December 26th, 2007 categories: For Fun
We at the Don Edam Group hope you all had a very merry christmas and we wish you a safe and happy new year!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
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December 24th, 2007 categories: Design, For Fun
Jennifer Chait over at OffBeatHomes put up a great posting awhile back that seems appropriate to refer back to today considering it’s Christmas eve and this is a tradition that often takes place on this very day….. she calls it “some of the world’s best offbeat gingerbread homes” and here are a few teasers to inspire you! 
From the build an edible Gizmodo-House contest a few years back….
…The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe by Marye over at Baking Delights….
…and the 2006 grand prize winner at The National Gingerbread House Competition at The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa. Full Story
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December 24th, 2007 categories: Real Estate
As the holidays and long winter months quickly approach, December brings many real estate professionals extra time to anticipate their success for the upcoming year. Instead of facing a bleak and potentially slow month of business and leads, utilize this exclusive downtime to your advantage. Try these 10 actions from RISMedia to lay the groundwork for a successful and profitable 2008:
1. Create a specific, realistic and competitive business plan for next year and stick to it! Develop short term goals for each season and set aside four specific days each year to assess how you’re reaching these goals. You want to make sure to set goals that help sustain your drive and vision of success for the whole year. Don’t push yourself too far and remember that a lot of your learning will come from the mistakes you make.
2. Define your marketing niche and go for it! Seek out a professional to help you focus on a particular market segment if you are unaware of successful marketing techniques. Look at the area surrounding your properties. Should you appeal to expecting parents? New college graduates? Retiring, older adults? What generation are you trying to target? Make sure your advertising appeals to whichever market you’ve selected. If you’re very ambitious, look into becoming a short sales expert. The short sale occurs when the net proceeds from the sale of a home are not enough to cover the sellers’ mortgage obligations and closing costs. Lenders will pay a reasonable commission to the real estate professional as an incentive to get into short selling.
3. Incorporate new technology into your Web site. Add moving graphics, virtual tours and request forms for potential clients to elicit more information from you. Ensure that the message “I’m available to help you” is loud and clear. The more accessible you are, the more opportunity you give potential clients to make contact with you. Remember - people need a fast response to an e-mail or phone call. If they don’t hear from you within a couple of hours, they will find someone else to answer their questions.
4. Make phone calls. Set a minimum number of phone calls to make each day and stick to it! Figure out how many phone calls you usually make during the busy season and double that number during the winter months. Call past clients to wish them a happy holiday season and check in with them to see if they have any friends or relatives looking to buy or sell a home. Call your prospects and figure out if they are hot or cold leads. The stronger the connection you have with a potential client, the more likely they will choose you to guide them through the home buying process.
5. Host a seminar. Choose a topic that is pertinent to the local community.
6. Volunteer. By getting involved in the local community you’ll be able get your name out and make connections. Community service gives you the chance to express yourself outside of work and to develop the personal relationships that you need to promote growth and future referrals. The more people that recognize your face, the more likely they are to turn to you for real estate advice.
7. Master your home staging techniques. Read a few books or articles on what real estate professionals are doing now in terms of staging and make sure that you’re equipped to do the same for your customers. Look into a home staging training program that upon completion will provide you with a certificate as an Accredited Staging ProfessionalTM. This certificate provides you with a competitive edge and yet another free service that you can offer to potential clients.
8. Attend open houses. Take time to see what’s available in your area so you are aware of the close competition and how other real estate professionals are selling. (While you are perusing the open houses note the other real estate professional’s home staging techniques for tip 7.)
9. Improve your ad copy. By practicing your writing techniques you will increase your ability to make your ads more appealing. Focus on spelling out amenities and highlighting any benefits that homeowners would want to find in their ideal home. Make sure the description is not vague and avoid euphemisms. Practice by reading current listings and try to spruce them up.
10. Get a designation or certificate. The more qualifications you can add to sell yourself and widen your client base as the best agent in your area, the better. There are several different areas that you can get a designation in from becoming an Accredited Buyer Representative to becoming a Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager. Turn a professional weakness around by becoming an expert!
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December 21st, 2007 categories: Home Buying, Home Selling, Investments, Moving, Real Estate
Real estate Web site Zillow.com launched Zillow® Smart Search, a dynamic new version of its search system, along with enhanced Neighborhood Pages that make it easier than ever for consumers to zero-in on homes most relevant to them and become smarter about the characteristics of surrounding areas.
According to the company, Smart Search uses patent-pending search technology that tightly integrates Zillow’s vast amount of real estate data with its mapping technology to provide users meaningful results through an intuitive, dynamic display. The technology enables Zillow visitors to customize their searches and view results in real time across multiple regions, simplifying real estate search in ways not previously available.
Specifically, Smart Search offers:
Geographic boundaries. No need to scroll through pages and pages of data, Smart Search presents information at-a-glance through a map-based display that now includes boundaries at the state, county, city, ZIP code, and in many cases, neighborhood levels. Choose to view all homes, or those that are for sale, recently sold, or have a Make Me MoveTM price and further narrow searches with details such as number of bedrooms or price range. Results will identify the number of homes that match each search within the boundaries.
Dynamic, real-time updates. Designed to handle complicated and simultaneous queries, Smart Search enables users to alter search parameters or zoom in or out on the map and see results update on the fly, without the need to refresh.
Detailed Snapshots. See quick-read details of a specific area via a pop-up window. Based on the criteria, this could include population, median sale price and the Zindex® home value indicator. Unlike most real estate sites, Zillow tracks data on nearly all U.S. homes, not just those that are currently on the market or have recently sold, which is helpful to those looking for broader perspective on a particular market.
Improved results for multi-unit buildings. It is now far easier for users to find details about condos or multi-unit buildings through the initial results page. A special icon denotes these types of homes so users can easily identify a specific type of home.
“Smart Search sets a new standard for online real estate search and solves one of the biggest challenges on the Internet today by taking an enormous amount of data and displaying it in a way that is easy to digest and meaningful to each of our users,” said David Beitel, chief technology officer at Zillow. “At Zillow, we recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to homes and we’ll continue to introduce cutting-edge technologies and resources like Smart Search and neighborhood pages to help users customize their experience and quickly locate relevant information in a simple and seamless way.”
Zillow also launched more than 7,000 re-designed neighborhood pages in more than 130 cities nationwide, incorporating valuable user feedback. These revamped pages provide an in-depth look at a neighborhood, integrating public demographic information as well as data that is unique to Zillow like the Zindex and home value trends across neighborhoods and other regions. These pages now include snapshots on Affordability, Homes & Real Estate, People, and Discussions, a popular forum Zillow introduced earlier this year to help community members ask questions and have conversations with current or potential neighbors.
The company says that the neighborhood pages are also now easier to find, accessible through the home page, through links embedded in Smart Search results, and on individual home detail pages, which Zillow provides for more than 70 million homes nationwide. Zillow Blog
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