Social Media 101

Listing Classified Sites

2012-02-27T10:53:00.001-08:00

Listing Classified Sites

1.Oodle ~ Oodle marketplace

2. OLX ~ Where Buyers meet Sellers

3. Domestic Sale ~ The Effective Free Classifieds

4. eHouseAds ~ Real Estate Ads

5. YaKaz ~ Classified Ads United States

6. Vast ~ Open Marketplace

7. trovit ~ A search engine for classified ads of Real Estate

8. Lycos ~ Go get it!

9. Local ~ Promote your business online for FREE

10. FrontDoor ~ Homes and Condos for Sale Across America

11. Craigslist

12. Yahoo Real Estate

13. Rentbits ~ Post & Find Rentals

14. CLRsearch ~ The right home in the right place

15. Enormo ~ The Simple house search

the-small-business-social-media-cheat-sheet

2012-02-19T09:47:00.000-08:00

Flowtown - Social Media Marketing Application

Read Buyers’ Minds

2012-02-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

Read Buyers’ Minds With These Selling Strategies

Marketing Your Home

Written by ForSaleByOwner staff

Conditions are aligning for a strong start to the spring home selling market. As you get ready to list, you can tweak the condition and positioning of your house to appeal to what buyers want right now.

And what is that? Keep reading! Here’s the latest market research, interpreted for your selling success.

I want to own for the same cost as renting

Two trends are converging: in most markets, homes are more affordable. Prices are flat or down, and mortgage rates are low and likely to remain so, thanks to current federal policy. And, rents are rising. The net result: In many areas, the cost of owning is about the same as the cost of buying. And that means that many renters are watching the market closely, looking for the right place at the right price. A recent national survey of homeowners and renters conducted by trade publisher Hanley Wood found that 66^ of current renters wanted to buy because they “would rather build equity than pay rent.”

Help them see how buying your house is on a par, if not better, than continuing to rent. Create a “cost of ownership” sell sheet that breaks out the monthly cost of owning the house. Use the actual cost of utilities and your current property tax bill. The sheet should include:

Mortgage payments (use your asking price, less a 10% down payment)
Homeowners’ insurance
Condo/HOA fees
Electricity
Gas/heating
Cable/internet
Water
Property taxes
Mortgage deduction (buyer must estimate)

Refer buyers to the Rent vs. Buy calculator at ForSaleByOwner.com.

Great house, small package

Less really is more in the 2012 home market. Buyers – first timers and repeat buyers – want manageable houses with low maintenance and carrying costs. Even if you are selling a McMansion, you can use key terms to appeal to Goldilocks buyers who want a house that is not too big, not too small, but just right.

Label rooms as ‘flex’ or ‘multipurpose’ space instead of ‘dining room,’ ‘media room,’ or ‘den.’. This signals an open floor plan and lets buyers identify their own use for these rooms.
Emphasize storage space – walk in closets, pantries, dry useable basements.
Sprinkle in a few descriptors like ‘cozy’ and avoid words like ‘formal.’
Select photos that show inviting, small-scale vignettes, such as a window seat or two armchairs in a conversational grouping in front of a fireplace.

You can get there from here
One of the biggest selling points is a convenient location. A survey completed for CEOs for Cities confirmed that in nearly every market, houses with higher WalkScores ( a ranking of walking convenience for daily activities)
http://www.walkscore.com/
snagged higher selling prices. Each one point increase in a WalkScore delivered $500 to $3,000 more in home value than comparable houses with lower WalkScores. Even houses with mixed WalkScores – close to some daily amenities but within a short drive of others – garnered higher values than those with low WalkScores.

Include a WalkScore sheet in your marketing package that highlights the ranking system, and your house’s WalkScore.
Create a map that plots your house’s location and routes to everyday amenities such as grocery stores, parks, schools, dry cleaners, coffee shops and movie theaters. Help buyers envision how easy it would be to live in your house.
If your house is in a location that requires driving to accomplish most errands, create a map that shows the driving time to the nearest most important amenities, such as the post office and grocery store.

Go Green to Get Green

Builders and remodelers are pushing environmentally friendly materials and building processes as a major marketing tool. According to the most recent McGraw-Hill Green Home Builders and Remodelers Study, green homes are expected to become up to 38% of the new-home market by 2016, and 35$ of remodelers will be ‘building green” by the same year. Nothing is more green than making the most of an existing home. Play up these environmentally friendly features of your house:

Passive solar – south and western exposures capture plenty of sun. Keep window coverings open to show buyers how solar heat streams in.
Energy efficient appliances – if you have to replace outdated major appliances or HVAC systems anyway, buy EnergyStar appliances and highlight that in your listing.
Insulate pipes – Consider upgrading the insulation around your plumbing to minimize heat loss.

