Eight rules to avoid social media disaster

My field is international real estate and the experts say that in real estate you make money when you solve problems. The same is with any other type of business, but what matters in the first place is finding the people who have these problems so that you can solve them and this bring us to the channels and the format of information that you will have to use to find them. Social media is based on digital media: text, audio, pictures, video in all their various formats. And here are the rules that I have gathered on how to use it:

1.Your customers have very different schedules so you need to allow her to get your information when it is more convenient for her. Direct interaction is valuable and interesting, like in webinars, Q&A calls and social media chatting, but cannot be used on a wide scale. So record your key content and make it available for future reference.

2.You cannot predict where your customer will use the information. She will not necessarily use a computer, therefore prepare to make your content available on portable devices (like the iPod) if possible.

3.Create content that can be viewed on as many different devices as possible. Less people have time to spend in front of their computer just for getting information. Production schedules get more and more tight, so produce your content so that it can be consumed in a number of ways.

4.Be concise as much as you can and to the point. This doesn’t mean that you should write little, but avoid padding your content with useless material. Value the time of your people and they will value you. Always give them a short cut to the action items they can perform immediately.

5.Never create an article or video or podcast/MP3 that depends on previous material to be fully understood. Build every single item so that it can be used by itself. You can still create series, but each item in the series should be independent.

6.Keep it simple: it you expect your public to understand what you write because they have read something else before you will lose. Always define your key terms when you use them and where you use them.

7.If you don’t provide real value in your content then it is pointless. The value is established by what other people think of it.

8.Use as many channels as possible to reach your audience as they will shift in the use of their channels and you will lose them is you use just a few.

By following these simple rules that I have collected from my personal experience and from the writings of Internet Marketing experts you will be able to grow your public and keep in touch with it in the way it is most convenient to them.

Roberto Mazzoni

Eight rules to avoid social media disaster is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Extending your reach to international real estate markets

1.It is an informal platform where you can meet other real estate professionals from other countries without having to talk about business from the get go

2.You can interact more easily using the integrated chat, videos, photos, comments and blog posts (linked on Facebook) so to create a story around yourself and allow the foreign real estate professionals to become familiar with you

3.Approximately two thirds of Facebook users are outside of the US, therefore you have a very big audience

4.You can collect some initial information about other people from their profile so that you have something to talk with them already in the initial contacts.

What is more difficult is bridging past this initial contact phase, that lays a good foundation, and move onto a more formal business relationship. Here you can follow the rule of establishing at least five to seven contacts with your prospect before getting down to real business.

I found very effective to first ask questions about what they would like to achieve, what are their ideas about international real estate and which markets they would consider and why. Don’t try to steer them right away, rather provide some valuable general advice that will show your competence and will get them curious about your specific market and what you have to offer.

Some foreign markets have some special liking for some definite locations in the US. Doing a bit of research on them will put you in the right stream and you won’t be bucking the trend. For exampe, Italians prefer to buy in New York and Miami for the most part. If you know nothing about a foreign market and don’t have the time to find out and you don’t even know the language, find another real estate professional that can bridge you over.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S.

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Building an international real estate network is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

International real estate businesses are built through partnerships

It is definitely a best business practice if you are considering doing some major rehab work. It is such a labor intensive activity that you need to get a solid understanding and control of the activities by either being involved directly in the work or monitoring very closely those who are performing it for you. Therefore you don’t want to add long travels in the initial burden of learning the trade, learning your market and building your team.

But when you bring it to an international real estate perspective, you rapidly see that you can’t really use the “back yard” concept because your investor or buyer will not be familiar with your specific market and therefore will have no specific interest in it but she will rather look from the best market that can provide her the best return with the minimum effort.

We also know that the Web and social media are playing an ever bigger role in the buying decisions of people, also where real estate is concerned, and they level the playing field big time allowing a potential investor to chose between alternatives in multiple countries, all competing with each other. And which is going to win? The one that feels easier or more familiar to the buyer or investor. She is the one calling the shots therefore she is the one who has to feel the game is going on in her own back yard so to speak, no matter how far away from her that back yard can be.

