Archive for March 2011
Call Capture On The Rise As Real Estate Market Begins Its Slow Climb Back
Call capture is a service that real estate agents and mortgage brokers use to generate hot leads and increase business. When the real estate market is down, agents and brokers do everything they can to turn leads into buying or selling clients. But when the market is down, agents and brokers need to stretch their personal marketing budget until the market gets better and income improves.
Once the market starts to improve, agents still look for a way to market themselves at an affordable price. One way to do that is with a call capture service, and that’s because this service is available to potential clients 24/7. This means that even when an agent or broker is at home or with a client, their services are being marketed.
Brokers and Agents Work Together
While plenty of leads occur when an agent or broker uses the service solo, when they team up they greatly increase their chances that they can convert a lead into a sale. This is because the potential client is approached by both and it comes across as a one-stop shop type deal. If the client is comfortable with the agent they’ll be more receptive to the broker and vice versa. The agent and broker can also split the cost of the call capture service, stretching the marketing budget.
The broker and agent can also work together to return calls and keep the leads hot. If an agent is unavailable and a call comes into the system, the broker can field the potential client and answer questions right away. This helps prevent losing a client due to an unavailable agent, and the broker will ultimately gain business in the end, too.
Call Capture Increases Business
As more people start investing in real estate again, agents and brokers take advantage of capture services to increase overall business. The dedicated toll free number is available 24/7, so it’s the ultimate way to market yourself. The number frequently appears on sign riders, but it can also go in all print ads, radio spots, website advertisements, and on business cards. By putting the number out to leads through various mediums, it increases an agent’s reputation in the industry and attracts more people.
Are You Connecting the Real Estate Investor Dots?
Let’s face it, if your investment business is not overloaded with leads, your business and your wallet suffers.
When I first started investing in real estate in 2003, most of the lead generation was from direct mail campaigns. Although expensive (as much as $4,000+ per month), using direct mail was a fairly straightforward process: Mail campaigns went out, and leads came in.
Today, however, if you’re an active real estate investor, you need a much more elaborate lead generation system to be up to date in your real estate business, and to be competitive. To even be in the “game,” one must employ the vast opportunity that is the Internet.
The good news with using the Internet:
1) The Internet is a fantastic place to search for and extract real estate leads because of the massive amount of users online.
2) The Internet tends to break down geographic borders, thereby allowing one to conduct business outside of their “own backyard.”
3) With the proper setup, any investor can advertise their services as well as their personalities for small amounts of money to a vast amount of people. This can be a huge cost savings (over traditional marketing costs) and one of the main reasons to ramp up your online presence.
The bad news with using the Internet:
1) The first challenge is the requirement of having potentially many different websites from which to advertise your services and properties. Each Website should be designed with a single purpose.
2) Avoid constructing and using “brochure sites.” A brochure site is a Website that does not collect any information about who is visiting the website. The Internet is loaded with websites that only provide information and yet, gather no information about the visitors–it’s like a fancy business card.
3) Driving traffic to your Websites can be a real pain. After you have your websites completed, there is virtually no mechanism in which visitors are directed to your websites. So now you’re stuck with many websites and no visitors. The result is zero leads and ultimately zero dollars.
4) In order to gather visitor information, one normally has to rely on software programs. These software programs can be somewhat complicated to effectively use for the Internet challenged (wink, wink).
Ka-Ching! That’s Your Curb Appeal Working for You!
Gosh, it is so cool to own a little rental property!
It’s (normally) growing in value, it’s a forced savings so you’re not tempted to spend your down-payment and growing equity on doo-dads and bright shiny things, your great tenants are paying your mortgage down every month, you can keep more money in the family budget every year because of the savings on your taxes, you will have nice passive cash flow from now through retirement, plus you’ll have something of value to leave to your loved ones or favorite charity.
Sweet!
But it takes constant vigilance to keep the property in good repair. On the front end, it can be painful when you’re shelling out remodeling bucks. But upgraded properties = an improved tenant clientele, an improved qualify of life as a landlord, an improved quality of life for your tenants, plus the value that will be added to the neighborhoods where your properties are located are all immeasurable benefits! Good landlords add a lot of value to the communities where they own property. It’s the ONLY way to do business as a landlord.
My son and daughter-in-law and I currently have rentals ranging from one-bedroom apartments to a few big gorgeous homes. Every single tenant has our cell phone numbers, we self-manage all of our units, plus we have time to run our other businesses and hang with our friends and family. That is the value of no deferred maintenance.
We didn’t do it all at once, but we upgraded when we purchased each property, and upgraded some more between each tenancy, so that now we have a great little residential rental business.
Reducing Our Energy Consumption at Home
Now more than ever before the world is becoming more and more cautious about the effect we have on the earth. Consumers are staring to take advantages of the benefits of being green. Simple changes to your home not only benefit the planet, they also benefit our health and wallets too. On a month to month basis people who live in green homes use less water and energy compared to a standard home. They also spend less money on maintenance. Green homes tend to be more durable due to the construction process and higher quality materials.
In Canada, 17% of all energy goes to running our homes and, here in Calgary, 30% of our use is from household electrical consumption. Additionally, the average household in Calgary is using 8% more energy today than it did in 2005.
Green homes can use up to 40% less energy. Next to a mortgage, energy costs are the most significant household expense. Something you many not know is your plasma TV uses five times more energy then the old tube TV.
To estimate appliance consumption you can use this formula
Wattage x hours per day divided by 100 = Daily Kilowatt-hour consumption
You can usually find the wattage on the appliance, stamp on the bottom or side. Many appliances still draw electricity even when turned off; this is known as phantom load. Appliances that are known for this are stereos, computers, and televisions just to name a few. If you have older appliances you can use a device to control and reduce energy consumption. These devices control and regulate the energy delivered to the appliance. Appliance newer then 1990 may not see any benefits from this device because of their existing energy save features.
Life Could Be Lonely Without Your Neighbors
Moving to a new neighborhood always comes with its share of challenges. Social upheaval often comes as a result of moving since we are often unfamiliar with the neighborhood where we have chosen to take up residence. In particular, we may have had a rapport or at least some familiarity with the folks who lived in our old neighborhood; some of them may have even become dear friends.
In our new residence, whether it is a home or apartment, getting to know our new neighbors may not be the first item on our busy moving agenda, but it should be. There are many reasons for getting to know those who live near us. Whether or not you feel that you need to know your neighbors may be based on the pace of your work or social schedule, but taking the time to meet your neighbors has many advantages.
First and foremost, the best reason to know those who live around you is simply to evaluate the type of people they are. After all, they are the closest people to your home when you’re there and when you’re not. Whether or not you spend a lot of time at home, it would be good to know what goes on around your residence. Neighbors can provide a good source of additional security for your home and family. If they know you, they are far more likely to pay attention to the activities around your home and if they become your friends, they will have a sense of responsibility towards you and your home. Thieves and vandals are less likely to target your home if it is in a close-knit neighborhood where neighbors watch out for each other.