Owner: Real Estate VA Blog URL:http://www.realestatevablog.com Join Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 15:29:21 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Real Estate Virtual Assistant Site statistics:Click here
3 AWESOME Time Saving Features for RE/MAX Agents 2007-08-17 11:31:00 1.) Accept your RE/MAX leads by text message: Rather than accepting your leads by email, which means you’d have to be sitting at your computer to respond right away, you now have the option of accepting them via. text message! This means you can accept your leads anytime, anywhere.2.) New RealPING System: RealPING empowers real-time assistance for you website visitor. When questions arise and prospects need help NOW, the customers are connected to you. On every page of the website (YOUR REMAX SITE), a RealPING "Talk with me NOW" button will display. The RealPING button will be on you website header, plus in the right column of the Listing Detail page. NOTE: To change your available hours and your primary and secondary RealPING phone numbers, go to the RealPING Control Panel after your account is active. 3.) Fishing for Buyers? The database that you have is very useful. If buyers are your focus, and you want to go after them, you can actually see all the detail about c Read more:Saving
Virtual Assistant Services - Hourly Rates Vs. Package Pricing 2007-06-26 10:25:00 Be careful when comparing hourly pricing... for example, we have been doing this for 7 years now and what may take RealSupport 1 hour at $55 per hour could take someone else 3 hours at $25. You do the math. You can't compare hourly rates, you have to look at the quality and experience of the VA service you choose. Here is an article posted by another one of RealSupport's clients that articulates how this client increased her business by 50% which paid our bills and left even more in her pocket. http://www.epowernews.com/articles/art0309/01suc_0309.htmYour best bet is to get package pricing from your VA service to start. For example, we offer Listing Marketing packages so that the agent knows exactly what tasks will be done every time he/she takes a listing as well as exactly how much it will cost. With this information, you can compare pricing, but remember to compare experience, service and quality as well. Read more:Assistant
, Pricing
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Joan Prout of RE/MAX New Jersey's Take on RingCentral 2007-06-22 17:13:00 I think at the service level I have, extra minutes are billed at about $.05. They send an email notification if you've gone over your prepaid allotment, and they automatically bill you, I believe in 10-minute blocks. I've upgraded my service plan twice to the point where I don't exceed my "free"minutes. When the market heats up again, I fully expect to do so again. It gets expensive in a hurry when you run up the extra minutes.There are numerous levels at which you can subscribe, and, of course, the bigger the chunk you buy, the less you pay for extra minutes if you need them.Still, I try to economize where I can. I have one extension where I don't take messages; I just record an availability list of properties (seeing my V.A.s aren't licensed in NJ and aren't allowed to give out that info.) Rather than record that announcement every week or so using the phone (and minutes), I record it to the computer and upload the file. When someone calls in on the 800# and I anticipate a long Read more:Jersey
CUSTOMIZED Summer Event Calendars! 2007-06-05 16:48:00 Summer Event Calendar: RealSupport would research your local (or target) area to find out the upcoming summer events. We would then create a custom calendar for the summer months listing out these events. If there are corresponding pictures and/or logos we would add these as well. This is a fun way to keep your name in front of these contacts, stay fresh in their mind so they think of you for that next real estate transaction!Click Here to email us for more information and/or pricing. Feel free to call us at 847-705-1655. Read more:Calendars
, Summer
Letter to Your Contacts - Getting Their Home Ready for Summer... 2007-06-05 16:46:00 Getting Your Home Ready For Summer
:A few of our clients are having RealSupport put together, print, and send out letters (snail mail) to their contacts with a list of reminders of things to do in preparation for the summer.Pricing:$55/Hour$0.03 each black and white printed page$0.48 per envelope including postageClick Here to email us for more information or call us 847-705-1655. Read more:Contacts
, Letter
www.SurveyMonkey.com 2007-06-05 16:41:00 www.SurveyMonkey.com: Survey Monkey is a unique online web tool that RealSupport pays a monthly fee to use. It allows us to create CUSTOMIZED surveys for our clients. Our clients are finding the survey useful to send out to clients after their home has sold (or after they've purchased a home with you) to find out their opinions on how the transaction went. Here are a few sample questions to think about:a) Were they satisfied with the overall transaction?b) Would they recommend you to friends and family?c) Can you use them as a reference?d) Do they have a testimonial they'd like to share? (RealSupport can add the testimonials to your website)Pricing:$60/Year Per Survey (Unlimited usage of the survey)$55/Hour to setup your survey(s) - Approx. 1 to 2 hours per survey.Click Here to email us for more information, or call 847-705-1655.
