Niagara Falls Real Estate & Homes : October 2007

I had an interesting comment on my last post, November Writing Ideas by Peter Thompson - Chicagoland Mortgage Insight who wrote:

                                        "Great ideas. I'm still trying to come up with a localism strategy, and this helps."

That got me thinking...

How does one come up with a strategy in the first place?  How did I come up with mine?  Had I the opportunity to look back upon my experiences, what would I do differently?  What exactly makes a successful strategy for writing for the consumer?

First off -- I have come upon mine by a series of Trail and Error. And may I place the emphasis on error.  Market Reports have evolved over time.  Articles for Buyers and Sellers have changed.   I am still finding my way.  

There are many ways you may want to approach this.  You may think my breakdown isn't what you want.  That is ok.  But what you should do is break it down into manageable chunks.   Since on ActiveRain we see 10 of our most recent posts, and since we get points each week for 10 posts.  I am going to use that as the number you should write.

Here is what I think that the successful ActiveRain Localism Strategy should be.  You will find some posts that represent the topic to give you ideas...  This strategy could be used for your outside Blog as well:  

 60% Real Estate Related - Talk About Real Estate Related Topics

Well that is a big chunk, what do I mean?  This list might grow as people comment, so I will do my best to include what others add.

Real Estate Success Stories/Client Testimonials

• Where Listings Come From...The Rest of the Story
• Yet Another Client Testimonial on the Kitsap Peninsula in scenic Washington State

Real Estate Educational Pieces

• Everything You Need to Know About Short Sales
• Orlando Florida | Condo Conversion
• How Absorption Rate is figured
• How to Take the Hassle Out of Building a New Home...Step 2~Selecting the Right Builder!

Market Reports

• Kitsap County WA Market Report for October 2007
• Celebration Florida | Mirasol at Celebration | Market Report | July 20, 2007
• Marco Island -- Let's Take a Closer Look

Real Estate Opinion

• Gloom and Doom? Don't Believe It!
• How to Kill a Real Estate Market (in 66 pages or less)
• Confessions of a Reluctant Landlord...

Buyer Articles

• To Buy or Not To Buy?
• How to Avoid Buying a Real Estate Lemon.
• Buy NOW ~~ The EXPERTS Have Said So!!

Seller Articles

• Not Your Every Day Open House
• The Four Characteristics of a Buyer's Market.
• Dangers of Working with a For Sale By Owner!!!!
• "Is a Contingent Offer in the Hand worth Two in the Bush?"
• What are the three biggest mistakes Real Estate Sellers make?
• Negotiating the Sale of Your Long Beach Homes and Condos

Mortgage Related Articles - this might mean you have a relationship with a Mortgage Professional that writes for you

• Jumbo Loans Are Coming Back to California
• Florida Affordable Mortgage | 100% Loans are Available
• Really What Does YSP (Yield Spread Premium) Mean to You Mr. & Mrs. Consumer
• Life After Foreclosure #2 (By request)

Title, Legal and Escrow Related Articles

• "Yielding the Right-of-Way" - Representing Your Client's Best Interests
• Do I need Title Insurance on my Celebration Florida home?

Posts about your Listings    

• Long Beach Luxury Condo-Alamitos Beach Condo-25 15th Place 602-Sweeping Ocean Views-90802
• 6350 Red Cedar Place Unit #414, Heather Ridge Condo, Baltimore, Md.21209
• 123 Boyd Road Portsmouth NH 03801

30% Community Related - These are about the area you serve. 

Again, members may have additional ideas I had not thought about, so I will add as I see them...  If you are writing about Bend Oregon, then you shouldn't be writing about Atlanta Georgia.  But if you live in Celebration Florida you might write about the greater Orlando Florida area.

Articles about Schools, Community Centers, Special Places, Shopping and Restaurants

• Portsmouth NH - Farmer's Market Shopping
• Orlando Florida | Luxury Vacation Options for your Family Pet!
• The Celebration Hotel
• Marco Island -- Where to Get Pizza
• Orlando Florida | Baby it is hot outside! Cool off at the movies!
• Mmmmm, Frostop!
• When will Ikea open in Orlando Florida?
• Naples Florida | Great Eats ~ Breakfast & Cream

Articles about your community's history

• From Unreal to All Too Real, Just Like That
• Portsmouth NH ~ 375 Years of Living History ~ Strawbery Banke Museum

Community Calendars of upcoming events (which just happen to link to your past articles.  Hey they are quick and easy and you give yourself link love)

• Storytelling Tonight at Barrington Hall in Roswell Georgia
• Bonita Estero Halloween Activities
• October Fun Around the Seacoast of NH and Maine!

Fun Community Stuff

• Bearfootin' - An Awesome Community Project
• The Big Secret About Hurricane, West Virginia

Why you should live in your city/Spotlight on a specific area

• Frugality - How Does Your State and Community Rank?
• "Razor Clammin' on Copalis Beach WA" - Life in scenic Washington State
• Celebration Florida | A Wonderful Place to Call Home!

10% Free For all. 

