Resource-list | Real Estate News

30 Blog Post Ideas To Keep Your Content On A Roll

Jun 26

Recently, my friend Rob Hahn posted a great article entitled “Design vs. Content: Design Wins!‘. And I wholeheartedly agree with him! How many times have you left a blog due to eye strain from small print or out of pure confusion from all the flashing ads and shiny objects strewn about! There’s no denying that design plays a major role in Website attraction!

I love pretty things and sometimes crap content can be made to look so nice you actually stick around. But watch out, because shiny objects can mislead you and even hypnotize you into monthly payments in some cases! It’s happened to me! I love me some bling!

So while I think it’s crucial to consider blog layout, design, and user interface…we can’t forget our friends at Google or the readers placing trust in your guidance. The bling will always entice, but it’s the thought provoking, helpful, resourceful, and relevant content that keeps your readers coming back for more, or even subscribe! With all the rockin’ blog themes available, a nice blog design is the easy part. It’s coming up with content and being consistent that is the real task at hand.

I’ve found the best way to maintain regular blog posts and fight “blogger’s block” is by creating a content posting plan. This is really nothing more than making an on-going list of content or story ideas from which you can pick and choose to create posts from. If you want to take it a step further, you could schedule time to write, as well as “read & research”. But don’t plan too far ahead, because some posts may be timely depending on whether they are events or breaking news.

Here are some ideas to kickstart your own content posting plan, or just melt your “blogger’s block”!

Write a Series of Posts: Take a big idea and break it up into several smaller posts. Be sure to link back to all the posts within your series.
Client Q&A: Create a submission form for your blog. Pick a day that you regularly answer clients questions via your blog.
Get Busy: Get involved with local businesses, interview business owners, share helpful businesses that are giving back to the community or can assist new homeowners with their services. Be sure to archive these posts in the form of a relocation landing page.
Community Events: Post a monthly event calendar or list of events with all the local information and links. Check out 4 Ways to Add an Event Calendar to Your Wordpress Blog.
Seasonal Homeowner How-to: Post informative guides on how to clean out the gutters, winter prep your pool, holiday décor, spring cleaning, etc.
Breaking News: Whether it’s local or national, twitter and other news sources can keep you up to speed with all the latest happenings.
Know your niche & drip the tips: Whatever it may be (women homeownership, short sales, green building), drip your expertise out by expanding upon single tidbits of advice.
Local Bargains & Coupons: Share discounts offered by local restaurants/businesses, online coupons for products & services, etc.
Local Market Update: Give us your forecast, graph the changes, share local statistics, and provide some tips for adapting to this changing market. Check out Cyberhomes’ Market Forecast report – great resource!
Interviews: Post short interviews with industry professionals, local business leaders, local heroes, etc. Include testimonials from past clients.
School scores & more: Post recent test scores, school achievements (ex: Distinguished School), school events, etc. for high schools and colleges in your area.
Neighborhood Spotlight: Showcase a specific neighborhood…the homes, parks, schools, stores…oh, and your listings too. Give us your top 10 reasons for living in each neighborhood. Interview local neighbors and connect with your farm at the same time.
New laws affecting real estate: Each year share the new laws for your state/county, and/or provide updates as they occur in real time.
Buyer/Seller Tips: Talk about the home buying process, share your best tips in post form.
Fundraisers/Non-Profits: Support or share info regarding local fundraisers.
Rate & loan updates: Get the latest info from your lenders and provide tips for buyers on finding the best rates, as well as the process for securing a loan.
Favorites: Whether it’s a recipe share, book review, or new movie release…it’s okay to have an opinion!
Photo posts: Show off the beauty and uniqueness of your area with photos. A single photo and a simple comment will suffice. Or get creative with a collage of photos taken in your market area or make a slideshow using Animoto.
Video posts: Follow your home stager as she/he prepares a home, interview your local lender, tour local neighborhoods, or just share your real estate expertise.
Investment insights: Post informational articles on how to select an investment property, interview of an analyst, local suggestions from your tax professional, etc.
Friday fun: Put a smile on your reader’s face or just wish them a fantastic Friday with funny articles or YouTube videos, interesting signs, wacky but tasteful jokes, etc.
Holiday hype: Share what’s happening in your area during holidays, give ideas for parties, recipes, fun traditions, tell a holiday story about your family, etc.
Community callout: Whether you have Facebook Connect on your blog, a Facebook Business Page, or use Twitter. Create a post announcing your new page or group, and let people know where/how they can connect further with you.
Consumer alerts: Clue your clients in to the latest information regarding FHA financing, loan modification rules, tax credits, etc.
Polls: Pose a question, collect the responses and share the results!
Storytelling: Explain a scenario whether real or hypothetical and how you would assist the situation with your expertise.
Re-post: Think of it like a “retweet”, but for a blog post! If you find a post written by someone else that you love, cite them and build upon it by offering your own perspective.
Invite a guest: Is there a lender you work with, home stager, local business owner that has something to say. Give them the opportunity on your blog!
The Spin-off: Take your best blog posts a little further, by building upon them, updating them or taking one concept mentioned to the next level. You can even make a list of all your best posts on a particular subject.
Liveblog: Going to an event? Share your experience as it happens (people you meet, products/services you encounter, interesting tips, etc.).

