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June 25, 2007

Building an audience: Using blogging, social networks, email newsletters and viral marketing instead of SEO

by

Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL

Author website

“Brian Brady is that mortgage guy in the suspenders on the internet.”

bbGood or bad, that’s my brand on the internet. That goofy picture was taken at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on a free Kodak machine. I emailed myself the picture and have been using it for the past two years in all of my online marketing efforts. And while I’m not necessarily the best user of photoshop, I’m a pretty damned good viral marketer.

I met Rudy of Sellsius earlier this year and he said “You’re all over the internet.” I dropped my daughter off at school last month and one of her schoolmate’s parents said “I saw you on Zillow.” My neighbors have told me that they read my articles on MySpace. I organized a coup to take over the Trulia Voices section.

I guest author on BloodhoundBlog, NELA Live, Long Beach Real Estate Home, Sacramento’s Real Estate Voice and maintain an active profile and weblog on the Active Rain Real Estate Network. Lately, I’ve started experimenting on Gather.com.

To the untrained observer, I appear to be on an ego trip. To bloggers, I’m eschewing SEO for a viral marketing approach. I’m not going to wait for a customer to find me on the long tail search. I’m going to insert my goofy little suspenders picture in every imaginable place they might search for real estate related advice.

Does it work?

Well, I’ve received over 1,000 inquiries in the past 12 months from my efforts. Many are from borrowers, so my answer is, “Damn, Skippy, it works!” I’m slowly building up a database of people who have connected with me on the internet. My long-term goal is to have over 10,000 people in my permission-based email marketing database, receiving a newsletter each month. I’m at 1,012 today and I think I’ll be there in about 3-5 years.

Here are five tips to help you build an audience for your budding real estate weblog:

  1. Start an email newsletter. I use Constant Contact because I can send a newsletter which has a teaser for my blog articles. It costs about $40/month. You must be very careful to Read more
June 25, 2007

And one other “thing” – Information vs. Knowledge (or Internet vs. Agent)

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

This past week our company had its annual sales rally, for lack of a better term. It consisted of the requisite motivational speaker who was charged with inspiring us to achieve greatness, greatness which apparently can only be realized after purchasing $600 worth of inspirational tapes, a State of the State address by our CEO, and a State of the Union address by our parent company’s CEO.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I generally abhor these things. My mortgage bill, my ongoing desire to eat a periodic meal, and the constant pressure to keep feeding the offspring those iTunes credits are motivation enough for me.

When I do find myself, through happenstance, momentary lack of good judgment, or as a result of being hog-tied and stuffed in a colleague’s trunk, at one of these pep rallies, I always apply the “one thing” rule. If I can leave having gleaned “one thing” that can be of value to me and my business, I feel it was worth the price (rope burns and the imprint of a spare tire on my forehead).

This time, I gleaned two things. Today, I’m Rocky Balboa at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Live and Breathe Your Goal – Check!

Our motivational speaker spent much time reminding us that successful people are the ones that have a goal, are unequivocally committed to that goal, and never, ever stop thinking about how to achieve that goal. Yep, that’s me.

When I am not worried about something, I tend to worry about why I don’t have something to worry about. When I am not thinking about real estate, I am dreaming about it. I had a college English teacher who once said that people who are creative during the day don’t dream. Hogwash!. Last night, for instance, after a rich and full day of Sunday fun which included showing property, sitting an open house, drafting a marketing piece, writing an offer on another house for a client, a half-dozen phone calls made and another dozen or so taken, I worked (“created”) all night. In my sleep, I sold two more homes, Read more

June 25, 2007

Greg Swann at the Southwest Real Estate Blogging Conference: Making locally-focused real estate weblogging work

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is the second half of the Southwest Real Estate Blogging Conference, including my presentation and the question and answer session. The sun had started to go down, so the light in the room was a little better. Cathleen built the slides you’ll see in the video. I had handed out a bookmark to the people who came, and your very own virtual copy of that is shown above.

June 25, 2007

Buying Foreclosure Properties? Don’t Be the Early Worm…

by

Real Estate Investor

Author website

The old adage “the early bird gets the worm” points to the advantage of being first to market. But, has anyone ever thought about the early worm, clearly he was not so lucky. Many of the people who are jumping into the foreclosure market now may be the early worms.

