Cindy Bishop will be at Coldwell Banker Elite conducting her “How To Sell HUD Homes” class.  Lunch will be provided by RGS Title and Coldwell Banker Mortgage!

Orginially posted on 8/16/2010 at MRIS’ Blog

Got Market Info?

One of my favorite applications from MRIS is the Real Estate Business Intelligence site.  I know that as Realtors, we are all asked what we think of the market and asked to predict the future.  Often times we try to convey information based on our personal knowledge.  But our perceptions are not always the reality and even if it is, our perceptions are typically not as convincing as independent reports.  Enter: REBIntel.

This MRIS site is packed with information and reports and best yet, it’s free and easy to access.  On this site you can find information broken down by Association region or county, city and zip.  The site has great charts and easy to use graphs.  Some of them are not in the PDF reports, but using tools like www.PDFMyURL.com you can create great documents to add to your Listing and Buyer packet that underscore what you’re trying to convey to your clients.

You can also take the market breakdowns that are in PDF and add them SlideShare.com and embed them in your own site for client reference. Additionally, each page as the ability to be shared with your Facebook, Twitter or more…

Here’s a brief walk-through of the site:

The tool to create the embeddable video is similar to getting the embed code and a bit easier.  These short videos do a great job of painting a picture of the overall market condition for those areas served by MRIS.

It’s easy and creates a more engaging encounter for your site visitors.

WordPress for Real Estate Beginners

I’m happy to see more and more Realtors using WordPress for their blogs and some even for their static webpages.  Over the next few months I’ll be putting together video tutorials and outlines to help those agents who are getting started. This post is just a few tools to get together after you’ve installed the blog and gotten your basics started.

WordPress Friends

Whereas many components of WordPress and Blogging is free, there are some worthwhile tools that do have associated fees.  The (affiliate) widgets below are worth exploration.  You’ll see more on those in the future.

Plugins

The following free plugins are great tools to add to your blog.  Generally, it’s easiest to go to the Plugins page and do a search for these plugins and then add them.  However, some of these plugins need to be downloaded in .zip and then uploaded via a FTP client.  FileZilla is a GREAT free FTP client that works very well with WordPress.

• Wibiya Toolbar is a fantastic tool that adds a footer toolbar on your blog that allows you to add personalized messages for your visitors, chat with you, link to all your other social media sites.  Additionally it will allow you to translate your site into different languages and allow your readers to search your site for past posts.
• WordPress Mobile Pack is a complete plugin to make your blog more readable and easier to navigate on a mobile phone.  With so much emphasis on mobile computing this is a must have for your blog.
• WordPress Database Backup is just what is sounds like.  This handy plugin will allow you to automatically backup your wordpress blog and send the backup to an email address.  I chose to create a free gmail email that I only check when I need to restore my site or make sure the emails were being received in a timely manner.
• SexyBookmarks is one of the coolest post sharing tools I’ve seen.  This highly modifiable tool allows you to add icons at the bottom of the posts and pages, allowing your users to share your material with their friends on a myriad of social sharing sites including Twitter, Facebook and more!
• Live Comment Preview plugin allows your user to see how their formatted comment will look on the post after they hit submit.
• Google Analyticator is a MUST have for your blog.  Each Blogger should have a Google.com/analytics account to keep track of activities and SEO on your blog.   The Google Analyticator plugin makes it easy to setup an account and tie it to the blog.  It also posts stats and things on your WordPress Dashboard to easily see who’s visiting your page, how long they are hanging around, etc…
•  FD Feedburner Plugin makes creating and maintaining an RSS Feed through www.Feedburner.com much easier.  The default RSS feed on your blog will allow people to subscribe, but doesn’t track the number of subscribers or allow email subscriptions.  Feedburner.com (owned by Google) is  handy tool to do just that.  One word of caution.  Feedburner has a habit of giving fluctuating numbers.  So if it looks like you’ve lost a bunch of subscribers, just wait 24 hours and check again.
• fbLikeButton plugin adds a Facebook “Like” button on each post, which will allow people to share your post on their Facebook page. 
• Edit Comments XT allows users a limited amount of time to edit their comments after postings.  More than once I’ve commented on a blog and then re-read my post and wished that I had worded or omitted something.  My feeling is folks are more likely to comment if they feel they can have a second chance to really say what they want.

Happy Blogging!  If you have some favorite tools, please share them in the comments section!

Originally posted on www.TheAgentTrainer.com

Duration: 3 Hours | VREB: 3 CE – 3 PL

Fair Housing is the duty of every real estate agent. The National and State regulations are adhered to closely and consumers are very sensitive to being treated fairly. On a routine ba- sis agents stumble into potential violations of fair housing laws and this course it to help pro- vide the agent with better practices to avoid these violations. The program will help the agents develop a sensitivity to the client and demographic changes that are effecting the business.