MyTechOpinion

Let’s face it. For most of us it’s not really possible to write and post every single day. But it does become easier, the more you write. Try setting a goal to post every other day or at least twice a week. From my standpoint, I’d focus more on quality than quantity.

4 Ways To Add An Event Calendar To Your Wordpress Blog

Jun 24

Real Estate

The addition of an event calendar can add a lot of value to your website or blog. This is especially true for those real estate agents who maintain a community based site.

Posting information on events such as farmers’ markets, garage sales, club meetings and city recreation programs to a calendar makes your website community resource. A resource worth bookmarking, Twittering or sharing on Facebook.

Best of all, updating a calendar is easier than writing an entire blog post.

Here are 4 ways to add an event calendar to your Wordpress website or blog:

1. Calendar

Calendar is a Wordpress plugin developed by Kieran O’Shea that looked like it was going to be abandoned. Fortunately, Kieran has picked up where he left off and just released an update.

This plugin creates an AJAX enabled calendar that is highly customizable. Events are managed directly from the Wordpress admin. Color coded categories can be used to differentiate types of events.

A sidebar widget allows for upcoming events to be displayed throughout your site. With a little CSS know-how, the calendar colors can be changed to match your website.

Go to PeninsulaHub.com to see this plugin in action.

2. Events Calendar

Another Wordpress plugin that adds a calendar page using a short code. Similar to the Calendar plugin with a few differences.

Events Calendar doesn’t offer event categories, but adds the ability to create a post or page from a calendar event. This can come in handy for those events that need a bit more promotion than a simple calendar entry.

The widget for this plugin not only allows for upcoming events to be listed, but gives an option for an AJAX enabled mini calendar to be displayed.

3. Events Manager

Events Manager Wordpress plugin takes a very different approach to an event calendar. This solution is much more interactive, making for a richer visitor experience.

Offering features such as Google map integration, RSVP management and an RSS feed, this plugin is loaded with functionality.

Events Manager is a great solution for posting real estate office meetings and trainings. However, the layout isn’t as conducive to community calendars with a lot of events to display.

4. EasyPHPCalendar

Sometimes you need more control and functionality than a simple Wordpress plugin can offer. Such was the case for a recently released MTO Sites project, Tribes.com. For that site, we looked outside of the Wordpress community and found EasyPHPCalendar.

Color coded event categories can be created. A legend of the categories can be added to your site and a dropdown filter allows for only events in that category to be shown.

Images, links and text formatting of event postings is possible after installing the free WYSIWYG editor.
Although EasyPHPCalendar is a separate script from Wordpress, it integrates beautifully. Once installed and configured, PHP code can be added directly to your Wordpress template. This makes your calendar feel like part of the entire site to your visitors.

MyTechOpinion

Site visitors expect more from community websites than the occasional blog post. Adding an event calendar can add value without forcing you to spend an exorbitant amount of time writing content.

For assistance with this or any other Wordpress website related issue or need, contact MyTechOpinion and our MTO Sites design team.

Cyberhomes’ Market Forecast Contest Launches Tomorrow!

Jun 21

Real Estate

If you thought watching the “Know Your Market – Game Show Video” (see below) was fun and you want to get in on some of that action, well, YOU CAN! Cyberhomes officially launches their Market Forecast Contest tomorrow giving you a chance to chime in with the correct answer…and win!

Here’s how you can play!

Visit Twitter.com and follow @Cyberhomes, if you’re not already.
Starting tomorrow (Monday, June 22nd) @Cyberhomes will tweet a question at 9am PST and again at 1pm PST every day this week (6/22-6/26).
The first person to tweet the correct answer as a public reply to @Cyberhomes will win a free Market Forecast full report for an address of their choosing.
Winners will be contacted directly in real-time by @Cyberhomes. Daily questions with correct answers, as well as the winners (twitter usernames) will be posted on the Cyberhomes Blog.

