by Canonical SEO on July 29, 2010
If you have a web site for your business or are considering building such a web site then learning about search engine optimization (SEO) should be high on your priority list even if you only learn the basics. The time you spend learning about SEO will typically pay dividends many times over down the road. [...]
by Dotloop.com on July 29, 2010
Is a sales call free speech? At what point is calling intrusive? And finally – is there ever a convenient time to call someone to make a sales pitch? This week, the National Do Not Call registry topped 200 million people, or about 66% of the population. So, I think it’s safe to say that [...]
by Brian Madigan LL.B. on July 27, 2010
The Deck Warranty (Old Decks can be Problems) By Brian Madigan LL.B. (Ontario Real Estate Source) It is very commonplace to see wooden decks constructed at the rear of houses. They have become extremely popular over the last two decades. And, with popularity comes problems. What if: • The deck isn’t safe • The deck [...]
July 26, 2010
A recent issue of EL Insights reports that the growing trend among businesses toward developing and implementing eco-friendly changes is more than just a passing fad. In fact, the experts at EL Insights predict that the value of the U.S. green building market will grow extensively over the next several years. More specifically, EL Insights [...]
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July 26, 2010
Landscaping with native wildflowers and grasses improves the environment. A native plant species is one that occurs naturally in a particular region, ecosystem and/or habitat without direct or indirect human actions. Natural landscaping affects a variety of beneficial insects, birds, butterflies, and other animals. And the beauty of native wildflowers and grasses creates a sense [...]
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July 26, 2010
Your cell phone may be killing you, and eggs are bad for you. Or not. Not sure if you heard the news (and if you heard it from your cell phone, you’re really not going to like this), but it turns out that cell phones may cause brain tumors. Or not. The truth is, nobody [...]
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July 25, 2010
Selling/Relocating Considerations If you have decided to sell your home there are a number of issues to consider before taking the first step. For example, you will obviously need a new place to live so the first consideration should be; do I sell my home first and rent temporarily while looking for a new home, [...]
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July 24, 2010
The 180,000 homeowners that missed the June 30, 2010 closing deadline to receive their federal tax credit are breathing a sigh of relief. Congress has announced an extension of the deadline through September 30, 2010 to allow these homeowners the opportunity to receive the federal tax incentive for first time homeowners and existing homeowners who [...]
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July 23, 2010
_________________________________________________ –I know this isn’t real-estate related, but a lot of us grew up watching MJ. So take a break and remember what an amazing athlete he was. – Michael Jordan, one of the best NBA players of all time is coming back. 2K sports announced the “The Jordan Challenge” would be included in its new [...]
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July 23, 2010
Putting a cap on this week, we thought we’d recap last week’s Inman Real Estate Connect in San Francisco with a tally of some of the Innovator Awards winners. As mentioned, DotLoop partner The Goodlife Team won top honors for being the Best Brokerage, but a special mention should be made to TechSavvyAgent, who came [...]
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July 23, 2010
Does less paper equal less environmental damage? Before you answer “of course!”, think about it, because context is important. As mentioned Wednesday, Amazon.com recently celebrated its 15th anniversary of selling everything from Tolstoy to trombones. Obviously, the retail giant has changed the way we buy goods, but with e-books now outselling traditional paper books, it’s [...]
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July 22, 2010
With summer vacation in full swing, many of you no doubt have seen the station wagons and SUVs driving down the highways, bursting with suitcases and various pool toys. You may have even seen Clark Griswold driving his family to Wally World. As you pass him by, though don’t blame an over-stuffed trunk for the [...]
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July 21, 2010
You might be able to buy a belated birthday card in case you missed Amazon.com‘s 15th birthday last Friday. Of course, make sure you buy it over the Internet. As Time reported last week, the online shopping giant fundamentally changed retail shopping all with a click of a mouse. Interestingly enough, one of the first [...]
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July 20, 2010
A common question myself and many loan officers face when working with someone who is eligible for a VA loan is: “are VA loans better than conventional or FHA mortgages?” Since I’m going to answer this question, I should throw in the comparison of VA loans to USDA loans too. Before I start with our [...]
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July 20, 2010
Attention expectant parents: don’t expect to have a baby shower and a house-warming party at the same time. As you may have heard, banks are getting finicky with their lending, as even a flawless financial record seems suspect these days. So, it would make sense that the next step to figuring out if you can [...]
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July 20, 2010
Bank of Canada Increases Bank Rate By Brian Madigan LL.B. (Ontario Real Estate Source) The Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate by a quarter point, 20 July 2010. A similar increase took place in June. The Bank noted that it “expects the economic recovery in Canada to be more gradual than it had [...]
