Each Friday we share with you the must-read, real estate news of the week. We’ve got everything you need to know to stay on top of breaking industry news and trends.

Grab your coffee and get reading!

“The Case For Blogging Your Listings”

This week, Tracy Larson of CENTURY 21 Schwartz in the Florida Keys contributed a post to our blog about the power of blogging your listings and using a blog to establish yourself as a market leader and local expert. Tracy offers superb tips as well as reasons why a blog may be more effective than a regular website. Continue reading . . .

“[VIDEO] Facebook Profiles vs Facebook Pages vs Facebook Groups”

Facebook changes things a lot, and the rapidity of that change is increasing. Facebook’s Timeline, Groups, Ads, Interest Lists, Subscribe and Edge Rank features, to name a few, are keeping us on our toes. Inman News helps cracks the code on what’s important for your real estate marketing. Continue reading . . .

“Make A Video, Sell A Home”

Home sellers should get ready for their close-ups. More real-estate agents are asking owners to take a starring role in short videos touting the best features of their home and neighborhood. These videos, designed to make a home stand out in web searches, can move homes faster, because they draw more traffic for open houses and showings.  Continue reading . . .

“Young Renters Plan To Buy, ‘Accidental’ Landlords On The Rise”

Although much of the stigma surrounding renting a home, apartment, or condo has diminished, and the Millennial generation is accustomed to and fully accepting of the concept of renting, two new studies reveal that the American dream of homeownership still alive and well, and that landlords are often “accidental” landlords. Continue reading . . .

As real estate professionals, I believe that most of us will agree that having a web presence is an important part of your marketing strategy.  According to the 2011 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 88% of buyers used the internet to find the home they bought. But with a practical smorgasbord of web design choices available today, which one is the right fit for you and your marketing?

I adopted blogging as my primary web presence over traditional static sites. I do have several static websites as well, but even those static sites have a dedicated page that pulls my blog content onto each site, which in turn helps those sites get indexed quicker with fresh content.

Here are five reasons I choose blogging for my primary web presence:

1. Blogs are dynamic

Traditional websites are static and for the most part, they rarely change or are updated once they are created.  Blogs, on the other hand, change with each new post. They are very dynamic and content rich, two qualities that make them search engine friendly. Sites that add new content on a regular basis are also recognized by search engines more quickly. In fact, every minute hundreds of people publish new blog entries on blog platforms such as Blogspot and WordPress, so those platforms have a faster indexing rate.

2. Blogs have RSS feed and subscription options

Visitors to a traditional site need to physically go to the site to see any changes that have been made or features that have been added.  Blogs offer readers the ability to have new content sent directly to them immediately after it has been added, without having to remember to visit the site. Readers can also choose how they receive the content, making it a much more personalized interaction.

3. Blogs encourage conversation

Readers of a blog can leave comments on articles you post. It has been my experience that posts that are more controversial are more likely to start a conversation. Every community has a hot topic, and if you write about, the comments will follow. For instance, a recent post on my blog about changing a local icon and landmark into a commercial hotel and resort brought out comments from my readers about how they felt about the project. As the writer of the blog, you have the option of moderating such comments before they appear live on the web.

4. Blogs are budget and user friendly

With an expanding array of blogging platforms emerging all the time, it is now easier than ever to create and maintain a blog. Traditional websites require more technical knowledge or the use of a qualified web designer, which can become quite costly. Many of the more affordable traditional websites are also template based, making them visually pleasing, but less search engine friendly.

5. Blogs provide insight

Blogging platforms have many tools that the modern blogger can use to help improve their blog. From the statistics reporting of my blog, I can see where in the country or even the world my visitors are coming from. I can see how they found my blog and what my most popular referring sites are.  I can also see exact search engine terms people used to find my blog. Once I know terms people are using to find my blog, I can write a post related to those terms to increase traffic. For instance, “foreclosures in the Florida Keys” brings me more traffic than “homes for sale in the Florida Keys”.  For that reason, I write regular articles on foreclosures in my marketplace, being sure to use those keywords that people searched with throughout the story and in the post tags.

