Craigslist.org is a great website to syndicate your listings. You can list your property for sale or rent. You can input how many bedrooms, bathrooms and if any pets are allowed. You also have a text box where you can describe the property in your own words. This is a great place to elaborate on the fascinating amenities your property features. The most important part of the listing on craigslist is the title. That is the first impression. If a visitor to craigslist views an entire page that says the same thing- “2 Bedroom 1 Bath in Aventura,” they might skip over your listing if its the same as the others. Instead, write something like: “2/1 with amazing pool.”

According to wiki.com, craigslist receives 40.8 Million people per month. With those numbers, anyone that is marketing a property would surely syndicate to craigslist. Another great thing about craigslist.org is that its free to use. Do you remember LBC (Life Before Craigslist?) The only other decent website to find listings was your local newspaper.

Last month, Agent BizzUp improved the process of syndicating your listings to Craigslist. In order to syndicate your listing from your control panel, please follow these new instructions:

*If you are using Internet Explorer, please follow these instructions:

Log in to your Agent BizzUp Account.
Click on “My Listings”
Next to the listing you would like syndicated, click on “Syndication.”
Click on “Semi Auto.”
Click on “Post Listing.”
Click on “Copy to Clipboard”
If prompted to allow clipboard access, click “Allow access.”
Open up a “Notepad” from your local computer by clicking on the “Start Button” then click on “Notepad”
Hold down CTL+P (To Paste from a PC) and the code will appear. If you are on a MAC hold down COMMAND+P and the code will appear.
Go to www.craigslist.org
Click on “Post to Classifieds.”
Choose “Housing Offered.”
Choose the type of housing.
Where it says “Posting Description, hold down CTL+P (To Paste from a PC). If you are on a MAC hold down COMMAND+P.
Enter the rest of the details and click on “Continue.”

*If you are using Mozilla or Chrome, please follow these instructions:

Log in to your Agent BizzUp Account.
Click on “My Listings”
Next to the listing you would like syndicated, click on “Syndication.”
Click on “Semi Auto.”
Click on “Post Listing.”
You must hilight the code that appears in the box so that you may copy it and past it to the listing details on craigslist.org. The easiest way to do this is on a PC is to hold down CTL+A (to select ALL) then CTL+C (to COPY). If you are on a MAC, hold down COMMAND+A the COMMAND+C.
Go to www.craigslist.org
Click on “Post to Classifieds.”
Choose “Housing Offered.”
Choose the type of housing.
Where it says “Posting Description, hold down CTL+P (To Paste from a PC). If you are on a MAC hold down COMMAND+P.
Enter the rest of the details and click on “Continue.”

Since syndication is a free service you receive with an Agent BizzUp website, why don’t you try our SEM (Search Engine Marketing) Services. Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services have plans starting as low as $50/month. We guarantee a certain amount of hits and leads per budget.

Review of Investopedia’s: “Rental Properties: Cash Cow Or Money Pit?” (Investopedia 2012). Rental Properties: Cash Cow Or Money Pit. Retrieved from:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2012/03/30/rental-properties-cash-cow-or-money-pit/

An obvious way to make a profit is investing in rental properties. Its not as easy as it seems though. There are many risks involved including choosing the right tenants and area. But there is a safe and methodical way to plan a proper execution. The article above features formulas that will aid in the purchasing and leasing of investment properties. With those formulas in place, you can make an educated guess as to whether or not to make the investment.

Once you decide to purchase and rent an investment property, one must choose between Full-service leases, Net leases, or  Triple-net (NNN) leases. “In full-service leases, tenants do not pay anything in addition to rent. In net leases, tenants usually pay their portion of the increase in expenses for the period after they move into the property. In triple-net leases, the tenant pays a pro-rata share of all property expenses” (Investopedia). After choosing what type of lease you prefer, you must decide how much you want to lease your property per month. Remember not the entire leasing amount will be a net profit. You have to consider other expenses like maintenance and property taxes if you are choosing a lease that entitles you to acquire those expenses. This is where the formula comes to place.

I’m a huge believer in the old saying, “big prices equal big profits.” If you are going to lease your property, why not try to go after the maximum profit? Besides, when you lease your property at a higher rate, you tend to get a certain clientele that tends to pay their rent in full and on time. Try to rent to people who have been referenced to you by friends and family. Note: I didn’t say to rent to friends and family. That will probably be a huge mistake you will regret in the future. I’ve learned throughout the years that friends, family and business do not mix well. Like Mr. Trump says, “its not personal, its business.” Well with your friends and family, business will be personal 100% of the time.

