wordpress for real estate

With SpatialMatch search, you can compete with “10 Best Neighborhoods” in the country

Realtors in some cities must be salivating over a recent article in USA Today about “10 Best Neighborhoods That Tourists Haven’t Found Yet.”

Imagine being an agent with listings near Austin’s East Side or Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill or Orlando’s Ivanhoe Village.

Show a buyer the article and the homes... Read More

Some homes need a boost from the surrounding neighborhood

Buyers are back. Bargains are out there. That’s the good news.

But there’s one ugly variable that could make life difficult for real estate agents and brokers.

The condition of those hot homes for sale.

That’s where using a tool like the SpatialMatch real estate map search can come in real... Read More

Control your own destiny with your own website

In the Internet world, it’s a simple but brutal fact.

In real estate, every link and every click is extremely valuable. Precious. A path to leads. Sales. But only if you control the click-path.

So why are so many agents still directing links and clicks to their company website, or “their page” on the company website, or even worse, a competitor destination portal like Zillow?

There are so many incredible tools available for an agent to own their own site, including the WordPress for real... Read More

When Microsoft defers to a service like WordPress, Realtors should take notice

As many companies have discovered, you don’t want to mess with Microsoft. But when Microsoft throws in the towel and gives way to a competitor, then that competitor certainly has something major going on.

This was the case with WordPress. Real estate professionals would be wise to learn why WordPress is a great... Read More

Agents can break out of the pack with WordPress for real estate

Ask any real estate broker or agent and they would naturally say they want to control their own destiny.

But if this is the case, why don’t more of them have control over their own websites?

That’s the beauty of WordPress for real estate. You control the site, you own the site, the content is ALL yours.

Think about it. If you are a real estate pro using a convenient company website with your own few pages, how much control and independence are you really able to display?

Your pages look pretty much like every other agent’s page on the... Read More

Why you should be thinking about Gen Y

You think the earth’s plates have enormous tectonic shifts when earthquakes occur?

Wait until you get hit with the demographic shifts that are about to take place in your real estate market.

We talked before about the “silver tsunami” of baby boomers who are retiring, an estimated 77 million of them... Read More

It’s time to drop the old and bring in the new

As the new year approaches, let it be known that New York City does not own the celebration just because it drops a giant 10,000 pound ball with pulsating LED lights.

In Fayetteville, Ark., they drop a hog.

In Tallapoose GA., it’s not a hog, it’s an opossum. And that’s only for odd years.

The revelers in Eastport ME drop a sardine to launch the new year while down the coast in Easton, MD, it’s a crab. Not blue, but red.

Guess what they drop in Frogtown, PA, every year? That’s right. A frog.

In Atlanta it’s a peach. In... Read More

December: the "tenth" month and end of a long year

It is so incredibly fitting that the holiday season comes at the end of the year.

Think about it? Wouldn’t you want to end the year on a high note? Celebrating with family and friends?

If the world isn’t weird enough with all this talk of such strange words such as iPads, Nexus’ and... Read More

December: the “tenth” month and end of a long year

It is so incredibly fitting that the holiday season comes at the end of the year.

Think about it? Wouldn’t you want to end the year on a high note? Celebrating with family and friends?

If the world isn’t weird enough with all this talk of such strange words such as iPads, Nexus’ and... Read More

Even the Internet can be clunky at times like an old typewriter

I can’t think of how many times I’ve sat down with people and discussed adding content to their website only to find out, they really can’t.

Know why? Their sites are clunky. You might think you are tech-savvy with a website that is five years old, but guess what, in terms of Internet technology, your site... Read More

When someone hands you a gift, use it!

If you’ve been on the planet a few years, you notice there are two types of people in the world.

Doers and semi-doers.

The semi-doers drive to work, do what they’re told or what they’ve always done, drive home, eat dinner, pass out.

The doers, on the other hand, can’t stand the... Read More

News Alert! Home Junction announces you can now get their popular SpatialMatch Lifestyle Search App for FREE

Sometimes I think we tend to forget that the incredible allure of the Internet is that it offers so many items for no cost at all.

You can search for free, listen to music for free, watch funny videos for free, play games for free, talk to your friends for free, read the news for free, etc. and etc.

Then there are all the plug-ins and widgets and what-nots you can add to your site for free.

With all this free stuff, the real challenge is in choosing which feature to download and which to ignore. Because many of the items turn out to be worthless or something you never,... Read More

Be thankful for uptick in real estate outlook

If you can cut through all the noise out there – politics, taxes, jobs – there are some promising indicators in real estate that make this Thanksgiving a time to stop and appreciate the signs of hope.

First of all, speaking of noise, the election is finally... Read More

How ready are you when a company opens or relocates?

One major discussion that has taken center stage in this presidential election concerns jobs.

And one thing that real estate professionals do well is to keep their ears to the ground for the sound of economic development in their area.

When a new manufacturing plant opens up (they are in some southern states) or when a company relocates their headquarters it means one thing to a broker or agent – people are going to be buying homes, quickly.

There is a battle going on between states, even counties, for economic development. They have departments devoted solely to... Read More

In the blink of an eye, what do people think of your real estate site?

It’s no great revelation that things move fast today. Real fast.

