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Session 2 of Real Estate Web Strategy Success takes place this coming Friday, March 23rd, and focuses on the topic of "The Fundamentals of your Web Container." What everyone calls Websites I call 'Web Containers' in order to convey to Real Estate Brokers and Agents the message that the tools and ingredients that are integrated within your container will either build your long term visibility or will make it nonexistent.

The 4-session series, Real Estate Web Strategy Success, takes into account the commitment of Brokers and Agents to succeeding on the internet, and empowers them to layer their business with a deep understanding of Internet marketing, SEO, High Search Engine Visibility, and Social Media Integration.

Here is a quick intro video that describes Session 2 and the main topic - What makes for successful Real Estate Websites visible, scalable, and a good long term investment:

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Here are the main topics I will focus on:

What are the ingredients of Real Estate Websites?

How is IDX best integrated in your Website?

Framing Data vs Not Framing? How about iFraming?

What are the tools of Lead Capture and delayed registration?

How does one integrate Keywords strategically?

Listing Enhancement Tools and Seller Visibility.

What are some examples of visible websites?

The Web Grinder and Homework.

Here is the course description for Session 2:

2. The Fundamentals of your Web Container: Yes, Yes,… Vendors call them Websites – I prefer the word ‘container’ because it alludes to holding your Marketing information and making it available to your customers. What’s the challenge? If your container is not visible to Google and Search Engines then what you have is purely a Glorified Business Card. You must learn not only what your Website must have to grow organically, but more importantly the habits you must develop Online to grow you influence and generate leads.

Included as well is the whole course description: (http://wp.me/pmEnK-wt)

Course Title: Real Estate Web Strategy Success

Internet Marketing, Web Strategies, Google Presence, and how to use your website to generate leads organically. The core of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), or Organic Placement, are now the bedrock of your growing Marketing Success Story. This course was designed to be practical, solutions-driven, and full of practical Homework. This is not about theory – this is about meeting your clients online and being able to generate your own leads organically – and the best ones are Listing Leads. Do you have a proper Internet Presence?

A 10-hour Course in 4 sessions (Each session is 2 1/2 hours long with time for your questions and discussions.)

1. The Principles of Internet Marketing and SEO: And ‘No,’ Marketing on The Internet is not ‘Internet Marketing!’ Real Estate Agents advertise to drive customers to them, and many still do – but it is getting harder. What is it that you must master in “Search Marketing” so you continue to be the one Sellers and Buyers love to work with. You must go beyond understanding the psychology of your customers – you must also become familiar with the thinking of Search Engines and Ranking. It is this lack of deep understanding of the internet that makes Agents and brokers go on a buying spree of tools with very little results to show for it.

2. The Fundamentals of your Web Container: Yes, Yes,… Vendors call them Websites – I prefer the word ‘container’ because it alludes to holding your Marketing information and making it available to your customers. What’s the challenge? If your container is not visible to Google and Search Engines then what you have is purely a Glorified Business Card. You must learn not only what your Website must have to grow organically, but more importantly the habits you must develop Online to grow you influence and generate leads.

3. Hyperlinks, Landing Pages, and Internet Presence: The Core activities of Internet Marketing is storytelling; when you blog, share videos, upload listings, you are building a narrative on the internet, and the verbs that you must master are Links, or more precisely hyperlinks. But the best Links are called Strategic Links because they connect to properly created Landing Pages within your website and are sticky. Sticky Websites generate leads – you must learn how to create each one of these elements because you are the Real Estate Marketer, and believe or not – they are easy to make…

4. Blogging, Social Media, Internet Traffic, and your SEO Essentials: Prospecting is job One for a successful career in Real Estate – Do you know how to “Internet Prospect?” A successful SEO Strategy requires a combination of ingredients; a Web Container, Blogging, Keywords, Hyperlinks, Strategic landing Pages, and a Plan of Action in which you tell regular stories and place them on the Internet to drive traffic back to your website. This is not a difficult skill, it just requires you to switch your habits a bit and focus them in the right actions for the right results.

