5 Reasons Why Real Estate and Property Management Companies Should Embrace Local SEO

There are about 11 million companies, organizations, and business all over the world with Facebook pages and about 9 million who have claimed their Google Places Pages. These were the figures given by Facebook and Google as of June 2012. The reason for this boom is clearly due to the massive movement of Google to go local on its algorithm. What this means is that Google will now take the locale of a business when ranking its website, blog, or any relevant content about the business on searches.

This is the new trend. Unfortunately, not all real estate and property management companies see it. That being said if you are a real estate agent or property manager still on the fence on whether to claim your Google Places Page or set up a Facebook Business Page, here are 5 logical reasons to get you over that fence and into the realm of Google Search Domination.

More Visibility
The number one reason for getting into the Local SEO picture is because you want your business, your name, and your services to be seen by your target market online, particularly on Google. With a well-placed and optimized Google Places listing or page, you can be sure that your business will show up in the top 7 ranks for the keywords relevant to your business and locale. Facebook pages may not be put you in the top 7, but it will help you dominate searches on page 1 or page 2 of the results.

More Credibility
Let's face it, with a Google+ page, a Google Places listing, or a Facebook page in a search result, you are actually giving your business, name, and brand a big boost in the credibility scheme of things. This is due to the fact that these pages will contain crucial information such as your address, contact numbers, your website link, videos, and images.

Go Mobile
Having a smartphone and using it to hook up to the Internet is the trend these days. And in a year or two, you may soon find that a larger number of people have shifted to mobile devices rather than the traditional notebooks and desktop computers when searching for stuff on the net. Well, you can ride that trend to the bank if you have a Google Places Page and a Facebook page.

More Conversions
You are seen more, your business is more credible, and you have gone mobile - what does that mean? Yes, you guessed it right - more leads, more listings, more closed deals, and definitely more money for you.

Not Much Effort in It
Local SEO isn't something that will cost you a lot of money to do. Nor will it deprive you of the quality time you need with your family. It is relatively easy to get things going. Simply set up a Google Places page by signing up for Google+. Give Google the info it needs from you and verify that the page is owned by you. Once you are done, it is all about building your presence online to strengthen that new listing you just claimed. This will entail setting up a Facebook page, getting people to submit reviews for your business or service, and having people blog about you.

Local SEO is where the whole Internet is moving into with regards to searches. In the real estate game, being seen locally (in the areas you cover) is extremely important and right up your alley, so to speak. Now is the time to grab this trend by the balls and yank hard.

Real Estate and Wealth Expos

Going to local conferences and classes can be great way to learn more about different real estate and wealth building opportunities. Most people don't take advantage of these great opportunities which makes them an even better deal for you.

You may see many advertisements in your paper or on TV for free or low cost real estate or wealth building meetings in your town. I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities at every chance you get.

Many people blow these meetings off as useless sales pitches, but if you get just one idea from it and you can make money from it, they are worth it. A lot of people don't go to these meetings because there is inevitably a sales pitch at the end. I admit that I don't like these parts of the programs myself, but usually I can get one or two ideas that can really help me in my part-time business.

Another advantage of going to these meetings is to meet like minded people who are also looking to increase their knowledge and build wealth. Networking with these people can lead to partnerships or mentoring opportunities. Ask other people around the room what their plans are or what they do to earn extra income. Find out how the guy next to you managed to buy his first rental property.

In order to get wealthy in your lifetime you must look for opportunities to expand your income. You won't get wealthy by trying to save money or by using coupons. You need to find a cash machine so that you can take that cash and reinvest it into wealth building assets.

Real Estate and Property Flipping

Opportunity breeds business and subsequent profits. How does one locate opportunities? One successful industrialist spoke the "golden words" that meant that if you give what people are dying to procure, you have a successful transaction and one can become a millionaire or even a billionaire in supplying what people need or want. Flipping property is one such area in the United States where most of the towns and cities provide opportunity to the entrepreneur for carrying out a legal successful business. If you know how to seek opportunity, you can make a lot of money! The profit margin that is considered to be reasonable needs to be well defined and the revenue generated in the flip property business can be significant if one takes a few knowledgeable steps in the right direction.

Anyone can get into this flipping property business with just a little bit of capital and a lot of perseverance or acumen in conducting viable deals. There are even e-books available on some sophisticated and dedicated websites that one can purchase with instant delivery for under S 30. These publications guide you step by step in understanding and carrying out the flip property technique. Many people have benefited through the e-books as can be read by the testimonials given on the websites. If you have an inclination in real estate and property dealings, the flip property opportunity could be all that you were waiting for!

Flipping real estate is not a difficult or unapproachable task and you only need to know the basics of the trade to initiate the deals. Buying flip property, fixing it up or getting it fixed up, and selling it at a reasonable profit constitutes the crux of the deal. It may sound a bit daring but to be honest the process is quite understandable if you take on a professional consulting firm in the flipping business. To learn more about these opportunities talk to your local realtor or survey the videos available on several websites in your city. Who knows, you may one day become a well known real estate flip property expert helping many who are in need of a comfortable and affordable home!

