Comment below some of your ideas about how to use Tweet My Blog to sell your home fast on the internet.

Tags: Blogging, Blog, assist to sell, Creative Real Estate, BigBadHomeSale, sell own home

Michelle Obama with Home Energy Solutions Home Craftsman windows

Home Energy Solutions energy efficient windows by Home Craftsman took center stage at the YouthBuild AmeriCorps Green Homebuilding Service Day anniversary celebration. The windows, supplied by BMC West and Home Energy Solutions were specifically designed for the hot southern climate; the final destination of the charitable home.

First lady, Michelle Obama, addressed YouthBuild, a non-profit community development program that teaches low-income youth housing construction skills while they work toward their GED or high school diploma.

Students and graduates from around the country were on the National Mall in Washinton, D. C., to demonstrate the important role we can play in rebuilding our communities and our lives, greening America and protecting our planet, and supporting our President in his quest to make service opportunities available to all Americans, including low-income young adults.

The event celebrated YouthBuild’s 30th anniversary and featured more than 100 students from over 250 chapters across the country.

“Its your core principle that I am so impressed with, providing opportunities for amazing young people, said Mrs. Obama to rousing applause. “Giving folks a second and third and fourth, chance particularly to low-income youth, that we sometimes overlook.”

YouthBuild students demonstrated the advanced technology windows to the first lady, and explained why the top-rated windows were selected for this special home. Home Energy Solutions and BMC West advise YouthBuild about the latest technology products that make YouthBuild’s affordable green homes the most efficient.

Tags: sell own home, Creative Real Estate, BigBadHomeSale, Blogging, assist to sell, Blog

Tags: Blog, assist to sell, sell own home, Blogging, BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate

Most areas do not regulate companies selling windows.  You are going to meet people that make all kinds of promises about how much they will lower your utility bill, how their double pane window is better than a 366 glass triple pane window, and on and on and on…

The bottom line is: you must do your homework.  Learn the facts that are important to your environment.  If you’re in a warm climate, you want to know about Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.  If you’re in a colder climate, U-Value will be  important to you.  Visible Light Transmission tells you how dark the glass is.

Finally, make sure to pay attention to how much Ultra-Violet Light (UV) the window blocks out.  Keeping UV out will protect your furniture, window coverings, wood floors and more.

Don’t just accept the lowest bid on windows.  Take all these factors into account to measure your true Return on Investment.

Home Energy Solutions windows, exclusively from BMC West, feature Cardinal 366 glass as a standard feature and many other features that make it the most energy efficient window on the market.  Email: jhodge@bmcwest.com for more information.

Tags: Creative Real Estate, sell own home, Blogging, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, assist to sell

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, Blog, assist to sell, sell own home, Creative Real Estate, Blogging

• How could she maximize the excitement for her clients’ home?
• How could she make the best use of her time selling a home in Mesa… over 60 miles away?

So Cathey turned to the Big Bad Home Sale for answers.  You will definitely want to see how Realtors can use Big Bad Home Sale to help them get listings and sell homes faster just like Cathey did!  Make sure to opt in to Cathey’s Priority Notification List, and then check out Cathey’s blog.

Great job Cathey!  Keep us posted on your success!

Tags: Blogging, Creative Real Estate, sell own home, assist to sell, Blog, BigBadHomeSale

Many power companies are now offering rebates for homes that have these systems. If you consider these rebates, along with your monthly energy bill savings, you might find that the cost of a passive solar heating or geothermal heating system  is less than you think.

Check with your local mechanical contractor or Heating & Ventilation contractors to see if it might make sense to add this to your home.

Tags: Creative Real Estate, assist to sell, sell own home, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, Blogging

Tags: assist to sell, Creative Real Estate, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, sell own home, Blogging

But first let me tell you the highlights:

We had Mike Stewart, who travels the world teaching business professionals how to use audio and video to build their business, with us for over 60 minutes.

I’m really thrilled about all the great content we covered, but the true magic came at the end of the call! Mike and I spent about 10 minutes brainstorming specifically about how realtors can use video in creative ways to enhance their listings. We’re not just talking about pointing the camera at the living room and narrating the colors of the walls… We’re talking about innovative, creative uses of the Flip Video camcorder that will truly differentiate yourself from everybody else.

There was also some great examples that Mike relayed of how professionals from other industries use blogging to kick the pants off the competition. You have to hear the story about Mike’s friend, the exterminator and his blogs “Yucky Nasty Bug Facts” and “Possum Skinnin Secrets”.

See how a little creativity, sincerety and humor can help you establish credibility and build rapport with people? Who do you think people call when they need an exterminator in Atlanta??!!

This was a fantastic call, and it will shortly end up behind the gates of my member area. But I’m going to leave it up for the next few days because I want ActiveRain members to benefit from the great content. It’s about 60 minutes long, and there is great stuff right up until the end. So grab a seat in your favorite chair, pour yourself your favorite drink and listen to the entire program. You’ll be glad you did!

Listen to the replay here (remember, this replay will be taken down in a few days!)

Tags: Creative Real Estate, Blogging, Blog, assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale, sell own home

1. What’s the best way to host my videos to show on ActiveRain? Mike Stewart has developed some software that makes it very, very simple for you to host your own videos. He’ll show you how. If you don’t host your sites, I’ll also show you my favorite video hosting service that has some very cool extra tools you can use every day in your business.
    
2. Does this work on ActiveRain, or do I need my own site? You will learn great video strategies that will you can use on your ActiveRain Blog or on your own site, or on both! I personally maintain several blogs outside of ActiveRain and use some of these cool strategies so that I can create
   awesome posts and pages in just minutes. Of course, you’ve seen my ActiveRain video posts!
    
3. “I loved that video of you on the Flip Video Screen! How’d you do that?” That took a bit of editing! We’ll tell you tonight our favorite video editing package.Join us tonight on the call. If you haven’t registered yet, do so now. Remember the teleseminar is free and I promise you will get a bunch of great tips that you can immediately use to use and improve video on your site.Tell your friends!

Tags: Blogging, Blog, BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate, assist to sell, sell own home

P.S. My makeup artist already went home, so you get to see me warts and
all, at the end of a long day! This is Cinéma Vérité at it’s absolute
finest!

Here are some pictures Sherri took of me making the video. Notice the
position of the camera 30% angle above the center of my face. (you want
the camera above you angling down). Also note the mirror positioned behind
the flip video to show me the screen while recording.

We’ll give you more great tips

Thursday night on the Flip Video Secrets Teleseminar.

Tags: Blog, BigBadHomeSale, sell own home, Creative Real Estate, assist to sell, Blogging

One of the things I love about ActiveRain is seeing all the creative ways that real estate professionals market themselves and their clients’s homes.Marketing is in my blood… It always has been. I created and sold a board game, promoting my business nationwide, while just a teenager. Now, 25 (or so!) years later, I’m still at it; helping my clients learn the powerful strategies that make people want to buy from them, instead of the competition. That’s why I cringe when I think of the traditional notions about real estate marketing. Putting a home on the MLS, a sign in the yard, flyers in the info box, and a small ad in the paper is not marketing… It is the price of admission. You get to be in the game when you do those things. But the people winning the game in today’s tough market, and getting their homes sold, are the ones that put the time and effort into developing new skills. New skills like blogging, using video, search engine optimization and more. Last year, I sold my home in less than 3 weeks. I know some people sell homes quicker, but I’m pretty happy with my results. I never doubted for a moment that I would sell it in 3 weeks. The reason why is because I had a marketing strategy that created awareness for my home… and then engaged my prospects in a follow up campaign consisting of emails, blog posts, video messages and culminating in a huge event (like an open house). We packed the home with 35 prospects, received 2 offers and were able to negotiate a great price. Done, sold, closed… all within a total of 6 weeks. The formula is simple: Create Awareness Capture Contact Information Build Rapport With Your Prospects Ask For Feedback These steps will help you find and address your prospects needs and position your home (or your clients’ homes) as the one and only solution. Being here on ActiveRain, already elevates you above yesterday’s agents. Challenge yourself today to try something new and different (I know Bob Stewart is still waiting for that Flip Video interview with a school principal!) Learn how to use videos in your blog and real estate marketing

Tags: sell own home, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, assist to sell, Creative Real Estate, Blogging

Response to our new teleseminar Flip Video Secrets has been so
great, that I wanted to get up early this morning and give you some
more information.

