The Top 10 Events Impacting Real Estate In 2008

Yes Pam, this is definatley where it is going, and the Realtor who can make that foreign investment connection is about to see some huge flow! This can be done on purpose, for a tiny budget!

Are the foreignors going to our web sites like REALTOR.com or Trulia etc or do they have ways of looking for property using popular web sites in their own countries.. How are you marketing to them? Do they normally obtain their money at home and convert to US dollars and pay cash? What are they typically doing with them?? Are they looking to rent them out? I am in AZ and have heard that the Florida market is hot with Europeans, which is likely easier for them to fly to. Are there other markets that I don't know of that are getting activity from over seas buyers? Is it typical that they are landing on the East Coast and not making it further west?

Thanks,

Gloria in Arizona

Gloria, there are a couple of ways to do this; one is too create a social media hub specifically designed to reach Europeans interested in investing in the US, and then syndicating that feed to enhance other related websites; another is to do key word research as to exactly what they are searching for on Google and others, and targeting those words. I prefer to be the "Trulia" for the target market.

see http://socialmediasystems.com

Stefan, you pretty much nailed it as is usually the case. As a reformed Realtor (R) now just a lowly investor, lol I've been seeking the answers to what our investors can do to help liquidate the bloated inventories of upside-down assets and have found a wealth of information along the way, so I'm hopeful.

Harry S Dent lays out a dismal doom and gloom scenario or our U.S. economy sinking further and eventually levelling off around 2012 so that isn't to encouraging.

T Boon Pickens expects fuel prices to return to much higher levels and I can agree with that, so cluster housing is certainly a great bet for the future as well.

Information is power when accurate and applied, finding it isn't hard but discerning it can take some time, time which many seem to lack.

Stefan, I remember asking you if you would write a chapter for my upcoming book a while back but believe you where already booked up, (No pun Intended, LOL) Here's a preview of that work in case you had a moment to have a look: http://www.bearealestateheavyweight.com/eBook-Preview/Be-A-Real-Estate-Heavyweight-Preview.pdf Education is certainly the key.

Dan :~)

A Great Top Ten List.

Two comments or questions:

Why did so many Real Estate Franchises dry up and blow away? I can understand a reduction in the sales force when the number of transactions and the size of the commissions decreases forty percent. But, why did so may franchises have a 'rainy day' plan? After decades of positive growth was the business model incapable of evolving.

Comment Two: Was 2008 (or 2009) the year when The Super Majority of Real Estate Practitioners have gone high tech? Once a quarter, I still run into an agent that cannot open a .pdf file, But that use to happen twice a week. Do we now have basic minimum amount of technology know how in our profession?