2010 Emerging Trends – Compact Communities?
December 31, 2009
So here it is… New Years Eve. As 2009 draws to an end, and agents, buyers and lenders all vamp up for the new year… I found myself pondering what it has in store on the real estate front. In doing so, I found an interesting post by The City Fix called “The End of the American Exurbs and the Death of Sprawl?”
In it, it talks about a shift that began happening even before (and in part because of) the financial and real estate crisis of 2009. It states that communities across the US are compacting themselves. What once were new and lively suburban areas, are now littered with empty homes largely due to the fact that Americans are moving inward. We’re seeing a greater desire for smaller, more practical homes and shorter commutes. The article quotes from the Urban Land Institute’s Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010 annual report, who had some interesting observations including specifics on the types of homes that are being snatched up and what developers might expect to see in 2010.
Keep in mind, that these trends are – simply put, good guesses for what the New Year has in store. We’re not seers or soothsayers, but this article seemed interesting to me and gave me some insight as to how I might critique my business plan for 2010. Still, nothing is set in stone, so be flexible, be prepared for whatever may come your way and from all of us at GetMyHomesVale.com, have a very safe and happy New Year!
Seattle Agent Marlow Harris On Niche Website Marketing
December 9, 2009
Every now and again we are introduced to an agent who is doing something outside of the norm with their internet marketing. We believe that Marlow Harris is one of those agents.
Marlow works in the Seattle real estate market and the internet is responsible for more than 30% of the closings she has. As a matter of fact, Marlow had a 1.7 million dollar sale that her website was responsible for.
“The buyer didn’t even see the house. She was from over sees and found my website online. About 30% of my sales come from strangers I’ve never met,” said Marlow in her seemingly permanent upbeat tone.
So what’s so unique about what she’s doing? It’s the fact that Marlow has more than 5 websites that all focus on differnet niches. NorthwestModernHomes.com is focused on providing information to people when they’re looking for modern homes in the Northwest. If you’re looking at information on living in the Seattle area, Harris has established SeattleDreamLiving.com. SeattleUrbanCondo.com focuses on Condos within the boudaries of the city itself. The most “outside of the box” in our opinion is NorthwestGreenLiving.com, where she talks about eco-friendly building and homes, an extremely hot topic these days.
The most important site to Marlow? SeattleDreamHomes.com for sure. This is where she has focussed most of her link building efforts. Building links to a website is one of the most important things that make it rank higher. It certainly generates a considerable amount of traffic with it’s more than 1,045 (as of this post) highly searched terms ranking in the top 20 in google. This is a feat that most agent don’t achieve.
So, what can agents learn from Marlow? We think she says it best, “use the internet in ways that are attractive to a variety of people. Create sites that different niche groups will find value in, and they’ll find value in you.”