Add your listings to Zillow and Update Zestimates 2007-04-24 17:11:00 We've all heard the buzz about Zillow
.com - the online estimation tool that has gathered tax information to create "Zestimates" of what a home is worth in just about every part of the US.The real estate agent community was upset with this new website, with good reason. The "Zestimates" were not always accurate and if you put this powerful tool in a buyer's hands, it could hurt your chances of selling a property if the facts on Zillow were just not right.So, what's new? You can now not only post your listing for sale (for FREE) on Zillow, but you can also update the "Zestimate" by adding facts and improvements as well as comps on why they should update the "Zestimate". Just by putting it on this site "for sale" will get ride of the glaring and most likely "underZestmate", and replaces it with the for sale price. Whew, that is an improvement and a relief.You can also customize your account so that your agent information is displayed on all your listings
... maybe you'll find your own Read more:Update
Outlook Tip 2007-04-24 17:10:00 Outlook Tip:If you haven't done it yet, you must download the Google desktop search. This will change your life! Search your email messages in seconds!! Ask us for the link to download this program, it is FREE! Read more:Outlook
Ann Lebiecki, Shorewest Realtors 2007-04-24 17:08:00 Ann LebieckiShorewest REALTORSWest Bend, Wisconsinwww.AnnLebiecki.comAnn is one of RealSupport's first clients. We have been working with Ann for 4 great years! Ann's team has grown since working with us to include a licensed assistant (Jennifer).What is your business philosophy?My philosophy is simple really (not easy, just simple) and is coined by Floyd Wickman. It's:"To Always... live by the get by giving philosophy". "To always... make my clients #1 goal, my #1 goal""To always... live up to my standards, despite temptations to lower them" "To always... be willing to work toward a common good" “To always... do what I say I will do, sometimes more, just never less"My business caters to my past clients and referral network. I am constantly in touch with them either by mail or phone, monthly. I want customers to know I am in high touch with them. I want to be at the top of their mind before, during and after a transaction. I also want to be high tech, which is what clients today w Read more:Realtors
It's a Numbers Game but Worth the Wait 2007-04-24 17:04:00 It's a Numbers
Game but Worth
the Wait.Last year, a friend of mine sold her house. This was the first home she owned and unfortunately she was going through a divorce, so they were selling. She had no idea about how Real Estate works, all she knew was that she had to sell. I asked her how she choose her Real Estate Agent.She told me, “Well, I’ve been living her for 5 years, and about once a month for the past 5 years, I’ve gotten a postcard from this agent, so I called her.” I laughed… it really was that simple.Many agents start postcard campaigns and give up after about 4-5 months. As indicated in the scenario above, you may not get a payoff for many years, but guess what, the $9,000 commission the agent made on my friends home paid off big time.We do just listed and just sold postcard campaigns for our client Ann Liebecki, of Shorewest Realtors Wisconsin. She has figured out of 26 listing appointments she landed 2 of them due to the just listed/just sold postcards she does
Real Estate Ad Word Effectiveness 2007-04-24 17:03:00 Joan Prout, Broker Associate, RE/MAX Villa, Jersey City, NJ came across this article about ad copy and the effectiveness of some words vs. others. Some interesting findings. http://www.realsupportinc.com/clients/adwordeffectiveness.pdf Read more:Estate
, Real Estate
Putting Rising Interest Rates into Perspective 2007-04-24 17:02:00 Dianne Dunn, Broker/Owner of Keller Williams in New Bern, NC sent me an interest rate chart that she came across that puts the “rising” interest rates into perspective. I thought this would make a great flyer or postcard for anyone trying to drum up business from buyers. Here is the link, it isn’t pretty, (it is a fax made into a PDF) but you get the concept. If you need help creating a flyer or postcard, let me know. http://www.realsupportinc.com/clients/interestratechart.pdf Read more:Interest
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Outlook Tip 2007-04-24 17:00:00 The Issue: One of our agents has a buyer's form on her website. When filled out, the form will email the information to the agent. This form allowed people to schedule an appointment to see one of the agents' listings. It didn't really allow them to pick a date/time, but show interest in the property. Our agent was finding that the people submitting the form were not filling in all the information which led her to believe they were not really serious. They were also rarely pre-approved, and most of them hadn't even spoken with a mortgage broker. She was starting to feel like responding to these leads was a chore and really wasn't worth her time since they really only turned a small amount of actual solid leads.The RealSupport Solution: We devised an email script that indicated they needed to provide all their contact information, they would be required to be pre-approved and if they didn't have a mortgage broker, the agent would get them in touch with one. In addition there was o Read more:Outlook
