Has your area hit bottom?

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with many friends, several of whom happen to be interested in real estate investing. Some have even made quite a bit of money investing in developing. We live in Miami, which was one of the big bubble areas, so the question came up whether we have bottomed out in prices yet.

The consensus seemed to be that the next six months or so offer excellent opportunities for finding the best prices. It is true, you can drive through even the nicest areas and find prices that are more consistent with prices from two or three years ago. And foreclosures and pre-foreclosure sales are everywhere. But as soon as a pre-foreclosure sign goes up, the property seems to be sold.

In fact, the newly released third quarter report by the National Association of Realtors found that 93 out of 150 metropolitan areas studied showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from a year earlier, but 54 had price declines. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said that home prices throughout the midsection of the US are affordable and perhaps even undervalued.

At our main listing site, www.lockboxdeals.com, we offer the best deals in real estate from all over the country. Let us know how the market is faring in your area, and don't forget to post your free listings.

Gifts for Customers

The holidays are closer than I like to think, and if you haven't ordered your personalized gifts by now, it is probably too late.

But don't despair. Mark Nash of http://www.1001realestatetips.com/ recently sent out a great email discussing a focus-group he did a couple of years ago asking his clients what kinds of holiday gifts they most appreciated. The overwhelming answer was something that didn't scream It's From Me! Your Realtor!

That year, he sent out Starbuck's gift cards, and it was a big hit. I can attest to that fact - a customer of mine once sent me a gift card, and every time I used it, of course I remembered who had sent it to me. It didn't have to have her name on it or mention her business.

What are some of your favorite gifts, for either holidays or closings? Some of Mark's other suggestions included items of local interest, such as restaurant guides or local magazines. That's a great idea for someone who is relocating. I happen to be a vegetarian, and every year I receive a food basket from a customer who I know makes special effort to send me non-meat products in my basket. Other than that being a case of the thought really making a difference, I don't know if food items are a good idea. Depending on your locale and budget, cards by a local artist, a plant in a planter that can be reused, or coffee mugs are good ideas.

And don't forget, if you are on a budget, check out affiliate programs. www.linkshare.com and www.commissionjunction.com have some programs that offer their affiliates special discounts - this can make a difference when sending presents to your entire client roster. If you aren't a participating affiliate, I always try to offer coupons and discounts for the programs I participate in when choosing sponsors for my weekly Top Ten Deals in Real Estate newsletter (you can sign up at www.lockboxdeals.com), but in the interest of full disclosure, I'll get a percentage for anyone who clicks through from one of my ads. Is there a type of gift you'd most prefer to receive a discount for? Let me know and I can pass one along.

Although it is easier to send out uniform presents, Realtors have a great opportunity to really get to know their clients tastes, so individual, custom gifts might be appropriate for your closest customers.

Least favorite items seem to be calendars and refrigerator magnets with the company name on it. I do receive several school year calendars from Realtors and always keep one, but only one, usually whichever arrives first.

Anyone else want to share your ideas?

Lisa

Grants for Real Estate Investing

By now, we have all seen the commercials shouting that you are a fool for not taking advantage of the government grants available for everything from starting your own business to investing in real estate. Does it sound too good to be true?

That depends. Certainly, some people have received a grant for investing in real estate. A very few have received a large grant for investing in real estate. And even though these grants exist, the requirements can be quite stringent, the competition very tough, and the amounts small.

However, there are some circumstances where it is possible to start or improve a real estate investing career by seeking and obtaining grants. Most often, local municipalities fund affordable housing initiatives. These may range from offering individuals grants to assist in a first-time-homeowner down payment, to grants to non-profit developers to build multi-unit affordable housing developments.

For example, recently in Miami, Florida, housing assistance grants were available (http://www.miamidade.gov/housing/library/hag_eng_span.pdf) for low-income individuals who meet needs criteria. This type of grant can be found by contacting the housing department of the municipality where you are looking to invest.