Facebook’s New Toy

Recently Facebook added a new feature called “Places”.  Its’ similar in principal to FourSquare and allows users to post their location, so that their friends can know where you are.  In the past, I’ve used FourSquare very judiciously.  For example, I don’t post my location when I’m on travel without  my family, I don’t share when I’m in a private meeting, etc…  Essentially, I want to be social, but not at the expense of it being a safety risk. 

Here is Facebook’s introductory video on “Places” - 

How to Set Your Facebook Privacy Settings to secure “Places”

Awhile back I did a video tutorial on how to set your security settings on Facebook.  Whereas I think ‘Places” can be fun, I think that Facebook jumped the shark when they added this feature and allowed other Facebook friends to update your location.  There are a number of reasons why I think this is a bad feature.  As a professional who has my clients as friends on Facebook, I don’t want people to know where I am socially. I certainly don’t want friends updating my location, when I may not really be at a given location.  For these reasons and many more, I’ve turned off the ability for others to set my location.

Here are the steps to updating your security settings to limit who can update your location, and who can see your updates.

1.  Login to Facebook and go to “Account” and then click on “Privacy Settings”

2.  Click on “Customized Settings”

3.  Disable “Friends can check me in to Places”

4.  Based on  your Group Settings, choose who can and cannot see your personal updates to “Places”.

I think that “Places” can be a fun way to share in the future, so long as we all use a little commonsense in what we update.  If you’re sensitive to people knowing where you are and what you’re doing, make sure you’ve updated your settings.

Duration: 3 Hours | VREB: 3 CE – 3 PL

This isn’t your typical contracts course. This course takes the learner through the process of creating and negotiating contracts on behalf of their client’s best interest and thinking about the contract as a blueprint for a successful settlement. This course will discuss contract for- mat, Virginia regulations and writing techniques.

Instructor:  Matthew Rathbun

This workshop is designed to take agents from preparing the CMA, delivering market information and preparing/presenting your own marketing plan.

Instructor: Colby Goetz

Colby will take students through the CBWorks Profiles and Website setup and tweaks in order to make it easier for consumers to find you.

Instructor:  Matthew Rathbun

Duration: 16 Hours CE and PL | Includes all Virginia Mandatory Topics and Elective Hours

From time to time agents prefer to complete their education requirements in a compact program instead of throughout the two year period.  This program is a two day series of classes.  Descriptions are listed below the schedule.

Real Estate Technology

A pervasive force in real estate today is technology and specifically online engagement. With a significant number of consumers beginning online and finding the home they eventually purchase, it’s important for agents to have a healthy understanding of the consumer profiles, engagement tools and risk reduction techniques to protect both the clients and themselves. Agents will be able to find new tools and learn how to use them safely.

Ethics

The REALTOR® Code of Ethics has been the foundation of the REALTOR® membership. It dictates the actions of practitioners who have sworn to uphold it’s principals. This presenta- tion takes a look at several facets of Ethical Behavior as defined by the Code. This presen- tation utilizes video and psychological principals to help determine the public perception of ethical behavior and how it relates to the real estate career. Portions of the course decipher the difference of the Code as an industry standard, moral standard and regulatory standard. Learners will benefit by looking at the regulations from a point of omissions versus nefarious intent. All 17 Articles are explored with emphasis on often overlooked Standards of Practice and review of NAR case studies to underline the Articles.

Legal Update

There are a number of risk management issues that simply don’t get enough attention in our training programs. This class gives a overview of the pitfalls for Escrow management, agency issues with special attention to dual agency concerns and RESPA violations with a strong emphasis on Affiliated Arrangements and Disclosures.

Fair Housing

Fair Housing is the duty of every real estate agent. The National and State regulations are adhered to closely and consumers are very sensitive to being treated fairly. On a routine ba- sis agents stumble into potential violations of fair housing laws and this course it to help pro- vide the agent with better practices to avoid these violations. The program will help the agents develop a sensitivity to the client and demographic changes that are effecting the business.

Contracts

This isn’t your typical contracts course. This course takes the learner through the process of creating and negotiating contracts on behalf of their client’s best interest and thinking about the contract as a blueprint for a successful settlement. This course will discuss contract for- mat, Virginia regulations and writing techniques.

Agency

Agency is the backbone of the real estate industry. These relationships set the tone and out- line of how consumers will be work with their agent and what the agent’s responsibilities are. This course is constructed to reinforce the Virginia regulations pertaining to Agency and prac- tical application of Procuring Cause. We’ll also explore agency disclosure options and tools to ensure compliance with regulations. Case Studies and student engagement makes this class interactive.

Instructor:  Matthew Rathbun

Duration: 8 Hours | VREB: 8 CE – 8 PL

For many real estate professionals, short sales and foreclosures represent the new “traditional” real estate transaction. Knowing how to maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as how to identify the distinct real estate opportunities in foreclosure are not merely good skills to have in today’s market—they are critical. This course helps students evaluate all available options for distressed homeowners and identify the components of an effective short-sale package. This course looks at how real estate professionals can counsel buyer-clients in the purchase of foreclosure properties. And as a practical resource, this course shows students how consumers can avoid foreclosure in the future.