Free Credit Help for Your Real Estate Clients

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Do you frequently get credit-related questions from your real estate clients? Want to offer free credit help through your website or blog? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you'll be interested in the Consumer Credit Help blog we have launched over at the Home Buying Institute.



This blog is our way of responding to the housing and credit crisis that has wrecked our economy. It serves as a convenient Q&A tool, through which consumers may ask credit-related questions (any subject related to credit reports, scores, managing credit card debt, etc.).

All questions are answered by financial experts with a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Best of all, every Q&A session is posted on the blog, as opposed to being handled by email. This benefits the home-buying public in general. The more questions that get answered, the more valuable the blog becomes. At the rate we are going, I expect to have more than 100 Q&A sessions posted by the first week of January.

The ultimate goal of the new site is to create a better-educated group of future home buyers. That's also why I'm reaching out to real estate professionals with this awareness campaign -- we all benefit from an increased buyer pool. And you would be surprised how little the average American knows about credit scores, as they related to mortgage qualification.

Offer Links Through Your Website

We have also created some helpful links and graphics you can use to offer this service through your own website. You can find them here:
http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/help/share.html

What Is a Realtor - General Public Doesn't Know

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

I have long suspected that the vast majority of consumers do not know the difference between a REALTOR® and a real estate agent. I won't postulate on whether there truly is a difference -- aside from the obvious membership dues. Instead, I'll share a recent "scientific" experiment with you.

Over the weekend, I was at a social gathering of about 30 folks. The topic turned to jobs and I mentioned that I performed various marketing services for real estate agents. Somebody said, "You mean Realtors, right?" And then somebody else said, "What's the difference?"

So before the conversation could go any further, I asked the group to humor me for a brief survey. I asked somebody to tell me what the difference was between a REALTOR® and a real estate agent.

[By the way, I have to write the word in all caps with the registered symbol on it every time. If I don't, the NAR's trademark police will send me a cease-and-desist email. It has happened before, so I'm aware that they have people who scour the Web all day in search of improper renderings of the word. Your membership dues help pay for this. But back to the story.]

So anyway, I asked the group: "Just what is a REALTOR ® anyway? Is there any difference between a REALTOR ® and a real estate agent?"

Of the 30 or so people present, the vast majority thought the two terms were synonymous -- that they meant the same thing, just like the terms optometrist and eye doctor. One person suggested there was a difference. She said that "Realtors were a little pin on their lapel while real estate agents do not." I asked what the pin stood for and she said "basically nothing."

Now, I did not have this experiment sanctioned by the Academy of Science or anything. But I would vouch that the 30 or so people present were a pretty fair sampling of the American public. Some were democrats; others were republicans. Some were white-collar professionals; others were blue-collar workers. There were whites, Hispanics, blacks and (to the best of my recollection) at least two people of Asian background.

So as far as I'm concerned, they were the "general public." And as far as they showed me, the general public does not know the difference between a REALTOR ® and a real estate agent ... nor did they seem to care (I was booed at one point for taking up so much time).

What's my point? Well, this is just me talking here. But it seems to me, that a REALTOR ® cannot expect the title to give him or her any kind of advantage in today's economy. At least not according to my experiment. It seems to be the equivalent of an eye doctor puffing his chest out and saying, "I'm not just an eye doctor ... I'm an optometrist."

Before You Send Angry Emails:

I am sure that some people will send me nasty emails defending the prestige of their title (and the logic of the membership dues they pay). But those people would be missing the point, wouldn't they? I am not responsible for public perception or opinion -- I'm only drawing attention to it. In other words, don't shoot the messenger!

Republish Our Credit Guide Onto Your Website

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

In the wake of recent economic troubles (and here the phrase "mortgage crisis" comes to mind), I have created a home buyer's guide to credit and posted it over at the Home Buying Institute.

Better still, you are welcome and encouraged to republish this tutorial onto your real estate or mortgage website, as a public service to your own website visitors. You can publish parts of the tutorial, or the whole thing. Your choice.

Have a look and see what you think:
The Home Buyer's Guide to Credit

I think you'll find that it's very informative and helpful to any home buyer with questions about credit (credit reports, scores, maintaining good credit, how it affects mortgage qualification, etc.).



At the top of the tutorial, there is a link for instructions on republishing the piece. To make it even easier, I've put some comment tags into the HTML code for the page. That way, you can just copy everything between the "Start" and "End" tags and paste it onto your website.

5 Reasons to Republish the Tutorial

1. Because we are currently suffering an economic crisis partly as the result of uninformed consumers ... consumers who did not know enough about credit or mortgages when they signed on the dotted line.
2. Because it's one of the most comprehensive guides to consumer credit ever created within a single web page.
3. Because it's extremely easy to republish onto your website (given the fact that it's a single self-contained page of information).
4. Because it will add value to your website.5. Because it will make your website visitors more inclined to trust you (since you are so obviously concerned for their financial wellbeing).

