Blogging
If you are a Real Estate professional you already know that it is highly competitive profession, especially in the large markets such as The Valley of The Sun. Everyone is looking for an edge, something that will make them stand out from the rest. What if there was a way that could make you stand out and also bring you clients, build your brand, and become the expert that people will come to when they need your service? Well, there is such a thing and it’s called a web log or Blog.
A blog can give you the opportunity to get your properties and services out to a huge number of potential clients. Imagine having people on the edge of you their seats waiting for you to post your next property and then getting questions and requests to see that property immediately after posting it to your blog. Granted this type of exposure won’t come overnight but, it is not any means a stretch down the line if you run your blog right.
Where most bloggers go wrong is they just post their properties and services and expect for people to go to the blog to read their ads. I don’t know about you but I believe ads are annoying and I don’t enjoy reading them. To get people to trust you and even think about getting in to your properties you must give them content that they want.
What do they want, you ask? Information is king in this department you want to show that you are very knowledgeable in the area you are working. If you have statistics of sales over the last month or quarter you can write about that. Do you get asked a specific question over and over? That would be a perfect place to start a blog post.
Once you have gained the readers trust you can begin lightly putting in a property here and there. When you are first starting your blog you just try to just post informational posts. Then, after a couple weeks start introducing your properties onto the blog by writing an informational post then posting a property, this will make it more likely for the reader to read about your property. Finally once your readers are comfortable with the listing you can start just put up a property without an informational post, this does not mean you can stop doing informational posts. If you do this you will begin to lose readers and will have to start all over again.
This is a basic overview of what a blog can do for Real Estate business if you would like to set up a blog for yourself or company check back tomorrow for the next installment of this series How to Set up a Blog.
Matt Kennedy
Internet Marketing
RAUKOV LLC.
One of the most difficult concepts to grasp in the Credit/FICO world is “What is the difference on my Credit Report if I choose to do a Short Sale compared to a Foreclosure”. Well I am here to give you my interpretation.
In Short it Depends
If you are currently going through a Foreclosure or a Notice of Trustee Sale, then you must be at least somewhere between 90-120 Days Late on your Mortgage currently. That means you have already done the same amount of damage to you Credit as that of a Short Sale. Even if you have had perfect Credit your entire life, the day that Credit Report shows that you are 30 Days past due on your Mortgage your FICO score probably dropped between 50 – 100 points. As you go 60 and then 90 Days past due it continues to drop. This is going to take about 2 years to work its way out of your credit score, regardless of what you do from this day on. A Short Sale will have the same effect on your Credit as the aforementioned scenario time and score wise. Even if you have some big Windfall (Lottery, Inheritance, etc.) and you pay off all your debt; your Credit will still remain the same as it is today because you were past due on your mortgage within the last 2 years.
What If I Just Let The Bank Foreclose?
If your Home goes to Foreclosure, meaning the Bank Auctions off the property, your actual FICO score should be effected about the same as would a Short Sale. It is however, the “How Long it Will be affected” that you have to worry about. There are 2 sections of your Credit Report:
#1 – your Trade Lines (Your Mortgage, Car Loan, Credit Cards, etc.)
#2 – your Public Records, where a Foreclosure reports. This would also be where Bankruptcies, Tax Liens, Judgments and Collections report. From my experience a Foreclosure on your Public Records will stay there from anywhere between 7 and 10 years. Meaning, this could be a burden on your Credit Score and your for close to a decade.
Keep this in mind as well, if you are applying for a job and they want to do a background check on you, many companies may pull your credit report. Do you think they care that you had a Late Payment on something or do they care about what is in your public records? My guess is that they would be looking at your Public Records.
The long lasting effects of a Foreclosure on you Credit Report can not only influence whether you will get a Mortgage sometime in the near future it can also affect your Credit Card Rates, your Car Insurance Rates and whether you get that new job that you are vying for. A Short Sale can be a very good solution for someone in this day and age. 2 years compared to at least 7 years is a big difference. Make sure you weigh all your options and make the decision that is going to be right for you and your family.
All information I have written is based on my opinion and experience from my years working as a Real Estate Agent as well as a Wholesale Mortgage Account Executive with companies such as Bear Stearns and Fremont Investment & Loan.
Mike Jones
RAUKOV,LLC
Director of Sales
(480) 747-2835 – direct
Guardian Realty & Investment Group
Realtor
