Veltri Realtors Online Community!

Customer Service is Key To Success

2009-09-18T08:16:00.003-04:00

Here is a recent letter from one of our clients. This is a real good example of top-notch customer service.

9/16/09

Dear Mr. Veltri

For the past several months I have been working with Geralyn Gallucci.

Throughout the process, with all our problems, she always handled our problems and set backs, including the sellers, in a professional manner.

She is truly an asset to your company.

Sincerely,
Charles & Marie

Notes From Our Sales Associates

2009-06-27T09:52:00.002-04:00

I always enjoy when I get notes from our associates! Here are a couple I received recently...

FROM: Geralyn Gallucci
SENT: Wed 6/17/2009 4:44 PM
TO: 'Albert S. Veltri'; 'Cynthia L. Veltri'

SUBJECT: Regards from old friends

I have to let both of you know that several people have wanted me to let you know they were asking for you. As you know I’m working with clients in the Spring Lake area and have been showing houses. So here goes…Cindy Patricia Wieghorst, the old receptionist at Wellmen said hi…she is an agent with Avon Realty. Joseph Apicelli from Diane Turton asked for both of you…sends his regards and thinks you both are great! And today I spoke with Janet McConnell who had nice things to say as well….

It makes me feel good when I say I work for Veltri and people have nice things to say about my brokers/bosses/owners. Keep up the good work! Lolol

Geralyn

*************************************************************************************
FROM: Joseph Gallucci
SENT: Fri 6/26/2009 4:09 PM
TO: 'Albert S. Veltri'; 'Rod Beck'
SUBJECT: Relay System

Just wanted to say that this Relay system is the best thing since “sliced bread”.

Joseph Gallucci
Veltri & Associates Realtors
1012 Cox Cro Road
Toms River ,NJ
08755
201-376-8000
732-281-3062
jgallucci2020@comcast.net
www.veltrirealtors.com

Joe is referring to our Internet based Transaction Management System.

Traditional Agents Earn $36,700 Annually; Internet Agents Earn $100,000+ Annually

2009-06-13T13:22:00.003-04:00

Published on Tuesday, May 26, 2009
by Mike Parker

The news from the NAR annual survey is in; average age of members rose, sales fell, membership fell, income fell. Only 73% of agents were “very certain” that they’d stay in the business for another two years (and that is down from last year, too!).

Of course, the reported $36,700 median income level includes all those new (two years and under) agents who averaged around $8,600 for their toil and those seasoned (16 year) veterans who averaged $53,900. When the majority of members can’t earn a decent living in their chosen field, that field is in real jeopardy, and so is that membership. Even garbage collectors earn between $35,000 and $80,000 a year.

Paul Bishop, managing director for real estate research for NAR was quoted as saying “Almost all of our members have secondary business specialties and are diversified in their income streams……..some are involved in related businesses.” I would think they would have to be involved in earning an income somewhere other than real estate if real estate incomes are so puny.

Capping off this report were many more facts, but the one that stands out for me is this one: “Members say that they received only four buyer or seller inquiries from their personal Internet site over the past year, which accounted for just 3% of their business.”

Folks, the bad news in the first paragraph is directly related to the bad news in the third paragraph. It is common knowledge that agents who have made the transition to being Internet real estate agents continue to make six figures, and that knowledge is supported by our customer database. They are prospecting exactly where the homebuyer is looking today: online. Those agents receive about 80% of their leads and their business from the Internet. What is the basis of this huge disparity in income and success levels?

Traditional buyer vs. Internet buyer

In February of 2007, an article entitled Online Marketing: Internet Buyer vs. Traditional Home Buyer Study: The Real Estate World is Changing even Faster than You Think! was published in this newsletter and in print. I wrote that article utilizing the facts as determined by the California Association of Realtors® in their 2006 study on the subject.

The article was quite popular, was heavily quoted and reprinted by other leading publications, as well as being distributed by some state real estate trade groups to their members (write me and I will send you a copy, free). That article explained how the paradigm for buying a home had irrevocably changed. It was a call to action for the agents and brokers looking to catch the wave that is online marketing for realtors.

