Last year was a tale of two stories for second home purchases in the U.S. Despite home sales overall coming in at their strongest pace in a decade, sales to vacation buyers plummeted 21.6 percent to their lowest level (721,000) since 2013 (717,000). Meanwhile, the sizable demand for renting helped boost sales to individual investors… Continue Reading Vacation Home Sales Took a Vacation in 2016
Anita Clark By Anita Clark People visit your website for one of two reasons: 1. They might be looking for an agent. If that is the case, they are already half sold. As long as your website looks professional, shows you as credible, and makes it easy to contact you, you have a new client.… Continue Reading Giving Prospects Information They Can Use
On September 30, less than six months from now, the National Flood Insurance Program will expire. The National Association of REALTORS® is working closely with federal regulators and members of Congress to strengthen the program and clear the way for a private market to take hold, but REALTORS® warn the program’s September 30 reauthorization deadline is a threat to… Continue Reading Story Idea: How NFIP Expiration Would Affect Homeowners
Older Boomers, buyers aged 62 to 70 years, make up 14 percent of all home buyers in 2016. The median age for this group is 66 years old and they were born between 1946 and 1954. Within this group, they have the largest share of single female buyers at 21 percent. Their primary reason for… Continue Reading Older Boomers: Most Satisfied Buyers Purchasing Forever Homes
By Julea Joseph, guest contributor As a home stager, I hear weekly this song from people getting ready to sell their occupied home: “My closets are stuffed, I hate my living room sofa, Grandma’s old dinette set looks shoddy, and those oak cabinets in the kitchen are not going to fly with the younger buying… Continue Reading Smart Staging Solutions for the Owner Occupied House
The rise of live video streaming technology on social media has given real estate professionals a powerful new way to promote listings, create brand awareness and attract business. Video platforms such as Facebook Live make it possible to show a property to potential buyers who might not be able to visit it in person, and… Continue Reading Using Live Video to Build Your Real Estate Business
The Silent Generation, buyers ages 71 to 91 years, make up the smallest share of home buyers by generation at only eight percent of all home buyers in 2016. The median age for this group is 75 years old and they were born between 1925 and 1945. They tend to have the smallest families; 97… Continue Reading The Silent Generation: Downsizing Homes & Joining Senior-Related Housing
Many real estate pros look at building a marketing plan as a simple task to be checked off a list each year. But what if reaching customers were more about attitude and philosophy than goals, metrics, and budgeting? Alejandro Escamilla, Unsplash.com If you, like me, suspect that the latter is true, I humbly suggest turning… Continue Reading A Mindset for Your Online Marketing Plan
Weather, searching, safety, design, technology, nature, demographics, and retail. Did you know we have a terrifying day of tornado outbreaks to thank for our emergency preparedness system? Stop losing things and find that which you’ve misplaced. Search results in Google will soon look a little different. Well this is terrifying. Be safe when you charge… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: April 3-7
The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ report on employment conditions in March: “The soft hiring seen in March is not too concerning and likely a single month aberration. The recent high levels of voluntary quitting, presumably because of better job opportunities elsewhere, will lead… Continue Reading Instant Reaction: March Jobs Report