Real Estate and Homes - What to Expect When Attending an Open House

As a first time home buyer in Ahwatukee you are likely to encounter numerous first-time experiences. The process of buying your first home can be exhilarating and daunting all at the same time. During this process you may work with a real estate agent who will make appointments for you to view various homes for sale in the area that meet your needs. You may also have the opportunity to attend open houses. If you have never attended an open house, you may not know what to expect.

An open house provides multiple prospective buyers with the opportunity to view a property that is for sale during a window of time on a specified date. For example, an open house might be held from 2pm to 4pm on a Saturday afternoon. During that time real estate agents and buyers are encouraged to tour the home. The sellers may or may not be present during the open house.

When you first arrive you will likely be greeted by a real estate agent and asked to sign in. This will allow the agent to follow-up with you later regarding your interest in the home. In many cases you may also be provided with a flyer or brochure that details information about the home. Many real estate agents conduct tours of the home to new arrivals, while others encourage interested buyers to wander through the home and inspect it.

Refreshments are often provided at an open house as way to encourage buyers to feel at home and mingle while they are there. Generally, there will be a real estate agent present who will be able to answer questions you may have, but you should not expect to have the agent's undivided attention.

Do not be afraid to poke about, open closet doors and ask questions. Even if there are others present, including the sellers, you should take full advantage of the opportunity to find out as much as possible about the property. Purchasing a home is a big decision and an even bigger investment, so take full advantage.

If there are several open houses being held in the area where you want to buy on the same day you may find it helpful to carefully schedule your outings that day so that you can take advantage of the opportunity to attend as many as possible and find out what is available in the area before making a decision.

With that said; however, you should be prepared for the fact that there are often several prospective buyers who attend an open house and if the property is highly sought after more than one offer may be submitted on the property on the day of the open house. As a result, if you are interested in the property you should not delay in making an offer or you may find that it already has a contract on it by the time you get around to submitting an offer.

2010 RMLS Statistics For Eugene Real Estate and Surrounding Areas

The final 2010 RMLS stats are in. When we compare the market activity for 2010 with that of 2009, we can see that close sales were up 1.8%! That is great news given that if we were to compare December 2010 to Dec 2009 closed sales were down 6.1% New listings fell to 19.2% and pending sales decreased to 2.2%. If I led with that one could get a false impression. I'm not sure if it will be true for other offices or not, but at my office, Hybrid Real Estate, we have seen a large uptick of "paper" coming in. That to me says that buyers are writing offers this January. They may not all close, but at least the conversation is being started.

Back to statistics. If you compare the average sales price over the last year we can see that it is down 3.9% for the year (2.1% if looking at the median price). When comparing the average sales price of December 2010 with that of November, we can see that the average sales price grew from $202,900 to $205,800 a 1.4% increase. When looking at our inventory we are up from last year at 8.1 months. With that said we did decrease from 9.2 month of inventory the month prior.

The bid appreciation winners of December 2010 were Mohawk Valley at 23.2%, West Lane County Properties at 4.8% and the Coburg Area at 4.4%. We were down overall this month and these areas do not have a lot of volume exchanging hands right now so these numbers to me are a little misleading. Who was hit the hardest with depreciation? Junction City with a 16.6% depreciation (ouch), Pleasant Hill area down 13.3%, Danebo down 9.8%, and River Road down 7.1%.

My beloved Ferry Street Bridge remains consistent at.2% appreciation. Neighboring Gilham continues to suffer down 8.2%. Springfield is hanging in there down just.7% in December. I expect more of the same in 2011, but only time will tell. Consumer Confidents (in the real estate market anyway) seems to be getting stronger. With that said real estate loans are getting harder to obtain and I expect interest rates to start creeping back up. As I have stated in the past, if you can financially afford to do so "Now is the time to buy!" I hate owning rentals (although I have owned several over the years). If I am looking to invest in some cash flow properties again you better bet that there are some deals out there that are just too good to pass up.

Two Ways to Passively Invest in Real Estate and Earn a High Return

First, before we begin discussing the two ways to passively invest in real estate and get a high return on the money you do invest, I want to acknowledge that should you need to step in and protect your investment, it may become an active investment for you (or the team you might hire). Also, the selection of the investment up front should be an active process. However, excluding those two possible active roles, I would consider this a passive real estate investing strategy. With that full disclosure, let's continue with our discussion of the two ways to passively invest.

First, you could become a private lender.

Private lenders usually lend money secured by a particular property. They earn a return on the money they invest. Payment arrangements can range from monthly payments, to quarterly payments, to yearly payments and even to lump sum payments when the property is sold. You may receive interest only payments for these payments with the entire principal amount to be paid at the end of the investment period. Or, the agreement might include interest and some of the principal so that over time the entire balance of the loan is paid off like more conventional, amortized loans.

Typically when you become a lender on the property you are receiving a set amount of interest on the money you loan and not part of the profit produced in the deal. Using an oversimplified example excluding all discussion of transaction costs, if the loan lasted one year and you had loaned $100,000 at 8% per year you might earn $8,000 on that investment.