Dates for Series:

Session 1: Wednesday, March 7th – 11am EST – 1:30pm EST

Session 2: Friday, March 23rd – 11am EST – 1:30pm EST

Session 3: Friday, April 6th – 11am EST – 1:30pm EST

Session 4: Friday, April 20th – 11am EST – 1:30pm EST

System: Live Interactive – Contact Live Interactive at (407) 331-5738. If you happen to be on their System already I hope to visit with you soon – Get ready to not only learn the fundamentals of Internet Success, but to also roll up your Sleeves and implement the ideas learned to affect your Real Estate Success.

Happy Blogging, Key Yessaad – Real Estate SEO Trainer

I recently saw a movie that made me sit and really consider the phrase ‘Lead by example.’It wasn’t that I don’t agree with the statement, I do, but what I pondered was the act of being an example. An example by definition is “one of a number of things, or part of something, taken to show the character of something,” thank you dictionary.com. An example is something that I can use to follow or avoid. Basically, I got caught up in the idea that to lead by example you must be part of a group and to be picked as the example your character is closely considered and watched.

As real estate agents, brokers, owners, administrators and office staff we are closely considered and watched by our clients, associates, friends and family. They are watching to see what we do on those tough transactions; you know those escrows you seem to spend the majority of your day trying to save. It is in those times that we show how professional, considerate, kind and resourceful we can be. We are leaders by example every day.  We are the face of the transaction to our clients; we represent the purchase or sale.

Just like any good leader there are times we need to sharpen our skills and reenergize ourselves. The industry is always changing, upgrading, and evolving and to be a great leader we need to continually be learning as well. There is an upcoming event in Southern California, a Leadership event in April. It’s a time to put a bit of fuel in your professional tank and to recharge your business battery. This year it’s specifically targeted at making your connections matter. It’s about giving you tools and tips to help you be the example that others follow and emulate.

We are truly examples and I for one desire to be one that shows that the real estate community cares for their clients, associates, friends and family. EXIT Realty Southern California believes in its brand, believes that our Associates are some of the finest in the industry and has invested time to make them even better examples. You should take the time to be at this event- Leadership 2012: Making Every Connection Matter and lead by example.

Real Estate Franchises in Southern California -Kristen L. Keeran (Regional Administrator,EXIT Realty Southern California) Exit Realty is a real estate industry leader.EXIT Realty Southern California incorporates proven, professional, state of the art techniques specializing in technology, internet, support, teaching,training, and coaching for brokers, owners and agents. Prime Franchise Territories Available in Southern California. Phone: 760-952-2345

As my new role with the Brevard Board of Realtors as President Elect I attended NCAR Vision Quest last week. THe training was held in Winston Salem and was very informative.

I met the NCAR president Lou Baldwin and listened to an update on what is happening at the state level with NCAR. There is much going on and I am proud to be a member of NCAR and our local Board of Realtors.

Greetings:

It surprises me to know that highly intelligent people believe somethings that can be very costly when buying a home. be it here in  the Fort Meade Real Estate Market area or else where.l

One is that if you do not have a realtor reprensenting you, the buyer; you are going to get a better deal.  This is not possible because the Lisitng Agent is bind by law and ethics to protect the interest of his client. Therefore h/she cannot have the interest of the buyer at heart.

One exception I can think of is, if neither buyer nor seller have a realtor and they work a deal. This is a rare occurrence.

 When the listing agent signed the Agency agreement, that is the agreement with his selling client they agreed on the commission percentage and that percentage remains the same regardless of how many agents are involved. So if the buyer does not have an agent to represent him or her and be   his/her  negotiator ,then the listing agent will keep the entire commission. So, No, the buyer will not get a better deal.

NAR just revealed the five biggest area of confussion among buyers are you confused in the same areas? See for yourself..

