2014 is the year of social media. And social media is a great way to increase your leads, become a community expert and gain brand exposure. What Makes a Good Social Media Strategy? According to this article from Inman, what makes a good social strategy is consistency, relevancy and not being afraid to try new things. You want the online community to see you as an expert on real estate…
Google plans to acquire Nest Labs, a start-up who created the smart smoke detector and digital thermostat, for a whopping $32 billion, according to Inman. Former Apple employees, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, founded Nest Labs and will continue to run the company as their own distinct brand, according to the article. “This allows us to accelerate and stay in front of the coming wave of products for what we…
Drones. That’s generally a word that everyone recognizes. The problem is that most people know it because they associate it with war. But Drones are starting to become popular for something else. They have recently become a new tool in the real estate industry for showing houses—specifically, the interior of houses. You may recall our article on the top trends in real estate in 2014 where we mentioned the use…
How to Win a Bidding War on Real Estate Now that 2013 is behind us and we look ahead to 2014, home buyers probably will not have the competition with investors as they had last year. With so many short sales and foreclosures slowly trickling off of the market, investors will not be out in droves as they once were. However, buyers still may find themselves in a bidding war…
Starting in January, 2014, the FHA, Federal Housing Administration, will be lowering the loan limit on maximum amounts of loans especially in high cost areas. The standard of $417,000 will remain standard across the board but in high-cost areas of California, Florida and New York, these loan limits will be decreasing. Generally speaking, the high cost limit was at $729,000 and starting in January it will decrease to $625,000. This…
Green Building is the New Push This Year “Green building is the United States Green building Council’s annual exposition to showcase the latest and greatest in green building. The spotlight at this years conference held recently in Philadelphia was on health, a cornerstone of the original green building mandate the one that so far has received relatively little attention.” This according to a new post by the Washington Post.com. Focus…
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, mortgage lenders are coming in with about a C-grade when it comes to customer service. Overall customer satisfaction is at a seven-year high and lenders scored an average of 771 out of 1000 or roughly a C+ on the grade level. While that’s not terrible it’s not phenomenal either. JD Power asks customers of the 25 largest lenders in the country…
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, “energy conserving homes may soon get rewards from a major mortgage insurer”. Energy efficient and green building is certainly the wave of the future if not already in place. New subdivisions are going green in the hopes of drawing new home buyers to the market. But now lenders are realizing the net savings that energy improvements provide to homeowners can be…
What’s the U.S. Real Estate Market Doing Now? Across the board home prices continue to rise, mortgage rates increase, and big changes are on the horizon for the mortgage industry come 2014. More rules and restrictions will be in effect starting January 10 and more to come towards the end of 2014. Lower limits on obtainable mortgages, harder challenges for self-employed borrowers, and lower limits for debt to income ratios…
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas ultricies hendrerit purus, sit amet sodales nisi semper et. Etiam vel mi sed risus porttitor consequat quis quis dui. Vivamus mollis, elit vel tincidunt malesuada, diam diam tincidunt enim, ac condimentum enim mauris a orci. Curabitur pharetra sodales libero a varius. Nam a suscipit est. Nunc lobortis laoreet dignissim. Proin sagittis massa commodo libero blandit vel aliquet eros congue. Duis sed…