A total of 10 questions will be tweeted throughout the week (at 9am PST & 1pm PST each day- Mon-Fri)), providing 10 opportunities to win! Only one prize per person will be given, 2 winners per day!

MORE ABOUT MARKET FORECAST

Cyberhomes’ Market Forecast report is the first of its kind. And it’s the only report that uses loan data, foreclosures, and defaults to project changes in your local real estate market. There are 2 versions of the report available for purchase from Cyberhomes.com: the summary report for $3.99, and the full report for $9.99. Both reports provide detailed analysis and projections of distressed, foreclosure, and REO properties for a given market area, as well as detailed loan and assessment information. The summary report provides an estimated change in value for the specific neighborhood over a 12 month period. While the full report offers professional-level analysis and a 24 month value forecast.

Consumers will undoubtedly find these reports helpful in making home buying/selling decisions. And, real estate professionals now have a helpful resource for creating better CMA reports, as well as impressing sellers in listing presentations.

Google Maps: New “What’s Here” feature

Jun 20

Real Estate

google-maps Not too long ago maps were used simply to find locations and get from one point to another. But over recent years digital mapping has pushed the boundaries; adding new and innovative features with Google leading the way. Yesterday was no different; Google announced a new feature called “What’s here?” A very intuitive implementation that works by simply selecting a point on their map and choosing “What’s here?” Google then presents what they feel is “the most relevant result representing that location”

For example, say you’re working with a homeowner moving to the Marina District in San Francisco California. They’ve been asking lots of questions about local attractions, so you sit down with them and search the area using Google Maps. Right mouse click the general area, and select “What’s Here?” You’ll see a green arrow display like this:

Now look to the left-hand side of the screen, you should see the geographic name and a link to “Explore this area.” Based off the zoom level, Google will serve up the “most appropriate geographical entity at that point.”

Once selected the maps should fill with photos from the surrounding area. To see more, select the “More photos” link on the left-hand side and all available photos quickly populate the map, something like this:

MyTechOpinion
This new feature is super cool and will certainly come in handy for anyone looking to investigate an area further. To get the most complete mashup available, try clicking the “more” link located at the top right corner of the map. From there you can add videos, Wikipedia, webcams, and transit information to the current view. If you want to take your search experience from Google Maps into Google Earth, you’ll aslo see a button included.

For those of you that want to participate in the user generated content, try Panoramio.

TinyChat: Don’t let the name fool you, it’s all muscle

Jun 18

Real Estate

If you’ve been unimpressed with the available chat applications for your blog, you’ll be excited to learn about TinyChat.

TinyChat recently delivered version 2 of their chat product and I’m really impressed. The application is extremely intuitive, which starts with a large text field prompting for a chat room name. Within seconds your new room is created. But not before you’re given the chance to sign in using Twitter and invite other participants. If you’re not using Twitter don’t fret; just enter your name to continue.

At this point the chat room has been created, now set a chat topic and select your privacy option. By private it really means not listed on the TinyChat website. If you need password protection, you’ll have to upgrade to the professional plan. With that plan, you’ll also own up to 5 rooms, and broadcast in HQ video.

A TinyChat session can host up to 200 concurrent chat participants, and 12 simultaneous audio, video broadcasts. The audio and video is really easy to operate. Click the big message the reads “Add live audio and video to this room” then approve the use of Tiny Chat to access your camera and microphone. In our testing, we had multiple users streaming audio and video and I found the quality was equal to what I experience from Skype.

Other TinyChat features worth noting include:

Share files via Flyupload
Save chat transcripts
Ban annoying users
Embed the chat on your website or blog
Share the chat room via Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace (or via any network by sharing the URL).

MyTechOpinion

I’m really impressed with the user interface of TinyChat. I like that I wasn’t forced to install cumbersome software to initiate a chat session. I appreciate the “ignore” link that moderators see next to each user’s update. If an unruly visitor joins the chat, use this feature to block them from participating. It’s also comforting to know that TinyChat works on Windows, Mac and Linux; using Firefox, IE, Safari, and Chrome browsers.

Real estate agents using this tool on a regular basis for online chat or webinars sessions may want to consider subscribing to the professional plan. As mentioned you’ll gain the ability to save room names-to protect your brand or keyword.

Real Estate Marketing: Carving Your Niche

Jun 17

Real Estate

Targeting your marketing efforts is easier said than done. A lot of agents are finding themselves in scramble mode right now. Just trying to get “it” done. For many, that “it” is just maintaining the basics like client interactions and daily administrative tasks. But if you’re not prospecting then what happens when the “keeping up” with your current business ends, and you’re left without new listings or buyers? Ummm, I think you know the answer to that!

