Real Estate Marketing Blog

Another reason

I recently wrote on the housing crisis. But what I failed to mention was the Realtor Bubble. Like in the State of California where I can literally walk to two blocks and chances are that one of those homes I pass will house a licensee.

The current stats in California is 1 in 53 adults in California has a real estate license. Mike Ferry used to joke they hand 'em out at the DMV with your drivers license.

The stats are only a bit better across the country. When there is less deals and more agents, well you do the math and maybe that will help you figure out why there are less deals on the board.

When the industry treats their licensing like an MLM invitation it can only cause a worsening image for the agent, and mean less deals per agent.

How the Rich Buy Real Estate

I recently read an article on how the rich buy real estate that reminded me of my only experience with how the super rich, buy a house. Or in this case, build a mansion.

As the article points out celebrities and the wealthy like to buy incognito under the guise of a trust. Well, years ago, back in the days of Heavy Metal and the Sunset Strip here in Los Angeles, the band Guns N Roses seemed like they would always rule the genre.

How to Equalize Seemingly Junky Traffic

A recent study says that 80 %  of all searches are "informational" in nature while 10 % are "navigating" to a specific website, and 10%  are what the researchers call "transactional" whereby the searcher is looking for an item to purchase.

Universal Search and Real Estate

Real Estate SEO gets more complicated as the Natural Search results gets more crowded:

You may have missed it, but a few months back Google promised to start mixing their various other search results into their regular search. They call it....Drum Roll.........Universal Search.

Real Estate Video and You Tube, Blogs, News, Images, Local, and Google Base=Google Natural/Organic search results......

Marketing Homes one Foreclosure at a Time

I was pleased to get an email from a long time friend and client when she was inviting her list to join her on a 15 home tour of repossessed houses.

This technique was made famous by the foreclosure bus up in the repo capital of the Country-Stockton California. However many agents across the country are using this technique to drive demand for homes at a great price.

Real Estate Industry Gets a Black Eye

Marc Davison wrote over at Inman a piece on the long term identity crisis of the lowly surveyed real estate agent. He gives some good advice.

Do you want to stand out from the crowd? I have some advice to add to Davison's . First of all do not worry about the crowd and the low public numbers of the industry. And worry about your numbers.

One of the big reasons that agents have such low survey results is that after every real estate boom, the media has tons of "my agent did this to me" stories. Fraud, deceit, pushy sales tactics is why the industry street cred gets a black eye.

Use some of the strategies and tactics that Dave Lakhani shares in his interview. Boldy tell the world that while others may have been pushing squirly deals, you played it straight. While others used pressure sales tactics, you were willing to walk away from the deal if it didn't smell right. Prove your integrity and relevance for your market thru your online and offline communications. Don't say it, prove it.

Color Me Real

There is actually a company that chooses the colors each year. I don't know who made them the color gods.

But according to Color Marketing Group, the leading international association of color design professionals, genuine concern for the environment remains the strongest influence on the colors we’ll see and buy next year.

"Our members specify color for everything from paint and furniture to cars and carpets," said Jaime Stephens, executive director of CMG. "They track trends several years ahead, and they’ve rarely been wrong in more than 43 years."

This is what is hot in 2008 according to CMG.

Looking like you care about the environment-- People want things they wear and things they use now to look "green," no matter what color they are.Natural is in... hand-made, un-dyed and unbleached.  Products will look more like what they're actually made of, with lots of texture and all the natural imperfections proudly showing through. Off-whites, sandy and linen-y colors, rock and soil colors, brownish-greens – the colors of nature are seriously fashionable now.

Blue-- Blue means trust.  But in all areas of decor, blues that remind us of sky and water -- inspired by environmentalism -- remain prominent, even in the kitchen.  New next year will be the emergence of a much blacker blue inspired by technology -- a deep, vibrant navy so dark you'll swear it's black.

Specialized Finishes, Warmer Metallics -- Advances in technology have made shimmery, specialized finishes really hot. But in 2008, metallics will go warmer.  After so many years of brushed chrome and nickel, look for warmer shades -- coppery, bronze-y tones -- to prevail.

More Ethnic Accents -- Globalism continues to inspire our love for ethnic accent colors. They’re coming to us from India, China and Latin America. To Moroccan reds and glowing oranges, add rosy pinks, sunny golden yellows and lots of turquoise. Already here in fashion and home design, these ethnic accents will show up as "punch" colors in hotels, restaurants and retail environments, too – often paired with rich browns as neutrals.

Think about these when you are designing websites, blogs and graphics. As well as how you might stage a home.

Obama and Web 2.0

Pat Kitano wrote an interesting take on the Obama V Hillary campaigns and how the outcomes are really indicative of a larger trend. Taking inspiration from an Ariana Huffington post that declares that this election cycle is about Macro trends and is why Obama is winning the Democratic nomination. I say let's not bury the Hillary campaign yet, but point taken.The conclusion was that Hillary Clinton is losing because while she has sliced up the world into niches. Obama has energized the larger body politic.

Pat calls his article Web 2.0: The end of arrogance. As he draws the parallel of modern politics to modern day marketing. A parallel that will always interest me.

He paints several contrasts to the new way vs the old. Calling modern 2.0 selling as a collaborative selling effort.

I really like Pat's perspective more than most real estate industry blogs. However, I think there are more reasons than listed by Ariana or Pat as to why Hillary is losing. And by the way she is not losing by that much. In fact, it is amazing that Obama is not cleaning her clock considering the absolute horrible campaign that she has run.

I think there are many reasons for Obama's success that I won't bother to mention. Except that I do believe (as I am not sure if Pat implies), is the Clinton fatigue. I question its efficacy going into the the general election.

What does this have to do with real estate marketing? Everything. Despite the referenced article, I do believe the world is splitting into microniches.  The web is filled with them as each new Social site pops up. (Did you know they now have a newborn mommy social site now?).

It is because in fact, what we have always heard. That people are begging for community. And there seems to be a community for every sub-niche you can dream. (Mind you I say that we are craving community, not that these sites satisfy the need).

"How Do You Contact Expired Listings?"

Question: "How Do You Contact Expired Listings?"

Opt in here

By opting into Steves list you can get his tips sent to you on how to "do" the real estate business. The above is a pretty good example of some of his tips. You will recall we had a pretty good podcast conversation with Steve.

Another Winner

Congratulations to Bill Arce for our favorite contribution to http://www.houseblogger.com last week. As part of our Garage Sale Linking program, Bill wins Super Crunching.

Bill helps run Real Estate Latino. This is an emerging demographic that is overtaking most any other demographic in America. So great job Bill on your website, and we look forward to watching you grow.

This week we have a new offering. The book giveaway is Real Estate A La Carte.  If websites like Redfin.com, ForSaleByOwner.com and others have not made you stand up and take notice. Perhaps this book will.

The premise is that the consumer just wants their house sold. And that because of the flow of information, the full fee agency is not necessary. Thus, to compete the author suggests breaking up your commissions into a menu of services. Much like a lawyer might charge.

As Stefan Swanepoel  and I discussed in Part 2 of our interview series, your real estate industry is in an internal debate for standards. Much like Beta and VHS, or DVD and Blue Rey. For the first time ever, it is within the realm of possibility of the MLS being replaced.

Where the pendulum lands is anyones guess. However, if you are in this business it is best to get all sides. This is why Stefan's resource is so important, and fee for service approach is important to know even if you disagree with the model. As they say, "keep your friends close, your enemies closer."