One topic this article forgets to mention is the legality of a lease. Any lease of a land for more than one year must be in writing (contract or agreement form.) Make sure to type up a great lease agreement that has your best interests covered. If you are unaware of what you should include in the agreement, hire a lawyer to type up a template that you may reuse.

A great thing about Agent BizzUp websites is that they are versatile. Whether you are in property sales, property management, or both, our templates will suit your every need. Our websites will help you market your properties and property management services to future investment property owners. If you already have an Agent BizzUp website and you are ready to take your marketing to the next level, why don’t you try our SEM (Search Engine Marketing) Services. Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services have plans starting as low as $50/month.

To read the entire featured article please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2012/03/30/rental-properties-cash-cow-or-money-pit/

Review of Billy Procida’s “Fixer-Uppers Can Help Fix Foreclosure Mess, Stabilize Home Prices” (Forbes 2011). Fixer-Uppers Can Help Fix Foreclosure Mess, Stabilize Home Prices. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/12/02/fixer-uppers-can-help-fix-foreclosure-mess-stabilize-home-prices/2/

When my older sister bought her first house, the first thing my mother told her was, “welcome to headaches.” She didn’t even say, “congrats,” or “I’m so proud of you.” What has the world come to when your own mother is not happy that her daughter bought her first house? I was expecting my mother to be proud of my sister the same way that she was proud of her for obtaining her Bachelor’s degree, Masters degree and getting married. The same emotion was not there. Instead her emotion was more like having pity for my sister. It was almost like looking into my mother’s past experience with her house. The look on her face said it all. Her house used to be worth double of what its worth now.

Everyone knows that foreclosures drive property value down. It is an unfortunate circumstance that is depleting America of its middle class. Homes are supposed to be an investment not a liability. Instead, the average home owner owes more on their house than what its actually worth. This occurs because a foreclosed property is bought at an auction and the auction price is recorded.

What if there was a way not to report what a foreclosed home sold for at an auction? Wouldn’t that stabilize property values? Well that’s Procida’s theory. He believes that, “if banks, etc lease distressed properties to builders, the foreclosed property value will never be reported. Instead, the value of the property after the renovations will be reported”(Procida).

Procida states, “if the bank or servicing outfit were to license the house to a contractor at the same price and terms, only the higher post-renovated value is recorded, not the lower price when the builder buys it. Since the banks and the government own millions of homes, they have a vested interest in keeping prices high.”

That seems like a great idea to me. I’m not a homeowner, but I do feel the effects of this horrible economy. One of my experiences with how bad the economy has gotten, was moving to a new neighborhood in 2009. I was still getting to know the area so when I wanted to dine out, I would google a restaurant and drive to the address listed. To my surprise for the first couple of weeks, most of the restaurants I would drive to were closed for business. I finally started to call the phone numbers listed for the businesses before wasting my gas and driving to the location. I’m so glad I did that because many of the businesses I called went out of business.

I also get emotional when I hear that 8.1% of Americans are  unemployed (NCSL.org April 2012 unemployment rate.) If home prices stabilize, I can bet more jobs will be created and less job cuts will occur. You know what they say, “what goes up must come down.” Lets just hope that what goes down must come up.

With an Agent BizzUp website, you can market to these future home owners. With our websites that you control, the beautiful design you have in mind is just a few clicks away. Your website visitors will be impressed by their user-friendly experience.

Click here to learn more about Agent BizzUp Websites.

To read the full article, please visit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/12/02/fixer-uppers-can-help-fix-foreclosure-mess-stabilize-home-prices/2/

In the internet world, a great way to mention updates about your business is through blogging.  Blogging is awesome because the tone of the message you are trying to give your customers is usually a non-corporate tone.

Blogging is a way for your customers to put a face and opinion on your product without spending money on commercials. When you use a non-corporate tone, customers can relate to you and your product better. This is the best way to show off your best attributes or all of the philanthropy work your company does.

What you say and how you say it will be extremely important. Remember that there are many ways someone might interpret what you are saying. Always have someone proof read your blog before making it public. By having someone proof read, you are eliminating any future regrets. Another great tip I learned is to read your article out load so that you may hear any grammatical mistakes.