Here are some of the most frequent questions we have heard from you
so far:

• "How do I set it up? The instructions in the box are pretty vague."
• "How do I get my videos to play automatically on my blog?"
• "How can I use videos to improve my business?"
• "How can I edit my videos?
• "How do I add music to my videos?

Get the picture??!!

People are flocking to the stores to buy the
Flip Video (Google has over 4 million results to the "Flip Video"search!).

Many think it's a cute little camera.

Thursday night, Mike Stewart and I will uncover the secrets that
will make your Flip Video a Powerful Business Tool.

Mark your calendar.  Learn the Secrets to use your Flip Video
camcorder, this Thursday, April 17. 9:00 EST, 8:00 CST, 6:00 PST.
Watch your email box for the call in information later this week.

Have a Great Weekend,
Steve Rosenbaum

P.S. Set a bookmark for FlipVideoReview for the latest
information about Flip Video cameras.

P.S.S. Ask me your questions about Flip Video to in the comment section.
We'll to answer as many as we can Thursday night.

Tags: Blogging, assist to sell, sell own home, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, Creative Real Estate

Make no mistake… this little camera is a weapon that can make the
difference in whether your site or blog is a pit-stop or a destination
on the information superhighway.

But it can be a bit tricky out of the box. 

If you're a Real Estate professional, you will want to learn how the
Flip Video can literally change the way you sell homes.

Next Thursday, April 17, Internet Video expert Mike Stewart (internetvideoguy.com)
and Steve Rosenbaum (BigBadHomeSale.com) will teach Realtors how
they can use the Flip Video to:

• Gain Clients
• Improve Listings
• Improve the "Stickiness" of your website/blog
• Increase Traffic
• Sell Homes Faster

You won't want to miss it. Visit http://FlipVideoSecrets.com/today right now for more information.

P.S. He you have a question about using the Flip Video, post it below.  We'll try to address it on the call.
P.S.S. Did I mention that the FlipVideoSecrets Teleseminar is free.  Tell all your friends and co-workers!

Tags: assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale, sell own home, Blogging, Creative Real Estate, Blog

My tests have shown that I more than tripled my conversion rate after Iadded video to my optin page at http://bigbadhomesale.com/optin.htm! Also, my video, “My Neighbors Are A Bunch of Asses!”, was by far, my most read blog post andwas responsible for bringing dozens of prospects to my home.

I get asked all the time how I put video on my WordPress blog and on my sales page. It’s one of the things I cover in the Big Bad Home Salesystem.

But, when it comes to using audio and video on the internet, Mike Stewart is the undisputed King! Mike is my mentor (and personal friend), so he let me in on the preview launch of his newest product by offering a WordpressVideoSalesLetter.com / BigBadHomeSale.com Special.

Mike is the master at breaking down the complex and making it super-simple. Wordpress Video Sales Letter is going to show you how you can put up high-quality video pages in less than 15 minutes! That’s right, in less time than it takes to
watch that Seinfeld episode for the 12th time, you can put up 2 professional quality, traffic generating, web sites!

Take a moment to think about all the great ways you can use video sales letters to grow your business.

Pretty awesome, right?

So, now let me tell you how you can immediately benefit from this product, and then I’m going to tell you about the special pre-launch offer that Mike is extending to my friends. Remember, if you have a short 15 minutes, Mike will show you how you can use video to:

• Attract traffic like a magnet to your site
• Capture your visitors attention so they listen to your entire message
• Convert your visitor into a paying client or customer

Mike doesn’t just tell you why video is the secret weapon that can differentiate you from your competition, but he shows you step by step how you can create your very own videolanding page. Call your webmaster today and ask him how much he would charge you for this. For a fraction of the cost, Mike will teach you how you can do it yourself. It’s so easy, you will want to duplicate your success over, and over, and over again.

So here’s the deal… I promised Mike that I would forego my commission, if he would let me give my friends a chance to buy Wordpress Video Sales Letter before the official launch on April 9, 2008. That means that I will give you $100 right out of my pocket if you act right now.

This is by far the simplest step-by-step process of how to put up Wordpress Video Sales Letters that I have ever seen. Take a look for yourself. In just over 3 minutes, Mike can demonstrate for you the power of his process. Just think how you can use this knowledge to benefit your own clients and help them make their home stand out from all the others trying to sell their home.

Remember, the price goes up $100 on Thursday. Take a look right now at what a real video sales letter should look like!

Regards,
Steve Rosenbaum
http://BigBadHomeSale.com

P.S. I have one more bonus to sweeten the pot. It’s a special 60+ minute recording of Mike Stewart from the Big Seminar 9 Preview Calls. Mike explains all the ways that he uses audio and video to increase internet business for him and his clients. (Yes,Mike has 2 Real Estate clients that both earn more than $1 million in commission each year!) Email me a copy of your receipt to steve {at}bigbadhomesale {dot} com and I will send you the recording.

P.S.S. It’s not too late to see Mike Stewart speak live at Big Seminar. I’ll be there, too. Come join Mike and me at what I believe is absolutely the greatest place to findand create internet marketing opportunities for your business.

Tags: Creative Real Estate, sell own home, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, assist to sell, Blogging

"People are running away from unaffordable housing, from the economic slowdown," said Karl Eschbach, a state demographer in Texas. "I would expect Texas to stay at the top of a slowing game."

With scores of people arriving into our city, it's important that you position yourself so that they easily find you when doing their research.  Here are seven things you can do to capture new clients relocating to Austin

1. Pick a Niche, Become and Expert - The market is full of agents, but how many of them are "Experts". Pick something you're passionate about, and market yourself as the authority on the subject (of course, you do have to know what you're talking about!) You can be an expert on "Living on the Lake", Corporate Relocation, Dell, UT, Medical, Hiking and Biking, Green Building…

2. Search Engine Optimizaion - SEO is much easier when you market yourself as an expert. Do your keyword research on your field of choice and add the word "Austin" to your keywords. You can also select only to advertise on Google in our geographic area. Both these strategies will help you achieve top rankings easier than promoting yourself simply as a real estate agent… Lots of people are doing that.
3. Blogging - People love Blogs, and so do search engines. Use your keywords in your blog title and also in your posts. I recently received #1 rankings on Google in less than 30 minutes after posting a blog post! (Yes, It can be done and I'll demonstrate that on a future post!) 20 years ago, I did research on Compuserve before moving to Savannah, GA. Obviously the web is much more prevalent and has much more information today.
4. Write Articles - Another strategy to position yourself as the expert and get the search engines to fall in love with you. Make sure to use your keywords in the headline and sprinkled throughout the article.  Make an offer in the Bio section that brings people to your squeeze page and captures their email address so you can follow up with an autoresponder, for instance "7 Great Places to Hike and Bike When you Relocate to Austin"
5. Post Videos - Break out your camera and shoot these beautiful surroundings.  Post your videos on YouTube and include a call to action at the end of your video that drives people to your squeeze page.
6. Take out a Toll Free Number - People still like to use the phone. They're cheap and it's easy to put up a message that drives people to your blog 24/7.  Follow it up with a free DVD offer (all they pay is shipping) that tells all about relocating to Austin (and of course all about your services and your areas of expertise!)
7. Network and promote - Where do people go when they come to town? They go to new jobs, churches, temples and other places of worship. Welcome Wagon, Chamber of Commerce, Hair Salons, Rudy's for Breakfast Tacos! Get to know people at all these places and let them know that you specialize in helping people relocating from other areas.

Any of these strategies will help people find you while they're researching their relocation.  But if you do them all, you will position yourself as the expert!  Watch the leads pour in!

Tags: Creative Real Estate, Blog, sell own home, Blogging, assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale

“Inspired Marketing,” a book written by two very dear friends,

I’ll tell you how you can help in a moment, but first let me explain why this book is so important, and what it can do for you.

