Posted by Annalisa Burgos | November 14, 2009
HGTV fans attending the NAR convention have to check out the “Test Out Your On-Camera Presence” session on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. or Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Room 28A on the upper level of the San Diego Convention Center.
The host of HGTV’s Real Estate Intervention, Sabrina Soto, and Channing Dawson, one of the members of the founding executive team of HGTV, will show you:
* how to use video to enhance your brand and business
* the top 10 tips for boosting your on-camera appeal
Attendees will be part of a “studio audience” and a few lucky REALTORS® will be selected to work with Sabrina in an interactive home walk-through.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | November 14, 2009
HGTV’s FrontDoor.com is at the NAR conference in San Diego through Monday interviewing dozens of Realtors in search of a few good real estate experts. On Friday night, more than 50 people did a screen test for a chance to be on an HGTV show.
If you think you have what it takes to be a real estate expert on TV, get your two minutes of fame at HGTV’s FrontDoor booth #1916. It’s fun!
See what it’s like in this video:
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | November 10, 2009
Think you’ve got what it takes to be a real estate expert in the media, or even HGTV?
Then join HGTV’s FrontDoor.com at the REALTORS® Conference in San Diego this weekend! Here’s how:
1. Attend the “Test Out Your On-Camera Presence” session
Saturday, 11/14, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m., San Diego Convention Center, Room 28A
or
Sunday, 11/15, 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m., San Diego Convention Center, Room 28A
The host of HGTV’s Real Estate Intervention, Sabrina Soto, and Channing Dawson, one of the members of the founding executive team of HGTV, will show you:
* how to use video to enhance your brand and business
* the top 10 tips for boosting your on-camera appeal
Attendees will be part of a “studio audience” and a few lucky REALTORS® will be selected to work with Sabrina in an interactive home walk-through.
2. Shoot a 90-second screen test in HGTV’s FrontDoor booth #1916
Annalisa Burgos, FrontDoor’s editorial content guru, will be conducting screen tests in our booth #1916 on the convention floor. We’ll shoot a 90-second video of you reacting to a typical scenario from our HGTV shows. It’s not a lot of time, so you’re on the spot. See how fast you can think on your feet and offer valuable advice for our viewers!
We’ll select a few videos to highlight on HGTV’s FrontDoor.com.
So if you’ll be in San Diego, definitely stop by and say hello to your friends at HGTV’s FrontDoor.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | August 6, 2009
I hear so many real estate agent horror stories from homebuyers and sellers (and have experienced my own nightmare situations) that you’d think “agent bashing” is some sort of national pastime.
While there are some bad apples out there (as there are in any profession), that shouldn’t reflect poorly on the industry as a whole. In fact, I know many people who rave about their real estate agents and consider them part of the family.
Finding an agent is easy. In any given area, hundreds of professionals are vying for your business. Finding the right agent for you is the hard part.
You’re trusting someone to help through one of the biggest purchases in your life, so it’s important to do your research.
Check out FrontDoor’s Top 10 Strategies for Choosing the Right Real Estate Agent.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | July 27, 2009
Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are a great resource for journalists like me, especially when you’re on deadline in a city where you don’t have very many contacts. Case in point — before a recent trip to Chicago, I wanted to connect with a local Realtor and film a home tour for FrontDoor’s vlog. The catch — I had a two-hour block in which to film.
Rather than google Chicago-area Realtors and filter through hundreds of agent profiles, I put a call out to our more than 1,000 fans on Facebook. Et voila! Scott Curcio of Coldwell Banker posted a reply saying he would be happy to help.
Next month, I’ll be in LA, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle. If you have a great real estate story, share it with our Facebook community! I may even feature it in our vlog.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | July 17, 2009
In this week’s vlog, we hear from San Diego real estate broker and blogger Kris Berg about her tips for buying and selling a home in today’s market.
Homebuying and selling resources on FrontDoor:
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | June 9, 2009
It’s no secret that listing agents typically charge a commission of about 4 percent to 6 percent of the home’s selling price. Most sellers will price that commission into their asking price so they can walk away from the sale with the profit they want.
So if you sell your home for $300K and you agree on a 5% commission, your agent will get a nice $15,000 paycheck and you get $285K minus your selling expenses.
I know what you’re thinking — $15,000 seems like a lot. Why not skip the commission and sell the house yourself? After all, your home is in good condition in a good neighborhood, you’re well connected with a marketing background, you have the time and patience — what’s the big deal about going FSBO?
Well, today’s real estate market is very different from the one a few years ago when homes practically sold themselves. And you can’t just plop a “for sale” sign on the lawn, post an ad on Craigslist and wait for buyers to show up. (Maybe if people are clamoring to get into your neighborhood or you price the home way below market value.)
Today, homes can take as long as 6-9 months to sell. Listing agents are paid a commission once they find you a “ready, able and willing buyer.” And in this market, that’s no easy feat. Sure buyers are everywhere, but a serious buyer who’s got financing? Kinda like finding a single guy at a movie screening of “The Proposal.”
Before you decide to take matters in your own hands, weigh the pros and cons. Do you really have the time to market your listing, show your home to buyers, coordinate inspections and close the deal? $15,000 may seem like a lot, but when you add up the value of the time and effort it takes to sell in this market, it may not be so unreasonable. Besides, commissions are negotiable, and many agents are willing to work with you to get your business. If you’re just wary of working with a real estate agent, try these tips for finding the right agent for you.