One website that supports blogging is WordPress.com. WordPress.com is user friendly. You get to choose a cool layout for your blog, and its FREE!

In order to create a blog for your site, go to Wordpress.com and create a free account. You will then be able to link your WordPress account with your Agent BizzUp Website.

There are 2 ways to add links to your website. You can add links on the left navigation of your website or you can add links on your home page and any other page using the text editor.

To add a link to the left navigator:
- From the Admin go to the “My Website” section.
- Choose the Add Page link from the left navigation.
- Your page will refresh to the Add Page screen. Choose the Web Link option.
- Enter a name for your page and select which section of your website this page will be under.
- Click Save and Continue.
- Your page will refresh to step 2 of the Add Page screen, where you will add the URL for your link and choose the link type.
- Click Save and Continue to complete the Add Page process.

To add a text link using the Page Editor:
1. Select the text that you would like to place a link.
2. Click the “Insert/Edit Link” icon at the top of the text editor.
3. In the window that pops up, type the url for the website/page you want to link to.
4. Click the “Ok” button to complete the insert link.

Now that you created a Free WordPress account, use it. Any type of publicity is still publicity. Make it known that your company is around. If your website is lacking visitors, try Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services. Your website will be guaranteed a specific amount of visitors and leads according to your budget. Agent BizzUp’s SEM plans start as low as $50/month.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing Services.

Review of Trulia’s “Home Prices Are Up. Haven’t You Heard?” (Forbes 2012). Home Prices Are Up. Haven’t You Heard? Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2012/04/05/home-prices-are-up-havent-you-heard/ Home Prices Are Up. Haven’t You Heard?

The days of waiting for the sales-price index to finally appear are over. No more waiting 3 months for the numbers from 3 months ago. Trulia has created a way for all of us to monitor sales-price indexes as soon as the month is over. Good for you Trulia.

In the above article you will read, “the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor show every month what’s happening to asking prices and rents almost in real-time. By focusing on asking prices and releasing each month’s Monitors just days after each month ends, we can detect price movements at least three months before the major sales-price indexes do” (Jed Kolko, Trulia Chief Economist.)

That is music to my ears. With statistics like that,  better predictions can be made about today’s market. There’s nothing better than being educated about a property that you are selling. These tools will help you market your client’s home with ease. With these new facts and stats, you will now be on the same page with your client when selling their house.

Trulia will present you with stats and it will be up to you to interpret them correctly and make an educated guess on what you should advise your client. You can still reference major sales-price indexes – Case-Shiller, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and CoreLogic but the best results will come from the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor.

With your new skills, its time to find new clients. Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing  will help boost your website’s popularity and get you real leads. Their service guarantees  a certain amount of leads depending on our monthly budget. Best of all, you do not have to sign a contract for this service. You may cancel it at any time, no questions asked.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Marketing.

To read the full article, please visit:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/trulia/2012/04/05/home-prices-are-up-havent-you-heard/ Home Prices Are Up. Haven’t You Heard?

We all know that a FREE way of advertising is through social networking. According to Facebook, there are 800 million active Facebook users. Twitter is slowly catching up with 140 million active users. You can find all sorts of Fortune 500 Companies on Facebook including Wal-Mart, Target, Coca-Cola, etc. So why haven’t you created a Facebook or Twitter Page for your company? If you already have, good for you. If not, go ahead and create one and I will show you how to add your Social Networking Page to your website.

If you have a facebook account you will be able to customize a widget to add to your site. Got to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/ and follow the instructions to retrieve the custome codes for the “like” button on Facebook.

Click on “My Website.”
Click on “Edit Home Modules.”
Click on “Create Custom.”
(Do not add a “Title.”)
Choose the “Position” you wish to have the “like” button (I prefer the “bellow content.”)
Click on “Source”
Copy the first code from facebook and paste it on the “Page Editor.”
Copy the second code from facebook and paste it under the first code in the “Page Editor” with a space in between.
Click on “Source” again.
Click “Submit.”

Your Facebook “Like” button will now appear on your homepage.

If you have a Twitter account you will also be able to customize a widget to add to your site by following the instructions above but using your Twitter codes instead of your Face book codes. Please visit this page for further information: http://twitter.com/about/resources/widgets

So now that you are a social media expert, think of all of the new opportunities that will arise. You will now have your customers and future customers getting real time updates about your company. Expect to get more traffic on your website. Maybe now would be a great time to add Advanced IDX so you can focus on selling houses instead on worrying about uploading listings and photos. An extra $24.99/month for Advanced IDX is a great deal considering the amount of time you can save by adding Advanced IDX to your website.