Typically, I am the first one to support jumping into a market that has sustained a significant decline in fundamentals and an increase in the foreclosure rate. The problem with today’s market is the lack of an exit strategy for this type of investment. Take Michigan for example, I luckily got out of this market in 2005 during a downturn. While I made a healthy profit, the investors who bought properties during that time are now the same investors in foreclosure.

The difference between the 2005 market and today is simply access to capital. Many foreclosure markets have two types of buyers. The most common buyers in these markets are low-income families looking to move into their first or second home. In the past these buyers were able to secure subprime or other credit neutral financing. With these vehicles gone or very hard to find, these buyers have been taken out of the market.

The other buyers in these markets are investors. Typically, savvier than families, investors like to get in for a bargain. Unfortunately commercial interest rates have been steadily rising and the prospect of moving these properties has been declining. The commercial interest rate directly affects the value potential of the property. Consider an increase in the commercial multifamily interest rate from 6% to 7.5%. On a $100,000 loan, that is about $100 a month payment increase. With rents holding steady in many markets, the investor will probably have to eat this increase.

Two to five years ago investors could simply rent a property out while waiting for a sale. That option has almost been taken away with the increase in interest rates. Additionally, having a renter in the property opened the buyer pool up further to cash flow investors. Now, the only investors left to turn to are the speculators, looking to Read more

June 24, 2007

Stepping Up To A New Level Of Video Excellence

by

Associate Broker

Author website

Looking for the best web presentation possible

As the importance of video becomes increasingly apparent, learning to use this tool will be helpful in the successful marketing of median to upper-end properties.

I have been searching for a way to present video that would be better than the methods we often see in current use.

Apple Quicktime (mov) is a very good format, but its market penetration is not as high as other options like Windows Media Player or Flash.

Windows Media Player (wmv) is a good format… and it is widely used. Windows media can make a very clean video file when using very high bit rates… but the result is a very large file, which we would like to avoid.

Flash is the most widely accepted format right now. The trouble with Flash (in my experience) is that you get a boost in contrast that makes some of the subtle differences in shades difficult, if not impossible, to discern.

So what format should you use?

I have been busy learning some new (new to me, at least) video software over the last few weeks… and I’m almost into overload. While video production is a complicated issue – good web delivery of video doesn’t have to be.

Services like YouTube and WellcomeMat are great for a low-cost approach to hosting your video project… and they both use Flash.

But what if you want to kick the quality up a notch?

Well, then you might want to consider getting your own web hosting account that will give you the kind of space you need to host your videos.

Bringing a new player to the game

A recent entry on the scene is DivX… and it has some great features. The quality is very good; file sizes are small; and many DVD players can play this format.

As a test, I went to stage6.divx.com and downloaded Roger Waters performance of “The Wall” in Berlin. The video streams nicely on broadband, and the quality is very good – even in full screen mode.

I then brought this 699MB file into the TMPGEnc DVD Author to create a DVD of the performance. TMPGEnc created a 4 Gig set Read more

June 23, 2007

Seven Days of the Dog: BloodhoundBlog is the real estate weblog to turn to for hard-charging hard news reporting

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

BloodhoundBlog is celebrating its first birthday this coming Friday, so I wanted to take a little time to highlight some of the best work we’ve done over the last twelve months.

There is a limit to how much primary reporting a real estate weblog can do. The webloggers are each stuck in one spot, for one thing, plus we all have day jobs.

But if we choose to, we can do exemplary work at evaluating new product releases. We’re end-users of the products we report on, so we already know what we like, what we don’t like, and what we wish were different. In our own particular case, BloodhoundBlog contributors like Brian Brady tend to go over new products in exhaustive detail, wringing out every conceivable facet and implication. We’re eager to know what the vendor thinks we’ll find in a new tool, but we’re even more avid to unearth the capabilities their software engineers had not foreseen.

So: Watch us work. Here are some of the breaking news posts we have generated over the last year:

June 23, 2007

How do you handle a challenge?

by

Real Estate Rainmaker

Author website

BloodhoundBlog RealtorWives braille imageTraditionally, BHB is a blog where authors plant seeds of information in the minds of readers from all over the nation (and globe if you will). Today, rather than give advice, criticize something or tell you my thoughts about the RE industry, I pose a question based on a bizarre dream I had last night (and my own ignorance):

Have you ever worked with a blind, deaf or special needs client? What considerations were made? How does a blind person know the home is not in disrepair? If someone is disabled, how does that change your search to narrow down homes to purchase? Are closing documents available in braille? How long does a closing take in sign language?

