Zillow Starts Charging for Mortgage Leads

November 6, 2009 – 2:44 pm
Zillow, which launched a mortgage market place for free in 2008, will now be charging lenders on a cost per lead basis. This announcement follows Google's to test comparison ads for verticals like "mortgage".How much will it cost?The market will determine the price for each contact; Zillow will not be setting price. Leads will vary by market and range from  $0-$100.  The price will be shown as part of the loan request, so lenders can use this information to decide which requests to quote. Lenders will also be able to set a maximum price to pay per contact. Mortgage lead generation is a very large market and the recent tax credit extension will only increase demand for mortgages in the near future.

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Landlords Decreasing Rent Prices Across the Nation

November 6, 2009 – 10:40 am
Yesterday’s blog concerning renovation negotiations with landlords could not have come at a better time. A few days ago the National Association of Independent Landlords published survey results on landlord’s current behavior with rent prices and their willingness to accommodate tenant’s financial needs. With an overwhelming 69% of independent landlords willing to reduce rent, now is the time to jump into negotiations.Of those landlords willing to negotiate, 61% said they would drop rents up to 5%, and another 29% said they would take off up to 10%; the handful of those remaining said they would consider even higher reductions. These cuts are a reflection of the struggle landlord’s are going through in order to maintain the budgets that keep their business going."Just like everyone else in this recession, landlords are trying hard to pay their mortgage and cover their bills,” points out Tracey Benson, president of The National Association of Independent Landlords. ...

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Renting and Renovating, All For The Cost Of Rent

November 5, 2009 – 1:31 pm
Anyone who has been through the rental-search process has seen the worn down apartments, which may have met the desired location and price point, but essentially did not make the cut. The scratched walls, stained floors, and water stains are hard to settle for and therefore the search continues. However, for one San Franciscan tenant, the potential of the apartment inspired a clever proposal that gave him a renovated apartment without the extra costs.NYTimes.com recently published this story detailing renovations made to the San Francisco apartment by the tenant, Grant K. Gibson, in exchange for free rent for two months. With the current economic pressure on property owners (and their budgets) preventing them from paying for the work themselves, the timing could not be better for this type exchange.The key is to look beyond the ugly marks left behind by previous tenants and find the elements of the ...

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Rental Scams - What to Look For

November 3, 2009 – 11:30 am
For a while now, we have been doing our best to educate renters, property owners, and all other web-oriented audiences of online rental scams. Although it is a growing dilemma, there are a few simple precautions that can help avoid the problem altogether.The scam begins with an ad plagiarized from a rental site and edited to make the rental rates substantially lower than normal. This attracts consumers based on price alone. Next, the interested party sends in an inquiry (or an application) to the “property owner”.Confirmation letting the renter know they are “chosen” is sent through an email. The email itself gives very little contact information and rather than pressing for a tour of the home or for any sort of non-web communication, it asks the renter to fill out a form with their information and send in a deposit check. It then promises to send ...

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Success Rule #4 - FOCUS ON PEOPLE AND SERVICE

November 3, 2009 – 11:28 am
By Dan Daugherty"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends." - Walt DisneyIt is very difficult to make your customers happy if you don't have happy employees. Derek Kalles of Kalles Properties says, "People are the key to successfully sustaining, growing and developing a company that will create a legacy for many years to come. We are a service-based business with the most important asset not existing on our balance sheet - rather, it is our people."Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, an online shoe company that was recently acquired by Amazon for approximately $850 million, says that one of the keys to Zappos' success has been creating a culture and business that is "powered by service." Tony says, "we believe that customer service shouldn't be just a department, it should be the entire company."At Rent Marketer, one of our ...

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Success Rule #3 - LAUGH AND SMILE, AND DON’T TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY

November 3, 2009 – 11:15 am
By Mike Branam"With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die." - Abraham Lincoln"Laughter gives us distance. It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on." - Bob NewhartLaughing. Smiling. We know how important these things are in our personal lives, but they are just as important in our professional lives as well. This is not to say that business should be taken lightly, or that a customer issue will magically be resolved with a hearty belly laugh. But taking a moment to reflect on a challenging issue, or laughing at yourself when times are a little tough can help navigate us through difficult waters.While we cannot always control what happens, we can certainly control how we react.PJ Chapman of Chapman Properties and Mike Mumford of Bennett Property Management are two members of ...

