Housing - one stimulus at a time

I generally love the hot mess that is all of the "Real Housewives" shows on Bravo, though I've never really gotten too much into the Atlanta series.  I may have to step up TV time now, though, to check out "modern Renaissance woman" Lisa Wu-Hartwell's newly foreclosed Duluth home.

For anyone who hasn't watched the series (I'm sure there's one or two of you...), you may not know that Lisa has a few businesses she's been trying to get off the ground.  In addition to a few fashion-related projects, she's also the namesake behind the (now defunct?) Hartwell & Associates Realtors.

Sure I snark about the "stars" of these shows (see my post about Kelly Bensimon of the Real Housewives of New York), but entering foreclosure is rough, regardless of who you are.  And sadly Lisa isn't the only housewive to face this issue - Realtor and member of "Real Housewives of Orange County" Jenna Keough is facing foreclosure, too.  Plus, you have to have some respect for a woman starting her own businesses!

While sad, sounds like things are going to be okay for Lisa.  According to a rep, she and her ex-Oakland Raider husband are settling into a new place.   

I spent the weekend in Zinfandel-filled Lodi, CA.  Just 15 minutes north of foreclosure-ridden Stockton, the Lodi real estate market has definitely taken a hit over the past couple years. 



While the low prices aren't great for home owners - especially those in danger of foreclosure - it is great for investors.  And hanging out with smart 20-somethings on Saturday, the conversation soon turned to opportunities for real estate investing.  Included in the conversation was one current investor (purchased his first property in Sacramento last month) and two investors-in-the-making.  This last group was the most interesting. 

Working together, they've put offers on 4 foreclosures only to have each of their offers - all at least $10K more than asking price - rejected.  Instead, each purchase has gone to people paying full cash.  As one of the guys is a contractor who understands the difficulty of the remodeling process, they're not jumping in blind.  However, they are jumping in without full cash. 

The friend who purchased the Sacramento property did so with his dad, who already holds various real estate investments.  So in this example it appears that while this market may be great for experienced investors, it's tough for the less experienced who are putting in their own work but not full cash.  And if they're struggling to get an offer accepted, what about the families hoping to take advantage of low foreclosure prices?

What do you think - does the edge for experienced investors ultimately hurt the possibility of home ownership for others?

I love facebook; more specifically, I love status updates.  From your personal life to business life, status updates help you spread messages in a very efficient way. Here are 5 tips to help you use status updates to build your business online - for FREE!

1. Update regularly - Like with every type of online community, you have to be consistent in your communication.  Two reasons to update facebook: first, it helps build your reputation as someone who’s consistently involved in information sharing and keeping in touch.  Second, when people have hundreds and hundreds of friends, it’s easy for your updates to get lost in the shuffle.  Regular updates guarantee that more of your friends will see your updates, and keep you top of mind.  If you’re not already a frequent updater, make a goal to do so at least 1x day, and build that as you get more comfortable.  I’d just stick to under 5x a day, as at that point it may start to look like that’s all you do.

2. Share what you’re doing for your clients -  At a closing?  Listing a new property?  Hosting an open house?  Took new pictures of a listing?  Share it!  Any updates you can post that show you’re a busy and productive real estate agent are great.  The whole point of status updates is to share what you’re doing, and sharing business updates is a great way to remind your friends that you’re a busy, dedicated agent.  So the next time they’re thinking about a move or know someone who is, they’ll think of you as a person who’s always working for your clients.  (BONUS: Post pictures from your smartphone at open houses and closings to REALLY show people what you’re doing!)

3. Show your different sides - But don’t JUST update about work - that can get boring.  It’s important to show that you have multiple sides to your life, and keep friends interested in what you have to say.  Talking about your work is important (see above!), but if you’re always on the same topics, people may be annoyed and think your updates are only there to serve your business and not keep in touch.  This can put you on a one-way train to the “hide” feature, which like it sounds, hides your updates from your friend’s wall.  If you’re not comfortable sharing what’s going on with your family or in your personal life, stick with comments about favorite TV shows, movies, books, restaurants - even funny things you see.

