To reflect our goals for 2014, Agent BizzUp is proud to announce the redesign of our website. For the past year, we’ve made significant improvements to our products and services. Our new website features a crisp, clean and modern interface. We’ve made our products and services more intuitive by adding more resourceful contents, including an in-depth Knowledge Base, product details and User Guides. Check it out!

	Search Agent BizzUp Our new global search feature at the top of all pages will have you wondering, how did you ever use our website without it! This feature allows you to search all contents of our website, new and old. Combined with our enhanced navigation menu, you’ll be able to find answers to all of your questions within 2 clicks.
	Adaptive Our new website is built Mobile First, and is now adaptive and responsive. Go ahead, try it on your shinny new mobile device.

Review of Brendon DeSimone's, “How to Buy or Sell a Home That’s off the Market.” How to Buy or Sell a Home That’s off the Market. (Deimone 2012). Retrieved from: http://homes.yahoo.com/news/buy-sell-home-off-market-214720113.html

In this article you will read many tips associated with buying or selling a house that is not on the market. This can happen if you come across someone who has been thinking about selling their house and heard that you might be interested in buying a house. The operative word here is, might. You are are just thinking about something, you have not come up with a firm conclusion as to what you would like to do. One of the downsides of attempting to buy or sell a house that is not on the market is that one or both of the parties are probably not ready for this commitment. Entertaining the idea might be great but in actuality one person might be more serious than the other.

According to the article, many home owners and would be home buyers entertain the idea of selling or buying off the market because they would like to save the 6% commission they would have to pay a real estate agent for their services. This transitions into a battle between the seller and buyer for the 6% savings when they opt out of hiring real estate agents. Unfortunately, most of the time the expertise of an agent is needed in order to complete the sale. The initial reason why a real estate agent was not consulted diminishes and now you are back at paying the 6% commission fee. Before you waste any time, hire a real estate agent. They will take most of the work off of your hands which will give you more free time to do whatever makes you happy.

Another issue that can go haywire is the slight hesitation the seller or buyer will have from not selling or buying a house that is on the market. The thought might cross their minds that they might have gotten a better deal had the house been on the market. This might lead the seller to put the house on the market or the buyer to look for another house that is on the market.

As you can see, there are many issues with selling or buying a house that is not on the market. The best way to accomplish this is by hiring a knowledgeable real estate agent that will aid you in the entire process.

If you are a real estate agent  and you would like to gain more hits so that you may market to these types of buyers and sellers, consider Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing (SEM). With Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing you are guaranteed a specific amount of qualified visitors depending on your budget.

To read the full article please visit: http://homes.yahoo.com/news/buy-sell-home-off-market-214720113.html

Review of Morgan Brennan’s: “How The Housing Recovery Will Take Shape In Coming Months.” (Brennan 2012). How The Housing Recovery Will Take Shape In Coming Months. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/09/26/heres-how-the-housing-recovery-will-take-shape-in-coming-months/

Great news everyone. We are closer to a recovery. Woo! Hoo! In this article you will read that the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index just reported new numbers. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, “every city tracked in the 20-City Composite has seen prices rise for three straight months and 16 of the 20 cities saw year-over-year increases. ” That’s a great boost to the economy. This is extremely impressive considering  how tight lending is right now.

Unfortunately, we saw a slow growth in home prices  and sales when the 2010 home buyer tax credits ceased. It has taken us a few years to bounce back from the slow growth caused by the stoppage of the 2010 home buyer tax credits. Another reason why we are experiencing a slow growth is because of lending. If anyone gets a mortgage loan from a bank, it must be their lucky day. The percentage of sales and home price increases might seem small, but at least they are a positive gain. Any positive gain is good for the moral of the country.

I agree with Brennan when she says, ” In other words, the very worst of the housing recession is finally behind us but the recovery ahead is likely a long one.” If it took a few years after the 2010 home buyer tax credit expired to have an increase, its going to take a few more years to be comfortable. At least this is evidence that a recovery taking shape.