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Success Rule #2 - SOLVE PROBLEMS

November 2, 2009 – 9:26 pm
By Dan Daugherty“Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.” - Henry Ford“We are too busy mopping the floor to turn off the faucet.” - UnknownWhen asked, "If you had only one word to describe the day-to-day life of a property manager, what would that word be?", many property managers mentioned the words "frustrated", "hectic," and "chaotic". These words are echoed by many of the most extraordinary people and companies in the world. These frustrations usually turn into the development and implementation of better services and products.At Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin were frustrated with the results from search engines. Their response was to develop a more relevant search engine based on the democracy of the Internet. Virgin Airlines was developed because Richard Branson was frustrated with the service he received from other airlines. At Rent Marketer, we were frustrated with ...

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Success Rule #1 - SET GOALS, AND HAVE A VISION

November 2, 2009 – 9:24 pm
As a follow-up to our recent post entitled "Property Management Published Book - The 9 Laws of Success," we wanted to post each law as a post in its entirely. We hope you enjoy it.Success Rule #1 - SET GOALS, AND HAVE A VISIONBy Mike Branam“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” - Michelangelo"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals." - Zig ZiglarJim Cathcart, a noted professional speaker, once said, "Most people aim at nothing in life and hit it with amazing accuracy." If we don't specify exactly what we want, we have no reason to complain about what we get or where we find ourselves. I have always been a big advocate of having a ...

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Property Management Published Book - The 9 Laws of Success

November 2, 2009 – 4:17 pm
We recently participated in the NARPM convention that was held in Orlando, Fl. Every year, over 400 property managers from all over the US come together to share ideas, meet with vendors and receive credits for classes.  This was Rent Marketer's 4th National NARPM convention. Every year, vendors give away prizes, shirts, pens, etc. This year, we wanted to have a more collaborative giveaway that involved more property managers.One of the core values at Rent Marketer is to "Always Learn and Always Grow." Another value is to "Share Knowledge". Keeping those 2 core values in mind, we had an idea for a project that would allow us to create a medium for a select group of management professionals to share some of their knowledge with others while incorporating these thoughts with a few principles that can help anyone and everyone thrive in their professional and personal lives.What follows is the collective ...

Posted in Business Tips, Rent Marketer Book, Rental Market | 1 Comment »

Top 10 Safest Cities to Live

November 1, 2009 – 6:01 pm
The ideal city is one that provides the thriving culture of like New York City, with the safety of suburban neighborhoods like  Greenich, CT.  Cities that meet these qualities do exist and according to a ranking published last week by Forbes.Com, they aren’t that far off the map.Forbes.com safest cities in America determined ranking based on the city’s violent crimes, workplace fatalities, traffic deaths, and natural disaster risk.  These four categories sum up the environmental and public safety concerns of city life.  Below are the highest rating cities: Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN Denver-Aurora, COEach city’s ranking was determined by the sum of their rank in the four individual safety categories.   Minneapolis ranked in the top ten for violent crimes (#9), traffic deaths, and natural disaster risk (#7). Its position as the safest city to live in is number one under workplace ...

Posted in Real Estate Investing, Real Estate News | 1 Comment »

Reno Real Estate Market Report

November 1, 2009 – 3:44 pm
According to Zillow, the average value of a home in Reno, Nevada is $195,200. Down 20.3 percent year over year. For the month of Sept, the rentBits rental index shows the average rental rates in Reno to be $873.  Up slightly from the month of August.The demand for homes for rent in Reno has been on the rise as more and more foreclosure hit the market. The for sale market has seen a dramatic decline in for sale prices during the last year.  According to Trulia.com, the media sales price has fallen 21.5% year over year.

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Google Gets into the Mortgage Comparison Business

October 29, 2009 – 8:44 pm
Today, Google announced their test release of comparison ads.  Comparison ads lets users compare multiple, relevant offers more easily.Here is how it works. Lets take a look at the keyword 'mortgage'.If the user clicks on the ad, they will be taken to a page with more detailed sponsored results. Once the user finds an offer that matches their needs, they can call the offer or request a quote.The advertisers would only pay if the user calls or requests a quote. This is very similar to Zillow Mortgage but Zillow Mortgage is free for mortgage brokers.Google will most likely release this across many verticals where consumers want to compare various services.

