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How To: Get Great Real Estate Photos

Posted by: admin in tips, Realtors, property, photography, how to on Jun , 2010

Whether you’re a realtor, someone trying to sell, or someone looking to buy, great photos are some of the best tools you can have in Real Estate.  A Realtors’ association survey found that when it comes to web features that buyers consider “very useful,” 83 percent cited pictures. Great photos are much like having great curb appeal – they draw potential buyers in. Bad photos don’t just leave a bad first impression; they can turn off buyers before they even set foot in the property.

Unfortunately, there is no single magic bullet or secret camera setting to ensure that pictures will be good – however, here are some Dos and Don’ts from professional photographers:
Do:
Use a good camera – do you need a top of the line Digital SLR? Probably not – but will a lower end one like a Cannon Rebel make pictures look better than a cell phone or a point and shoot? Yes!  DSLRs can accommodate different lenses and can have the shutter speed and aperture adjusted – meaning your can take longer exposure pictures – longer exposures means more light can reach the lens, avoiding pictures that make rooms look dark and uninviting.
Pro tip: Camera shops often have consignment sections where you can purchase used entry level DSLRs for below retail price. This is a good way to get a starter camera, and allows you to ask as many questions as you need to learn how to use the camera.

Do:
Get some equipment if you’re going to take a lot of photos: A simple tripod can solve a lot of bad picture problems. While you will never need all the gear that a professional photographer has, if you find yourself always wishing you had more light, you can find compact fluorescent versions of studio lights for a fraction of the price - $80 to $100 USD; they cast wide, soft light, meaning they can illuminate a dark room without casting hard shadows.  Finally, consider a wide angle lens – using one means you can show a lot more of the room in the photo, meaning the viewer can get a better idea of how spacious the room actually is.
Do:
Think about the weather – if you photograph a house on dull, dark day, it will look dull and dark on the inside. Open the curtains, lift the blinds, and turn on the lights! Get it as bright as you can. When photographing the outside, try to do it on an overcast day to avoid harsh shadows.

Do:
Tidy up first! You can have lovely pictures with lots of natural light taken from the best angles, but if there are dead flowers, toys scattered everywhere, dirty dishes or too much clutter, you’ll end up with great pictures of a messy house. Clean up the setting and stage everything before you start – it will save your time in the long run and will make sure people viewing the pictures will notice the lovely bay window, not the toddler playing in front of it.

Do:
Be afraid to take lots of pictures from different angles. When inside shoot from a doorway or corner to show as much of the room as possible. Step back and try to find the best angle to capture the room.

Do:
Embrace technology! If you’re already tech savvy, you can use Photoshop to add perfect finishing touches – remember though, with all Photoshop fixes, its best not to go overboard.  However, if you know what you’re doing, you can straighten walls, adjust shadows and colour, crop out unwanted details, remove imperfections, or stitch photos together to make a panorama.   If you’re not a Photoshop wizard, you can use free programs to adjust lightness and contrast, or hire a professional to do touch ups on your images.
Pro Tip: If you’re really good, you can take photos using the HDR (high dynamic range) technique to make a composite image. Basically you take several photos of the exact same scene using different exposure values (and use a tripod!) Then you combine the photos, so you have your darks, lights and midrange covered (newer versions of Photoshop have an option for this) – allowing you to see a lovely room, AND the view outside the window, rather than just a blown out block of white.  There are many HDR tutorials online that can tell you more.

Don’t:
Use a flash. Unless you have absolutely have to. Seriously.

Don’t:
Be afraid to hire a professional.  If all this seems daunting and you have no photography skills, consider hiring a professional photographer. They have all the equipment and the knowhow to take the best photos possible, and great photos can be a great investment.
Want more information? The website All Things Photography has an excellent e-book on Property Photography – a must read for anyone who will be taking property photos.

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Social Media Success the Realestock Way

Posted by: admin in Social Media, iPad, Contests, Community on Jun , 2010

About a month and a half ago, we had an interesting idea in the Realestock offices. Why don’t we do a contest about using social media and give away some prizes? The initial incarnation of the contest was pretty small – Starbucks gift cards, but our CEO suggested we do something much bigger – an iPad.  A fabulous enough prize decided on, we launched the contest, thinking if it went well enough, we’d do a few more contests.We really weren’t sure what to expect.

