Real Estate Blog

Have you taken a good look around your real estate blog lately?  Would you like to gain more traffic?  And, reach each your target audience, for real? If you are serious about your blog, then you should be serious about taking new steps and exploring innovative options to boost your blog success. Don’t let your blog take a back seat to 2.0!

MTO is gearing up for the Inman Connect SF. In fact, I’ve been invited to speak on the Blogger’s Connect panel entitled, “Growing Pains: Taking Your Blog to the Next Level“, alongside these A-list rockin’ real estate blog experts Dustin Luther, Jim Cronin, and Daniel Rothamel.  The RE 2.0 guru himself will be there as moderator, yes, you know him….Jeff Turner.  So over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing tools and suggestions for taking that next level leap. But of course I’ll be leaving the meatiest of it all for those of you attending the Connect. So, I hope to see you there!

Anyway, our blogucation cannot begin without a self assessment, a blog assessment really. The best teachers assess at the beginning and the end of an assignment or goal. How else will you know if you made any real strides? To start, you will notice quickly that the following assessment is organized in 2 sections, Internal Factors and External Factors.  To examine your blog best, you should focus on these 2 areas.

Internal Factors are actions, tools, and strategies you put into play on your blog to give it life, display your expertise and target your audience. These may include your voice, design, blog posts, organization, comments, etc.  External Factors are actions, tools, and strategies you use to reach outside of your blog, create interaction, and hopefully bring readers back to you.  These may include, but not limited to: IDX Search, email newsletters, commenting, podcasting, video, social networking, etc.

Take the “Does my blog REally rock?” Assessment (Directions: Print this article, read each question, and write your yes or no answer next to each one. If you’re old school, grab a piece of paper and number 1-6 twice, then write down your answers. Keep your eyes on your own paper. )

Part 1 - Internal Factors (Looking in at your blog.)

1. Are you speaking to your target audience?
2. Do you speak in an authentic voice?
3. Are you sharing content that your target audience cares about?
4. Is that content compelling, remarkable, or helpful?
5. Is your blog design professional and pleasing to the eye?
6. Do you keep up or add to the conversations on your blog?

Part 2 - External Factors (Looking out from your blog.)

1. Besides commenting, do you foster community interaction? (i.e. Neighborhood Wiki, Q & A Forum, Instant Messaging, Local Sponsors & Interviews, etc.)
2. Does your blog provide additional content, features, or tools to supplement your voice? (Podcast Advice, IDX Search, Mortgage Rates, Calculators, Neighborhood Maps, etc?)
3. Do you incorporate any type of social media with your blog? (Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Zolve, Real Seekr, etc.)
4. Do you regularly podcast or vlog?
5. Do you have a call or action? Do you capture leads? (i.e. email newsletter, IDX MLS Search, e-book sign up, online trainings, drawings or contests, etc.)
6. Are you sharing content in a way that nobody else is?

Note which question(s) you answered “no” to. Circle that question or questions. Now we have something to work with. Turn the question you answered “no” to into a statement. For example, if you answered no to “Do you speak in an authentic voice?” your goal would now read as “Speak in an authentic voice.” If you answered no to, “Do you regularly podcast or vlog?” your goal would now read as “Regularly podcast or vlog.”

It’s not rocket science, but it is a quick and easy way to identify blogging weaknesses both internally and externally. So, now that you’ve identified your core blogging weakness, it’s time to get focused. Whether you have an internal or external area to improve upon or take to the next level, I’ll be here next week with ideas and support for your new blog goals. 

Other posts you may enjoy:

• SpotIt brings Community Interaction to your Real Estate Website
• Real Estate Bloggers Connect in San Francisco
• On Your Mark, Get Set, Go to SellsiusRealEstate.com!
• New Buyer Tour Technology Helps Real Estate Agents Bridge the Geographical Gap
• Zipform Desktop Is Now Vista Compatible

Read more from the original source:

Our commercial advisory firm just released its New York City Income Property Market Report for the second half of 2007 for Massey Knakal. My commercial valuation partner John Cicero prepares the report. It’s the only report of its kind in the New York City commercial market.

Here’s an excerpt:

In the second half of 2007 credit tightened considerably as the losses in sub-prime mortgages worked their way through the financial markets. While indicators are somewhat mixed, in general during this period prices for income property remained stable throughout the city, though the number of sales dropped, in some instances quite dramatically. This reflects the “wait and see” attitude that characterized the period, with fewer buyers bidding and sellers reluctant to lower prices. The fundamentals of the market remained strong, however, with high apartment rents and very low vacancy. The prospect of turning over below market rent-regulated units to higher market levels continues to attract investors, and credit, though tighter, was still available albeit from different sources. Cap rates and gross income multipliers remained stable.

The number of sales dropped 16% from the first half of 2007 to the second half, though the decline was only 7% from the second half of 2006 to the second half of 2007. On a calendar year basis, there were overall 10.5% fewer sales in 2007 than 2006. Though the number of walk-up apartment buildings in Manhattan showed a sharp decline from the first half of the year, calendar year 2007 sales actually show a 16% increase over calendar year 2006…

Massey Knakal will distribute over 300,000 hard copies of the report over the next few months.

Massey Knakal New York City Income Property Market Report [2H07]

Report Methodology [Miller Cicero]

Here is the original post:
[Miller Cicero] New York City Income Property Market Report Second Half 2007 Is Available For Download

This quarterly market report is provided by Dr. Kevin Gillen, an economist at the Real Estate Department of the Wharton School and Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania. He analyzes the Philadelphia real estate market using the city’s real estate database through Hallwatch, a watchdog group. The results are published in a research paper called Philadelphia House Price Indices each quarter as a public service to the Philadelphia real estate community. Here’s his methodology [pdf].