Many of you know Joe Vitale. He has written dozens of best selling books such as “The Attractor Factor” and “Hypnotic Writing”. He is also one of the featured experts in the mega best-selling book and DVD “The Secret”. You have probably seen him on TV on Larry King and Donnie Deutsch. Craig Perrine is part of Joe’s mastermind
group and a masterful and highly sought-after business builder…
He is also my personal mentor.
<!–more–>

Joe and Craig’s teachings have made a huge impact on the success of my
business. Here are some of my accomplishments in the past 6 months that
I attribute to what I have learned from Joe and Craig:

• Developed and launched an innovative home selling business called BigBadHomeSale.com.
• Received recognition from respected business publications such as The Wall Street Journal Online and the Austin Business Journal.
• Have sold our product and consulted with home sellers around the world.
• Worked with at least a dozen noted authors and business leaders.

But that’s not all. In fact, one of the things that I am most proud of is that Joe and Craig selected our story, about how we used “Inspired Marketing” to sell our home and create a business, to be part of their InspiredMarketing.com web site. They even gave me an advance copy of the book and feature my testimonial in the front of the “Inspired Marketing” book and on their Amazon book listing.

Now you understand why “Inspired Marketing” is so near and dear to me.

So, here’s how you can help “Inspired Marketing” become an Amazon Best Seller today (and this has to be done right now to help Joe and Craig):

Go right now to http://inspiredmarketing.com/invitation and place your order.

Joe and Craig will have many unpublicized offers on this page. These are
bonuses that you cannot get anywhere else.

But I’m going to sweeten the pot even more for my friends.

If you buy 1 copy of “Inspired Marketing”, today March 25, 2008,
I will give you my personal bonus recording of an interview that I made with Craig where he uncovers marketing secrets that he uses to build business. His clients pay him thousands of dollars per day for this
information, but I’m going to give it to you for free (I hope Craig doesn’t see
this!)

If you buy 5 copies of “Inspired Marketing” (keep 1 and give the rest to your friends and clients), I will give you a complete package of my Big Bad Home Sale Gold program. This is a $297 package that includes our book, over 4 hours of audio recordings (some featuring Craig Perrine) and lots of other bonuses. It’s a great example of “Inspired Marketing” that will inspire you to grow your business… whatever business you’re in. Of course, if
you have a house to sell, you’ll learn how you can sell it for top price
in 21 days or less!

To take advantage of my gifts, all you have to do is buy your books from http://inspiredmarketing.com/invitation , today, March 25, 2008,
and email me a copy of your Amazon receipt to steve {at} bigbadhomesale {dot} com.
Please send me your receipt no later than April 4, 2008.

Thank you very much.

http://BigBadHomeSale.com

P.S. With your help, we can make Joe Vitale and Craig Perrine’s Inspired Marketing an Amazon Best Seller today.

Tags: sell own home, Blogging, Blog, assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate

That's why I want to share with you my absolute favorite internet marketing event. Watch this video and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about.

This April will mark the third time I've attended Armand Morins Big Seminar. Last year I generated over $250,000 in revenue within the first 6 weeks. In fact, the principles l Iearned were a big influence on our entire BigBadHomeSale.com business model that was written about in the Wall Street Journal online and also the Austin Business Journal.  So mark your calendar now, and meet me in Atlanta for Armand Morins Big Seminar 11.

So, if you're coming, drop me an email.  I'd love to meet you and discuss how we can help you improve your internet marketing strategies. 

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, assist to sell, sell own home, Creative Real Estate, Blogging, Blog

They know how to exponentially grow their web presence. How to come up first on google.  How to drive more traffic to their sites. Most importantly, they know how to command clients and prospects to take action, buy their products and services.

For them, Web 2.0 happened 7 years ago! They've been blogging, using video, social networks and all that kind of stuff for eons.

I know, because I'm one of them. I used these innovative, yet tried and true marketing tactics, to sell my home last summer… even in a very lousy real estate market.

Now I teach realtors how to get themselves noticed. How to set themselves apart from the competition, so that prospects find them first. And how to differentiate their services so that they never, never, NEVER have to discount their commission.

Hundreds of thousands of people call themselves webmarketers, but only a few hundered can actually call themselves members of our group. If you've never heard of Armand Morin's Big Seminar, you have to check it out now. We have learned more about internet marketing and made more money by attending these seminars that any other event.

I will be there and hope you join me.

Steve Rosenbaum
http://bigbadhomesale.com/

Tags: Creative Real Estate, assist to sell, Blogging, BigBadHomeSale, Blog, sell own home

We were given advance copies and asked to review it. Guess what??!! Our review from Big Bad Home Sale is actually printed in the book and even on Amazon's page! It's very exciting for Joe and Craig to acknowledge the Big Bad Home Sale. (I'm told that the Inspired Marketing website will have a case study of how the Big Bad Home Sale helps realtors and homeowners sell their homes fast, even in difficult markets!).

It really is a great book.  Take a look at our testimonial and go ahead and preorder it. You will definitely be inspired to list and market homes much more affectively.

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate, assist to sell, Blogging, sell own home, Blog

This is where you can really set yourself apart from all other
realtors and help your
clients market their home in a way that attracts buyers.

Watch this video:

Do you think this video got people’s attention? Why?

The house is nothing special. But the "Lifestyle" is special. And the video
uses clever
techniques to capture prospects attention and draw them in. You
won’t believe how
many times the video got watched, and how many prospects came
to view the home
and actually commented that they had watched (and laughed!) at
the video.
 

Of course, this shows that they actually paid attention to the video, which
makes it a 
"Home Run".

By showing people what it is like to live in the home, instead of selling the
physical house,
the video appeals to prospects and does an excellent job of
setting this house apart from
all others.

Blogging on Active Rain is a great marketing tool for showcasing homes in this way… and

videos like these get
watched (and paid more attention to) than sleek studio productions.

What lessons can be learned from this video?

• Every home has unique selling points that make it special

• Using humor and other persuasive techniques capture attention and make a
  home stand out

• People relate well to "amateur style" videos

There are some other techniques I’ll write about that ad value to homes and
make them more
desirable. 

Let’s hear your comments about how you would use video to make a home "sleek
and stylish"

Regards,
Steve

Distinguish yourself from all other agents. Sell your clients’ homes
faster for top market price. 
http://BigBadHomeSale.com

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, Blog, assist to sell, Blogging, sell own home, Creative Real Estate

 A man called me because his home has been on the market for 4 months.
He has had only 3 showings.

Get this… He lowered his price $150,000.
That's right ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Guess what happened?

You guessed it… Not one showing in 3 weeks.

Sound familiar? You and your client are not alone. In fact, that's the
problem. Everybody is lowering their price. People will have you
believe that the only way to sell a home is to lower it more
than the next guy. But tomorrow, he'll lower it below you.

There's a better answer. And I'm going to start sharing it with
you right now. But the best way is for me to have you think about
a couple of things:

Would you rather own an iPhone or a SCH-U740?
Would you rather have an iPod or a Zen Xtra?

I'm not trying to trick you. I picked 2 Apple products for a
reason. Why do people wait in line to pay Apple more money, while
other companies have to slash prices and even give their products
away for free with new contracts?

Do you get my point?

What would Steve Jobs (from Apple) say about your client's home if he were
trying to sell it?

Tonight's homework: Come up with the 5 Most unique features you
can about the home. Think about ways you can blog and market
these features.

Regards,
Steve

Distinguish yourself from all other agents. Sell your clients' homes
faster for top market price .  http://BigBadHomeSale.com

Tags: Blog, BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate, Blogging, sell own home, assist to sell

http://bigbadhomesale.com/abj

No matter what type of real estate, house, condo, or vacant land; the Big, Bad Home Sale can help you. Attract hungry buyers and sell your house. The Quick and Easy Home Sale System. Visit http://bigbadhomesale.com/ for your free video series "7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make"

Tags: Creative Real Estate, Blog, sell own home, Blogging, assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale

"Just curious to know if anyone else out there is in a similar boat…  My husband is in sales and is now in a new territory.  Its a great opportunity for us, but like a lot of people, we have to sell before we can all move…"

Boy, we've been to this movie! I really wanted to give some good advice to help these people sell their home, so I spent almost an hour putting together this post.  I want to share it with you because I know there is so much pain out there with people needing to sell their homes fast.

 (My Response)

TJ, I know exactly how you feel. We wanted to avoid this situation when I got relocated which was the impetus for us creating our home sale system.