When the entries started to pour in, we were blown away. Entries came in from people around the world, sharing stories that were inspiring, heart-warming and incredible.  When the Realestock staff couldn’t decide between two stories, we put them up to a public vote, and were amazed to see how communities of people rallied around the two very deserving finalists.  The whole experience really showed us how social media can bring people from all countries, walks of life and backgrounds together.

Our first place winner Ryan Chelak, of course, wins the coveted iPad, but we felt we had to do something for the equally deserving second place winner Kimberly Ciesla, so we’re sending her an Apple gift card.

To call the contest a success would be an understatement – we were able to hear so many wonderful stories and help out a very deserving family – the very definition of an endeavor well done. And yes, we’ll certainly be doing more contests – how can you find out about them? Follow us on Twitter - @realestock or become a fan on our Facebook page.

The Realestock Team

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Help Us Pick the Winner of Our iPad Contest

Posted by: admin in Untagged  on Jun , 2010

As Realestock readers may know from seeing our Twitter account and Facebook page, we are giving away an iPad. The contest was simple – tell us your most insightful or inspiring social media story. The most popular Facebook stories would be read by the Realestock staff and we’d pick a winner.
There was only one problem… the Realestock staff deadlocked. We couldn’t decide between two very worthy stories.  So, after a long meeting, our CEO solved the problem – put it up to a public vote – that way, the winner is chosen fairly and democratically.
So, please read these two stories that captivated the Realestock staff, then vote for your favourite. The voting closes on Saturday, June 19, and we will announce the winner on Monday June 21.



Story 1:  Kimberly Ciesla – Home Based Business Success in a Tough Economy
My story began 25 years ago when I married my husband. After our first child was born, we decided that we would focus all of our time and energies into raising our family and building a happy and safe home for them to grow up in. That is when our home-based window coverings business was born.  We have built this business from the ground up. During this entire time my husband has continued to work full-time as a machinist in Northern Michigan.
I’m not really sure how we managed to pull it all off, but we managed to stay in the black for 20+ years solely by spending smart and hunkering down when times became tough. I also put in a lot of extra time and effort totally pro-bono to help support our local Michigan music scene and community. This on top of trying to build a home-based business has not been an easy task to do and over the years we have had our ups and downs. Due to the struggling economy, the last two years have been the most difficult years of all and we have had to really be creative in finding ways to develop our business and advertising strategies.
Through all of our experiences in our home-based business we have found that the best type of advertising is word-of-mouth.  The social media networking system has really evolved over this period of time and most recently has created an abundance of opportunities to help to spread the word-of-mouth about our business and also the music events happening in our area.  Without social media, I am sure our business would have failed and we would have had to “close our doors” as many other local businesses have had to do over this past year.
Through it all I have become somewhat of a social media addict via Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks. Being a work at home mother of two children, now ages 16 and 21, utilizing social media has kept me socially connected to my friends, family and colleagues across the entire United States and to the “outside world”.
This has also afforded us the opportunity to help to support our children’s future and also allowed us to be readily available and to assist my husband’s elderly mother who has become disabled by a stroke. She has been living comfortably and dependently in her own home with our support.  We both give everyday to our home, business and children and family and the home based business has allowed us the flexibility to drop and run at a moment’s notice. An iPad would be VERY USEFUL in helping me to continue to do my work for the local music scene along side with continuing to build and grow our small business via the social media network! The portability of an iPad will be a great help to keep me tweeting and posting while on the go with my busy and active family life!



