Posts Tagged as real estate news

Keep Your Public Relations Good

Zillow Tries to Enforce Photo Copyright with Popular Blogger

In real estate news, it’s a case of David meets Goliath as a graduate student supporting herself via her website faces off against Internet giant, Zillow.

Meme Me in Court
Kate Wagner’s site, McMansionHell.com, spotlights large, architecturally-icky houses on her site, making memes out of home-listing photos to point out the less-than-stellar features of such ostentatious home fare.

The 23-year-old master’s student from Baltimore, working her way through a thesis in architectural acoustics, stated she was petrified when she received a letter from the real estate database giant just a few weeks ago, instructing her to cease-and-desist using the website’s photos. “It’s pretty terrifying when someone sends you such a letter.”

Tweet This
Wagner posted Zillow’s letter to her blog’s Twitter account, receiving enormous public support – and legal advice – from about 200 lawyers. She then retained Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to represent her, pro bono.

The following day, Zillow’s downtown Seattle headquarters was plastered with colorful signs denoting “MCMANSION HELL FOREVER.” Wagner has earned about $24,000 since her website’s inception a year ago. It’s been her primary source of income in her quest to pay rent, eat, and earn her master’s.

Bad Press is Not Necessarily Better than None
The PR backlash shocked Zillow, who had to perform damage-control on national and local news sites. Vice President Katie Curnutte, Zillow’s head public affairs guru, defended the company, noting that Zillow doesn’t own the rights to most of the photos it uses – it licenses those from other parties. Their exclusive access is allowed under a users’ agreement.

According to Zillow, if they allowed other sites to publish these photos, it would become difficult to obtain them from realtors. Their letter wasn’t intended to be personal and their lawsuit has since been dropped, with the agreement Zillow’s photos won’t be used going forward.

Real estate news a bit scary? Fight the big, bad uglies with the help of Properties Online.

What Marketing Trends Should Be On Your Radar for 2017

2017 is in full swing, and barreling along the high-tech bandwagon. Which trends are essential to your success this year? Let’s take a look at the real estate selling tips with the highest return for your monetary and time and investment.

Want the Most Bang for Buck? Tackle These Trends:

  • Real Estate Listing Videos
    Video listings give you added value in the eyes of the client, extending your reach to the buyers segment through improved Google search results, and a fast, efficient means to share listings. Video greatly reduces wasted commute times and unnecessary showings, creating quick and convenient “in-house” access for potential buyers. A definite boon for those in the initial stages of searching, and especially for weary sellers, who with the help of video can allow potential buyers to “tour” their home without having to abandon ship. Think you don’t have the time? Let Properties Online’s newly released video builder tackle the task for you in minutes.
  • Facebook Ads
    The increase in popularity of these ads makes them a good marketing strategy – but like all trends with a fast rise… A likewise rapid fall is to be expected. Eventually, FB lead cost will far exceed median home values – get in fast, the window for success is short!
  • Marketing Automation
    This year, marketing automation will be adopted by the masses, and it can save you time and money – especially when you’re busy with prospects. Are you transferring new leads to your CRM and email marketing software? Or spinning your wheels on tasks easily farmed out to tech when you could be closing sales?
  • Retargeting Ads
    Instead of generic messaging that redirects to your home page, spend the time on specific, meaningful, hyper-targeted messages to reap superior results.

Looking for a few new tricks to beef up sales? Target the right trends with these and other real estate selling tips from the industry experts at Properties Online.

Falling Prices Boost Sales Trends

Recent real estate trends reported by the National Association of Realtors have shown purchases of existing homes, which had fallen in July, rebounded in August – some 5.1% higher than prices in August 2015, Why the bump? Typical for that time of year, demand decreased and prices began to fall, which may have led to the bump in August.

How high did they climb?
Existing home sales rose 5.5% from the previous month and 7.3% from the previous year, at 541,000 purchases. Luckily, though, median prices dropped 1.3%, but they were still up overall – 5.1% from the previous year.

A better buy
Lower than the cost of a newly built home which sold for a median $294,600 in July, the $240,200 median price tag for gently-used homes offered budget-conscious buyers a late-summer bargain.

The rise and fall
Most buyers choose and move before the school year starts, typically settling before August and declining thereafter. However, inventory has been tight this year and prices have been up. As demand dropped in August, prices also fell. (The two extra business days in August probably didn’t hurt sales either.)

