Monthly Archives: July 2013

7 Marketing Trends You Should Not Ignore | Pound Ridge Realtor

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The capability to use marketing tools and technology without having to beg or  pay for attention is unprecedented. It’s a time where you can now build your own  crowd to market and sell to without paying the mass media gate keepers.7 Marketing trends you should not ignore

That’s social media.

The social media networks are at your disposal and with the right tactics and software you can create brand awareness and access to  influencers and decision makers in boardrooms across the world.

This freedom to take control of your own marketing comes at a cost. The cost  is complexity and time. To be effective it requires using multiple networks,  constant content creation and monitoring and managing.

It’s not just multiple networks and multimedia to think of, it is also about  adapting to new hardware platforms where consumers receive their messaging. This  is no longer restricted to just print, TV and radio but has proliferated to  laptops, smart phones and tablets. They all have their own limitations and  parameters to be optimal.

Within this technology and  media explosion there are many marketing trends that have been emerging that we  should be paying attention to.

7 Marketing Trends

Here are seven trends that all marketers need to consider in their toolbox of  tactics to remain effective and current.

1. Content marketing

The importance and role of content marketing and how it works across social  media, search, multimedia and mobile is becoming a key focus for many brands.  Many companies don’t understand the importance of this trend and how it  underlies almost all digital marketing. Brands such as Coca Cola have recognised this and changed their strategies  to meet the web realities.

Brands have been blinded by the shiny new toy of social media eg Facebook and  think that Facebook marketing is all they should be doing beyond their day to  day habitual marketing that they have been doing for decades.

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/07/16/marketing-trends-you-should-not-ignore/#wzBZl28kebw6bU9g.99

June Foreclosures Fell to Lowest Level since December 2006 | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Not since Santa Claus visited the George W. Bush White House has the total of properties with foreclosure filings–default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – reached a level as low as they did last month.

RealtyTrac reported last week that 0.61 percent of all U.S. housing units (one in 164) had at least one foreclosure filing in the first six months of the year. A total of 127,790 U.S. properties had foreclosure filings in June, down 14 percent from the previous month and down 35 percent from a year ago to the lowest monthly level since December 2006   Filings in the first half of the year totaled 801,359, representing a 19 percent decrease from the previous six months and a fall of 23 percent from the first half of 2012.

For a little perspective, here’s an excerpt from Freddie Mac’s economic outlook in December 2006:

“The recovery, however, will not be a re-run of the white-hot market in 2004-2005. Rather, there will likely be a return to more “normal” conditions next year, with starts and sales picking up only gradually and then growing at a modest pace. Nationally, house prices will likely appreciate around the rate of consumer price inflation, although there is a potential for real declines and some hard-hit areas will need greater improvements in the local economy before experiencing a housing recovery. With smaller price gains and reduced opportunities to extract equity, mortgage debt will grow more slowly. In short, housing markets will move off center stage, but will resume quietly providing homes and opportunities to build a nest egg for millions of American households.”

Things didn’t work out as planned.  Six years later, some 4.3 million nest eggs were lost to foreclosure and homeowners have lost $3 trillion in equity but at long last the recovery has begun and housing is back on center stage.

High-level findings from the report:

  • U.S. foreclosure starts in June dropped 21 percent from the previous month and were down 45 percent from a year ago to the lowest monthly level since December 2005 – a seven and a half year low. Year to date through June, 409,491 foreclosure starts have been filed nationwide, on pace to reach more than 800,000 for the year, which would be down from 1.1 million foreclosure starts in 2012.
  • Foreclosure starts in June decreased from the previous month in 38 states, including Nevada (down 84 percent), Colorado (down 62 percent), New Jersey (down 40 percent), Illinois (down 39 percent) and Florida (down 26 percent).
  • Bank repossessions (REO) in June decreased 9 percent from the previous month and were down 35 percent from a year ago. Year to date through June, a total of 248,538 bank repossessions have occurred nationwide, on pace for nearly 500,000 for the year, which would be down from more than 671,000 in 2012.
  • Bank repossessions in June decreased from a year ago in 34 states, but there were some notable exceptions where bank repossessions were up from a year ago, including Arkansas (up 143 percent), Oklahoma (up 103 percent), Maryland (up 74 percent), Washington (up 71 percent), New Jersey (up 33 percent), and New York (up 21 percent).
  • Judicial foreclosure auctions (NFS) were scheduled for 28,296 U.S. properties in June, up less than 1 percent from May but up 34 percent from June 2012. States with substantial annual increases in scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions included New Jersey (up 103 percent), Florida (up 100 percent), Maryland (up 94 percent), New York (up 66 percent), and Illinois (up 65 percent to a 35-month high).
  • Florida, Nevada, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia posted the top five state foreclosure rates for the first half of the year, while five Florida cities posted the top five metro foreclosure rates: Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Ocala, and Tampa.

