While delaying a purchase may make sense for some home buyers, the negative atmosphere surrounding residential real estate may cause qualified buyers to miss the chance for home ownership. eNeighborhoods free eBook download provides timely information to help agents and home buyer make better decisions.

Boca Raton, Florida (PRWEB) August 28, 2008 – eNeighborhoods, a division of Dominion Enterprises, has released a new special report to help real estate professionals and consumers understand the debate concerning the health of the nation’s housing market.

On one side, buyers and sellers following housing market news face a steady stream of doom-and-gloom reports. On the other side, real estate professionals who simply repeat the mantra “it’s the right time to buy” lose credibility with home buyers.

While delaying a purchase may make sense for some home buyers, the negative atmosphere surrounding residential real estate may cause qualified buyers to miss the chance for home ownership.

eNeighborhoods’ special report, Now’s the Time to Buy: 10 Reasons Why, helps real estate agents provide guidance to home buyers to help them make better decisions in today’s challenging market. The report addresses why:

- There’s no such thing as the housing market
- Media reports tend to focus on bad news
- Housing market indexes vary
- Financing is favorable for now
- Uncle Sam wants you…to be a homeowner
- Buyer’s markets are difficult to time

“Home buyers want a real estate professional who understands the market and provides them with objective guidance,” said Charles Warnock, eNeighborhoods director of marketing. “They want an agent who knows something—not just one who sells something. The best agents and brokers are able to separate the facts from the hype and clarify how national real estate news affects local markets.”

“Buying or selling a home can be stressful in the best of times, and today’s market makes those decisions even more stressful,” continued Warnock. “Agents who address those concerns head-on with accurate and timely information will be miles ahead of competitors who simply advise their clients to ignore the news and carry on.”

eNeighborhoods’ special report, Now’s the Time to Buy: 10 Reasons Why, is available for free download at PRWeb Press Release Newswire

About eNeighborhoods
eNeighborhoods®, a division of Dominion Enterprises, is the nation’s premier compiler of real estate related home and neighborhood information, providing the real estate and marketing services industries with a comprehensive set of marketing and analytical tools. In 2002, eNeighborhoods became a partner in the National Association of REALTORS®’ REALTOR Benefits® Program. The company provides MLS data sharing and marketing tools to top MLS organizations in the United States, Canada, and Australia. The company maintains strategic alliances with major real estate franchisers, including CENTURY 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, EXIT Realty, GMAC, Keller Williams, Prudential, Realty Executives and RE/MAX International as well as many of the major independent brokerages. eNeighborhoods is the proud founding sponsor of NAR’s Good Neighbor Awards which educates, encourages and rewards outstanding community service by real estate professionals throughout the country. For more information on the company, visit www.eneighborhoods.com.

About Dominion Enterprises
Dominion Enterprises, a division of Landmark Communications, is a leading marketing services company serving the automotive, real estate, apartment, recruitment and marine markets. The company operates a variety of businesses that offer Internet marketing, Web site design and hosting, lead generation, CRM, and data capture and distribution services. The company has more than 40 market-leading Web sites reaching more than 12.5 million unique monthly visitors, and more than 500 magazines with a weekly circulation of over 5 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has nearly 6,000 employees nationwide and annualized revenue of more than $946 million. For more information, visit www.DominionEnterprises.com.

Daily more and more Realtors are turning to RSS as a tool to market homes for sale. The growing RSS phenomenon in the realty market makes perfect sense. Unlike email RSS feeds have a 100% delivery rate. In addition the costs involved in creating and managing an RSS feed are insignificant when compared to the print advertising Realtors spend on each week. Imagine the amount spent each week to promote various properties in circulars and weekly newspapers, compared to the costs associated with updating and managing an RSS feed.

How it Works:

1. Create Specific Feeds.

Create RSS feeds of homes for sale in a specific town or zip code. Another consideration is to create an RSS feed based on the home cost or create a feed of scheduled Open Houses in a specific region. RSS feeds can be created manually using a text editor.

A step by step guide is available at http://www.make-rss-feeds.com or software specifically for RSS feed creation can be used.The realtor publishing the RSS feed controls what information is syndicated in the RSS feed, so ultimately it is the realtor’s decision as to whether to include teaser copy or full articles. Generally most Realtors use copy similar to those in print ads to attract the home-buyers attention.