First of all, I want to commend you for a great website, then I'd like to make a few suggestions that I feel will help you make it more effective. Is that OK?

Here's what I like about what you are doing:

• You do a great job showing why your home is unique (great pictures, descriptions, etc.)
• You are open and transparent (Disclosure Statement prominently displayed)
• You are a very articulate communicator… even a great storyteller (for instance, your Zillow post about your giant pine tree is fantastic!)
• You have your own descriptive web domain http://1212brownstreet.com… Excellent!

Let me ask you a few questions:

• How do you know who (not how many… but WHO) has visited your site?
• What happens if somebody sees your site and leaves without bookmarking it… How will they remember to come back?
• What are you doing to keep your site fresh and updated often?
• How do you follow up with somebody if they don't initiate contact you via phone or email?

Can you see where I'm going with this. You're site is like 99.9% of the other websites. It's static and unidirectional… for instance you give a lot of great information, but do not request or require anything back from the visitor.  It's like driving past a billboard at 70mph on the "information superhighway" and saying "yeah that looks interesting, I have to remember to take a look at that later." Has that every happened to you? How often do you remember to go back?

With some slight modifications, you can use effective Web 2.0 techniques and incorporate a 2 way communication dialog with your visitors that will benefit you in the following ways:

• You can capture email addresses to identify your prospects, and know exactly who is interested in your home. Do this via a "squeeze page" that makes people want to give you their email address for more information, rather than simply asking them to email you. It's a subtle difference that will exponentially improve your results.
• You can employ an automated follow up system that reminds people of your home well after they visit your website.
• You can put up a blog, update your constantly to keep it fresh and give people a reason to come back often.
• Your follow up system can give people the info they want, 24/7 and still allow them to remain slightly anonymous… This is real important in the early stages of looking for a lot of people.

Finally, Video, Video, Video. "Sell the Lifestyle, not the house." Actually show your home videos of your family making memories. This is especially effective when used on a blog.

Be creative, be yourself, use humor… Here is an example of my video, that received TONS of hits for my blog and brought a lot of prospects to my house.

http://bigbadhomesale.mpwr.tv/news/?p=14

As you can imagine, people were shocked, intrigued, and curious about what I was going to say when they saw my picture! The video was a huge hit, plus it showed off the neighborhood and gave people an idea about our "Lifestyle" and what it was like to live in our home.

OK, I've probably overwhelmed you with information. Take a while to digest this and let me know if you have any questions. You can find my contact info in my profile.

I hope you sell it soon, TJ. I really feel for you and your husband in your situation.

All my Best,
Steve

No matter what type of real estate, house, condo, or vacant land; the Big, Bad Home Sale can help you. Attract hungry buyers and sell your house. The Quick and Easy Home Sale System. Visit http://bigbadhomesale.com/ for your free video series "7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make"

Tags: Creative Real Estate, BigBadHomeSale, assist to sell, sell own home, Blog, Blogging

Jim Remley, who just released his latest book, "Sell Your Home In Any Market" will be our guest on Thursday's Teleseminar. I've been reading the book and am very impressed with his great tips… Of course you know that my favorite chapter is the one about web marketing!

Don't miss this one.  Jim is a Real Estate Veteran, and author of 3 books on the subject.  We're going to hear some great stuff!

Join us at http://BigBadHomeSale.com for more information about the call.

No matter what type of real estate, house, condo, or vacant land; the Big, Bad Home Sale can help you. Attract hungry buyers and sell your house. The Quick and Easy Home Sale System. Visit http://bigbadhomesale.com/ for your free video series "7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make"

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, sell own home, Blog, assist to sell, Creative Real Estate, Blogging

“People are running away from unaffordable housing, from the economic slowdown,” said Karl Eschbach, a state demographer in Texas. “I would expect Texas to stay at the top of a slowing game.”

With scores of people arriving into our city, it’s important that you position yourself so that they easily find you when doing their research.  Here are seven things you can do to capture new clients relocating to Austin

1. Pick a Niche, Become and Expert - The market is full of agents, but how many of them are “Experts”. Pick something you’re passionate about, and market yourself as the authority on the subject (of course, you do have to know what you’re talking about!) You can be an expert on “Living on the Lake”, Corporate Relocation, Dell, UT, Medical, Hiking and Biking, Green Building…
2. Search Engine Optimizaion - SEO is much easier when you market yourself as an expert. Do your keyword research on your field of choice and add the word “Austin” to your keywords. You can also select only to advertise on Google in our geographic area. Both these strategies will help you achieve top rankings easier than promoting yourself simply as a real estate agent… Lots of people are doing that.
3. Blogging - People love Blogs, and so do search engines. Use your keywords in your blog title and also in your posts. I recently received #1 rankings on Google in less than 30 minutes after posting a blog post! (Yes, It can be done and I’ll demonstrate that on a future post!) 20 years ago, I did research on Compuserve before moving to Savannah, GA. Obviously the web is much more prevalent and has much more information today.
4. Write Articles - Another strategy to position yourself as the expert and get the search engines to fall in love with you. Make sure to use your keywords in the headline and sprinkled throughout the article.  Make an offer in the Bio section that brings people to your squeeze page and captures their email address so you can follow up with an autoresponder, for instance “7 Great Places to Hike and Bike When you Relocate to Austin”
5. Post Videos - Break out your camera and shoot these beautiful surroundings.  Post your videos on YouTube and include a call to action at the end of your video that drives people to your squeeze page.
6. Take out a Toll Free Number - People still like to use the phone. They’re cheap and it’s easy to put up a message that drives people to your blog 24/7.  Follow it up with a free DVD offer (all they pay is shipping) that tells all about relocating to Austin (and of course all about your services and your areas of expertise!)
7. Network and promote - Where do people go when they come to town? They go to new jobs, churches, temples and other places of worship. Welcome Wagon, Chamber of Commerce, Hair Salons, Rudy’s for Breakfast Tacos! Get to know people at all these places and let them know that you specialize in helping people relocating from other areas.

Any of these strategies will help people find you while they’re researching their relocation.  But if you do them all, you will position yourself as the expert!  Watch the leads pour in!

Tags: Blogging, sell own home, assist to sell, Blog, BigBadHomeSale, Creative Real Estate

As my readers know, I am very proud of this book, having contributed our story to the project and even having my testimonial (Steve Rosenbaum, www.bigbadhomesale.com) in the front.  You’ll even be able to read our story in the InspiredMarketing.com member area that launches Friday.

P.S. You can get a free 30 membership to inspiredmarketing.com plus many other unannounced bonuses at the launch pad. 

Tags: assist to sell, BigBadHomeSale, Blogging, Creative Real Estate, sell own home, Blog

“Inspired Marketing,” a book written by two very dear friends,

I’ll tell you how you can help in a moment, but first let me explain why this book is so important, and what it can do for you.  

Many of you know Joe Vitale. He has written dozens of best selling books such as “The Attractor Factor” and “Hypnotic Writing”. He is also one of the featured experts in the mega best-selling book and DVD “The Secret”. You have probably seen him on TV on Larry King and Donnie Deutsch. Craig Perrine is part of Joe’s mastermind
group and a masterful and highly sought-after business builder…
He is also my personal mentor.  

Joe and Craig’s teachings have made a huge impact on the success of my
business. Here are some of my accomplishments in the past 6 months that
I attribute to what I have learned from Joe and Craig:  

• Developed and launched an innovative home selling business called BigBadHomeSale.com.   
• Received recognition from respected business publications such as The Wall Street Journal Online and the Austin Business Journal.
• Have sold our product and consulted with home sellers around the world.
• Worked with at least a dozen noted authors and business leaders.  

But that’s not all.  In fact, one of the things that I am most proud of is that Joe and Craig selected our story, about how we used “Inspired Marketing” to sell our home and create a business, to be part of their InspiredMarketing.com web site. They even gave me an advance copy of the book and feature my testimonial in the front of the “Inspired Marketing” book and on their Amazon book listing.  

Now you understand why “Inspired Marketing” is so near and dear to me.  

So, here’s how you can help “Inspired Marketing” become an Amazon Best Seller today (and this has to be done right now to help Joe and Craig):  

Go right now to http://inspiredmarketing.com/invitation and place your order.  

