tampa4u's Blog: All Categories

Yeah, right... If it's really that simple why did it take me 2 days to figure out what it's all about. I guess I must be an RDS (real dumb student).

Well I finally figured out what it is and how it works and how NOT really simple it is. Along the way I ran into terms like widgets, chicklets, category slugs, and blogroll. That last one is nasty isn't it? Blog Roll... man, when your blog starts rolling I think you need to go on a diet:) LOL ... otherwise you become a category slug, but that's when you chew some chicklet and stick it under a widget when your done :)

Happy RSSing.

I always tell pessimists that in any market there are opportunities. In spite of what we read about the sluggish real estate market and what buyers and sellers tell us, there are a lot of positives in this market:

Prices are falling to the point that first-time home buyers can afford to buy again. In some areas of Tampa prices have dropped by almost $100K. 3 bedroom, 2 bath , 1600 sq ft homes can be purchased for a little over $150K in nice master-planned communities.

Lots of real estate agents are not going to be renewing their licenses this year: that means LESS competition.

Builders are once again kissing our behinds and offering substantial co-broke incentives.

Sellers are more willing to give us more to list their homes and are once again…

I saw the headline on Yahoo and immediately clicked on it: A Rebound in 2008. I clicked on the link and it's blank. That's funny. Rebound in 2008??? Blank, zilch, nada.

I still want to read what it says so maybe later on there will be content on this link: http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/104024/Will-Home-Prices-Hit-Bottom-in-2008-YesBut

Quick: what's the best gift to give your clients this holiday? Last year we gave clients $20 to $50 gift cards to Panera Bread and Starbucks. We haven't decided what to give them this year...and.. we're 2 weeks away from the day. Any ideas?

We stumbled on the best closing gift this year: GPS. They just love it.

You spend all this time and effort optimizing your website to be one of the most visible site for your respective keyword(s)... but.... if you don't answer your phone when leads come in, you've just wasted your efforts.

This goes the same for emails. How you respond to emails is also important. Prospects are not stupid. They can tell a canned response from a real response. You are most likely to get a response back if you respond from the heart. If you programmed an auto response ... you may as well not have responded to begin with.

We've tried all sorts of response to emails. The best gauge for this is YOU. Read the email you're about to send and ask yourself... if I receive an email like this... will I respond to it? If the answer is NO.... Don't send…

My New Year's resolution is to start blogging here on real estate webmaster stuff: marketing, tips, and other real estate related experiences we encounter on a daily basis. I may not have a lot of stories to tell but I have a team of 15 who have lots and lots of stories to tell but are lazy to blog. So I will collect some of those and relate them here.

For now, I just want to get started by wishing every one  Happy Holidays. I really want to say Merry Christmas, but I am told that that is no longer "politically correct". I believe, Happy New Year is still correct so I want to wish you that as well:)