Daily Archives: June 11, 2011

South Salem NY real estate market sees “Certified Green Homes Sell for 30% More in Oregon” | South Salem NY homes for sale

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Robyn Griggs Lawrence thumbnailExisting homes that are certified as “green” sold for 30 percent more than homes without such a designation, according to an analysis of the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan region released today by Earth Advantage Institute, a nonprofit green building resource. Newly constructed homes with a sustainability certification sold for 8 percent more than non-certified homes.

This result continues a four-year trend in which new homes with third-party certification for sustainable construction and energy performance have consistently sold for more than newly constructed homes that had not been certified. The term “certified home” includes homes that received an Earth Advantage New Homes, ENERGY STAR, or a LEED for Homes designation, or a combined Earth Advantage/ENERGY STAR certification.

Portland was the first regional multiple listing service in the country to provide sales information for homes with green certification, at the request of Earth Advantage Institute. RMLS began tracking information in 2007 and has found two important trends. First, certified homes’ market share among all newly constructed homes stayed consistent, with 18 percent of the new homes in the Portland market receiving a sustainability certification. Second, certified homes as a group saw notable price premiums in each year.

“This is important news for builders and home buyers alike,” says Dakota Gale, sustainable finance program manager for Earth Advantage Institute. “We see a consistent trend that third-party certification results in an increased sales price, even during last year when home sales were down.”

earth advantage home 

Building an Earth Advantage-certified home could net you more money when it’s time to resell. 

via motherearthnews.com

North Salem NY real estate sees “Troubling economic news” | Inman News for the North Salem NY real estate market

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Troubling economic news mounts

Commentary: Watch for dropping shoes

 

Flickr image courtesy of <a href=

Financial markets stayed in tight ranges all week — not at all calm, just waiting for more falling footwear.

Whistling noises from above: Greece is going to default, and soon, and its creditors are going to pretend that it hasn’t, but the default will trigger obligations under credit-default swaps, the contagion vector to banks, followed by other “Club Med” nations wanting the same non-default default.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on Tuesday snipped the suspenders holding optimists’ pants: The economy has slowed but will do better in six months (uh-huh), no new stimulus coming. Trying to pull pants up while texting “SELL!” can prove scandalous (see: Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.), even if perps have seen the Bernanke movie before.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) refused to increase production, with impoverished members enjoying high prices (Iran, Venezuela), and Saudis understanding the damage to customers. The no-shortage story that speculators are responsible for $100 per barrel prices no longer holds crude.

via inman.com

Katonah NY real estate reads “Your Facebook business page is worthless” | Inman News for the Katonah NY real estate market

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Your Facebook business page is worthless

From Future of Real Estate Marketing

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking at Inman’s Agent Reboot in Atlanta. The topic: Facebook business pages. The title of my presentation: Your Facebook Business Page is Worthless. It’s a little unnerving to take the stage and to start off by looking into all those eager faces in the audience and tell them that their Facebook business page is worthless. But it’s true — most of the time.

The majority of the agents I speak to express frustration with Facebook as a lead generation tool or as part of their marketing plan. But that’s because, to quote one of my favorite (terrible) movies of the ’80s, “Mr. Mom”: “you’re doing it wrong.”

Read the complete article at Future of Real Estate Marketing.

Maura Neill is a Realtor in Atlanta and the creator of 365Atlanta.com, a hyperlocal travel site for Atlanta newcomers and natives which has become a referral resource for her business. She is also musical theatre geek, dark chocolate aficionada, lover of dark beer, and shoe addict.

 Future of Real Estate Marketing is a part of Inman News.  

   
 
via inman.com

Bedford Hills NY real estate asks why Google Adds Two New Features on YouTube Videos | Search Engine Journal for Bedford Hills NY homes for sale

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Google Adds Two New Features on YouTube Videos

YouTube is no small matter to the success of Google. Beyond the ability to integrate video with numerous other Google services (e.g., the recent adaptation of embedded YouTube videos for Google Instant Preview), Google has access to the largest video platform in the world. But YouTube isn’t the safe leader, nor is it perfect. Google is constantly fighting against litigation and for licensing, and they must simultaneously add enough features to keep hold of the video-watching population. Their two most recent feature additions are the HD video preview images and the logoless embedded player.

Here’s a brief rundown of each:

The HD video preview image will pull the HD version of a snapshot as the image to display for your video preview. This feature is available on new videos of 480p or higher resolution. Those who already have HD videos for which they want an HD image preview will just have to wait a bit; Google is rolling out HD previews to existing videos in the next few weeks.

The logoless embedded player will give users the option to embed videos in their page without the YouTube logo that usually sits comfortably in the lower-right corner. To make any video player logoless, simply add the code “? modestbranding=1″ at the end of the embed code. This doesn’t remove the logo that appears in the top-right when videos are paused, however.

The first adaptation (HD preview images) just makes sense in appealing to users and video uploaders alike. However, the logoless player is a generous move on Google’s part. Few companies are willing to part with their branding so readily.

[via the YouTube Blog]

via searchenginejournal.com

Google Product Extensions Come to Mobile Ads | Search Engine Journal for Bedford Corners NY Real Estate

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Google Product Extensions Come to Mobile Ads

Mobile advertising is a large and rapidly growing chunk of Google’s arena, especially thanks to the company’s work with the Android platform. While much of the ad space is taken by Ad Mob–related, interactive ads on applications and similar mediums, Google Search itself gets plenty of traffic. To help local businesses connect with mobile users when they’re nearby, Google has released two product extensions for mobile.

The product extensions in question, “Product Extension Ads” and “Product Local Ads,” have been available on the desktop version of AdWords for some time. The new implementation, however, allows for and optimizes the contained data in the mobile platform. Additionally, users who opt-in to have their current location shared with Google will receive advertisements for local availability of products based on which stores are nearby and have the products in stock.

Here’s a more in-depth description of each extension:

Product Extension Ads allow you to show a picture of your product, its title, and the price you’re asking for it in the search results alongside your ad.

Product Local Ads let you show what items you currently have in stock, assuring customers of availability.

In either case, the extensions function by connecting your Google Merchant Center account and information with Google AdWords. In addition to registering for those two services, groups who want to use Product Local Ads will need to apply for the use of the extension, since it is currently in a limited beta stage.

With 79% of smartphone users turning to their phone for help when they’re out shopping, webmasters would do well to pay attention to these new mobile extensions.

via searchenginejournal.com