“Halfway through 2013 it is becoming increasingly evident that while foreclosures are no longer a problem nationally they continue to be a thorn in the side of several state and local markets, particularly where a backlog of delayed distress has built up thanks to a lengthy foreclosure process,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac. “The increases in judicial foreclosure auctions demonstrate that these delayed foreclosure cases are now being moved more quickly through to foreclosure completion. Given the rising home prices in most of these markets, it is an opportune time for lenders to dispose of these distressed properties, either at the foreclosure auction to a third-party buyer, or by repossessing the property at the auction and subsequently selling it as a bank-owned home.

Florida, Nevada, Illinois post top state foreclosure rates in first half of 2013

Florida posted the nation’s highest state foreclosure rate in the first half of the year: 1.74 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing (one in every 58) during the six-month period – nearly three times the national average. A total of 155,264 Florida properties had a foreclosure filing in the first six months of the year, the most of any state and up 12 percent from a year ago. In June Florida foreclosure starts (LIS) decreased 23 percent from a year ago but scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 100 percent and bank repossessions increased 14 percent during the same time period.

Despite a 58 percent month-over-month drop in foreclosure activity in June, Nevada posted the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate in the first half of 2013: 1.40 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing (one in every 71) during the six-month period. A total of 16,291 Nevada properties had a foreclosure filing in the first half of 2013, up 12 percent from the previous six months but down 21 percent from a year ago. New state legislation (AB 300) that changes the foreclosure process in Nevada took effect in June.

Illinois foreclosure activity in the first half of 2013 decreased from the previous six months and a year ago, but the state still posted the nation’s third highest foreclosure rate: 1.20 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing (one in 83) during the six-month period. In June Illinois foreclosure starts (LIS) decreased 68 percent from a year ago and bank repossessions were down 49 percent from a year ago, but scheduled foreclosure auctions increased 65 percent during the same time period to the highest monthly level since July 2010

New Home Prices Rise in China | Chappaqua Real Estate

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New home prices in major Chinese cities rose strongly in June compared with a year ago, according to an analysis of official data released Thursday, but the market is also showing signs of moderation following last month’s government-led liquidity squeeze.

Prices rose an average of 6.12% in June compared with a year earlier, according to Wall Street Journal calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on 70 large and medium-size Chinese cities. Prices rose in 69 of cities in June compared with a year earlier, unchanged from May.

The result marks the latest pickup in the pace for home-price appreciation on a year-to-year basis—prices rose 5.32% in May and 4.27% in April, according to the calculations.

But compared with May, home-price appreciation appears to be easing a bit. Prices in the 70 cities increased an average 0.78% in June compared with May. They had risen 0.86% in May and 0.9% in April compared with the prior months, according to the calculations.

The data showed that prices of new homes in 63 of 70 large and medium-size cities rose in June from May. Prices fell in five cities and were unchanged in two cities. In May, prices rose in 65 cities.

“The moderation in growth momentum will likely continue, but home prices are not going to drop,” said Lee Wee Liat, a property analyst at BNP Paribas BNP.FR +0.16%. A decline is unlikely as many Chinese cities have issued guidance targeting home price growth at 10%, alongside expected gains in disposable income per capita, Mr. Lee added

 

 

 

read more…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323309404578612880231899740.html

 

Support for ‘patent troll’ legislation builds | Armonk Real Estate

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A push for legislation cracking down on so-called “patent trolls” is gathering steam on Capitol Hill, potentially spelling relief for many businesses, including those in the real estate industry.

Last week, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., introduced the “Patent Litigation and Innovation Act of 2013″ (H.R. 2639) in the House, which is related to the “Patent Abuse Reduction Act of 2013″ (S. 1013) introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in May.

The White House has also issued a series of legislative recommendations and executive actions to tackle the issue. The executive actions will require patent applicants and owners to disclose the true owner of a patent, train patent examiners to flag overly broad patent applications, and offer a website educating consumers and small-business owners about what to do if they are targeted, among other things.

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez last month urged the commission to use its authority to collect more comprehensive information about the business models and scope of “patent assertion entities” — the formal name given to companies that are focused primarily on purchasing and asserting patent claims against companies with products currently on the market.

“These entities are driving the increase in patent litigation and targeting firms in a growing slice of the economy,” Ramirez said. Patent trolls have moved beyond their original primary targets — information technology firms — and are going after financial services providers and retailers, she said.