Once you have constructed an RSS feed, you will need to transfer the feed to your server. This can be done using a standard FTP client (if it is not built into the feed creation software). The feed is usually placed in the domain’s root directory like this: http://www.mydomain.com/nameoffeed.xml or a subdirectory like this http://www.mydomain.com/rss/nameoffeed.xml.

2. Promote the Feed.

Once you have an RSS feed you will need to promote the feed on the realty company website, submit the feed to the numerous RSS feed directories and tell customers about the availability of the RSS feeds.

In order to signal to website visitors that an RSS feed containing content related to the website is available, include a colorful graphic on the website. Realtors can customize RSS feed buttons by selecting the text on the button and the color scheme of the button. Once the color and text is entered, a custom graphic is instantly created. Webmasters can easily match the style of the RSS button to a website’s theme.

Create custom RSS buttons - http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm Many website visitors who have RSS readers/aggregators installed will automatically detect an RSS feed on the website if you add a small portion of text to the header field of your web page. Use the following format to assist RSS readers in auto-detecting the location of the RSS feed.

[link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=”RSS” href=”http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml”]Replace the brackets [] with less than and greater then symbols <> and replace http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml with the URL to the RSS feed.

In order to increase exposure of a realty RSS feed, Realtors should submit the feeds to RSS search engines and directories. This can be done manually. Just as you would submit the URL of a website or web page to a search engine, or you can use software to automate the process. There is a large list of RSS directories at http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm . If you prefer to automate the submission process, consider evaluating RSS Submit available from: http://www.dummysoftware.com/rsssubmit.html .

3. Update the Feed.

Update the RSS feed(s) daily or weekly by adding a new feed item, as new properties are made available. Repost feed items for any properties that have experienced a price change.

4. RSS Feed Tips.

In order to maximize the benefit of marketing using RSS be sure to include the realty company phone number or link to the website in the description of the feed, so that any prospective buyers will call the appropriate office to receive additional details, or schedule a viewing. Include images of the home in the RSS feed’s description, so that the property will attract the viewer visually. Highlight different homes each week or emphasize different property features each time a property is listed.

It is also suggested that Realtors communicate success stories by letting prospective buyers know when homes are under-contract but still on the market, or communicate when properties are sold and no longer available. The realty market will benefit from RSS as a technology as it is a natural fit for the Real Estate industry.

by Sharon Housley

An Open House Broadcast is a revolutionary new way to conduct your open house. With only a laptop, web cam and wireless internet connection, you can hold your open house entirely over the Internet.

Everett, WA (PRWEB) August 26, 2008 — Every weekend, real estate agents across America dutifully advertise, set up and host Open Houses for their clients; and every weekend, an average of only 5 to 10 people, few of whom are even interested in buying these homes, show up. It’s an incredibly inefficient process, but no real alternative has existed; until now.

OpenHouseBroadcast.com is about to dramatically change the way real estate is marketed, by “opening” the Open House to interested buyers across the country, and even around the world.

Created by Washington state-based Naval Officer and Realtor® Dominique Ramirez, www.openhousebroadcast.com moves the Open House from the neighborhood into cyberspace, allowing potential buyers anywhere on earth to tour any and every room in a home, ask questions of the agent and see everything as if they were visiting the house in person.

“According to the NAR® ‘2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers,’ 48 percent of prospective buyers use Open Houses as a source of information and 57 percent of sellers reported that their Realtor® used an Open House to market their property. However, less than 1 percent of Open Houses actually result in a sale,” explains Ramirez. “By conducting the Open House over the internet, the Realtor® can specifically target interested buyers, substantially increase the ‘virtual foot traffic’ that an Open House creates, and increase the percentage of Open Houses that result in a sale.”

The technology necessary to conduct an Open House Broadcast is amazingly simple. The agent only needs a broadband internet connection, wireless router, laptop, and a webcam. They might have an assistant carry the computer and camera as they walk visitors through the house and describe its features, but this is not necessary.

The process is equally simple for prospective buyers. After logging onto the website and entering search parameters for their ideal home, they will receive a list of Open Houses including the time zone, time, and date. At the appointed time, they log in again and “attend” each Broadcast that interests them from the comfort of their own home or office.