If hiring an assistant or marketing coordinator is not in the cards for you right now, you need to find a way to organize your marketing efforts and concentrate on sharing your expertise with the right network. One simple way to elevate your expertise above the competition is by obtaining a designation or specializing in certain types of real estate transactions. Do you have several green builders in your area, as well as knowledge of sustainable home features? You may want to consider becoming an EcoBroker, a special designation for environmentally concerned real estate professionals.

Recently, I was invited to dinner by my friend John Harper, who introduced me to Ginny Mees. While enjoying our “wine & dine” evening, I asked Ginny and her husband Paul (both agents) how they’re able to be so successful in such a challenging real estate market. Ginny smiled, and responded with, “I do what I know best!” What she knows best are the challenges facing independent women homeowners. She focuses her marketing efforts (both online & offline) on women who are going through divorce, widowed, etc.

In fact, Ginny created an online network (SingleWomenHomeowner.com) that brings together experts in women homeownership issues and consumers with questions based on location. Ginny also shares tools and resources that can help others who want to focus in this direction. FYI- Ginny didn’t do this alone, she consulted with 2 top experts, Kelly Lise Murray and Wendy Waselle of DivorceThisHouse, who educate real estate agents by providing a CE/CLE course to learn about the specific laws affecting divorced women.

I’m not suggesting you go out and create an online network overnight, but you can easily connect with locals in your area based on your expertise or topic via Facebook, Twitter, ActiveRain and other existing social media tools. For example, create an interest based group on Facebook (i.e. Living Green in Danville). Share your FB Group/Fan Page on all your marketing pieces, as well as a few tips for sustainable living. Join local environmental interest groups, offer to speak on green living at events, create an ebook for download on your blog, be the green living local advisor to your market area. If you blog, share articles about green initiatives, new recycling laws, local sustainable businesses, people making a difference, etc.

MyTechOpinion: Finding your niche means drawing upon your own skill-set and developing your prior knowledge so that you can provide your top-notch expertise to clients who are looking for someone just like you. It doesn’t mean that you become a jack of all-trades with your hand in every cookie jar so that you can display 42 designations on your business card. Remember, do what you know best and success will follow!

Get Smart with Any Mobile Phone

Jun 15

Real Estate

If you own an iPhone then you’re probably appreciative of the thousands of apps to choose from that can assist you with your daily work tasks. However, if you own a Blackberry or other mobile device you may be frustrated with the fact that many of the real estate specific apps are NOT available to you, or have limited functionality.

ENTER: Smarter Agent, a real estate marketing company that has solved the fragmentation of mobile with a listing search application that is now available on virtually every cell phone.

Smarter Agent works with all major wireless carriers and mobile devices. It uses GPS to locate a user’s location and find real estate listings in their area. Search results include: price, square footage, estimated mortgage, taxes, features, interactive map, beds/baths, pictures. Consumers can also search by address, community name, city or zip code.

The Smarter Agent application can be downloaded from SmarterAgent.com, a consumer’s cell phone via the carrier’s application store, or from application stores maintained by iPhone, Android (July 2009), and BlackBerry.

Once downloaded, the following options are available from the Main Menu:

(1) Quick Search GPS: Receive a list of properties that are closest to your location.

(2) Advanced / Refine Search: Receive a list of properties that are closest to your location and fit your specific search criteria.

(3) Map Me & Homes/ Apartments: See your location and the ten properties that are closest to you on an interactive map.

(4) Address Search: Enter your desired location and receive a list of properties that are closest to that location.

(5) Saved Favorites: Search favorite locations you have saved.

(6) Find A Realtor: Speak to a qualified real estate agent about your specified area.

(7) Get a Mortgage: Speak to a qualified mortgage specialist to see what you can afford.

(8) Hot Picks: Receive a list of featured properties in the neighborhood.

(9) Coupons: See offers from local retailers.

The Smarter Agent app can also be branded for an agent or broker, displaying their logo and picture. The app can be distributed directly from the agent/broker blog as well. And when a client using the branded app is interested in a listing, he/she can simply select the “call to see” button and the agent/broker is notified (regardless of who listed the property). Thousands of real estate agents across the country are already using Smarter Agent, including major brands: Prudential, Keller Williams, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and Realty Executives. Smarter Agent is also an Inman Innovator Finalist in the Most Innovative Web Technology category.