“Even hotels and coffee shops are not immune,” Ramirez said, and the costs to consumers “appear increasingly tangible and direct.”

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/17/support-for-patent-troll-legislation-builds/#sthash.4tG5Bt34.dpuf

Buyer Procrastination? No Thanks | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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Plenty of people offer plenty of theories about what exactly selling is. Here’s my theory: Selling is about persuading someone to make a decision.

 

Trying to sell a job in one call isn’t easy. You’re there to get a decision, and it’s human nature to procrastinate. The bigger the decision, the more likely prospects are to put it off.

The sales process itself sets you up for this. If you’re selling the way you should be, you’re asking a lot of open-ended questions. You reach the end of your presentation and move to close. Now you’re asking a question that’s not open-ended but requires a yes or no answer. And yes or no is often the answer people are least inclined to give. They’d rather put off making the decision.

Need To Think It Over

They put it off with objections that are often excuses. Have you ever had a homeowner say, “I’ll think it over and call you back tomorrow”? Have they told you they can’t decide without consulting a friend, colleague, or relative? Certainly you’ve heard that they can’t make a decision without more estimates. And you’re familiar with the delay tactic: “I never make an immediate decision.”

Sometimes these aim to send you politely on your way. But let’s assume you’ve been at the prospect’s house for two hours and you’ve done a great job presenting yourself, your company, and your product. You go to close — Can we do business tonight? — and they tell you they need to see a few more estimates.

Instead of walking away, challenge the prospect by making them accountable. Ask “Who else are you seeing and when?” Or “Do you really want to sit through four more window company presentations?”

Let’s say the reason they give for not buying is that they want to talk to someone else. You can ask them what it is that they want to talk to the other company about. Let’s say the reason is that they never buy without thinking it over. OK, so why is that? What exactly do they need to think through? Maybe you can help them with that process.

Keep Them Talking

Prospects will answer the questions you ask because people are conditioned to answer. By challenging the excuses they give for not buying, you get them to say what’s really on their minds. It may be they’re not so much avoiding a decision as feeling you out in an effort to get better terms. OK, now you can negotiate. You also reestablish control of the conversation. That means you can direct the conversation to a certain purpose, which is to close them a second time or a third time. But if you want the sale, you have to keep them talking. Silence means the sales appointment is over. —Jake Jacobson is vice president of sales at Premier Window & Building, a Maryland home improvement company. Reach him at trainyes@verizon.net.

Inventory shortages ease | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Inventory shortages that constrained home sales this spring are beginning to ease, with the number of homes listed for sale trending upwards in June, according to realtor.com data, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The total number of listings rose by 4.3 percent from May to June, to 1.9 million homes. While that’s down by 7.3 percent from the same time a year ago, inventory was off 18.6 percent year over year in February, the newspaper said.

Real estate industry observers have speculated that home price gains might spur more homeowners to put their properties up for sale — and for builders to break ground on more new homes.

With the latest CoreLogic Home Price index showing a 12.2 percent year-over-year gain in home prices in May, the recent uptick in listings — though bolstered by a normal seasonal increase — suggests that these market reactions may be starting to play out.

“No one wants to sell at the bottom, but prices have now been rising for more than a year and by more than 30 percent in some markets — triggering some homeowners to lock in those gains, including those who have been underwater,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist at listing portal Trulia.

But while home value appreciation may be coaxing some to sell, National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement last month that growth in home supply will primarily depend on an increase in construction.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/15/inventory-shortage-eases/#sthash.oM9YQ165.dpuf

Interest rate increases may have silver lining | Bedford NY Real Estate

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Though a recent surge in interest rates may dissuade some consumers from buying homes, the development also could have a silver lining for the real estate market: making mortgages available to more people.

With the recent spike in interest rates, refinances have plummeted. In the last week of May, shortly after Fed officials hinted that the Fed may scale back its stimulus program later this year, refinance applications dropped to their lowest level since November 2011, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported.

With the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage continuing to push higher, they have trended lower since then.

That’s chipping away at banks’ profits. JPMorgan and Wells Fargo recently reported that their earnings from refinances have dropped significantly in recent months.

To make up for the lost revenue, some experts say, banks may extend credit to a larger swath of borrowers, allowing them to originate more mortgages.

“Because refi activity is down, you have a little more room to do business with people who don’t have an 800 credit score,” said Zillow Senior Economist Svenja Gudell.

– See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/15/interest-rate-increases-may-have-silver-lining/#sthash.CZXfQzkk.dpuf

Immigration reform would boost housing markets | Bedford Hills Real Estate

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Author William R. Alger once said that public opinion is a second conscience. That seems to be the case with public sentiment towards our nation’s immigration policy. A CNN poll shows 84 percent of Americans back a program that would allow undocumented workers to stay in the U.S. and apply for citizenship if they have been in the country for several years, have a job and pay back taxes.

