The economy’s decline leveled off significantly from April through June, confirming  that the worst is behind us.

GDP declined at an annualized rate of 1 percent in the second quarter, after shrinking an amazing 6.4 percent earlier this year. But consumer spending, 70 percent of economic activity,  continues to fall as Americans continue to save and  reduce debt. Economists express concern that our basic spending habits have been permanently altered by this great recession. This is also having an effect on rentals as renters downsize or insist on rent reductions.

With this as a backdrop we looked at rental rates which a are a prime factor in evaluating a property. We clearly have a long way to go. The Dept of Commerce chart indicates we are at a fragile beginning of a recovery. The key to successful property ownership now will be to keep it occupied and ride this out. Continue reading this post

In less than 24 hours HomeGain will kick off its “Live” Nation event in San Francisco.

For the 80+ Realtors, bloggers and real estate industry folks attending, the festivities begin 24 hours from now!

Attendees will be able to post comments and upload photos or videos to:

• Twitter — HomeGain Nation Tweetpic
• Flickr
• Facebook
• HomeGain Nation

Max the HomeGain Gorilla Bobble Heads will make their debut at the event. Attendees will have to answer trivia questions to win one!

The Bobble Heads are customized, hand painted, limited-edition collectibles. Make sure you pay attention to what’s being said during the presentations!

View the Full Agenda

For those of you who will not be able to attend, we will be also be posting videos from the sessions after the event here on the HomeGain Blog.

Follow the event on Twitter #homegainnation and get clues for how to win a Max Bobblehead.

Visit the The Fairmont San Francisco website.

We are looking forward to meeting everyone!

OK, that is a pretty pretentious title. Who am I to tell you how to use Twitter? The simple fact is (and it’s one of the true beauties of social networking) there are no “rules” about how to use Twitter. The title, and gist, of this post however, fits in with my previous post, How Not to Use Twitter. That, and Louis has been bugging me to complete this “series”…

Rules or no rules, there are some tips and techniques that you can utilize to increase your chances of “success” on Twitter.

Whoa, “success” on Twitter? How do we define “success”?

Depends. Personally, I think if you are using Twitter for the sole purpose of generating leads (and eventually commission checks), then you are making a mistake and likely wasting your time. If you want to expand your sphere of influence, if you want to get to meet and engage with people from all walks of life, if you want to share and expand your knowledge and increase your “internet presence”, then by all means, utilize social networking tools like Twitter.

Simply put, the “hard sell” doesn’t work in social media. Start with the “I’m a REALTOR!” and “I’m a top producer!” or “Look at my new listing!” talk and people will instantly tune you out (if not outright unfollow or block you). In my opinion, the single best thing to do with a tool like Twitter is use it to engage with people. Ultimately, you can use Twitter to actually meet people “IRL” (In Real Life). And let’s face it, in real life is still the best social network ever, bar none.

Continue reading this post

When I was just a young pup in the real estate business, a mentor of mine spoke a few words that I’ve kept tucked away in the back of my head to pull out when I need to. 

He wisely spoke, “no matter how you attempt to generate business, it always gets down to going nose to nose and belly to belly with people.”

I can’t help but think about his words many years later as social media has taken a big bite out of my day. Five years ago neither blogging nor tweeting was in my vocabulary and posting photos on Facebook or Flickr wasn’t in the picture (excuse my pun). 

In the last two years, I’ve been to more than a few conferences and attended a whole bunch of technology panels. Heck, I’ve even been a panelist several times myself. What I found is that many of the “experts” may be whizzes at social media but they aren’t experts in real estate.

Don’t get me wrong, I learn a lot from these folks about technology. I take good notes and put what they have to say into practice. But it suddenly occurred to me that something is missing from the resume of many real estate social media speakers and panelists: real estate experience. (As in selling a whole bunch of houses kind of experience.) I worry that newcomers to the business think that social media is the magic bullet when it really should only be a part (maybe a small part) of their prospecting efforts.  Continue reading this post

Twitter is all the rage in social media.  But how can you get business from Twitter when you’re restricted to 140 characters?   Simple.   Use my AKS (Anyone Know Search) Method. 

Here’s how it works:

Go to Search.Twitter.com and type this in the search box: anyone know a realtor in [fill in your city or town]

Here’s an example: 

Check the results.  If you’re lucky, you’ll find a real estate need (the word lead has been taken to the place where they keep bad words, like “used car”).

Now, send a tweet reply to this person and offer your help.  Since you are fellow Twitterers, you share something in common, making it more likely the person will talk to you.   Try it. (And send me my 25% referral fee in small bills.)

But there’s more to the AKS strategy. Continue reading this post

Last week, an email landed in my inbox with the subject line “Ledyard Police is now following you on Twitter.”  I admit it was a bit disconcerting.  Actually, I freaked out temporarily when I realized I was one of only 3 people being followed.  I ran into“Ledyard Police” a few nights later.  I’m a member of the Ledyard Town Council and we were discussing the police budget.  (Honestly, I don’t make this stuff up.)  As it turns out  “Ledyard Police” was following me for all the right reasons.  It seems that police departments in the area are considering Twitter as another resource to notify residents in case of emergencies.

I joined Twitter in 2007. Back then it was intimate, like the bar where everyone knew your name.  Since then Twitter has exploded. When someone in the industry follows me, I usually oblige and follow back. As a result, it is often hard to find the good stuff among the noise of people I don’t really know.  Fortunately, applications like Tweetdeck allow me to create groups and weed out those that don’t contribute to my Twitter objectives.

Like “Ledyard Police”, each user has his own reason for following and being followed on Twitter.  I was attracted to Twitter because of the 140 character limit. I seldom read blog posts beyond a few paragraphs.  I don’t need the War and Peace version of an opinion on short sales.

Whether I’m speaking as a Town Councilor, writing a blog post or debating politics, I’ve always been a woman of few words, many of them an attempt to be witty.  “Brevity is the soul of wit” is my mantra.  I doubt I could ever write a book.  I’m sure I would bore myself before the final chapter.  

I don’t have any expectations from Twitter as far as putting commission dollars in my pocket.  For me Twitter is more of a resource for making industry connections, following breaking news and events, and picking up tips on the latest and greatest technology.  I’d give it “5 Stars” for meeting those expectations.

Follow Linda Davis on Twitter