Pricing for customizing your own Smarter Agent application varies depending upon your device and your contract. Generally, there is a one time setup fee of $250, and a monthly fee of $39.95-$49.95. However, MTO is working with Smarter Agent to bring you special pricing that will reduce the setup fee to $50 as well as the monthly fee, saving you 40%. To learn more, contact Denise Boyer (Smarter Agent Sales) at 925.584.4249 and mention this article. If you call or email Smarter Agent from their Website, be sure to mention MTO and the promo code: DIS0409-02.

Bluehost For Your Web Hosting Needs

Jun 12

Real Estate

Through building and maintaining websites for many years, we at MyTechOpinion have worked with a slew of web hosting companies. Each with their own collection of quirks and idiosyncrasies. While no hosting service is perfect, there are several companies that rise above the competition.

One of the web hosting companies that we have grown very fond of over the last 2 years is Bluehost.com. This straight forward hosting service provides a level of service and low price that is hard to find. Here are the key reasons we use Bluehost and recommend it to our clients.

Cost

With monthly rates as low as $6.95 and no set-up fee, Bluehost is very economical. There is 1 hosting plan offered, so registration is simple. Pricing is based on how many months you pay in advance. Go with a year or more for discounted rates, you can cancel at any time and will receive a refund for unused time.

The hosting plan includes unlimited space and bandwidth, 2500 email accounts and a domain name (which you can take with you if you leave).

Support

Customer support is something you don’t think about until you need it. Bluehost offers 24/7 phone support and a live chat service. The live chat is wonderful for quick questions, but the phone wait isn’t bad, either.

Speed

Not talking about how fast a page loads, rather the speed at which actions take place on your hosting account. Many web hosting companies can take hours, if not days, to create your account and point your domain name to it. With Bluehost, this takes minutes. Installing Wordpress is a few clicks away and available for use immediately. Want to change email service to an Outlook Exchange host or Gmail? MX record changes are easy and take effect in minutes.

Flexibility

There are few things more frustrating than working on a feature for your site, only to find out that it won’t work on your web server. Right behind that in the frustration department is having to troubleshoot a website problem caused by server settings.

Bluehost has configured their servers to accommodate the open source trend that has brought us web solutions like Wordpress, Drupal, BuddyPress and more. It would be hard to find an easier platform to run Wordpress on.

With the ability to have 999 sub-domains, parked domains and add-on domains, you can run multiple websites from a single account. This is handy for the real estate agent whose has been collecting domain names over the years. Now they can all lead somewhere.

We here at MTO recommend Bluehost web hosting. If you use our Bluehost affiliate link, MyTechOpinion gets credit for referring you to their company.

10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals

Jun 8

Real Estate

If you have kids, then you probably know that most schools teach character education along with the ABC’s and 123’s. And when I was teaching elementary school, there were 10 lifeskills in particular that I focused on with my class each year: integrity, active listening, effort, respect, caring, responsibility, cooperation, trustworthiness, courage, diligence.

These lifeskills set the stage for better communication between teacher and student, student and student, and even child and parent. The lifeskills provided me with the opportunity to help my students interact more positively, engage in cooperative learning, and problem solve when disagreements arose.

With the advent of new marketing techniques (namely social media strategies), it seems rather apparent that we should infuse the lifeskills we learned back in the day (when we began learning to better communicate and cooperate) within our current business goals and strategies. So I’ve taken character education full circle here by suggesting the following: “10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals”.

1. Integrity- Be the real you. Strive for authentic engagement by being the same person you are online that you are offline. Instead of selling what you do, share who you are and your daily experiences. And when it comes to your avatar (profile picture) be a person, not a real estate logo. People connect with people, not signs and buildings.

2. Active Listening- Although it’s important to share your interests, it’s even more important to pay attention to others. Learning what your network is passionate about only helps you ask better questions, provide better resources, and become a better advisor. Who’s Talkin? and SocialMention are 2 social search engines that make it even easier to monitor certain people and topics you care about.

3. Effort- Add value! Know your expertise and passion well enough to identify resources that may be helpful to your network. If you’re not sure where to look for great resources, try a social bookmarking tool like Delicious or Digg where others share their favorite articles. Monitor your resources and share regularly, provide your own insight and strategies for implementation.

4. Respect- You gotta give it to get it! Show respect for others, even your “competitors” in your niche. And when it comes to connecting with new people on social networks like Facebook or Linkedin, consider sending a brief authentic message explaining why you’d like to connect or how you know them. Don’t bombard people with spammy or salesy messages. Social Media is NOT about hard-selling, it’s about mutual respect.