So is there a “back yard” also on the Web? I have been at an Internet Marketing event recently organized by The Wealth Building Annex in Tampa. It was about social medial marketing strategies and I interviewed the speaker, Phillip Black, about his take on internationalization when it comes to Internet Marketing strategies.

His viewpoint, again, is that you should first develop and consolidate your presence in your own country and then expand from there. So here again we have the back yard concept at play, also in social media marketing, although on a much bigger scale. You develop your message and strategy on the US and then you export it overseas.

It makes sense, but there is more to it. Is it enough for you to get big in the US and then expand just like you are to international level? Unlikely. You can have customers all over the world, that’s for granted, but if you don’t build your international real estate business so that it is specifically tailored to international needs, if you don’t build strong relations and networking outside of the US, your business will simply remain domestic in nature even if you have a few customers abroad and even if the Web allows you to overcome distances and borders. I have seen it happen over and over again with individual entrepreneurs and big corporations.

The players who have been very successful on the international playing field are those that developed a very strong back yard in the US and then expanded world wide through the help of partners that were strong in each respective country or continent. These partners don’t need to be located in the target country necessarily, they might be here in the US, like my companies for example, but must have developed a very specific international focus and must have the right trust relationships overseas.

Roberto Mazzoni

Should you start in your own back yard? is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Nick Sidoti has some unique landlord investment strategies

He has found out a way to secure high rental values by providing special need housing to some types of handicapped people as well as to high end students and retired veterans. The basic concept is to provide fully furnished apartments with full utilities and basic housekeeping provided as part of the rent. You provide a quality of life that is similar to that of an hotel, and at the same time the convenience of an apartment or house. The higher rent comes from the ability to accommodate more than one tenant per unit and get each one paying separately.
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When dealing with special need tenant, like veterans or handicapped people, you get paid directly by the government and the tenant stays in the property for a long time since there are not so many alternatives available on any given market. There are no delays in the payments, most of the maintenance is performed by the government workers taking care of these special people and you can get much more return for your investment with less involvement.

Since it is a very special type of market, you must be thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the government agencies you would be working with and you also need to conduct a very different type of marketing as compared to what is required for regular landlording. I have personally checked with him about the feasibility of this strategy for foreign investors, and he has assured me that these special programs can be performed also by property owners that are not US citizens. You would require naturally a local structure to provide management, but this would be the case also with a local investor.

Nick Sidoti has been involved in real estate investing since 1979 and he has been lecturing for more than 20 years, therefore this is not a new strategy by any means and its longevity adds credibility to it. His conclusions after over two decades of observing other investors is that some people get it and some just don’t (how to make money) So his motto is: “Are you really getting it?” I think I do now.

Roberto Mazzoni

Are you really getting it? is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

US real estate can be attractive to international buyers if properly presented.

You are likely to be asked any of these six questions, maybe all, so you’d better prepare an answer ahead of time.

1. How do I invest in the USA? It includes describing the type of properties and markets you suggest and the reason why they should chose the USA instead of some other international real estate market.
2. How to you purchase a property in the US? The methods and contracts used to buy and sell properties in North America are fairly different from those used overseas. For example, in Italy, the market where a come from, there is no listing agent, no broker, no MLS. There is just an agent that both lists and sells the property, occasionally in cooperation with other agents.
3. Which protection systems should I look for? The answer can be extensive as there are many wealth protection systems in the US which simply don’t exist elsewhere. I would suggest you to provide information about the basic elements, like the various types of deeds, mortgages and promissory notes, insurance policies and company paperwork. Always suggest to your investor to purchase a property from within a US company created as a container for this purpose. It will simplify greatly the closing and the subsequent management.
4. How to read the key documents? This expands on question 3 and it is intended to explain the various components of the paperwork being used. Try to provide some form of translation of the key elements and spend some time to explain them.
5. How to save on taxes? This is a very big one. You don’t realize how much a foreigner can save on taxes by properly investing in the US. This takes some knowledge of the tax systems both in the US and the investor’s original country, but it is an hot subject.
6. How to multiply my return on investment? Any investor who plays in the international real estate field is looking for returns that are substantially higher than those he could get in his own country and that are more protected, considering the distance factor. This is the most challenging of the questions and it requires a deep knowledge of all the five points above and close understanding of your market.

