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Digital Real Estate Marketing

Let’s take a look at the steps involved.

Step 1: Driving Traffic-

You’ll need to create compelling, multimedia marketing campaigns and get them out to your target market. Through customized Social Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Videos, QR codes as well as other offline efforts, you’ll maximize the number of people exposed to your message so they can see why your services are so amazing!

Step 2: Presentation-

Once the traffic is generated you’ll then communicate the key features and benefits you have to offer. You’ll want to develop a unique selling proposition, then create an engaging multimedia website. One that has video with animation, narration, and music. The entire site should engage the prospect and encourage them to take the next step in your sales process.

Step 3: Capture & Track Results-

Once you captivate your prospect, encourage them to complete an online survey, request a newsletter, or request information to gather data and email addresses for future marketing. Website traffic can be tracked in real time giving you immediate notice of activity for follow up and feedback in order to make adjustments to the site or strategy.

Step 4: Conversion-

Having captured your now, qualified – prospect’s name and email address, it’s time to engage them on a personal basis, using branded sales materials, webinar creation, and on-going communication tools. It’s not only about marketing… it’s about generating closings.

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Appraiser Independence?

Federal Reserve Proposal Comment regarding Docket No. R-1394 and RIN No. AD-7100-56:

Post your own comments to the Fed:  http://bit.ly/fJ3lkW

Just because someone has an appraiser’s license does not mean they are knowledgeable, ethical or moral nor good at what they do.  Therefore, the “judgments” of these people are not infallible and Appraisal Management Companies (AMC) seem to just be another revenue stream for the Big Banks and provide no benefit to the consumer whatsoever.

Since the implementation of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) and the “forced” use of AMCs, I have seen more errors in appraisal reports than ever before.

Some examples include:  Omitting an entire bedroom (making a 3 bedroom SFR into a 2 bedroom) from the report and their sketches even though county records and the home itself clearly showed 3 bedrooms.  On several occasions I have seen appraisers using comparable home sales from bisecting neighborhoods that should not be used to determine a home’s value, in most cases, deflating the subject home’s value AND consequently deflating that property’s adjacent home values for all of its neighbors.

I have seen AMCs send an appraiser who lives in Sedona, AZ to do an appraisal in Mesa, AZ (about 150 miles apart).  They might as well have sent him from another state like Oklahoma to Arizona; it would provide the same poor results.  And in about 80% of all reports that I have seen there are poor comps in the report, incomplete reporting and even multiple spelling errors that forces underwriters to condition for clarification or additional comments on their loan approvals which have led to unnecessary increases in closing times, lost revenue and increased stress for the consumer.

But even in those examples listed above, appraisers still got paid for their shoddy work which in some cases derailed the hard work that was provided in good faith by the real estate agent and the loan originator.  All this does is ultimately hurt the consumer with artificially lower home values (in many cases), increased stress and anxiety, in addition to forcing the consumer to pay (30% more than in 2009) for poor service.  (Appraisals went immediately from $350 to $450, $650 with a rent schedule, in 2009 when HVCC was implemented.)  The appraiser MUST be held accountable to the consumer who is paying for the report!

Local business people and residents know who the good businesses and bad businesses are in their local area and that includes appraisers.  The Federal Reserve, Fannie & Freddie, Big Banks located thousands of miles away have no realistic expectation as to what is a good or a bad appraisal or who is giving good or poor service.  It is those people on the ground (real estate agents, loan originators and local, reputable appraisers) and in the field who know what the expectations should be and it has always been that way.

Homeowners must be allowed to say, “I do not want that person to appraise my home.”  You must see the unfairness of forcing a homeowner to pay a vendor that they have had problems with in the past.  HVCC gives appraisers too much power once an appraisal has been assigned to them and with no accountability.  They are paid regardless of the accuracy or competency of the report and that is just wrong.