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July 19, 2010
Quick, what year was the U.S. Constitution adopted? Difficulty: No Google allowed. Do you remember this from high school? Or were you crafty enough to split hairs and use Bing to find the answer? If you had to hunt for the answer on anything that required a computer chip, chances are you may agree with [...]
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July 16, 2010
As mentioned earlier this week, DotLoop partner The Goodlife Team was nominated for the 2010 Inman Innovator Award. As mentioned now, they won! The Austin, Texas-based brokerage won top honors for the Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise. Here’s what Inman had to say about them: The GoodLife Team, a boutique real estate firm based in [...]
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July 16, 2010
In Order to build a client’s confidence in you, you must first have confidence in yourself. Confidence is built by thoroughly learning your business, keeping up to date on industry changes and market trends, and developing your communication and negotiating skills. Honesty, integrity, eagerness, and enthusiasm in helping your clients to achieve their real estate [...]
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July 15, 2010
Local wins every time. Just ask Texas. Having put up with their shady practices for the last few years, fifteen homeowners have banded together to file a class-action lawsuit against Bank of America for their unfair, illegal, and highly unethical behavior throughout the current housing crash. From foreclosing on a home that had already been [...]
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July 14, 2010
Nestled down in the valley bowl of the Columbia Basin, Benton City Washington is a small town boasting of large benefits. Benton City is an agriculturally rich community with many privately owned vineyards, orchards, hayfields, pastures, and acreage. The area boasts of sunny days and Indian-like summers with moderate winters. The splendid weather allow for [...]
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July 14, 2010
There will be a Free Delaware First Time Home Buyer Seminar on Saturday July 24, 2010 at The Christiana Hilton Hotel in Newark, Delaware from 10 AM till Noon and from 1:00 PM till 3:00 PM. The seminar will cover the whole First Time Home Buyer Process from Start to Finish. We will cover the different mortgage [...]
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July 14, 2010
In this economy many people have found themselves financially upside down. Unable to make ends meet there are increasing numbers of homeowners asking when to walk away from their mortgage. This question can invoke some very emotional reactions from people with or without a real estate license. When exactly the right moment is to walk [...]
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July 13, 2010
Yesterday, CNN’s Money.com announced its Top 100 Places to Live, and Nice, France was not anywhere on the list. Upon further review, it looks like this was a USA-centric compilation, so I guess the lack of a Mediterranean locale makes sense. These lists are always kind of funny, really. What makes a place great to [...]
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July 12, 2010
DotLoop is proud to announce that our partner The Goodlife Team out of Austin, Texas, has been selected as a finalist for one of the real estate industry’s most coveted awards, the 2010 Inman Innovator Award. It’s no surprise that The Goodlife Team has been nominated. As a leader within the real estate industry, they [...]
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July 12, 2010
Although the real estate market remains in a bit of a slump, it is still worth buying a condominium especially when you have some extra cash or when you’re currently renting or planning to downgrade to a smaller home. There are a lot of condos available at reasonable prices, and in case you have your [...]
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July 12, 2010
The Internet is chock full of top-ten lists, enough to make a top ten list for that day’s best top-ten lists. Today’s top-ten list of mention, however, comes to us from the folks at MSNBC who dedicated their list to Technologies That Should Be Extinct (But Aren’t). Interestingly, they mention DotLoop’s old friend and home [...]
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July 8, 2010
When the tax credit deadline hit on April 30th, many real estate professionals thought it would be a huge nose dive in sales. I have to say that I am still busy with buyers looking to capitalize on our incredible market because our prices are so reasonable compared to what they were 5 years ago. [...]
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July 8, 2010
Here at DotLoop, we talk a lot about designing walkable, people-focused communities that offer amenities and connectedness with neighbors and businesses alike. We think it’s important that people feel connected to their communities and that, as home-owners, they have a sense of home that reaches beyond the end of their lawn. That’s why I’m so [...]
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July 7, 2010
Mortgage Interest Rates moved about an 1/8% higher today as Lenders repriced for the worse as the stock market rallied for a 2nd straight day. When the market rallies, it moves money out of the bond market into the stock market causing rates on fixed investments such as Mortgage bonds to move higher. Mortgage Rates [...]
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July 7, 2010
Liability of the Real Estate Practitioner: Code of Ethics Brian Madigan LL.B. (Ontario Real Estate Source) A real estate practitioner is one who is registered under the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act, 2002. The Act includes a Code of Ethics that has been passed as a Regulation, the relevant sections of which are reproduced [...]
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July 7, 2010
The web, as we have all been told, is changing. And it’s about time. Here at DotLoop, we’re all about simplifying, so it was with great pleasure that I read about Google Chrome’s meteoric rise to the number three position in the Browser Wars between Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox, and Google’s Chrome. [...]
