Those of you who followed Project Blogger knew that one of my frustrations was that during the contest, I was writing my little heart out but Google couldn't find me. There was almost an allergic reaction between Google and Real Town, the platform where I've been writing my Live In Los Gatos blog.
Well, I have good news to report.
Fran (Frances Flynn Thorsen, the managing editor of Real Town and my mentor during the contest) kept telling me that changes were coming. She had hoped that they would come DURING the contest, but alas, they did not. And that was a cause of immense frustration to me.
But come they did - and what an impact it has had! So I had to report back with "the rest of the story".
When I fist started writing Live in Los Gatos (with the URL shortcut of http://www.liveinlosgatos.com/), the real web address of my blog was http://liveinlosgatos.realtownblogs.com/.
Google seemed to hate that.
In deference to SEO issues, though, in the last couple of weeks the changes have been implemented. The new "real" url is now http://www.realtown.com/liveinlosgatos/blog. Same shortcut, though. (I like my permanent URL to be short!)
Google likes it. Google REALLY likes it.
Suddenly when I look at my # of hits, it's way up. The results are coming to me from Google for a change too. And vanity searches, where I check "Mary Pope-Handy" on Google, return 2.5 times as many as they did a couple of weeks ago. Suddenly, Google can "see" the almost 200 posts I have there on Real Town.
Thank goodness!
So take another look at Real Town. It is a neat community too - just like Active Rain is. There are pros and cons to each one, but do take a look at my Live in Los Gatos blog. You cannot do everything that 's on there with the AR blog. The two sites have a lot in common but a lot that's unique too.
Just check it out. It's better than ever.
Project Blogger Followup... "The Rest of the Story"
6 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 27 2007 11:16PMAnother Social Networking Site - Found Through Ghosthunting
Yes, it's true, I collect ghost stories. But it's not really that weird. I mean, you go into homes and some of them "feel nice" and some can "feel creepy". A LOT of real estate professionals have stories.
But perhaps I'm more open about it since I have www.HauntedRealEstate.com and www.HauntedRealEstateBlog.com. I seem to find people - or be found by them - with an interest in this stuff.
Tonight I met a nice group of local, San Francisco Bay Area ghosthunters - the name, actually, is Bay Area Ghost Hunters. We met at a Starbucks in downtown Los Gatos and most of the folks there tonight were first timers (as I was). And what surprised me was that most of them met through "MeetUp.com". In fact, where we were sitting, the group leader had placed a placard with the little Meetup logo on it to make it easier to ID the group. Have you ever heard of that social networking site before? I hadn't. But of the 15 or so of us there, virtually everyone but yours truly found the group through that venue.
I have not snooped around enough to see if there's a real estate application on that site, but thought it was worth mentioning to my buddies here on Active Rain. Even if you aren't ghost hunting!
9 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 19 2007 11:49PMIt's Mid-September, Time to Order Holiday Mailings. Here's What I Send, How About You?
It's time to get organized for The Holidays. I know it's early, but if you order in September it's a lot cheaper and a lot less stressful than if you order in, say, the first week of November.What do you send to your best clients each December?
I send out CDs. Actually I have two different CDs I send out, depending on what I think the clients would prefer. Most receive holiday music and a smaller group gets symphonic music (if I don't think they celebrate Christmas). These are always appreciated and saved.
The source I've been using is The CD Guys. You can listen to music samples on the web and then select what you want to give. You can customize the CD for a little more money (the look of it, not the music in it). It used to be that The CD Guys would make the order and then ship the CDs to the consumer. But last year they offered a "we'll mail it for you" option. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!
I've been sending these out almost 10 years now and my only wish is that there was a little more selection - I don't want to send repeats and while I like most of the music offering there, I don't like them all. I wasn't crazy about "Jingle Bell Mambo", for instance.
