MRED Blog

REinventing MLS

Builders reveal hidden costs of buying foreclosed homes

Leave a comment Posted by on February 21, 2012

By:  Tara Steele/AG Beat

 

 

The builders’ challenge

Despite builder sentiment rising for the last five months, new home construction remains one of the hardest hit sectors in the housing industry as lending remains tight and a glut of foreclosure is dragging down prices nationally and reducing the chance of healthy margins. The large inventory of distressed sales has been problematic for builders since the crash, and the battle has been waged by builders to educate consumers on the differences between buying a new home versus a distressed home.

Arizona builder, Fulton Homes is marketing their new Foreclosure Calculator that offers detailed cost comparisons between a new home purchase and the purchase of a foreclosed home, taking into account condition, size, repair estimates, size and other factors.

A 50% cost increase?

As an example, a 1,755 foreclosure home in Arizona listed for $81,500 in “Poor” condition that has outstanding liens but no current occupants will cost an average of $42,908 cash investment in the form of repairs, appliances, painting and the like, making the total investment $124,408.

Some consumers believe that the $81,500 price tag is their cost, but when buying a distressed home, it is often much more. With the attention turning to the deals to be found with foreclosed homes, builders like Fulton are launching a full out attack to promote the idea that new homes can be less expensive in the long run and you know what you are getting.

After each cost comparison, Fulton offers homes in the same price range that require no work or additional investment, showing slick photos of community amenities and clean floorplans.

The inventory of foreclosure homes will increase in 2012 as the backlog begins clearing after the robosigning scandal and lawsuits are settled, and new home builders have to be more out front like Fulton Homes if they want consumers to choose their product over what appears to be a less expensive option.

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Walk Score!

Leave a comment Posted by on February 16, 2012

Click HERE to see what others are blogging about MRED’s newest service!

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Everything you wanted to know about 2012’s Hottest Startup

Leave a comment Posted by on February 15, 2012

Real estate professionals need to be where everybody else is going.  So click HERE to view this “must see” Infographic about how hot a startup Pinterest is . . .

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Seeing Through The Haze

Leave a comment Posted by on February 13, 2012

Everybody is talking about listing syndication and the future of IDX.  Read about MRED and CEO Russ Bergeron’s thoughts in Kevin McQueen’s blog.

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The Top 5 Tech Trends to Watch in 2012 for Real Estate

2 Comments Posted by on February 9, 2012
The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year offered some great insight into technology. Companies are constantly trying to develop new technologies that can make our business operate more efficiently while hopefully making our lives easier. These “Hot” new items can be used for Realtors as well. Here are the Top 5 Tech Trends I have noticed and that you should watch for in 2012, and how to utilize them as an agent.
 
1. The Rise of the Ultrabooks: The Macbook Air is one of the hottest laptops on the market today. While Apple laptops are up nearly 20% in sales for the year, the rest of the industry is down about 6%. So what are these other companies doing about it? They’re taking on Apple at their own game and coming out with Ultrabooks. These ultra-thin, extra light, devices are easy to transport and lightning fast. Intel is the driving force behind the Ultrabook revolution, as it has designed a processor specifically tailored for these devices. And at under $1000, the prices are very affordable. No fewer than 75 different Ultrabooks were on display at CES, and many will be coming out in a few weeks. Look for Ultrabooks to be the biggest thing in technology for 2012.
 
2. Voice Recognition (Siri) Will be on Almost All Phones: Siri is the star of the Apple iPhone 4S that was released in late 2011.  Youtube has tons of videos related to Siri and her capabilities. The bottom line is that Siri works, and people love it. Not only will Siri be featured on the new iPad 3 coming out in the Spring, according to reports from Apple, but it should be on most Androids by the end of the year. This will be great for agents in the car or in a hurry. They can access their phones for conversating or other information that they need.  The only downside to Siri is that it’s a data hog and uses twice as much data as the iPhone 4 and three times as much data as the iPhone 3G. In addition to more phones turning to voice recognition, look for carriers to do away with unlimited data usage very soon.
 
3. Tablets will Become Even More Popular and More Affordable: Apple sold a whopping 15.4 million iPads from October to December of 2011.  Amazon sold at least 5 million Kindle Fires just in December. What does this mean? It means that more people are turning to tablets. While these are already being used by agents for listing and buying presentations, they will become widely used in the future. Soon we could see internet-ready tablets for sale for under $100. Think about being able to hand your tablet to a buyer, your client, with your list of the homes they pre-selected on it. As they view the properties, they can record notes and choose features they like about each one. You can then download this information onto your own computer to see what they thought. These days are coming soon.
 