Obviously, there are many more differences between blogs and traditional websites. Like anything else in your marketing strategy, you need to adopt a web presence that you are most comfortable with. Blogging is not for everyone, and it does require a certain amount of time. If you are not willing to commit to blogging at least once or twice a week, blogging will not work for you. You blog will become dated or stale, and you readers will notice it quickly and move on to other blogs that are kept current.

If you’d like to learn more about me and my real estate blog, you can find it at www.FloridaKeysMarketUpdate.com.

Each Friday we share with you the must-read, real estate news of the week. We’ve got everything you need to know to stay on top of breaking industry news and trends.

Grab your coffee and get reading!

“Is Now the Time to Buy Your First House? The Wall Street Journal Says, Yes.”

It’s been a scary few years for the housing market. But at some point, the nightmare has to end (please?). Is now the time? Should first-time home buyers consider jumping into the market? Eric Lascelles, the chief economist at money-management firm RBC Global Asset Management Inc., says this is a remarkable time to be a first-time home buyer. Continue reading . . .

“Top 20 Metros With Biggest Jumps In Affordability”

Among the 20 metropolitan areas to see the biggest annual increases in affordability in 2011 as a whole, seven were in the South, five were in the West and four each were in the Northeast and Midwest. Does your area make the list? Continue reading .  . .

“NAR: Home Prices Firming, Sales To Rise 7 To 10 Percent In 2012”

According to data from the quarterly report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), median existing single-family home prices, based on contract closings, “are firming in many metropolitan areas, while improving sales and declining inventory are creating more balanced conditions.” Continue reading . . .

“Marketing To Millennial Homebuyers: Demystifying A Generation”

Generation Y is enormous and their buying power is rapidly increasing, leaving marketers scrambling to reach them. The big secret is to treat them like Millennials instead of getting frustrated that they’re not Boomers. Continue reading . . .

“Instagram for Real Estate: 3 Expert Tips”

Last week we had the pleasure of joining Katie Lance of Inman News on her webinar titled, “Instagram for Real Estate Pros.” As you may already know, CENTURY 21 uses Instagram (you can follow us @CENTURY21) but what you may not know is how you can use Instagram to boost exposure for your real estate business. Continue reading . . .

Thousands of Realtors® from across the country flocked to Washington D.C. today with one common goal – to protect the American Dream. With an estimated attendance of 15,000 people, the Washington Monument was the site of the Rally to Protect the American Dream, an opportunity for real estate professionals to make their voices heard by legislation.

“The purpose of this rally is to bring a legislative focus to homeownership,” said Mark Foreman, SVP of Operations , Century 21 Real Estate. “The issues that are currently standing between Americans and the American dream, such as taxation, insurance and mortgage lending, are not currently being addressed by Congress as primary issues.”

Foreman, along with Century 21 Real Estate LLC director of recruiting, Carmen Mercado and significant representation on behalf of CENTURY 21® System members, attended the rally to speak up on behalf of homeowners.

“It’s an incredible experience to see the strength of so many realtors gathered with one message, ‘Homeownership Matters,’” said Mercado.

“Realtors® know that homeownership is an investment in our collective futures, and we’re here today to protect the American Dream of homeownership,” said National Association of Realtors® President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. “Homeownership and investment in real estate impacts families, communities, small businesses and the nation’s economy in a very meaningful way. Today, we’re proud to be showing the country that homeownership matters.”

The rally, which was sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and was part of the organization’s week-long midyear legislative meetings, also broke some records. According to NAR, today’s gathering marked the largest assembly of Realtors in one place it has ever recorded. Key speakers included Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia, House minority whip Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun and NAR President Moe Veissi.

“To have such a significant audience truly says something,” said Foreman. “That so many realtors have voluntarily taken up this charge and taken time out of their own businesses is huge.”

