From Realtor.com

According to a NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® survey of 3,793 adults conducted by Harris Interactive and released in January 2011, home owners and renters agree that home ownership benefits individuals and families, strengthens our communities, and is integral to our nation’s economy.

Here you’ll find highlights from the research report plus easy ways to share the information.

Among the findings of NAR’s “American Attitudes About Homeownership” survey:

* The vast majority of both home owners and renters say that owning a home is a smart decision over the long term. Even in today’s challenging economy, 95% of owners and 72% of renters believe that over a period of several years, it makes more sense to own a home.

* Home owners are much more likely to be satisfied with the quality of their family and community life than renters. While more than half of owners (56%) are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with the overall quality of their family life, only about one-third (36%) of renters report the same levels of satisfaction. Also, 43% of home owners are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their community life, compared with 30% of renters.

* An overwhelming majority of home owners are happy with their decision to own a home. A full 93% of owners surveyed would buy again.

* Most renters aspire to home ownership. The majority of renters (63%) say they are at least somewhat likely to purchase a home at some point in the future. Among them, young adults (18- to 24-years-old) have the strongest aspirations for home ownership.

The survey also confirmed that home owners and renters continue to have concerns about the economy:

* In today’s market, many aspiring home owners face worries about job security and credit worthiness. Among renters who are “very” or “extremely” likely to buy a home in the future, three out of five consider confidence in job security or creditworthiness to be an obstacle.

* Home owners and renters both believe that the mortgage interest deduction should not be targeted for change. 74% of owners and 62% of renters say it’s “extremely” or “very” important that the MID remain in place.

Given the strong public support of and aspirations for owning a home, we need to keep in place policies that support and encourage responsible, sustainable home ownership.

QR codes are being hyped as the “next big thing” for connecting prospects to your marketing, according to several tech experts during the California Association of REALTORS® Expo in Anaheim this week.

So what are they and what can you do with them? QR codes, which resemble a store’s barcode, can be added into your marketing materials, such as on your flyers, brochures, or signs. Others can then scan and snap a photo of the code using their smartphone’s QR code reader app, which is basically available on any phone. The code reader transcribes the code and then instantly sends the encoded materials and information to that person’s phone.

For example, say you had a QR code on your business card that contains all of your contact information. When a person takes a photo of that QR code using the app, she will instantly receive all of your contact information on her smartphone, never having to input a thing. Your contact information would automatically be added to her address book.

Admittedly, it’s hardly a must-have tool, but if you’re looking for a way to spice up your marketing, particularly among your more tech savvy prospects, you might try it out. It’s easy to make your own QR code too. Just Google “QR code generator,” and you’ll find plenty of vendors. You just plug in your URL or text and then you’ll instantly receive a code to use in your marketing. Or you can just go straight to Clikbrix to access a solution designed especially for real estate purposes.

I have other sources to get these codes and includes many other great marketing tools included. Call me today for more details.

ALSO!! other great ways to use the QR code are:

• on your listing sheets (buyers can take a photo of the QR code with their smart phone and immediately send it on)
  
• on your Open House fliers
• On your Listing Postcards
• On your Yard Sign (have it printed on magnetic vinyl and stick it on your sign)
• Make individual business cards of the house with the home picture, QR code and your information – give to your sellers to hand out.
• And the list goes on and on.

Don’t want to do this all by yourself??? Give me a call. I can help.

The job of a real estate agent is considered one of the most stressful jobs you can have, according to CareerCast’s 2010 Jobs Rated report, which analyzed the stress level of 200 professions.

As the economy has softened, competition among real estate agents has risen, which was a major factor in landing it on this year’s list of top 10 most stressful jobs, according to the report.

Do you feel stressed?

Take (the) quiz to see if your stress levels are spiraling out of control.

The report noted: “Real estate agents and brokers work long, erratic hours, spending much of their time showing properties to clients. They must be extremely independent, and able to handle sales quotas and deadline pressures.”

In compiling its stress rankings, CareerCast accounted for such factors as work environment, competitiveness, and job risk. Overall stress scores ranged from the low 18.776 to 110.936. (Real estate agent had a 73.063 overall stress score.)

