Real Estate Leads 101: Online Lead Generation Tools
July 11, 2010
Real estate leads are as good as gold to a real estate professional – literally. The real estate leads you follow up with today are your clients tomorrow and your paycheck a month from now. Much of your time as a real estate professional is spent generating real estate leads and converting those leads to clients. The advent of the Internet and its emergence into main stream culture brought a new tool to real estate agents in the late 90s: online lead generation services.
Nowadays, the majority of people looking to buy or sell a home or do anything real estate wise are going to the internet first. Years ago, people would get ready to buy or sell, and then walk into a local Realty office and get themselves a real estate agents. Now, they can start researching real estate anywhere from 3 months to 5 years before they actually make a move! That means real estate professionals need to come up with new ways to catch these real estate leads early, so they have time to work them and turn them into clients. There are two major ways to do that now: purchasing a lead generation service and paying for real estate leads and creating your own website with contact pages to generate your own real estate leads.
Which way is better? Truthfully, if you’re not doing both, you’re not being as successful as you could be. Any real estate professional who wants to be a top producer NEEDS their own personal website with homeowner information, contact forms, a blog, etc. That way real estate leads can FIND you on the web.
On the other end, the majority of top producers out there not only have their own website, but they also subscribe to one or more lead generation service, such as HouseValues or GetMyHomesValue. Companies such as these sell real estate leads to agents either at a monthly subscription price, or having the agent pay per lead. These services set up websites offering homeowners free home value information in exchange for their contact information. Basically, a homeowner goes and fills out a simple form about themselves, their contact information and their home and submits it to the company’s website. The company in turn, gives this “lead” to whatever real estate professional they have subscribed in that lead’s area and it is up to the real estate agent themselves to work up the value and follow-up with these real estate leads.
Each lead generation company does things a bit differently: for instance, GetMyHomesValue offers exclusive leads – where the lead is given to one and only one agent in the area, whereas other companies out there will sell the same real estate leads to several different agents. HouseValues has extensive e-mail drip campaigns and scripts to make follow-up a bit easier for agents, while GetMyHomesValue has their staff attempt to contact the leads several times for the agent and then leaves the rest of the follow-up to the individual agent.
The criticism most of these lead generation companies receive has to do with what actually constitutes real estate leads. Because these “leads” are filling out information online, they can often give fake information to avoid being contacted. This then makes it harder for the agents to follow up with the leads.
The successful agent, however, does not give up with confronted with real estate leads that give a property address and e-mail address, but a bad name and number. A great agent will exhaust all options of follow up before scrapping ANY lead, such as using public directories like the White Pages online, tax records of the property, reverse look-ups, etc. They will e-mail the lead on a weekly basis and even stop by the property listed in order to determine who actually submitted the lead.
What happens if the owners of the property claim they did not request their home value information, nor are they looking to sell? The no-so-hot agent will be angry at the waste of their time and blame the lead generation company for selling bogus real estate leads. The HOT agent will introduce themselves anyway, offer their services in any way they can and hand out a business card, then lead the home content in the knowledge that although they may not have gotten to the bottom of the lead, they did just add another prospect to their pipeline of real estate leads.
Online lead generation tools are a HUGE asset to real estate professionals – when used correctly. To be successful with real estate leads gathered online, you’ve got to be ready to work hard and long. You may not convert the lead for 6 months, a year, even two years, but as long as you’re working your real estate leads and keeping your name in their head, you’ve got a leg up on the competition.
Ashley Lichty
http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/real-estate-leads-101-online-lead-generation-tools-134174.html
Real Estate Leads 101: 5 Ways to Show your Appreciation
June 29, 2010
When working to convert your real estate leads into clients, it is important to show appreciation for your leads – nothing will endear you to a homeowner faster. Even if you have been unable to make contact with a particular lead, you should intersperse your normal follow-up with an occasional thank you card or gift just to let your real estate leads know you appreciate their time and consideration.
Too many agents are more worried about getting a check than ensuring their clients’ satisfaction. It doesn’t take much time or money to show that you see more than dollar signs when you meet with your real estate leads. By spending only $200 or less per month, you can show your gratitude in a way homeowners can appreciate.
Use some of these 5 great ideas to show appreciation for your real estate leads (after all – they ARE the ones who will wind up paying your salary!):
1. Free goodies – you probably print up thousands of calendars, magnets, pens, or bottle openers a year with your name and logo on them. Are you just giving them to current clients? I surely hope not. You’ve already got their business and by all means, you should DEFINITELY be showing them appreciation, but the little trinkets with your contact information need to be going out to your real estate leads. Everybody can use a magnet, so don’t be shy about sending free things to ALL your potential customers – better yet, you’ve got a car, use it – rather then spend money on postage, deliver little gift bags to your real estate leads personally.