The only people who truly know that the appraisals might be flawed (the mortgage originator who interviewed the homeowner, the real estate agents and the homeowners themselves) are the very people who are prohibited from talking to the appraiser.  Does that make any sense?

You must understand that for low to moderate income homeowners, an appraisal fee of $450-750 (the standard fee range since HVCC was adopted) can easily represent 25 percent or more of their monthly income.  That is a lot of money to spend on a gamble with no accountability.

Prior to HVCC, my conversations with appraisers about value prior to completion of the report were not intended to coerce a higher than fair value but they were to determine if we should proceed from the standpoint of consumer protection.

For example, let’s say I have a consumer with low to moderate income (that’s 90% of my book of business) wanted to refinance their primary residence.  If they owe $100k, in order to successfully refinance, they would need an appraisal that shows that they have a certain amount of equity right?  Prior to HVCC, if my appraiser advised me that the homes in that consumer’s neighborhood were selling in the $90k range, then I could advise my client not to waste their $450 on an appraisal.

Ethical appraisers and originators liked this because ethical appraisers and originators don’t want to see a consumer pay for a product that does not benefit them.  Now, HVCC forces the consumer to lose $450 to find out that they cannot refinance.

The large majorities of mortgage brokers doing business in their communities have been and still are ethical, honest and upfront people.  Like any business, if consumers receive poor or unethical service, word gets out and that business eventually goes away.  It’s called a “free market”.  It has worked great for centuries…

“Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it.” - Milton Friedman

A free enterprise system is the fastest way to put a bad company out of business, NOT government interaction.  All that government interaction has done is made things worse for the consumer.  It has not protected them and has directly increased costs in the form of over-priced appraisals, extended closing times with daily late fees and lock extension fees in some cases.  HVCC was unnecessary for those of us who never used our positions to coerce, bribe or threaten an appraiser.  More importantly, those actions are illegal and immoral already and were committed by a very small number of originators and we didn’t need HVCC to tell us that.  As a matter of fact, if the current laws that we had on the books prior to 2005 were simply enforced, then there would not be this need for legislators to create more new and complicated legislation that ultimately hurts those people they intend to protect!

“One of the great mistakes is to judge [government] policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” – Milton Friedman

But what HVCC has done is severely increased costs to the consumer (the average increase is about 30%) while simultaneously very much lowered the bar for appraisal reporting.  How is this benefiting the consumer? I have no idea.  Mostly, it seems to be benefiting the bottom lines of those investors (many of them Big Banks) who now wholly or partially own the AMCs that are supposed to be helping the consumer but instead continue to hurt the consumer at every turn.

With the recent discussions about eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction and compile that with declining home values, in part due to shoddy appraisals derived from the inception of HVCC, our government is taking away the last two financial incentives to own a home in this country, appreciation and tax deduction.

This then begs the question, “Is it truly the government and the Federal Reserve’s intention to really protect the consumer?”

Here are some points for the Federal Reserve to consider before ruling:

Ø  Reasonable and customary fees should be based on appraisal fees PRIOR to the implementation of HVCC.  AMCs add about $175-200 per file leaving the appraiser a reduced income.  If the appraiser should normally get $350 per appraisal then the AMC adds a markup it should increase the burden to the consumer and NOT reduce the appraiser’s income.  This is how competition is reduced to just the appraisers willing to work for less but not give a better report.

Ø  Total fee for the appraisal report should be separated on the final HUD-1 as a fee paid to the appraiser and a separate fee paid to the AMC.  Since the AMC did not create the appraisal report, they should not be listed on the HUD as “appraisal fee”.  It should be clear to the consumer that the AMC fee is a pure markup fee.

Ø  AMCs should not be allowed to “review” an appraisal unless that “reviewer” is a certified licensed appraiser with a minimum of 2 years experience.

Ø  AMCs MUST be whole and separate entities.  The AMC should not be allowed to be owned wholly, partially or in any manner (subsidiary, affiliated business partner, etc) by any financial institution, bank, credit union, etc.