Kevin does a great job parsing out the market and its a pleasure to share his results on Matrix —Jonathan Miller

Download the full report [pdf].

Read the Hallwatch article on the market: City housing market: brisk decline continues

The Philadelphia real estate market is showing price and sales declines. Here are some key points:

• the typical Philadelphia home fell in value last quarter by an average of 2.7% after accounting for quality and season.
• Just 4,000 homes changed hands under arms-length conditions in Q1, which is a 15% drop from the 4,725 homes that sold last fall. Although home sales volume usually declines in the winter months, this was the slowest winter since 2003.
• The number of homes listed for sale stayed approximately flat throughout the winter at just under 11,000 units.
• The average time it took for a home to sell rose to an all-time high of 77 days.

More discussion concerning the report [Hallwatch.org]. Hallwatch is a private and independently maintained watchdog website that does a lot of in-depth, independent and investigative pieces on city politics, as well as real estate.

Continued here:
[Liberty Bell Crack] Philadelphia Housing Market Sees Brisk Drop

The online version of the Prudential Douglas Elliman 1Q 2008 Hamptons/North Fork Market Overview [Miller Samuel] is available for download.

I have been writing various incarnations of the New York regional market report series for Douglas Elliman since 1994.

To build Hamptons/North Fork custom data tables

To view Hamptons/North Fork charts

An excerpt

…Both median and average sales price indicators were above levels reached in the prior year quarter. There was an upward skew in average sales price not seen in the change in median sales price, which was $790,000 up 1.9% over the prior year period median sales price of $775,000. The average sales price was $1,728,610 this quarter, up 16.8% above the prior year quarter, the second highest quarterly average sales price after the third quarter of 2007, which had an average sales price of $1,805,104.

Besides the rise in price indicators within the top 20% of the market, perhaps one of the more striking characteristics of the East End was the decline in overall number of sales. The lower volume of sales activity is largely attributable to the declining national economic climate, tighter credit and a weaker employment picture in the New York City financial services sector…

Download report: 1Q 2008 Hamptons/North Fork Market Overview [pdf]

More here:
[East End] 1Q 2008 Hamptons/North Fork Market Overview Available For Download

This is the first of a series of posts I’m writing about creative ways to utilize mapping in real estate.  I will show how a real estate agent can display their total history of home sales (or any other data for that matter) and showcase it on a WordPress blog using Google Maps. This unique approach to transparency may prove helpful for those agents that have a thriving sales history in a particular county, city or even neighborhood. Possibly rounding out the about me page.

I will not be using Google MyMaps to accomplish this goal because it does not have an import feature. You would need to plot each sale, one by one.  So those of you that have vast sales histories would have a labor intensive process. Also when done hand plotting the addresses, you would not be able to use that data again. (It’s not in a raw data file such as text delimited, csv or spreadsheet etc.)

So I will have you start by compiling a complete list of your sold properties in a spreadsheet.  You may already have this created, if so great! If you don’t have your complete sales history, try your MLS system as they may offer an audit of your historical transactions.  This spreadsheet will be used to auto-create a geocoded KML file. I will then show you how to display that KML file as a map on your WordPress Blog.  For that I have selected XML Google Maps an excellent WordPress Plug-in.

 In your spreadsheet use the following column headings: Address, City, State, & Zip. You can even include headings such as Price, Neighborhood, and Schools etc.  Any data that is outside of address data can be added to the balloon on your Google map. Download an example spreadsheet layout here.

Prepare

• Download & Install XML Google Maps WordPress Plug-in. This Plug-in will allow you to add a map by simply linking to a KML, KMZ or GPX file. Here are instructions for installing this plug-in.
• Get a free Google Maps API Key. You’ll need this after you active the XML Google Maps Plug-In.
• Complete spreadsheet of sales history. (Or whatever you are mapping.)

Let’s get started

1. Open your Spreadsheet and highlight the entire dataset. Now Copy it.
2. Visit BatchGeocode
3. Look for the text box next to “Step 2″. Paste your spreadsheet data over the data currently in the textbox. (Overwrite the existing data)
4. Next complete Step 3 by selecting Validate Source.
5. In step 4 choose the column headings that correspond with your address data.
6. Also in step 4 look for the Description field. If “all remaining fields” is selected then the data in your spreadsheet outside the address data will be added to the corresponding balloon on the Map. (Hint: You can do some pretty cool things with pictures etc.)
7. Click Run Geocoder.
8. OK, now the dataset has been geocoded. Now scroll down past the Yahoo! Map displaying your data and click the button titled Download to Google Earth (KML) File.
9. Now save the attachment. (Remember where you are saving this! We will be using it.)
10. Upload the KML file to your blog. For example you could make a folder called “kml” off the root. This way it’s easy to remember. Also note uploading is easily accomplished with standard FTP software.
11. Create a post or page (of course you can edit an existing too!)
12. Use the link tool to create a link to the XML file. For example:

<a href="http://www.mytechopinion.com/kml/solds.kml"></a>

Congratulations. You should not be displaying a Google Map of your sold history. The map can now be dragged and map options are controlled in the WordPress admin. (i.e. Size, Initial view, Map Type etc.) I should also point out that you can create KML files from Google Earth as well! Have fun!

Other uses may include:

• Mapping Local Schools and Parks
• Neighborhood Events (i.e. Garage Sales)
• Mapping Brokers Tour
• Mapping Office Listings

Other posts you may enjoy:

• Zipform Desktop Is Now Vista Compatible
• Zipform (Winforms) Is Fully Windows Vista and Apple Compatible
• Zillow Adds “For Sale” Listings
• Winforms meets Microsoft Vista

The rest is here:
How Mapping Can Market Your Sales History