5. Caring- Reach out to others, colleagues and clients alike! And do good things without being asked like retweeting others tweets, “liking” or commenting on Facebook posts, and commenting on or praising blog articles you enjoy. Connect and befriend local clients and business owners online. For example, join local interest or business based Facebook groups that you care about or want to get involved with, or create your own. Join or volunteer for a local cause. This shows how much you care about the city and neighborhoods you work and live in.

6. Responsibility- Think before you act and take responsibility for your social interactions. If you write an article or share a resource that you found from someone else, be sure to source that person by linking back to the original article or a social profile. If you make a mistake or offend someone unknowingly, apologize. And be sure to welcome feedback and be responsive to it.

7. Cooperation- Sometimes you can get to your goal that much faster by collaborating. Share and work together with others in the real estate industry or in your local market area. Draw upon the strengths of others and pool your resources whether it’s organizing an event, creating helpful Web content, or asking for help with a project. For example, co-host a blog based or Facebook contest, help plan a Tweetup or nearby REBarCamp, guest-post on local business or interest based blogs, co-author a local ebook for homeowners, co-sponsor a charity event, etc.

8. Trustworthiness- If you make a promise to someone, then do it. Don’t be a slim shady and betray someone’s trust in you. That’s the fastest way to get unfollowed or unfriended. Provide clear expectations on your blog and social profiles about the real estate services you DO provide. If you list your expertise as working with independent women homeowners, make sure you deliver that expertise online and when working with clients. That’s how you become your network’s trusted advisor!

9. Courage- Try something new! Are you interested in getting your feet wet with video? Don’t be afraid to dive in and give something a try! It’s all a learning process anyway, and even failed attempts can be endearing!

10. Diligence- Create a custom social media marketing plan for your real estate business and commit to it. Schedule daily check-in times for maintaining your social profiles and/or read and research time for blog articles. Be consistent!

One last reminder….measure what you make! If you share a resource via Twitter or Facebook, use a URL tracking tool like BudURL, Cli.gs, or Bitly. If you blog, be sure to take advantage of what good analytics can tell you, try Google Analytics or GetClicky.com. Studying what your clients do or don’t react to can provide you with insight as to what kind of content or resources your network finds helpful! This way you can reach more folks and keep the conversation flowing!

Overcoming the Wordpress “Fatal Error: Allowed Memory Size” Error

Jun 3

Real Estate

If you are like me, you love Wordpress for it’s extendability. Through the use of plugins, new features and functionality can be easily added. Because of this, Wordpress is one of the best platforms to build a real estate agent website on.

While plugins can be a blessing, they also can cause problems with a website. This can come in the way of slow website performance or error messages.

One common error message experienced by those getting a bit “plugin happy” (activating a lot of plugins on a single Wordpress installation) is that of the “Fatal Error: Allowed memory size…” error.

This error message is a result of Wordpress exceeding it’s predetermined memory limit. Activating several large, high-functionality plugins can easily cause this problem.

Luckily, there is an easy fix.

Wordpress sets its memory limits within the wp-settings.php file. All that has to be done is change the memory limit from “32M” to “64M”.

Here are the step by step instructions:

Open wp-settings.php in your favorite code editor. This file is in the root directory of your Wordpress installation
Go to line #13 of wp-settings.php and locate ‘32M’
Change the “32″ to “64″
Save the file and FTP it to your server

Once this is complete, you should have no problems activating those large plugins. Keep in mind that too many plugins can negatively affect website performance, so choose your plugins wisely and only add those that add value to the visitor experience.

For assistance with this or any other Wordpress website related issue or need, contact MyTechOpinion and our MTO Sites design team.

TheClozing: The Real Estate News Aggregator

Jun 2

Real Estate

I remember just 3 or 4 years ago I could count all of my favorite blogs on one hand. It was easy to keep up with all the useful content. But obviously with the growing popularity of blogs and other online content all that’s changed. While this evolution took place, many of us turned to websites that aggregate useful information like TechMeme. Although if you find yourself in the real estate niche you’ve noticed that we’re often forgotten, so that mainstream content can take center stage. That is, until I ran into www.theclozing.com

TheClozing is based off the TechMeme format, but is classified as a real estate and business news aggregator. This is done by gathering and organizing real estate news from major U.S. newspapers, magazines and publications with related articles from the social media world. That’s where the real value comes in. Viewers can read the mainstream stories, and then review related blogs for the back-story. The site refreshes every hour, to provide new content.