Joe and Craig will have many unpublicized offers on this page.  These are
bonuses that you cannot get anywhere else.  

But I’m going to sweeten the pot even more for my friends.  

If you buy 1 copy of “Inspired Marketing”, today March 25, 2008,
I will give you my personal bonus recording of an interview that I made with Craig where he uncovers marketing secrets that he uses to build business. His clients pay him thousands of dollars per day for this
information, but I’m going to give it to you for free (I hope Craig doesn’t see
this!)  

If you buy 5 copies of “Inspired Marketing” (keep 1 and give the rest to your friends and clients), I will give you a complete package of my Big Bad Home Sale Gold program. This is a $297 package that includes our book, over 4 hours of audio recordings (some featuring Craig Perrine) and lots of other bonuses. It’s a great example of “Inspired Marketing” that will inspire you to grow your business… whatever business you’re in.  Of course, if
you have a house to sell, you’ll learn how you can sell it for top price
in 21 days or less!  

To take advantage of my gifts, all you have to do is buy your books from http://inspiredmarketing.com/invitation , today, March 25, 2008,
and email me a copy of your Amazon receipt to steve {at} bigbadhomesale {dot} com.
Please send me your receipt no later than April 4, 2008.  

Thank you very much.  

http://BigBadHomeSale.com  

P.S. With your help, we can make Joe Vitale and Craig Perrine’s Inspired Marketing an Amazon Best Seller today.

Tags: BigBadHomeSale, Blogging, Blog, Creative Real Estate, sell own home, assist to sell

That’s why I want to share with you my absolute favorite internet marketing event. Watch this video and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

This April will mark the third time I’ve attended Armand Morins Big Seminar. Last year I generated over $250,000 in revenue within the first 6 weeks. In fact, the principles l Iearned were a big influence on our entire BigBadHomeSale.com business model that was written about in the Wall Street Journal online and also the Austin Business Journal. So mark your calendar now, and meet me in Atlanta for Armand Morins Big Seminar 11

They know how to exponentially grow their web presence. How to come up first on google.  How to drive more traffic to their sites. Most importantly, they know how to command clients and prospects to take action, buy their products and services.

For them, Web 2.0 happened 7 years ago! They’ve been blogging, using video, social networks and all that kind of stuff for eons.

I know, because I’m one of them. I used these innovative, yet tried and true marketing tactics, to sell my home last summer… even in a very lousy real estate market.

Now I teach businesses how to get themselves noticed. How to set themselves apart from the competition, so that prospects find them first. And how to differentiate their services so that they never, never, NEVER have to discount their prices.

Hundreds of thousands of people call themselves webmarketers, but only a few hundered can actually call themselves members of our group. If you’ve never heard of Armand Morin’s Big Seminar XI, you have to check it out now. We have learned more about internet marketing and made more money by attending these seminars that any other event.

I will be there and hope you join me.

The Big Bad Home Sale is proud to be part of Joe Vitale’s and Craig Perrine’s Inspired Marketing project (I’m told we are featured in the member area that complements their new book, Inspired Marketing).

Joe and Craig gave us an advance copy of the book to review a little while ago. We LOVED it. These are the kind of stories that actually inspired us to sell our home even in an absolutley brutal real estate market

If you’re tired of getting kicked in the head and are ready to take control of the sale of your home, you will want to read the great lessons in Inspired Marketing.

P.S.
Joe Vitale and Craig Perrine actually feature a review from Steve Rosenbaum of http://BigBadHomeSale.com in the front of their book.  Here’s what Steve has to say:

“The difference between an entrepreneur and a dreamer is action. I love the stories in this book! Seeing how these brilliant minds take their ideas, their dreams, their passions and turn them into successful businesses is what my uncle calls, ‘the very essence!’ Many of the people in this book, including Dr. Joe Vitale, Craig Perrine, and Armand Morin have greatly inspired my success. Their stories are extremely enlightening and will show you what to do with your great ideas, your great dreams, and your great passions. I wish I read Inspired Marketing! twenty years ago, but as I learned from Armand’s chapter, the time must not have been right!”
—Steve Rosenbaum, author, Big Bad Home Sale, www.BigBadHomeSale.com

Jim Chronin just nailed it!  His excellent post at the Real Estate Tomato is right on shows you exactly how you can make your home stand out from all others on the market. This is great stuff and right at the core of the Big, Bad Home Sale. Think about how Jim’s ideas can make your home sell faster. The Big Bad Home Sale book and member section show you step by step how to do exactly what he is talking about.

Get this… He lowered his price $150,000.
That’s right ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.

Guess what happened…

You guessed it… Not one showing in 3 weeks.

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. In fact, that’s exactly you’re
problem. Everybody is lowering their price. People will have you
believe that the only way to sell your home is to lower it more
than the next guy. But tomorrow, he’ll lower it below you.

There’s a better answer. And I’m going to start sharing it with
you right now. But the best way is for me to have you think about
a couple of things.

Would you rather own an iPhone or a SCH-U740?
Would you rather have an iPod or a Zen Xtra?

I’m not trying to trick you. I picked 2 Apple products for a
reason. Why do people wait in line to pay Apple more money, while
other companies have to slash prices and even give their products
away for free with new contracts?

Do you get my point?

What would Steve Jobs (from Apple) say about your home if he were
trying to sell it?

Tonight’s homework: Come up with the 5 Most unique features you
can about your home and email them to me at
steve{at}bigbadhomesale{dot}com.

You will be amazed at how quickly you can sell your home, for the
best price and even save money on commissions by following the
Big Bad Home Sale.

If you’re serious about selling your home, you’ll email me your 5
most unique features within the next 24 hours.

I hope you do.

Regards,
Steve

Jim Remley, who just released his latest book, “Sell Your Home In Any Market” will be our guest on Thursday’s Teleseminar. I’ve been reading the book and am very impressed with his great tips… Of course you know that my favorite chapter is the one about web marketing!

Don’t miss this one.  Jim is a Real Estate Veteran, and author of 3 books on the subject.  We’re going to hear some great stuff!

“Just curious to know if anyone else out there is in a similar boat…  My husband is in sales and is now in a new territory.  Its a great opportunity for us, but like a lot of people, we have to sell before we can all move…”

Boy, we’ve been to this movie! I really wanted to give some good advice to help these people sell their home, so I spent almost an hour putting together this post.  I want to share it with you because I know there is so much pain out there with people needing to sell their homes fast.

 (My Response)

TJ, I know exactly how you feel. We wanted to avoid this situation when I got relocated which was the impetus for us creating our home sale system.

First of all, I want to commend you for a great website, then I’d like to make a few suggestions that I feel will help you make it more effective. Is that OK?

Here’s what I like about what you are doing:

• You do a great job showing why your home is unique (great pictures, descriptions, etc.)
• You are open and transparent (Disclosure Statement prominently displayed)
• You are a very articulate communicator… even a great storyteller (for instance, your Zillow post about your giant pine tree is fantastic!)
• You have your own descriptive web domain http://1212brownstreet.com… Excellent!

Let me ask you a few questions:

• How do you know who (not how many… but WHO) has visited your site?
• What happens if somebody sees your site and leaves without bookmarking it… How will they remember to come back?
• What are you doing to keep your site fresh and updated often?
• How do you follow up with somebody if they don’t initiate contact you via phone or email?

Can you see where I’m going with this. You’re site is like 99.9% of the other websites. It’s static and unidirectional… for instance you give a lot of great information, but do not request or require anything back from the visitor.  It’s like driving past a billboard at 70mph on the “information superhighway” and saying “yeah that looks interesting, I have to remember to take a look at that later.” Has that every happened to you? How often do you remember to go back?

With some slight modifications, you can use effective Web 2.0 techniques and incorporate a 2 way communication dialog with your visitors that will benefit you in the following ways:

• You can capture email addresses to identify your prospects, and know exactly who is interested in your home. Do this via a “squeeze page” that makes people want to give you their email address for more information, rather than simply asking them to email you. It’s a subtle difference that will exponentially improve your results.
• You can employ an automated follow up system that reminds people of your home well after they visit your website.
• You can put up a blog, update your constantly to keep it fresh and give people a reason to come back often.
• Your follow up system can give people the info they want, 24/7 and still allow them to remain slightly anonymous… This is real important in the early stages of looking for a lot of people.

