A blind date has got to be one of life's scarier moments! Many of us have been the recipient of this form of 'relationship assistance' at some point in our lives.

Although, it's exciting to not know exactly who you will be meeting, the experience is fraught with much angst and trepidation for precisely the same reason...you don't know exactly what you'll get when your date shows up in person!

Today, online dating has spawned hundreds of thousands of successful unions.  However, we all suspect that for every success story, there are oodles of folks who don't have a storybook outcome. 

We all worry about the potential for this:

• A person whose in person appearance is not even remotely connected to how they appear online

• Fake Testimonials which promise more than they deliver

• Individuals who are not what they purport to be...ie the 'pretend doctor' syndrome with fake credentials

These issues are also a concern for millions of consumers who are now going online to select professional services like those provided by members of the real estate community.  Data from the National Association of Realtors indicates that more than 80% of all consumers will utilize the Internet as a part of their selection process for choosing an agent and/or home.  Selecting the right agent for your specific concerns can make all the difference in the world.

Although, there are no guarantees that even your best efforts will yield the results you desire, taking the time to do some preliminary research will greatly enhance your prospects for a successful match.  Let's examine some critical aspects which you should consider as you review potential prospects.

Do You Know if they're the Real Deal?

I mean this literally.  Make sure you're dealing with a real person or business.  Do some checking.  It's pretty easy.  Here are some suggestions:  Contact the local real estate board to inquire about their membership and status.  If they indicate they hold certain awards or designations, call or go online to see if they are on the membership roster.  Google the physical location/address and if you still have doubts, do a drive by.  If things don't check out at this basic level, there's a problem.

Are their Products Visible?

You'll be hiring a real estate agent to market your home.  The disappearing agent who sticks a sign in the yard and NEVER calls is well documented in real estate folklore. 

But what about the disappearing listing? When the home is placed on the market, it becomes a part of the real estate companys' listing portfolio. 

Did you know that there is a dramatic difference between the levels of exposure which your home may receive on the Internet? Did you know that your agent's understanding of Search Engine Positioning and Optimization will be key determinants of your exposure?

For instance, a good online real estate agent can literally put your home on the map...the google indexing map that is.  Imagine being able to say to your friends and family...did you google my home?  If you're competing with 50 other homes for sale in your community, this may make all the difference in the world.

Do They Know What They're Talking About?

Here's the area where the Internet can be of the greatest benefit.  While an increasing number of agents and their agencies have websites, these will provide you with only static information about their listings and services.  To dig deeper, it's prudent to see if the agent you are considering also writes a blog.

Blogging provides a tremendous amount of benefit to the consumer who is in the process of selecting an agent.  For starters, it can save you TIME!  In reading a good agent blog, you will be able to determine the areas of an agent's expertise, their style with clients, the kinds of transactions they handle, and the way they resolve conflicts and solve problems.

Can You Interview them Without Extra Hassle?

You'll find that reading an agent's blog is similar to conducting an interview.  What's great is that you can e-mail or respond in the comment section if you have any additional questions or would like clarification on certain issues.  This type of dialog can be tremendously informative and provides a great platform to become comfortable with someone before hiring them for the job.

It's important to hire the right agent to get the job done.  Using this simple list will improve your chances of selecting someone who has the skill and personality which will be most in alignment with your specific needs.  If you are in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area and are looking for an Online Real Estate Expert, the real estate specialists at Audu Real Estate would be happy to explore how we can assist you.

Where Should you be looking?

Our listings are advertised in a number of Venues which include:  our website, numerous blogs, the Grand Rapids Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service, the NAR (National Association of Realtors), Zillow, Trulia, Real Estate Shows, Google, Yahoo, Oodle, Twitter & Flickr.  Contact us to discuss how we can create an Internet marketing strategy which makes sense for you!

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

A familiar ritual at the dining table as a youngster involved being reminded time and time and again to mind my P's and Q's.  What was commonly referred to as Table Manners were a set a rules that adults felt we needed to know to avoid embarrassing them in polite company.  Thank God their persistence helped to ensure that we didn't become little hellions.

Rules of engagement are a necessary part of social interaction as well as business.  As real estate professionals explore the online world, it is often difficult to clearly understand what the rules are because the context changes so quickly.  It was barely a decade ago that the most progressive agents were those who had a website.  Today, a blog is a pre-requisite for the web savvy practitioner.