You’ll notice high to the right side, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is a top-level sponsor. By sponsoring, they get their most recent post highlighted. TheClozing still has room for additional sponsors, if you’re interested visit the about page for more info.

All in all, I like what Joe Ferrara (aka J.F. Sellsius) and Anthony Barba have done with the site. They’ve created an easy to read interface that links out to original posts. You can bet I’ll be following this news source closely.

Where is Your Real Estate Market Going? Cyberhomes Market Forecast Can Help!

Jun 1

Real Estate

Market Forecast Report by Cyberhomes.com How well can you predict what’s going to happen in your real estate market? Being a real estate professional, you probably get asked this very question almost daily. And your expertise and experience assist you greatly in answering with authority and credibility. But what if you had access to over 40 million loans, in conjunction with 100 million property, ownership, and sales records nationwide? Well, then you would be Cyberhomes Market Forecast!

You don’t really require all that data to forecast where your local market is going. But now you do have access to the crucial data that affects and shapes where your real estate market is headed.

Cyberhomes Real Estate Market Forecast, the first report that gives you a comprehensive tool to help predict future real estate trends in a local market by analyzing key information – including credit information, loan repayment data, delinquencies and foreclosures.

Market Forecast is available for millions of properties and thousands of neighborhoods around the United States. Anyone can simply search for a property address or neighborhood on the Cyberhomes Web site, and Cyberhomes will show them whether their market is expected to increase in value, decline in value or remain neutral over the next year, based on the data used.

This type of predictory report can help YOU (the real estate pro) by providing you with information about bank discount rates, loan performance over time, and future inventory. It can also help you to better assist your clients, as well as guide you in making crucial business decisions.

To get started, visit Cyberhomes and enter the property address that you’d like a Market Forecast for. There are 2 types of Market Forecast Reports available:

(1) Summary Report for a special introductory price of only $3.99, and includes:

Overview of the local market direction
Historical and future projections of distressed, foreclosure and REO properties in the area
Estimated change in value for the neighborhood and the subject property over 12 months
Detailed loan and assessment information, including assessor market value, the loan-to-value ratio, tax delinquency status and more

(2) Full Report for those seeking professional-level, rich analysis, a full-scale report showing all of the details will be available for an introductory price of $9.99, and includes:

A 24-month value forecast
Local foreclosure trends and timelines
Mortgage delinquency and loan deterioration trends
Historical median sales price vs. volume trends
Neighborhood lending and sales statistics
Average area credit scores
Local percentages of distressed homes compared to state and national levels
Average local discounts on bank-owned properties
Risk from exotic loan types in the neighborhood and more

For more information about this report, Marty Frame provides an overview in this video tutorial.

Why TweetLister, When You Can Just Twitter

May 21

Real Estate

What is TweetLister?

TweetLister is a new Twitter tool specifically created for real estate agents. Signing up for the free service allows you to post, schedule and manage real estate listings on Twitter. Track clicks received on your listings, as well as collect and download contacts you get through those listings (available via an Excel Report).

While I see the benefit of scheduling resourceful tweets to share with your network (aka “drip tweets”) throughout the day, I don’t recognize the benefit of ONLY twittering your listings. As a real estate professional on Twitter, your goal should be to become your network’s trusted advisor. This means you should be sharing what makes you a great source of related information. Yes, listing information is important to your local network (for those planning to transact now or in the near future). But what about the vast majority who are not transacting. Surely you want to maintain your connections and provide resourceful and local information so that when those in the majority are ready to transact, they call you!

Why TweetLister needs a NEW attitude…ooh, ooh…ooh, ooh…ooh?

TweetLister mentions that you don’t need to understand Twitter to use their site. In fact, the “about page” goes on to profess that there’s really no need to go back to your Twitter Profile, just use TweetLister. Contrary to TweetLister, this is NOT “good news” to you or me!

If you are just using Tweetlister to ONLY post listings then you don’t really understand why and how Twitter benefits you and your network. You are missing the point!

According to TweetLister, it is ONLY for real estate listings and spammers will be blocked. Hmmm, the very nature by which listings are shared on TweetLister seems pretty spammy to me! For example, the “Add New Listing” form only allows for select information about the property (location, bedrooms, baths, features, etc.). See below:

You cannot change or modify the listing information provided within the tweet. The automated portion is helpful and fast, but there’s no room for customization. My suggestion would be to make the text modifiable. As RE pros, you know how important verbiage is on your listing flyers…and with only 140 characters, you need to make them count! I would also be extremely beneficial to have the ability to share various media….pictures, video, blog, single property site, etc.

