Carlsbad Relocation A to Z

Encinitas, California

An informational source for people who are relocating, with a particular focus on moving to the Carlsbad area of North County San Diego (and nearby coastal communities), with advice, guidance and true stories to help you on your way and make it a great journey, from a REALTOR� with plenty of personal (4 major moves, most recently from Boston to Carlsbad, California) and professional relocation experience. Are you running into problems selling your home? Need to find a new one quickly? Never moved before and haven't a clue? You'll find some great tips on how to solve your relocation issues here. Or ask me a question any time and I'll share some solutions or tell you where to get more information. CA DRE License #01490977

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Carlsbad Relocation A to Z

Cool Informational Website

Mar. 5, 2007

Categorized in: Internet information

Tagged with: consumer information, website

HOW DO I...?

I came across a cool website that offers consumer information on how to do just about anything - eHow.com.

I didn't find this on my own, but it was so neat that I had to share it, and want to credit Bruce Slaton, a real estate agent in Sacramento, CA for this suggestion.

Check it out.

There is lots of information on

cars (safe driving information, how to negotiate when buying and selling, auto insurance and financing)
food and entertaining (Want to make a special drink for your next party? Need some cooking tips?)
computers (operating system basics, the Internet, networking)
electronics (cameras, communications, handheld devices)
business and finances (insurance, investing, taxes)
home and garden (decorating, landscaping, home repairs and maintenance)
health (alternative health, diet and fitness, mental health)
travel (destinations, travel tips, transportation)

and much more. It's definitely worth a visit, and you might just find the answers to those plaguing questions. Let me know what you think!

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The Transparent Agent

Feb. 27, 2007

Categorized in: Finding a REALTOR

Tagged with: agents, buyers, consumer information, real estate, sellers, transparency, what is transparency

With the exponential increase in information on the Internet, so too have we seen the emergence of the transparent agent. Or perhaps I should say we have seen agents become more transparent as a result of being on the Internet.

Agents who are on the web, and especially those who blog, are now out of the closet, so to speak, and visible to all who wish to read about and view them. And that’s a good thing for consumers. No longer do you have to guess about who you might hire to help you in a home buying or selling transaction. Simply go to the Internet, read what agents are saying on their blog, and you will be amazed at what you can learn. Not just the information they are sharing (which they should be doing as standard procedure, by the way) but about them personally:

What they believe
What they know
How they work and how they play (perhaps)
How they behave
What they value
Their temperament and personality
Their likes and dislikes

You really can get to know someone from what they write, and how they write, and before long they almost become a friend without having met them.. or you decide to stop reading because you don't like what you see, or get bored.

So if you do decide to work with a particular person, you already will have achieved a comfort level when you first start working together. And it’s a good way to select the agent you want to assist you in such a critical decision as buying or selling a home worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more.

Transparency is a good thing for consumers. And it’s good for us too – we publicly get to share more of who we are, and can no longer hide behind the walls of offices, our voice mails and our static websites.

So, buyers and sellers - use the Internet to your advantage. Learn what you can about us…then make your decision.

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What is Transparency on the Internet

Feb. 25, 2007

Categorized in: Due Diligence

Tagged with: agents, buyers, consumer information, real estate, sellers, transparency, what is transparency

I want to chat a bit about transparency on the Internet, especially with regard to real estate and us agents. That’s the topic for this post and the next one or two.

The emphasis NOW is on sharing as much information as possible, about the real estate business and what we do, but more importantly about ourselves – who we are and how we work. As agents, we are now transparent to consumers, and that’s a good thing.

For many years, agents were the guardians of real estate information – you couldn’t get the details of what houses were for sale, their prices, what HAD sold, or other information without talking with an agent. We had you trapped, so to speak. Any of you who have been around for a while, and perhaps bought in the past, may remember the big fat MLS books that contained all the listings in the area – but no lookie without an agent. Nothing existed on the Internet so you had no choice but to contact a real estate office.

Well, the Internet has changed all that, thank goodness. Consumers now have the ability to get most of the information they need about buying and selling before they even talk to an agent. They can pick the houses they like, get estimated values on a home they are selling (a caveat here –be cautious, as those estimates are often off quite a bit), and learn all kinds of things about agents before they even decide who they want to work with. Consumers are now in the driver’s seat and in control, exactly where they should be. Many agents don’t like that – but I think it’s great. Over 70% of buyers and sellers do their research on the ‘net before they even talk with a professional. This is good for them, and good for us, in my opinion.

I know some of you are doing your research as you think about buying or selling, and I would encourage you to do as much as you can, with all the resources that are at your disposal. I will share some thoughts on the research process and give you some tips in my next post.

Thanks for coming by!

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