Therein lies the confusion.  Do the rules really change just because the context does?  Are there some things that will not change regardless of how drastically technological advancements redefine the business landscape?  I would argue that YES, there are foundational issues which will not change inspite of the shifting sands which continually realign various aspects of the real estate industry.

The first foundation is the Code of Ethics, a standard which defines the rules and practise of professional behavior for real estate practitioners. 

The Code of Ethics stands alongside the laws of each State to support the ethical conduct which should define every real estate transaction.  Although the Code of Ethics is modified from time to time to encompass new arenas such as the Internet, it remains the bedrock solid foundation which defines the conduct of the well mannered agent.

As new agents continue to funnel into the business and more experienced practitioners find themselves working in unfamiliar territory, there are some additional qualities which will continue to provide solid guidance for success.   I refer to these as the Three P's of Priority, Perseverance and Patience.

Proper Priorities

Knowing what your priorities should be is the biggest single factor which determines success or failure for many agents.  There are only a few things that actually make money for a successful agent.  These are: listing or selling a home, prospecting for new business, following up on leads and asking for the appointments necessary build relationships and build our business.  Everything else that we do, including attending closings, is a result of the above activities.  When we loose sight of this and spend little time on these basic activities, our business is bound to suffer.

Perseverance

Persevering involves keeping on, in spite of, not because of.  The old saying 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going' is true.  Many agents give up far too quickly.  This is where it can be helpful to talk to other successful people or read their books.  One will quickly discover that everyone has struggled in one fashion or another.  It's a fact of life.  Persevering is a pre-requisite for success because it proves that you are willing to do what it takes to get the prize...your goal of a successful career.

Patience

Patience develops character.  I'm often amused to hear the term 'overnight' success.  To the individual who supposedly achieves this feat, it most often feels like a very long, long, night!  We tend to refer to the achievement as an overnight success because we are unfamiliar with the journey that enabled someone to gain the status that they now enjoy.  Upon closer examination, it is often revealed to have been a far longer more involved process than a cursory glance would suggest.  Patience is what enables what you are doing to mature to the point where it becomes a fruitful endeavor.

A wise man was once quoted as noting that 'there is nothing new under the sun.'  Knowing HOW to do something is as important as having a clear understanding of WHAT one should actually be doing.  Regardless of how quickly technology shifts our business, the solid foundations of a business built on Right Priorities, Perseverance and Patience are the tools that a determined professional will need to cultivate in order to thrive and succeed.

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved

Are you tired of having to go out on your weekly real estate agent home tour?  Does the price of gas make this seem like a waste of time and money? If you're like many agents who work out of their homes, these questions are front and center when you're thinking about IF you will join the broker tour in any given week.

Since we have several newer agents in our office, they wanted to have this experience, so we arranged to tour some of our home listings.  It was quite an outing.  

When I started thinking about the potential outside of my traditional perspective, all sorts of new ways of Marketing came to my mind. Here are some other ways to make your Home Tour a viable marketing activity which continues to reap dividends long after you've been out for several hours in your car.

On this tour, I decided to try something new myself and took my camera along.  Take a look at what I did on Facebook. 

Post your Tour Link with tinyurl to Twitter, to tell people in your local area and beyond what you've been up to.

Upload pictures of your tour and places of interest to your LinkedIn profile.  Invite people to ask questions about the places you saw and the homes you have listed.

Share more than just listing jargon...talk about the area, sites of interest and nearby attractions.

Post pictures and/or video to Flickr.com

Post pictures and/or video to Facebook.  Share your album with Friends

Make a YouTube video about the area and the homes you see.  Start a series as the local tour expert in your area.  This can be very effective if you have a speciality such as highlighting a Foreclosure Tour of your local area.

Do a Real Estate Show on your tour and then export it all over the place.  It will also index on google for all the addresses you mention.

And then of course...blog about it!

These are just a few simple suggestions on how you can take an activity like real estate touring which seems to be loosing steam and reinvigorate it with fresh perspective and imagination. 

This type of thinking not only creates ample promotion opportunities, but is a way to create true Value to your clients in the successful marketing of their home in ways that can be effective beyond the traditional norms of showcasing an area and listing.  Today's homebuyer is shopping in a million different places.  Are you engaging your buyer where they're looking?

Pictures of homes from Audu Real Estate Home Listing Tour of June 23, 2008

Copyright 2008  Audu Real Estate  All Rights Reserved