Here are some Google Search secrets to help you better find what you’re looking for: (wait, since I’m telling you, they’re no longer secret).

1. Use quotation marks to search for the exact phrase “co-op board rejection”

2. Use the pipe (|) (it’s above the backslash \) for an either/or search (or use the word “or”): fsbo|by owner.

3. Use two periods (..) to find information within a number range, including years: worst housing markets 1980..2006.

4. Use a minus sign (-) to exclude search results: worst housing markets 1980..2006 -best. (since the search without the minus sign usually includes best and worst, use the minus sign if you only want the bad news)

5. Find similar keywords with the tilde (~): ~cheap homes. You get auctions, foreclosures, investors, etc. The tilde is an under-appreciated stroke (which makes it good for passwords)

6. Use the wildcard star (*) if you don’t know the missing word: a man’s home is his *.

7. Get a definitions by typing “define:” before the word: define:foreclosure.

8. Math calculations (hey Realtors, it’s good for figuring a commission): 548,000 x6%.

9. To search a term in a particular blog or website use “site:” before the URL. Useful if a website or blog doesn’t have a search box: site:blog.sellsiusrealestate.com zillow.

10. Type in the area code or zip code to find out the city name: 646.

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According to reports in the Wall Street Journal and the Miami Herald first time home buyers are accounting for a large portion of the recent boost in existing home sales. The reports cite lower home prices and the provision in the Obama stimulus plan that gives first time home buyers an $8,000 credit.

Indeed, on a conference call following HomeGain’s release of its survey of Realtors on Home Values, HomeGain member Jeffrey Bastress of Starpoint Realty in Massachusettes cited that he had recently received numerous offers from first time home buyers citing the $8,000 credit as a reason for their interest in purchasing a home.

Andrew Duncan of Keller Williams of Tampa also cited the new tax incentives, lower home prices and great interest rates as driving new home buyers to make their first purchases.

Could it be however, the reason that first time home buyers are making up a good portion of existing home sales is that they haven’t been burned yet?

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Matt Fagioli organizer of ReTechSouth and I were talking last night. “I agree to talk while you are talking” is how I described the practice of following those on twitter who follow you in a bid to get your follower numbers up.

This practice seems near mindless. Most people who agree to take on hundreds or thousands of courtesy followers immediately filter them out using Tweet Deck or some other software (you’re not so clever, they do the same to you!)

I recently asked a couple of friends who have thousands (one has over ten thousand) followers to tweet one of my blog posts with a Tiny URL (a great tool BTW) attached.

Later I checked Google Analytics (another great tool) to see the number of visitors received from Twitter from my friends’ tweets. The amounts of visitors were surprising:

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HomeGain is continually reviewing and working to improve our policies, products, and procedures with our current, past, and potential clients.  In doing this, one wise member of our team, Jim Ridley, uncovered a common trait of the agents and brokers who are successfully growing their business. 

This identified success trait comes down to the basic question:  Are You a Real Estate Professional or Online Business Consumer?

HomeGain has found that the Real Estate Professionals are more likely to be successful.  The Online Business Consumer clients have shown to have a higher dissatisfaction and failure rate. This distinction will affect HomeGain’s way of doing business.  I would highly recommend that you should review your business to see where you fall.

This brings up a few questions:

¨       What is the difference Real Estate Professional and an Online Business Consumer?

¨       Can Online Business Consumer agents and brokers become Real Estate Professionals? 

¨       How can this affect your success and allocation of your marketing budget?

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I know that there are so many of you out there who read this blog and are excited about taking your business to the “next level” by using the Internet. 

Lately, at The eHomes Realty Network, I have been getting a lot of inquiries about the cost to get your Internet business off the ground.  Below are your basic costs to get going.  The marketing program you choose will vary from area to area. 

Website

I’m a big believer in using “template websites”.  There are many choices in custom websites also, but I prefer to put my money into marketing and generating business.  Most template websites are 90% customizable, affordable and already have a ton of generic content.  You can easily spend $10,000 - $20,000 on a custom site. 

IDX

Over 90% of the real estate leads we capture at Tropical Realty of Suntree are from people registering to view home listings on our website.  I highly recommend an IDX vendor versus your free MLS providers IDX.   There are multiple IDX companies available.  HomeGain offers an IDX website with their AIMS product. We will be launching our 100MPH Marketing Software in about a month for the state of Florida.  However, it won’t be available nationwide for some time.  I also recommend iHomefinder.com. Their tool is very easy to use, reliable and has a good capture mechanism. 

Pay Per Click

Using pay per click can be very costly if you don’t know what you are doing.  If you are using Google and/or Yahoo!,

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I love free stuff and am always thankful when I learn about it. Here are some websites that I use very often and they have helped me save time and money.

Slideshare.net

This is a presentation sharing website. You can upload just about any document or presentation and share it with others. I like to embed the presentations on my website. You can track how many times your presentation has been downloaded. It is also fun when your presentations are marked as favorites.

Google Docs

I use Google docs to store my documents online. Documents can be uploaded, saved, printed, and shared. Documents can also be converted to pdf files making them easier to send as email attachments. I got tired of certain documents being on my home computer and I needed them when I was at the office. No worries, now I just go to Google.

Picassa

Another great Google product. Upload your pictures to create slideshows. You can add text and music or voiceover. Google will also send it to Youtube.

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