Ø  Appraisers need a contact and a secure site for reporting violations of appraisal independence against AMCs, banks, mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, real estate agents, lawyers, etc.

Ø  Appraisal reports ordered in compliance with Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) guidelines should be portable and accepted by ALL lenders, banks and secondary markets including Freddie and Fannie.  If the USPAP guidelines are followed and a second lending institution requests another appraisal report, the cost of that appraisal should be at that lender’s expense.  That expense should NOT be taken from the loan originator’s income NOR charged to the consumer.

Ø  Appraisers are currently not “graded” or “tracked” by revision requests from an AMC.  Most revision requests should be tracked and graded to those appraisers that seem to be providing inferior reports.  This “grading” system needs to be publically accessible by the consumer and vendors alike.  Typical revision requests have been for using poor comps from bisecting neighborhoods that are not representative of the subject property’s value, misspelled words, fields with more than 50 characters (if more than 50 then the rest is cut off from the report), UW requesting clarification or comment, no aerial photos of the property or a change in contract price after the report has been completed.

Ø  There is absolutely NO NEED for a geographical market area for each AMC.  Fair competition is always better for the consumer.

Ø  Stop blaming the Mortgage Broker for the financial meltdown. We did not create the risky loans you keep pinning on us.

Ø  Why is the Mortgage Broker the only industry that has to disclose our income?  Banks, mortgage bankers and credit unions should have to disclose their Service Release Premium and their total income as well.  Why the double standard?  All that does is provide less transparency which is always bad for the consumer.

Ø  ALL Mortgage Loan Originators MUST undergo the same testing and compliance measures as loan originators that work for Mortgage Brokers.  Each individual loan originator at a mortgage broker’s office has to pass a state and national licensing test, complete an FBI background check, national fingerprint recording, 24 hours of pre-licensing education and 8 hours of continuing education annually.  Not to mention all of the new fees and classes to pay for (I spent over $1400 this year to get my license).  If I have to do it, why shouldn’t bank and credit union employees who originate mortgages have to do it?  Isn’t that what’s best for the consumer?

Please feel free to contact me directly for conversation regarding these issues.

Post your own comments to the Fed:  http://bit.ly/fJ3lkW

Spencer Anglin – Licensed Mortgage Loan Originator
Velocity Financial, LLC | NMLS# 226533
O: 480.287.5719 | C: 602.705.6293 | F: 1.866.589.5742

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A Look At Keynesian Economics

For those of you not familiar with Keynesian economics or what a licensed mortgage loan originator does with their “free time”, then this is for you.  In short, licensed mortgage professionals find ourselves studying economic news and essentially becoming economists in order to try and determine the best time to lock a loan.  As a result, some of us will develop a professional political-economic opinion based on the historical data.  By the way, it is Keynesian economics has been the driving force behind of all of these government bailouts and takeovers of private sector markets.

Many of you may have heard the term “Keynesian economics” in the past but it is now a phrase that is synonymous with the economic policies of the past 20 months.  Look at the way things are right now in our economy and this is what you get when you try to impose that kind of economic policy in a very global market.   In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, this information is somewhat accurate:  Wikipedia: Keynesian Economics

“One of the great mistakes is to judge [government] policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” – Milton Friedman

Keynesian policies failed during the Great Depression, and they are failing today, only to a much larger degree.  This economic catastrophe has been caused by very loose monetary policies, crushing levels of debt, and appalling lending practices.  It simply cannot be solved by looser monetary policies, issuance of twice as much debt, and government commanding banks (or, in the case of Fannie and Freddie, “commandeering”) to make more bad loans.