Legends FC Soccer Defender Kaz James Signs with Mizzou Tigers

2012-02-03T20:20:00.001-08:00

KAZ Signs with Mizzou

2012-02-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

Mizzou Tigers Kasrum Kaz James

2012-02-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

This free picture collage made with Smilebox

Kaz James Signs with Mizzou @ Lorbeer

2012-02-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Customize your own newsletter design

Kaz James honored with Ted Moore Award

2012-01-28T05:39:00.000-08:00

Lorbeer's 2008 Ted Moore Recipient Kasrum "Kaz" James plans to go back to her junior high for the signing of her official commitment letter with a full Soccer Scholarship to The University of Missouri a Division 1 School, where she will become a Mizzou Tiger. Recognized as MVP in Soccer, Track and Volleyball Upon Graduating from Lorbeer Junior High. Kasrum "Kaz" James was also honored with The Ted Moore Award by The entire athletic department for the athlete she was then and is today. With the official national letter of intent day for College Athletes just around the corner Kaz is hoping to return to Lorbeer, and share her official signing moment with all of those teachers, coaches, administrators who helped to accomplish her goals and achieve her dreams. The positive support and never ending encouragement will never be forgotten.

Success Summit News

2012-01-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

FREE Leadership Summit

2012-01-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Social Media Success Formula by readyBUZZ

2011-12-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

how to find the best hotspots and connect to the things you are interest...

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

iFrame Fan Page Creator and Facebook Open Graph Integration Plugin for W...

2011-12-23T09:30:00.000-08:00

20 Must Have Mobile Devices & Apps

2011-12-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Find more videos like this on Social Media Advocate
Chris Smith, the Tech Savvy Agent, shares the 20 must have mobile devices and apps for 2011.

Site See

2011-12-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

Sites you should see for Social Media Solutions~ * Socialnomics * Mashable Business * Market Wire * Technorati * Real Estate Blackbook * 4 Realz * ZingDing * Sochable Do you have a site you think is a must for Real Estate Industry insight into Social Media & Business? Share it here...

What is your favorite platform?

Happy Thanksgiving from The Forkel Family to Yours!

2011-11-24T09:03:00.000-08:00

Customize your own free collage

Whats Your Favorite Real Estate Classified Site?

2011-11-16T11:22:00.000-08:00

1. Trovit

2. Vast

3. Local

4. ALOQA

5. EHouseAds

6. OOdle

7. YaKaz

8. Hot Pads

9. HGTV Frontdoor

10. Lycos

and we all know craigslist... Where are you advertising? Share your Favorite!

Real Estate Pro's are Social! Are You a Pro?

2011-11-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Having fans improves ad performance! 64% of Facebook Users have become fans of at least one company.

Search engines, blogging & other Internet trends have fundamentally transformed the way people and businesses purchase products & services...

70% of the links search users click on are organic and - not paid!!!

Clear Calls to Action & Target Landing Pages...

To be relevant - you gotta make the change!

Company's that blog - 55% more website visitors.

Cost of leads - 62% less with inbound marketing then traditional outbound marketing...

67% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook...

57% of businesses acquired a customer through blog...

42% of Companies have acquired a customers through Twitter...

The Average Budget Companies spend on Social Media has almost doubled in just 2 years!

Start making friends, getting followers, by producing serious content for subscribers, because fans buy & share!

FREE Home Ownership Seminar

2011-10-11T17:45:00.000-07:00

RSVP

iFrame Fan Page Creator and Facebook Open Graph Integration Plugin for W...

2011-10-09T17:09:00.000-07:00

Brian & Sara Testimonial

2011-10-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Friday Finds Real Estate Sites

2011-09-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

Real Estate Resource Top 10 Thursday

Zillow ~ Zillow is a home and real estate marketplace dedicated to helping homeowners, buyers, sellers, renters, real estate agents, mortgage professionals, landlords and property managers find and share vital information about homes, real estate and mortgages.

Ooodle ~ Oodle provides consumers with a friendly local marketplace to buy, sell and trade. Oodle Pro, launched earlier this year, enables local property managers, real estate agents and car dealers to join the conversation by adding their identity and reputation on Facebook and Twitter to their local listings.

Google ~ Countless home buyers use Google to browse for real estate information each month. Google offers a full suite of tools for real estate professionals that let you reach prospects in your region at all stages of their home search – while they're looking for properties, checking out locations, and selecting an agent or broker. It's how you reach more sellers, attract more buyers, and sell more homes.

Trulia ~ Whether you are looking for a place to buy or rent, want to know what it's really like to live in a neighborhood or just want to peruse what could be yours—Trulia is there for you.

Yahoo ~ real estate info on Yahoo for all of your real estate needs.

AOL ~ Real estate info on AOL for all of your real estate needs.

Vast ~ Get your listings and your name in front of millions of consumers searching for their next home. Work smarter, not harder using Vast’s vertical search technology to find serious buyers. Choose from multiple options to help grow your business.

Craigslist ~ Post your real estate needs. buy and sell real estate on Craigslist.

City ~ Explore your any City you want across the USA. Find what you are looking for online with City.

Real Town ~ the real estate network: RealTown.com is the Internet portal that features everything that is real estate. RealTown is one of the oldest and most respected communities in the real estate industry, with its development dating back to 1995. See The RealTown Story.

Check back weekly for Friday Finds for new real estate sites we have found for you...

Do you have a favorite real estate resource site? Share with us and we will check it out!

Brian & Sara Testimonial

2011-09-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

80% off printing deals today only!!!

2011-09-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

Protect your Home & Family

2011-09-01T08:35:00.000-07:00