Just for Fun - Nothing to do with Real Estate in the least!

• Hey Orlando Florida Do You Know What is Facebook?
• Perhaps These Guys Shouldn't Sit Together ...

When in doubt do a recap post of your favorite posts

• Florida Mortgage | Latest Posts from The Mortgage Go To Guy!! ~ David Podgursky
• News from Marco Island
• Orlando Florida | August 2007 Real Estate News in Review

Special Interests you have - Perhaps you volunteer for Special Olympics or The American Cancer Society.  Your favorite sports Team or perhaps your hobby...

• Pink Tie - Breast Cancer
• Special Olympics
• Motorcycle Ride for Charity

Just being a good Citizen of the World

• It Doesn't Always Have to Be About Selling Houses
• Helping A Young Widow and Infant Children
• CALIFORNIA FIRES - MEMBERS IN JEOPARDY

News events from your area

• Bridge Collapse
•  Victim of the Real Estate Slump or something else?

About you and your family.  A special note, those that live with small children may not want to do this.  Each parent can make the decision.  There are pros and cons doing so.

• Move over, Brett Favre! Here comes Luke Jacobson!!!
• Safe in SoCal...for now.
• Happy 17th Anniversary, Jay!

Neat Resources

• My Housekeeper is Adorable!
• Is this a Hoax? Now you can find out the truth!

Holidays and special world events ( Christmas, Easter, Veteran's Day, etc... and September 11^th, Blog Action Day, Deviled Egg Day)

• Blog Action Day, West Virginia Style

Ok I can hear the questions and I haven't even hit the post button.  This is a great list of ideas, but how do I decide what to write?  So how does one decide the order?  

Or in other words - how a very long post just got longer...

Let's say that you work in groups of 10 posts or articles.  Since we get points for only the first 10 posts we write a week, I think that this might be an excellent start. 

I get that some of you might be struggling, so if I were to follow this formula this week and I were to write 10 articles in a week, I might do the following:

1. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article - Importance of Prequalification
2. Community Related - Community Calendar of Upcoming Events
3. Community Related - Spotlight on an area that I am going after FSBO
4. Real Estate Related - Area Market Report for the area I am going after for FSBO
5. Community Related - Why you should live in my community
6. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article - Things to ask a home inspector
7. Real Estate Related - Seller Article - Tips for preparing your home for sale or Facts about a 1031 Exchange
8. Real Estate Related - For Sale By Owner - linking to #3 & #4
9. Real Estate Related - Title, Legal or Escrow Related
10. Free For All - Ways to prepare ahead of time to make thanksgiving less stressful

Week Two might look like this:

1. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article - Things you need to apply for a mortgage
2. Real Estate Related - Seller Article - Should you have your home professionally staged
3. Community Related - Something fun about your community
4. Real Estate Related - Client Testimonial
5. Community Related - Write about a local School
6. Real Estate Related - Buyer Article - Packing Ideas
7. Community Related - History of a local important building
8. Real Estate Related - How about writing a profile on a local builder
9. Real Estate Related - Write an article about why you feel now is the time to buy a home in your community.
10. Free For All - Neat tool or resource that members of your community might find useful.

Do you see how you could build your strategy from this?  Use it as a guideline.  Here are a few things you might take into consideration when building your own strategy:

• Perhaps this week you write all Buyer Realted Real Estate and the following week Seller Related. 
• If you specialize in Buyers, you might not focus on Seller Articles
• You might want to write 5 articles a week to start and grow to 10
• You might this week want to be 60% Community 40% Real Estate, Next week 20% fun, 40% Real Estate and 40% Community.

Peter-I hope this helps you and everyone else trying to figure out how to best take advantage of writing for the consumer. 

No matter what you do, getting started is the first step.  If the direction you are taking is not working, modify it until it works for you.

Happy Writing!

What I could lose my Celebration Florida Real Estate due to a title issue? Yes it is possible, according to First American Title there are some 70 ways you could lose your property.

So what can you do to protect yourself? Purchase a Title Insurance Policy.

Ok what exactly is Title Insurance?

Title Insurance Coverage ends on the day the policy is issued and extends backward in time for an indefinite period. This is in marked contrast to property or life insurance, which protect against losses resulting from events that occur after the policy is issued, for a specified period into the future.

                                                                         Read More at Do I need Title Insurance on my Celebration Florida home?

What are the three biggest mistakes Real Estate Sellers make?

By not thinking objectively, important time is lost, money can be lost and so much more.  To prevent this from happening to you, don't make the three biggest mistakes when listing your home for sale.

When selling your home it should be treated as any other transaction.  It should be made without emotional involvement, but many times Sellers use their hearts instead of their heads when making such an important decision as listing their home for sale. 

Three of biggest mistakes that Real Estate Sellers make are:

Selecting an Agent because they agree with your Listing Price or willing to charge you the lowest commission in the area.

