Capitalizing on the real estate market with social media

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.

• How to strategically plan for your retirement When it comes to planning for retirement you really have only a few choices to make for your future. Strategically speaking many people take the approach of “I hope it works.” People really never give their retirement a thought until it's to late. When they decide it's time for retirement......
• Why land banking is far less risky than traditional real estate Not to say that all real estate doesn't carry some form of risk to the owners of the property, sure there are always risks associated with any type of investment. This reflection comes from recent events that took place in San Francisco, CA. City building inspectors had been saying......
• Loyalty within your portfolio are you faithful with to your investments When it comes to investing many individuals are leaving more money on the table then compared to the profits that they can realize. Loyalty is the simple practice of being true to your self and to your needs. Just like with a friendship you cannot go out and do......
• Using college education funds for real estate Many people aren't aware of the little laws in the IRS tax code that states not what you can put into these types of accounts, they state what you can't put in their instead. So while people are using stocks and going mad with the market place activities, others are......
• Twitter me this "What's in it for me if I choose you for business" Recently I read a twitter post that triggered some deep profound thought on my part [especially since it was 2:10 in the morning and I had been up for some 19 1/2 hours. I was happily digging my way around and starting to follow some new twitter folks when this......

• Why do People use so Many Online Social Networking Sites? Why do people use online social networking sites? Do you belong to too many online social networking sites? The rules have changed in 2009 It’s time to chill out with strategic social marketing...
• Central Florida Real Estate :: Not Moving As Quickly I've been writing lately about the homeowners insurance rates in Florida.  We watch the home sales in our neighborhood, and things have definitely slowed down.  Houses are still moving, albeit not nearly as fast as they used to be.  We also see a lot of the "Assist To Sell" signs,......
• Is It Still A Good Time To Invest In Real Estate? Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Like where you're investing. There's a really good site called Housing Tracker that tracks the inventory and median home price for major cities. It has a pretty simple interface and its a great resource. Looking at Los Angeles I saw the inventory......
• The Mortgage Crisis and Investments in Real Estate According to regional and state real estate analysts, the factors which previously fueled the housing boom of the last few years are easy to explain. The factors that fueled this boom in the real instate industry ranged significantly, including: - Interest rates that were historically low. - Flight-Risk Safety Investments......
• Real Estate Investing: Another Apartment Purchase this time with a Bank Approved Wrap! Greetings from the metropolis of Cedar Crest, NM! [/caption] Wow...has is been a long time or what?  I have been so busy with a real estate class (six weeks) and purchased an apartment building within the same time frame.  Just plain crazy so a lot of things got neglected...especially this......