Other programs exist on a municipal or regional basis for the elderly, persons with disabilities, and persons with AIDS. If you fall into one of these categories and wish to purchase real estate, again the best place to start looking is your municipal housing authority or agency.

Another class of programs encourages “Sweat Equity,” or seeks to provide housing opportunities for people who are willing and able to provide some of the labor of building the home. One of the best known organizations in this category is Habitat for Humanity, although similar organizations exist on local levels.

Individuals may also qualify for downpayment assistance. This information from the website http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/grants-catalog-housing.html#020 illustrates a typical example of this type of grant:

AHP Homeownership Set-Aside Program of the FHLBank SystemFederal Housing Finance Board
An FHLBank may set aside up to the greater of $4.5 million or 35 percent of its AHP funds each year for a homebuyer program for low- and moderate-income households. Member lenders provide the set-aside funds as grants to eligible customers generally on a first-come, first-served basis. Set-aside funds may be used for down-payments, closing costs, rehabilitation, or homeownership counseling costs. Each FHLBank may set its own maximum grant amount, which may not exceed $15,000 per household.
To qualify for a grant, households must meet several criteria. Please contact your nearest FHLBank Community Investment Officer to learn more.
Contact: To find your nearest Community Investment Officer, visit http://www.fhfb.gov/FHLB/FHLBP_officers.htm.

It is also possible to obtain grants to make property improvements to a property that you own. These are most available in Community Redevelopment Areas and can be found through the municipality you are interested in. These types of grants are often available for commercial and residential properties, and may cover anything from disaster preparedness to exterior paint and landscaping to safety items. Rural areas may benefit from irrigation grants and other incentives from the US Department of Agriculture.

For non-profit organizations that seek to obtain grants to build affordable housing initiatives, the Federal government offers several types of grants for real estate investing. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers community development block grants that usually funnel through a competitive awards process to a municipality that in turn awards contracts to businesses to build houses for the low-income and underserved members of the community.

Contrary to popular belief, the Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start new small businesses, so if you have to invest your own funds to start a non-profit organization, you have to decide whether developing affordable housing will be a career that you will follow regardless of whether you obtain grants and contracts.

Other grants for real estate investing can be found for rural and farming assistance projects, tribal projects, and other miscellaneous specific projects.

If you do fall into one of the covered categories, a grant for investing in real estate may help start you on the road to owning property. You will still have to do the work of researching properties for purchase, making improvements on the property, reselling for a profit to convert extra cash into additional investments, and working up into bigger and more profitable deals. Seeking and obtaining a grant for real estate investing may help a hard working, motivated investor gain the leg up necessary to profit in real estate.

Multiple books exist that state they can supply information on available grants and how to obtain them. Internet searches also are quite useful in finding different types of funding opportunities. Municipal housing agencies are also a wealth of information for finding out about grant opportunities. For more information, try www.grants.gov or your local housing agency.

How Important is SEO for an Agent's Site?

I have a Realtor friend who is developing his first site, and he is struggling to balance creativity, usefulness, and SEO features.
I recently read on another blog that for agents, perhaps sacrificing SEO in order to give customers what they want up front - access to listing searches - is more important, as it will bring customers back again and again. We all know that sites that feature great search categories but very little text are difficult to optimize, but sites that feature tons of keyword rich text might be confusing to customers who just want to see listings. Where is the balance between getting repeat customers and finding new customers? Is it more important to optimize to attract new customers and then let good old fashioned great service keep them coming back?
Of course, for my site www.lockboxdeals.com, since it is a listing service and supported by ads, SEO is one of the most important (and expensive!) priorities I face everyday, so perhaps my opinion is a bit....skewed!
What do you all think? Does it depend on area of the country - for instance, is SEO more important in major metropolitan areas that have international clients? Does the type of brokerage make a difference - independent versus aligned with a Coldwell or other larger firm? Does a creative site bring more visitors than a site that is functional but similar to a lot of others?

Selling Houses on eBay?