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, October 28, 2011

Overall, today’s home buyers tend to be fairly knowledgeable about the real estate market, but there are still a few points of confusion in the process, a new survey by Zillow of 1,000 potential home buyers finds. 

Here are the five main areas of confusion the survey revealed: 

Appreciation: About 42 percent of home buyers believe home values will appreciate by 7 percent a year. Reality: Historically, home values in a normal market appreciate by 2 to 5 percent in a year. Mortgage insurance: 41 percent of buyers think they will have to purchase private mortgage insurance, regardless of the amount of their downpayment. Reality: Buyers only need to purchase PMI if their downpayment is less than 20 percent of the home’s purchase price.Appraisals: 56 percent of the buyers said the purpose of the appraisal was to determine if a home was in good condition. Reality: That’s the purpose of a home inspection; an appraisal estimates fair market value. Home owner’s insurance: 37 percent of home buyers said that buying home owner’s insurance is optional. Reality: Lenders require homebuyers to purchase homeowner’s insurance. Ownership: 47 percent of home buyers said a prospective buyer owns a home after the purchase contract is signed. Reality: The purchase and sales agreement is the beginning of the closing phase, but it can be a long process until they finally take ownership.

Next time I will tell you about another point of confussion. Stay tuned.

Laurel, MD Exit Right Realty-Maria Avellaneda, Licensed RealtorExit Right Realty In the Maryland Fort Meade homes area is part of Exit one of the fastest growing real estate companies. I specialize in helping military and civilians moving to and from the most popular areas in the Fort Meade Real Estate area to include Odenton, Severn, Columbia, Crofton, Laurel and surrounding areas. (410-672-3699, 908-240-7792, 301-362-4500)

Greetings:

Last time we talk about the conditions that dictate that you rent instead of buying and also talk about how rentals have increase and have some drawbacks.

Today, we are going to talk about the difference in buying in different counties and some of the advantages of buying in general and advantages that will last for a long time.

On a regular sale, if you provide 20 % or more down payment;, you won't have to pay the PMI, mortgage insurance the Banks require to protect their investment.  Other types of purchases such as Fannie Mae /Home Paths and Veterans loans do not require the PMI either, The PMiI could be anywhere from a couple of hundred or a more significant amount.

The Counties have different tax rates, and since taxes are paid in a 12 month period you have to divide the amount in those 12 payment.  In order of highest to lowest are Prince George, Howard and Anne Arundel County.  In a house of less than 200K the difference will be about 250 a month between  AA  and PG counties. Again a significant amount.

ONE BIG CONSIDERATION is the interest that you pay  for the mortgage which for the first 10 years or so is most of the payment and is is tax deductible while non of your rent is tax deductible.  This represents an average of 250 per 1000 of interest in savings.  This is a big point as it could save you a lot of money in taxes.  Further more once you have the amount of money in interest that the mortgage will bring, you could deduct other expenses such as charity contributions which you cannot deduct without paying a mortgage in most cases.

One reason to rent is you don't want to be bother with repairs etc. To counter this you can get a full home Warranty it would cost you less than 500 to cover all appliances. you only paid a 60-80 fee each occurrence. 

If you dont want to cut grass, etc there are some new town homes and buildings with luxury homes with all sorts of  amenities available 24 hour. many times the mortgage payment ends up being less than rental fees. When you buy you eventually have equity and will pay the loan off, But you have to be smart about using your home as cholateral for loans to get new cars, vacations etc. 

It is said that a full estra payment towards the equity could result in savings of a year in payments. 

So You have a good amount of information, and the decision is yours. Personally I would choose buying at this time while the prices and interest rates are good. 

What ever your decision buy or rent; I can help you find your home and I can recommend loan officers and other other professionals.  .

Take a look at what you can buy today and the prices in the Fort MeadeReal Estate MARKET IN MARYLAND.