Where is Your Public Relations Campaign? 2007-04-24 16:57:00 Carrie Gable remembers a long time ago being told the best exposure is free. This rings true in our business and from what we’ve seen, yours too! Joan Prout of RE/MAX Villa REALTORS® in New Jersey has had numerous articles written about her and her partnership with RealSupport. Everywhere we turn, everyone has heard of Joan Prout because of one article or another. This exposure has proven extremely beneficial to Joan.How to Gain a Virtual Marketing Edge Turn Listing Drudgery Into An Unbeatable Competitive Weapon 50% Increase This Year & Loving the Business!She didn’t stop there. RealSupport is sending out monthly Press Releases to two of Joan’s local newspapers to hopefully earn her some more free press. Sounds expensive doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t. Joan had us scour the different affiliations and designation websites that she belongs to and dig up their Press Release te Read more:Campaign
, Public
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Agent Profile - Joan Prout of Jersey City, New Jersey 2007-04-24 16:54:00 Joan is a 15 year veteran. She holds a Master’s degree and more real estate designation than I can ever remember. She is an active CyberStar member and a firm believer in using a Virtual Marketing Service like RealSupport. In my observation of Joan over the last 4 years, I believe she is so successful because (among many other reasons) she has determined who her target market is and she doesn’t try to be all things to all people. Her target is simple. Internet savvy, urban sellers. Joan is a listing agent you see and focuses her attention on not only this group, but even digs deeper down and targets the internet savvy ones! There have been several instances where Joan has never met her seller face to face and that is just fine by her. We communicate to Joan’s seller’s via email, rarely needing to call or schedule a meeting for Joan to meet them at the property. She really takes full advantage of the internet, fax and overnight delivery to work so efficiently with her Read more:Agent
, Jersey
, New Jersey
FAQs abour Real Estate Virtual Assistants 2007-04-24 16:49:00 Recently a prospect sent me an email with many great questions he had about this whole "Virtual" Real Estate
Marketing Virtual Assistant industry. He had great questions, so I wanted to share them as well as the answers.Q: The most important thing I can ever think of is the highest level of trust in this virtual relationship which by the way is clearly professional.A: I absolutely agree and I think you can see by our testimonials that our clients not only trust us but rely on our team on a daily basis. View some of our client's testimonials here: http://www.realsupportinc.com/buzz/testimonials.cfmQ: It will include independent work for hire with "results that are measurable."A: Yes, I agree. Measurable in the sense of time savings, quality of marketing materials, and turn-around time. Q: Can I let go of things easily without having to worry if they are getting done.A: Absolutely! RealSupport is one of the leading VA Services, but with a twist. We have an ON-SITE, dedicated staff Read more:Assistants
, Real Estate
An Introduction 2007-04-24 16:43:00 My company, RealSupport Inc., has been providing blogging services to our real estate clients for some time now and I'm finally practicing what I preach. My goals for this blog are:1) To supply content to our current clients and potential clients about real estate marketing related trends so that they can be the leading real estate agents in their area.2) To establish RealSupport as a leader in the real estate marketing field.3) To write about all the ideas I have as they relate to real estate marketing.4) To get the word out about RealSupport's services and how we currently help several successful real estate agents all over the United States.5) To educate the real estate agents and brokers on the use of virtual assistants.So, welcome to my blog! Please feel free to post comments or send me an email direct. Read more:Introduction
More Zillow Zestimates Advice 2007-08-27 15:52:00 As you know Zillow
bases their “Zestimates” on public records. With that said, I’m sure you are also aware that not all “Zestimates” are correct. While adding your listings “For Sale” on the Zillow site helps to move the published Zestimate to a less prominent spot on the page, it does not eliminate the Zestimate all together. With that said, you or your seller are able to create a new Zestimate based on additional facts such as updates that may not be in public records, you can also associate different comps that directly relate to the home’s value. Since this is very specific it needs to be done by either you or the seller, we are listing out the instructions below on how to create your own Zestimate that the Zillow Public will also be able to see in addition the Zestimate that Zillow publishes. Please note, you can choose to do nothing, this is just our way of staying on top of issues that may arise from this system. Many people do realize that Zillow is not c
Vista Operating System vs. Microsoft 2007 Suite 2007-08-31 10:29:00 I recently had a client send me the following issue and since most of my clients will be updating their computers over the next few years, I thought this might be a valuable post to help explain a few things.Question about Vista
was the subject of this clients email."When I send a Word doc attachment to anyone it says name.docx and no one can open it. Do you have any ideas about how to fix this or is this a MS plot to convert everyone more quickly?"My Answer:This actually is not a VISTA issue, it is a Microsoft
Word 2007 Issue.It is important for you to know that you have Vista for your OperatingSystem