Its time to get pumped up and ready for phase two of the recovery which is coming sooner than you can say, “blueberry pancakes.” Dust off your comfortable home selling shoes. Find that little black book with all of your clients and referrals. Home selling season is around the corner. Are you ready? Now is the time to make sure that your website is optimized for today’s real estate market. You don’t want ABC Realty across the street from you to get all of the business, do you? Don’t let them steal all of the good clients because their website had better rankings on Search Engines. Look no further than our Agent BizzUp Search Engine Optimization Services to get you noticed on Search Engines. Follow the link for more information on Agent BizzUp Search Engine Optimization Services.

To read the full article please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/09/26/heres-how-the-housing-recovery-will-take-shape-in-coming-months/

Review of Jason Lange‘s: ”SPECIAL REPORT-Well-to-do get mortgage help from Uncle Sam.” (Lange 2012). SPECIAL REPORT-Well-to-do get mortgage help from Uncle Sam.

Everyone knows that banks have been going on a non-approval frenzy for home loans since about 2006. Well now its 2012 and its even worst. Banks won’t even touch your file with a ten foot pole. Not only are mortgage rates at historical lows, but home prices are very low as well. Now is the right time to get up and purchase your dream home. Nice try! In order for most people to purchase a home, you must acquire a mortgage loan first.

The average American would probably make an appointment at their local bank to ask for a loan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter if you are wearing your lucky socks today or if you saw a penny and picked it up. You’ll most likely walk into your local bank for a loan and leave empty handed. No, a trip to the ice cream shop will not make you feel better. This is probably one of the biggest disappointment you will receive in your life. This is worst than not getting picked for the cheer leading squad or the football team. This is even worst than not getting asked to the prom. This is a disappointment that occurred in your adult life. You were merely trying to set your roots down for your family. Now you have to go home and think of a plan b.

You had a better chance at getting a loan if you had a credit score of 840-850 and a hefty down payment. Unfortunately you don’t so you are out of luck. Before wasting any of your vacation time or lunch break to go to the bank and get denied for a loan, consider other options that have proven to get more approved loans than banks. The options that I am referring to are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA.

“In Santa Clara County, the center of the global tech industry and one of the wealthiest places in the United States, most home buyers get help from the government, an analysis of government lending data shows. The same is true in other wealthy enclaves such as Nassau County, outside New York, and Arlington County, outside Washington, the analysis of more than 50 million loans finds (Lange 2012). Thanks Fannie, Freddie and FHA. The cut off loan amount was $417,000 in 2008 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but since then, the loan amount has been bumped up to $729,750.

“Campbell’s district, for example, makes up part of California’s Orange County, a high-priced area where the data showed roughly eight in 10 new mortgages were backed by Fannie or Freddie in 2010. In well-to-do Plymouth County, Massachusetts, which leans Democratic, Fannie and Freddie backed about two-thirds of new mortgages in 2010 (Lange 2012). That means only 2 out of ten mortgage loans in Orange County are from banks. Had there not been such government programs such as Fannie, Freddie and FHA, could you imagine what a worst situation this country would be in? I understand the concept, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.” Although I do recall the government bailed out banks, thus giving them a second chance. Banks have always been at risk by lending but now is when the entire world needs them more than ever. I think banks should give Americans a second chance. With all the money that banks have, they can afford to take risks.

Lets face it, we cannot count on banks to help us get a mortgage loan. I know a lot of real estate agents require or at least ask new clients if they have already been approved for a mortgage loan. If your client hasn’t been approved for a mortgage loan, don’t abandon them. Lead the client to a government backed loan like Fannie, Freddie and FHA. Your client will have a way better chance at getting a loan through government backed loans. Its hard enough getting new clients. Don’t lose out on a sale by letting them make a mortgage loan decision alone. This is one way you as a real estate agent can go above and beyond. Your service will not go unnoticed. You can be sure to receive referrals from anyone you aid in obtaining a mortgage loan.

Need help acquiring new clients? Consider adding our Search Engine Optimization Services (SEO.) With an optimized website, you are sure to rank higher on Search Engines, thus nabbing new clients.

Christmas came early this year folks. Many things that were on your wish list for your Agent BizzUp website’s listing options are here. You can find them by logging in to the new control panel.  Click on My Listings to view all of these options.

