Kentucky recognized for job creation
Area Development magazine, a trade publication for those in the economic development profession, has given its Silver Shovel award to the state of Kentucky, recognizing the state as being one of the most successful in creating jobs and securing investments in 2012. Read More.
5 tips to prepare your home for a successful sale
Want to sell your home quickly and for the best price? Making some small improvements can give buyers the best first impression and make a world of difference when selling your home. Here are 5 tips for getting the best offer sooner. Read More.
Leveraging social media for online lead generation
Targeting, converting and nurturing online leads are challenges many real estate professionals face. From the expense to the tools and management, knowing how and where to spend time and money can feel like an immense undertaking. Read More.
Don’t be shocked if your lender asks you these personal questions
Are you thinking of buying a home or refinancing the one you currently own, but not sure what kind of questions you’ll have to answer? Well, hopefully you’re comfortable with giving a little more than your name and job title. Because lenders are allowed to ask a host of questions that might surprise you.
“Borrowers will have to fill out what we call the declaration page, or form 1003 of the Uniform Residential Loan Application, on a loan application,” says Elizabeth Weintraub, who has 30 years of experience as a realtor and covers real estate for About.com. She says borrowers are often surprised at how in-depth the questions on this form can be.
For instance, in addition to asking about your job, your income, and the number of dependents you have, lenders ask about marital status, any borrowed money, and outstanding legal matters. But don’t worry, parking tickets don’t count. Read More.
5 things to know about open houses
Open houses are a great source of information about the property, neighborhood and local markets. Nearly half of real-estate buyers go to one.
1. Look past window-dressing
A full 94% of sellers do some “staging,” such as repainting or bringing in new furniture, says Coldwell Banker.
“You can be so wowed by staging that you overlook important things,” says San Jose realtor Carl San Miguel. To focus on what matters, lift rugs to look at floors, ask the agent to turn off music so you can listen for nearby noise, and beware of any smells masked by candles. Also request a disclosure sheet, which lists known structural issues. Read More.
4 myths of online real estate lead generation
Using the internet to capture real estate leads can be an exciting way to earn new business. It can also be a major undertaking for those without the training, understanding or systems to manage online lead generation.
According to NAR, 90% of consumers are researching homes online. This is before they ever pick up a phone or reach out to a real estate agent. The rapidly evolving online world makes it imperative that you create a system to grab and retain the attention of today’s home buyer.
If you have hired a lead coordinator, bought smart phones for your sales associates and created back office systems to distribute leads, you may believe that your job is done. You would be wrong. Building a successful online lead generation system takes time, skill and management. Read More.
More Americans say time is right to sell homes
More Americans say now is a good time to sell a home than at any time in the past three years, a rise in confidence that could lead to more sellers and, eventually, smaller home price gains.
In May, 40% of Americans said it was a good time to sell a home, up from 30% in April and 16% a year before, according to a survey from mortgage giant Fannie Mae.
The big jump from March was the largest in the survey’s three-year history and was likely inspired by strong home price gains.
The jump may also foreshadow a lessening of the inventory crunch of homes for sale that’s fueled rapid home price gains in many markets. Read More.
Fannie Mae introduces tool to streamline short-sale process
Fannie Mae introduced a tool Wednesday that will help real estate professionals streamline the short-sale process.
In order to provide greater transparency, listing agents are now encouraged to register accepted short sale offers with Fannie Mae, allowing the entity to proactively work with the mortgage servicer during the final steps of the sales transaction.
This is yet another step on behalf of Fannie Mae in its efforts to work more directly with real estate agents on short sales.
“Fannie Mae recognizes the very important role real estate professionals play in the short sale process and we want to work closely with them to get short sales done,” said Jay Ryan, vice president for real estate sales at Fannie Mae. Read More.
Twitter tips and tricks
Is it a social network service? A news gathering system? It’s both, and neither, and more. Zen, isn’t it?
The genius of Twitter is that you can create your own narrowcast news feed of information directly from the sources you choose — friends, publications, colleagues or just the comedy club down the block. You don’t even need to tweet anything yourself, although if you do, a whole other strata of usefulness presents itself. The tips and tricks below are designed for anyone about to start on Twitter, or who has just started and has a placeholder account sitting there. Read More.
Five ways to stay top of mind in your real estate market
The market is bustling again in a lot of areas and competition is kicking into high gear. One big secret to success is to stay top-of-mind with your book of business. And while that doesn’t have to be a HARD process – it does need to be CONSISTENT. That got me thinking about one of Floyd Wickman’s quotes, “Great results are the sum of small things, done well, repeatedly.” Boy isn’t that the truth? Read More.
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