from its “mild” recession right about now. Good news. Florida, however, is supposed to be delayed in its recovery due to the statewide housing slump. more...
IDENTITY THEFT AND THE STEALING OF CONFIDENTIAL DATA
“Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the nation - especially in the suburbs,” says Congresswoman Melissa Bean. The FTC receives over 250,000 reports of identity theft every year and USA Today reported that in 2007 an estimated 260 million records were stolen - that amounts to 8 records stolen every second of every day.
In real estate this is also a growing concern. Here are three possible vulnerable areas of our industry that I see: more...
After experiencing the wonderment of it all, from ReBar to the incredible group of leaders of our industry talkinig about "When will it turn?" I was deflated by the walk away message that we social media types were told to get off the computer and go out just be social.
In the wrap up Joel Burslam said the take away message he got was to go out and do it the old fashioned way. more...
Margot Larkin, Assistant Vice President and Mortgage Office from Gibraltar Private Bank & Trust, recently commented on the emerging trends towards luxury real estate, which she claims is always the first asset to be super-sized, ultra-designed, and updated with the latest technology and trends.
• Design and Layout
Today’s high-end luxury residences are brimming with amenities never dreamed of years ago. “Smart” homes have been the rage for a few years, but now you can “call” your residence and pre-set the temperature, lighting, television, and more. more...
Guy Johnson from Reno Realty Blog interviews leading real estate bloggers about their blogging habits at Inman Connect NY. A lot of well-known bloggers make appearances here, along with many faces new to the blogging scene. Just a taste of how much fun an Inman Connect Conference can be... ;)
In the latest issue of Focus on Fort Lauderdale published by the City of Fort Lauderdale good news prevailed!
Continued confidence in the financial management of the City of Fort Lauderdale by the Wall Street's leading credit rating institutions is resulting in strong bond ratings and an optimistic outlook for the City. more...
Wow...we had secured a short sale listing with IndyMac and we were told from the get go...90 days minimum before we receive our short sale approval. Kim and I were bummed when we here told this unreasonable amount of time.
We would check in every day or every other day...just as Tim Harris of Harris University told us...and low and behold, we received approval in 37 days! No counter offers...not even a call from a short sale negotiator. IndyMac held a $580,000 lien and we were approved for a $248,000 offer. more...