2. Gift cards – everybody loves a nice gift card, all the more so when it’s a totally unexpected surprise. You can spend $100-200 a month to get gift cards in increments of $5 and send them to 20-40 of your real estate leads that seem to have the most potential. It doesn’t have to be a gift card to anywhere fancy – Blockbuster, Home Depot, a super market, even to an area restaurant – show your real estate leads that you appreciate them even if they HAVEN’T decided to list with you yet – their time is precious and they didn’t HAVE to spend it with you, but they did anyway.
3. Tickets to an event – if you know some of your real estate leads really like baseball, or love the theater, you may want to splurge a bit on a pair of tickets. Find a great local show and buy a few tickets or get tickets to the games of your local baseball team (doesn’t have to be the major leagues) and personally drop them off at your lead’s house. Make sure the tickets are far enough in advance so the lead can schedule around the event. If you feel fairly confident with the lead, make it a condition that you’ll take them to the event! A few hours with the lead and you’ll likely come out of it with a friend and a new client!
4. Stuff for the kids – if you know your real estate leads have kids, use it to your advantage. Put a little gift bag together for the kiddies – nothing too crazy though! Try to stay away from things parents may not want to give their kids, like sweets and candy. Keep it simple – perhaps a children’s book, or a simple toy like a ball or a yo-yo. Again, not something that will break your bank, but just something to show you’re thinking not just of the lead, but their family as well. If they don’t have kids, but do have pets, you may want to look into buying something for Fido – some people treat their pets the same as they would their children!
5. Be crafty – if you’ve got a creative streak, don’t be afraid to throw something together (or go online to get gift ideas). For example, one agent I knew made something she referred as Dishtowel Angels. It basically involved a dishtowel and matching pot holder put together with ribbon and wire to resemble an angel. Something like that, or a gift basket with useful tools, or even a nice flower for planting in the front yard can really warm someone up to you. Using something you put together yourself gives it that extra little touch that shows your real estate leads you care.
Those are just five quick and easy things you can do to show your appreciation and hopefully convince your real estate leads that no other agent can give them the kind of attention you can. Take these ideas and run with them, come up with your own gift ideas – especially once you’ve gotten to know your leads a bit better. Even if you’ve never talked to them before, but you’ve driven by their home and noticed them playing with their dog, or gardening out front – use what you know to come up with the perfect way of thanking your real estate leads. It puts you one step closer to turning them into clients!
Ashley Lichty
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/real-estate-leads-101-5-ways-to-show-your-appreciation-137331.html
Scotts Valley Real Estate
June 29, 2010
www.PeterVerbica.com. Scotts Valley Homes for Sale. Monterey Colonial estate with ocean view, next to putting green at Pasatiempo Golf Course. 5 Bedrooms, 7 Bathrooms. Separate office building garage & shop area.
Duration : 0:1:54
Real Estate Marketing Plan
June 22, 2010
Are you looking to hone or develop your real estate marketing plan?
For those looking for marketing tools for realtors (R) and real estate agents, the “best practices” of multi-million dollar agents includes several “pillars”, or sources of leads, and refinement to the three key points of client contact. These three key points of client contact are initial real estate lead production, point of sale (listing presentations and buyer representation processing), and post-sale referral generation.
One common mistake agents make is choosing either a “consumer direct marketing” approach, or a “referral only” approach. This is a mistake simply because to achieve top performance, you’ll need both. Fortunately, when done well, this does not need to be expensive. A referral-only real estate marketing plan is based around actively cultivating (farming) a group (farm) of referral sources. For most systems, this is based around systems of consistent contact to ensure presence of mind and respect by potential referrers, usually via handwritten low-tech stamped notes, monthly phone calls to people who have agreed to refer you when they hear of people who want to buy or sell, occasional client parties, and occasional pop-by’s to see someone in person a few times per year. These systems are carefully designed to look casual, but when combined with real estate newsletters and tools, will cause your farm to both like you personally and respect you professionally. Imagine getting 2-3 referrals per month from a financial planner, another 2-3 from a tax professional, another 1-2 from your grandmother, etc. and you really have a solid base of business. Closing ratios on referrals are always much higher from referral marketing, and the cost-per-lead is lower.
So why not use just that?
Because you may not have 1,800 people who like you and will refer you, and even if you did, there are surely some people buying or selling in your area who would like to work with you.
But they don’t know you.
It’s up to your consumer direct marketing to change that. While bus stop ads can help neighborhood visibility, who honestly calls a realtor because they saw a bus stop ad? Print ads and bus stop ads these days should be used only after you have completely dominated the real estate internet marketing in your area.
How do you dominate an area? Message and delivery. These days, delivery happens via internet for over 90% of buyers, and virtually all sellers who research agents online before selecting which agent to sign with. While the internet is a large space, you can dominate page 1 of Google using our free report on search engine optimization (SEO), and dominate other areas through pay-per-click (PPC), social media marketing (facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.) and trafficked verticals like craigslist. Our company focuses on creation of incredible, compelling offers so you don’t have to, though you can certainly create your own.
Here are a few suggested pillars to consider:
Expired Listings & Withdrawn Listings. These are the easiest “cold leads” you’ll find. If you decide not to purchase ours, you can certainly create your own. The #1 mistake people make in expired listing marketing is expecting immediate conversion. Usually sellers get flooded with offers immediately, but relisting activity peaks at 6 to 8 weeks after expiration or withdrawal. Pair up with a mortgage lender to reduce the cost, as this can produce refinances and loan modifications.
- FSBO’s. A strong FSBO pillar alone can get you 1-3 listings per month in an average area. For this you’ll need a real estate postcard marketing system or fsbo postcard system. Click through to our site below for some free templates and help on this.
- Homebuyers. The #1 most common mistake in real estate marketing for homebuyers is offering a home-buyer’s seminar. Try “fishing upstream” by instead offering a “credit seminar” or at least adding that to your marketing. We have an online system for this, that if you choose not to buy you can certainly model on. Be sure to “market to the unaware”, i.e. people who haven’t yet decided to buy a house, because chances are if they know for sure they want to buy a house, they probably know an agent. Be the agent (or broker) to plant this seed and most likely you’ll get the business, instead of their “dog’s former owner’s cousin who practices real estate on the side”.
- Investors. A lot of agents ignore this market, but a single good investor client can get you numerous deals per year, both buying and selling. If you’re just out of real estate school starting out, don’t start here – they’ll eat you for lunch and suck up your time, but if you have the other pillars down cold, this can put you into the big leagues, with millions of dollars in commissions.
- Relocation. This can be a tough market to crack, but that barrier to entry can work for you once you do. This is not for the rookies, but for experienced agents with top-notch customer service and the first pillars down, this should be on your real estate marketing plan. Maximize your real estate internet marketing to start working on this business, and use a lot of online video such (again, see our site for examples to model on or purchase).
- HR Benefits. Human Resources real estate marketing for Realtors and lenders can be an excellent source of business. This is a perfect agenda for a mid-career agent.
If all of this sounds good, first, see what you can swipe and implement. Don’t re-invent the wheel, because everything you need for all of the above pillars have been produced. Focus your time and budget, and setup the systems starting with the pillars above. As you get them stabilized, within a month, you should not spend any time whatsoever on production of these leads. Just setup the system, then leave your pay-per-click budget alone and just keep an eye on profitability, and hire offshore e-assistants for other tasks like craigslist marketing. Roll the pillars out, and within six months, there is absolutely no reason why you won’t be the #1 agent in your area, with the #1 paycheck. The tools are built and ready to work for you.
Roger Vetruba
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-marketing-plan-736787.html
How much will I pay for the services of a tenant representative?
April 7, 2010
themelbygrouphttp://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/themelbygroupPeoplethe, melby, group, faq4How much will I pay for the services of a tenant representative?
Duration : 0:1:49
How to Save on Utilities at Your Property in Scotts Valley
February 9, 2010
•Use energy saver or compact fluorescent bulbs instead of regular light bulbs. These use a fraction of the energy of regular bulbs, and last around ten times longer!
•Make sure your water heater is set to around one hundred and ten degrees. That’s hot enough for most things, and you’ll save a bundle.
•Consider insulating your water heater. These units have thermostats, so when the temperature drops, they automatically begin heating again, using power. Insulating it will keep it hotter for longer, saving you money.
•You could also have a timer fitted, to switch your water heater off automatically, when you’re not home, and back on before you return from work.
•Buy an old fashioned clothes drying rack, and use that instead of the dryer. Dryer’s use enormous amounts of power, and you’ll be amazed how much you save. Only use the dryer for emergencies.
•Use the microwave where possible, which uses far less power than the stove. Boil vegetables, or par cook foods in the microwave before continuing with conventional methods. You could also cook rice, pasta or potatoes in the microwave.
•When it comes to water, and power, only doing full loads of laundry, or dishes, in the washer or dishwasher, will save you a bundle in both.
•Check your plumbing regularly. A leaky faucet or pipe will cost you a fortune over time, so get yours checked, and fix any leaks.
•This may sound odd, but placing a brick in your toilet cistern will actually save you money. The brick displaces water, meaning each flush will use less. If you have recently bought or sold your property in Scotts Valley or Santa Cruz County, you would already have a low flow toilet, if you don’t and have an old toilet, then the result could save you money.