Listing statistics

Your listing statistics are a very important factor for marketing your listings. When it comes to marketing if something is not working, you want to find other options. The main reason for this is because you are working on a commission basis. You can not leave a property stagnant. You can’t just hope and pray that your listing gets sold. If your listing has 0 views and its been listed for almost a month, there’s definitely an issue. Your listing statistics are ways to measure how your marketing is going. If you need to change your strategy, those statistics should be a starting point. Your listing statistics have a drop down menu that reads “Show Stats For.” The Show Stats For drop down menu lets you choose to view your stats for today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, past year and all time. The statistics that you will be viewing are leads, visitors, new visits, unique views, and average time viewing.

The way to interpret your listing stats is for example, one of your listings has a lot of views yet a very similar one has a lot less. Maybe the listing with more views has a lower price. That can be evidence that the price should be lowered for the listing with less views in order to get more views. I know it is hard to get owners to lower their listing price. When you present these statistics to the owner of the listing with less views, they should be more prone to lowering the listing price.

This feature may also be a way to acquire more clients selling their homes. Homeowners looking for realtors to sell their home are looking for professionals that know what they are doing. You will look like an expert when you show them the listing statistics for all of your listings. Having that information on hand is proof that you do more than just collect a commission check at the closing.

Search by Type, Location, Status and by Agent

Instead of having to go through the entire list of listings to find a particular listing, you can now search for it in different ways. Listing type includes land for sale, commercial property, single family listing, for rent, etc. This can be helpful if you need to know the specific number of types of properties you have. The search by location gives you the option of entering the address, city, state, zip code, even by street name. Sometimes you do not remember the MLS # of the listing. If you at least remember the street, you will be able to search for it without having to scroll through your entire list of properties. To search by status means to do a search by sold and available. Last, you can search by agent. If you are a PowerBroker, you might have many agents in your office at a time. This option is helpful when you are looking for a particular agent’s listing.

Post a Social Media Announcement

Besides doing all of the stuff you were able to in the old control panel with your listings like syndicate, edit listing details, hide a listing, etc, you may now post a social media announcement.You might have the button for Twitter or Facebook on your website already. Now with a click of a button on your new control panel, you can automatically post individual listings to your social media websites. The icon is a megaphone under the column for “publish” under “my listings.” Isn’t that awesome?

We give you all of the ingredients to help you market your website to its best ability. Its your turn to turn those ingredients into something amazing. If you have any questions about these features please contact our customer service team. They will be more than happy to help you. If you feel that you need advanced help for marketing your website, try one of  Agent BizzUp’s Advanced Search Engine Marketing Services. Click on the link to learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services.

Review of Meg Handley‘s: ”Average Closing Costs Dip Nationwide.” (Handley 2012). Average Closing Costs Dip Nationwide Retrieved from: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/08/06/average-closing-costs-dip-nationwide

Am I the only person who realizes how fast this year is going? Labor Day Weekend starts today (last weekend of the Summer). Next month is Halloween, the month after is Thanksgiving and the month after that is Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Good news is, for the first time in decades, mortgage rates are at historic lows. Another cost seems to be lower than usual. It appears that closing costs are also reducing. This is great because the more you can slice off of the entire selling price of the house, the better chances to get the house sold.

“Closing costs dropped 7 percent over the past year to an average of $3,754, according to Bankrate.com. Title insurance and other third-party fees fell 12 percent from 2011, while mortgage origination fees declined about 1 percent” (Handley).

All of this seems like a nice recipe for buyers but unfortunately, the inventory for homes for sale have been low. Maybe with the home prices going up,  homeowners will be more motivated to put a for sale sign up. We’ll also see the market flooded with foreclosures soon. If you are in the market for a foreclosure, then you can get the most savings. You’ll save on the total price for the house you are purchasing, you’ll save by having a low interest rate and finally, you’ll save on closing costs.

The last ingredient in the recipe is getting banks to loan the money to future home buyers. The best work around for that is either paying for a house cash or having a hefty down payment. Either way, the more houses get sold, the better our economy will get. Lets hope that with lower closing costs we will be a bit closer to pre2006.

If you are in the market for a house, now is the time to purchase. Imagine all of the money you can save by purchasing a new home. Do not let this opportunity pass you by. These opportunities only come every so often. If you are a realtor, do not forget to tell your clients the good news about closing costs being lower. They might not have had the money for a down payment because of the closing cost. Now that the closing cost should be lower, they might have enough money saved for the down payment.