For those who don’t remember, The Great Depression was caused by Federal Reserve expansion of the money supply in the 1920s that led to an unsustainable credit-driven boom.  When the Federal Reserve belatedly tightened in 1928, it was too late to avoid financial collapse.  According to Murray Rothbard, in his book America’s Great Depression, the artificial interference in the economy was a disaster prior to the depression, and government efforts to prop up the economy after the crash of 1929 only made things worse. Government intervention delayed the market’s adjustment and made the road to complete recovery much more difficult.  Have our elected officials simply ignored history?

The parallels with today are uncanny.  Alan Greenspan expanded the money supply after the dot-com bust, dropped interest rates to 1%, encouraged a credit-driven boom, and created a gigantic housing bubble.  By the time the Fed realized they had created a bubble, it was too late.  The government response to the 2008 financial collapse has been to expand the money supply, reduce interest rates to 0%, borrow and spend $850 billion on useless and supposedly “shovel-ready” pork projects, encourage spending by consumers on cars and appliances, and artificially prop up housing through tax credits and anti-foreclosure programs.  The National Debt has been driven higher by $2.7 trillion in the last 18 months because of these actions.

The government has sustained insolvent Wall Street banks with $700 billion of taxpayer funds and continues to waste taxpayer money on dreadfully run companies like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, General Motors, and Chrysler.  The government is prolonging the agony by not allowing the real economy to bottom and begin a sound recovery based on savings, investment, and sustainable fiscal policies. President Obama continues to scorn business by creating more burdensome health care, financial, and energy regulations.  Andrew Cuomo did his part by creating HVCC in an effort to save some of his friends in the name of “protecting the consumer”.  That little piece of legislation has cost consumers several millions of dollars in increased appraisal costs and maybe even into the billions when you look at reduced values because of the shoddy appraisals HVCC has helped to produce, but I digress.

I think the message here is there is that the government cannot “create or save jobs” or “lower unemployment” and the government cannot “fix” our housing problem or the economy no matter what John Maynard Keynes and his followers believe.  The proof is in the pudding, so to speak.  In fact, the more that the government interferes with the free market, the worse off we’re all are going to be as evidenced by the events of the past 90 years.  In this excerpt, Niall Ferguson talks about the direct effect of existing failed Keynesian policies in a globalized world:

Globalization has not broken down. In fact the US economy is more open than it has ever been. That means that stimulus; both monetary and fiscal is very prone to what is called leakage. We’ve had an enormous [amount] of stimulus in the US, it’s the biggest fiscal stimulus in the world, and huge unprecedented monetary stimulus. What’s been stimulated? Not jobs in Michigan. What’s been stimulated has been commodity markets and emerging markets because the liquidity just leaks out.  And that’s why another round of stimulus would not stimulate in the promised way. It would stimulate the wrong things. And those things, commodity markets and emerging markets, are already over-stimulated to the point of being nearly bubbles.

VIDEO:  Niall Ferguson on the Pitfalls of Keynesian Economics

VIDEO:  Friedrich Hayek on John Keynes

VIDEO:  Hayek on Keynes (1977)

VIDEO:  Milton Friedman Remembers Hayek

So simple, yet so incomprehensible by the cadre of false Keynesian prophets (most of the Democratic liberal base including President Obama) who will never admit to this most elegant of realizations. It also means that America can expect more such farces as double stimulus road signs, and oil back at $140 a barrel (or much higher) before even another job is created out of all the excess money sloshing around.  Remember when gas was almost $5.00 a gallon for no good reason at all?

“So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear.  That there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.” – Milton Friedman

So when you head to the polls this November 2nd, please try to look for those politicians that believe in the free market and vote for them.  Moreover, look at those candidates that actually have private sector experience at “running” things…like a business.  History will show that those candidates tend to make much better macroeconomic public policy decisions.

VIDEO:  Milton Friedman on Liberty and Equality

VIDEO: Milton Friedman on Capitalism and Greed

To truly learn more about Capitalism and the free markets, be sure to read Milton Friedman’s book, “Free to Choose” or watch the DVD series of the same name.