Of course, Open Houses are about more than selling a specific home - quite often they are about giving exposure to Realtors® and allowing them to network with potential clients. www.openhousebroadcast.com serves that need as well, providing real estate professionals with a worldwide showcase for their talents. Would-be sellers anywhere in the world can see them in action and ask them questions, just as they would at a traditional Open House. Would-be buyers can ask to be shown similar properties in the area. Additionally, buyers and sellers can request one on one live video Home Tours of properties they are interested in or even watch previously recorded Open Houses that they missed.

With 84 percent of home buyers using the internet to search for homes, the time is right for the Open House to make the move to cyberspace. www.openhousebroadcast.com promises to bring the tired, inefficient “house tour” into the 21st century, revolutionizing the Real Estate industry, and the customer’s house shopping experience.

Trust is the cornerstone of every relationship. Without it, a relationship will be rocky and there will always be doubt in the back of your clients mind.

There are ways to build trust, and all is not lost. By using these three simple tips, you can build the trust you need in your relationship with your clients.

1) Keep your word. Wow, I’m imagining the surprise registering across your face at this moment. How profound a statement was that? It sounds easy, but many people are unable to do this simple thing. Some people are liars by nature, and others want to please everyone so badly, that they say they are going to do something without actually having the means to do it.

It’s simple; if you say you’re going to do something, be somewhere or anything else for that matter, try to keep your word. If you do this the majority of the time, your clients will notice, and trust will grow. Even if you make a promise to someone who isn’t your client, keep your word. It will become a habit, and soon you’ll be known to be a person of integrity.

2) Show you care. Don’t be afraid to show your emotions to your clients. It’s easier to show someone trust, if you know they care about your feelings and you care about theirs. Would you place your trust in someone who is cold? Would you be quick to trust someone who was going to laugh, belittle or demean you when you make a mistake?

Show your clients how much they mean to you every day if possible. Show them how important they are in your life, and they’ll return the favor by placing their trust in you.

3) Show your trust in them first. Get your clients to commit to small things like an open house or showing. By doing so, they are building up trust for you and you can let them know how much you appreciate it. Show your clients you trust them, and they’ll probably do the same. Trust must be built on trust. Both people in the relationship must be willing to trust the other, so why not let that trust start with you?

Trust is a fragile thing. Once broken, it’s hard to get back. Yet in every relationship, the bond that trust can create is a wonderful thing, and worth the risk it involves.

The more your clients trust you, the more homes you will be able to sell.

Some of the best from the web this past week:

How Accurate Are Listings On Real Estate Sites? by Erick Schonfeld at TechCrunch

HomeGain Continues to Innovate with Real Estate Agents as Their Focus by Ryan Ward at The Real Estate Grapevine

10 Other Ideas For Your Email Autoresponder by Mark Eckenrode at Home Stomper

Real Estate Website Design at D-Sol Media

Know where your traffic comes from? by Katie at Trulia Blog

Local Real Estate News

Priced Out of Jackson, More Vacation Home Buyers Flock to Idaho’s Teton Valley by Amy Gunderson at Halogen Guides Real Estate

As the Real Estate Market Tightens, Dynamics Change by Elika at Elika Real Estate

New “Green” Standards for Affordable Housing in Boston by Mara Tamaroff at Boston Real Estate Blog

Let’s say you’ve decided to get a commission advance but you’re not sure where to start. By searching Google you’ll discover several companies offering the service, but how do you decide which one to choose? They are all the same, right? Wrong. Here are a few things to consider…

Experience – you want to make sure the Company you choose has been around long enough to understand the business and actually pay your commissions as advertised. We hear frequently at eCommission from customers who have used other companies that their advance actually took days, sometime weeks to fund. Various excuses are offered, but generally they boil down to being inexperienced and undercapitalized. eCommission is the largest provider of commission advance services in North America. We know the business and promise to fund all commissions within 24 hours from the time we receive your completed application. It’s a timeframe we guarantee, or your next advance is free.

Process – you are busy and applying for a commission advance isn’t something that should take all day. eCommission is the only company that offers its customers the ability to complete their entire application online. The process takes less than 5 minutes! Other companies require a series of back and forth faxing which can risk exposure of your personal information to others at your office. Only eCommission offers a private, confidential advance process.

