Year-to-Date Comparisons and Silver Linings

Listings & Solds Jan-Oct 2007 versus previous years

Some more quick statistics coming at you. The above graph shows the new active and quantity closings (residential only) for the first 10 months of 2007 compared to the same periods in the previous 6 years. The data used comes from our own Tuolumne Multiple Listing Service and is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Some more interesting comparisons are included in the table to the right and graph below, namely, the Average Sale Price and Median Sale Price stats. Aside from the years of 2005 and 2006, the Average Sale Price of homes and Median Sale Price in 2007 are higher than the first four years of this new millenium. Of course, things have changed dramatically since that time due to a host of factors, but it just goes to remind us there can be silver linings in any dark cloud.

Two More Websites to Market Your Listings

In my continuing endeavor to keep you up-to-date on what's available online to market yourself and your listings, here I am again today to tell you about two more sites I've come across (or been filled in on). The first one is another classified and video website: realpeoplerealstuff. Just sign up, input your info and upload your listing video/slideshow. And voila! An example of a Sugar Pine Realty listing on realpeoplerealstuff can be seen here: Sanctuary Lane. A second website you can use to promote your listings and business is Point2 Homes. You can advertise your homes and land there and it also gives you a free Point2 Homes website to manage and use as well (if you like). Click here to see Sugar Pine Realty on Point2 Homes. The good news is both realpeoplerealstuff and Point2 Homes have a free user level. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about these sites.

Post Your Listings on One True Media

Just a real quick note about another free opportunity to post your listings on the web. It's called One True Media. I found out about this site from Kat Delong. She's got it in action on her Active Rain blog. Click here to see. I haven't had time to try out One True Media. Let me know what you think of it should you sign up.

Google Earth to Enhance Your Listings

Most of you know about Google Earth - that online virtual globe where you can search for and look at satellite images of anywhere on the planet. I wanted to mention one way you can use Google Earth images to enhance your listings. It's pretty simple. You download Google Earth to your computer. Then you go in and search for one of your listings. (Type in the address in the search bar at the upper left of the page.) Once you have your listing, save it to your desktop (File>Save>Save Image or Ctrl+Alt+S). And then you're ready! - to include as one of your pictures in the MLS, or on a flyer, or in a YouTube or FlyInside still show, or on your website, blog, etc. There are also some other ways to enhance your Google Earth image. I use the simple program, Microsoft Paint (all Windows systems have it). Open your Google Earth picture file in Microsoft Paint and then you can put a location dot for example (click here or 1st image) to point out the property more clearly. Or you could draw an arrow pointing out Bear Valley (for example) to the east (click here or 2nd image). It's just kind of a neat way to use Google Earth. Give me a call if you need any help using this with your Sonora, Twain Harte, Mother Lode area listings.

The Value of sugarpinerealty.com

There is enormous potential for viewership of your listings on sugarpinerealty.com. The question is: Are you communicating this to your clients and potential clients? They need to know that their property will be marketed on a website that draws traffic, literally, from all over the globe. In a phrase, all points lead to sugarpinerealty.com. And so the next time somebody asks you, "What can you do for me that another agent in another company can not?," you can answer them concretely. And you may even want to click on the funnel graph in this post and print it out so you can show them the variety of sources through which prospective buyers will be directed to view their listing.