Story 2:  Ryan Chelak – Devoted Father of a Special Needs Boy and Social Media Junkie
OK, so aside from being a Realtor, a social media junkie and a blogger - I'm first and foremost a father.
I have 3 children, and in April of last year, our youngest boy was diagnosed Autistic. I was in denial and it wasn’t easy – and this is the first time I’ve ‘publicly’ shared this much of our struggle with Autism. My wife is a rock and since last April, each day we fight day by day, little by little to help make our son’s quality of life better.  Our son Benjamin, has a more severe occurrence of Autism and is non-verbal – he can’t talk. Over the past year we’ve moved past our pediatrician’s assessment of “there’s nothing you can do” and educated ourselves as much as we can about this disability.
Last October we started ABA therapy. He’s responded amazingly to the therapy and has even started some non-verbal indicators like pointing! I know it seems silly, but when you have an autistic child, things like eye contact, pointing and smiling AT YOU have such an impact, I can’t possibly explain it. There is a lot you can do to help with Autism, unfortunately the wait list for potential government funding for ABA/IBI therapy is 3 years so everything we’re doing comes directly out of pocket. 
The reality is when you have kids, you sacrifice everything you possibly can to make their lives better. An iPad isn’t in the cards right now when my son and other 2 kids need and can benefit more from the money that’s on the table.
My son can’t speak or communicate verbally, but he will take our hands and lead us to what he wants if he can’t bring it to us; however there’s still a lot of guess work and trial and error involved.  His therapists have mentioned that they think he’s ready for and would benefit from the PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) method. PECS is a system of exchanging pictures to communicate. This system was developed to help people with autism who are nonverbal or have limited verbal communication. It entails taking pictures of everything he would play with, want, eat or use and setting up a centre where he can go and ‘show us’ what he needs or wants.
A far less labour intensive and PORTABLE solution would be an app that’s been developed for the iPhone and iPad. It uses the PECS method and would help our son to communicate with us by touching what he wants through the app. This has to be the coolest thing ever and would have the biggest impact or benefit for using an iPad in our family.
As I said before, I’m not expecting you to believe that I wouldn’t LOVE an iPad for business.  Would I use an iPad for my business? Of course, just like everyone else would - but I can’t tell you what a gift it would be to be able to better communicate with my little boy.



poll by twiigs.com


Still want to win an iPad? We’re planning to do a lot more contests and giveaways at Realestock! Head on over to our newsletter the Realestock Report and check out the Summer Issue for another chance to win an iPad!

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Do You Really Need a Real Estate Customer Relationship Management system? A handy Quiz!

Posted by: admin in Sales, Realtors, Marketing on Jun , 2010

More and more real estate agents are investing in Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) because they’ve been told it will make their lives easier and increase their sales.  Adopting a CRM system isn’t a magical sell-more solution for realtors though.  There are no guarantees that it will make a business more productive and more profitable – the only guarantee is that it will cost money! According to research firm Meta Group Inc, 55% to 75% of CRM solutions fail to meet their initial objectives. If that initial objective is increasing sales for a realtor… then what customer relationships is that software actually managing?


That said, as many real estate agents will tell you, a successful CRM system is an incredible tool for them – allowing them more time, more flexibility and more automation in their day to day tasks.  So, the decision – should you take the customer relationship management plunge –  is not an easy one.  Only you can determine, based on your personal needs if a system will be a boon, or just a money wasting bust.


However, to ease the decision making process, we’ve done some research and put together a short quiz. Give yourself 2 points for a yes, 1 for a maybe and zero points for a no – then tally up your scores and see how you did.

 

  1. Do you have a large audience (at least 250+ people) that you need to communicate with regularly ?
    Yes / Maybe / No
  2. Does everyone in your business who communicates with clients track what they said so others can know what has been said/promised/done?
    Yes / Maybe / No
  3. Would you get a benefit (more sales, more leads, lower costs, etc) from communicating with your clients through direct channels?
    Yes / Maybe / No
  4. Will personalizing your communications and tailoring them to your customers help you with your business?
    Yes / Maybe / No
  5. Do you need detailed information about your contacts like demographics or transaction history?
    Yes / Maybe / No
  6. Do you already have lots of data, but feel you need a way to track it better (ie, centralized and connected) to make it easier to find for yourself and others?
    Yes / Maybe / No

Scores:

0–4: While many real estate agents swear by customer relationship management software, you probably don’t need it.  Your business seems to run well the way it is, and there aren’t a lot of direct benefits to be gained for the cost of a real estate customer relationship management system.

5–8: You answered with a lot of maybes, and that’s where you are with CRM – maybe you need it, but maybe you don’t. There is room for improvement, but before adopting a potentially expensive solution, you may be able to use your existing system better.

9–12: What are you waiting for? You know what you need to do with your customer data to take your business to the next level – so go out there are do it! If you’re in this category, you would benefit from implementing CRM software. Start putting together a list of your requirements, and determining which solution is right for you. You won’t regret it!