If you want to be home for Christmas, you might want to get moving and do not try to by a short sale. See  Short Sales in the Fort  Meade area and my  Blogs about short sales 1-3 Blogs

You have questions, want more info, etc.? Call me! ..

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Posted on October 24, 2011 05:30 PM by Maria Avellaneda, Licensed Realtor  

Greetings:    

Many home owners are struggling, and many have already gone under and lost their homes flooding the market with short sales and foreclosures which the results of home values decreasing. This was good news for buyers but not for sellers.  The market and the economy have left  the naton and the Fort meade Area whith low confidence in the economy.  As a result many buyers are sitting on the fence creating and adding to the lack of stability of the market and the economy.   The President will unveil soon to Unveil Housing Aid rather than quoting I am proviidng here one article about the Plan   Daily Real Estate News | Monday, October 24, 2011 President Barack Obama is expected to announce Monday new policies to help struggling home owners, including a move that would allow borrowers to refinance their mortgage at current low rates no matter how much their home values have dropped. 

The announcements are expected to unveil looser terms to qualify for the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which helps borrowers up-to-date on their mortgage payments refinance, despite a drop in their home values. 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also is expected to end a cap that excluded home owners from HARP who had mortgages that were higher than 125 percent of the home’s value.

Many borrowers who are underwater on their properties have been unable to refinance their mortgage since they do not have enough equity in their properties. The administration’s plan is expected to eliminate “appraisals and extensive underwriting requirements for most borrowers” who are up-to-date on their mortgage and want to refinance at a lower rate, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Obama is also expected to announce a reduction in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan fees and a waiving of fees for borrowers looking to refinance their mortgages into shorter terms. Lenders could start refinancing, following the new policies, as early as Dec. 1. However, mortgages that are more than the current loan-to-value limit may have to wait until early next year, according to media reports. 

Housing experts believe that allowing underwater home owners to refinance at the current low rates will allow home owners to shave hundreds from their monthly mortgage bills and possibly help avoid foreclosures and free up more household cash to spur economic recovery in other areas. 

Source: “WSJ: Home Lending Revamp Planned,” The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 24, 2011) [log-in required] and “Obama to Unveil Housing Plan on Campaign Swing West,” Reuters News (Oct. 24, 2011)

This Plan is expected to give a boost to the economy and improve the market condiiton.  This would probably mean a faster recovery and higher prices and higher interest.  Word to wise, this is still a great time and possibly the best  time to buy. Start your search in any of our searches.

Have specific questions or want more info visit me or call.

Till next time

Laurel, MD Exit Right Realty-Maria Avellaneda, Licensed Realtor Exit Right Realty In the Maryland Fort Meade homes area is part of Exit one of the fastest growing real estate companies. I specialize in helping military and civilians moving to and from the most popular areas in the Fort Meade Real Estate area to include Odenton, Severn, Columbia, Crofton, Laurel and surrounding areas. (410-672-3699, 908-240-7792, 301-362-4500)  

Greetings:

You ask yourself: Should I buy or rent? Simply if you don't have down payment money and/or cannot get a loan, then you have no option but to rent; and if you might have to leave the area in less than a year and do not want to deal with rentals,  then you would feel much comfortable renting. Yet  you might be missing the opportunity of good prices and great loan rates.

Even when renting your credit and financial history can limit your options of rentals.

So If you have the deposit money and can get a loan then you should decide rent or buy.

Some people moving to the area prefer to rent for a wlile to get to know the area. This is a good idea specially if you plan to stay in  the area for a while and ayou are totally new to the area.  The situation is that there aren't rentals for short terms and there is no real certainty of how the market will be in a year nor how  high will the interest rates be. Very few rentals are for a period of less than a year.