People surf the world on the web in seconds. You send letters in a snap. When you call a friend, you don’t look up his number, your virtual phone assistant does that for you.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “The Tipping Point.” He wrote a follow-up book, “Blink” that has some very interesting observations with valuable implications for real estate professionals.

In “Blink,” Gladwell... Read More

How to market properties in today's coupon economy

It’s no secret this country has gone through some tough economic times and is on the slow road to recovery.

A few years ago, jobs disappeared. Housing dropped. Wallets and pocketbooks shrunk.

Things appear to be getting better – the unemployment rate is declining and the demand for real estate listings in... Read More

How to market properties in today’s coupon economy

It’s no secret this country has gone through some tough economic times and is on the slow road to recovery.

A few years ago, jobs disappeared. Housing dropped. Wallets and pocketbooks shrunk.

Things appear to be getting better – the unemployment rate is declining and the demand for real estate listings in... Read More

What's the "tipping point" when it comes to hyper-local real estate?

It’s not often you are credited with creating a new or popular phrase in the English language.

Writer Malcolm Gladwell took the term “tipping point” to a whole new level with his book of the same name published in 2000.

He pointed out there are three characteristics of a tipping point – one... Read More

What’s the “tipping point” when it comes to hyper-local real estate?

It’s not often you are credited with creating a new or popular phrase in the English language.

Writer Malcolm Gladwell took the term “tipping point” to a whole new level with his book of the same name published in 2000.

He pointed out there are three characteristics of a tipping point – one... Read More

WordPress gains in popularity with real estate pros

By now, real estate agents have gotten the message about networking with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

These sites have really become part of the mainstream, I guess you could say, media or marketing.

You have something to say – you put it up on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

But there are some new platforms rising as well.

One of those is WordPress and it’s rising like a space shuttle.

For example, in a recent study, more than 15% of real estate agents now market themselves using WordPress. More than YouTube at... Read More

This grade school subject is critical for real estate pros today

Back in the days of our youth, most of us probably thought geography was just another one of those obscure classes, like algebra, or chemistry that we would never use in real life.

Then you grow up and you realize, whoa, maybe those teachers were right after all.

As an adult, you can’t help but see the... Read More

Forced registration improves conversion rate by 300%

Nobody likes to be forced into anything.

But as you know, on the Internet, the rules are different.

Web users are now becoming more accepting of “forced registration.”

It makes sense. Sites are better at providing useful information.

But if you want that information, you need to give a little too.

That request could be just an email address. Or a name. Something simple.

SpatialMatch, the IDX and Lifestyle search engine platform, provides a simple registration form that you can tweak to your preferences (see below).

Don’t be afraid to... Read More

WordPress themes for real estate are like a new suit of clothes

Themes are fun.

Take parties for example.

In an instant you can transform mild-mannered suburbanites into crazed Parrott Heads or 40-year-olds into little Halloween-loving kids.

We don’t know if you noticed, but WordPress is like that.

We don’t mean it will turn you into a Margaritaville maniac.

What we are referring to are the WordPress themes.

It’s an amazing advancement in web design.

When  you created a site in the old days, it was a ton of back and forth with the web designer. What goes where, what color... Read More

Use “hidden gems” to increase your Facebook followers

We were sitting around the other day with a bunch of friends who lived in our area for quite a while.

I mentioned a funky and delicious restaurant we checked out recently.

They had never heard of it.

And they were quite impressed with our local knowledge.

This got me thinking about how real estate brokers and... Read More

Use "hidden gems" to increase your Facebook followers

We were sitting around the other day with a bunch of friends who lived in our area for quite a while.

I mentioned a funky and delicious restaurant we checked out recently.

They had never heard of it.

And they were quite impressed with our local knowledge.

This got me thinking about how real estate brokers and... Read More

How to glow when “Googled”

I read an interesting blog the other day from a real estate agent who held an open house.

She met a nice young couple who toured the house and then came back and spoke with the agent.

“Yea, we Googled you,” they said, apparently happy with what they found.

Googled... Read More

How to glow when "Googled"

I read an interesting blog the other day from a real estate agent who held an open house.

She met a nice young couple who toured the house and then came back and spoke with the agent.

“Yea, we Googled you,” they said, apparently happy with what they found.

Googled... Read More

When it comes to personalization in real estate, how “sick” is your website?

I thought about this the other day while I downloaded an app on my smartphone. There’s a major underlying shift taking place with consumers.

Take iPhone apps for example. Okay, you might enjoy photography apps, someone else might like games and someone else might prefer weight loss... Read More

When it comes to personalization in real estate, how "sick" is your website?

I thought about this the other day while I downloaded an app on my smartphone. There’s a major underlying shift taking place with consumers.

Take iPhone apps for example. Okay, you might enjoy photography apps, someone else might like games and someone else might prefer weight loss... Read More

How to walk the talk when it comes to value-added selling

Do you consider yourself to be a value-added real estate broker or agent?

Naturally, if you ask this question to those in the business, they will all respond, “Heck yeah.”

Let’s first look at the definition. Here’s one we like from Tom Reilly: “Value-added selling is a proactive philosophy of seeking ways to enhance, augment or enlarge your bundled package solution for the customer.

“It’s promising a lot and delivering more, always looking for ways to exceed the customer’s expectations.”

... Read More