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The Right Way to Investigate Your New Neighborhood

Posted by Michael Collins, CDPE, SFR on April 1, 2014 at 3:36am

The Right Way to Investigate Your New Neighborhood

The house looks perfect and it has all the features you need. The location is convenient for your needs and there really is nothing standing in the way of buying this particular property. STOP. Don’t buy the house until you do one thing; investigate your new potential neighbors. Here are some tips for finding out the not so obvious facts.

Make Multiple Visits at Multiple Times

One of the best things you can do before buying the home is to visit the home are various times and various days. The appearance of the neighborhood at 11:00 am on a Wednesday will likely be different from the appearance on a Thursday night. Look for neighbors that are in the yard, on the street and how busy the roads are. Are any of the neighbors engaged in any loud activities such as parties, electric tool use or other annoying sounds? Take your time and make sure to visit the home on the weekend as well.

Chat Up Your Potential Neighbors

The people that will be your neighbors have the information you need. However, it can be a challenge to get them to talk. During your visits look for people out in the yard engaged in various activities. Start a pleasant conversation and ask them about their opinion of the area and the neighborhood. Ask a few open ended questions and give them a chance to talk. Make sure to ask if there are any troublesome neighbors to look out for or any problems in the area such as sink-holes, poorly built homes or sewer issues.

Use the Internet

Various websites like Google and Bing offer maps and street views of nearly every known address. Type in the address and look around. It is likely that the pictures are at least a few months old if not a few years. The home could look exactly like it does now or there could be some major changes. Take time to look at the home you intend to buy as well as the adjoining properties. You may discover something that raises a red flag and causes you to consider a different property.

Check Police Records

There are some websites and even smart phone apps that provide detailed police records for neighborhoods. These sites will usually list things such as robberies, vehicle thefts, and violent crime. Some neighbors on one street may not be aware of crime that is frequently occurring one or two streets over.

See if anyone is Blogging

Sometimes there will be a blog or even a small community newspaper published for the area that you are considering. If you can find the blog or recent paper take some time to review the information. Local events, improvements in the neighborhoods and other items will likely give you enough detail to see if this is the right area for you.

Some of these steps may take a bit of time to complete and may seem awkward at first. However, considering the large investment that comes with owning a home it really makes sense to spend some time researching your new neighborhood and ensure that it will be as nice as your new home.

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Social Blogging Will Attract The Masses

Posted by Chris Treece on December 21, 2009 at 6:53am

If you watch teenagers these days they are forever texting each other. I dare not ask what about – but they do spend all day with their fingers on that keypad. Of course I am talking about cell phones and some reports suggest that teens spend more on text messages than on actual calls.Social blogging seems to be the ‘grown up’ form of texting. It certainly has a big following with many of the top web identities having a ‘twitter’ or ‘plurk’ accounts. The difference between texting through a cell phone and social bookmarking is the audience.Cell phone texting is generally one to one. Social blogging is one to many – thousands perhaps for some. Where social blogging is making its mark is in it’s ability to deliver visitors. Twitter allows the ‘twittering’ of posts from blogs via RSS feeds.This becomes an instant message to the world that you have a new post and what the topic is. Those interested can immediately access that post. Is it important? In one way – very!With respect to bloggers, particularly the big namers, getting an early advice on a new post means you can jump in, read the post and leave a comment – at the top of comments. Believe it or not this is important. If your comment is in the first five, every other commenter will most likely read what you have had to say.If your comments are valid there is a good chance they will visit your site. Furthermore, comments near the top are more likely to get a response from the blogger than those lost in the 15 or 20 comments that come afterwards.Social blogging is definitely here to stay. If you can learn to use is effectively you can benefit your site and your reputation.

You want to get my attention, then start blogging!

Posted by Jesus (Jesse) Gonzalez on September 30, 2009 at 9:11am

Ok, I announced that I was needing everyone to come on and update thier profile information, specifically zip code and the network exploded. Thats great but, my problem is that most of the people who came on to update thier profiles I had never seen before. In other words, I had no clue who they were. Granted, I am not going to know each and every single member, considering we have 2800+ members however, I would think that at least I should be able to recognize you from your picture because I see you regularly on the blogs or forums.....right? My point is, I have an incredible opportunity in the works, and I suspect the details will be hammered down no later than this time next week so, I am going to need agents but, why on God's beautiful green Earth would I select some Joe Schmoe who has never blogged or ever responded to a forum or ever chatted or ever downloaded video or ever updated events or did anything other than fill out the profile form.........I WOULDN'T! So, what do you need to do to get my attention and keep it. Well, start blogging, start creating forum threads, host a group, download some funny real estate videos, add your local events to our events tabs, send in a Ask the AM or Ask the REO Atty question, etc..... GET INVOLVED ON THIS NETWORK! I promise I will first go to those who are involved before I ever will someone who isn't.

