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Signs of a quality listing agent

By Bernice Ross, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

Did you know that approximately 80 percent of all sellers interview only one agent before they list their home? If you want to hire the best agent to represent you on your real estate sale, here are seven important steps to take:

Virtually all sellers want to achieve the highest possible price for their property in the shortest amount of time and with the least amount of hassle. The way that you do this is through maximum exposure to the marketplace. This means that your agent must have both a print and a Web marketing strategy. How can you know who has the best marketing plan for your house? Here are some key steps to take before you ever contact the agent.  more...

Secrets to selling in soft market

By Tara-Nicholle Nelson, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
Cover image courtesy <a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470447125.html" target=blank>Wiley</a>.

Never have listing agents and sellers so needed a leg up as they do now. This is especially true for Realtors representing individual home sellers, who might not be able to compete with foreclosures and short sales on price, and so need some other way to create a compelling value proposition for the buyers who do visit their homes. Enter home staging.

According to author Barb Schwarz, who markets herself as "The Inventor of Home Staging," even in a down market staged homes sell in 35 days or less, on average, while those that are not stagedtake an average of 172 days to sell. Schwarz paints a vivid, data-backed picture for why and how real estate agents who list homes should master the key tenets of home staging.  more...

Housing starts up, builder confidence low

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

Housing starts jumped 17 percent from April to May, to an annual rate of 532,000, but builder confidence remains low, according to separate reports out this week.

Much of the increase in housing starts last month was in multifamily construction -- single-family starts were up a more modest 7.5 percent from April to May, to an annual rate of 401,000 homes a year -- the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a report today.  more...

This house not for rent

By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dnorman/2719220543/" target=blank>D'Arcy Norman</a>.

Would you rent out your home for a commercial or civic purpose?

That was the question I recently had to answer on two separate occasions. And while the answer may seem obvious to you, for me, it was a dilemma that was not easily decided.

The first request to rent my house came from a location scout. Believe it or not, these people really do exist in Los Angeles, and one of them showed up on my doorstep on a cloudy afternoon. She explained that she needed to find a house that had an unobstructed front porch ...  more...

Feds to promote walkable neighborhoods

By Inman News, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

The federal government will speak with one voice on housing, environmental and transportation policy, Secretary of Housing Shaun Donovan said today in announcing an interagency "Partnership for Communities."

The partnership, between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency, is aimed at improving access to affordable housing and providing more and cheaper transportation options.  more...

'Ghosting' rears its head after paint job

By Barry Stone, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.

DEAR BARRY: I painted the inside of my home only six months ago, and already it needs to be repainted. Portions of the walls have become visibly darkened. Strangely, this occurs wherever there are framing members behind the drywall. I can see where all the wall studs and ceiling joists are located. Not only that, I can see dark spots where all the drywall nails are located. What could be causing this, and what can I do about it? --Bill

DEAR BILL: What you are seeing is a phenomenon commonly called "ghosting." When ghosting occurs, extremely fine soot particles in the air collect on the walls and ceilings at locations where the temperature is cooler and where there is higher electrostatic attraction.  more...

The elixir of brand longevity

By Marc Davison, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31446929@N02/3486665865/" target=blank>fisherkiller</a>.

A rite of passage is held each year by our local Montessori school. The graduation ceremony for sixth-graders culminates with each child walking through a makeshift doorway that ceremoniously delivers them through to the next phase of their life.

Trust me, this event is a tearjerker.

One by one each child is called forth and takes a seat in front of friends and family.  more...

Real estate marketing: show vs. tell Premium Content

By Robert Hahn, Tuesday, June 16, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pokpok/164439710/">pokpok313</a>.

Real estate agents by their very nature are marketers. Some are quite savvy, while others apparently graduated from the Crazy Eddie School of Marketing. Still others are stuck in the vast middle doing so-so marketing and providing so-so results. But all are marketers to one degree or another.

Which explains why real estate's love affair with technology is actually a love affair with new marketing.  more...