If you’re in need of some fresh ideas for your blog, check our blog each and every Sunday.  We list one seller and one buyer topic that you can use to create your own blog post — or a series of posts.  Either way, using these topics insure you’re providing solid content to your readers — information they are searching for.  If you’re in need of even more blog topics, check out our blog topic archive as well.

Buyers topic for your blog:

Home buyers may be sitting on the side lines because they can’t come up with a big enough down payment on a home or they can’t qualify for traditional mortgage financing.  Take time to outline simple ways buyers can find down payment funds (gifts from parents, grandparents, other relatives; ways to save money to build a nest egg; etc.) to get into the home they want.  Additionally, outline loan programs that don’t make the headlines that may be available from lenders in your area.  (Link to local recommended lenders who offer other loan products that can help buyers who need options.)

Sellers topic for your blog:

Buyers today are not only looking for the best price and move-in condition of their next home, but they’re looking for flexible space in that same home.  Encourage sellers to open up their homes to fresh ideas.  Sellers who want to make their home stand out should consider staging certain areas or rooms as an office, play area or separate dining area if there wasn’t one before.  By using furniture and items around the house, sellers can create spaces within their homes that they never knew that they had — and that look inviting to potential buyers.  List recommended stagers if sellers are looking for additional help to make their home shine while on the market.

Share your blog with us and our readers!

The key word is “new.”

These new home sellers and buyers haven’t heard everything you’ve already said about home buying and selling.  The content they are looking for is likely something you’ve already covered in-depth many a time before.

With that in mind, don’t just cut and paste old content, but update it for today’s real estate market and add your new insights.  These new home buyers and sellers aren’t going to tire of the topics you cover as they’re new to them.  Keep these leads and prospects informed with informative content, but don’t reinvent the wheel every time you need new content.  Some of your tried and true information about buying or selling a home in your area is still relevant and useful to new home buyers and sellers — and effective in bringing in new leads and prospects.

Let us know how you recycle, reuse and repurpose content to find new buyers and sellers.

When your content needs a little boost, stop by Gooder Group’s blog each Sunday.  We provide a current topic — one for buyers and one for sellers — that you can use on your blog for a single post or a series.  These topics are centered on real estate information that home buyers and sellers want — and need — to know.  (Be sure to check out our blog topic archive as well.)

Buyers topic for your blog:

It’s not a secret that many cities and towns throughout the US are facing budget shortfalls.  It’s wise to be upfront with home buyers about this topic and encourage them to talk to residents of the town that they are considering buying a home.  With tax revenue down from sales tax, property tax and even state income tax  – where applicable — cities are finding it more difficult to fund their budgets and provide the services and amenities that populations have grown accustomed to.  Buyers should read local newspapers (easily accessible online), browse city and county and even state websites for press releases, locate the local school and park districts and review their budget situation to get the true picture.  Libraries are a great source to find this info — and also talk to the staff to find out if the library is facing cuts too.  Not being surprised by a reduction in services — or an increase in taxes — is a benefit to buyers.  Encourage them to get the whole picture when looking to buy a home.

Sellers topic for your blog:

During the beginning of the year, everyone has a clean out, clear out mentality to get clutter free. Encourage would-be sellers to start clearing out the clutter in their own homes before listing them for sale.  Outline local resources where furniture, books, toys, recyclables (old electronics, hazardous waste, etc.) and other items can be taken — or who provide front door pick up.  You might also list local storage facilities and team up with them to provide discounts to those who are referred there by you too!  Sellers should have clean and organized closets, cabinets, corners throughout their home.  Help sellers de-clutter to sell quicker!

How is your blog helping buyers and sellers?

The best takeaway to use on Twitter — any anywhere you engage people online — is the acronym R-A-R-E.  Keep your tweets:

• Relevant
• Articulate
• Reliable
• Enabling

She outlines more details for each in her article and we encourage you to read her article in its entirety.  R-A-R-E will keep your marketing efforts focused on client needs and make your social marketing sucessful.

What do you think of R-A-R-E?

When your content needs a little boost, stop by Gooder Group’s blog each Sunday.  We provide a current topic — one for buyers and one for sellers — that you can use on your blog for a single post or a series.  These topics are centered on real estate information that home buyers and sellers want — and need — to know.  (Be sure to check out our blog topic archive as well.)

Buyers topic for your blog:

Buyers can often be blinded by a house if it appears to fit all their criteria for price, location, style, condition, etc.  You are the local expert and can link to local resources to provide buyers with a complete picture of the area where the dream home resides — school information, population, crime statistics, city and county data and even shopping/chamber of commerce/visitor’s bureau info.  These valuable resources can help buyers further evaluate homes and make the best home buying decision.  Provide the complete picture for your area — local buyers and those relocating to the area will benefit!

Sellers topic for your blog:

Invite comparison shopping.  Encourage sellers — before they list their home for sale — to take a little excursion with you.  What you and your would-be seller will do is tour local homes for sale in the area where the would-be seller’s home is located.  Touring the competition before listing allows the seller to see the real estate market from the buyer’s point of view — what condition are other homes in, what attractive features in their own home stand out among the competition, what features are lacking in their home, what price points are out there and where does their home realistically fall.  Once would-be sellers see the competition with their own eyes, setting a realistic price for their home will be easier.