•Don’t use hot water to wash clothes. Rather opt for warm or cold water, and you’ll save on electricity.
•Choose to shower over bathing, and install a flow restricting shower head. This is something that almost all of today’s codes require at the time of sale. That way, you should save a whole lot of money on water, and the power required to heat it.
So, there you have it. Easy ways to save money on your utility bills for your property in Scotts Valley, without even feeling it.
Despite the economic downturn, using these, and other simple money saving tips will help you save more money, and give you more money for the important things in life. Or spend a little time and money on figuring out how you can save, and using those ideas on your property in Scotts Valley, then put the money you save aside, and use it for something you really want. Maybe a new item of furniture? Or a short weekend getaway?
Whatever you use it for, saving money on your property in Scotts Valley’s utility bills will give you more to spend on what you really want to spend money on.
About the Author: Gregg Camp is a Santa Cruz Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES) who specializes in Scotts Valley homes. He has been active in Santa Cruz real estate and seniors issues for 20 years.
Source: http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=1649184
1906 GLEN CANYON RD, Scotts Valley, CA listed for sale by Diane Molnar, Realtor
January 27, 2010
For more information contact:
Diane Molnar, REALTOR®
(831) 476-0100
dianemolnar@davidlyng.com
http://www.dianemolnar.com
Elegant complex,conveniently located near Scotts Valley & Hwy 17.. Coming from the circular driveway, you enter a spacious 2 story lobby, adjoined by a large dining room.The traditional architecture sets the style for the large annex which houses the majority of the 14 bedrooms & 19 baths: adjoining decks face out into 3 acres of meticuously maintained gardens and woods.Activity rooms & patio.
http://www.davidlyng.com
Duration : 0:1:47
Making Money in Today’s Real Estate Market
January 27, 2010
The real estate bubble may have burst, but the fact remains that real estate is still an attractive investment. You just have to be able to look at the advantages that are presented in the down economy.
Some say that the real estate market is in a depression. Others call it a recession. Others are in complete denial. The third parties are usually those in politics or real estate agents. Anyone who is trying to sell a home knows it is bad out there. But the good news is that as bad as it is for sellers, it is a great market for buyers.
Anyone who has money to invest should invest part of it in real estate. There are three different reasons for this: The interest rates are rock bottom and not likely to get any lower, the housing prices are lower than ever and the market will eventually rebound. You can still make money today in real estate; you just have to look at the property as a long term investment instead of the quick buck.
The days of flipping real estate properties that are accumulating so fast in value that you cannot keep up with them are gone for now. They will most likely return, but not for a while. Now you have to work with what you have which is a real estate market in which there are a lot more sellers than buyers. This puts the buyer in the driver’s seat.
Along with the fact that it is a buyers market, you can also work with the fact that the mortgage rates are lower than ever. So you have an opportunity to buy low because the market is saturated with homes for sale and not enough buyers as well as an opportunity to get a good loan package because the rates are low and lenders are dying to make loans so that they can stay in business.
If you have money to spend on real estate, you are in a great situation today in the real estate market. Look at the real estate investment as a long term investment instead of a short, get rich quick scheme. You can make money when the bubble begins to grow again, and it will. The real estate market goes up and down like the stock market. It will rebound.
You can make money today in real estate but you have to make smart choices. Purchase property in areas where the housing prices have remained stable. Also look at the growth in your area. Where is the next boom likely to hit? This is speculation, but if you track trends in the real estate market and do a little bit of a study, you can see the next area where developers will likely target. This is a good place to buy real estate, even if it is just a vacant lot.
Real estate is usually always a good investment, especially if you plan to live in the property. However, it should be looked upon as a good long term investment and not a way to get rich quick.
Heather Seitz
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-ideas-articles/making-money-in-todays-real-estate-market-428349.html
229 Tabor Drive in Scotts Valley California listed for sale by Janet Romanowski, Realtor
January 13, 2010
For more information contact:
Janet Romanowski, REALTOR®
(831) 464-4412
janetrom@pacbell.net
http://www.janetromanowski.com
Warm & inviting, beautifully maintained 3100+ sq ft home w/panoramic “open space” views on 2/3 acre parcel. Nice natural light, walls of view-catching windows, decorator touches throughout, high ceilings, new stainless steel appliances, hardwood & travertine, closets galore & oversized garage. 28K+ sq ft lot w/no neighbors behind- just 160 acres of protected pastoral views. Something special!
Duration : 0:2:7
4275 Glenwood Drive, Scotts Valley, CA. 95066
January 13, 2010
Agent: Phil Billiet
Property Address:
4275 Glenwood Drive, Scotts Valley, CA. 95066
http://www.previewfirst.com/vt/photos/25408
Duration : 0:3:28