Visit the Realtor Action Center to learn more.

This partnership showcases the brand’s continued effort to reach consumers through innovative media. According to CMO Bev Thorne, “Our goal is to reach prospective customers wherever they are consuming media, and Pandora Radio certainly meets that criteria.” Pandora is the leader in personalized Internet radio, making up nearly 70% of all internet radio listening in the U.S.  In January 2011, Pandora became the #2 all-time downloaded free iPhone app and the #1 all-time downloaded free iPad app.

The branded CENTURY 21 Pandora station plays a customized selection of contemporary songs and includes on-air advertisements for the brand, giving the CENTURY 21 brand 100% share of voice during the entire listening session. The station has a custom skin so that if you’re playing it on a laptop, at an open house or in your office, the web page appears with the company’s attributes displayed. If you want to take it a step further, the station may be streamed onto an Internet-enabled television. CENTURY 21 Agents: Smarter, Bolder, Faster!

The next time you log on Pandora via a computer, search for the CENTURY 21 Station. Stream it in your office, at your open houses, at your booths at community events and of course, on your mobile devices! Click here to load the station.  The station is not searchable on mobile devices, the URL is required. You can also access the station from your smartphone QR code reader:

Take a listen and tell us what you think!

Curling And Chords

Does your baby always want to be by your side? Even while you get ready in the bathroom? One mother shared with Baby Zone that while she was styling her hair with a curling iron, her daughter yanked the chord and the iron landed on her bare foot leaving quite a burn. Remember parents, even if the plug is high above the ground, your baby can still reach the dangling chord!

A Ride To The Door Frame

What little kid doesn’t love riding on an adult’s shoulders? One who gets their head bumped by the door frame perhaps? On Baby Zone, a mother shared their her father (her son’s grandfather) was giving her little boy a ride around the room when – bonk! – his head bumped into the door frame. Careful, Grandpa.

Peek-a-boo Out The Window

The website She Knows cautions parents against putting tall furniture right up against the window. Apparently babies love to climb and aren’t afraid to poke their adorable heads right out a window!

The Doctor Is In

Before baby you could leave anything you wanted on the bathroom counter – pill bottles, creams, sunscreen, soap – but now that your little one has arrived, don’t give them the chance to play pharmacist, advises the Safe Start Baby Blog. Be sure to put all medicines and toiletries away in a locked medicine cabinet or under the sink with a baby proofed handle and door.

TV Topple

While baby proofing your house, things like a baby gate, outlet covers, a toilet seat lock and cabinet locks may seem obvious, but what about securing your television? With one good tug from a baby arm, a flat panel TV can come tumbling down, says The Stir. “These flashing light machines are especially attractive to tiny people. And the bigger TV sets get, the more damage they can cause when they topple over.”

What was your biggest baby proofing blunder?

Each Friday we share with you the must-read, real estate news of the week. We’ve got everything you need to know to stay on top of breaking industry news and trends.

Grab your coffee and get reading!

“4 Insider Tips For Getting Multiple Offers”

The market is heating up. No, really. Coast to coast, a much higher percentage of listings are (a) selling, period (b) selling, fast and (c) selling at or above the asking price than they have during any spring in recent memory. Don’t take my word for it — from Chicago to Orange County, CA, local papers have picked up and started to report on the phenomenon. Yet and still, today’s buyers hold in recent memory the real estate mountaintop and the depths of the recession; some have been waiting out the market for years, hoping for a deal, but unwilling to buy into a declining market. Others actually lost homes to foreclosure at the beginning of the housing recession and are on the comeback trail. And competition from short sale and foreclosure listings is still abundant. Long story short, the days when every home on the market got multiple offers are still a thing of the past. By and large, the listings receiving multiple offers and selling for over asking on today’s market have the following ingredients. Continue reading . . .