I hope you find it useful. Let me know if you have any questions.
-Brandon

Is the Recession Monster Rearing Its Head?

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Today I saw two CNN anchors talking about recession. They were really getting into the nitty-gritty of semantics and word origin. Evidently, it's very important to CNN anchors to know when they can and cannot refer to the economy as being in a recession.

Economists will say that when we experience two consecutive quarters of negative growth, then we are in a recession. Incidentally, "negative growth" is also a favorite oxymoron of mine ... right up there with "original copy." But I digress.

Semantics be damned, is what I say. Despite what you call it, we are in a housing slump. And it will probably only get worse before it gets better.

You even see media folks using words like "crisis" and "meltdown" to describe the current mortgage market -- which has everything to do with your real estate business, by the way.

Here's my take on how this all came to a head, for anyone who cares:

• Through most of the 1990's, many lending institutions began to offer home loans to people who had no business taking on home loans. They had low credit scores and financial "houses" with shaky foundations.
• To maximize profits, the lenders cranked up the interest rates for these bad credit mortgage shoppers, like they still do today.
• Many lenders, such as Ameriquest, began to focus on this kind of subprime lending (as it became known) almost exclusively. *
• Some economists began to warn that these "easy lending" practices would have grave repercussions down the road, so...
• Some politicians began to raise an eyebrow at these subprime lending practices, but...
• Lending industry lobbyists contributed to political campaigns so the politicians would have an easier time turning a blind eye. (Schwarzenegger got a nice chunk from Ameriquest, and so did George W.).
• Because many of the subprime loans were adjustable rate mortgages with low initial rates, they inevitably reset to much higher interest rates.
  
• Thousands upon thousands of subprime borrowers could not afford their increased payments, so...
• We had more home foreclosures in a single year than any other year since they've been tracking these things.
  
• A lot of the same politicians who previously turned a blind eye realized that the media was covering them more closely now. So they began to step up and say, "Ooooh, these evil mortgage lenders make me so angry. We must regulate them."
• Long story short, it's a lot harder to get a mortgage these days ... and many of the subprime lenders are facing extinction.
  
• The mortgage meltdown extended to the business world as a whole, which is why business credit is tightening as well as consumer credit.
• And now, CNN anchors are arguing over the definition of the word "recession."
• Oh, and it certainly doesn't help that we are spending 25 gazillion dollars a year in Iraq.
  

* Update: Ameriquest recently posted a message on their website that says they are no longer accepting loan applications. Go figure.

So there you have it ... my take on how we got to where we are, from a mortgage lending standpoint. Of course, one person's loss is another's gain. For example, real estate investors who focus on buying foreclosure homes benefit greatly because there are so many of these properties available now.

Related article:
Real Estate Marketing In a Slow Market

List of Real Estate Schools In All 50 States

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Yesterday, I was reviewing the data from the search tool on the main website. I do this about once a month because it tells me what people are looking for when they visit ArmingYourFarming.com. With this knowledge, I can create new content for the site that directly corresponds to what people want.

You do this for your own real estate website, right?

Well, apparently a lot of the real estate agents (or soon-to-be real estate agents) who visit this site are looking for info on real estate schools.

Of course, I don't know if they're referring to (A) the real estate schools that prepare you for the state licensing exam, or (B) real estate schools that offer continuing education in things like marketing, Internet technology, etc. My guess is it's about 50 / 50.

So I've added a new resource to the main website. It's an explanation of real estate schools, what they do, what they don't do, where to find them, and so on. In fact, I've taken the time (and trouble) to create a list of all 50 states in the U.S., and the real estate schools that are recognized / approved by those states as a pre-licensing requirement.

Here's the list of schools: Agent's Guide to Real Estate Schools

Now the people who run a search for "real estate schools" on the website won't come up dry. It's my little way of saying, "Thanks for visiting my website!"

I hope some of you find it useful.

~Brandon

Real Estate Marketing With Virtual Tours

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

I don't have any personal experience with this website / product, but it seems interesting. If you currently use virtual tours as part of your real estate Internet marketing program (or plan to start), it might be worth checking this out.

I'm not sure how "seamless" the final product could possibly be, since it is based on a digital pictures not shot from a panoramic camera. But ... here you go:

===============
Begin press release
===============

A Better Way to Sell Real Estate is Now Available

First Home Tour launches new site to provide Realtors® a cost effective way to showcase their listings.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 17, 2007 -- First Home Tour is proud to announce the launch of a new virtual tour platform, http://www.firsthometour.com. This site offers Realtors® a simplified and cost effective way to create, upload, and showcase available properties in the most economical and flexible virtual tour package available. Cross market your listings instantly with the First Home Tour Marketing Engine. Each virtual tour can be instantly uploaded to your local MLS, Realtor.com*, Google.com, and Trulia.com, and many other sites at no additional cost.

The many attractive features incorporated in the First Home Tour packages will benefit Realtors® with the potential for quicker turnaround time through creative showcasing and marketing of their listings. First Home Tour provides you with the power of web marketing with no internet experience needed.