4. Limit the Facebook quizzes - Sure it’s fun to see what 80s sitcom character you are, but remember what I said above about people getting annoyed with status updates?  Well, quizzes can be really annoying.  Results take up about 2-3 inches of screen space on your friends’ pages instead of the standard 1 inch - that’s huge!  Do I really need to see 3 inches of what kind of pasta my friend’s-mother’s-cousin would be?  No.  That “hide” feature is really easy to use, so don’t give people any reason to click it.  If you want to take a quiz, try to limit to 2 a week and don’t take them on the same day.

5. Comment on friends’ updates - Don’t be afraid to interact!  Commenting on other people’s updates is a quick and easy way to tell someone “I’m reading your updates, and interested in you!” without actually saying that.  (Saying it could be weird…)  It shows you’re not just pushing your thoughts to others, but reading and thinking of others.  PLUS, if you comment on someone else’s status, all of their friends see your note - a whole new audience!

Any other facebook tips that have worked for you?  Share!

Have you wondered how you can use Trulia to help you better connect with buyers and sellers online?  Tomorrow morning, I'll be hosting a call where we'll talk about just that!  It's the 5 Tips to Make the Most of Trulia, and we'll talk about effective ways to make your listings pop, reach out to consumers and better market your open houes.  Plus, there's lots of time for your questions.  Should be an educational 45 minutes!

The session starts at noon eastern/ 9am pacific. Please click here to sign up: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/654647738  

Hope to meet you on the call!

Anyone who's a fan of TLC's Jon and Kate Plus 8 will immediately recognize this Elizabethtown, PA home.




The Gosselin's old home, featured in the first (and best) four seasons of the show, is listed on Trulia for $325,000 - quite a difference between that and the $1.3M home they moved into during the last season!

Speaking of last season... any fellow fans of the show may remember the over-the-top product placement for Whirpool washers and dryers during the show when their new appliaces were delivered.  Well, the product placement doesn't end there!  Check out the property description and photos:

Large brick cape cod w/great location&tons of extras! Geothermal system w/backup electric, new bambo HW floors&new carpet throughout (except LL). ADT wireless security system, lg 22x12 covered rear deck, laundry rm on 1st fl w/2 sets of Whirlpool washers & dryers included in sale! Also included in sale are generator for house&refrigerator in kitchen.


Hopefully any negative karma around their personal lives won't negatively affect efforts to sell their home.  Who knows - the heightened interest might even help!

Let me begin by saying that there's a decent chance I may live in Cleveland one day, as my fiance is basically obsessed with both the Indians and the Cavs.  (He's such a Cleveland fan that he even starting cheering on the girl from Cleveland in the National Spelling Bee last night). 

That said, this is a pretty amazing spoof video.  Perhaps I should thought I'd point out that while home prices in Cleveland may be down, they still cost more than a VCR.
 
But this is just one perspective - 30 Rock had a totally different take on "the Cleve".  Anyone up for a clever Cleveland tourism ad rebuttal?

Today Trulia released the results of a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® showing that U.S. home buyers are twice as likely to use online sources than print sources to find open house information.  When asked what sources they have used or plan to use to find open houses, 62% of U.S. home buyers reported using online sites, compared to 53% who use information from real estate agents, 36% who use neighborhood signs and 31% who reported usingprint sources, including newspapers and local flyers to find open houses.  91% of all home buyers attend/plan to attend open houses.



We've noticed a significant increase in consumer interest in open houses on Trulia, and this survey shows that it's no fluke.  Usage of open house filters has grown by 39% since the start of 2009.  And consumers are much more likely to click on a dynamic open house ad than a static brand ad.  In a case study with Prudential last year, the click through rate on new dynamic banners including open houses grew by 358% over traditional static ads.  Plus, since launching Trulia’s iPhone application with open house search last summer, we consistently see spikes in usage on Sundays - the most popular open house day of the week.

Why are so many consumers going online to search for open houses?  Home buyers want to do their homework and get a more comprehensive view of a listing before they make a decision to visit, and online resources provide MUCH more comprehensive data than what’s available in print.  Plus, it’s much more convenient.  When McGuire real estate agents surveyed random open house attendees about where/why they found their open houses, there was a notable theme of “convenient and easy” as the benefits of online search.  As San Francisco home buyer Cammy wrote, “I search online, because I usually only have time to do my research late night.  I don’t do newspapers!”

To check out the full study results, click here.

Your open houses not yet on Trulia?  It's super easy - just go to a property detail page, and click on "Submit Open House Times."