I had a new property uploaded to my listing site, www.lockboxdeals.com, for $4,990. That's right, under $5,000 for a home. Not the downpayment price, the total sales price. When I followed the link, it led me to eBay!

There are many houses listed on eBay for auction, some with no reserve and bids starting at $1, some as classified advertisements that list a more traditional price. Has anyone ever tried this method for selling a house in a hard to sell area?

I've tried to follow through on a couple of the listings to see if the final sales price was comparable to a regular listing. There are also many ways to improve the ending sales price (Buy it now price, setting a reserve). There are also investment deals available. One foreclosure looks like it will sell for close to the Buy It Now price, but the property for $4,990 is still at that price with only 13 hours to go!

Have You Googled....You?

In real estate, perhaps more than in other professions, image is important. Realtors recognize the importance of a professional appearance and demeanor in person, but how about your online image?
One tip that I picked up and regularly follow is to Google your own name periodically. With the abundance of posting and social networking sites now, you may find unflattering or even untruthful comments about you on sites of importance in the industry. When a potential client searches you on the internet, these comments could make the difference between winning a new client - and commission - or losing.
If you find untruthful comments, you can ask the administrator of the site or forum to have these comments removed. Or at least you can post your own dispute of the comment. On my site, www.lockboxdeals.com, Realtors are notified when someone posts a new comment on your listing, and I have a Terms of Use policy that allows me to edit or remove comments depending on content.
I also periodically Google my company name, which not only gives me an idea of what people are saying but also of how many folks are talking!
By the way, when I checked my name, Lisa Merritt, another real estate Lisa Merritt, an agent, turned up in Colorado. If you are reading, Hello from Miami!

New school year a goldmine for Realtors!

I admit, before kids and before real estate, I never even looked at a school calendar. The only time I ever even considered the school year was if I got stuck in a school zone traffic jam. But now that my oldest is starting pre-school, I can't believe that the start date is coming up so soon. Our school starts August 14, others in our area are starting August 21.

So for Realtors, it is definitely time to feature those properties that are languishing in the real estate MLS listings that happen to be in good school zones. Three or four weeks may not leave much time for closing, but with more and more sellers considering alternative terms - lease to own, owner financing, etc. - property buyers still have time to relocate to a better school zone before the coming new school year.

There are many ways to reach prospective clients who happen to be parents of school-aged children. One tactic, perhaps try targeting homeowners in a lesser school district with an offer from a motivated seller. Even someone who hasn't considered moving might not realize that such alternatives are possible. Parents of young children who have been paying for private pre-school might be happy to learn that a great, free, public school is available in a nearby neighborhood, and that it is possible to make the move before the new school year. Or try something a little more unconventional. Many parenting blogs have real estate or homes forums - and it is free to post or comment. Here are some to try:http://www.families.com/http://www.joyunexpected.com/http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/
And if you want all blogging moms and their audiences to find you, try becoming an advertiser on the BlogHer network. That way, your ad will reach an audience of moms as well as all of their visitors for a reasonable amount of money. If you regularly feature properties in great school zones, or if you can position yourself as an expert on information for families in the area, you could gain a whole new source of clients. One site in their network is the really hip and horribly funny parenting site, http://www.dooce.com/. And I mean horribly as in both horribly offensive and horribly true. This site gets lots of traffic from parents and could be a good source of clients for the upcoming and future school years.

When I had kids, I signed up for UPromise at Publix (and the Publix baby club), and for coupons at Enfamil, and they always remember my children's birthdays and send monthly coupons, so perhaps a blog or ad on those types of sites or even in their direct mail would be timely for families looking at moving before the new school year starts. Any site that advertises school supplies is a great opportunity for reaching families. And be sure to work with your local relocation resources - companies that are relocating employees into the area.
Here's to a successful new school (and business) year!

Lisa Merritt, PresidentPegasus Consulting Group, Inc.http://www.lockboxdeals.com/Realtors post listings for free on LockBoxDeals.com.See your listing in our Top Ten Deals weekly email.