Finally, Video, Video, Video. “Sell the Lifestyle, not the house.” Actually show your home videos of your family making memories. This is especially effective when used on a blog.

Be creative, be yourself, use humor… Here is an example of my video, that received TONS of hits for my blog and brought a lot of prospects to my house.

http://bigbadhomesale.mpwr.tv/news/?p=14

As you can imagine, people were shocked, intrigued, and curious about what I was going to say when they saw my picture! The video was a huge hit, plus it showed off the neighborhood and gave people an idea about our “Lifestyle” and what it was like to live in our home.

OK, I’ve probably overwhelmed you with information. Take a while to digest this and let me know if you have any questions. You can find my contact info in my profile.

I hope you sell it soon, TJ. I really feel for you and your husband in your situation.

All my Best,
Steve

http://bigbadhomesale.com/abj

The Big, Bad Home Sale system helps all homeowners maker their home stand out and get noticed. 

“Sell the LIFESTYLE, not the house!”

read more | digg story

If you couldn’t make it last night, we’ve got you covered!  We just posted
the replay at http://bigbadsales.com/prod/webcast_080117/getitnow/webcast_080117_xiosoft.htm.

The objective of our home sale teleseminar was to outline all the steps you
need to take to sell your home fast.  I’m sure you will agree; we gave you
that and a whole lot more.

Whether you are selling your home by owner (”fsbo”), a realtor, or a real estate investor, listen to “Proven Marketing Secrets to Sell Your Home Fast.”

Let’s Sell You Home Fast,

Steve Rosenbaum
http://BigBadHomeSale.com

P.S.  We will be having a brand new FREE teleseminar next week with a brand new guest.  Be on the lookout for our announcement soon!

Frustrated by a nationwide housing slump, a western Maryland couple is selling raffle tickets for their $390,000 house and hoping they’ll sell enough $100 tickets to get the farmhouse off their hands.

read more | digg story

Picture this: Remember when Apple launched the new iPhones this summer and thousands of people waited in line to pay TOP DOLLAR?

Why did they do it?

One of the biggest reasons is because Apple’s marketing is ingenious… 2nd to none.  People were dying to be the first to have an iPhone.

Have you ever seen anybody stand in line for the newest Nokia or LG phone?

Would you rather market your home like Apple or Nokia?  The key to getting TOP DOLLAR for your home is driving lot’s of traffic (i.e. interested buyers) to your home.  If you do it right, you just might start a bidding war!

Now don’t misunderstand us.  We can not and will not promise to get you more money than your home is worth.  Do your job.  Create a BUZZ and attract LOTS of traffic.  The market will tell you how much your home is worth.

Sherri and I are very blessed to be able to share our good fortunes and help teach others creative real estate strategies to sell their homes.

We have just been offered a publishing contract that will put the Big, Bad Home Sale on bookstore shelves, nationwide in early 2008!

You can imagine how excited we are!  We’ve never done anything like this.  We know we have a great story to tell about how we sold our house, and we love to help others.  The word is spreading.

Of course, the you don’t have to wait until next year.  You can learn a better way to sell your home right now!

Thank you, and please keep telling your friends and family about Big, Bad Home Sale!

Independent Street : To Sell Your House, Act Like an Entrepreneur (Try Blogging): “A friend of a friend needed to sell their house and got discouraged with their agents not getting much to happen. He tried an approach of his own and sold it fast, for just about what he wanted. He was so happy with how it went that he wrote a book on it, which is also doing well. What he did is outlined pretty clearly at his link: http://www.bigbadhomesale.com/product/

(I have nothing to do with this, I don’t even know the owner.) Good luck to all in this situation, it’s a tough time to be selling.~ Les      Comment by Les in TexomaLand - November 16, 2007 at 11:22 am

To Les and Corykay, we thank you sincerely for going out of your way to share your kind thoughts about what we are doing!  You will be pleased to know that we have been able to share our good fortunes with to others and help them also sell their homes.

Blessings and Happy Holidays to all of our friends.
Sherri and Steve
http://BigBadHomeSale.com

Todays video is the last of our introductory series. This information is just the beginning.  If you want to sell your home NOW… You need to order the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System. Remember, this is the last of our 7 part introductory series.

Why not order now?

More Ways to Negotiate From Strength We spoke about this a bit yesterday.  Today’s video show you the numerous ways that you will have the upper hand at the negotiating table. Learn how to make all of this happen with the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System.

Download Title

Today’s video is the last of our introductory series.This information is just the beginning.  If you want to sell your home NOW…
You need to order the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System.Remember, this is the last of our 7 part introductory series.Why not order now?More Ways to Negotiate
From StrengthWe spoke about this a bit yesterday.  Today’s video show you the numerous ways that you will have the upper hand at the negotiating table.Learn how to make all of this happen with the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System.

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/bBW5gAwq2ws" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/eL7qQg4zpKU" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Some “experts” had advised them to lower their asking price by several thousand dollars.  Still nobody was coming to see their home.

“What can we do,” they asked?

The answer to attracting crowds of buyers is not in lowering your price…

Instead the answer is in differentiating your home.

Make your home stand out from the thousands of others on the market.

Download Title

Some “experts” had advised them to lower their asking price by several thousand dollars.  Still nobody was coming to see their home.

“What can we do,” they asked?

The answer to attracting crowds of buyers is not in lowering your price…

Instead the answer is in differentiating your home.

Make your home stand out from the thousands of others on the market.

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/xAie-HjUE64" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

The following article from the LA Times shows how bad it has gotten for Realtors. Even the experts they look up to are telling them to throw in the towel. Here is the article in it’s entirety:

Mogul’s advice to Realtors: Don’t keep your day job

By Peter Y. Hong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

November 3, 2007

Mogul’s advice to Realtors: Don’t keep your day jobBy Peter Y. Hong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 3, 2007 The Southern California market will get worse before it gets better, he warns a gathering. One survival strategy: Slash prices, now.
By Peter Y. Hong, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 3, 2007
Even Realtors can lose faith in the housing market.

Speaking to a gathering of industry professionals Friday, longtime California real estate titan Fred C. Sands called the housing market “pathetic” and said some agents needed to start looking for other work.

“If you’ve been in it for five or six years and are barely making a living, you might want to think about what you were doing before and get back into it — you can come back in a couple of years,” Sands told members of the California Assn. of Realtors meeting in Universal City.

In the short term, the local real estate market “is not going to get better,” Sands said.

He added that he could speak with candor because he was no longer in the home-selling business. Sands now leads Vintage Capital Group, an investment firm that focuses on commercial real estate development.

Such frank remarks are rare at gatherings of famously upbeat real estate agents, but Sands said those in the business needed to remember the last slump and realize “the last five or six years were not normal.”

The soaring market of a few years ago will be followed by a correspondingly sharp decline, he said: “The longer the up cycle, the more excess there is, and the worse it is for what follows.”

Few homeowners and real estate agents would find room to quibble with that. An estimated 12% of Californians will sell their homes at a loss this year, said Realtors association economist Leslie Appleton-Young, up from about 2% in 2006.

Slumping sales and prices have also brought hardship on many agents, many of whom were drawn into the profession during the housing boom that began in the late 1990s.

There are now 540,000 licensed real estate agents and brokers in California, up 50% from 2003, according to the state Department of Real Estate. But more than half of those agents haven’t been involved in a transaction in the last 12 months, a Realtors association board member said.

Sands on Friday asked audience members who worked in the San Fernando Valley to raise their hands. “I feel your pain,” he told them. He suggested that those who planned to stay in the business focus on affluent Valley areas or “move to the Westside.”

Prices have remained stronger on the Westside and in other affluent areas, in part because buyers there are less likely to use loans with low teaser rates that are now adjusting higher.

But wealthy areas won’t escape unscathed, Sand said.

“We saw 25-year-old guys buying $3-million houses,” he said of the questionable mortgage practices of recent years. “Someone who makes $100,000 a year can’t afford a $2-million house, but that’s what’s been going on,” Sands said.

“The idea that everyone is supposed to own a home is baloney,” he added.

Sands counseled agents that property prices must be cut drastically to “get in front of the crisis.” Otherwise, agents will “follow it down like a dope” and get even less for the properties, if they can sell them at all, he said.