Click here for more information on Agent BizzUp’s Advanced IDX.

Review of Kenneth Rapoza’s “How Single Family Home Investing Can Save The Housing Market” (Forbes 2012). How Single Family Home Investing Can Save The Housing Market. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/04/04/how-single-family-home-investing-can-save-the-housing-market

“If you think no one cares you are alive, miss a couple of house payments.” In the article above, you will read that, “Single family homes have become part of GTIS Partners’ residential investment strategy. They’re picking their spots, starting off in Chicago and Florida, currently, but looking at seven markets to make concentrated buys and hire a management team to collect the rents and care for the properties.” It must be nice to have that kind of money to invest in real estate right now. Their plan is to buy numerous homes, renovate them and rent them. They believe they can help the economy by taking these foreclosures off the market, thus driving property values back up.

Its a huge risk they are going to take but the outcome for the economy should be worth it. Another way GTIS will help the economy will be by” keeping the supply of rentals up, which means it keeps the pressure on rental prices down.” That’s awesome since the consumers that rent usually rent because they do not have the budget for a house. The lower the rent, more money renters can save towards possibly owning a home.

Rapoza says, “Some suburban towns are considering just knocking down entire developments. I see that as a waste of time and a loss of a lot of money.” I have to disagree with him on that. One purpose of knocking down entire developments is to help bring property values up in neighborhoods. I might have agreed with Rapoza if that was the only reason the developments might be knocked down. Rapoza tends to overlook the fact that renovations can cost more than tearing down a development and building it all over again if the development was not well maintained. Lets face it, when properties are going through foreclosures, the owners are not going to take care of the property thus making the property poorly maintained.

“According to the Fed Consumer Credit Panel, 60% of people who went through foreclosure ended up renting a single family home, while 23% rented an apartment.” GTIS Partners plan on supplying those 60% with houses that were foreclosed. This is a great opportunity for property management companies to obtain a new client.

I can not wait for GTIS Partners to implement this plan. At least someone has a plan. All these years of just sitting around and waiting for a miracle to happen might be over if this works. This is a company that is taking matters into is own hands. Good for you GTIS Partners. If this plan works, you will be a modern day hero to the whole world.

GTIS Partners will be looking for responsible Property Management Companies to run the show for them. A great way to get noticed by them will be to rank high on search engines. That can be achieved by having your website optimized. You would want to get ranked specifically for the words- “Property Management.”

Website Optimization is one of Agent BizzUp’s strongest assets. Agent BizzUp’s Real Estate Optimization Services provides a service that will get you to the first page of search engines like Google.com. Since Agent BizzUp specializes in real estate websites, they have the experience and knowledge needed for a successfully optimized real estate website.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Real Estate Search Engine Optimization Services

To read the full article, please visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2012/04/04/how-single-family-home-investing-can-save-the-housing-market//

You read the title of this article correctly. There is a way to advertise on Google.com for free. It is an effective way to appear on the first page of an organic google search. What I am referring to is Google Places. Many people have heard of it, but not too many have taken advantage of it.

Google Places appears on the first page of Google.com sort of like a directory. It features companies with the link to their website, physical business address, business phone number, etc, according to the search that was made. For ex: if you do a search for “pizza 33134,” Pomodoro’s Pizza – Subs and more will appear on Google places among other companies. To the right of the list, there is a map of the search with the company’s name  on Google Places. In between the map and company name and website url, you will see the physical address and phone number.

The best thing about your company’s contact information being displayed is that you can view detailed information about the company without having to click on its domain name. This is even more great specifically for mobile users. This feature will allow the mobile user to automatically dial the phone number without exiting the web or clicking on the website url from a smart phone.

In all actuality, the first companies to appear when I performed that search were from Google Ads. The second were from Google Places. The third were the organic search. Not even the first company on the organic search for “pizza 33134″ (miami.eat24hours.com/33134/pizza) was listed on Google Places. What that means to me is that it is just as important to put effort into being on the first page in an organic search as it it being featured on Google Places.

Listing your company on Google Places is fairly simple. The information that Google will ask will be basic information like business hours, business phone number, business name and address, etc. Make sure to fill out every question and upload photos. The more thorough you are, the more likely Google is to feature your business on Google Places.