Most of you know I’m not a Realtor (rather a Realtor sidekick), but I do spend most hours of my life focused on my husband’s clients and business. I think most people are scared to ask stupid questions… but not me!

So, tell me (and the readers) about your biggest challenge when representing buyers or sellers with special needs- knowing laws and how to handle special situations can prepare new agents and new readers for potential clients! Knowing how to catch a curveball (baseball allusion for Jeff) in advance of the pitch makes any batter more confident when it’s time to step up to plate!

June 22, 2007

The Imperative of Divorced Commissions, Part 1: Fundamentals of Narcissism.

by

Realtor, Associate Broker

Author website

3bac.jpgI was running in a local park a few days ago. The road into the park is about a half mile long and barely wide enough for two cars to pass in opposite directions, thus there are “NO PARKING AT ANY TIME” signs on both sides the entire length. As I drove in two mini-vans were parked next to a field, and I waited as two other cars coming the other direction passed. Three women were in the field chatting and setting up cones, perhaps for a relay.

As I ran out ten minutes later, the vans were still there, but now there were five cars stopped in one direction while three others drove by in the other. The women were oblivious, corpulent Paris Hiltons. When I suggested they move their vans to a parking area fifty feet away, one said “Oh, get real. It’s not as if this is a major thoroughfare.” Solipsism at its summary best. Rules are fine unless they’re inconvenient.

…

696.810 Real estate licensee as buyer’s agent; obligations….
 (3) A buyer’s agent owes the buyer involved in a real estate transaction the following affirmative duties: …
 (c) To be loyal to the buyer by not taking action that is adverse or detrimental to the buyer’s interest in a transaction;
 (d) To disclose in a timely manner to the buyer any conflict of interest, existing or contemplated;

Whenever the charge of venality is brought against the real estate profession, out comes the Code of Ethics, here codified into Oregon statute. It’s our Wizard’s Curtain; while most agents I work with — and I suspect most people here — take it very seriously, too many don’t.

The reason high BACs and agent bonuses are used so often as marketing ploys is because they work. I was told recently by one agent who incorporates both in many of his older listings that not only does he immediately get more showings, once under contract the buyer’s agent is much more eager to cooperate to get Read more

June 22, 2007

Zillow.com off the hook in Arizona?: “State rethinks crackdown on online home appraisals”

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website

This is me in the Arizona Republic (permanent link).

State rethinks crackdown on online home appraisals

The move by the Arizona Board of Appraisal and Attorney General Terry Goddard to prosecute Zillow.com, and potentially other Internet-based home valuation services, may be at an end.

Last June and November, the board ordered Zillow to cease and desist offering its free “Zestimates” in Arizona. The Attorney General’s Office followed up with a letter of its own, threatening prosecution. No other Automated Valuation Model was targeted.

Arizona Senate Bill 1291 was drafted earlier this year to fortify the board’s argument, redefining “appraisal” to mean any opinion of value, not just a paid evaluation contracted from a professional appraiser.

Rep. Michelle Reagan initiated the process of amending the legislation to permit AVMs to operate in Arizona. Her amended version passed the House and was subsequently further amended in a joint House-Senate conference committee.

The Senate voted Monday night to approve the amended version of SB 1291. Among the amendments was an exemption for free Web-based AVMs from regulation under the state’s appraiser licensing laws. The House approved the amended language Tuesday.

As the Web site LittlePinkHouses.com notes, the amendments also undid other changes that had been sought in the bill. The composition of the Board of Appraisal will not be changed to include a majority of professional appraisers and the legal definition of an appraisal will conform to a common-sense understanding of the term.

As originally drafted, the bill would have outlawed virtually any estimation of value, possibly even including the casual conversations of neighbors. This is the amended definition of an appraisal:

“A person who produces a statement that is provided to any other person concerning the estimated value of real property through an Internet Website, automated valuation or other software program or other means of comparative market analysis and who discloses that the estimate is not an appraisal.”

This language absolves not just Zillow but also real estate licensees producing Broker Price Opinions for lenders and, presumably, other methods of evaluating homes.

The amended bill awaits only the signature of Gov. Janet Napalitano to become law.
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June 22, 2007

The Real Risk in Real Estate Flipping

by

Real Estate Investor

Author website

New investors rarely stop to address the subject of risk tolerance. People who have never done a single real estate deal see others making a lot of money in real estate and want to jump right in. They never stop to understand the true risks of real estate.

