Sellers Throw In Freebies to Sell Homes

An article in the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports that Maria and Tom Flynn is giving away a free 1-year membership to a fitness club with personal trainer to anyone who buys their home.

They happen to own the fitness club. Still, the freebie is valued at $9,000.

Jose Azcarate, a real estate agent, is giving away a free four-night cruise to Mexico, worth $1,800.

Wes Spicer, an investor/developer in Delray Beach, is offering a buyback guarantee, within one year from purchase.

Holly Schiller, an investor in Weston, is giving buyers a $2,500 credit toward furniture at Robb & Stucky in Boca Raton. The buyer also gets a free design consultation and free setup and delivery.

What kind of freebies are you offering to buyers?

Introduction to Real Estate Blogging

With this article, I am launching a new series of informational posts about blogging for real estate professionals, which you will find here on Real Estate and How.

I'm seeing several other businesses promoting their blogging services, or their advice, for sale regarding real estate blogging. I wanted to provide you with the same information for free.

I've been blogging professionally since 2004, and have published websites going back to 1997. I've been engaged in affiliate marketing since 1999, and have been doing this as my full time career since 2003. So, I think I know something about it.

Why Blog?

The biggest reason is to build trust with your website visitors. An article written by you, in a first-person perspective, is a great way to break the ice and make your prospective clients feel comfortable.

Search engine referrals are also a big reason. Google, Yahoo, and MSN, the top three search engines, seem to spider blog content immediately, often within minutes of it being published. There are also theories that Google gives higher page rank value to blog posts. I'm not sure if this is totally true, or if it has more to do with blog posts being indexed immediately. Either way, there's nothing like a blog to elevate search engine positioning of a website.

Syndication of content is another big reason. How would you like to have other websites republishing your content, complete with links back to your website? Better yet, how would you like it to be automated as soon as you post an article? That's what an RSS feed does, and all blogs support RSS feeds.

And speaking of automation, that's also what a blog does for you. Once a blog is set up on your website, you don't have to do much else other than write your article and click the "Publish" button. That's it. Perfect for Realtors, right?

Will A Blog Cost You More Money?

Technically, no. You can launch a blog for free. John Mudd, probably the most successful real estate blogger to date, runs a blog which he pays zero for. (Update, John Mudd has since passed away)

However, there are other options that do cost money. Moreover, you may want to contact the person that built or maintains your website to find out about integrating a blog, or linking your website to your blog, or syndicating content from your blog into your website. We'll get to that in the future.

Real Estate Blogging 101

Real Estate Blogging 101 is my series of articles designed to help you understand what blogging means to your Internet marketing strategy, and how to actually get it done.

Visit the Real Estate Blogging archive page to find an index of all articles in this series.

Check back to this website regularly for more.

Trulia Releases White Paper on Real Estate Search Marketing

Real estate search engine vertical, Trulia, released a new white paper about search engine marketing for real estate professionals.

Read it online here.

It's actually intended to be read by real estate brokers under heavy influence by a particular nationwide real estate professional organization wanting them to protect their property listings.

The white paper simply dispells some of the myths of freely sharing property listings with search verticals like Trulia, as well as explaining the challenges of using the Internet to market properties.

It's actually a very good read.

Chimneys and Real Estate Transactions

Boston Brick & Stone, a chimney repair and inspection service in Southern California, has prepared a great summary of facts about chimneys entitled, "Chimneys and Real Estate Transactions - What to Watch for", and appears to be great reading for realtors and prospective home buyers.

Here's a sampling...

Basically there are 3 categories of chimneys: Pre-fabricated, masonry and hybrid.

There is a trick to tell what type of chimney you have:

Real bricks in the firebox usually mean you have a masonry system. The top of the chimney offers clues as well. If you can see a clay type square or oval pipe protruding out the top of the chimney stack you have a masonry fireplace and chimney system.

If you can see a metal pipe with a metal cap that fits the pipe perfectly, protruding out the top, chances are you have some kind of a prefab.

Look at the firebox. Does it have a metal box? If so you have a prefab. If it is all brick and mortar but with the metal pipe protruding out of the top you probably have a hybrid system.

Determining a Fair Market Value is Tough for Consumers

The results of a survey conducted by HomeValueZone.com shows that home sellers are most frustrated and confused about how to determine what their home is really worth in today's market.

The survey ran for 6 months on HomeValueZone's website.

HomeValueZone provides agents and sellers with an online pricing system based on trends in the current marketplace, as opposed to just historical sales data.

"There are hundreds of real estate sites where a consumer can get a free home value analysis, and they're just about all the same," said Jim Lofton, creator of HomeValueZone.com. "Most of these sites only use past closed sales from the local MLS service. The problem is you're not selling your home in the past. In today's market home values are changing rapidly, mostly downward, and if you're pricing is based just on homes that have already sold, you are missing a major factor."

HomeValueZone.com offers free automated and proprietary Value Trend software that performs four comparative market analyses for an entire year. These CMA's are then averaged to create a monthly percentage increase or decrease for a specific home in a neighborhood.

Show Off Cards Part 2

Last November we ran an article about Show Off Cards, a company that produces business cards depicting you in comic book form, like a real super hero, complete with massive muscles too.

Since then, the company has signed up two more realtors. Check out their cards...





Scott Jones, the Chief Show Officer behind Show Off Cards, runs his own blog about the art of business card marketing and gives you an peek inside the operations of his business.

His artful cards are printed via offset lithography on 14-point stock coated both sides. The cards are designed to create a lasting impression on your clients, not just in visual appeal, but in the way the coated 14-point stock feels in your hand.

Show Off Cards cost $399.00, and you get 1,000 cards along with a personalized Show Off Web Page.

Find a Real Estate Investment Buddy

Looking for a partner to invest in real estate with?

A new website called Vestlist allows investors to post their profiles in hopes of finding someone willing to invest with them. It's kinda like a dating website, except for finding investment partners.

Investors are categorized by areas of investment preference.

To use the website, you have to pay $10.00 for one month of access. But because the website is so new, they're offering a deal to new users by giving them two months of access for the price of one. But you have to sign up before April 20, 2006.

Florida Realtor Gets Thugged and Mugged

The St. Petersburg Times has a really detailed and dramatic accounting of a Realtor who got whacked over the head with a gun, and robbed by the client she was showing a house to.

The client acted like a serious client, and said the things that clients would typically say. And then just a couple seconds while her back was turned, he whacked her, tied her up, and went through her belongings.

But the story doesn't end there. It keeps going. Check it out.

Thanks John Mudd for the tip.

The Dog Comes With The House

A man put up his house for sale, and decided to throw the dog in with it.

A couple searcing for a new home, saw the home, and the dog, and fell in love with both.

The realtor says she's never seen a contract like it: "Rocky was in black and white under personal property to stay."

The former owner has visitation rights whenever he wants to see the pooch.

Whirligig Signs

Whirligig Signs offers these wind driven signs that produce a "strobe effect", attracting the eyes of folks driving by.

Looks like it might be a great way to attract attention to an open house.

They offer signs with a variety of words, and they come in various styles.

New Website Markets Real Estate Safety Gear

A new website launched today that markets safety gear for real estate agents.

RealEstateAgentSafety.com offers stuff like pepper spray, GPS trackers, and personal alarms, self-defense instruction videos, among others.

According to the website's spokesperson:

"There are many sites offering safety products on the web, but none specifically geared toward the real-life situations real estate professionals face on a daily basis. We strive to present our visitors with the best safety products available and give them ideas on how they can be put to use in the everyday situations real estate agents face."

Last month we noted that a real estate agent was raped by the client she was showing a house to.