If you can provide quality answers to all of the 6 points above you will gain respect and attention from international buyers and you will be able to expand your potential market.
Roberto Mazzoni

Six questions from international real estate buyers is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Roberto Mazzoni with Aaron Fodiman and his wife Margaret Word Burnside, both directly involved in running Tampa Bay Magazine

The personal story of this gentleman is amazing since he has been extremely successful at three totally different activities, none of which he has chosen before hand. But he was able to excel by focusing on each one of them when the time came by also applying the first of his 12 success rules which is: “if you chase two rabbits, both will escape”.
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The video that I am presenting here shows a short piece of the interview done by Chris with Aaron Fodiman. You will see how the true path to success sometimes presents itself after some trial.

During the one hour speech by Mr. Fodiman I learned many things about the publishing business, to which I belonged for three decades, and my current international real estate business. And the lesson is this: the more you know about the area where you live and operate, the more you can describe its culture, art and way of life, the more chances you have to succeed. I have also learned that Tampa Bay is the 12^th metropolitan area in the United States and that it is even bigger than Miami in terms of economical power. The best way for me to attract international buyers in this area will be to team up with people like Mr. Fodiman so to fully represent the emotion and lifestyle that can be experienced here, which will make investing in this area even more attractive.

Roberto Mazzoni

Learning from a magazine publisher is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

Actually it is no surprise that these banks are in trouble considering the sharp reduction of lending activity, just dropped to the low levels of 1997, and considering the staggering amount of foreclosures still waiting to come out. What is actually amazing is that many banks still manage to survive despite everything, thanks to the support funds they are getting form the government and that would be intended in promoting lending and reducing foreclosures.

But now, despite the government props, banks are actually starting to fall off the chart again, some just disappear and other are acquired by other banks and merge with it. Many of the recent additions are banks traded at the stock exchange, so the crisis is getting also to the bigger institutions.

Roberto Mazzoni

The “secret” list of problem banks is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

According do Buffet’s analysis the manufactured homes market is in very serious trouble because the economy is still slow and because of the number of new houses that started production in 2009 (housing starts) is the lowest in 50 years in the US. The overall figure being: 554,000 compared to the 2 million annual production that was going on a few years ago.

New house starts (new construction beginning) is at the lowest in 50 years.

It is a dramatically strong reduction that has serious impact on employment (it is actually pretty easy to find tradesman and construction people available for work today) but that is helping the recover of the general real estate market.

Indeed, with so little new homes being constructed or manufactured, the inventory on the market as a chance of being unloaded faster. Actually January has been a very slow month after the rush of the buyers who wanted to take advantage of the tax credit that was supposed to end in December 2009, but Buffet sees the dramatic drop in new houses as a very good indicator for the overall real estate market and he estimates that within a year “the residential housing problem” should largely be behind us.

Looking at the figures, 650 thousand net housing units were added during 2009 and during there were not as many new households: about 650 thousand, therefore just enough to balance the houses that had been added but not enough to seriously reduce the inventory, which should instead start reducing for real in 2010. How fast? It depends on what the banks do with their foreclosure backlog and how people will take advantage of the tax credit and of the government support to new first time home buyers.

Roberto Mazzoni

Buffet on bubbles and housing is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

The luxury kitchen of a ghouse for sale in Texas

They all require some work therefore it is better to learn them early, before you get to the actual sale, but you can always catch up later on. Some of them are particularly relevant for distant buyers, that is people who are not in the area and cannot see the house directly but that are interested in moving or they want a second investment home for vacation or for getting cash flow from the rent.

