I answer my phone, and, have made this a practice since starting my business in 1991. As a result of this practice, I get very few voice mails throughout the day. I cannot stress this enough!

Customers have hired me to get their transactions completed in a timely manner, and to help with this I carry my phone with me most of the time. It is much better to answer the call, deal with the situation and move on.

I try to encourage e-mail contact between my buyers and sellers and I carry my phone (which is e-mail capable) on my side pretty much all the time. As a Realtor® I know that if you do not like being disturbed by phone calls or e-mails, you should look into another profession.

My quick response to my buyers and sellers puts their minds at ease, and lets them know that they are getting advice from a pro.

It is most important when talking with potential clients that you let them know what to expect from this current market. For example: Continue reading this post

Soon we will be featuring a blog post from Joseph G. Ferrara, Esq.

Joseph is the publisher of the Sellsius Real Estate Blog, one of the most widely respected and read real estate blogs in the country. The Sellsius real estate blog has been at the heart of the real estate blogging revolution.

Some quick facts about our next guest blogger, Joseph Ferrara:

• The phrase “unzillowable” was coined by Joseph.
• Joe’s Sellsius blog has been named one of the Top 5 Industry Blogs by Swanepoel Trends Report 2007 and was named in the 2008 edition.
• Joe was named as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers for Marketing and How-to by Inman News.
• Last summer Joseph led the Sellsius team on a 10,000 mile cross country blog tour to talk to consumers and promote blogging and new technology and may be hitting the road again this summer.
• In a profession where nearly six in 10 are women, each year Sellsius recognizes the top women real estate bloggers with its coveted Sellsius Award.

Joe’s forte is marketing, public speaking, teaching and coaching blogging, along with a little self promotion.

We are delighted that Joe has arrived at the HomeGain Real Estate Blog prepared to share his expertise. Continue reading this post

Is RE.Net becoming RE.org?

In the past three years, we’ve seen plenty of new entrants, lots of Venture Capital money and endless blog posts extolling the benefits of the new transparency that Web 2.0 brings to the real estate industry.

Recently, Realtor Magazine also jumped on the Real Estate 2.0 bandwagon.

Despite the hype, so far I have not seen any empirical evidence that it is working. This may be because the appearance of Web 2.0 technologies coincided horribly with the collapse of the general real estate market.

Or, maybe not.

Perhaps, it may be time to start calling “Dot Bomb” on Real Estate 2.0.

Here’s why Web 2.0 for Real Estate isn’t working: Continue reading this post

Today marks the launch of our new Media Center.

The focus of our Media Center is to be a centralized online communication resource for the real estate community.

Real estate agents and brokers can read our monthly Agent Success Newsletter, connect with peers, and get the latest scoop about HomeGain’s online marketing programs, events and company news.

Members of the press have access to a media kit, press releases, videos and company information.

Reporters, journalists and other real estate professionals like home stagers can find out the latest market statistics, analysis and real estate trends.

Basically, if you want to know what HomeGain has been up to, where we’ve been, and where we’ll be, this is the site to visit. Every month it will be updated with new information.

The Media Center website is www.homegain.com/media-center

What do you think? I welcome your comments and feedback!

The real estate landscape is changing in the Sacramento and Roseville areas as we speak. Is this a temporary change or a sign of things to come?

The prices have drastically reduced in our area for the past two years or more and in some cases, have dropped two thirds in value.

The reasons are obvious with all the adjustable mortgage rates, economy, and in many cases, people did not see a reason to stay in their home when the value had dropped so much. They literally walked away from it with hopes to buy a nicer, bigger home in two years at a great price.

But now, I am seeing a change in the past few weeks with mostly the foreclosure and short sale homes. The investors and the home buyers are now coming off the sidelines and out there making offers on these homes. This can be tough for a home buyer who must compete with an investor who has all cash or a quick close.

I have been in several multiple offer situations in the past two week and my buyers are wondering what is going on. Continue reading this post

Timely, Customized and Professional Proposals are the Key To Success

I ask every customer service representative applicant the same interview question—if you were given an either/or choice between receiving fast service or getting thorough, accurate service, which would you choose? Most say if they can’t have both, they prefer thorough service, even if it takes a little more time.

The same can be said for many of HomeGain’s homebuyers and sellers.

The most important factor that drives our agents’ success with our AgentEvaluator program is the proposal that is sent to the consumer after they profile on the HomeGain website. Without a timely, well-constructed, and customized proposal, the likelihood a consumer will select you as their agent is reduced and perhaps eliminated.

We recently began an in-depth analysis of our most recent consumer data to provide you with information that can help you be successful with AgentEvaluator customers.

The results have been enlightening. Continue reading this post