Because more people are renting for now rental prices have gone up  in the Fort  Meade Market Area and there aren't as plentiful as before,  If you look at the rental in the link in the   previous line you can see that the only  available one bedroom -one bath Apartment will cost you $1,095. the next lowes price is $1,145 for a 2 bedroom.  The lowest  price for a 3 bedroom -2baths for rent is $1,500,

A benefit of not buying is you won't have to worry about maintenance, though most tenancy contracts have  a minimum per ocurrrence the tenant has to cover on maintenace this could be as low as $50 but most likely it would be $100 or $150.

How much will you have to pay on a mortgage will of course depend on how much home you buy, which county you buy in  and what kind of purchase and how much down payment you provide.

The next time we would see the tax difference when  buying in different counties , and other expenses in buying and other advanages.

If you want to be home for Christmas, you might want to get moving and do not try to by a short sale.   

Have specific questions or want more info visit me or call.

Till next time

Laurel, MD Exit Right Realty-Maria Avellaneda, Licensed Realtor Exit Right Realty In the Maryland Fort Meade homes area is part of Exit one of the fastest growing real estate companies. I specialize in helping military and civilians moving to and from the most popular areas in the Fort Meade Real Estate area to include Odenton, Severn, Columbia, Crofton, Laurel and surrounding areas. (410-672-3699, 908-240-7792, 301-362-4500)

Short Sales at Fort meade Area Part III 

Greetings,

So far we have talked about the parties involved in the Fort Meade Area Short Sales and short sales in general. We saw that the famous third party who is the approval party is not a bank but an investor and behaves in some ways like any other seller but has a lot of lead way in how they conduct the sale. They have their own rules, are not very flexible and will take any where from 90-120 days to process a Short sale.

In the second part we try to see if you should buy a short sale?  We talk about some advantages of buying a short sale  and we spent some time talking about the two kinds of Short Sales listed in the market and the differences  in the process of buyig an approved short sales versus a non approved short sale.   There are a lot of other issues one is that not all lisitng agents handle short sales the same way.  Some like to pile offers and handle all of them at the same time. So you are tied up for months and your offer might not even be considered. If you are lucky, you will deal with a listing agent that process one offer at a time.   Now when the third party approves your offer, they do under very specific conditions.  One important condition being that they are selling the property as is; and therefore they are not going to make repairs and this is not going to be what your lender wants.  Therefore until somebody forks the money for the repairs  there will be no transaction. this is one of the areas where  you can spend a lot of time for the bank/investors to do something and agents tryng to get some resolution.   The third party is going to require a minimum of 90 days for closing as oppose to the 45 more normal period.  Very likely instead of closing early as it happens it ca happen privately own sales/conventional sales. Most likey,  they will  end up asking for additional time to close but won't be so willing to give you, the buyer, the  extra time if you need it.   As with all sales, you have a right and can have an inspection done on the property but for information only.  It is always recommended that you get an inspection in all home purchases. In most cases, you can get out of the contract if the inspection revelas something serious or structural damage.    In regular sales, you can request repairs but a short sale is not going to allow repairs unless your loan company demands them or they are considered required for FHA approval.     If they don't do the repairs, you can find yourself back to square one in the buying process.  YOU, THE BUYER WILL PAY FOR THE INSPECTION, THIS is the same in all sales. So if you go through several homes then you will have to pay all the inspections which migh tbe worthwhile in the long run if you find serious issues in the property.   The issue of the value of the property is one that is of concern to all.  One thing is sure, your lender is not going to alllow you to pay more for a property than is worth because they will be placing their  own investment in the line.  So even if by chance you offer more than the property is worth, when the appraisal that the lender orders comes back it must be the offered price or higher for the bank to lend you the money. This is good protection for you and the lender because you are not paying more than the value.    Now you could have 5 appraisals at the same time and they might come at different values, and this is beyond our contol and scope of this topic.   Another consideration is the Title compay which under MD law the buyer is suppose to choose. Seems they are dealing with properties for long periods of time, they would want you to use their title company as a condition of sale and this might mean higher closing cost for you. They are ussually not flexible in this area.   Well there is much more to say about this topic. But that is all for Now.