“Vacation Home Markets Heat Up”

If your clients are thinking of buying a second home in the next five years, this might be their best opportunity. After being battered during the housing bust, the vacation-home market is showing signs of life. Reports of bidding wars are trickling out of some of the locales that bore the brunt of the housing bust, and brokers in other markets, while not sounding the “all clear,” at least say conditions aren’t getting much worse. Near-record-low mortgage rates, bargain prices and dwindling home inventories are bringing some once-untouchable markets within reach for the first time in a decade, say housing-market experts. Continue reading . . .

“Small Business Owner Optimism At Highest Rate In Over A Year”

Hitting its highest point in over a year, small business confidence rose in April by 2.0 percentage points, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), as companies stepped up plans for hiring and investing. “While the Index remains historically weak, there was good news in the details of April’s report. Job creation plans, job openings and capital spending plans all increased. Hopefully, this performance will hold in the coming months,” said NFIB Chief Economist, Dr. William Dunkelberg. Continue reading . . .

“Trulia Launches Geolocation Mobile Ads For Agents”

Trulia wants your phone to ring. That’s why they are launching a new ad platform that will enable you to place mobile ads on the site’s most highly trafficked pages, including the previously off-limits map view page. Until now, consumers could only contact an agent directly if they were on specific property’s details page. Up to five agents per zipcode can purchase the mobile ads. One agent can also purchase all five spots, meaning a single agent could own one hundred percent of a zipcode. The ads are geolocated, and appear in the Trulia iPhone app, Android app and mobile browser version of the site. Continue reading . . .

Let’s start with a little background. Instagram currently has 50 million users. That is 50 million potential prospects. Though Instagram was initially launched on the iPhone, it recently expanded to Android users. In fact, over one million Android users downloaded the app in the first 12 hours!

You may be thinking, “That’s great, good for them, but why should I use Instagram?” Well, Instagram makes beautiful photo sharing fast and easy. For example, you can take 10 photos of your new listing, add filters with Instagram and then publish a stunning, photo home tour.

Instagram is also great because, in the words of Katie, “People are connecting over photos which are much more personal and emotional.” For the Inman News Instagram account, Katie and team share behind the scenes photos as they plan and host events, shots from guest interviews and of course, photos of their picturesque Bay Area neighborhood.

Using Instagram is not about sharing photos in vacuum. If you’re thinking, “What if I have a small following, is this really worth it?” The short answer is – yes. When you take and share a photo with Instagram, you can also share that photo on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and your blog. View Instagram as a content creation app.

So now that you’re taking and publishing photos across all of your social media channels with Instagram, how can you take it to the next level? Katie offered three exceptional options.

Design Postcards With Postagram

Do you have a stunning Instagram photo of your local town center? A breathtaking shot of a house you just closed on? Take that Instagram photo and use Postagram to create postcards with that image. You can then send those postcards to clients and prospects. What a fun way to keep in touch and stay top of mind!

Create Closing Gifts With Stickygram

Though the name may conjure images of your fingers sticking together, this sticky actually refers to magnets. Use Stickygram to create magnets from your Instagram photos. These make great closing gifts for clients. Perhaps you have a great shot of the outside of their new home that you can transform into the first magnet on their new fridge. Stickygram charges $14.99 for a pack of nine magnets.

Customize a Facebook Timeline Cover Photo With Insta.Cover

With the new Facebook Timeline format you have extra photo real estate at the top of your personal and business Facebook pages. Head over to Insta.Cover to create a custom Facebook Timeline cover photo from your Instagram shots. Why settle on one image for your cover photo when you could have many?

A big thank you to Katie for her Instagram insights! Are there other sites you’re using to elevate your Instagram photos?

Since we have babies on the brain, we went on a quest to find the most original (and sometimes outrageous) home designs for baby nurseries. Thanks to TheBump.com for showing us that imaginations really can run wild!

Blast Off!

Plan to teach your baby to shoot for the stars? Why stop at advice, when you could create a celestial nursery!