Speaking with Sands was Alan Long, president of the Southern California region of Sotheby’s International Realty Inc., who also told agents to cut listing prices to speed sales. Rising foreclosures could cause prices to fall 20% below 2005 levels, he said.

Long counseled agents to drop sellers who aren’t willing to lower prices.

“Let go of the fear another agent will take over and sell it — they won’t,” he said. Long said agents could survive by working with buyers, emphasizing to them the advantages of purchasing from a position of strength.

Agents should “go with the flow” by using the downturn to prod buyers, he said. “We are salespeople. We have to be positive.”

That remark prompted Sands to interject: “But if you go too far, you lose credibility. People need to know what’s happening.”

peter.hong@latimes.com

Times staff writer Annette Haddad contributed to this report.

Don’t you dare place another newspaper ad until you watch this video!Learn how to stretch your advertising dollars and reach 10 times the buyers for far less money.
Big, Bad Home Sale teaches you how.

How badly do you want to sell your home?  The Big, Bad Home Sale is not for everybody.  But
if you’re willing to learn a better system that literally drives hungry buyers to your door, you will want the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System.

Download Title

Don’t you dare place another newspaper ad until you watch this video!Learn how to stretch your advertising dollars and reach 10 times the buyers for far less money.
Big, Bad Home Sale teaches you how.

How badly do you want to sell your home?  The Big, Bad Home Sale is not for everybody.  But
if you’re willing to learn a better system that literally drives hungry buyers to your door, you will want the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System.

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/_7DQK0h3M8Y" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] 

Just for kicks, here is the full story from the Wall Street Journal.  You can try the statue, if you like.  But you owe it to yourself to first learn about the “7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make”.  (I might need to update the video to 8 mistakes after reading this article!)

When It Takes a Miracle To Sell Your House Owners, Realtors Bury Statues Of St. Joseph to Attract Buyers; Don’t Forget to Dig Him Up
By SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ
October 30, 2007; Page D1

When It Takes a Miracle To Sell Your House Owners, Realtors Bury Statues Of St. Joseph to Attract Buyers; Don’t Forget to Dig Him Up
By SARA SCHAEFER MUÑOZ
October 30, 2007; Page D1

Cari Luna is Jewish by heritage and Buddhist by religion. She meditates regularly. Yet when she and her husband put their Brooklyn, N.Y., house on the market this year and offers kept falling through, Ms. Luna turned to an unlikely source for help: St. Joseph.
Some choose to bury St. Joseph upside down.
The Catholic saint has long been believed to help with home-related matters. And according to lore now spreading on the Internet and among desperate home-sellers, burying St. Joseph in the yard of a home for sale promises a prompt bid. After Ms. Luna and her husband held five open houses, even baking cookies for one of them, she ordered a St. Joseph “real estate kit” online and buried the three-inch white statue in her yard.

“I wasn’t sure if it would be disrespectful for me, a Jewish Buddhist, to co-opt this saint for my real-estate purposes,” says Ms. Luna, a writer. She figured, “Well, could it hurt?”

With the worst housing market in recent years, St. Joseph is enjoying a flurry of attention. Some vendors of religious supplies say St. Joseph statues are flying off the shelves as an increasing number of skeptics and non-Catholics look for some saintly intervention to help them sell their houses.

Some Realtors, too, swear by the practice. Ardell DellaLoggia, a Seattle-area Realtor, buried a statue beneath the “For Sale” sign on a property that she thought was overpriced. She didn’t tell the owner until after it had sold. “He was an atheist,” she explains. “But he thanked me.”

Existing-home sales fell 8% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million units, the lowest level in nearly 10 years, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Some Catholic clergy are uncomfortable with the St. Joseph’s trend. Read about this and track other news in the housing market at Developments, WSJ.com’s new real-estate tracker.Statues of St. Joseph sold online can be as tall as 12 inches. One, made of colored resin, portrays St. Joseph cradling the baby Jesus. Yet most home sellers favor the simpler three- or four- inch replicas — most of which are made in China and often depict St. Joseph as a carpenter.

Most statues come in a “Home Sale Kit” that is priced at around $5 and includes burial instructions and a prayer. One site, Good Fortune Online, recently added another kit with a statue of St. Jude — known as the patron saint of hopeless causes — “to help those with a difficult property to sell,” the site says. Another site, Stjosephstatue.com, takes orders for its “Underground Real Estate Agent Kits” at               1-888-BURY-JOE       .
Demand for the statues has been growing. Ron Weissman, who sells the statues at Good Fortune Online, says about six months ago he switched to online transactions because the increase in calls — from about two a week to 25 calls a day — was too much to handle. Richard Weigang, owner of www.catholicstore.com, says he sells about 400 statues a month, double the amount he sold a year ago.

In Catholicism, St. Joseph, a carpenter, is honored as the husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. Representing a humble family man, he is the patron saint of home, family and house-hunting, according to the Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of “My Life With the Saints.” Popular belief holds that people who wish to enlist St. Joseph’s help in selling a house should bury his replica upside-down in the yard. (Apartment dwellers are advised to put him in a potted plant.)

Methods of burying the statue vary. Instructions in one package give buyers several options, including burying it upside-down next to the “For Sale” sign, burying it three feet from the rear of the house and burying it next to the front door facing away from the home. Phil Cates, owner of stjosephstatue.com, says: “I’ve seen it buried in all types of places with all types of ceremonies.” He says the detailed burial instructions are largely intended to prevent people from forgetting where they put their St. Joseph. (His kits advise burying it facing it away from the house, to symbolize leaving.)

Theologians say there’s no official doctrine that calls for the statue’s interment. The practice may have stemmed from medieval rites of land possession, in which conquerors claimed land by planting a cross or banner, says Jaime Lara, associate professor of Christian Art and Architecture at Yale Divinity School. Mr. Lara also suggests that the tradition may have gotten mixed up at some point with folklore surrounding St. Anthony. St. Anthony, known as a matchmaker, would often be held ransom, upside-down, until he found a husband for someone’s daughter, he says.

Some clergy aren’t sure how St. Joseph would feel about his replica ending up on its head in the dirt, and suggest displaying it somewhere in the house instead.

“I think it’s much more respectful than burying the poor guy,” says Msgr. Andrew Connell, the archdiocesan director of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Boston. Some retailers, such as Mr. Weigang, owner of www.catholicstore.com, also encourage buyers to put the statues in the house.

“We don’t advocate burying,” he says. “Some of those statues are quite beautiful.”

Catholic leaders also say that faith and devotion are necessary, in addition to burying a statue, otherwise the practice amounts to little more than superstition or magic. But they are also enjoying the saint’s newfound popularity. “If they have a good result and they think it was St. Joseph, it might inspire them to practice more,” says Msgr. Connell.
The St. Joseph “Underground Real Estate Agent Kit” from www.stjosephstatue.com
Once someone’s home sells, the custom holds, the statue should be dug up and put in a place of honor in the new home. That’s what Ms. Luna did after she and her husband sold their house shortly after burying St. Joseph. She put the statue in her office in their new home in Portland, Ore.

But not everyone is aware of the follow-up step. Trudy Lopez and her husband buried a statue of St. Joseph when they were trying to sell their condo, even though Ms. Lopez is Jewish and her husband is a nonpracticing Catholic. They sneaked out late at night, worried they might be breaking a condo association rule.

“And I’m thinking, ‘If my family knew what I am doing, they’d die,’ ” she says.

Soon they got an offer, but didn’t realize they were supposed to bring the statue with them to their new home.

“I’m afraid a lot of the statues won’t be unearthed and someone will go over St. Joseph’s feet with a lawnmower,” says Father Martin.

There’s a better way.

Learn how to make your home stand out from the millions of other listings. Use the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System along with your listings to improve your results and drive hungry buyers to your door!

Download Title 

There’s a better way.

Learn how to make your home stand out from the millions of other listings. Use the Big, Bad Home Sale Quick & Easy Home Sale System along with your listings to improve your results and drive hungry buyers to your door!

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.) 

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/mFfBkmQexlc" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /] 

There are 7 critical mistakes that most home sellers make when they list real estate the traditional way.  Join the Big, Bad Home Sale for an expanded tutorial to help you avoid making these same mistakes.  Just give us your email address and we’ll send you the free lessons to help you attract more buyers and sell your home quickly.

