Showing posts with label home loans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home loans. Show all posts

Monday, October 22, 2018

Online Lead Generation

The Business “Long Tail” Concept 

The Long and Short of It: In Business ‘The Long Tail’ concept states that you can sell more, ‘less popular’ items than you can of popular items.

A common example is that Netflix rents more niche movies than popular ones.

So what does this mean to real estate agents? That you can make a business in marketing niche markets and that it can be often times more profitable.

The #1 real estate related website in the United States is Realtor.com. Knowing the Google keywords people use to find Realtor.com will tell you a lot about online consumer behavior and will give you a lot to think about in your own online lead generation efforts as they relate to niche markets.

DO you want to know more: Attend our Marketing Lunch & Learns with Sara Forkel
Next Training is October 30th 11:30 -1:30....

November Training's
Wednesday November 7th  4 - 6:30
Thursday November 15th 11:30 - 1:30




Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Cyber Secure: Staying Safe Online


Sure, you strap on your seatbelt when you get in the car, and your helmet when you hop on your bike, but what about safety precautions for getting online? CenturyLink encourages consumers to practice good online safety habits with these tips:

Improve Your Passwords
- Don't use default names or passwords which can easily be hacked.
- Criminals can often guess passwords based on pet names and the people close to you. Be creative.
- Use a "passphrase" with letters and symbols rather than a password.
- Example: "I Lik3 @ppl3 Pi3"

Practice Good Cyber Hygiene
- Never click a link in an email that goes to an outside site, even if you recognize the company or individual.
- Be careful what information you share on social media and who sees it.
- Set up two-factor authentication to make it more difficult for a third-party to access your accounts.

Keep Your Devices "Clean"
- Update software regularly to make your devices less vulnerable to cyber security threats.
- Check the user guides for all internet-connected devices to see how and where your personal information is stored and shared.
- Don't join an unknown Wi-Fi hotspot; set up your own.

In addition, work with your internet service provider for advice on how to help keep personal and home internet-connected devices safe online.

Source: CenturyLink 
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2018. All rights reserved.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Where Are the Most Charming Neighborhoods in America?

By Jameson Doris

Moving out of your home is stressful. There are a million and one things you'll have to ask yourself before and during the move to a new location. "Is this the right timing?" "Did I hire the right movers?" One question that's always top of mind is: "Where will I move to next?"

We move to certain neighborhoods for so many reasons, from the school system and local restaurants, to what the climate is like and the distance to your place of work. However, one factor that so many of us discuss—but have a difficult time putting our finger on—is charm.

A charming neighborhood is something you need to experience more than have described to you. In the past, you really needed to walk around an area to know if you found it charming. That's why RentLingo—an apartment rentals search engine—created a tool that analyzes big data to show users how charming a particular neighborhood is.

The site's "Charm Index" works in every major U.S. city and takes into consideration several elements, including:
  • How local are the businesses?
  • How well are they liked by residents?
  • What kind of local institutions and amenities are nearby? Parks? Museums? Universities?
  • Is it inexpensive or expensive to live within the neighborhood?
  • What is the crime rate of the area?
  • What kind of emphasis does the neighborhood put on health and environmentally-friendly modes of transportation? 
Some of the most charming neighborhoods in the country, according to the Charm Index, include Hayes Valley, San Francisco; Near North Side, Chicago; Silver Lake, Los Angeles; and the Greenwich Village in New York City.

Below is an example of what RentLingo's Charm Index "Heatmap" looks like. Like standard Google Maps, it's interactive, so you can zoom in and out on any neighborhood in the country and click to reveal its rating. To use the tool and for a full breakdown of the site's methodology, visit RentLingo.com.



This appeared first on RISMedia's Housecall.

Jameson Doris is RISMedia's blog and social media editor. Email him your real estate blog ideas at jdoris@rismedia.com. 
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2018. All rights reserved.

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Thursday, October 11, 2018

Bogged Down by Climbing Costs, Housing Sentiment Slips


By RISMedia Staff

The confidence consumers have in housing slipped due to increasing prices and rates, according to the August Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI). At 87.7, the Index fell 0.3 percentage points month-over-month and 0.6 percentage points year-over-year.

Twenty-six percent of homebuyers, however, were optimistic about purchasing—a five-percentage point increase from July—and 38 percent of homeowners were optimistic about selling, unchanged.

"HPSI remains flat this month as perceptions of high home prices and expectations for rising mortgage rates continue to weigh on potential homebuyers," says Doug Duncan, chief economist and senior vice president at Fannie Mae. "In September, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased for the second consecutive month to 4.63 percent—its highest level since May 2011."

According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the median national price is up 4.6 percent year-over-year. Last month, the Federal Reserve brought up the federal funds rate for the third time this year—which not only feeds the perception that rates are rising, but also can fuel increases.

"The Federal Open Market Committee members' interest rate projections at the September meeting continued to point to four additional rate increases between now and the end of 2019," Duncan says. "Still, downside risk to housing is limited by broader economic strength, which helped boost perceptions of current home-buying conditions. For consumers who say now is a good time to buy, the share citing overall economic conditions as a reason rose to a survey high."

The HPSI is derived from Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey® (NHS). 
Reprinted with permission from RISMedia. ©2018. All rights reserved.

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