Do any of you send out holiday music to your clients? If so, I'd love to hear your source. I know there's one recommended by the folks at www.GoStarPower.com (Howard Brinton's organization), but I've forgotten the name of the company. I've been very, very happy with the CD Guys so am unlikely to change - but wouldn't mind knowing other options!
So it's time to order. First I need to revisit my database, adding clients who've done business with me this year, changing addresses etc. Then I'll put in the order. And thankfully, I'll be checking the box that says "ship for me"!
13 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 16 2007 08:51AMAgents: Are You Using Plaxo ECards?
Hi Active Rain,
My databas is both online and with Outlook. With Outlook, I use Sonoma Enterprise's add on for real estate called Active Agent. It's good! And I sync with Plaxo too, which is what I want to write about today.
A cool thing about Plaxo (with the paid membership) is the ecards. I send them out for certain holidays or birthdays, and people are always delighted to get them.
Last year and this year, I sent out Plaxo ECards to my Jewish friends who were celebrating Rosh Hashahana, the Jewish New Year. (I'm Catholic, but I like to recognize others' important days.) Plaxo has about a dozen choices for the Jewish New Year, and it provides suggested wording to go with it - but you can change it too.
Every time I send these types of greetings out, whether for a religious or secular holiday, birthday or anniversary, I always get a VERY positive response. (This is especially true if I'm acknowledging a holiday that I myself don't celebrate.) The clients and friends are always so tickled that I remembered and sent good wishes for the hoiday with NO commercial message attached.
It has been a great tool for me. Are you using it? If not, let me suggest that you take a look at Plaxo and make use of the great cards that come with the subscription!
Sharing ideas - this is what Active Rain is all about!
Best wishes from Silicon Valley,
Mary
9 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 15 2007 11:59PMIn Contract to Purchase a Home? One Piece of Advice...or Two
Congratulations on getting your offer accepted! That is great!
Most buyers who go "into contract" (or "into escrow" as we say here) do close on their homes. But sometimes when there's more information, the best thing to do is back out. Information is power - the early days of the contract (before you are required to remove your contingency) is a good time to really get to know not just the house, but also the neighborhood.
In some states, sellers have to tell you anything wrong with the structure of the house - but maybe not its history and maybe not about the neighborhood.
Investigate!! Here are a few things you can do to check out the property and protect yourself:
(1) One very simple thing to do is return to the property and check out the street at several different times of day and times in the week. So it looks good on a weekday at 3pm. How is it on a Saturday at 10pm? Don't be lazy - drive over there and check it out! Visit MULTIPLE TIMES!
(2) Another clue is the number of cars on the street. Return multiple times and pay close attention to the number of cars. Too many could indicate overcrowding in the neighborhood.
(3) Talk to the neighbors, especially if the homes nearby are vacant. Ask a lot of questions about why things are as they are.
Do your research now. Every area has "something" but make sure that the compromises you're making are ones you're comfortable with.
Best of luck with your transacation! Happy homecoming!
1 comment • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 15 2007 11:47PMBuying a Home? How to Think and Succeed Like an Investor!!
Buy the biggest, most improved home in a nieighborhood, and the lower priced homes in the area will pull you down. Bad investment!
Buy the smallst, cheapest home in the neighborhood, and the more improved homes nearby will pull you up. Good investment.
There are a few "rules of thumb" that make smart investors lots and lots of money. They do require effort (forget the "free lunch" concept) but the effort will pay off nicely.
To read more, please visit my Live in Los Gatos Blog, and read the post entitiled "What to Look for When Buying A Home".
8 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 15 2007 11:39PMWhat Advice Would You Give to a New Agent Who Wants to Begin Part Time?
Someone near and dear to me has gotten a license but will teach for the remainder of the school year. This great individual hopes that when next summer rolls around, conditions will be ripe to go full time into real estate without starving. That means starting now, part time. (Yeah I know, it's not ideal.)
You know how scary it was to start.
Many of us went into debt to go into real estate. Some of us broke even and made a profit fast. Some of us not.