 

Photo Credit: Lincoln Mondy. Flickr

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Tech Summary – 12 Essential iPhone & iPad Apps for Real Estate

Posted by: admin in Social Media, Realtors, iPhone, iPad, gadgets, apps on Jun , 2010

Apple naysayers – your end is nigh! While it was hard to ignore how iPhone revolutionized the smartphone, with the incredible success of the iPad (2 million sold in 2 months), only the staunchest of apple opponents aren’t begrudgingly jumping on the iBandwagon.

However, what do you do if you’re just getting around to using an iProduct? Here’s a listing of the our pick for the 12 best iPhone and iPad Apps for Real Estate. Not all of them are real estate apps, but all of them are great tools for your business.

Real Estate

NearBuy:

Developed by 4 university of Missouri students, this app won the team an iPhone app creation contest in 2009. Proudly the number 2 real estate app, you can search by area, bookmark listings and see where the results fall in price without having to open the listing with Nearbuy’s coloured coded listing pins. Available for iPhone. Price: Free

Trulia:

Trulia’s iPhone app takes the Trulia website and makes it portable. Search by area, bring up detailed listings and see the properties history – has it gone up or down in price? A realtor standby, but the catch it that it doesn’t work in Canada. Still, if you can use it, Trulia is a great tool. Available for iPhone. Price: Free

Zillow:

The reigning champion of realty apps, the Zillow app provides location search, Zestimate price information, changes in price, sale and tax info, all with a clean, super simple to use interface. It’s easy to see why Zillow is number one! Better yet, it looks great on the iPad. Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: Free

Yelp:

Need to find a restaurant in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Just want to try someplace new? Running out of gas? Don’t look further than Yelp – you can search by business, or area. The best feature though? Read the online reviews from Yelp users to take the guess work out of finding a new place to eat lunch. Available for iPhone. Price: Free

Around Me:

Not a local, but need to show clients there are plenty of amenities in a new neighbourhood? Around me is what you need. Similar to yelp, but with a more basic interface, Around me grabs your location and allows you to choose from preset categories like banks, coffee shops, movie theatres and even hospitals. View the route from where you are, add the information to your contact list or even email the information to a friend. Warning though – if the information you want is not in Google maps, it won’t be on Around Me. Still, handy if you’re in a big city. Available for iPhone. Price: Free

powerOne Financial Calculator:

There are many mortgage and finance calculators, but powerOne is the Cadillac of them all. Figure out investment income, mortgage payments, compound interest, or do some advanced algebraic equations. The well designed interface means that you’ll never sweat when trying to do complex math again. Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: $5.99

General Productivity:

Evernote:

This app has many fans in just about every industry there is. Evernote flawlessly takes notes, pictures or audio recordings with the app, and then syncs it up to your home computer later. Add tags for even easier file retrieval. Evernote comes up in a lot of “best app” lists for a reason. Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: Free

Dragon Dictation:

Apps like this even make the biggest tech fiend swoon. An incredibly accurate dictation app that works like a charm (speak slowly and clearly for best results), and can send your notes to text, email or the clipboard. Never drive and text again (not that you would do that!) Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: Free

GoodReader:

Like Evernote, Goodreader has many brand evangelists – one of the best and most reliable readers for the iPad, Goodreader can view local files, download files from websites, FTP servers, Google Docs, AND use wifi to move files from your home computer to your iPhone or iPad.  Reads PDFs, word documents, PowerPoint presentations, txt files… almost anything you might want to read. Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: $0.99 (on sale now!)


iWork Suite:

Apple ported Pages, Number and Keynote (aka, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) to the iPad and the results are astounding – maybe they don’t have all the functionality of the desktop versions, but they do anything you’d ever want to do on the go. If you use a laptop mainly for email and internet, the iWork suite makes a compelling argument to ditch the laptop for an iPad. Available for iPad. Price: $9.99 each.

Social Media:

Facebook:

The official app is still the best one out there. Limited functionality (groups are not listed in the default launch screen, and you can’t read messages on for events), but if you’re a Facebook junkie, you have to download this app. Available for iPhone. Price: Free.

Twitterific:

There are about a million Twitter apps for the iPhone, and each one has its pros and cons. Twitterific gets our nod because it has one of the most intuitive user interfaces, supports multiple twitter accounts, and is super easy to use. Available for both iPad and iPhone. Price: Free version for iPhone and iPad, & a $4.99 premium version for iPhone (without ads).

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