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RISMEDIA, September 9, 2010—According to the 2009 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 93% of first-time buyers start their home search online. While buyer’s agents may spend time and marketing dollars online, many fail to accurately measure these marketing efforts to ensure they are reaching the right audiences. Fortunately, there is a variety of free or low-cost resources available to help agents measure their impact online.

From…

RISMEDIA, September 7, 2010—The housing market is showing signs of life. Historically low interest rates and greater home affordability in many areas are beginning to attract prospective home buyers to the market. And with a slow yet steady economic recovery, consumers and real estate professionals are positive about opportunities for today’s first-time and repeat buyers.

Enabling Success
With the changing economy and regulations surrounding lending standards, today’s home buyers…

RISMEDIA, September 3, 2010—Following a sharp drop in the months immediately after the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, pending home sales have modestly risen, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, rose 5.2% to 79.4 based on contracts signed in July from a downwardly revised 75.5 in June, but remains 19.1% below July 2009 when it was 98.1. The data…

RISMEDIA, August 17, 2010—Real estate professionals nationwide are calling 2010 “the year of the short sale,” where homeowners who owe more on their properties than what they are worth sell at deeply discounted prices—with the blessing of their lender.

Here is how to go about successfully buying a short sale:

1. Search for short sale properties
Most short sales are listed by real estate agents. You will find…

RISMEDIA, August 11, 2010—Are you looking for new ways to use the Internet to get more listings and homes sales? Here are four free and low-cost Internet marketing tips to help you genrate more leads and closed transactions from the Internet.

1. Pay-per-click Advertising in Google, Yahoo! and Bing
Pay-per-click advertising has gotten a bad rap over the years, not because it doesn’t work, but because a large majority…

RISMEDIA, August 13, 2010—The real estate trend in firming home prices solidified in the second quarter with more metropolitan areas showing increases from a year ago, aided by a surge in home sales driven by the home buyer tax credit, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors. In the second quarter, 100 out of 155 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) had higher median existing single-family home prices…

RISMEDIA, August 5, 2010—Pending home sales edged down with near-term sales expected to be notably lower in contrast to the spring surge when buyers rushed to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator, declined 2.6% to 75.7 based on contracts signed in June 2010 from an upwardly revised level of 77.7 in May, and…

RISMEDIA, August 2, 2010—The lending landscape has changed quite drastically over the past several years. Practices, approvals and standards that were once widely accepted have either vanished or transformed beyond the point of recognition. Many banks, which were once extremely careless with their loan underwriting techniques and approvals, have dug themselves into a significant hole that will take many years to climb out of. Promotions such as “100% Financing”…