For years when I saw that someone was a bonded General Contractor, I assumed that they had passed a set of construction-related professional standards set by the state I think many consumers make the same assumption, but did you know that depending on where you live, this could be completely untrue? In Washington state, for example,…
Category Archives: Resources
Why We Love Hostgator for Real Estate Website Hosting
I got off the phone with a Hostgator tech support person a few days ago and vowed to write a post reminding real estate agents of why we recommend them for real estate website hosting. Finding a place to host your real estate website or blog is one of the first things you’re confronted with…
For Real Estate Magnets, Try House of Magnets
As you start ramping up your real estate marketing now that 2012 is here, you might want to check out the House of Magnets website for ideas to complement your other projects. They offer a good selection of magnets in the form of calendars, sport schedules, business card holders, and more – and their prices…
Number-of-Days Calculator on TimeandDate.com
Here’s a handy tool you can use when you’re calculating deadlines in your real estate transactions. It’s TimeandDate.com’s date calculator, which allows you to enter in a date, then choose a number of days, weeks, or months to add in order to come up with a final date. Here’s an example of what it looks…
MarketWatch Helps You Keep Track of Housing Reports
Do you sometimes lose track of when the various housing and economic reports are coming out? It’s easy to do, but since newspapers start buzzing as soon as the Case-Shiller housing numbers or new unemployment figures are released, it’s good to know in advance what’s coming up. That’s where MarketWatch.com’s economic calendar page comes in handy. It…
Agents, CNBC’s Realty Check is Worth Your Time
In the course of researching this month’s real estate email newsletter article I stumbled upon Diana Olick’s Realty Check column on the CNBC site, and I have to say I wish I’d found it long ago. Each weekday she posts a short, well-researched blurb about some current real estate topic, from recently released housing reports to new legislation,…
A Mortgage Refinance Guide for Your Real Estate Clients
Are you getting questions about mortgage refinancing from your real estate clients? I am, and I recently found a good consumer’s guide to home loan refinancing by the Federal Reserve Board. One of the reasons I like it is that it seems to clearly explain some mortgage topics that people commonly get confused about, including:…
Best Real Estate Website Hosting and Domain Services – Irene’s Top Picks
Yesterday I had to call ValueWeb to help out a client who needed his domain name pointed to a different server. During my over half an hour on hold (starting out as caller number 44 – the horror!) I was reminded of how important it is to choose a reliable company for domain names and…
Great Real Estate Marketing Pop-By Idea
Looking for a nice way to reconnect with your real estate clients? At this morning’s office meeting I heard from some agents who are popping by their clients’ homes to say hello and drop off a Hot/Cold thermal bag as a gift. These bags keep items hot or cold for up to 3 hours, and…
FHA Approved Condominium List Website
Just a reminder that if you have condominium buyer clients using FHA financing, the condo building will need to be FHA-approved in order for the loan to go through. You can look up condo complexes on the HUD website using their FHA-approved condominium complex search tool.