4. Cloud Computing Will Continue to Grow: Dropbox has been regarded as one of the most valuable tech companies in Silicon Valley. Why? Because they are one of the best cloud computing companies in the business, as well as one of the most well-known. Cloud computing is growing rapidly, especially after Apple went all in with their new iCloud service. Cloud computing is great for agents because it enables them to maximize free space on their devices while their files, music, and photos are floating in “the cloud space”, which keeps these devices operating at maximum speed. It also allows agents to access files and information from numerous devices, such as an iPad or PC. Look for cloud computing to be the norm very soon. It’s a no-brainer.
 
5. Social Media will Streamline: It seems like every other month there is a new social network coming out that promises to change our lives. Too many agents get caught up in this hype and try to join all of them. Before they know it, they are spending half their day updating all of their social sites and the other half checking them. For those of you who feel this way, I’ve got some good news: 2012 will be the year where these fly-by-night social sites disappear. Let me explain.
 
We already know the big boys of social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn. There are many others, but the public doesn’t seem to desire additional social networks. Instead, perhaps utilizing the functions on the larger current social networks would be more desired. The big thing I see occurring in 2012 is big corporations expanding their brand on the big social networks – not all of them, but the ones important to them and their audience. Which is something we should all keep in mind when joining social networks for business. Don’t worry about being on every social media site. Find the ones that are most successful for you and focus on building your business there. By the end of the year, Realtors won’t be the only ones doing this as many companies will be using the platforms of the major social networks to build or promote their brands.
 
So there it is, my list of the five trends to look for in 2012. There will be other big stories in tech this year to be sure, but very few will be as big as what is going to happen to these five things. As an agent, it’s great to get a jump start on your competition. Hopefully, you’re already using some of the things mentioned in this article. No worries if you haven’t, its not too late, but the sooner, the better! Have a great 2012.
 
View the original article on the Homes.com blog.
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What is “hyperlocal” and why is it key to your success?

Leave a comment Posted by on February 8, 2012

“All real estate is local,” the saying goes. But what buyers and sellers really want to know is “hyper”-local information – the numbers and news that affect their specific community’s neighborhoods. When an agent shares information about the first day of school, the date of the high school football games, or how road construction will affect a morning commute, that agent becomes more than a home seller … he or she becomes a trusted resource.

The best agents already know this. Texas broker and 2010 Inman News Innovator Krisstina Wise’s GoodLife Team regularly posts graphs on its blog showing average sales prices and closed sales for Austin. She lists “Good Hoods” as well: neighborhood profiles with maps, news, schools and restaurant reviews – crucial in a town where eating out is a passion.

Ken Brand is a savvy Facebook poster of “cool things happening at Market Street in The Woodlands”, Texas. As sales manager of Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors, Brand regularly links to news such as a fall concert series in the community.

None of this is really new; it’s something agents and brokers have done forever – providing neighborhood-relevant information that creates trust and builds relationships. We just do it online now.

The free Housing Trends eNewsletter (www.HTEN.com) includes local information on real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs across the country, in addition to community reports comparing amenities and statistics by ZIP codes across the country. Plus, agents can insert their own hyperlocal content in the new “Messages” section located at the top of the e-newsletter.

For example, a message from Carlos Rafael Cruz, an Intero agent from Santa Clara, Calif., reads, “Corvette announces 35th Annual Corvette Car Show, August 21, 8 am-4pm on Main Street, Los Altos. Street traffic closing from First Street to San Antonio Road, but open to foot traffic. Come join me and the fun! http://www.sccorvettes.org.”

Another vehicle for providing hyperlocal information is The Breaking Network, which delivers social media-sourced news and information as a ticker tape of everything happening in a community. It includes the three things people want to know: real-time news, things to do, and all the deals in the city.

“Breaking Bergen News” (www.breakingbergennews.com) is a great example of one of the many communities covered by this service. Covering local headlines, restaurants and a live Twitter stream of locally tagged items, a small editor’s note asks readers to connect with @BrianMorgenweck. Real estate is just another tab, not the focus of the page.

To succeed in today’s real estate environment, agents must understand they can still sponsor the local Little League team. However, your name must be just as prominent in the “wired” world as a neighborhood advocate. Are you out there?

First published in Rismedia’s Real Estate Magazine, October 2011.

Housing Trends eNewsletter (HTEN), Marketing, MRED Communications, Social Media , , , , , , , ,

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