If you’ve been on the Internet for more than 15 minutes it’s not doubt that you have been exposed to numerous websites that use and leverage the social media such as myspace. Facebook, twitter, youtube and countless others of websites using the “web 2.0” technology.

It’s one of the hottest trends on the web, twitter has had news coverage from surgeons teaching medical students about a surgery procedure to Farah’s & Michael Jackson’s deaths and many other worthy events. Today I am at the lovely Hilton Hotel in beautiful Concord, CA listening to Tom Ferry.

Guess what the topic is? Social mediaq and real estate. Even if you have been online and using social media, for any amount of time you are probably using it wrong. If you aren’t using these powerful tools to position yourself as the expert, attract your new prospects, engage them in conversation, and convert them into raving fans you’re missing the boat.

Let me give you a perfect example, if you have clients who are seeking to purchase real estate, you need to be ready to receive an on set of communication via email, text messages and phone communication.

In fact if you aren’t online using these powerful tools you have already missed the boat. Not to worry you can still make your mark with a few selective strategies and free tools to get started. I have investor friends who rely on cell phones as the primary business tools to quicky evaluate real estate deals, by sending out a team of individuals who are armed with camera phones and ready to inspect properties.

How can you compete with technology if you aren’t armed with it.? Answer you can’t! Think about it for a minute what if you can get to the listing to inspect before the court sale or a new property hits the MLS and you have your team there within15 minutes to 1 hour. Visuals are done, comps are being pulled by your office manager or team member.

Using cameras for visuals can quickly help a seasoned investor to make these decisions while on the fly or in the office makes real time data access quick and efficient. Valuations are performed and the offer(s) is/are written all withing nanoseconds compared to the old way of performing the same old real estate procedures of calling an agent, driving to the property, pulling comps and performing neighborhood research aka data mining.

Your in the forefront, on the leading cusp of the industry when it comes to both running your business and as well in the entire real estate investment or agency game. You have been given a chance to become the top of your game simply by using these tools to gain an advantage in your personal business growth and as a way to market properties to flip or wholesale.

Now on the other hand as an agency who brokers real estate imagine having the advantage of being number one online for real estate searches in your local market. This was the premise for the seminar I attended recently and what an eye opener.

The strategies taught were very powerful and shed some real light on how technology and the “power to be found” online sets those who are in the know will exceed all of those who aren’t. The doers from the ones who sit on the sidelines. You can literally take advantage of the search engines with a little strategy, take a listing promote it via online channels as well as promote your self and your brokerage all at the click of a button.

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I finally got it though lets refresh for a moment. As I mentioned spent the better part of four years living this way. Until the day I became homeless. I lived that way for some time with my wife and I living the life that felt like we aere fugitives and running from life and sometimes the law when we would get kicked out of places we were parked. Now whether you know this or not we had five dogs from small to very large with us in a mid sized compact car.

I had blown the inheritance but I had managed to do one thing right over the last four years. Upon leaving my cushy union job I rolled my 401K into an IRA and then I invested it into real estate. this is what I want to talk about before I post the article I have been reading.

When my cotenants and I purchased our parcial we paid close to $20,000 per acre. I just received the comps for the property and they are already at $34,000 per acre in only four years and we haven’t reached the four year mark yet. That’s approxamately 25% per year compunded with tax deferrment when we sell it.

25% per year is an excellent return on my original investment wouldn’t you agree. From this point on my reurns should get even better. Even though we are in a “housing bubble” this is an excellent time to make huge  profits in real estate. Well tomorrow is Mothers Day and I say thank you to all of the hard working mothers out who make their children’s, spouses, and their parents feel like life is worth living for.

On this very special day I am giving a huge thank you to all of you moms. THANKS MOM!!!

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