To Blog Or Not To Blog That is The Question

Posted by Beth Ross on September 29, 2009 at 1:46pm

Well, here I sit, trying to justify my time on the computer instead of reading more recruiting material for gaining new agents. Then it hit me, Jesse is absolutely correct! Blogging is going to be the best way for anyone to get their words of wisdom out into the clouds so they can filter down to the masses!Trying to think of things to blog about and I have decided that blogging is a great item to blog about! I will give you my rendition of what a good blog should be.1 - Timely in material matter2 - Grammar and spelling are important3 - It's ok to talk about things that you are good ata - BPO'sb - Networkingc - How to market hard to sell propertiesd - What to say (and more important) what Not to say to your asset managere - Education and designationsf - wow, this list can go on4 - Keep the blog short or at least somewhat informative to maintain your audiences level of interest instead of putting them to sleep.5 - It's ok to use humor in your blogging6 - It is ok to make mistakes7 - It is ok to accept and give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism8 - It is ok to agree to disagree - all of us are never going to see eye to eye and that is why this business is so wonderful9 - You don't have to spend the entire night blogging on one thing or even a bunch of things. It's ok to write, copy and paste into your other sites that you blog on.10 - During your open houses come up with good topics to write about and use your down time to come up with new ideas11 - Ask your colleagues, clients, and even your family what topics might interest them - you'd be surprised, but keep them clean please!!12 - Don't feel pressured to write a blog just to keep a blog on a page for the day, it's ok to take a day off!Well, this is my blog for the day and even if you got just one idea from it or used it as a tool of what NOT to blog about, that's ok too. Then I have been successful in my endeavors for the day.I hope you all have a Better Than Great Day!!

!WARNING!BLOG!WARNING!BLOG!

Posted by Jesus (Jesse) Gonzalez on September 25, 2009 at 4:26am

Are you blogging........why not? Don't have time, don't know how or just don't see how it will help your business, well..........that is all about to change! I have an incredible! INCREDIBLE! oppurtunity coming and it will only be offered on a beta basis to those who are active bloggers on this site. Once it's out of beta testing, it will then only be approved for those that are active on this site. My point is, I am using your blogs as your resume so, if you don't have a resume, you won't be given the opportunities that are coming. You will have about 2 months or so to get active and stay active, don't let this pass you by!

ABC: Blogging 101

Posted by Linda Landry on August 31, 2009 at 10:00am

A=Action Your subject line must create action! Think about how you scan material you receive in your inbox or on your screen and how you decide what to spend your time reading. Your subject line must not only communicate your content but compel your potential reader to open.B=Body This is your content information. Keep it as simple and informative as possible. Your personal style will dictate. Some people are more education and teaching directed and others have a way of communicating with humor. Follow your personal style but keep in mind the short attention span we seem to all have when browsing the net. Say or convey and then take your bow and leave.C=Comments This is where you learn if you have conveyed your point. When others respond they provide you feedback and critique. This is your opportunity to evaluate your purpose, interact with others and often gives you food for thought for your next blog!Linda Landry, REALTOR ® Exit Realty 1st Choice Tucson, Arizona

Importance of Blogging

Posted by Jesus (Jesse) Gonzalez on November 5, 2008 at 4:59am

Because so many people don’t blog, let me share reason with you as to why you should blog. 1. Exposure: Blogging gets you great exposure. In fact, a regular blog that provides great information will not only get you exposure but, sometimes it can get you notoriety. In other words, it allows readers to get a sense of who you are and how you work. Think of it as a one sided interview for your readers and therefore, use it to your advantage to toot your own horn and, show off your skills, knowledge and experience. 2. Collaboration: Blogging allows a writer to collaborate ideas with others who may have more insight on the topic than the writer. In short, it’s a great way to get answers or obtain knowledge. At the very least it allows for writers and readers to toss around ideas and workout solutions. 3. Become an Expert: Depending on just how you use your blog, it can be a great way to showcase your expertise in a particular area or field. Continued writing shows dedication to your craft or business and allows others to see you as an expert. 4. Relationship Building: It’s a great way to build relationships. People can come on, read your blog, ask questions and open the door to relationship building. It has been a great way for me to maintain my customer relationships and as well bring on new customers who have been refereed to my blog. 5. Media Relationships: One of the most intriguing reason to blog is the potential for Media Exposure and then the development of a relationship with a local media outlet. In fact, it isn’t uncommon to see some blogs on local media outlets or industry publications So, all in all, bloggin can be a great way to start a business, maintain a business and propel a business to success so, if you’re not blogging, I have to ask why?

Blog?? Why??

Posted by Stacie Cunningham on June 1, 2008 at 3:38pm

I recently was asked why do I blog and isn't time consuming?? It took me bit to come up with the answer but it went something like this:Importance of blogging.........Blogging help raise your google/yahoo ranking for free. Good blogs with tags and links and widgets that are linked deep into your website help create a web crawl. Once the web crawl locates the content it has to go back out thru every page of your site. I am working on that right now. Also it is educational. Not only for other people but for yourself. Time consuming??? You bet, but how else can you be a pro without just blowing pro smoke?? People in my city see my name (since I don't just work with REO's and they call me) Crazy since I look so young and I am kinda spacey but.....I do know my stuff!! Blogging also helps you find out about other things you might not have found otherwise.My site and my biz are important and blogging helps me to be more innovative then other agents and help me to stand out!! Everybody and their mom is a Realtor or reo agent. What is going to set you apart from everybody else??I left the part out that I really really like it and it is fun for me. You know I have been an AR member since the beginning. I think I was the 180 person to join. Maybe a little more maybe a little less. I was a member when AR was a totally different platform. I didn't really know what to make of it till recently when I found out what a innovative tool it was and how it could really help me. And help me it has.....Now I am a member of REOpro and I am stoked to have a place for my niche to learn and grow.

blogging (8)

The Right Way to Investigate Your New Neighborhood

The Right Way to Investigate Your New Neighborhood

Social Blogging Will Attract The Masses

You want to get my attention, then start blogging!

To Blog Or Not To Blog That is The Question

!WARNING!BLOG!WARNING!BLOG!

ABC: Blogging 101

Importance of Blogging

Blog?? Why??

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