Real estate trends show an upswing nationwide:

• South
Lower cost of living, bringing an influx of companies to the south, is bringing new jobs and residents, boosting sales to 7.4% over last year and prices up 6.7%. In August, 217,000 homes were sold at a median home price of $209,700.

• Midwest
The Midwest sports some of the lowest home prices in the country, with a median $190,700 sale price. Here 132,000 homes went under contract, up 7.3% annually, 5.5% year-over-year.

• West
The nation’s costliest region saw 115,000 purchases, up 7.5% annually, with median pricing up 9.2% to $347,400.

• Northeast
Supply-restricted, the Northeast still closed on 77,000 homes, with sales up 6.9%. Prices rose 0.8%, to a median of $274,100.

Local real estate trends show things looking up? Cash-in with the help of Properties Online.

What Experts Want You to Know About Drone Use in the Real Estate Industry

Wealthy Russians Love Miami Real Estate

Aerial View or Miami Beach, condo units and art deco buildings with ocean view.
Aerial View or Miami Beach, condo units and art deco buildings with ocean view.

With the U.S. dollar remaining stable as other global currencies have depreciated, international buyers are flocking to the comfort of American real estate investments. Among them? Russian and Ukrainian buyers, ranking fifth and sixth respectively on the list of top buyers in the Miami market according to current real estate trends.

Who’s the boss?
Shepherding these primarily Russian high net worth individuals (HNWIs) is leading real estate firm Miami Luxury Real Estate LLC (MLRE). Specializing in HNW international buyers, MLRE’s is known for its extensive websites featuring over 200 existing and pre-construction homes in areas from Miami’s South Beach to Fort Lauderdale, Sunny Isles, Bal Harbour, and the ultra-exclusive Fisher Island.

A discrete purchase of a high profile property
One of prestigious MLRE’s most recent sales involved an anonymous buyer in the purchase of South Beach area’s Penthouse 3, a 5,640 square foot unit on four levels with an additional 1,825 square feet on two terraces. The penthouse property held the much sought after distinction of being the highest penthouse unit in the entire Portofino, South Beach area with the best views. Formerly owned by NHL hall of famer Sergey Federov, who for a short time also shared the property with Anna Kurnikova, the unit sold for a record breaking $11,000,000 or $2,000 per square foot.

Not the end of the road
MLRE anticipates many additional purchases from Russian and other international buyers in the coming year. According to Daniel Pansky of the firm, clients purchase primarily in the $1-$50 million range, and MLRE is currently working with several Russian HNWIs looking to procure a penthouse in Miami in the $10-50 million range.

Are you thinking outside the box when it comes to bringing in new leads? Properties Online can help with the latest in global and local real estate trends and technology. Contact us today.

Hudson Valley NY Real Estate Surges Ahead with a 15.2% Sales Increase

Hudson Valley Homes
Hudson Valley Homes

In breaking realtor news, third quarter reports are indicating the Lower Hudson Valley of New York is has far surpassed last year’s real estate sales to the tune of an impressive 15.2% ascent over last year’s transactions.

The striking sales numbers:

  • Westchester County
    Westchester reported a sales upswell so high July-September, records were broken dating back to 1981. Marketing turnaround time was also the fastest seen in 5 ½ years, leading price negotiability to become a no-go for buyers. Condos drove a good part of the uptick, with units purchased rising 17.4% over last year. River Town dwellings are basking in multiple offers, and though the luxury market continues to slide, sales activity is a tsunamic 68% above the 10 year average. This swell is making this year’s 2.7% decline in inventory feel much worse than usual.
  • Rockland County
    Rockland residential sales are up 16%, with the median price rising $10,000. Unlike Westchester, Rockland’s luxury market is experiencing a sales upswing. Single family home sales are also up a whopping 27%, with the median price of single family homes and condos up 2.4 and 12.6%, respectively. End of quarter inventory in Rockland is also down: 9%.
  • Putnam County
    Sales are also up in Putnam, spilling 21% over last year’s numbers. The median price has risen $15,000, up 4.7%. Condo prices have also risen 16.2%. End of quarter inventory has dipped 2.7%.

Will the sales keep rolling in?
Across the region things have been improving for several years, according to realtor news. As sales records continue to be pushed, it appears more stable pricing and heavier sales could be on the horizon.

Are you riding the rising tide of real estate sales, or are you sales ebbing away? Take advantage of the latest in realtor news and ride the wave of success with the help of Properties Online today.

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