Just because you think your home is worth a certain amount, does not mean you will get it.  There are many factors that affect the listing price of your home.  When pricing your home, you need to take into consideration many factors including:

• Condition of your home
• Location! Location! Location! Exposure and Location!
• What the most recent sales were for your area
• The number of homes for sale
• The effect of For Sale By Owner Listings in the area
• Absorption Rate of your area
• The days on the market that homes sold and that are currently on the market

As for the commission you pay for listing your home, do you really want to work with someone that thinks so little of their service that they will take anything?   Successful marketing of your home takes a lot of effort.  It starts with the listing price.

Do you really believe that you will get the best service by someone who cuts their commission and doesn't know the market?

All realtors are the same, just pick one.

You know that is not true.  If it were, there wouldn't be all types of companies out there providing great variety of services.  What you need is an experienced Realtor who knows their market, has a good marketing plan and a solid plan to get your home sold. 

Things to look for in a Realtor are:

• An excellent web presence - 80% of buyers start their search via the Internet.  You will want a Realtor who can be found by these buyers.
• Explains the importance of staging of your home
• An organized plan to list and sell your home that they can present to you
• Willing to tell you thing that might be uncomfortable
• The Realtor's company is also an important factor - Does the company have a huge presence in your area?  How is their reputation?
• Is someone full of information to help both buyers and sellers
• Willing to give you a list of references
• Someone that you feel comfortable with and have confidence that they will do a good job for you. 

Do you still believe that all Realtors are the same?

Deciding to list with Friends or Family.

This is not good, not for the agent, buyer or seller.  Relationships are torn apart from unrealistic expectations.   There are hundreds of stories of listing with a friend or family member and great disappointments.  It is best to list with someone that you do not have a relationship with.  Your friend or family member can always get a referral fee.

Do you really want to ruin a good relationship over a Real Estate transaction?

Hope you don't make one of these mistakes....

Read Also:

You don't want to be caught by surprise the realities of owning a Second Home on Marco Island. There are the costs involved, then there are the realities of owning a second home. Especially if you have to travel any distance to get to your Second Home on Marco Island.

Owning a second home is a great dream of many. But is it for you?

                                       Read More at Should we purchase a Second Home on Marco Island?

 

Florida has long been a winter haven for people from the "North".   The definition of North has expanded quite noticeably recently beyond the typical Chicago, New England, & New York retiree to include people looking to Florida for proximity to the beach and the tropical warm weather that we get year round. 

Now the people "wintering" in Florida include Canadians, Europeans, Brits and other people from all over the US... these people are fondly called Snowbirds as many of them fly the coop before the snow up North.

                                        Read More at Florida Mortgage | Second Homes ~ What are they and Why buy here?

We are all in agreement that we are in a buyer's market on Marco Island. Prices have been driven down. But wait! What is this? A record highest sales price for a Single Family home on Marco Island!


Villa Venezia, one of the most recognizable single family home on the island, just closed for $9.1 Million. Listed for $11.5 Million, this Marco Island luxury home, featured more than 14,000 sf of air conditioned space. This record sales price eclipsed the sale earier this summer for $8.4 Million.  

 

                                          Read More about Villa Venezia on Marco Island Sells for Record Amount!

Marco Island Homes with smokers. Ok, I am already uncomfortable bringing up the subject, but we really need to talk! Trying to sell your home, and you smoke it is a tough thing!

The most effectual short-term approach to the smoke-odor problem involves total repainting of walls and ceilings, complete replacement of carpets and draperies, and extensive cleanup of everything else.

For those who do not smoke, the ashtray atmosphere of a Marco Island smoker's home is one of the factors that will turn off a potential buyer to your home. A Google search of "cigarette odor removal" renders more than 255,000 Websites.

                            Read More at Getting Ready to Sell Your Marco Island Home - Removing Smoke Smell

Marco Island is an Island Paradise. Many people have moved here after spending a vacation in one of the many homes that are available for rent on Marco Island. They enjoyed their stay decide to purchase and move here themselves.

Many of those that call it home are upset with the vacation rental properties. Many people have invested in a second home on Marco Island and rent it out. Many people never even notice that each week homes turn over because the owners have strict control over the rentals.

                             Read More at Marco Island City Council Forms Committee to Review Vacation Rentals

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This information is provided by Colleen Kulikowski, Realtor.  Colleen writes about the Florida lifestyle and Real Estate in Western New York.

 

Celebration Florida Homes  Marco Island Homes

Western New York Real Estate & Mortgage

 

Enterprise Construction files for Chapter 11

This was announced on Monday and who on Marco Island is really surprised? The controversy has been around for some time.

No I have never really been a fan of their homes, and yes there is a lot of controversy on the subject. Just read the comments over at the Marco Island Eagle Article!

"And it opens a new chapter for the company, according to a press release issued by Dan Dufault Sr., the CEO of RE/MAX Results and Enterprise Construction. Enterprise Construction, the contracting entity of RE/MAX Results Realty on Marco, announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday."

Interestingly enough the bulk of the people in the on-line poll believe it has nothing to do with monies owed by customers or the downturn of the Marco Island Real Estate Market. Neither do I.

This should be very interesting to follow over time...