1. Research the area for any type of touristic amenities that could attract the distant buyer and collect videos or pictures of the most interesting ones and make them available online, possibly on your own site or on a free platform like blogger.com, tumblr.com, Facebook and so on. You will use this same platform to also make available pictures, videos and text about the following points.
2. Network with people in the area so to gather information about the neighborhood that would make the house more interesting.
3. Research the school district where the house is located and check to see if there are private schools that can provide assistance to foreign students of any age. If you’ll sell to a family, this is an important aspect. Sometimes international investors buy properties in the US near a university where they plan to send their kids. The more information you have and you can make available, the better.
4. Locate the major centers of entertainment that are available. Restaurants and movie theatres should be close by. But major attractions can also be at some distance from the house: up to two hours of traveling by car would be acceptable for somebody planning to buy a vacation house.
5. Any fitness center in the neighborhood? Do they allow seasonal memberships? Any park, tennis court, swimming pool can be an important element while making the decision.
6. Level of maintenance. Within reason, the house should be in move in condition. A remote buyer won’t have the time, resources and willingness to make repairs.
7. Have a professional photographer produce a visual tour of the house with a wide angle lens that will show clearly every room. This element alone can procure you a sale when you are dealing with a distant buyer.
8. Is there a hospital or a clinic near by. When you have families moving over or you have elderly buyers, this can be an important element to research and advertise.
9. Evaluate the market and determine a correct price. If the pricing is way off you will delay markedly the sale. Also be ready to explain to a remote buyer how did you determine the price.
10. Study ads by your competitors to see what buyers are responding to and stress these elements in your communication.

These are general advices that work also for you when you are evaluating a house that you want to purchase as your main residence or an investment.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S. I have found a booklet that lists 89 more tips that you can employ. Is part of a whole package on how to sell your home and is available on Clickbank (click here for the affiliate link). I have got the whole package and found it quite interesting for the price. You might want to check it as well.

A tribute to my family that is supporting me in many ways during this awesome adventure.

Ten tips for selling any house is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni

A luxury bath in a house for sale in Nevada.

The story begins with this 46 years old guy who, after living a care-free life as he describes it, ended up divorced, living with his mom and verging toward a financial catastrophe. He then decided to sell a rental house that he had been owning for 20 years and found a Realtor that, after running some comps, gave him a price he was very comfortable with. The Realtor also added that with such a price the house was going to attract a lot of interest.

Nothing happened so he started dropping the price at 10 grand increments one after the other and still there was very little or no action. He felt really he was going to be headed toward misery and sure didn’t want to rent the place again since he needed cash, but had just enough reserves in the bank to make three more mortgage payments.

So this gentleman knew he had to figure out a different strategy to attract enough interest and traffic to his house so that a sale could finally happen. The Realtor was helpless although competent and willing to gain the sale as well. Apparently also the Realtor was operating with a wrong strategy that the author summarizes as this: “The advice gotten was to not overprice the house beyond the market price, but build in a little bit of negotiation room… It’s a delicate process, just make sure you aren’t rejecting everything. At some point, you’ll have to concede something if you want to sell the home within 60 days.”

This very strategy, which is perfect for a sellers market, was not working for him in the current buyers market so he came up with a system that resembles an auction but it is done over a span of three weeks by soliciting offers with a starting price that is way below the asking price (and the actual current value of the house).

He was successful in selling his house in three weeks for a price that was pretty close to the original listing price, and then he was able to repeat the same process with other people and other houses to he has eventually written an eBook on the subject adding to it a slew of other eBooks on how to facilitate a sale. What’s remarkable is that the sale was facilitated by the curiosity brought about by his system not by the house itself, so I would suggest that you check it out. The package is available only through Clickbank (yes this is an affiliate link) but it worth the little cost.

And you will be surprised at the very different relationship that this seller established with his Realtor, almost swapping roles, but still leveraging the Realtor knowledge to gain an even better price and properly finalize deal.

Roberto Mazzoni

P.S. if you can afford you house to sit unsold for a while then you don’t have to click here.

Selling a home in 21 days is a post from: Roberto Mazzoni