Knowledge of Real Estate - eCommission has been in business in the United States since 2000, and the Management of the Company is credited with having created the commission advance industry in Canada almost 20 years ago. We understand the needs of real estate professionals and are the only company to have been selected by the largest national real estate brands in North America to serve as their exclusive provider for this service. The reason our knowledge of the business is important for you relates to the inevitable fact that sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, a sale that has been advanced will unexpectedly fall through. If this happens, you want to know you’re working with a company that understands the reality of your situation and is prepared to support you completely with your efforts to get the advance repaid or replaced. Inexperienced advance companies tend to place unrealistic expectations and timeframes on agents to repay canceled sales. At eCommission, our focus is on communication. As long as you are being forthright and keeping us apprised of your progress for repayment, we leave you alone to take care of business.

Professionalism – It amazes when customers call or email us after receiving an advance to compliment us for treating them with dignity and respect. It’s as though their conception of what an advance company must be beforehand has lowered their overall expectation for a good experience. Or perhaps they’ve used other companies and have had a bad experience. At eCommission, our goal is to exceed your expectations.

So does it matter which company you use to receive a commission advance? We believe it does, and hopefully I’ve highlighted some things to consider when making your decision. If we can be of further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our helpful customer service representatives, toll free at 877-882-4368.

Every day we are bombarded with how dismal the economy is. Fuel and food prices are rising, while real estate investments and paychecks are declining. Although it may seem illogical, this is the time when you should be stepping up your marketing to make sure you get a part of the ever-dwindling consumer pie. Why? Because customers make choices. They can buy from company A or company B. They’ve bought from both before because they have similar products or services with comparable prices and customer service. The differentiating factor is often which company is at the forefront of the customer’s mind or who is running a special or a sale. If you stop running ads now, they might forget you…but they won’t forget company B because she is running her print ad in the community newspaper every Friday just like clockwork or airing her radio spot during afternoon rush hour Monday through Friday.

Try these five marketing tips to step up your marketing efforts in a slow economy without breaking the bank:

Tip #1: Rethink your marketing copy. Make sure it appeals to customers who might be feeling the economy’s slowdown and that it hooks them so they take action now. Give them a reason to think of you first. For example, try this ad headline: “Gas prices got you down? Stop in today and get a $25 gas card with a purchase of $XX or more!” or “Bring in your government stimulus check by July 4 and receive double the face value in home improvements!”

Tip #2: Bundle your products or services. Since some customers will have to forego nonessential purchases now, you may have fewer customers. Make the most of the ones you have; encourage them to spend more by bundling your products and services. “Escape today! Treat yourself to a manicure and pedicure for just $25.” “Super savings this weekend only - Buy 2, get 2 free!”

Tip #3: Maximize your e-mail marketing opportunities. With so many e-mail marketing services clamoring for your business, e-mail marketing has become very affordable. Send a graphically appealing, postcard style e-mail to your customers once a month listing your monthly specials. Include a coupon at the bottom for an additional discount. Most services allow you to track the number of opens and link clicks so this is a great way to see what works for just dollars a month.

Tip #4: Capitalize on cross-promotion. Find a business that complements yours and partner up on marketing opportunities.

(a) Pool your pennies to buy a larger print ad featuring both of your businesses. (b) Offer coupons, discounts or bag stuffers for the other business at your store. (c) Include them in your e-mail marketing or postcard campaign. (d) Share a booth at a community fair or trade show. Market two businesses for the price of one!

Tip #5: Fine-tune your customer lists. You may have a little down time this summer, so outsource the inventory sorting and window washing and spend your time fine-tuning your marketing list. Sort by preferred communication type (postal mail vs. e-mail), purchase level, preferred products and services, zip code…whatever will help you to target your marketing messages to those particular buyers. If your lists are incomplete, take the time to get the rest of the information. If you have an e-mail address but not a mailing address, send a friendly e-mail asking if they would please provide that information so you can be sure to include them when you send out your next round of coupons, catalogs, special invitations, etc. As an incentive, offer a discount or free gift when they reply with that information. [Bonus tip: Be sure to include your website address in your e-mail and add a marketing tagline at the bottom. “Ask me about our July specials!” or “New merchandise just arrived!”]

