Real Estate Opportunities

A report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported in mid May of 2009 that 4.59 million homes and condos were sold in the first quarter of this year.  Exponentially lower than last year, but bare in mind there are many opportunities for home lovers to take advantage of.

Generally speaking, if we look at the population as a whole we can all agree that there are many home opportunities when you consider that many homeowners are struggling to sell their homes, buyers are facing loan walls from banks, and with over 1 million Realtors in the nation and numerous lenders in the real estate market, we are poised to succeed in the near future.

Any great entrepreneur will say that if you want to take advantage of your opportunities you must be a few years ahead of your competition and wise enough to accept market trends.  That said, we hope all buyers and sellers can use online marketing tools to aggregate as much information about a potential transaction.  Here are some key strategies to look into:

PPC Advertising – Based on a Price-Per-Click basis, you can quickly make a micro-website and advertise your property by yourself through Google’s content network, Yahoo’s and Bings’ sponsor links section.  Advertising locally will definitely mitigate cost and potentially increase your ROI.

Email Marketing – By creating a list of emails from your network pool you put yourself in the most cost efficient strategy possible.  Hopefully you can find a fifth grader who can customize your email marketing design layout, but if not, there are many designers out there who are willing to work on a project like yours for about $100.  Once the creative is complete, simply gather all the emails together and send them out one by one or use Icontact Email Marketing for only $9.95.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) – Whether you are a buyer, seller, or a real estate agent simply attract prospective and existing real estate businesses by connecting with the top sites in your local area and try to have them advertise your home on their website.  You will have to compensate the site owner if the house sells or if there is a lead generated, but you and the site owner can agree on what you consider an “acquisition.”

Post Card Advertising – Most Realtors or loan officers already do post-card advertising, but the question is are they effectively sending the right message across to their prospects?  Majority of the time I see a lot of clutter on a landing page or they provide misleading information of some sort.  Instead of sticking with the norm, try optimizing the postcard to a more holistic approach.  Keep the message simple and do not create clutter.

Buyers are constantly looking into loan programs, foreclosed properties, investment strategies, and any real estate data that is relevant to their purchase.  Realtors can choose any of these topics and integrate local sales data to put together the right message.

Sellers need to understand cost effective tools to advertise their properties.  Your real estate agent should have all the tools in place to find the most cost effective way to sell your property.  Our approach at Americana Finance and Real Estate is advertising your listing throughout the various distribution channels at the most cost effective price.  We have taken real estate and aggregated online marketing tools to present data to home buyers that are relevant and qualitative.

In sum, this an appropriate time to connect with your demographics.  Show them your listing, products, services, or any offer you have and you will discover more and more opportunities.