Both can be purchased here:   www.FreeToChoose.com

Just for agents:  www.AZRealtorAdvantage.com

A cute little reminder of why consumers should work with licensed mortgage professionals:   Bank Loan Officer vs. Mortgage Professional

Follow me on:  Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn

Spencer Anglin.com | NMLS# 226533
Velocity Financial, LLC | Office Map | Phoenix Homeowner’s PIT Stop Blog
O: 480.287.5719 | C: 602.705.6293 | F: 1.866.589.5742
Click here for the HUD Cost Settlement Booklet

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Restore Housing Petition – Please Sign

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Very Important Update Regarding FHA Financing

Here is the latest information on FHA Mortgage Insurance increases:

FHA publishes MIP changes ( http://bit.ly/acon4I )

Main points:

• • Effective for case numbers assigned on or after October 4^th, the new MIP structure will be implemented.
  • Upfront premium will be 1% for all forward mortgages (purchases and refinances including streamlines)
  • Annual premium
    • Over 15 year terms
      • 90 bps for LTVs over 95%
      • 85 bps for LTVs of 95% or less
    • 15 year term or less
      • 25 bps for above 90% LTV
      • No annual premium for 90% LTV or less

So what does this mean for you and your clients?

On a $200k loan amount at today’s annual FHA MI rate is $91.67 per month in mortgage insurance (MI).

On a $200k loan amount at the new annual rate is $150.00 per month, an increase of $58.33 per month.

On the surface, a reduction in the upfront MI sounds like a nice trade off for the increased annual mortgage insurance right?  Well…let’s take a look at that.  On a $200k loan amount that reduces the upfront MI by $2,000 that was rolled into the loan so it reduces the P&I payment by about $6.00 per month.  Sounds good so far right?

But with the increased annual MI the overall PITI payment goes up by more than $52.00 per month.  Over the next 10 years, before that MI drops off on it’s own, the buyer will pay over $6,000 in additional annual mortgage insurance premiums.

Since mortgage insurance is a pure finance charge that directly increases the APR, it essentially and very directly increases the cost of financing to your buyers.  Not to mention the increase in the debt to income ratio which could have some clients looking for a less expensive house or simply not qualifying to buy.

This basically makes the cost of FHA financing for the buyer more than $4,000 higher in the first ten years.  And if that isn’t a new tax, I don’t know what is.

This change is set to take place for FHA case numbers assigned on or after October 4th, 2010.  October 4th is a Monday.  Make sure your case number is assigned by Friday October 1st, 2010 to avoid the increase.

Please feel free to call me with any questions.  If you find this information to be a great reason to contact your database, I always appreciate your referrals.

Spencer Anglin.com | NMLS# 226533
Velocity Financial, LLC | Office Map | Phoenix Homeowner’s PIT Stop Blog
O: 480.287.5719 | C: 602.705.6293 | F: 1.866.589.5742
Click here for the HUD Cost Settlement Booklet

Watch The Video – Milton Friedman:  Liberty and Equality?

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Wouldn’t you do your taxes with a CPA if it was the same price as Turbo Tax?

Is YOUR loan originator licensed?  Find out here:
NMLS License LookupI am sure you have heard about this by now, but if you have not let me share again.

Effective July 1, 2010 all Mortgage Bankers and Mortgage Brokers in the State of Arizona were required to have their loan originators licensed.

Now based on an exemption in the laws the big Interstate Chartered Banks do not require their loan originator working for a big bank such as Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America to be licensed.

This is because, compared to the mortgage brokers, the chartered banks have lots more money to spend on lobbyists that get Congress to write laws in their favor.  This has happened for decades.  Banks do not like mortgage brokers because mortgage brokers give consumers more choices and creates more competition.  Which we all know is much, much better for the consumer.

Now I am not trying to make this into a David versus Goliath story, but I am trying to emphasize the huge differences and implications this change will have on the consumer.

