In the world of For Sale by Owners, you’re not always going to be dealing with sellers going it alone either. A lot of times you’re going to have to deal with buyers and their agents, so it makes sense that you might want to throw a couple incentives in there to entice those agents to come check out your sick pad—er, house, that is.

Think about it: If a buyer had an option, who are they going to go with, a house for sale, or a house for sale with a little commission cut in for the agents. It’s simple business.

Here’s the best way to do it: figure out what the market rates are. If typically a buyer’s broker’s cut is around 2.5%, then sneak a nice juicy 3% in there just to fatten up the deal. The more you can court the buyer’s agents the more you can entice your buyer.

HA!

Since there is virtually ZERO info out there on how to update your sales pitch for information age, and how to attract buyers using the multi-faceted approach via social media hubs such as Twitter and Facebook, we’re just going to write the book ourselves.

In our last article we saw that realtors are beginning to turn to Twitter to reach out to potential buyers, and it’s working. Buyers are getting up-to-date info even before it hits the MLS.

So why can’t FSBOs do the same?

Well, there’s a pretty good reason: FSBOs don’t have an established client base, while realtors and agencies spend a good deal of their time acquiring clients and promoting their services to others. This is the nature of going it alone and doing the honorable and sometimes unforgiving work of selling your house yourself.

Take any advantage that you can. In today’s tumultuous market, any kind of business maneuvering can help you find a potential client. By all means don’t rely on Facebook and Twitter to sell your house, but likewise, don’t just rely on a good looking pictures and a flattering MLS. Use every tool at your disposal.

FSBOs used to rely on drive-by traffic, or the action in the current market to get their home out there, not usually doing anything proactive about selling their home other than listing on an MLS. But now sellers have the tools to reach buyers literally at their fingertips. Online Social Media offer a practical, expansive, and really, really cheap means of reaching potential clientele.

Depending on your demographic, I would bet at any given moment there are at least a handful of friends and acquaintances that you can connect with on Facebook. My parents are all over it and so is my 9-year-old cousin. There’s really no limit to who is on there.

And the beauty of it?

Facebook’s sole purpose is to connect people. This could provide an opportunity to reach more people than simply posting an add or dishing out for an MLS. One little blip on your profile page can instantly reach a network of thousands, and it’s free.

Twitter is a bit more difficult because it’s not as interconnected as Facebook, but can still provide up-to-the-minute updates on any info you choose, even that you’ve just put a house on the market. People have to find you, and they need a reason to look. So maybe a little interlinking between accounts would work.

The first step is to sign up for these services and see what comes of it. If your house has been on the market for several months with no light at the end of the tunnel, then these things can only help you. It’s no time at all and unlocks a whole new reservoir of a client base.

Hey there folks. I’ve been rooting through the dailies lately to find a new source for real estate news information and I’ve stumbled across an informative piece on tech real estate in Austin.

The column details a Texas couple who felt frustrated at their relentless and fruitless pursuits to move into their dream home. Scouring the MLS wasn’t working and they found that more often than not, houses they were shown already had offers on them—just realtors hedging their bets, I guess.

By chance, they happened to be following one of their brokers via Twitter, and on occasion, said broker would post links to new listings there. The couple found a house there even before it was ever on the market and are now the proud owners of their dream home.

Heartwarming, I know, but what’s more is its hard evidence of the ever-increasing infrastructure of the technology revolution’s impact on real estate.

Peggy Little, an Austin real estate agent, has seen the entire shift from print to digital in the industry:

“When I first started selling real estate, we got a big book, a big MLS book, and literally, it was printed every two weeks. And you’d get a subscription to the book and (the book was) about 4 or 5 inches thick, with pictures, addresses and descriptions of everything that was for sale. So you’d get a client, and then you’d look at the book and get back with the client or drive around neighborhoods to find things It was horrible.”

[Commenting on the first computer system]: “It was a dOS system…and then it swithec to several different Windows-based systems (as time passed). But our industry was probably one of the first industries that became totally computer-based—particularly here in Austin. For years I would talk to agents from other states and they would not be computerized. We were the envy of other boards.”

Now realtors are getting on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to reach clients and potential clients faster with more up-to-date information.

This begs the question: Is there any way for FSBOs to get out there on the technology wave?

More soon…

This topic is updated on a daily basis, and it seems like the mystery gets a little deeper with every tug of the judicial rope.

Due to an influx of foreclosure claims, lenders began pressing paperwork to reclaim homes at an alarming rate. Many banks outsourced the work to ill-qualified loan officers or hired inexperienced staff to process to loads of paperwork. It was recently discovered that many of the foreclosure reclamation claims were simply signed by someone affiliated with the company and never given an in depth look, leading to some very questionable foreclosure proceedings.

Now banks are paying the price, pouring over countless foreclosure claims, simply buried in paperwork.



On Wednesday, all 50 state attorney generals announced that they would investigate foreclosure practices within their state, finding flawed practice and fix it. A majority of foreclosure proceedings have been halted so that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, GMAC, and Wells Fargo can go back and right their wrongs.

So it seems that the rule of thumb should be that you always have to go by the book. Faulty loans led to the crash, which led to an influx of foreclosures and now faulty paperwork for seizure and sales of foreclosed homes is gobbing up the lending system. Why do banks not feel the need to be thorough and practice business ethics?

Hello all out there in YIGDIGS land.

I’ve been doing this for over a year now and have enjoyed much of it. And I must say that I’m delighted at the progress of the site. We have gone from the bottom of the list to page 1 on Google searches (that’s a big deal!).

Thanks to those who read and write. I will try to provide more pictures.

I haven’t been posting much as of late and I apologize. Life is moving very quickly this fall and this last week and a half just seemed to get away from me. Plus, there’s not much to write about unless you want to hear more about how the market is crashing–just kidding : )

I thought I would go ahead an let you know that I am going to be out of town for the week now (a much needed vacation to Colorado) so don’t be upset if there aren’t any posts until at least this weekend. Then, I’ll be back and on schedule again. Promise.