Belief in your product & yourself will make or break your Real Estate success.
Archive for May, 2009
Did You Know?
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009Why Understanding The Internet Is Becoming More Important For Real Estate Agents & Our Customers.
2 Key Benefits of Budget for Real Estate Industry
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
1. First Home Buyer Grant Extension
In the Federal budget it was great to see that the First Home Buyers Grant was extended past June 30 for an additional 6 months. From 1 July 2009 the grant will continue at the current level until 30th September 2009.
From 1 October to 31 December 2009, the total grant will be reduced to $10,500 for established homes and $14,000 for new homes.
This decision from the government provides a sense of sanity back into the First Home Buyers Market rather than creating the buying frenzy that was looming before this decision.
Market analysts where predicting that if the government hadn’t extended the grant beyond the June 30 deadline then there would have been a potential real estate market hangover for the later part of the year.
2. Banks Can Now Extend Maximum Loan Term Period.
The other important news for the real estate industry out of this week’s budget is the plan to extend the retirement age from the current age of 65 out to age 67 in 2023.
This move now opens the door for banks to increase the maximum loan term on their home loans by a minimum of 2 years & potentially they could even increase it by 5 years because of the extra 2 years of income that will now be introduced to the equation within an individuals Home Loan Application.
Potentially, this could mean that we’ll see banks offering 32 year terms on their home loans, virtually overnight & many might even increase it to 35 years.
An increase in the length of the term of a loan should increase the borrowing capacity of all loan applicants.
Ultimately, this should have the flow on effect of increasing house prices, but if the unemployment rate increases to higher than expected levels then the benefits of introducing a longer termed loan will be over-shadowed by the purchasers ability to borrow.
At the very least an extension in the loan term could help to stabilise the market or help to minimise losses if there were any further reductions in house prices.
SEO Practices of Top 50 Real Estate Companies
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
As more & more people search for goods & services online, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is becoming the critical part of creating a successful real estate online marketing campaign.
A targeted SEO strategy for real estate agents enables more potential clients to find you when they are searching for a real estate agent via Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
Many agents are already missing out on lots of business due to poor SEO on their website, whilst a large percentage of the early adopters of SEO are now miles ahead & are reaping the rewards.
Whilst this SEO report by Randi Thorton is based on Real Estate Companies in the US, don’t let that reduce the relevance of this report because SEO is of vital importance to real estate agents across the globe.
If you are wondering when you should start implementing SEO, ‘Right Now’ is the best time to start.
Here’s your first step: Read this report.
If you have any difficulty viewing this report here’s the link:-
Assessing SEO Practices of the Top 50 Real Estate Companies
In some upcoming posts I’ll be sharing lots of simple things that agents like you can do to fast track your success with SEO & why SEO is critical to a real estate agents online marketing success.
But in the meantime, this report has been written with the uninitiated or SEO beginner in mind, so it provides the perfect starting point.
2 Web Profiles You Should Secure
Friday, May 8th, 2009
I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for agents to start building a personal profile online.
Even though you may work as a real estate agent under a particular company brand, you should be looking at ways that you can promote yourself online to enable potential clients to find you & connect with you over the internet.
Helping people to find you is one reason I recommend building a personal profile online, but more importantly, you need to make sure you have some control over what a potential client may find out about you online.
With any online marketing, it’s important to bear in mind that people like to deal with people they can trust & over the internet they don’t get the opportunity to physically meet with you, hear the tone in your voice or interpret your non-verbal communication, so they make decisions about you without really getting to know you.
Which means that if people don’t like what they see or read about you online they could simply mouse click away from your site & chances are that you may never know the real reason why they went to a different agent.
Now with Web 2.0 technologies & the transparency of the web you can actually use the internet to interact with potential clients & build trust with more people, much faster.
And because people trust people more than they trust company brands, you’ll find building trust over the internet is easier if you put more emphasis in promoting yourself personally.
Where should you start?
If you are in the process of trying to establish your personal profile on the web there are 2 profiles you should try to secure immediately.
The first profile to secure is your personal user name on Twitter. There are millions of people across the world now using Twitter & once your name is taken it’s gone. Visit Twitter now to register your personal profile by simply following the steps in this step by step video tutorial
If you need some more help with basic & advanced Twitter training tutorials visit the Real Estate Twitterers Facebook Group
The next profile I’d try to secure is a Google Profile.
A recent post on the Official Google Blog explains the thinking behind these profiles:
“When searching for yourself to see what others would find, results can be varied and aren’t always what you want people to see—whether it’s someone else with your name, or the finishing time from that 5K you ran back in 2002. We want to make that better and give you more of a voice.”
The good news is that to complete a Google profile is easier than creating a Facebook or LinkedIn profile, but the bad news is that once your name has gone, it’s gone.
Don’t despair if your name is gone.
As a real estate agent you’ll find that some people search for your name via Google under the search term ‘Your Name’ Real Estate. That’s why, when I found that my Google profile name was taken I decided to secure Google.com/profiles/GregVincentRealEstate
Here’s a quick video tutorial to help you establish your Google profile.
When setting up your Google profile make sure you upload a professional image of yourself, insert as much information as you can & link your websites within your Google profile.
Developing Your Personal Web Presence
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Peter Fletcher
Only a few days after his informative seminar with real estate agents about Social Media 101, I’ve had the absolute pleasure to speak with Peter Fletcher, The Real Marketing Maven on a Tele-Seminar.
I’m so pleased that I was able to record the call so we could share it here at the Real Estate Agent Success Club.
Peter has a wealth of knowledge & explains Social Media in very simple & effective terms during the Tele-Class.
Peter Fletcher – Greg Vincent Interview
Peter started selling real estate back in 1985 & began running his own real estate business in 1989. He spent 17 years under the Professionals Real Estate Group & then a few more years as an Independent Agency until he sold his business approx. 3 years ago.
Peter then went back to University for a career change & a lifestyle change. He now teaches agents how to embrace technology & understanding social media.
During the Tele-Class Peter & I discuss ways that agents can differentiate themselves from the competition & how to build strong relationships with potential customers online.
Peter discusses the best options available when establishing a Blog & prefers to think of a blog as a Personal Website and the cheapest, easiest way that agents should be thinking of having a personal web presence. Your blog (personal website) should become your home base.
We also discuss ways that you can build better real estate relationships online via the BIG FOUR:-
1. Blog (Personalised Website)
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. YouTube
Make sure to take a moment to listen to this amazing interview.
To listen Click Here
If you’d like to follow Peter Fletcher on Twitter visit Twitter.com/PeterFletcher or visit his informative blog at The RealEstateMarketingMaven.com.