Here is a chart to show the differences:

SAFE ACT AZ LO’s Chartered Bank LO’s Licensed Yes No FBI Background Yes No Fingerprinted Yes No Assurity Bonded Yes No 20 hours upfront education Yes No 8 hours continuing education Yes No Credit checked Yes No Fed and state testing Yes No Complaint mechanism w/ DFI Yes No Licensing  fees and renewals Yes No

So I think the choice is clear.  The funny part is the cost for the service based on rates and fees are about the same.  The best analogy I can use is having a choice of working with a CPA vs. Turbo Tax but paying the same price.

Spencer Anglin.com | NMLS# 226533
Velocity Financial, LLC | Office Map | “Whatever it takes…and then some.”
O: 480.287.5719 | C: 602.705.6293 | F: 1.866.589.5742

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HUD Comment Period: “Required Use” Affiliated Business Arrangements

<<< Call To Action >>>

Please take some time to comment to HUD during the comment period on “Required Use”.  I would also recommend reading this extremely informative blog from Bob Willett of Sacramento, CA: http://sacrelender.com/?cat=41

From National Association of Independent Housing Professionals (NAIHP):

Affiliated Business Arrangements:

“As many of you know, RESPA Reform originally contained a provision prohibiting the “required use” of specific settlement service providers, where discounts and/or incentives were offered. HUD was forced to withdraw that provision last year, after the National Association of Home Builders filed suit in objection.

HUD is again exploring language to clarify “required use” and is asking for your comments.

To be perfectly clear, NAIHP is NOT opposed to Affiliated Business Arrangements. Our concerns pertain to consumers forced to use certain settlement service providers, as a condition of receiving discounts and/or incentives. Research has shown these discounts and incentives are frequently made up elsewhere in the transaction, often by higher interest rates and closing costs.

Please click on the link below and give HUD your comments. If you have personally witnessed harm to consumers, please give them this information. You can upload supporting document attachments.

We support consumer incentives and discounts, PROVIDED consumers are NOT required to use specific mortgage companies, title companies, or any other settlement service providers to obtain them. One stop shops often eliminate competition and provide no benefit to consumers.”

You can comment by clicking here to comment:  CLICK HERE

Here is what I wrote to HUD if you are looking for talking points:

“Required Use” Clarification –

My concerns pertain to consumers forced to use certain settlement service providers, as a condition of receiving discounts and/or incentives. Research has shown these discounts and incentives are frequently made up elsewhere in the transaction, often by higher interest rates and closing costs.  Furthermore, this hinders competition which, in turn, leads to a reduction in consumer choice which ultimately leads to increased costs for the consumer.  One only needs to see the increased costs of appraisals due to the implementation of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) to see how lack of consumer choice increases costs and provides no benefit to the consumer.

In addition, if a home builder has “required use” for a lender that is a bank (IE: Wells Fargo, BofA, etc) then they are under even less scrutiny to provide transparency because the lending institution is not required to disclose the service release premium (SRP) to the consumer.  SRP is exactly the same thing as yield spread premium (YSP) which is credited to the consumer on broker transactions.  This is even more detrimental in providing accurate information and choices to the consumer.

Basically, if “Joe Schmo” seller trying to sell his home in the resale market cannot do it, why should a builder, bank (REO homes) or any other seller be allowed to dictate through “required use” incentives where any buyer receives their services?

This leveling of the playing field needs to happen on the services and lending side in order for consumers to get a truly fair deal from lenders and other service providers.  Providing consumer choice is the only way to truly protect the consumer.

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Price Reduction? Maybe…

This blog is brought to you in part by:  www.AZRealtorAdvantage.com

This particular blog post is directed at real estate agents but I’m sure that anyone, including sellers, can see the logic!  And…I think we can all agree that 90% of marketing a piece of real estate in today’s housing market is coming on the market with a good, competitive price.  Therefore is it crucial for real estate agents to have a plan, up front, for making price reductions with their sellers.