Download Title

No matter what type of real estate, house, condo, or vacant land; the Big, Bad Home Sale can help you.  Attract hungry buyers and sell your house with the Quick and Easy Home Sale System will Visit http://bigbadhomesale.com/ for your free video series “7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make”

There are 7 critical mistakes that most home sellers make when they list real estate the traditional way.  Join the Big, Bad Home Sale for an expanded tutorial to help you avoid making these same mistakes.  Just give us your email address and we’ll send you the free lessons to help you attract more buyers and sell your home quickly.

(Videos take several seconds to download. Please be patient.)

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/bBW5gAwq2ws" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

No matter what type of real estate, house, condo, or vacant land; the Big, Bad Home Sale can help you.  Attract hungry buyers and sell your house with the Quick and Easy Home Sale System will Visit http://bigbadhomesale.com for your free video series “7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make”

But there are more homes on the market than at any time since 1999.  That means your competition is tough.  You don’t want to have to compete on price.

The trick is making your home stand out from the competition.  Our new FREE video series “7 Mistakes Most Home Sellers Make” teaches you how to put home in a position to sell.

You CAN attract hungry buyers to your home and sell it.  We can show you how.

Now just in case you are one of those people that like to read all the stats, we’ve included the whole article from Yahoo News below:

No end in sight for housing slump
By Ron Scherer
Fri Oct 26, 4:00 AM ET

New York - Home prices are now at 2005 levels.

New York - Home prices are now at 2005 levels.

ADVERTISEMENT

And, even with the falling prices, the number of unsold homes is the highest since 1999 – as far back as the data goes – suggesting to economists that more price- cutting is ahead.

One of the major implications of the continuing slide in housing is the drag on the total economy. With home sales now lower than many of the most pessimistic forecast, some economists worry that the economy could be closing the year in a weakened state.

In fact, Wall Street is now convinced that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates a second time this fall when the central bank convenes next week.

“Housing is clearly the big factor for the Fed,” says Jeff Kleintop, chief investment strategist at LPL Financial Advisors in Boston. “The Fed will clearly be looking at that drag [housing] on the economy and the financial consequences of the pullback.”

This week, evidence accumulated detailing the housing slump. Yesterday, for example, the Commerce Department revised lower new-home sales for August to the slowest pace in 11 years. September sales rose 4.8 percent compared with the slow August pace. But, new-home sales are still 23 percent below last September.

“Technically it looks like it improved but not when you look at the downward revisions which totaled 167,000 homes in June, July, and August,” says Sam Bullard, an economist at Wachovia in Charlotte, N.C. “There is so much inventory out there on the market, builders will have to put out discounts to help move this inventory off their books.”

Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), reported in September that existing home sales fell by 8 percent from August’s level and are down 19 percent from a year ago. Home prices fell 4.2 percent from a year ago, and inventories were equal to 10.5 months of sales.

“The market is glutted with houses,” says Peter Morici, economics professor at the University of Maryland.

According to the NAR report, there were 4.4 million existing homes on the market. The weakness is extending into the condo and coop markets where September sales fell 4.3 percent from August levels.

With weak sales and rising inventories, the median home price fell to $211,700. This is down 4.2 percent from September 2006. Part of the reason for the falling price is turmoil in the mortgage market, where it has become more difficult to obtain a loan that is higher than $417,000, the cut-off for a loan to qualify for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac coverage.

Even in some well-to-do communities, immune to the price drop until recently, prices are under pressure. That’s the case in Madison, Conn., where the average sale price is down 11.2 percent from last year.

“There is downward pressure on prices, inventories have risen,” says Brendan Grady, a regional vice president for Caldwell Banker.

However, Mr. Grady says the falling prices are attracting buyers to the upscale shore community. Sales this year are up 22 percent.

Falling home prices may have a larger impact on low-income families, says Andrew Jakabovics, an associate director at the Center for American Progress. “It’s more likely that a low-income borrower has made a lower down payment, so when prices fall, they may have negative equity.”

The implications for a buyer holding a house now worth less than when they bought it are significant. “No one will refinance the house if it’s under water [below purchase price],” says Mr. Jakabovics.

Mr. Morici says home owners with negative equity in their homes will find it difficult to buy another house. “If you have to sell and there are not enough proceeds, you get a bill,” he explains. “You can’t walk away from it without the lenders coming after you.”

Earlier this year, many investment professionals had hoped the real estate and mortgage markets would be able hop out of trouble by year-end. However, now there are doubts. On Wednesday, Merrill Lynch shocked the markets with a $8.4 billion write down.

“We just don’t know how deep in we are,” says Morici.

On Wednesday, an on-line poll of real-estate finance professionals attending the upcoming Asset Backed Security (ABS) East Conference in Orlando, Fla., found still more pessimism. Ninety-eight percent of the respondents see the problems in the subprime market now spreading to higher-rated mortgages, up from 85 percent in March. The ABS conference is for professionals involved in the securitization industry – where the bulk of the financial crunch has taken place.

However, “The only thing stressing is home prices; that’s not so bad,” says Mark Adelson of Adelson & Jacobs, a consultant to the securitization business. “The main-stream core of the mortgage business is Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and that’s fine. That is the part of the business that puts most Americans in their homes.”

Guest:  Kathryn Weber, author of “Sell Your House Now” and syndicated columnist discusses the #1 obstacle facing homeowners trying to sell their home.

Her answer will definitely suprise you!

Learn more about Kathryn Weber at kathryn.BigBadHomeSale.com

Download Title

Stop suffering from this depressing real estate market and learn the secrets to selling your home fast.  Combine your Big, Bad Home Sale marketing with the George Cappony Fast Action Home Sale System to sell your home fast.

P.S.  Make sure you read all the way to the bottom to sign up for a $97 gift from George Cappony.

Situations like these are ideal for the Big, Bad Home Sale, George Cappony’s Fast Action Home Sale and others creative real estate solutions featured by Brian Ross on ABC 20/20 (ABC News) on September 28.  Read more about forclosure in Stockton California

Ask your favorite Realtor the last time they had 100 people show up
for an Open House.

Another lady sold her home at her sale last weekend.  Oh yeah…
it had been listed on the MLS for over 3 years!  She held a
successful event and sold her house in a manner of weeks.

Why does the Big, Bad Home Sale work? 

There are many ways to estimate what price you might be able to get for your house.  Realtors can help you with a CMA or Competitive Marketing analysis.  By performing a real estate market analysis in your area, comparing recent sales and homes currently listed on the MLS, the CMA will give you a range of prices for your house. 

If you want a quick “Zestimate” Check out Zillow for a glimpse of home values in your neighborhood.

In the end, “Fair Market Value” is whatever price you and a buyer agree upon.  Nothing will increase your home values like competition!  The Big, Bad Home Sale creates a highly competitive environment that could lead to multiple prospects interested in your home! 

Let Sherri and Steve teach you how to bring buyers to your home!

George has put together a very detailed sales process, called the FAST Action Home Sale that combined with the Big, Bad Home Sale Marketing Blitz Sets your private home sale by owner apart from all other sales (MLS or FSBO!)

Like the Big, Bad Home Sale, George’s efforts have emerged from the orginal Bill Effros book “How to Sell Your Home in 5 Days.”  While the book is still useful, you will definitely benefit from George’s years of experience, and our enhanced marketing efforts.

Happy Selling!

ABC 20/20 news called me from New York!  They saw our “Big, Bad Home Sale” video and asked me all about our sale.  They were researching an upcoming story with John Stossel about creative marketing techniques that people are using to sell their homes by owner in the current housing market.

I taught them the Big Bad Home Sale process and documented our sale.  Watch ABC 20/20 on September 28 to see if the Big, Bad Home Sale makes the cut!

Hold your own private sale and sell your home fast…
Even while others sit and wait.

According to the National Association of Realtors,sales of existing homes dropped another 0.2 percent in July, compared to June.

In addition, the median price of a home plummeted 0.6 percent from the median price a year ago.  The 12th consecutive month that home prices have declined (a new record). source: yahoo news.

Don’t Panic!

Hold your own Big, Bad Home Sale and learn how to sell your own home, just like we did.