Coldwell Banker Legacy Real Estate - Blog

Pending Home Sales Up

mnavarrette@cblegacynm.com — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Pending Home Sales Up

August Market Report - Pending Home Sales Increase 7.73% from July

brandonwells1@gmail.com — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Monthly Highlights

Detached home sales for August 2011 increased 3.36% from the previous month and increased 26.42% from the previous year.

The 646 reported detached sales in August 2011 makes this month the highest August sales month since 2007

Pending home sales for single-family detached homes are up 14.32% from 2010 and increased 7.73% from July 2011

We continue to see some positive signs in the local real estate market, but we continue to see a lack of traction. To read more about August and the highlights of your local real estate market, please click the report below to view in full screen.

Coldwell Banker Launches First Time Home Buyer Resource Center

brandonwells1@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Taking the next step to help people turn their dreams of homeownership into realities, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC launched a new portal on its website specifically for first-time home buyers. The First-Time Home Buyers Resource Center includes videos, articles and tools to answer questions and guide new home buyers through the real estate search process.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), first-time home buyers accounted for half of all the real estate market home sales in 2010. A recent survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate found that 93 percent of first-time home buyers said using online tools to find detailed information about homes was important to them.

“Buying your first home is exciting but it can also be overwhelming, so we created this section for first-time homebuyers to simplify the steps toward home ownership, and make the process easier and enjoyable,” said Jim Gillespie, chief executive officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “I, like most, remember buying my first home and going through a process that was complex, emotional and rewarding all at the same time. Today, first-time homebuyers recognize that if they have the financial wherewithal, now is a smart time to buy a home. The First-Time Home Buyers Resource Center helps give them the confidence to enter the real estate market and gain valuable insight so they can best work with their agent.”

The new web portal, which will be updated regularly with timely content to help first-time home buyers, provides informative features from coldwellbanker.com, including multiple ways to search and recommendations for like properties. It also includes:

· Video tips and advice about selecting a home, moving, renovating, and decorating
· Informative articles - How to select your Realtor etc...
· Mortgage calculator
· Affordability radar – This feature breaks down a home’s listing price into what the monthly payment might be at current mortgage rates

The new First-Time Home Buyers Resource Center is a continuation of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate innovative online resources. Coldwellbanker.com already features BlueScape, a unique way to search for homes by emotion and feelings. Clients select from a series of images that they like or dislike and the site returns a group of homes that might meet their needs. The website also has a lifestyle search, which allows people to use a simple, sliding scale to rate elements of a home and community that matter most to them. In addition, Coldwell Banker Real Estate partnered with YouTube to develop Coldwell Banker On Location. This site allows consumers to gain market perspective, community highlights and home video listings from Coldwell Banker sales professionals. More than 2.5 million channel views have been recorded since its launch in May 2009.

Post courtesy of Coldwell Banker Jim Gillespie (Sept 15, 2011)

Why Mobile Matters - Selling Your Home

brandonwells1@gmail.com — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The world of cell phones and personal computing have undergone an incredible shift over the past few years. More and more consumers are adopting and using smartphones and tablets for business, leisure, and entertainment. Companies like Google, Apple, HP, Microsoft, and RIM are all competing for your business and adoption of their latest and greatest gadgets for your personal computing needs. How does this impact real estate?

Our industry has seen dramatic shift in consumer behavior over the past 10 years. Plain and simple the Internet has shifted the way that consumers research, engage, and inquire about their real estate needs. In 2010 NAR reports that 89% of home buyers utilized the Internet at some point during their search. 95% of buyers between the ages of 18-44 utilized the Internet during their search. Well now we are seeing consumer behavior move from traditional desktop and laptop computer usage to mobile usage. iPhone's, iPad's, Android, and other mobile devices are set to become the primary hub for Internet searching. The real estate industry has to be ready for the shift to the mobile consumer.

Having a mobile optimized site, or the availability of an application for consumers to download to find local real estate information is paramount to a companies success, and to the success of selling a home in a difficult market. Coldwell Banker Legacy is committed to listening to the consumer, and deliver the real estate search experience that they desire. We currently have a mobile optimized site, so if a consumer visits www.ColdwellBankerLegacy.com from an iPhone, Android, or Blackberry they will be greeted with a mobile friendly version. Tablet and iPad users are greeted with an optimized tablet version of our site. Faster loading speeds, integrated maps, and social media sharing are all part of the overall experience a consumer finds at ColdwellBankerLegacy.com

Without background statistics it can be hard to believe that this is the movement of the future for real estate searching. We study every week our website analytics to make sure that we are continuously improving our customers experience. Here are some highlights of the growth of mobile and how we are helping expose home sellers to this market.

Take a look at this comparison from 2010 to 2011. Mobile is certainly here to stay and will continue to grow as an important aspect of searching for homes. Sellers should also take note and make sure that you are opening your doors to this mobile marketing revolution. Call a Coldwell Banker Legacy broker today to learn more about our commitment to providing the highest level of marketing for your greatest asset.

Mobile Traffic ColdwellBankerLegacy.com

January 1, 2010 - September 9th, 2010 January 1, 2011 - September 9th 2011

Mobile Visits - 8,263 55,044

Android Visits* - 1,991 22,921

iPhone Visits* - 3,670 14,612

iPad Visits *- 1,477 13,906

* These are only the top three mobile traffic sources being listed