Let us know how your blog is working to provide useful information for home sellers and buyers.

The problem with Twitter is that your eyes and ears need to be really open.  You can’t assume that a tweet is simply a statement (especially if it comes from someone with 1,000,000+ followers).  Advertising subtleties have always been around in Twitter, it’s just the headlines are hitting now about it.

Just as online you can’t believe everything you read, Twitter is no different.  When a company (like us, Gooder Group) posts something online you know that our point of view is going to be about helping real estate professional find more leads, increasing your business, marketing smarter, using Gooder Group products and services, partnering with other suppliers who we work with, etc.  You know Gooder Group’s “biases.”   Others online may not make their connections known, so you have to tread a little more carefully.

Now you can understand why home buyers and sellers are wary.  They are given — and have access to — so much information that can help them make wise home buying and selling decisions.  But, some of it is not in their best interests.

Make your biases clear when you’re online.  Make your real estate services and company affiliation known.  Disclosure not only works as a marketing tool and being ethical, but allows home buyers and sellers know that you do have a bias, but you are also a treasure trove of useful local real estate information that they can’t get any where else.

Let us know how you sort through marketing messages to find those that are most useful to you.

Every week Gooder Group provides one seller topic and one buyer topic to help you craft a new post (or two or a series) for your blog that will help educate your readers.  And, if you need more ideas for blog posts, be sure to visit our blog archive for even more seller and buyer topics.

Buyers topic for your blog:

As always, buyers are looking for the best price on a home to buy.  Mortgage interest rates are inching upwards again, but still near historical lows.  Provide a simple calculator or chart (especially good for those visual learners!) that shows a typical range of home prices in your area, different down payments, various interest rates and monthly mortgage payment.  When buyers see how much they can afford to buy in the neighborhoods they’re interested in, it can encourage some of those buyers to make a move.

Sellers topic for your blog:

Sellers who are underwater may believe that they have no options available to them except to stay put or walk away.  Various other options exist including short sales.  Explain short sales in detail explaining the pros and cons for the home seller, the future home buyer and the mortgage holder’s role.  (On a side note you may consider explaining in a later post how traditional sellers on the market fare better against these short sales by being able to sell with fewer “strings attached” and a more attractive time line to ownership.)

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If you need even more new topics, check out our blog archive too!

Buyers topic for your blog:

Foreclosures and distressed properties are in the news headlines regularly.  Define each type of distressed property that is available in your market.  Outline the pros and cons of these homes in terms of price, condition, transaction time needed, etc.  If you’re experienced in helping buyers purchase these kind of homes, outline your expertise in detail to your readers.  Provide case studies and testimonials to make it real for your readers.

Sellers topic for your blog:

If your real estate market typically heats up in the springtime, you may have seen headlines encouraging sellers to put their homes up well before springtime to “beat the rush.”   The new rush may mean more bank-owned properties hitting the market in the spring as well.  Give your would-be sellers the scoop as you know it from your local market.  What type and how many properties will hit the real estate market this spring?  Will your sellers have less competition if they list now?

Let us know how your blog brings you business!

1.  Facebook is where it’s at.  If you’re not on there yet, what are you waiting for?

2.  Email marketing works best when you target your niche.  Broadcast emails hit everyone; niches pinpoint your perfect client.

3.  Craigslist is hot for real estate.  Advertise there and see!

4.  Print marketing is still relevant.  Emptier mailboxes this year meant your piece got more impact than ever before.

5.  Cutting your marketing budget will cut down your number of new clients.

6.  Clean up your contact database and treat it like gold.  Once it’s cleaned up, keep it current and up-to-date.

7.  Learn all you can about mobile marketing.  Sign up for other companies’ mobile offers and study their successes and failures.

8.  Ask for referrals.  Provide the best customer service to ensure clients talk (well) about you everywhere they go — especially online!

9.  Start texting if you haven’t already.  Understand that the youngest home buyers (and sellers) often prefer texting to other forms of communication.

10.  Engage.  Online and off line.  Be accessible, honest and open with home buyers and sellers.

Now that 2010 is almost over, what marketing tips would you add?  What have you learned about marketing in 2010?

• Be consistent. If you haven’t started your blog yet, don’t aim to post daily. Instead, work on a schedule you can easily adhere to such as once per week. If you’ve started a blog and let it languish, jump back on the wagon, but with an easier to handle posting schedule.
• Proofread. Before you post anything, be sure you’ve re-read it for typos, grammar, readability and content. If you have an extra set of eyes to read over your posts before publishing, that’s the best way to proofread.
• Establish a schedule. Sit down to determine what topics you want to cover and how often. Repetition on your blog is acceptable as you’ll be gaining new home buyer and seller readers over time who need to know information that others have also needed.
• Ask questions and invite comments. Engage your readers and encourage exchanges. Reply to comments promptly and in detail.

If 2011 is your year to blog, start out right and work to make it the most informative blog for your home seller and buyer readers.

Let us know what your blog plans are! We’d love to read your blog!