Just because your business may now be listed on Google Places, that does not mean you should halt any marketing you have been implementing. This is a free tool that not many small businesses are taking advantage of. Once the competition gets more fierce, it will be even harder to appear on Google Places. It has been our experience at Agent BizzUp that combining our SEO Services and Google Places, our clients have had a better chance of appearing on the Google Places list.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Real Estate Search Engine Optimization Services

Review of Forbe’s “Buffett’s Patient Bet on Housing Recovery” (Forbes 2012). Buffett’s Patient Bet on Housing Recovery .Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2012/02/06/buffetts-patient-bet-on-housing-recovery/

Have no fear, Warren Buffett is here. While most of the nation is pessimistic about the housing recovery, leave it to the investment tycoon to be the optimist. In the article above, you will read that Warren Buffet has a positive outlook on the housing recovery.

Warren Buffett is known as one of the world’s most influential people. Certainly anyone would know to consider his beliefs in business and real estate. Not to mention that “Acme Brick, Johns Manville, and Shaw listed under the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) umbrella, Buffett has long had direct exposure to the health of the U.S. housing industry.”

Buffet feels, “that an eventual increase in household demand will be enough to sop up the excess supply that has been holding back the housing market’s recovery.” With that demand comes jobs like construction jobs. With more jobs, more people will have a budget for purchasing a home.  On the contrary, when there is a lower demand, there are less jobs, therefore less people have the budget to purchase a home. Its a cycle that goes on and on.

We rode the wave of success a few years ago. Its time to get back up and do it all over again.

Lets get motivated again and build your contact list so that when the housing market is back to normal, you will be 10 steps ahead of anyone else. In order to build a larger contact list, you are going to want to create a user-friendly website that is optimized in order to reach the right consumer. With an Agent BizzUp account, you can be assured your site will be a user-friendly site. We also offer the best optimization services available. With Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Optimization Services, your site will be on its way to being found on the first page of the search engines.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Search Engine Optimization Services

To view the entire article, follow the link-http://www.forbes.com/sites/thestreet/2012/02/06/buffetts-patient-bet-on-housing-recovery/

Review of Peter J Reilly’s, “Housing the Echo Boomers-Next Big Real Estate Opportunity?” (Reilly 2011). Housing the Echo Boomers-Next Big Real Estate Opportunity? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2011/12/21/housing-the-echo-boomers-next-big-real-estate-opportunity/

In the article above you will read that “Echo Boomers, also known as Generation Y (Americans born between 1980 – 1995) are the next generation of home buyers.” As we all know times have changed and in order to be successful in any market, you must adapt to new trends.

History has proven to us that a common goal among 20-30 year-old’s are to own a home in the future. They all wanted the big house with the white picket fence. Unfortunately in this economy that dream is diminishing with the Echo Boomers. Many Echo Boomers are living with relatives instead of renting their own apartment and paying rent. Lets not forget that 20% of the country is unemployed. Also, school loans are a huge chunk of Echo Boomers’ paychecks. Most of their parents would have flipped the bill for school but the shape of the economy changed that.

So what does that have to do with new trends for selling real estate? Echo Boomers are more modest when purchasing homes. They are  price-conscious unlike the previous trend. Smaller homes where they will spend less money on electricity seem to be what they are in search for. They are also looking for perks like close public transportation and free parking. They are opportunists and know that there is so much competition in business that they want to negotiate the best deal.

Echo Boomers are a social media generation. In order to catch their attention, you must be internet marketing savvy. You can’t get an Echo Boomer to open up a newspaper but you can get them to go to the online newspaper.  The least amount of time they have to spend looking for a house the better. Make sure that you are adding as many details and photos for a listing as possible. Don’t forget to syndicate your listings to sites like Zillow.com or Trulia.com. Last, make sure your website is user-friendly and optimized. With so much competition, Echo Boomers are more likely to go with the first agent they find when they do a search on Google.com. You want to make sure your site is at least on the first page. Like the saying goes, “You snooze, you lose.”

Website Optimization is a great feature Agent BizzUp provides that will get you to the first page on Google.com. Agent BizzUp’s Real Estate Optimization Services has a success rate that is the best, bar none.

Learn more about Agent BizzUp’s Real Estate Search Engine Optimization Services

To read the full article, please visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterjreilly/2011/12/21/housing-the-echo-boomers-next-big-real-estate-opportunity/