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Six Things Property Management Software Makes Easy

October 27, 2009 – 10:48 am
We ran across a blog resource called Software Advice. One article in particular stood out, "Six Things Property Management Software Makes Easy." In it, Chris Thorman narrows down 6 challenges property managers face with their existing business and offers some software solutions to help solve these problems. Managing Leads to New Tenants Connecting with Tenants Automation of Regular Tasks Advertising with Popular Websites Building a Website that Integrates with Your Software Going GreenOne challenge that is close to our hearts touches on point number 4. The challenge of rental property distribution to the hundreds of rental sites that exist on the web. A recent Apartments.com study found that over 90% of the renters search across multiple websites before finding their ideal rental. At Rent Marketer and Apartment Marketer, our goal is to solve this difficult challenge by providing one place for property managers to reach their audience. No matter what site they are on.Software and technology will continue to improve the efficiencies of ...

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Real Estate Survey - Have you Received New Business from Twitter

October 21, 2009 – 12:23 pm
Our goal is to get 500 respondents to answer this survey. Please send to all of the real estate professionals you know: Loading...

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TurnSocial Helps to Make Apartment Websites More Social Friendly

October 15, 2009 – 9:39 am
TurnSocial aims to aggregate social content from across the web and give companies and apartment communities a simple solution to engage visitors and build a better 'social' community. The total cost is Free.TurnSocial is working with Apartment Websites like Urbane Apartments to make the social experience better. Take a look at the social bar at the bottom of Urbane's website.TurnSocial currently works with various applications including: Facebook Fan Page RentWiki Yelp Twitter Search Twitter Feed MySpace YouTube Flickr Outside.in Walkscore

Posted in Rental Tips | 3 Comments »

35% of Renters have Seen a Scam Email or Ad

October 14, 2009 – 4:21 pm
We recently did a survey with over 800 renters who are actively searching for a rental property. We asked them,"During your rental search, have you ever come across an ad or received an email that you suspected to be a scam?"Over 35% of the respondents said they have seen a scam ad or was contacted by a scammer.

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The Real Estate Electronic Organizer - A Revolution

September 23, 2009 – 3:33 pm
Forget about the Apple Tablet, take a look at this Microsoft Courier. It is in the late beta stage and should hit the market soon.This is going to change the way we organize and interact. Imagine the possibilities for Realtors.[youtube]DXjsqsmLSMg[/youtube]

Posted in Real Estate Technology | 4 Comments »

Place your Rental Listings on a Map

September 23, 2009 – 9:51 am
Rent Marketer has partnered with PickRent to offer Rent Marketer customers the ability to put a map of their listings on their blog or website for free.Here is how it works: If you are a Rent Marketer customer, go to this link. Enter your Rent Marketer "Lead Contact Name" - i.e (Betty) or (Wendy Frenzel) Customize your map size Preview Map and Generate Code Copy this code and put on your website or blogYou can view a real life working example of the map from A Vantage Properties.View a video of how to use this feature below: PickMap Widget Tutorial Demo from Dave Dugdale on Vimeo.

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5 Things to Know Before Renewing Your Lease

September 22, 2009 – 5:15 pm
Erin Scottberg of LemonDrop, an AOL company, recently asked me some questions about the rental market and wrote a piece entitled, "5 Things to Know Before Renewing Your Lease."   Get rewarded for being a good tenantSign a longer leaseOffer to pay a few months at a timeUse supply and demand to your advantageMind the economy Please read the article for more information on these tips.

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Rent Marketer Names Craig Smith to Board of Directors

September 22, 2009 – 2:02 pm
Rent Marketer, Inc, today announced that Craig Smith, CEO of Service Magic, an IAC Company, has been elected to serve on the Rent Marketer board of directors. “As a veteran leader in the digital marketing industry, Craig Smith has helped shape the way marketers acquire customers online, as well as revolutionize the way consumers connect with service professionals,” said Dan Daugherty, chief executive officer. “Craig's passion for online marketing, strong business acumen and knowledge of the local market will be of great benefit to Rent Marketer as we continue our rapid growth." Craig Smith was appointed Chief Executive Officer of ServiceMagic in January of 2008. A member of the ServiceMagic team since 2000, Craig began his career in strategic financial planning and progressed into his current role as CEO. He previously acted as the senior vice president of the consumer division where he was charged with overseeing the company's Internet marketing strategy and customer service division. He was also responsible ...

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Twitter Seeing Traffic Decline in US

September 17, 2009 – 11:50 am
According to Google Trends, Twitter is seeing a gradual decrease in monthly traffic in the US.Worldwide, twitter traffic is flat.We may continue to see this downward trend for the rest of the year. On another note, Twitter recently received $50 million in new funding at a $1 billion valuation.