Since closing costs and mortgage rates are lower, a lot more people will be able to afford purchasing a home. Capture those people and turn them into leads with Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing. Whether you have a budget of $50/month or $200/month, we guarantee you a minimum of 1 lead per month. Click here to learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services.

To read the entire featured article please visit: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/08/06/average-closing-costs-dip-nationwide

Review of Meg Handley‘s: ”Property in College Towns a Boon to Real Estate Investors, Parents.” (Handley 2012). Property in College Towns a Boon to Real Estate Investors, Parents. Retrieved from: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/08/22/property-in-college-towns-a-boon-to-real-estate-investors-parents

Imagine your child just graduated from high school and is now ready to go to college. You have been waiting for this day for almost 18 years. With the rising cost of tuition and housing, you almost wish you had a few more years to plan this day. Your most obvious housing choice is either renting an apartment for your child or paying for them to stay on campus. As you know, this can get quite expensive. Some parents are actually turning to a less obvious and  cost effective choice. That choice is buying a condo for their child to live in while attending college.

Depending on the area that you reside in, you can find great deals on properties. Due to this, parents are now becoming landlords. They are purchasing condos with more than one bedroom so that they can rent the spare room to anther college student. The reason for this is to help with the mortgage payment. If  parents get a good enough deal on the property, they might even be able to pay off the mortgage with the rent they are charging for the extra rooms. Even better, they might even make a profit.

If you have that kind of disposable income to be able to make an investment that will make a return, then go for it. If you choose to pay for your child living on campus or renting an expensive condo, your money is going down the toilet. At least with an investment property, parents will be able to borrow from the equity they build on their newly acquired property if they need to.

Last, parents are not the only ones who should take advantage of this opportunity. The article mentions that in college towns, housing is sometimes scarce. Specifically in Pittsburgh, “There has always been a shortage of housing for students” Darla Jobkar of Northwood Realty Services told Realtor.com. Investors can make a killing off of this opportunity. Investors should take a look at the chart provided in the article. The chart will aid in deciding which cities you should invest in  for leasing to college students. According to the chart, Boston, Massachusetts rates the highest for potential monthly profit.

When kids go to college, they usually get as far away  from their parents as possible. Since the new property the parent has purchased is probably not in the same city or state, a property management company should be hired. Property Management is really hot right now in real estate. If you are a property management company or a real estate company, marketing to these parents and investors is a great idea.

With an Agent BizzUp website, you can add Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services (SEM) to attract college kid’s parents and investors.  Adding SEM will help your website gain new leads with budgets starting as low as $50/month.

Click here to learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services.

To read the entire featured article please visit: http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/home-front/2012/08/22/property-in-college-towns-a-boon-to-real-estate-investors-parents

Review of Morgan Brennan‘s: “Why The New Wave Of Foreclosures Is Good News For Homeowners” (Brennan 2012). Why The New Wave Of Foreclosures Is Good News For Homeowners. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/06/14/heres-why-the-new-wave-of-foreclosures-is-good-news-for-homeowners/

In the article above, you will read that, “Today RealtyTrac released its May foreclosure report and the numbers aren’t great. Foreclosure filings — defined as default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions –  ticked up 9% from April. It’s the first nationwide increase in foreclosures in 28 months, after more than two years of consecutive declines” (Brennan 2012). This is mostly due to the halt of many foreclosures because of the whole robo-signing incident. Well this year many homes that were not being processed will begin getting processed, as you can see in the percentage change above.

We are going to see home values drop once again due to this large inventory of homes that were not processed as distressed homes. Good news is, the end result will be a recovery. How soon the recovery will take is a question that I do not know the answer to. The quicker these distressed homes are put on the market and sold, the quicker home values will stabilize. When the property values reach rock bottom and most of the foreclosures are gone, there is only one way prices can go.

I know foreclosures are probably not the most exciting properties to sell (since the pay off is much lower), but if you provide a great service to your clients purchasing a foreclosure many great things can come about. You never know if your client finds more than one property appealing and buys both. Now that’s what I call a good commission. The client you just sold both properties to will also give you referrals for being so professional. Double Wammy for you!

In any business, you have to learn to adapt to the changing environment if you don’t want to go broke. Right now buyers are looking for deals. You are going to have a flood of foreclosures soon. Why not revamp your marketing strategy to be able to cater to buyers specifically looking for foreclosures?

