La Jolla Real Estate Blog: Laxson Realty l La Jolla Real Estate

Mortgage Marketing Tip - 2 Ways to Speed up your Blogging

By JC Kiadii, Internet Marketing for Mortgage Professionals

Maintaining a blog is tough. Brainstorming topics, creating articles, editing posts, etc., all take time.

Here are 2 tips which may help you speed up the process.

1. Have a place for your topic ideas.
   
   Have somewhere to put your topic ideas. It can be a small notebook, your smart phone, a document on your computer, an audio recorder, or any other place that works. You want to use a method that makes it easy for you to file and retrieve your topic ideas.
   
   I use spiral bound index cards. (Here's what they look like.) I not only jot down topic ideas, I also add a few main points under each topic. This practice makes it easier to create articles when I have time. 
   
   
2. Use speech recognition software.
   
   Did you know Windows VISTA comes with speech recognition software? Once you set up the software, you can just speak your blog posts and let VISTA type them up for you. After they are typed, all that's left is for you to edit and post.
   
   To access Windows VISTA speech recognition software:
   
   
   • Open the Control Panel.
   • Click Ease of Access.
     
   • Click Speech Recognition Options
     

Do you have any tips for speeding up your blogging? Do share!


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JC Kiadii, Mortgage Internet Marketing Services . 770-469-7385. Are you reaching out to the 87% of new buyers who start their search online? Our team provides results-driven mortgage Internet marketing services. Visit our website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

Are you thinking of selling your Schuylkill County Home FSBO -- by yourself?

Marketing a home in 2010 is NOT the same as marketing it 10 years ago. Even if you did this before, you have to do so much more than plant a sign on the yard and place a classified ad.

5. Advertising is more complicated. When is the last time you read the newspaper or searched the classifieds. Years ago you'd buy the paper to see what homes were for sale or rent. A single classified ad run several times a week might get you enough calls to sell the house. Now it's so much more complicated! Most agents and brokers don't advertise anymore in newspapers because THEY DON'T WORK and also because they are very expensive considering the lack of results.

4. Are you internet savvy? What does work is the internet. Buyer start their searches online now, months before they are ready to buy. A real estate broker will put your property on the MLS to advertise to all agents, plus many other internet sites. In our office, we put your property on 3 MLS systems covering all of Schuylkill, Lebanon/Lancaster MLS, and  TREND MLS which stretches into Reading and Philadelphia. We then use Postlets and ListHub to feed out into over 38 sites via RSS feed. So you're on Trulia, Zillow, Craigslist, Homes.com, and so many more sites. Can you do that?

3. Are you ready to pre-qualify buyers who call on the phone? Before you let someone cross the threshhold, are you ready to ask them personal questions about their finances, or are you going to just open the door? How do you know a buyer really has the ability to buy? Because he says so? Really? Not in today's market. And once you agree to show your home to someone, you need to make yourself available to all buyers, at their request, when they want to see the home on their own time, not yours. Is it an inconvenient time? Sorry. Make yourself available for them.

2. What about all the paperwork? If you do go FSBO, call a lawyer. You will need someone to write up the contracts and get you to settlement. You should not just go online or to Staples to find generic documents. This is complicated and dangerous to try to do on your own. You need an attorney to help you once you find a buyer. The work is not finished. It is just starting, unfortunately. You have contracts, then inspections, the appraisal, and financing details to make it thru now.

1. Can you negotiate like a pro? Seriously. If a buyer walks in and asks "Can you go lower" or "Why are you selling" or "What is your bottom line?" How will you answer? This is not a business deal cut and dry. This is your house. Will you waffle a bit and tell them there is room to negotiate? Will you tell them that you need to be moved in 30 days because you got a new job? Will you hurt your negotiating power by giving away too many details about why you are moving and/or how much you will really take? Having an agent in the middle can take a step away from this, giving a bit of distance to you in negotiating. Perhaps if you do not want to pay an agent, you should hire that lawyer to negotiate for you. Don't try this yourself if you even think you're going to tell buyers too much personal information or cave when they say your home is overpriced or they can only afford X.

Real estate agents -- good ones -- will put YOUR Interests above theirs. They will negotiate fiercely to get you the highest and best price for your house. They will take care of all the little details you otherwise have to handle on your own. The best agents are worth every penny you will pay, in getting you a higher price for your home with less hassles.

Are you thinking of selling your Schuylkill County Home FSBO -- by yourself? Think again, please.

If you're going FSBO because you think you cannot afford one, it may just be that you cannot afford NOT to have an agent. Not all firms charge the same fees. All fees are negotiable. Interview a few agents and ask each one to explain what they do for their fees, and how their fees are structured. You just might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.

 

Flickr image courtesy MiK

 

 

 

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Erica Ramus is Broker/Owner of Realty Executives in Pottsville, PA. If you're looking for a PROFESSIONAL to represent you in all of your Schuylkill County real estate needs, call Realty Executives at 570-622-6006. Serving all of Schuylkill County ... Pottsville, Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Haven, Auburn, Pine Grove, Frackville, Minersville, Ashland, Shenandoah, Port Carbon, Palo Alto, St. Clair, Barnesville real estate. Click on the link above to search Pottsville PA homes for sale or any Schuylkill County homes for sale. We have all properties listed for sale in the Schuylkill MLS on our website -- free search! No registration is required!

We also run Schuylkill Appraisal Services, for all your appraisal needs in the area. If you need an appraisal, we are your Schuylkill County appraisal source. 

                It is the rite of passage for anyone who has crossed the age barrier of 50.  Suddenly the mailbox is full of offers for "seniors", and if those aren't enough, could the dreaded AARP card be far behind?  Nevertheless, the fact is the baby boomers generation promises to be the largest, and coolest group of Americans ever to hit retirement age.  The median age of all homebuyers is close to 50.  Many industries, including real estate, are attempting to address the needs of Boomers.

The Boomer Profile:

•·         Age 46 to 64 years old (Born between 1946 and 1964)

•·         36% live in the suburbs, 24% live in urban areas and the remaining 40% live in rural areas or small towns.

•·         60% of Boomer households are empty nesters or two person households

•·         Median Household income in 2009 was $52,000, compared to $50,303 in 2008

•·         Have a strong affinity for real estate- homeownership rate is 78% - exceeding the overall  national rate of 69%

•·         More active in the second home market, owning 56% of all vacation/seasonal homes and 58% of rental property

•·         Are in their peak earning years and continue to wield great influence in the US economy.

 Boomers on the leading edge of this generation, find themselves busy caring for teenagers, waving goodbye to their college students or possibly paying off a child's wedding.  Now they are looking forward to travel, time to themselves and less responsibility.  But just as they sit down and take a deep breath to reflect on their future, many find themselves placed in the predicament of trying to figure out how they are going to care for their aging parents. 

                With so many different issues for Boomers to contend with even though they are the "Coolest Generation" they are also the generation with the most on their plates and continue to be the trend setters for those that come after them as how to deal with the changes of life.