Online real estate firm Redfin offers seven recommendations for selling a home faster and for more money.

The seven tips come from an analysis of academic research, multiple listings service data, and from information posted on Redfin’s various Web sites.

1. Don’t overprice your property. According to a 2002 academic study of 3,490 California listings, homes without a price reduction sold for 97 percent of the initial list price, whereas homes with a price reduction sold for 88 percent of the initial list price.
2. Set your price to show up in Web searches. A September 2007 Redfin study analyzed how online search filters affect traffic to a listing. Because real estate sites filter on price in $25,000 or $50,000 increments, listings priced at or below these thresholds — $250,000 rather than $251,000, or $325,000 rather than $326,000 — get as much as 7.1 percent more online visits.
3. Debut on Friday. A December 2007 Redfin analysis of its online traffic for 119,079 listings across seven markets found that listings that debut on Friday get on average 7.7 percent more visitors in their first seven days than those that debut on the worst day, Thursday.
4. Get sellers engaged with your agent. According to several academic studies, motivated, active sellers are able to sell their property as much as 30 percent faster.
5. Market the property online. Promoting a listing on Web sites beyond the local Multiple Listing Service can drive a significant number of new online visits to a property. A December 2007 analysis of 121 Redfin listings found that promoting the listings on Craigslist resulted in an average of 6.8 online visits to the property for each Craigslist promotion.
6. Have sellers stay put. The study of 3,490 California listings, cited earlier, found that vacant homes were 9.5 percent more likely to undergo a price reduction.
7. Wait to list your property until neighboring foreclosures are off the market. According to a November 2007 report from the Center for Responsible Lending, a foreclosure costs neighboring home owners an average of $5,000 when listing their property.

Source: Redfin (12/14/07)

Pam Giusto has a few ball markers left over from our PMZ & Friends golf tournament.

If anyone would like to own one they can contact her at 544-1199 or send her an email at pgiusto@pmz.com– the cost is $5.00.

YPN is a growing group of young, career-minded real estate professionals who want to stay abreast of the latest tools, resources, and networking opportunities. As a member, you’ll receive invitations to exclusive events at REALTOR® conferences, news on how to get involved in leadership roles at NAR, and updates on new tools and resources that will help you grow your career. Membership is Free!

Click Here for more info 

PMZ would like to thank Phil Levin for contributing to our group blood plan at Delta Blood Bank for the month of August. If you are interested in donating blood, and would like to provide your fellow PMZers with blood vouchers in the event anything should happen to one of us, visit Delta Blood Bank and donate blood and tell Delta to credit the PMZ Group Blood Plan.

Thanks again Phil for donating!

Just for fun!  Take a moment to watch this YouTube video of US Real Estate Home prices from 1890 to present adjusted for inflation and plotted as a roller coaster. Source data comes from the book, Irrational Exuberance: A History of Home Values, 2nd Edition by Robert Shiller.

PMZ has a Group Blood Plan set up at Delta Blood Bank. The blood plan is a blood insurance policy available to individuals and groups that reimburses beneficiaries for the cost of transfused blood and blood products. We have been able to donate blood vouchers to people in need throughout the community.

Right now there are only 3 people on the list. To get on the list, just mention that you would like to be included in the plan next time you donate.

This is an excellent opportunity for the PMZ team to take care of one another and members of our local communities.

For a list of local blood banks and their hours of operation, click here.

If you would be interested in PMZ hosting a blood drive for PMZ employees at one of our offices, leave a comment so we can guage the attendance of such an event.

Thanks!

I read this article today concerning the impact of internet presentations of homes for sale (i.e. photos, virtual tours, etc.) on the decision making of potential buyers.

It discusses how buyers now go online and to check out photos and virtual tours of homes to find what type of homes they are interested in and why this makes the days of Realtor’s showing clients 20 homes or so before they found what their client’s taste was, a thing of the past.

Encourage your clients to check out PMZ.com and to sign up for Email Notifications. Your clients can save properties they’re interested in and you can track what your clients are looking at.

Read the article and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Realtor.com is now offering free blogs to all agents.

Blogging is a great way to keep in touch with your clients and let them know what’s new on the market.  It’s also a great way to show off your knowledge and understanding of the market.  Consider setting up your own personal blog on Blogger.com and set yourself apart from the crowd.

Maybe this is an idea for PMZ 2.0?  Would you keep a blog on your agent page?  Comment and let me know your thoughts.

By now, most of us understand the effectiveness of branding your business using the power of the Internet. However, some of us still might not yet realize the Internet’s potential. For those people, here is a quick refresher on why the Internet is such a powerful marketing tool and why traditional advertising, such as newspapers and magazines, are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

The Internet is changing the face of consumer spending. Consumers are turning more frequently to the Internet as a first resource in searching for goods and services. According to the National Association of Realtors, over 80% of home buyers now turn to the Internet to start their home search. Fading are the days when consumers wait until Sunday for their local newspaper to publish homes that are “new” on the market. Why should a consumer battle through a sea of gray and black that is updated once a week and that covers a limited area when they can easily hop online anytime to find the home of their dreams?

» Click Read More for Full Story
Read the rest of this entry »

It takes Microsoft only 10 hours of business to exceed Red Hat’s entire quarterly profit. Skeptical? Check out the math, and nine other facts about Microsoft’s profits.Microsoft announced last week quarterly revenue of $14.4 billion and net income of $4.93 billion. In other words, Microsoft’s daily net income is about $55 million. That’s $55 million in pure profit every 24 hours. Do some quick math and you’ll learn it takes Microsoft only about…

• 10 hours or so (yes, hours!) to exceed Red Hat’s quarterly net income of $20.5 million.
• four days to exceed Research In Motion’s quarterly net income of $187.9 million.
• four days to exceed Starbucks’ quarterly net income of $205 million.
• one week to exceed Nike’s quarterly net income of $350.8 million.
• two weeks to exceed McDonalds’ quarterly net income of $762 million.
• two weeks to exceed Apple’s quarterly net income of $770 million.
• 18 days to exceed Google’s quarterly net income of $1 billion.
• 23 days to exceed Coca-Cola’s quarterly net income of $1.26 billion.
• five weeks to exceed IBM’s quarterly net income of $1.85 billion.
• 10 weeks to exceed Wal-Mart’s quarterly net income of $3.9 billion.

Imagine if you could build a business that’s only a fraction of that profitable! Info Source