In sum, processing the foreclosure filings that have been on hold for almost two years will help stabilize the economy.  Due to those foreclosure filings being pursued, we will  have a large inventory of foreclosed properties for sale soon. Once that happens, your clients will be able to take advantage of the finance rates which are now at record lows. 

Lets grab the bull by the horns. Its time to go out there and start cashing in on those foreclosures. If you are an agent that markets foreclosed properties, now would be the best time to get your website optimized so that your website may be seen on the top of Google page rankings. The easiest way to do that is by adding Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Optimization Services. Agent BizzUp’s SEO guarantees you a spot in google’s first page.

To read the entire featured article please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/06/14/heres-why-the-new-wave-of-foreclosures-is-good-news-for-homeowners/

Review of Zillow‘s: “How to Beat Big Investors to Good Properties” (Zillow 2012). How to Beat Big Investors to Good Properties. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zillow/2012/06/13/how-to-beat-big-investors-to-good-properties/

The article above gives you an insight on “how to beat big investors to good properties.” I know helping your client find a great deal on a property is already hard work, but actually making an offer and having that offer accepted is another mission on its own. Unfortunately big time investors seal the deal by being one of the first to make a cash offer. As a realtor, you can help your client’s offer stand out with a few tips found in Zillow’s article.

The following three tactics are common sense, but if used properly, they could be the difference between making a sale or not. According to Zillow, the way to make an offer stand out is by “taking a qualification letter with you, including a personal letter, and asking in person .” Pretty simple right? If you are ever in doubt, just remember T.I.A. (aunt in Spanish).

Lets start off with the personal letter. By including a personal letter, you introduce your clients and their family, versus an investor who just wants to make money. Think of it as a something similar to a cover letter for a resume. In the cover letter for a resume you add key points as to why you are qualified for the position. In this letter, you should include key points that explain why your client’s family are qualified to purchase the seller’s house. Of course, this is a letter your client writes and you will turn in on their behalf. Tell your clients to get as creative and sincere as possible. The seller might get emotional when he reads that a family wants to make new memories in a house where he created lasting memories. Who knows, maybe the seller does not want to move but is forced to move because of a job offer, a sick family member, or some other reason.

Including a personal letter reminds me of a tactic for a sweepstake. Mostly everyone uses white envelopes for their submission to a sweepstake. If you buy neon colored envelopes and send your submission in a neon colored envelope, your entry will stand out. When it stands out it has a better opportunity to be chosen as the winner. After including a personal letter with the offer, your offer will stand out just like the neon envelope stands out.

First impression is everything and I do not think that an investor will give off a better impression via email, phone, fax, etc over a good impression in person. Don’t get lazy and just fax the offer. When you go in person and turn in the offer to the seller, the seller can put a face and personality to the name of the person attempting to purchase his home. Make sure you look presentable for the first meeting because you will be a direct representation of your client. I always say, “its better to be over dressed than under dressed.” Put your best foot forward because investors will make sure Benjamin Franklyn is always dressed for the occasion.

Last, “take a lender pre-qualification letter and proof of funds even if the seller isn’t requiring you to” (Zillow). Its always good to be prepared. If you have the letter with you, the seller might take you more seriously. Any doubts the seller might have had about your client’s finances will be put to rest with the pre-qualification letter and proof of funds. The bar might be raised after doing that and then the seller might require anyone with an offer to bring a pre-qualification letter attached to the offer. The offerors might not have enough time to acquire a pre-qualification letter before the seller has chosen your client to be the new owner of his home.

Going the extra mile is always the best route. When you have stiff competition like investors with a lot of cash, its the minor details that investors overlook that will give amicable people a chance at buying their dream home. Following these three tactics will keep you one step ahead of the competition. Not only will you make your clients happy after closing the deal, but you will make your pockets happy too.

Now that you have become an expert at making your offer stand out, you will need to find clients to submit offers for. With an Agent BizzUp Website, you will be able to target new clients since our websites are search engine friendly. If you are interested in generating leads, Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Service can help. Our Search Engine Marketing Team has the experience needed to get you qualified visitors.

To read the entire featured article please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zillow/2012/06/13/how-to-beat-big-investors-to-good-properties/