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Advertising Spend by Media

September 9, 2009 – 2:49 pm
Ouch. - From BattelleMedia.

Posted in Rental Market | 1 Comment »

Predicting the Future of Rental Leads

September 9, 2009 – 10:56 am
Data from the past, can help us predict the future. This is exactly what the new Google Rental Index and Insights for Rental search offers. The Google Rental Index tracks queries related to "apartments, rentals, for rent, rent".Below is a graph of historical rental data for the last 4 years.Every year, starting in late July and going until late December, rental traffic drops dramatically.  Google takes this historical information and uses algorithms to determine the future of rental traffic.Google predicts that in July 2010, rental traffic will be 23% higher than traffic in Jan 2004. This will be slightly higher than July 2009 traffic.What can rental advertisers learn from this type of data?Rental Leads Drop off in August - Dec Offer promotions to attract those residents looking for a rental Think about lowering the rental rate. Reach more renters - Post on more rental sites. Upgrade to larger Packages for Advertising Answer all phone and email inquiries immediately Refresh the content and photos in the adDo you have any ...

Posted in Rental Market | 3 Comments »

Rental Scammer Chart - Email Addresses

September 3, 2009 – 7:57 pm
RentVine developed a chart of top scammer email addresses. Rental Scams are still on the rise.

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Google Mortgage - LendingTree Lawsuit

August 28, 2009 – 11:32 am
According to the Wallstreet Journal, LendingTree is suing Mortech, which provides a loan technology service that LendingTree uses, for breaching their confidentiality agreement. A few months back, Google began testing a Merchant search service in the UK that compares lenders and LendingTree is concerned that trade secrets may have been exposed.Here arethe FAqs for the service in the UK.Frequently asked questionsWhat is Google Merchant Search?Google Merchant Search is an easy new way for you to find products or services from lenders who match your needs.What products or services are supported through Google Merchant Search?The service is currently only available for secured loans from financial services lenders.How do you choose which lenders to show me?Our search results are based on the criteria you provided in your request; we compare your request with our list of participating lenders, and show those that are most relevant for you. Participating lenders pay Google when someone contacts them through this ...

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Todd Tyrrell Dunking - US Basketball Team

August 12, 2009 – 1:49 pm
Our very own Todd Tyrrell was recently in Israel representing the United States basketball team for the over 35 age bracket. The US Team took the silver medal in a very close game against Israel in the finals. Todd said he could dunk and here is proof:[youtube]5RHbu83qFws[/youtube]

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AOL Launches Rental Site

August 7, 2009 – 9:24 am
AOL is going through a complete transformation. Their new CEO, Tim Armstrong, a friend and Ex-VP of Sales for Google is focusing on 5 areas for the new AOL. They are: Content Advertising Local and Mapping Communications AOL VenturesAs it relates to content, AOL recently launched a new rental site called RentedSpaces. RentedSpaces offers content, listings (powered by Oodle), tips, etc for the renter looking to move.

Posted in Rental Advertising | 5 Comments »

Useful Use of Twitter in Real Estate

August 4, 2009 – 1:58 pm
From Techcrunch: Another case in point: RealEstate.com is today launching the beta version of @Housewatch, a Twitter bot that can instantly deliver statistics and information to home buyers, sellers and agents who use the social networking service. Here’s how it works: you follow the (protected) account, and as soon as the bot follows you back you can use a variety of commands through direct messages sent to the account. RealEstate.com’s Housewatch can respond to simple commands to automatically deliver data on everything from median home values to neighborhood crime statistics and monthly mortgage calculations. To get an overview of which commands are supported, you can DM the word ‘commands’ to the bot, but here’s the full list:

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Property Manager Survey - Internet Marketing, Economy and More

July 28, 2009 – 4:43 pm
PropertyManager.com, a resource for property managers that is powered by AppFolio, recently surveyed some residential property managers.Here are some highlights: Economy 83% of PMs are growing their business this year Internet Marketing 72% say internet marketing is a priority 22% say internet marketing is important but can't find time 6% say internet marketing is not that important Company Website 61% say website is very important 8% say not important Owner Communication 33% say electronic communication is primary mode of communication 57% say the communicate electronically a little bit Social Networks 36% say no but plan to 33% say yes but only a little 19% say no

Posted in Rental Tips, appfolio | 2 Comments »

MyNewPlace Launches iPhone App

July 28, 2009 – 2:42 pm
[youtube]fi_PTM3qe9w[/youtube]

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