RAMB
Good SEO no guarantee you’ll sell homes online
NEW YORK – March 9, 2010 – Search engine optimization (SEO), which involves strategies to ensure that a Web site lands on the first page of search results, is not the only important component of an online marketing strategy.
Real estate agents must compete with lead aggregators for top search engine rankings; and even if agents make it onto the first page of search results, they must have an attractive and engaging website to convert visitors into leads.
To walk or not to walk: underwater homeowners face dilemma
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – March 9, 2010 – Michael Keigans is “underwater” on his mortgage, owing $80,000 more than his Deerfield Beach house is worth.
Keigans figures it could take a decade or two to recover the lost equity, so he’s tempted to walk away, even though he has the money to pay. “Why keep putting money into a house that’s going down in value?” he asks.
It’s a question being debated in many households nationwide as the housing crunch continues.
Locksmith crimes spur bill for licensing
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 9, 2010 – Impersonating a locksmith could become a crime under legislation before Florida lawmakers that creates licensing standards for anyone who wants to make keys or pick locks for a living.
Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, and Rep. Tom Anderson, R-Dunedin, have both filed bills that would create locksmith licensing standards to stop criminals who set up fake businesses in order to later break into a person’s home, car or safe.
Tax credit has Realtors’ phones ringing as deadline looms
TAMPA, Fla. – March 9, 2010 – Kim and Al Langevin were ecstatic Friday to close on a new home in St. Petersburg. And they’re pretty excited, too, about thousands in government money they plan to use to spruce up the house.
The Langevins are among a growing number of buyers rushing to find a home in time to cash in on the federal government’s tax-credit program. The couple, who moved from Lakeland, is eligible for up to $6,500.
They plan to put the money toward a swimming pool.
“We were worried we wouldn’t be able to close on time,” said Kim Langevin.
Quote of the Day
Customers talk…to their associates, friends, and neighbors. Here is the number of people they will talk to based upon how well you handle their complaint.
3 if you do a good job
10 if you do a great job
25 if you do a bad job
50 if you get into an argument
If the argument develops into a fight, and your lawyers get involved, you will be on the 6:00pm local news.
How are your customers talking about you?
– Jeffrey Gitomer, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless
How to Build Your Real Estate Business Using Social Networking Sites
RISMEDIA, - By Peyman Aleagha - Realtors know that today’s real estate prospects and consumers are using the Internet in ways that are revolutionizing the industry. By the time a prospect or customer contacts a Realtor, they have been looking at real estate on the Web anywhere from 10 to 40 hours. And so today, savvy Realtors are getting ahead of the information curve-using the power of the Internet to attract qualified prospects to them.
Getting Started
5 Ways to Master Social Networking
You hear a lot about social media today, and rightly so.
Get the most benefit from these tools by following these basic rules:
6 Realities of Doing Business on the Social Web
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Perhaps the most remarkable thing about online networking is the wide range of reactions it stirs up. Some real estate professionals swear by it. Others say it's a diversion at best—and an utter waste of time at worst.
Spring Cleaning for Your Business
| March 2010
Just as home owners embrace the annual rite of spring cleaning, you too can harness the season of renewal to get on track for success this spring and beyond.
Pending Home Sales Down; Severe Weather Impacting Market
Pending home sales are down and additional declines are expected from abnormal weather conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in January, fell 7.6 percent to 90.4 from an upwardly revised 97.8 in December, but remains 12.3 percent higher than January 2009 when it was 80.5.
Seniors on hold as they try to sell homes
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (AP) – March 8, 2010 – In March 2009, Frank Mumenthal toured his Elk Grove Village home after adding a fresh coat of neutral-colored paint, new carpeting and other changes. He was ready to sell.
Since 1976, this had been where he raised two daughters and a son, now grown and living in Schaumburg, Lombard and Grayslake. The children and grandchildren have played in these rooms.
In the master bedroom, he took care of his wife until she died from ovarian and breast cancer. In the kitchen, he saw the cabinets he installed.
Fla. lags in spending federal housing funds
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – March 8, 2010 – Florida got more federal funds than any other state as part of a program to put new owners into foreclosed houses. But the state ranks below the national average for dedicating and spending that money.
As of Feb. 22, communities in Florida had earmarked 28 percent of more than $541 million they received last spring from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. And they spent even less – 13 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Associations fight for condo fees
POMPONO BEACH, Fla. – March 8, 2010 – In many condominium complexes, units sit empty and association fees go uncollected when homeowners abandon their property. In many cases, banks initiate foreclosure but postpone the final order, effectively putting the condo in limbo because the bank doesn’t want to become responsible for the unit’s obligations generally and homeowner association fees specifically.
But some condos are trying a backdoor way of getting the banks to pay.
Foreclosed borrowers may get loans again
NEW YORK – March 8, 2010 – Will people who currently face foreclosure or short sales or who walk away from their underwater properties ever be able to get financing to buy another home down the road?
Banks haven’t been very forthcoming on this issue.
Monday Morning Mobile: We the People
RISMEDIA, March 8, 2010— By Seth Kaplan - Over the past six weeks we have looked at an array of topics regarding mobile phones, a lot of which have dealt with the transition from phones into mobile devices which can be used in a variety of ways. All of our topics have been looked at in terms of the facts, numbers and insights provided by industry thought leaders in order to promote the use of mobile technology and how we can benefit from it. However, every day each one of us turns to the screen of our mobile device countless times for an endless number of beneficial utilities.
Around the Home – When You Should Leave Home-Improvement Projects to the Experts
RISMEDIA, March 6, 2010—(MCT)— By Amy Hoak - Eager to save money, homeowners are more willing to get their hands dirty with home-improvement projects these days. But the DIY route isn’t always the safest or cheapest.
New GFE and HUD-1 Settlement Statement to Create More Transparent Lending Process
RISMEDIA, March 6, 2010— By Alyce Crawford Ritchie - Not only did we turn over a new year on January 1, 2010, but the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ushered in monumental and mandatory changes to the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and HUD-1 settlement statement (HUD-1).
What Is Your Sales Approach? – Analyze Client’s Wants and Needs
RISMEDIA, March 6, 2010—Being a successful salesperson is simply about trying to match the product or service that you’re selling to the people that are most likely to buy. While ‘hard-selling’ strategies don’t work in real estate, focusing on a Client-Servicing Approach may help you embrace the role of salesperson. Here, Allan Barmak, Author, The Accidental Salesperson discusses how focusing on your client’s wants and needs will help yield results.
Allan Barmak
Author
The Accidental Salesperson
www.listingbook.com
A Golden Opportunity: 203k Program Helps First-Time Buyers Turn Dreams into Reality
RISMEDIA, February 22, 2010— By Stephanie Andre
As a first-time home buyer, Jessica Garcia was excited last April to officially begin her home search. She found a home within her price range, completed the lengthy paperwork and paid for the appraisals, only to later be told after four months that the deal would not close.