With that in mind…

Have a “pricing reduction” system in place and explain it to your sellers up front.  Many sellers want to “test” the market and not start out so low with their home’s price and that’s fine but most likely that is not the price that will get the home sold.  So have a system in place.  IE: If you have 10-15 showings in a 3 month period and no offers, it’s probably over-priced.  Figure out your own system and implement it with your clients.  Be sure to even bring your listing modification form with you on your first appointment letting the seller know, up front, that you expect that there will be a price reduction in this housing market.

Set up clients with  an email search of their neighborhood.  Knowledge is power.  Agents, keep your sellers educated with detailed information from their neighborhood or subdivision.  Sellers will typically be able to understand the realities of their own market.  It’s easy!  Just use MLS!

Show them Internet traffic! If you are not posting your listings online with at least 3 or more real estate search engines like Trulia, Zillow, or Realtor.com then you are missing a large audience of technically savvy buyers.  90 percent of all home searches now begin online.  Provide clients with weekly reports to let them know that their home is being “seen” even when they’re not being seen.  In addition to using property search engines, use social networking sites to your advantage!  Post your listing to Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Keep your sellers motivated by keeping them on the buy side.  Sellers are going to be buyers, most likely, and a smart agent will already have set up an email drip of MLS listings that match the sellers buying criteria for their next home.  When sellers find something they like they can become much more motivated to sell their own home sooner.

Give ‘em what they want! Most clients truly appreciate open houses, they really do.  They will know that you’re working for them that day.  Sellers will be much more willing to adjust their prices when they know you are working hard for them.

Once you had made sure that you are the local real estate expert for the neighborhoods you market in, let the seller ask for the price reduction. Use a “passive aggressive” approach to sales.  Agents, you want your clients asking you to reduce the price.  Act as an adviser.  Provide them the raw data like the MLS neighborhood/subdivision information, the online traffic is good but the showings are low, feedback from those who have seen the home (feedback forms).  Most sellers will see the writing on the wall and realize that a price reduction might be the key to receiving an offer!

One of the best ways to incorporate online marketing into your overall marketing strategy is have a single property website.  Since 90% of new buyers are looking online, they want to see LOTS of information and pictures before stepping foot into a hot car to drive out and see a home.  A smart single property website can automatically feed property info to the major search engines, provide for unlimited media options like being able to show hundreds of pictures, virtual tour, a actual walk through video tour of the home, a panoramic tour and show city demographics & local schools as well as aerial views of the neighborhood.  Buyers want to know these things.  Pictures are worth thousands of words.  Make it easy for potential buyers to have the information all in one place!  This is the kind of stuff that might make price less of a driving factor for buyers.

Drive traffic to your single property website using print ads with the URL and text code or hanging a sign rider with that same info.  Include that URL info in your blogs and on your websites.  When anyone sees a new product on the market (or in this case a home’s website address or URL) they want to learn more about it before they invest any time to go and see it in person.  Give them that information through a dedicated website that only features one property.  Load the website up with as many pictures, videos and documents (positive inspection reports, completed appraisal supporting the homes listing price, etc) and when prospective buyers land on your listing’s website and sees ALL of that info, they are much more likely to find a picture, document or statistic about the home that makes them want to come out and see it.  We live in a Google age.  You can either embrace that and be successful or wither away…trust me on this.  Then you should post the property’s website URL into your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, any social networking site and get some real traffic into the home!  If you still aren’t seeing offers after doing this much work marketing, then a price reduction is probably in order.

Post your own thoughts about pricing on your own blog or website and share that info.  Sellers will read it and they could easily turn into your clients!

I hope some of these tips work for you as well as they have worked for countless agents I work with that seem to get fantastic results from implementing these concepts.

Want more information about single property websites at no charge?

Check out www.AZRealtorAdvantage.com and watch the video.

Regards,

Spencer Anglin