And to help you get a handle on the selling process, check out FrontDoor’s Guide to Selling a Home. You’ll get a better sense of what the process entails so you can decide whether you can take this on yourself or would rather leave it up to a professional.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | May 19, 2009
Let’s face it. Sellers in this market need as much help as they can get. When you’re competing with foreclosures and heavily-discounted new construction, your home needs to stand out. Play up your strengths, whether it’s a great view or amazing kitchen. And if you’ve got a REALLY unique feature, FrontDoor.com is the perfect place for you to market your one-of-a-kind property!
FrontDoor’s Cool Houses Daily (www.frontdoor.com/coolhouses) highlights the coolest, kookiest and most unique homes for sale across the U.S., from a custom-built grown-up treehouse for sale in Texas to the former home of gangster Al Capone listed in Chicago.
Each day, we showcase one new property that has a great story or very unusual selling feature, chosen from our more than 3.6 million for sale real estate listings.
Each Cool House is featured for about two weeks and actively promoted through FrontDoor’s weekly newsletter sent to 400,000 engaged home lovers and via various social networks such as Facebook (www.facebook.com/FrontDoor) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/HGTVFrontDoor), plus throughout the Web site itself.
Realtors and brokers can add value to their clients’ listings with CHD. Just go to the CHD page (www.frontdoor.com/coolhouses) for details on how to submit your cool house for sale. “Our audience appreciates a good story and we are always on the look out for new and unique ways to highlight homes available through FrontDoor,” says Rich Lacy, vice president and site director of FrontDoor.com. “This feature showcases additional dimensions to a listing.”
And for home lovers like me, it’s cool just to see what’s out there.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | April 17, 2009
It’s time for another fun-filled weekend of open houses. As you brave the gauntlet of brokers eager to get your business, here are some great tips and worksheets on FrontDoor.com to help you with your search or sale.
Buyers – Hopefully, you’ve done your research and know how much house you can afford and what to expect in the homebuying process. Check out the listings on FrontDoor.com. When you see a place you like, add it to your list of “must-see” properties. If you’re working with a buyer’s broker, he/she should have compiled a list of homes for sale that meet your criteria. Before you head out, master these tips for what to know and expect at an open house. Print out FrontDoor’s Homebuying Checklist and multiple copies of the Home Tour & Open House Worksheet. Fill one out for each property you see and like. And don’t forget your camera!
Sellers – Your real estate broker should have broken down the entire selling process to you and explained how to prepare your home for the open house crowd. For your easy reference, print out FrontDoor’s Home Selling Checklist and the Home Tour & Open House Worksheet. Make sure everything is ready to make that great first impression. Now, it’s up to your listing agent to sell your home to the potential buyers walking through the door.
Speaking of open houses, don’t forget to watch Open House Sundays on HGTV, starting at 10:30 a.m. See how homebuyers and sellers just like you are working the real estate market.
Posted by Annalisa Burgos | March 27, 2009
I’m about halfway through my 75-hour New York state real estate licensing course, and each class gets more and more amusing. It’s like any other classroom setting — you’ve got the students who ask random questions (”why do we need to learn about property insurance?”), students who act like they know everything (”I’m a property manager so I already knew that”), and students who just observe and take it all in (that’s me).
Literally anyone can get a real estate license. All you need is to be at least 18 years old, pay about 500 bucks for 75 hours of training, and pass a school exam and a state exam. No high school or college education required. No hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition fees. No experience necessary. All you need is the dedication to get deals closed.
The housing boom may be over, but you can’t tell with how many people are clamoring to be real estate agents. And from talking to some of these people, many are looking to capitalize on one of the hottest buying markets in history. Obviously, this is the best time to be an industry insider.
When I lived in Knoxville, my husband and I wanted to buy a house and went house hunting several times a week. Being investors, we were often surprised to find that many of the homes on the market were owned by real estate agents. It seemed like the agents were buying properties from sellers, making superficial fixes and then putting them on the market at a higher price to make a profit, in one word — flipping.
In a recent class, the teacher said flat out, “This business is not about showing houses. It’s about investing in properties and building your wealth. That’s where the real money is.” And true enough, many of the students agreed that that’s why they’re getting their licenses – to get first dibs on bargains and position them for personal gain.
As we continued to talk about things like ethics and good business practices, I’m concerned about the ethical implications. Personally, I think there’s nothing wrong with agents who are in the biz to flip houses. Heck, if I find a bargain, I may do it as well. But where it gets murky is when an agent’s true intentions are hidden behind promises to be true consumer advocates. Like when a seller says he wants X amount for the house but the agent knows it’s worth more and buys it so he can flip it himself. Or when a buyer is looking at a house and the agent tells him it’s a great buy, though he knows it’s a flipped property. Agents who don’t make their intentions clear are at risk when the public gets wise.
The best way for consumers to protect themselves is to arm themselves with their own research and information. That way, they can tell the difference between a true agent and someone who’s just in for the flip. Ask friends and family for referrals and interview at least three agents before choosing one. Get to know the buying process with FrontDoor’s First Time Home Buyer’s Guide, which gives easy-to-follow, step-by-step information from evaluating your finances to closing escrow. We also offer tools to research homes for sale, cities and neighborhoods, recent sales prices, how much mortgage you can afford and more. It’s all incredibly empowering!
With all this information, today’s smart consumer wants a trustworthy, dedicated real estate agent. Even if an agent has his/her own investments on the side, quality customer service is still the benchmark of this profession.
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