Life’s A Circus!

Many people have wonderful memories of going to the circus as children with their families. The big top, the clowns, the animals, the popcorn – what’s not to love? One family brought the big top home with this baby’s room.

Monkey Around!

Often when couples want to be surprised about whether they’re having a boy or a girl, they opt for a jungle themed room. This room is ready for its newest monkey!

Hello, Kitty!

Did you have a favorite character as a child? Perhaps it was “Hello Kitty.” Certainly these parents want to share their love of the famous cat with their bundle of joy in this character themed nursery.

What is the most outrageous nursery theme you have seen?

Eddie Berenbaum, the Principal Broker and co-founder of Century 21 Redwood Real Estate, radiates energy, enthusiasm and knowledge.  A natural extrovert, he quickly engages you in conversation and makes a connection.  You immediately get the sense he makes an effort to understand your point of view.  I met Eddie a few weeks ago and recently sat down with him to talk about his company, Century 21 Redwood Realty.

Personally, I was impressed with the level of detail and sophistication that he used on his sites. It made me curious to learn why a life-long real estate broker had taken such an interest in technology.  For Eddie, technology is a tool that allows him to better connect with clients.  He understands how to use technology to bring value to clients and make their lives better.  Real estate is first and foremost a human process- technology simply facilitates the connection.

Putting the Client First

While there are companies that solely use technology for the entire process, Eddie considers Century 21 Redwood Realty to be a client-focused company that understands technology (not vice versa).  With offices specializing in Ashburn, VA homes, Arlington, VA condos & Washington DC real estate, Eddie and his business partners have created a company culture that puts people first.  Their goal is to provide clients with the tools they need to help them make an educated decision that is right for them.

Creating Niche Micro-Sites

Century 21 Redwood Realty uses three niche-oriented sites that branch off of c21redwood.com to connect with and service their clients on a hyper-local level in their three main markets.  These “micro-sites” have a rich interface that breaks down each of these areas neighborhood-by-neighborhood. This provides clients a unique local perspective that can’t be obtained elsewhere.  In designing their DC focused site, dcmapsearch.com, Eddie worked with his team of agents over the course of a year to draw (by hand) the boundaries for 52 neighborhoods that, while widely recognized by the public, do not have official boundary lines.  The Arlington oriented niche site, metroArlington.com along with the Loudoun centric site, LoudounCommunities.com are (as far as he knows) the only websites in the entire country (maybe the world?) that allow users to search for homes within specific school boundaries.

Eddie created the sites to educate his customers and take the mystery out of real estate.  He is a true expert and views technology as allowing him to share his knowledge with as many people as possible.  His websites allow him to really connect with people, answer questions and begin a strong client-broker relationship. For most people, buying and/or selling a home is one of the most important and overwhelming decisions they will ever make.

Keeping it Old School (When You Should)

Despite his focus on technology, Eddie is adamant that he is first and foremost an “old school” broker.  Real estate is an imperfect market, he says.   A house is a very emotional purchase and its value is exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.   There is no 24-hour a day ticker that shows a home’s price.  This means that there is a lot of anxiety in the process and there are many emotions at play.  Sellers must walk the emotional “Am I pricing too high? / too low?” tightrope.  The buyers are on the opposite side of the same coin and worry that they will be taken advantage of.  The difference between ten people wanting a house and eleven people wanting a house is not that much- but the difference between one person wanting a house and two people wanting a house is tremendous.  Real estate is all about timing and having accurate information.

Elevating Your Game

Eddie’s use of technology has allowed him to take his relationship with his clients to the next level.  A full-time Lead Management staff handles all online information requests seven days a week.  The goal of this staff is simple- link these prospective clients with the agent who is best suited to service their needs.  By empowering his site visitors with rich and immediate information, he has been able to establish a unique experience for them.  Once clients find the local details they need on the sites, they are paired with the proper agent to complete the unforgettable “Redwood Experience”.