Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

For 2 reasons: First, it so 20th Century! Today’s buyer shops on-line. They go to professional websites like centercityrealestate.com or nationally, Trulia.com or Realtor.com to virtually tour homes 24 hours a day and to view pictures of EVERY home for sale, to analyze statistics, compare prices, check out the neighborhood, review legal docs & more. Which is why I spend so much time and capital regularly developing the best site on the web.

Second, advertising does sell, it sells the brand, it sells the image. Which is why in every real estate ad, you see the Realtor’s picture and brokerage. Every experienced Realtor knows that the only reason to advertise is to promote yourself and get more leads. It is a rare, rare, rare occurrence to have someone call on an advertised listing and buy it. Have you ever bought a house you saw in the paper? I have not! Have you ever bought a house you saw on-line? I have & my clients too! In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, today almost all urban, buyers start their search on-line.

So you have been hearing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the news a lot lately. What’s this mean really?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into conservatorships on Sunday which means that the government has replaced the CEO’s and Boards of each company. The Treasury will purchase Senior Preferred Stock of Fannie and Freddie to provide capital as needed in amounts up to $100 billion for each company. The financial commitment by the United States Government will substantially increase confidence in Fannie and Freddie and the US housing Market and provide stability.

The US Treasury effectively guaranteed that mortgage backed securities will be backed by the US government  which means that rates will likely hold at current levels and/or decline like we have seen past week.

Bottom Line: Rates are incredibly low, and buyers should capitalize on this market.

Here is latest quote from Real Trends Report. I would like to hear your comments.

“Along with a growing number of professionals, we see positive indications  for the real estate industry. Based on the strong signals in the REAL Treads report and data gathered from arange of other sources, it appears that inventory leveling off or shrinking in most markets, and that prices should become firmer in the next two quarters.”

“We think it is irresponsible for studies that focus on a handful of states or metropolitan areas to be releasing unrealistic house price or listing data that misleads housing consumers as to the real level of housing activity across the country.”