Recently I gave a presentation to a group of progressive title representatives and here is the training video recap. This session was one hour and covered Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Please let me know if you have any comments in this thread.
This guest post was written by Mike Ownens, Cyberhomes Product Manager.
Its time to start looking at the bright side… Data from the Q2 09’ Cyberhomes Data Report shows that 8 cities with healthy sales volume saw positive changes in volume and median prices over the last year. That’s not many, but in this market, any signs of positive change are welcome.
The cities listed below all saw positive annual changes in number of sales and median sales prices in the first quarter of 2009, and had at least 100 sales last in the first quarter of this year (Q109) and at least 75 in the first quarter of last year (Q108). Only 8 cities from the entire country made the cut.
The top 5 all come from the San Diego area. San Diego was so depressed a year ago that a lot of cities in that area have seen big increases in number of sales, but these fortunate 5 also saw increases in median prices. San Diego was one of the first areas affected by the foreclosure crisis, it looks like it could be the first to start emerging from it as well. Interestingly, 4 of the 5 are mid-tier cities in terms of prices. The other solid performers were Gig Harbor, WA- an affluent community on the Puget Sound across the Narrows Bridge from Tacoma; Charleston, WV- the capital and largest city in West Virginia; and Sunny Isles, FL- a barrier-island town on the beaches of North Miami Beach.
| City |
# of sales (last qtr) |
Annual change # of sales |
Median sales price (last qtr) |
Annual % change median sales price |
| Oceanside, CA |
591 |
549.5% |
$239,000 |
4.8% |
| Escondido, CA |
515 |
420.2% |
$220,500 |
10.8% |
| El Cajon, CA |
354 |
221.8% |
$236,000 |
37.6% |
| Chula Vista, CA |
732 |
226.8% |
$284,000 |
7.2% |
| Carlsbad, CA |
290 |
178.9% |
$530,000 |
25.4% |
| Gig Harbor, WA |
173 |
18.5% |
$456,000 |
17.8% |
| Charleston, WV |
200 |
27.4% |
$146,350 |
5.8% |
| Sunny Isles Beach, FL |
158 |
0.6% |
$310,000 |
5.1% |
What’s your opinion about ads on your website…good or bad? I was reading an article over on the Wav Group blog about ads and their relationship with conversations. The post highlighted research done by the Online Publishers Association and comScore. The report points out that advertising on websites actually increases consumer engagement. So the big question is are you missing out by not having ads on your site?
At a recent REBarCamp in San Francisco I shared my experiences. I’ve found very interesting products as a result of browsing on my favorite niche sites and being exposed to their ads. But I believe I was interested, because the ads were relevant to the site I was browsing. So in the real estate and home ownership space how do you attract those relevant advertisers? It’s actually a lot easier than you might think. LPS Real Estate Group has been radically growing its advertiser participation to the Real Estate and Living Media Network (REALM). So I asked Prem Luthra, Chief Development & Strategy for LPS Real Estate Group to share some background on the ad network, how to get involved and what’s makes the REALM so attractive. For Prem’s answers, watch this short video:
Prem Luthra, Chief Development & Strategy for LPS Real Estate Group
Read more about the Real Estate and Living Media Network.
Related NEWS: LPS Real Estate Group Announces Vertical Ad Network to be Branded Real Estate and Living Media Network
Can’t make ReBarCamp SF or Inman Connect SF 09′? Check here for our view of what’s happening.
Over at CNET, author Don Reisinger recently covered Sites that get your home ready to sell. At the top of the list was Cyberhomes. Don shares that visitors to Cyberhomes interested in their homes value simply need to type their address and Cyberhomes will return how much we believe the home is worth.
It was also great to hear that Reisinger recognizes home value estimates are a big part of Cyberhomes, but by no means all we have under the hood. Reisinger goes on to share that Cyberhomes “provides a listing of homes for sale in your area, where you can find ‘distressed’ homes you might be able to buy on the cheap, and neighborhood information down to income and demographic data.” Read the full story
Watch this short video to learn how to add the Cyberhomes Market Forecast Indicator to your Facebook business page. It’s 100% free!
It’s no secret; we’ve been busy with the release of our new market forecast report. We’ve already received some great press from sites like Bankrate, L.A. Times and CNN Money. And last week we released another component that I’m sure you’ll like. We’re calling it the market forecast indicator and it can be added to any website or blog for free.
What’s The Market Forecast Indicator?
The Cyberhomes Market Forecast Indicator provides a 12-month local real estate market projection, right on your website. By placing a tiny snippet of code on any page of your site, you can add value for your visitors and improve your site stickiness.
The indicator also works with our co-brands. If you’re not already aware, cobrands are a free version of Cyberhomes that can be customized with your sites header and footer. The indicator when clicked will take the user back to your cobranded version of Cyberhomes.
I’ve been hearing a lot of chatter around Commissioner Poizner and the Department of Insurance. It’s clear they have been getting serious about compliance to the SB133 legislation—which basically states that no items of value may be given to real estate professionals. Recently a few people have been fined for illegal title marketing practices.
Now I’m not going to get into what’s allowed and not allowed, but I do understand that many real estate professionals are left totally confused on where to turn! For years agents have been able to tap their title company for sophisticated property profiles including transaction history, nearby neighbors, comps and tons of other marketing tools. That all stopped in California at the beginning of this year.
The Solution
Don’t fret, the same data you’ve been getting from your title company is now available via two websites: AgentPro247.com and LoanPro247.com. Read the full story
Recently Marty Frame was speaking at the 2009 REAL Trends Gathering of Eagles event comprised of many of the country’s most successful and influential real estate leaders. At the event Marty shared some interesting statistics about the the online real estate audience. I got a hold of the presentation and was amazed at a few things. To start, looking and the data Marty collected from ComScore, MediaMetrix & NAR it’s easy to spot that the online real estate audience is growing in size year after year.
It’s clear we’re talking about a very large audience. In March of 2009, there were 44 million unique visits to the top 20 real estate sites. Now what’s I think is even more interesting is looking at this from a real estate agent’s point of view. You’re marketing to a growing audience of consumers interested in real estate but yet the average ratio of buyers and sellers actually looking to transact is less than 2%. See graphic below:
For anyone with a vested interest in real estate, we have some exciting news about the first ever consumer report to help predict future real estate trends in a local market by analyzing key information such as credit information, loan repayment data, delinquencies and foreclosures.
Using the proprietary data and analytics from LPS Applied Analytics, Cyberhomes Market Forecast is available for millions of properties and thousands of neighborhoods around the United States. Users can simply search for a property address or neighborhood on Cyberhomes, and we will show them whether their market is expected to increase in value, decline in value or remain neutral over the next year, based on the data used.
Anyone looking to delve deeper into the results can purchase a summary report for a special introductory price of only $3.99. For those seeking professional-level, rich analysis, a full-scale report showing all of the details will be available for an introductory price of $9.99. Here is what the reports include:
The Cyberhomes Market Forecast Summary:
The complete Cyberhomes Market Forecast Report:
