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As we all know there are many more people  finding and researching their home buying decisions on the internet. In a new graph released by the National Association of Realtors as you can see to the left here there has been a giant swing over the last few years from researching using newspaper ads to researching using online internet search tools.

If we look back to 1997 and pretty well the early days of the internet, there were a lot of ways that buyers would look for info including 2% looking online. The number for the internet is not 37% and the newspaper share is now down 75% to only 2%. Read the rest of this entry »

The recession has taken a bite out of real estate agents’ median incomes, which fell more than 13 percent last year nationwide.

The median number of sales handled by agents also dropped – from four in 2007 to 3.5 transactions a year, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday, and their median sales volume last year was $1.2 million, down from $1.6 million in 2007.

Data about the slowdown in business was included in a sweeping industry profile the Realtors group just completed.

Paul Bishop, the NAR’s managing director of real estate research, said members are diversified in their business activities.

“Most Realtors understand real estate is a cyclical business and are diversified in their income streams,” Paul Bishop, who handles research for the Washington, D.C.-based trade group, said in the report. “Almost all of our members have secondary business specialties, and some are involved in related businesses.” Read the rest of this entry »

Kathleen at Real Estate Marketing has two great tips for prequalifying prospects:

In this crazy market, it’s even more important to make sure you’re working with clients who are serious about buying or selling.  The time required to close a deal is extended in the market today, so you need to make sure every hour you spend is taking you closer to a commission.

Ask the Right Questions to Pre-Qualification

The first way to pre-qualify a prospect is to ask the right questions and to listen carefully to identify any inconsistencies or hesitation in the answers you receive.  Here are the type of questions that can help pre-qualify a buyer or seller: Read the rest of this entry »

For many of us in the real estate industry, this past year has been a difficult one, with stagnating housing markets and economic ups and downs. You’ve likely had to overcome many challenges this year, and are feeling grateful for having either survived or thrived in an otherwise gloomy climate. If you’re like me, you’re not only thankful for your success, but you’re now wondering how you can help those in need in your community.

As a realtor, there are many things you can do to have a positive impact on your community. You can participate in organized events such as charity golf tournaments, marathons, or fundraiser dinners. You can even start your own event like Linda Covino did in Medford, Massachusetts. She started an annual Dancing with the Realtors competition, based on the popular TV show, “Dancing with the Stars.” Dancing with the Realtors has turned out to be an entertaining and successful event that in 2007, raised over $20,000 for Habitat for Humanity. Read the rest of this entry »

Lifehacker today has a great story for Realtors although it is really pointed towards home buyers and sellers.

The article describes 10 tools, including Zillow of course, that help people get through the buying and selling of reale estate.

Here in Canada we have been looking forward to a big change in the way that the Canadian MLS site was going to be presenting listings. The changes are now live.

So what kinds of changes would be ground breaking to you? Here in Canada the MLS is now mapped with Microsoft Virtual Earth and you can now very quickly see listings on a map with a pop up pic with basic info on the property. For those that just want to see a list of properties available on the map will see a sidebar on the right with all of the listing in the window.

I am sure that we will see changes soon at the realtor.com site but at this point the Canada site is so much better than anything else that I have seen that it is hard to compare.

What do you guys think? Have you checked out the Canadian MLS site? How do you like it?

I have been talking for the last couple of years about how important and useful blogging can be for a Realtor. I am looking at going to Blog world Expo and see that there is a special day that has been set aside called ”

The Real Estate and Mortgage Conference at Blog World and New Media Expo

They really need to get a better name. Anyway this trade show There will be a seminar, booths and training, here is what they say

A full day of seminars, panels & workshops focused on the nuts & bolts of leveraging social media tools like blogs to enhance the marketing efforts of real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and anyone working within the field of real estate.

This event is taking place in Las Vegas on September 19 with the rest of the Blog World Expo taking place on September 20th and 21.

Here is a page that will tell you the top 5 reasons to go to the Realtor Blog World Expo as well as more info about it

As an avid bike rider I love to ride to work and just found an article in the Sarasota Herald that reminds me that there is one old but now incredibly important factor to think about when it comes to working with buyers and that is the bike commute for fitness fanatics and green consumers

But that does not really mean you should hop on the bike to do showings…just be aware.

With gas prices high, bicycles flying out of stores and a buyers’ market for houses, a handful of real estate agents around the country are touting the two-wheeled appeal of their listings.

Some even show houses exclusively by bike, wheeling through the neighborhood with potential buyers to show off bike lanes and bike-focused businesses and repair shops. Read the rest of this entry »