Reforming our broken system and bringing 11 million people out of the shadows is not only the right thing to do, but also a smart economic move that would generate billions in federal, state and local taxes, stimulate housing purchases and trigger increased consumer spending. According to the Center for American Progress (CAP), new reforms would yield about $1.5 trillion in cumulative U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years.

All of which lawmakers seem to be adding up as a bipartisan committee of senators delivers a common-sense plan that could gain wide support — that is if anti-immigrant advocates don’t derail the bill. A study released by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, estimates that immigration reform would increase GDP by a percentage point each year over the next decade and, through this stream of tax revenue, reduce federal deficits by a combined $3.5 trillion.

If fiscal conservatives are doing the math on this, you know serious money is involved. What a difference a few years make. Back in 2004, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals published a study — “The Potential for Homeownership Among Undocumented Workers” — that estimated that these families would generate about $44 billion in new mortgages.

This was a conservative estimate that factored only 200,000 householders and did not account for the consumption of goods and services these homeowners would incur –

 

See more at: http://www.inman.com/2013/07/15/immigration-reform-would-boost-housing-markets/#sthash.oOcNlgNC.dpuf

Can Radiant Flooring Cause Legionnaires’ Disease? Yes! | Katonah Real Estate

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Q&A with Dr. John Straube about radiant floor heating, domestic hot water, and Legionnaire’s Disease.

Q: I am interested in combining the domestic hot water system in my houses with a hydronic floor system. I have heard stories about connecting the two systems causing Legionnaires’ disease. Is this for real?

A: Dr. John Straube, Ph.D., P. E., of Building Science Corp., fills us in: Yes, it is for real, but you can prevent it.

Legionnaires’ disease is actually a more common problem than you might think. The primary place to find legionella bacteria is in residential hot water systems – usually in your shower. 

Q: Holy cow! How common is it?

A: Newspapers report on outbreaks of 20 to 30 people, so it seems sporadic but small. Actually, the number of people who get it and go to the doctor with pneumonia-like symptoms is pretty high. The Centers for Disease Control reports around 5,000 people per year get Legionnaires’ disease. The vast majority got it from their home hot water system or from a hotel’s hot water system.

Q: Creepy. How do you kill legionella?

A: Here are three things to keep in mind when designing a building or community:

1. Keep the water hot. At 130 degrees, the bacteria will die within 5 to 6 hours; at 150 degrees, the bacteria will be killed in a few minutes.

2. Use a tankless gas water heater. Legionella is not a problem with tankless water heaters – especially gas-fired tankless models – because they blast the bacteria, if present, right away.

3. If you don’t install a tankless unit, use an oil or gas-fired water heater.

Researchers who sampled water tanks have learned that fossil-fuel water heaters have much lower rates of legionella bacteria than do electric water heaters.

They believe that’s because the temperature difference between the heat exchanger and the water is well more than 150 degrees in oil and natural gas-fired water heaters, death is instantaneous for legionella bacteria as it slides by these heat exchangers under fire.

Because of this direct correlation between tank temperature and legionella, the DOE recommends to keep water at 130 degrees. If the water never goes below 130 degrees, legionella will not survive.

Temperatures of 130 to 140 degrees are ideal for killing legionella, but can scald bathers in relatively short periods of time. Babies and the elderly are particularly susceptible.

How to Target Only Your Customers With Facebook | South Salem Realtor

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What if you could reach your existing customers while they’re on Facebook?

Does the idea of displaying a Facebook ad only to your prospects list sound interesting?

This could give your marketing a boost and help build your brand’s image on Facebook.

In this post, I’ll show you two ways to use Facebook’s Custom Audiences to connect with your customers and prospects on Facebook.

And I’ll also show you how to create and use your first custom audience.

build brand image

How do you build your brand’s image on Facebook?

What’s a Custom Audience?

Your business undoubtedly has a database of customers. You may be using that database to keep email addresses, phone numbers, Facebook user IDs and app user IDs.

You can target the customers on these lists with your Facebook advertising, whether they are your current fans or not.

Instead of agonizing over demographics, precise interests and Partner Category targeting in an effort to reach your ideal audience, all you need to do is upload your customer list to Facebook. Facebook then matches up email addresses, for example, with the email addresses of users on Facebook.

Not all of the email addresses you collect are directly related to an email address of a Facebook user. Facebook tends to match up between 30-50% (sometimes more, sometimes less), depending on the quality of your list.

Once this list is generated in Facebook, you have a Custom Audience you can use in your advertising.