Try these five marketing tips to keep your business afloat during the tough times, and you’ll be surprised at how a little extra effort can pay off.

by Dana Blozis for Virtually Yourz

AgentView provides real estate agents with a complete marketing solution, including featured listings, agent profile, a personal blog, blog training, local content, lead management and home valuation tools.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) August 20, 2008 — HomeGain, a leading provider of online marketing solutions that connects real estate agents and brokers with home buyers and sellers, today announced the offering of a new product, AgentView.

AgentView connects HomeGain visitors with its real estate agent members by showcasing useful real estate content alongside prominently featured local real estate professionals. Visitors can view agent listings, agent profiles, agent blogs and local information. Visitors can also get an instant home valuation estimate from HomeGain’s home valuation tool or use Home Sale Maximizer™ to determine which home improvements will best help increase the resale value of their homes.

In addition to the online exposure, AgentView agents also have access to lead management tools and blog school training.

“On AgentView, agents are exclusively featured in an advertising-free environment,” stated Louis Cammarosano, HomeGain’s General Manager. “Homebuyers and sellers can interact with real estate agents in the way they wish, either through emailing agents directly from AgentView, calling agents, reading and commenting on agents’ blogs, reviewing agent profiles or visiting agents’ websites. Consumers can also request information via a traditional lead form.”

The AgentView platform provides real estate agents with a variety of connectivity points with potential clients, while providing consumers with useful information and easy access to local real estate professionals to assist in the home buying or selling process.

“AgentView is a powerful marketing solution for Realtors who want to expand their market reach and maximize their online business’ growth,” said Shawn Cannon, Product Manager of AgentView. “While today marks the official launch of AgentView, we will continue to add content and blog functionality, and expand marketing tools to help agents realize their business’ potential.”

AgentView is priced as an affordable marketing solution for real estate professionals with prices starting as low as $29 per ZIP code.

For more information about AgentView, visit: www.homegain.com/agentview.

About HomeGain:
HomeGain® is a leading provider of online marketing solutions that connect real estate agents and brokers with home buyers and sellers. HomeGain offers free services to find and compare real estate agents, research home values, and view homes for sale. Realtors use HomeGain’s real estate marketing programs to connect to consumers, promote their services and grow their business. A subsidiary of Classified Ventures, HomeGain receives an average of over five million website visits per month. HomeGain is your real estate connection.

About Classified Ventures:
Classified Ventures™ is a strategic joint venture among five media companies, including Belo Corp. (NYSE:BLC), Gannett Co. Inc. (NYSE:GCI), The McClatchy Co. (NYSE:MNI), Tribune Co. (NYSE:TRB) and The Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO), whose objectives are to collectively capitalize on the revenue growth in the online advertising categories of automotive, real estate and rentals. To execute on its objectives, Classified Ventures has four leading businesses — Apartments.com, Cars.com, HomeGain and Homescape.

Some of the best from the web this past week:

Announcing Showcase Ads - Local Real Estate Advertising by David Gibbons at Zillow Blog

Lehman Selling 14 Billion in Real Estate To BlackRock? by Tom Royce at The Real Estate Bloggers

Digging in to the National Real Estate Search Scene by Joel Burslem at Future of Real Estate Marketing

What to Write About on Your Real Estate Blog at Upstart Agent

Local Real Estate News

Manhattan Real Estate & The Dollar Rally by Noah Rosenblatt at Urban Digs

Florida still on top for International Buyers by Jeff at Jacksonville Real Estate

Pierce County August Real Estate Market Update by Jason Mook at Generous People

1. Never tell a salesman how much you want to spend.

2. Remember that it’s better to be cheated in price than in quality.

3. Take your teenagers with you when you buy a car and let them learn from the experience.

4. Hang up on anyone you don’t know who’s trying to sell you a financial product over the phone.

5. To help your children turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.

6. Never buy the cheapest motorcycle helmet.

7. Listen to your favorite music while paying your bills.

8. If you own a rental property, remember that an un-rented house is better than a bad tenant.

9. Never buy a Rolex watch from someone who is out of breath.

10. Avoid automated teller machines at night.