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July 5, 2010
The acquisition of real estate was previously viewed as purchasing property for residential or commercial use. Through the years this concept has changed drastically. It now involves the sale, purchase and lease of property in a broader perspective. For buyers, this involves the hunt for a real estate agent who knows the ins and outs [...]
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July 4, 2010
There will be a Free Delaware First Time Home Buyer Seminar on Saturday July 10, 2010 at The Dover Sheraton Hotel in Dover, DE from 10 AM till Noon. The seminar will cover the whole First Time Home Buyer Process from Start to Finish. We will cover the different mortgage programs available to Delaware First [...]
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July 4, 2010
Congress passed a bill this week extending the deadline to close escrow and qualify for the federal home buyers tax credit. President Obama is expected to sign the bill extending the deadline to Sept. 30, 2010, instead of its original June 30 deadline. KEEP THIS IN MIND • The bill extends the deadline to close [...]
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July 3, 2010
The American economy has taken some hits in recent years and so have other nations globally. The value of the Euro has dropped to a four year low, but that does not seem to have affected the foreign investors’ interest in American real estate; especially the interest in the upscale Manhattan real estate market. Properties [...]
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July 2, 2010
Apartments Investing in apartments can have multiple advantages for the real estate investor. Investing in an apartment building or apartment complex can prove lucrative if the initial purchase has been advantageously structured, and provided the property or properties will be well managed. When evaluating a residential property for possible purchase, inspection of the condition of [...]
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July 1, 2010
For a country with a 100% literacy rate, it’s no surprise that Finland today became the first nation to make broadband access a legal right. As CNN reports, the legislation that goes into effect today was designed to force “telecom operators to provide a reasonably priced broadband connection with a downstream rate of at least [...]
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July 1, 2010
Witnessed or Authenticated? By Brian Madigan LL.B. (Ontario Real Estate Source) A problem frequently arises in real estate transactions when people say they witness signatures, but they don’t. Here’s a quick scenario. Bob wants to sell his house, so he hires Jack, a realtor. An offer is faxed into Jack’s office. Bob is on vacation [...]
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June 30, 2010
Orange County home owners with an FHA loan are in for some great news! FHA Streamline Refinance interest rates are at or near all time lows. The FHA Streamline refinance allows current FHA borrowers to take advantage of low rates without having to go through the full loan process they did when they bought their [...]
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June 30, 2010
You no doubt have one lurking in your office right now. This very minute. It’s just sitting there, waiting to ruin your day. Waiting to ruin your deal. Oh sure, everything is fine now. It’s perfectly capable now, when you don’t need it. But just try and use it when it’s a matter of life [...]
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June 29, 2010
Utah Mortgage Rates have fallen over the past two months to the lowest levels EVER. 1971 is when Freddie Mac started to track mortgage interest rates. We are currently breaking the record of the lowest recorded average rates. Currently the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate is 4.69% according to Freddie Mac. If you [...]
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June 28, 2010
Last week, The Atlantic‘s “Future of The City” Conference in Washington, D.C. ended, as I mentioned Friday. Today, I read up on Christopher Leinberger’s ideas on the future of the American neighborhood. He argued that walkability and rail transportation in condensed, urban neighborhoods are what will replace our expansive exurbs that we’ve been building the [...]
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June 27, 2010
Once you have completed the real estate courses to earn your Colorado real estate license, you will want to make sure that you keep it active. The state of Colorado requires that your real estate license be renewed every three years on the anniversary of your date of initial licensure. In order to renew your [...]
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June 26, 2010
Is your private information safe? Before a Plano home goes on the market and home buyers begin to come through the door, smart sellers will put away confidential and sensitive information. You might be astonished to learn what “home buyers” can learn about you as they are looking at your home. Your Private Documents [...]
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June 26, 2010
There are several good reasons why a potential DFW home buyers needs to send their professional home inspector into the attic before they move forward on the purchase of a home. Attics should never be overlooked because it may show the history of the home. It can provide clues to serious problems that might be [...]
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June 26, 2010
It is time to sell your DFW home and you know you have a better chance of selling your home faster and at a higher price when it is staged but you don’t want to spend the money. Staging your DFW home is a bit more than just cleaning the carpet, making minor repairs, cleaning [...]
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June 26, 2010
It is possible that the price per square foot of a Dallas home could be falling while the total price of the home can go up. This can happen because the per-square-foot costs that you read about are based on one of two computations. To figure the price per-square-foot of the home, simply take the [...]
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June 25, 2010
It is imperative at the beginning stages of applying for a Loan Modification that you submit a complete Loan Modification package to the bank. Every bank has different guidelines, but generally request the same type of financial documentation to begin the Loan Modification process. If you are applying for the Obama Plan, which is known [...]
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