Here are the top 10 most stressful jobs in 2010, according to the report:

1. Firefighter
Stress score: 110.936
Hours per day: 11
Time pressure: Very high
Competition: Low

2. Corporate Executive (senior)
Stress score: 108.625
Hours per day: 11
Time pressure: High
Competition: High

3. Taxi Driver
Stress score: 100.491
Hours per day: 9.5
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: Moderate

4. Surgeon
Stress score: 99.463
Hours per day: 11
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: High

5. Police Officer
Stress score: 93.893
Hours per day: 9.5
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: Low

6. Commercial Pilot
Stress score: 85.350
Hours per day: 9
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: Low

7. Highway Patrol Officer
Stress score: 80.651
Hours per day: 9.5
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: Low

8. Public Relations Officer
Stress score: 78.523
Hours per day: 9
Time pressure: High
Competition: Very High

9. Advertising Account Executive
Stress score: 74.555
Hours per day: 9.5
Time pressure: Moderate
Competition: Very High

10. Real Estate Agent
Stress score: 73.063
Hours per Day: 9.5
Time pressure: High
Competition: Very High

If you are feeling stressed and want some help, contact me. Not only can I “Bild” your business, but I can take some of that pressure off, too.

Fall is just around the corner, sales may be slowing down – not because of the economy, because of the season. So, what are you going to do with your time? What can you do now to generate business in a month? couple months? after the “Holidaze”? after the January 1st? What are you going to do NOW to have business for the future?

I know this is sounding like my mantra, but enter your contacts into some sort of contact manager. You NEED to do this now, if you have not started it already. (See my earlier  blog about Contact Managers)

Once that is done, figure out what to send your contacts – it needs to be of value and useful. Here are only a few suggestions….

• Put together a monthly newsletter – PLEASE no recipes – for samples of newsletters you can send out, you can go to my portfolio on my website. There is lots of information at your fingertips to give to your contacts.

• Send out notices of “Just Listed”/”Just Sold” show how important it is to your client base that this property is “Just Listed” like: “Who would YOU like as your neighbor” or for “Just Sold”: “I helped make their dream come true, what is your dream?” or something like that. You have to point it to what is in it for THEM.

• Send out Market updates with what is going on in THEIR neighborhood, not just the area in general. You know all areas are different and your contacts are really just interested in what is going on in THEIR neighborhood.
• Sign up for an easy way to automatically send your clients information every week using “Follow My Clients” from ThinkBigWorkSmall.

• If you are using Top Producer as your contact manager, sign up for “Market SnapShot” and then invite your clients to sign up. This is a great tool to keep your clients up to date with listed properties and solds. It also is a great way to get leads.

• Realtor.com is partnered with Lowe’s to give out very useful information to your clients on a consistent basis. Check out how Lowe’s can help you stay infront of your clients. It’s a SUPER deal!!

• Once you have all your Social Media up and going, send out an email to your current client base inviting them to follow you on Facebook, Twitter and the like.

• Set up your Blog to post informational and useful articles – then let your clients know either via email, Facebook or Twitter you posted a FABULOUS article you know they would be interested in. (There is SO much FREE information available on Realtor.org and your local Realtor boards as well as Real Estate news links)

• Let your clients know what activities are going on in your area. Especially with the “Holidaze” just around the corner, whichever client niche you want  – cater to their activities and then post them on a blog, newsletter, Facebook or Tweet.

• Also, contact your lenders/inspectors/or other vendors inquiring what the market is doing and what kind of programs they have to offer – perhaps have a guest writer for your blog. Then email notification, and/or post on Facebook and Twitter.

• Ask for testimonials. It is very very important to start asking for testimonials as you start working with your client in their buying or listing process. That is when they are talking about their experience the most. You can also ask for it later, but chances are, they are onto their next adventure. (Joe Stumpf) If your clients give you a testimonial, chances are they will refer you and if you stay in front of them, they will remember who you are to refer.

• Above all – let your clients know what you’re doing and their business is very important to you.

If you want business in the future, you have to work on it now. What you do now will effect your business 3 month, 6 months, even years down the road. Get busy now! (Now is always Everyday!) If you need help setting up a system and/or implemented, contact a Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant.

It amazes me how much is out there for our (real estate agents, I mean) use – AND IT’S FREE!! Looking for material to send to clients is time consuming and darn right difficult sometimes, that’s why I look for  you and post it on my blog when I find content you can use or at least point you in the right direction. Well, I found another source…. HouseLogic from our Realtor(r) Association. Just enter your NRDS number and it opens doors to information you can send out to your clients – seasonal information and again – IT’S FREE!! I just love being a Realtor(r) and have everything handed to us to make us great agents – for free. Okay, we pay annual dues – but we’re getting more than we ever would be paying for.

So, here’s another source to get articles to send out to your clients, which should be once a week. Or cut and paste to insert into your newsletter.

If you need help with your client data base or setting up a mailing system or even setting up a newsletter, just give me a jingle.

Have a very Happy & Profitable Labor Day!

This can be placed on your blog or website.