Imagine that this is a child, cousin, close friend, or someone you love.
What advice would you give?
Here's what I'm saying, tell me what I'm missing:
- get to know the areas - see a lot of open houses - pay attention to pricing
- start a blog on Active Rain for the areas you want to dominate. This gives you lots of time!
- shadow experienced agents on your weekends
- take classes (on the contract, disclosures, you name it) and read, read, read
OK Active Rainers, here's another time when I would loe your collective wisdom! This loved one of mine cannot start before June, but needs momentum before June rolls around.
Your advice would be DEEPLY APPRECIATED.
All the best from Silicon Valley,
Mary
8 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 15 2007 11:05PMThe Ones that Got Away (Referrals for Listings); Asking Better Questions Next Time!
Usually I have a pretty good success rate with getting signed listings if I get in front of sellers - especially when they come to me as referrals. Recently, though, I had two referrals that didn't pan out and they had similar circumstances. So I wanted to chat about that today. Perhaps my situation will help someone else to avoid what I tripped on.
So here's the story:
Both referrals came to me from out-of-area agents. One found me through my company's relocation department and one from doing a web search for Silicon Valley Realtors. Both wanted an expert in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, which I am. One was for a townhome listing, and the other was for a single family listing.
The townhome is very clean and pretty original. The seller is an older woman who was very pleasant with me. When we sat down to talk about marketing and her home's probable buyer value, she put in front of me (first thing) a couple of ads from discount or flat fee brokers and asked what that was all all about. Commission was her main concern. We discussed it at length. I explained what I do (full service and beyond) and why it matters to getting her the highest net. I can demonstrate that my listings get more money to the sellers than other agents' listings. She was focused on the commission, though - not sure what I was explaining sunk in. (Ever had that experience?)
I did ask her if she was speaking with any other agents (often with agent referrals, they don't). She said yes, her son had a very good friend who's an agent and she planned on chatting with him too. The referring agent hadn't told me that I was competing against a family friend! That was a surprise.
Anyway, we chatted more and she listened politely and was thankful for my book ("Get the Best Deal when Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley") and kept it, but did not want to keep my marketing analysis binder. I asked permission to keep in touch and check back with her, and she said that was fine. When I left, I did contact my relo department and told them that I thought she was going to go with her son's friend, a discount broker. Had she been leaning toward me, she'd have kept my binder.
The single family house situation was somewhat similar, except that the seller was an out of town person selling a house for her mother. I was referred to her by her agent in the other state and communicated a lot with her by phone and email. She told me a month ahead of time that she would be coming out "sometime" and I let her know when I was in and not in town (in 98%). She arrived on one of my gone days and was here just 24 hours, so I did not get a chance to meet her at all. I was let in to view the home by a neighbor and again communicated by phone and email, sending a CMA etc.
I did not think to ask, this time, if she were talking with another agent. I should have!
The gal was nice, but not responsive after she got my CMA. Finally I did hear back from her. They'd hired an agent who had previously assisted her parents and her sibling!
In both cases, there was a preferred agent in place and I was the "outside chance" or "just in case" agent. In both cases, I believe that the sellers were chatting with me just to get "another opinion" (which is a good idea). That is TOTALLY fine, but of course knowledge is power and I wish I had known this going into both situations. I would have prepared just a little differently.
The one thing I now am positive about, though, is I will always ask upfront if the seller is interviewing other agents, and if so, how many and have they worked with them in the past, are they a family friend or neighbor etc. This is completely my mistake for not having done it, and it's a mistake I won't repeat!
I will also ask the referring agent what the situation is precisely - is there a preferred agent in place? Am I the "second opinion"? Referrals are my lifeblood and I love getting them, but I do with that the agents had levelled with me and given me "full disclosure" on the situation.
And Ive learned that when I place an outbound referral, more info to the other agent is better!
I just need to know, upfront, if the odds are with me or against me! I've learned from these two lost opportunities. Hope you will find my stories helpful too.