James Goodale, President - "Our goal is to put the power of creating virtual tours in the hands of Realtors® for an affordable price. With First Home Tour we hope to give them the advantage they need to sell their listings quickly in a very competitive market.

"The Jonville Team, Keller Williams Reality-Mega Team Platinum Award Winners- "First Home Tour has changed the way we sell homes. We save money on our marketing and create beautiful tours in minutes. The feedback from our clients has been amazing. I would highly recommend First Home Tour to all agents looking for a great way to showcase their properties.

"First Home Tour also provides discounted corporate account options for Real Estate Companies and in many cases an attractive incentive program. Please contact Ryan Braun for more tour information and pricing options."

For additional information please contact:
Ryan Braun / P.R. and Business Development
Direct:(760) 809-4264
Or go to: www.firsthometour.com

*Realtor.com upload is free for Realtor.com "Showcase Account" members

===============
End press release
===============

Home Buying Institute for Sale

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Home Buying Institute for Sale - Large Real Estate Website With Strong Search Engine Performance


Real estate companies in the U.S. will be interested to know that one of the Internet's largest home buying websites is now for sale.

(iRealtyWire.Org) – Round Rock, TX - May 7, 2007 -- HomeBuyingInstitute.com, one of the Internet's largest libraries of home buying tips and advice, is now available for purchase. Brandon Cornett, the website's owner, announced the sale today.

Cornett began building the website at the end of 2005, with the goal of making it one of the largest home-buying resources on the Web. "We have worked hard to create a website that serves home buyers with quality information," Cornett explained. "As a result, HBI has truly earned its place on the web, appearing in search engines alongside such home buying 'heavies' as HUD.gov and Money.CNN.com."

The Ideal Buyer:
Cornett thinks the ideal buyer for this website would be a large mortgage or real estate company that operates nationwide in the U.S. "We get hundreds of visitors a day who read several pages of information before leaving the site," Cornett said. "More than 90% of them are within the United States. These are research-minded folks, so a national real estate or mortgage company could really capitalize on this audience."

Vision and Recommendations:
Home Buying Institute offers a wealth of information on all aspects of the home buying process -- reviewing one's credit score, choosing a real estate agent, house hunting, choosing a type of home loan, shopping for a mortgage loan online, preparing for settlement and more. Because of this focus and the "information-hungry" nature of the website's visitors, Cornett feels the possibilities are endless:

"I get emails from people asking me home buying questions, and I don't even ask for that kind of interaction. If a company continued the growth of this website, and implemented a series of lead-generation techniques, it could become a steady source of relevant leads. In the right hands, this website could become the 'About.com of home buying information.' That's what I envision."

Learn More:
Cornett has prepared a website profile that contains information on the website's search engine performance, traffic statistics, history of growth, sale price and details, plus a variety of forward-thinking ideas and recommendations. To request a copy of this profile sheet, email editor[at]homebuyinginstitute.com, or visit http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/for-sale.php

Another Real Estate Search Engine

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

I have trouble keeping up with all the real estate search engines online these days. That's why I created a guide to these search engines. But just when I had all the major ones listed in my guide, HouseValues rolls out a new / revamped version of HomePages.com.

Here's an excerpt of the press release:

Originally introduced 18 months ago as the first and only national home buying and selling service to combine comprehensive MLS listings in most major markets with aerial maps and in-depth neighborhood information on one Web site, HomePages.com now extends its leadership position with even more home buying, selling and mortgage information, larger photos of homes for sale, 100% aerial mapping coverage and a clean, easy-to-use design.

Here's the full release

Welcome, Newsletter Subscribers!

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

Today I announced the "retirement" of the Arming Your Farming newsletter. I've been publishing the newsletter for over two years, providing real estate marketing advice to nearly 2,000 readers (at the end).

But lately, I've felt that I'm duplicating my publishing efforts by running the blog and the newsletter. In recent months, the newsletter has basically become a summary of the content published here and on the main website. So I say ... why not trim the fat?

For the foreseeable future, I will publish all of my web communications through this blog. You can subscribe through RSS feed, or by entering an email address in the box to the right (I use a program that converts blog posts into email format and sends it out weekly or so ... a smarter way to operate!)

So once again ... welcome to the blog, newsletter subscribers!

~Brandon

Free Online Mortgage Calculators for Your Website

© 2010, Brandon Cornett. All rights reserved.

If you need a mortgage calculator for your real estate website, you might find this press release interesting. The calculators are pretty nice and easy to customize. The only caveat (of course) is that you retain the company's "mortgage calculators" link back to their website. But hey, everything is a trade-off in life.

Excerpt of the press release:

Mortgage Site Launches Free Online Mortgage Calculators for Webmasters

Calculators4Mortgages.com, an online mortgage and loan resource, recently introduced a new, free product for webmasters with mortgage-, real estate- and finance-related Web sites. Sites can add value for their visitors by providing them with free online mortgage calculators.

Read the full release here

~Brandon