An article on the San Francisco Chronicle” tells of a story regarding the lengths people (real estates agents) are going or turning to just to stay in the business. Strategies such as a Florida agent who made a market for people who love the nude in the sunny and resort state having a tagline saying “Skip the outfit, wear the lifestyle”. Another area that has seen much improvement is the aspect of agents who offer specially chosen homes for pet lovers and those who love other animals, recommending those areas whose neighborhoods which have good reception regarding pets. Nearby parks, animal clinics and other people in the neighborhood who may have the same passion for pets are banding together in getting Fido the best possible place to live and be loved along with his family. There are a lot of pet owners who have had to turn down offers for properties that they love only to find out that the place does not allow pets.

Even with the growing turmoil in the housing sector, the area of senior’s housing and care has held its own. That along with a maintaining interest in vacation/investment properties is proving to be the only good news since the bubble burst sending people out in all directions. People lost homes, credit companies closed down overnight and many more of these bad incidents that showed the worsening financial turmoil overshadows more positive news. The elderly are also in trouble for current statistics show that the upcoming batch of retirees would not have enough finances to last their whole retirement. Why, well inflation has eaten bites out of their already saved up stores and rising costs associated with health care and other needs are sure to tax heavy on those same stores the economy continues to slide as more and more suffer from the consequences that all began with too much money being lent to those who couldn’t pay. When the bubble popped, it took a lot of homes and lives with it, ruining most, leaving them without decent housing. Seniors are going strong for now, but for how long, that is the question.

Foreclosures slow or even non-existent movement in the new home sales area along with more bad news that house permits are being issued at ever lower levels doesn’t paint a good picture. The ability of the Federal Reserve to provide assistance is there yet they couldn’t do it all the time without endangering further the economy of the already troubled US. Budgetary spending increases in defense (namely Homeland Security and the war’s the US is part of) and other arenas have already taken its toll on the Fed with a deficit that grows ever deeper. Recovery will happen when the liquidity of the Fed is again replaced by private liquidity and that would be the best case scenario for all of us.

Along with foreigners, second home buyers are going for condos for their vacation housing needs than investing in the local housing market. This is only one of the few sectors isn’t he housing industry that has managed to maintain a steady if not rising amount of sales and these properties are going strong. Martha’s Vineyard has taken up the call and others are following suit. Out with luxury hotels and lavish furnishings and in with modest condo’s, some of which are indeed well worth the money put into them. They even outpace the single vacation home sales market in terms of movement. People who are fed up of the financial turmoil are turning their sights to their retirement as they want to get out more and more to prevent the issues in the economy from bugging them all the time. This shows a shift in the previously work-oriented workforce, not only in the US but in the UK as well where Brit’s are preferring to go out more often on short trips more often.

Seems the economy is on the move, ever so slightly with development spending on the move in spite of the recession. many of the development projects that were put on hold due to the collapse of the housing market are again getting built but on a more cautious note. Life has become harder yet people are getting on with their lives and developers are doing the same seeing that they would be losing more should they choose to abandon them. (more…)

The bailout may be responsible for this sudden rise in the figures pertaining to new home sales for last month showing some positive movement. It may be too early to say if it is indeed the much awaited recovery but it went as soon as it came. People have been looking hard at the figures with skepticism and with good cause. They were right and the move was a simple glitch in the prevailing mood of the real estate market. Maybe the economic bailout is having a somewhat temporary effect on the economy that is being reflected in these figures, time will tell. (more…)

January figures on the housing market are in and they don’t look too good. The current market indicators are showing house prices dropping by as much as 26% meaning they have dropped lower than ever. The market conditions on wall street aren’t helping, with roller coaster figures that can;t seem to stabilize. The economy has long been in recession yet the effects are still surprising experts. Home inventories are still over the 9-month overstock, which means it would take 9 months of good sales to fully dispose of them. Nothing seems to be doing good in the real estate business, except the fact people are waiting for their bailout checks to come and help them with their pending foreclosures.
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As the government tries to help homeowners who have suffered greatly in the collapse of the sub-prime lending market, tax cuts are being planned for homeowners by the government. As we all know, the recession bit hard leaving many without homes and sending them out to the unemployment lines. Many people who have managed to keep their homes from foreclosures have done so with aid from the state and federal government in the previous attempts to bolster not only the housing market but the economy as a whole. People are still stunned at taxes the government imposes annually but these are to change with the introduction of tax discounts for homeowners. Many homeowners who lost their homes due to foreclosures have been decimated by the loss of their hard earned homes, many of which are now owned by banks and other financial institutions who could not sell them to cover for the investment they have in them. Many hope the downturn for prices have gone rock-bottom more than predicted.

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True Internet Success requires mastery of 4 areas…

1. CALL OUT – The first step to Internet success is to get prospects to your site.  Many look to Search Engines for their traffic, but we like to balance that with traditional marketing.

2. CAPTURE – The next step is to have a decent design and good content.  I’m appalled at the lack of quality content and design the average agent website has. here is a science to this and it is important to understand.  You can address specialties such as New Construction, Investments and First Time Buyers.  With good content and design, you will capture more prospects by compelling them to inquire about something that actually means something to them.  Remember, home hunting is an emotional process.

3. COMMUNICATE – Once you’ve captured them, it is key to respond quickly.  There are great methods utilizing PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) phones that will make it effortless to identify and respond to the best leads before they inquire to your competition.

4. CLOSE – Don’t underestimate the power of good closing skills.  It is too easy for some to get a prospect all the way here and then just “give away” the information they ask for without closing for the appointment. 

Home sales and prices are hitting bottom hard as previously posh neighborhoods with green lawns and filled with plants and flowers are turned into barren moon-like landscapes as house sales dwindle to ever lower levels. The figures for February shows them at 5.03 million units but March has them only at 4.03 % meaning less and less are being sold. These properties include existing single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-op’s. Regionally, sales were nice in the Northeast and the West but very bad for the Midwest and South as everybody is touched by the effects of the sub-prime lending market problems that has rocked the world’s financial services.