Current Trends in Real Estate Marketing

Now that you have been discussed about some of the internet marketing trends, let’s move on over to some of the other trends that taking place in the marketing world for real estate. For example, appearing on a local radio station or even on a location TV talk show is a fantastic way that you can get your name out there and ensure that people know who you are – after all, that is the entire point of being in the real estate market.

Advertising and selling yourself is something that many real estate agents have a hard time doing in the beginning, however that is something that you have to do in order to gain prospects, you truly have to ensure that people know who you are. Talking to everyone and anyone and truly making connections is what real estate is all about.

So make sure that you get yourself out there and I can promise that you will gain all sorts of different prospects!

Targeting a Niche Market

Finding a Good Niche Market

While location is the most obvious divider for real estate, perhaps your niche involves other factors. You can target specific property types, such as income properties, condos, waterfront homes, luxury homes, or new developments. Perhaps you specialize in different demographics such as Spanish speaking, senior citizens, or first time buyers.

A well-defined niche should consist of people with the same specialized needs that you offer. You should be able to provide a compelling reason for individuals in this group to do business with you instead of your competition. Also make sure that the target group is large enough to sustain the volume of business needed to meet your goals

Using Multiple Websites for Better Targeting

One option that is often overlooked is to have more than one domain name and web site. If you would like to target a large market or area, it may be a good idea to create multiple sites each targeted to a more specific market. This way you can use each web site to establish yourself as the expert in each of the smaller communities without sacrificing the larger area.

Distressed Investors Still on Sidelines as Commercial Real Estate Decline Continues

Investors anticipate further deterioration in the underlying fundamentals of the commercial real estate industry through the remainder of 2009 and into 2010 as investors remain on the sidelines, a new survey shows.

Those seeking to acquire quality assets at distressed prices are hoping that expected near-term defaults and looming due dates on commercial mortgage-backed securities will jump-start buying opportunities that so far have been absent, according to the new PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Korpacz Real Estate Investors Survey.

Investors are also looking to the 2012 due date for $153 billion of CMBS loans to spur buying opportunities. Since commercial banks account for a much greater percentage of the total looming debt, however, they could provide distressed sales sooner than 2012.

Separately, research firm Real Capital Analytics forecast that commercial-property sales in the U.S. this year will fall to the lowest level in almost two decades as the industry experiences its worst slump since the Savings and Loan crisis of the early 1990s.

The firm forecast that only about $16 billion of office transactions will be completed by year-end, Bloomberg News reported. Firm officials said that may be the lowest volume since at least 1991.

The PwC Korpacz survey found that the majority of the commercial real estate industry is expected to remain in recession through 2011. While an industry-wide recovery is not expected to begin until 2012, the pace of the recovery will vary for each property sector, as well as across individual geographies.
In the industrial and office sectors, a more pronounced recovery is expected to materialize in 2011, but is not expected to dominate these sectors until 2012. In the retail sector, the recession phase of the cycle is expected to linger through 2011, giving way to a slight recovery in 2012.

In contrast, the U.S. multifamily sector is expected to lead the industry out of the recession as its recovery starts to take hold in 2010 and continues through 2012.

So far, the de-leveraging of the commercial real estate industry has disappointed many investors, said the PwC analysts.

“Investors seem surprised at the lack of quality buying opportunities, given the problems in the financial markets and the continued weakening of the industry’s fundamentals,” said Susan Smith, editor-in-chief of the survey. “Some investors sense that near-term defaults with commercial banks will allow them to acquire quality.

Assets at steep discounts, as banks may no longer be able to continue to ‘pretend and extend’ troubled loans and would be forced to place assets up for sale.”

Luxury real estate vultures

A Fortress Investment veteran is now at an auction house that hopes to feed off of distressed estates.

(Fortune Magazine) -- When an ex-managing director of evade fund Fortress teams up with Sotheby's in a real estate business enterprise, you know something funny is going on in the luxury residential market.

But that's basically what happened last month when George Graham, formerly of Fortress's Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund, joined a real estate auction house that works closely with Sotheby's (BID) International Realty and other firms to sell off luxury homes.

Graham is CEO of Concierge Auctions, founded in 2006 by a well-connected broker in South Florida. The company is looking to make hay from an up tick in luxury real estate auctions.

"There is a pipeline of multimillion-dollar properties that are underwater," says Graham. "In most of these areas the homes aren't selling. There's a multiyear supply."

Concierge's pitch to a seller is simple: Your house won't sell on the open market for years. You may not get the price you want with an auction, but it's better to have an exit than to be stuck with the carrying costs on, say, a $20 million home -- or worse, enter foreclosure.