MyTechOpinion

The way I see it, you could just as easily create your own “tweetlisting” directly from your Twitter.com profile (or Tweetdeck, Twhirl, Tweetlater, Twuffer, etc.), and do so in a more creative and professional way. At least then you can have complete control over what you can do with those 140 characters. You can simply add links to whatever related media (virtual tour, images, interesting info, etc) you have for that property. Better yet, you could share something special about the neighborhood, helpful maps, and/or other local specifics….and then provide a trackable link (like BudURL) to your listing site or blog. Include your own hashtag and call it a tweet! That’s MyTechOpinion, but feel free to share yours!

Next-Gen iPhone Details Revealed?

May 20

Real Estate

Today when I checked my reader I was excited to see rumored details of the next-gen iPhone from the Wired Gadget Lab. The article claims the latest iPhone will be released on July 17th and will include many hot upgrades, such as:

* 32GB and 16GB storage ($199 and $299 price points to be maintained)
* 3.2-megapixel camera (up from the current 2-megapixel camera)
* Video-recording and editing capabilities
* Ability to send a picture & video via MMS
* OLED screen
* 1.5 times the battery life of the current models
* Double the RAM and processing power
* Built-in FM transmitter
* Apple logo on back will glow
* Rubber-tread backing
* Sleeker design
* Built-in compass
* Turn-by-turn directions

It’s easy to see how these new features are great for iPhone users, but how will they affect the average real estate agent? Many non-iPhone users will argue features like mobile video and MMS have been on other mobile devices for some time now. But the reality is that other devices are missing the slick yet extremely powerful interface of the iPhone combined with the flourishing iTunes app store.

Now video to the iPhone is not revolutionary. Obviously people have been jailbreaking their iPhones for some time now to setup services like QIK to stream video from their iPhone. But as I said, they had to jailbreak the phone which is not sanctioned by Apple and equates to hacking the device. Now, if this news is correct, all new iPhone owners will be able to capture and share video using the device they’re already using for leading social networking applications, GPS, mobile email, internet activities, etc.

My mind starts racing at all the possibilities for real estate professionals. Imagine harnessing the power of a lifestream to aggregate all your shared video, pictures, and content shared from this one device. (See my lifestream here.) Let me give you an example, you drive to your first appointment of the day and you arrive a few minutes early. You realize the sunrise is exceptionally beautiful so you take a few minutes of video highlighting the entrance to the neighborhood and sports park. You tag and share the video. Now it’s immediately available for your network to see and archived on your blog/website via the lifestream. Later the same morning you learn of a new downtown project that will be affecting local homeowners so you break out the iPhone and open your favorite Twitter application and share the news. That too, has been broadcast to your network and archived on you lifestream. I think you get my point!

A Real Estate Presentation in the Palm of Your Hand

May 9

Real Estate

Real estate agents are some of the most mobile professionals on Earth. Always on the go from house to house and appointment to appointment.

This mobility has led to an army of real estate agents carrying small laptops. These lightweight devices are wonderful, until you need to present to a client.

Having 2 or 3 people huddled around a 13″ screen to view a listing presentation or homes for sale can be difficult, especially if anyone has a personal space issue. Even the best of presentations will lose some effectiveness given in this uncomfortable manner.

Thankfully, new technology has arrived to make you a mobile real estate titan.

The development of LED lighting technology has ushered in a new class of projector, the “mini-projector”. These tiny devices fit in the palm of your hand and weigh mere ounces. Unlike traditional projectors, LED lit models require no warm-up time and can last for over 10,000 hours.

Connectivity options for mini-projectors can include iPhone and iPod adapters. Can you imagine the impact of a client telling their friends, “My real estate agent pulled out his iPhone and a tiny projector from a pant pocket and showed me a short movie on why I should hire him”? Talk about a way to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Now, these projectors won’t win awards for picture quality. Due to their small size, you will need a fairly dark room and some distortion should be expected. But a 60 inch image out of device the size of a smart phone deserves a bit of slack on picture quality.

Here are a few mini-projectors to consider. They vary in size, price, connectivity options and functionality, so no one projector is best for every real estate agent.

Dell M109S – One of the largest mini-projectors at nearly 1 pound, the Dell M109S is also the most like a traditional projector in form, connectivity and performance.
3M MPro110 – This tiny, battery-operated projector is truly a go anywhere mobile device.
Optoma PK101 (Pico Pocket Projector) – The optional iPod adapter makes this mini-projector a must consider for the real estate agent addicted to their iPhone or iPod Touch.

For an investment of around $400, a mini-projector just may be what your mobile real estate presentation is missing.

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