Using the Web and social media to sell real estate

This is the social network equivalent of another motto that comes from the business world: “You are just as good as the last deal you made”. But who has enough time and money to share with other people information for free? You can look at it from the other perspective as well: if you act as if you had all the resources that would allow you to share with others you will eventually get them.

Procuring the buyer a way to get a loan is probably the best selling tool in residential real estate

How this plays into the real estate market? Well, most people today don’t seem to be out looking for a house, but are looking for somebody that will help them get a loan. Addressing the financing issue and helping potential buyers qualify through maybe some financial coaching is proven to be a key factor for facilitating sales in the only area that seems to be moving well now: the first time home buyer.

I have been selling houses for a few months now using some other broker or Realtor and I have noticed that the interest in the property was more dependent on the question: “Is it going to appraise for the agreed selling price?” rather then on the merits of the house itself. Naturally the buyers need to like the house, but they depend utterly on their ability to get a loan for actually getting it.
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Today I have a true story to tell about a successful real estate investor who built his fortune leveraging something he knew how to do well and that other people hated doing: cold calling. I won’t mention any names, but the true story unfolded right here where I live in Clearwater, on the Western sunny side of central Florida. The protagonist of my story was a successful seller of copy machines. He was used in having to go past the receptionist and pitching a very difficult product. He was accustomed in getting 99 rejections out of 100 contacts and was able to leverage the single yes to keep himself motivated though the process.

Becoming rich depends on who knows you and who knows what you can offer.

One days he participated to a course on how to sell commercial real estate. He had gotten a real estate license, but he had no previous experience in selling real estate. So he sat on the seminar and listened to the information, but most of all he looked around at the other participants to the seminar looking for someone who was able and willing to give some real world advice.

He found an experienced investor who knew the area quite well and who was also a broker. He asked him which were the best three properties in the portfolio that were being offered and got the details as well as an explanation of why they were the best. He collected enough information to put together a sale package and then disappeared completely for forty five days.
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The D.C. real estate market is heating up again thanks to the arrival of foreign investors who are eager to snatch up properties in the area. They are mostly Europeans, but there is also a fair share of Chinese and Russians that compete to buy a piece of the US capital. Over the past five years the number of properties sold to foreigners has increased by 20%.

Washington real estate is attractive to international investors

The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, that is located in Washington, has just conducted a survey showing that two thirds of foreign investors plan to increase this year the amount of money invested in American properties, so good news ahead for the Washington market and a good trend that can easily expand to other areas of the nation (see the original article by News Channel 8 http://www.news8.net).

I personally believe that the new wave of commercial foreclosures will bring even more foreign capital to the US market, not only because the properties will be extremely cheap, but also because they will be mostly vacant and will offer a perfect opportunity for some foreign investing company to setup their branch offices in the US. Those who will leverage this huge trend will be able to retire for good. I really plan to be one of them.

Roberto Mazzoni

Two things happened today that gave a special feeling to my day. I was reading an article titled: “Commercial Real Estate Collapse Bigger than Subprime Implosion” published by a blog specialized in investing ideas (http://www.mybudget360.com). The gist of it is that the commercial real estate market is now valued $ 3.5 trillion versus the $ 6.5 trillion it was worth at its peak few years ago.

Commercial real estate is becoming the next big wave of investment

The value today is therefore closer to the loan amount outstanding and many properties are already upside down or ready to go that way.
Commercial and constructions loans combined are bigger than the residential bubble and are ready to burst with more toxicity than the residential market because some of them will remain unattractive no matter how low the price will go.

In the residential market, houses are being sold now at extremely low prices, which keeps the inventory moving and will bring the market back eventually. With commercial, reducing the price won’t be enough because nobody will buy a retail mall when people are spending less in an area or when there are no businesses willing to rent. So the future looks gloomy for who holds major portfolios of real estate properties in the retail area. But is really so bad? And can do something about it?
The second thing that happened to me today is that I met a friend whop has just returned from Haiti after serving as a volunteer in the major hospital of the town. He lost 20 pounds in a couple of weeks and has seen things I won’t even mention here, but he gave me a message that I want to relay to you: “I don’t worry anymore about the minor things in life because I have seen a world I didn’t even imagine it existed”.
Worrying and crying about the economy or the “disaster” in real estate is useless. There are much deeper and bigger real catastrophes that reach much closer in the actual life and death of people every day. And there are people who are making a success in today real estate market, both residential and commercial, because they don’t just listen to the bad news but they act and make a difference. I want to be one of them, will you you be?

Roberto Mazzoni

Statistics tell us that almost ninety per cent of the people looking for a new house start their search online and make their first selection from the screen of their computer before going out and looking at the house for real. It is a fact and yet the majority of people which trying to sell a house don’t try to leverage the Web to its full potential.

The Web has become a key vehicle for selling your house.

Home owners go as far as placing a few ads on Craigslit, which is great for procuring phone calls but then you need to sift through a number of people, most of which probably don’t even qualify. Many Realtors instead advertise the property on the MLS (the service that allows Realtors to pitch properties to one another) and on “many other minor sites” they don’t even know the name of, but don’t take the time to create their own presence on the Web.

I myself recognize everyday that I need to do more and to leverage more the power of the Web because I realize that more and more it is becoming the crossroad for all transactions, from the minor purchase of an eBook to the major purchase of a house.

Why people are holding themselves back from using this incredible tool? Five misunderstandings or myths that get in everybody’s way:

Myth or misunderstanding 1: leads gathered online don’t work
Leads coming from the Web as just as good as the leads you can get from a magazine, a newspaper, an open house, fliers or bandit signs. They will have different effectiveness depending on the area or the type of property you sell, but they work nonetheless. The quality of a lead depends on your ability to qualify it and to close.

Myth or misunderstanding 2: you don’t need a web site or a blog
Official statistics show that almost ninety percent of home buyers go on the Web first. If you have a presence there you have the chance of contacting them even before they start looking for a new home (offering them services that can be provided through a site), you can pre-qualify them and you can show them you properties as soon as they are available.

Myth or misunderstanding 3: you need to be an expert in technology to do it
As a matter of fact, people with little or no technical experience are doing much better on the Web than the technical expert ones. You can build a site with no technical experience using templates already done for you, the most difficult part is having a plan and knowing what to do in order top get results in the real estate field.

Myth or misunderstanding 4: you can’t afford to have a web site
Let’s forget about the free sites that are not adequate for the purpose of real estate marketing, but you can still get a professional site developed and active for few hundred dollars. It is much more expensive not to have one. The success of your Internet presence won’t depend on how much you spend on the site itself but on how much work or bright ideas you put into it.

Myth or misunderstanding 5: the competition is too strong
The competition is a good thing. When you have competitors then you know you are doing the right thing, and the only way to reduce the pressure by your competitors is by being there yourself and conquering your share of it.

Roberto Mazzoni