and you are using 2007 for your Microsoft Suite
(which includes word, excel, PowerPoint, etc).SO, when you save ANY of these files, you will need to SAVE DOWN.To do this, when you are ready to SAVE your document, you must do “File”, “Save AS” (rather than just SAVE). You cannot use the save icon (the one that looks like a floppy disk), because you must “SAVE AS”. When the sa
The Buyers are on Zillow...You Should be Too! 2007-09-28 14:59:00 Happy Friday!I am writing today to let you know that Zillow
is now selling advertising space on their website. Zillow.com is one of the most-visited real estate sites on the Web, used by millions of prospective home buyers, sellers, and owners every month!This is where the buyers are looking…get noticed!Here is the link to a page with more information and pricing: http://www.zillow.com/ezads/GetStarted.htm?s_cid=emm-2007018agentoutreachPostEZ-getstartedezLet me know if you’d like us to coordinate this for you. Click Here to email me!Have a wonderful weekend! Read more:Buyers
Tech Review – Top Producer’s Market Snapshot 2007-10-18 13:19:00 Overall, the reports look nice, very professional and user friendly. It is great that the consumer does the data entry and that they are automatically emailed the report right away and then periodically. Also, the reports are very interactive, which is also a major plus. It is also very simple to add to a template or custom website. Here are 2 issues we had with it:It only pulls data that is 90 days old. If a listing is older than 90 days they WILL NOT show up. That is their criteria. So, the first time someone get’s the report, it will only go back 90 days. With this challenging market, 90 days does not seem to be enough. (This information was as of 5/07 per Top Producer
)Top Producer constantly has issues with AOL emails. Top Producer gets blocked periodically by AOL and emails bounce. They are pretty good about dealing with this issue when it comes up and it does get resolved, but it happens every few months (or so it seems to me). If this issue does come up, it is my ex Read more:Market
What is Reverse Prospecting? How Can You Benefit? 2007-10-26 13:11:00 Reverse Prospecting - What is it?Reverse Prospecting is a report in the MLS that a Listing Agent can run to find prospective buyers for a listing in THEIR inventory.When initiated, this report will return a list of any instances in which an agent's listings were found as a match through the regular prospecting feature. It will show the agent's contact information, who owns the prospect, the prospect's ID number (not their name or contact information), and the date that the email notification of the match was sent to another agent or prospect.In order for a prospect to show in this report, the agent who input the prospect has to "Enable Reverse Prospecting" for that prospect.Need someone to manage your reverse prospecting? Click Here Read more:Reverse
From Contract to Close - We've Got You Covered! 2007-10-31 14:08:00 RCC stands for RealSupport Closing Coordinator – the newest addition to our extensive roster of services designed to give you the edge in today’s competitive real estate industry. Your RCC handles every step of the closing transaction, relieving you of the endless phone calls, paperwork and details involved, for a price that will make you wonder why you ever bothered to try to juggle everything yourself.An RCC is the person who’s going to give you more time to work on the profitable part of your practice (like drumming up new clients) and relieve you of the stuff that drains your time (like closing transactions). It’s so easy. You send us the transaction information, along with all supporting documents. and your assigned RCC takes over the entire closing process. If an issue arises that requires a licensed agent, your RCC will contact you. Otherwise, you can concentrate on doing what you do best, confident that your transaction is being handled professionally and efficiently. Y Read more:Close
, Covered
Social Networking Websites - Networking for Success 2007-11-14 11:43:00 Overview: Social
networking sites are the newest way to connect to people with common interests. (For example: careers, schools, hobbies, etc.) In doing so, you’re driving additional traffic to your website, finding leads, and positioning yourself as an expert in your field. Just by adding your profile information to these sites, you are gaining valuable exposure, and even more credibility and exposure can be gained simply by posting a blog, tip, event, etc. monthly. Below you’ll find the benefits of these sites along with a list of the hottest social networking sites out there today.Benefits:- Drives additional traffic to your website- Gives your search ranking a boost- Helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field by allowing you to give advice, post blogs, etc.- Gives you the opportunity to find and connect with new leads- Allows access to other agents and professionalsHottest Social Networking Websites
:LinkedIn:Web Address: http://www.linkedin.com/Summary: LinkedIn is Read more:Success
Need More Buyer Leads?? 2007-11-12 09:23:00 Here are a couple ways that RealSupport can help you effectively get buyers in the door…- Lead Generation: let us help you find buyers.- Lead Management: this is where we help you successfully stay in contact with these leads using a drip email campaign.Need Help? Want to Find Out How it Works? Call us at 847-705-1655 & ask for Erica or Carrie. Or Click Here to Email Us! Read more:Buyer
, Leads
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