2 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 15 2007 12:17PMCalling on Active Rain's Collective Wisdom in Teaching a Class on Blogging
Active Rainers, I want to solicit your input! Next week I'm participating in a teleconference on blogging, and on October 1st I'm teaching a class on blogging at my company. (The class is NOT supposed to be for people who don't know what a blog is, why you'd do a blog, etc. It is aimed at people who are dabbling and have a few basic concepts down.)
If you were teaching a class on blogging, what would you include? Or if you were talking to a group of interested learners, what would you want to make sure got across?
Here are some of my ideas or main concepts that I think are crucial:
(1) Pick a niche - you have more success with conversions on something very focused
(2) Choose something you are passionate about - you will need this enthusiasm to keep from throwing in the towel (most people who start blogs soon abandon them)
(3) Do frequent entries (at least 2x per week, but more is better, esp early on).
(4) Use permitted graphics/images and don't write huge long paragraphs - visually it makes the reader want to escape! Avoid that "wall of words" we heard so much about during Project Blogger.
(5) If an entry is getting too long, ask yourself, "can this post be broken into a series of two or more?"
(6) Give a variety of information, and present it in a variety of ways. A photo slideshow of your neighborhood or niche market is always appreciated. So is market data. And I found out that my readers of Live in Los Gatos really like the posts I've done on the history of our town. By doing this variation, you will appeal to different types of readers too.
I will encourage participation in both Real Town and Active Rain too. One thing I did learn in Project Blogger was that blogging is about being part of the community. It's important, if you're going to blog, to not just write your own blog, but to read others' blogs too. When Fran (my mentor in PB, Frances Flynn Thorsen) first took me on for Project Blogger, she soon learned that I hadn't been reading other people's blogs. So she had me read and read until I could show her blogs I liked and didn't. That was a great exercise for me!
One of the things that Joeann Fossland wants to discuss in the teleconference is "how to make money from your blog". Through Active Rain's community, I do have closed business due to an agent-to-agent referral. Through my Live in Los Gatos blog, I have a listing lead and a buyer lead I'm now persuing. I think I'll be adding ads to my Haunted Real Estate Blog - but haven't yet. I would especially love YOUR input on this area since I'm still making headway in this area.
So, Active Rainers, what would you tell folks new to blogging? I can't wait to see your input!!
6 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 14 2007 09:06AMGreat Opportunity: Small Home, Big Lot, Great Brookview Neighborhood!
Recently I listed a great little home in Saratoga, California - one of the most upscale communities in Silicon Valley with great schools, beautiful homes, and low crime. Saratoga is nestled into the coastal foothills and is just a tad north of Los Gatos (about 3 miles away) so shares the scenic beauty found in the shadow of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The Brookview neighborhood consists mostly of single story ranch homes built in 1956 or 1957. They are mostly homes of 1400-1500 sf originally, and most are on lots of 9000 - 10,000 SF. Sales prices frequently range between $1.2 and $1.4 million for homes of this size, but larger or expanded homes can go for considerably higher prices. With wide streets, mature trees and a real "ranch" feel, this classic California suburb is highly desired.
Chance to buy low, improve & expand!
My new listing is smaller than most (1191 SF), and more original than most, but it sits on a large lot of 10,454 SF (according to the county). It is clean as a whistle and has neutral colors so is VERY liveable now. (No pink or mint green kitchen or baths!) There's hardwood under the carpet. And the furnace and AC are just 3 years old. Inspections are done and it's really very clean for the age.
Asking price, you wonder? It's an amazingly low $1,025,000!
To see the virtual tour and get more information, please visit www.PopeHandy.com and click on Featured Homes, or go directly to the virtual tour.
Open this Saturday & Sunday, Sept 15-16 1:30-4:30.
5 comments • Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES • September 13 2007 12:37AMContent © 2009 'Frequent Contributors'. Design © 2009 ActiveRain Corp.
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