Most investors and books will tell you that real estate is a pretty safe asset class to invest in. This is certainly the case if you are buying core buildings or if you are employing a reasonable buy and hold strategy. Sadly, many investors hear safe investment and assume that opportunistic investing is just as safe.

If an investor is solely a real estate flipper, he/she is taking more risk than investing in the stock market. That might be a surprise to some, but consider the returns. On average the stock market returns 9-13%, while flippers should expect 15-20% returns on their capital investment.

This higher return is certainly accompanied by more risk. First, consider the fact that in the stock market your downside risk is typically capped at 20-30%. Very rarely does the stock market lose more than 10% in a given year. Additionally, a single blue chip stock is not likely to even have that kind of a loss. In contrast, a flipper has a very real chance of losing all of the money invested in a deal. The odds of this are even higher for a novice flipper.

Another aspect of real estate investing is the sweat equity or opportunity cost of the investors time. I can go into my E*Trade account in about two minute, buy a Dow Jones ETF (exchange traded fund), and essentially guarantee myself a 9-13% return on that money for 20 years. However, if I decide to flip property I either have to hire a property manager or I have to act as general contractor, organizing the work to be done. Either way, investors will still spend a tremendous amount of time working on site or dong something with the investment.

Taking Read more

June 21, 2007

The responsibility of mortgage brokers and other front-liners in the foreclosure fiasco

by

Mortgage Banker

Author website

A quick note: I am a mortgage broker and banker so I wear both hats. I consider myself in the group below.

Seth Godin wrote a great post the other day simply titled “Responsibility” that focused on one key question: “Are you responsible for what you market?”

His answer was a resounding yes based on this premise: marketing works. If you agree that marketing works then you should agree that the idea of free choice is really not that free. Marketing influences choice. Godin cites the decline in cigarette smoking over the period since advertising has been significantly curtailed as one (of many) examples:

If marketing works, it means that free choice isn’t quite so free. It means that marketers get to influence and amplify desires. The number of SUVs sold in the United States is a bazillion times bigger than it was in 1962. Is that because people suddenly want them, or is it because car marketers built them and marketed them?

Cigarette consumption is way down. Is that because people suddenly don’t want them any more, or is it because advertising opportunities are limited?

This post led me to some new thinking on our embattled industry and the current round of finger-pointing up and down the money-ladder. The common refrain from mortgage brokers as a defense to the “predatory lending” accusations being bandied about by consumer groups and government entities is “We only sold what the banks gave us to sell” and “Brokers don’t underwrite the product.” These notions that depict brokers as impotent pawns in the mortgage game with little control over their actions-resigned to the whims of the banking world, forced to peddle whatever products were made available by the banks- is callous and dangerous. This position is clearly one that Mr. Godin would whole-heartedly disagree with; and I do too.

As brokers we’re responsible for the loans we choose to put our customers in. When we choose to put a retired person on fixed income in a negatively amortizing payment-option loan for maximum rebate with out clearly identifying their comfort level and understanding of the Read more

June 21, 2007

Southwest Real Estate Blogging Conference: Notes from the epicenter

by

Suburban Phoenix Real Estate Broker

Author website


Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy, making his presentation on real estate weblogging at today’s Southwest Real Estate Blogging Conference. Jay was fantastic, with one practical demonstration after another of the power of weblogging. Jonathan Dalton added some great insights from the sidelines, and the incomparable Dave Smith made the trek up from Tucson. I’ll have more tomorrow, along with video of Jay’s presentation and mine. In the meantime, Staging Arizona Real Estate has a report on the event.

More: Jay Thompson, Jonathan Dalton, Shailesh Ghimire.

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Welcome to BloodhoundBlog, the national real estate industry marketing and technology weblog written by, for and about real estate professionals. Better yet, welcome to the wired world of real estate. We are busily inventing Real Estate 2.0 – technology, marketing, service and salesmanship. Like all Bloodhounds, we are smart, frisky and fiercely independent. We've built a spot on the earth – beloved over all – where each one of us can be who we are, no matter who that might be. We are committed to an idea of excellence that will flush the bums, the con-men and the crybabies out of the real estate industry. If you yearn to have your failures excused, your moral lapses absolved or your boo-boos kissed, seek elsewhere. But if you are sick to death of mediocrity – welcome home. Read all about us, subscribe to our feed and steel yourself for the hunt. We work hard, we play hard, we learn everything we can – and we bow to no one.

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