Second, you could become an equity partner.

Instead of lending money secured by the property, you may want to find a professional real estate investor and come to an agreement on how to partner on the deal. You may be providing the money and/or credit to buy the property and the real estate investor would be responsible for the activity part of the arrangement.

With this type of investment you may, in some cases, receive interest on the money you have put into the deal as well as part of the profits. Or, you may just receive part of the profit from the deal.

Again giving an oversimplified example excluding transaction and other costs, if you loaned $100,000 in exchange for half of the profit on the deal and the deal took a year from start to finish, but the profit on the deal, after all expenses, was $30,000, you might make $15,000 on the deal and the real estate investor would receive $15,000 as well.

Structuring win-win deals like this is fun and can be extremely rewarding if done correctly. There are almost limitless possible ways to structure them depending on the needs of the people involved. Some lenders might want monthly income. Others may want to maximize capital growth. Some real estate investors might need living expenses while investing the time to manage the project; others might have alternative sources for that. Part of what makes the process of structuring these enjoyable is finding solutions that truly are win-win for all involved.

A Flipping House Tip For Real Estate and Property Investors Who Are At Home Just Doing Deals

Flipping houses can be very profitable. Mainly because of the leverage the transaction provides. A tip to remember is to avoid seeing the prospective house through rose colored glasses. Personal preferences should be left at home, because all that matters is the numbers to a successful home flipper.

If you love real estate, it is an expensive taste to have because the time to be admiring of properties is when the work is done and you are shopping for your own personal habitat. When you have the fiscal capacity to have the luxury of actually enjoying the property for yourself. Until then you are strictly shopping for a market. You are searching for what you know your specialized niche want and need, which brings us to the tip I think will improve your prospects and your results greatly.

I am affiliated with a great many investors and a good proportion are active real estate investors. Some focus in more specialized areas like art, precious stones and sea going vessels. What I noticed about my property investor friends is many spend a lot of time searching. Does this sound familiar? I have seen many give up after a few months of this, quipping that they just can't find the property they are looking for.

In actual fact, this is an attitudinal problem and not a supply problem of appropriate flip deals. If you would repeat this with me as you read and remember it in your real estate career, we can both sleep sounder. Ready? "I am seeking to uncover a profit" Again! "I am seeking to uncover a profit"

Good, I feel a little better now. Now that I know you have said these words in your head, I know it might bounce around for a few minutes while you read the rest of this article.

You see, noticing imperfections in the property yourself will weaken your deal. Looking at the unmown grass and the falling apart letter box will make you willing to take less. The point is grass can be mown and letter boxes can be repaired fairly cheaply.

A property flipper, an expert property flipper deals in numbers. He can translate emotive factors like a messy porche and a garage full of junk into cold hard figures, like $230 and 1 days work. A retail buyer will look at these things and turn their nose up at the entire offer, no matter how cheap it is, they will subconciously tie in a garage full of junk with, "there is something wrong with the entire house" "Who knows whats wrong with it" Retail buyers want to buy emotively. Wholesale buyers want to buy logically.

As a flipper of properties, you want to buy wholesale and sell retail. However there is an imbetween. What if you don't have much money to do your first deal. You don't have the cash to put down in escrow. This is what many of the quitters I mentioned above suffered from but did not recognize it. They had some money, only a little, and they felt they could maybe do a flip if they found exactly the right property.

If they recognized their situation they would have taken my advice, the advice I am about to offer you. Yes there are retail buyers, yes there are wholesale buyers who are cashed up. Then there is the hybrid. This buyer has little money but plenty of time and enormous enthusiasm.

A hybrid buyer usually sells to a wholesaler. For example a mom and pop investor is a wholesaler. They want to buy and rent out properties for long term capital gains and a little cash flow. So they generally are very picky about price, but not so picky that they would not pay a few percentage points over wholesale. Thats where you come in.

You do not buy the property, which immediately means you don't incur stamp duty and a host of costs that the wholesaler will incur. All you are doing is finding properties and presenting them to the wholesaler in a way that it makes it appealing for them to buy. Things like a list of likely repairs and the estimated costs, all ordinary fees and charges and practically everything about the property on a fact sheet.

You will need a few special forms that commits the seller, so your wholesaler cannot go around you and take your 5% or so, but apart from that you are a free agent.

The real tip is this. These mom and pop wholesale buyers are just one type of buyer. They buy multiple properties per year not just one. You must foster links with maybe 20-30 of these wholesalers. You should keep in constant touch with them and offer them fact sheets nearly every week. Not all will be ready to buy when you have something to sell, but sometimes, you will hit one in just the right way and even if they are imbetween deals, they may still take yours on too because it was right up their alley.

Of course, the real beauty of this is that if you fail to interest anybody, you lose nothing. The 10 days or whatever you negotiated to control the property has passed and you failed to find a buyer, nobody lost a thing and you had a chance to pick up a quick and clean $5,000 to $40,000 in a weeks work. It's a numbers game.

A car, some gas and a newspaper is all you need.