If you choose a Short sale, be ready to wail, be willing to give in, and do not expext that much more other than the 3% closing cost.

Happy house Hunting!

Laurel,Exit Right Realty-Maria Avellaneda, Licensed Realtor

Exit Right Realty In the Maryland Fort Meade homes area is part of Exit one of the fastest growing real estate companies. I specialize in helping military and civilians moving to and from the most popular areas in the Fort Meade Real Estate area to include Odenton, Severn, Columbia, Crofton, Laurel and surrounding areas. (410-672-3699, 908-240-7792, 301-362-4500)  

Greetings;

Last time, we talked about the parties involved in the Fort Meade Area Short Sales and short sales in general and in particular about the third party who is the approval party and wants to get the most from his investment money back just like any other seller.

Now the question is should you buy a short sale?  In theory, short sales are less expensive than regular sales, this is most likely true.  But Why are these homes less expensive?  One reason is they are not in the best of shapes and another reason is the banks/investors ( the 3rd party ) really had not plan to be the owners of these properties and therefore they want to get rid of them. Another reason is they have too many of these properties and they want to cut their losses short as soon as possible with the less cost and the most profit. They are willing to cut prices to get then off the market faster.

There are two kinds of Short Sales listed in the market, one is the majority of then: they are non approved short sales.  The second, is approved Short Sales.  There is a big difference in the process of purchasing an approved short sale and a non approved short sale.

In the approved short sale, the bank and all the parties involved pretty much have reached an agreement as to how much they are willing to accept for the home and that is what the home is listed for.  Therefore when you make your offer it will be negotiated  down and up but only up to the listing price. The exception being when you are asking for closing cost. More often, lately, they only agree to help if you are willing to increase the offered price by the amount of help requested and most of the time they limit the help to 3%.

Now the other type, the non approved short sale-,the majority- is listed at a price that is not approved by the bank/third Party.  So when you submit your offer, the offer has to be approved by all parties beginning with the home owner and the third party. As we said before in the first blog, the third party has different layers. We also said they want to get the most out of the money they invested; so the house has to be valuated. A  valuation is the calculation of what is considered  a fair market price, this is not done by a licensed appraiser therefore it can vary substantially from the official appraisal which is done and paid by the buyer after the sale is ratified. 

The valuation or the fair market price done most likely by a broker or REO officer could be more than the listed price and then the buyer gets an offer back asking for more money than it was listed for. Not only could  the third party  counter with a higher price but also they might not want to do any repairs because they want the most money. Yet some of these repairs are necessary for the loan money to be released because a  home that is financed by FHA needs to meet specific requirements of livability and safety. 

Livability and safety means the house doesn't have to be pretty nor updated but it has to be fit for human beings to make it their primary residence and this means it has to be complete with all that is deemed necessary.  No holes, all basic appliances have to be in working condition, etc and also there cannot be any condition that could be considered a safety risk.  Some of these matters are black and white; but some are not.  The lender will not allow a closing to proceed if there is any structural repairs required as opposed to cosmetic repairs such as holes in the walls.

The debate as to what is necessary and safe begins; and by this time, you have been waiting 3 or 4 months with no closing date on sight. So the answer is, if you can only afford the listing price on the non approved short sale, and do not have money for repairs and need to move soon, a short sale is not for you.

There are more issues in a Short Sale which we will cover in a next time.

Till then,

Laurel, MD Exit Right Realty-Maria Avellaneda, Licensed RealtorExit Right Realty In the Maryland Fort Meade homes area is part of Exit one of the fastest growing real estate companies. I specialize in helping military and civilians moving to and from the most popular areas in the Fort Meade Real Estate area to include Odenton, Severn, Columbia, Crofton, Laurel and surrounding areas. (410-672-3699, 908-240-7792, 301-362-4500)