Now, two years later, it is apparent that not enough agents and brokers were paying attention. When NAR reports that 80+% of residential real estate sales begin online yet the average agent says that online sales only account for 3% of their business, what is going on in the field? What a huge disconnect! It appears that 80% of all buyers are not finding the traditional real estate agent (as defined in NAR’s 2008 survey). Who, then, do those 80% of buyers go to? They go to the agent who paid attention two years ago. They go to the Internet real estate agent.

Who is this “Internet Real Estate Agent?”

The Internet Real Estate agent has many faces. The agent can be a Grandmother from Amarillo, a real estate couple from California, an immigrant from Europe who settled here, a fourth generation Texan, a native New Mexican, a seasoned Carolina professional, a resort specialist in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a big thinker from New Brunswick or a Massachusetts contrarian—or hundreds of other iterations of the North American real estate agent---the profile is as diverse as the membership of NAR.

The simple fact is that with a little bit of guidance, the Internet real estate agent could be you. With over 80% of consumers doing their preliminary home and agent searching online from the comfort of their home or office, the Internet rewards those who listen to the success of those who succeed there. Internet Real Estate Agents realize that they will live or die as a real estate professional depending on how well they attract prospects online and then develop those prospects into buyers with their selling skills, their local knowledge and their personal high level of service and they are identified by these benchmarks:

70% or more of their leads and sales come from their online efforts;
They average at least a home sale monthly from those efforts;
They average more than $100,000 a year in commissions from Internet real estate sales;
They are pleased with their business and with the outlook for this year. There are no economic downturns online.

All Internet real estate agents know these things

1. You must be able to be found online by people searching for homes in your neighborhood.That means you must either maintain your own website, or you must let someone manage a site built just for you that produces these leads, and that site must employ the best in REAL SEO to make it found on the first pages of the major search engines by Internet buyers. As more people find your site, more people visit it; your traffic goes up.

2. Once people find your site, they must be incented to sign in.When they find your site, they are anonymous; you can’t call them back or answer their questions if you don’t know who they are. When 5-15% of visitors to your site sign in, you will receive enough leads to achieve consistent success.

3. In order to consistently succeed, however, you must call all inquiries immediately and you must respond to their emails as fast as you possibly can. Think of it this way: a person walks into your office and says “I’m interested in buying a home in the $300,000 range.” How long would you keep that person waiting to be taken into someone’s office? You must think of an Internet lead the same way. No less a great institution of learning than the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that all leads degrade substantially over time—even if not responded to in one hour. Contrast that to NAR’s finding that 50% of all agents call leads back within 54 hours, but that 50% of all agents never call them back and you’ll have no trouble understanding why so many fail at Internet Marketing.

It’s that simple, really.

It’s not too late now, but it will be too late if you continue to do nothing

NAR’s income data is derived from the percentage of members who responded to their survey. Our Internet real estate agent income data is compiled from our proprietary database of clients. Virtually every client who has been actively marketing online for two years or more is very successful; some sell between 50-100 homes annually from their online marketing; many more sell 10-20 homes annually. Do the math: If you supplemented what you sell now with 10-20 homes from your online marketing each year, how much would you be making?

Most likely, you would be earning far more than the median traditional agent of even 16 years experience. The 2007 study and article concentrated on the buying habits of Internet homebuyers compared to those of traditional homebuyers. All agents need to target those homebuyers. Selling online is about the quality and quantity of leads you generate. Just a few real leads are enough to succeed each month. A real lead is when the prospect has looked online for what you sell and actually wants to speak with you. You can’t buy leads like those. You need to produce them.

When you succeed online you’ll have a steady stream of prospects from places you never considered and locations you thought you had blanketed appearing in your inbox every week. Competent salespeople only need true prospects to call upon in order to sell homes. If you’re competent, all you need are real leads in order to sell houses online. Are you competent? Then all you need are the leads.

Two years ago, the subject study incented some to get involved in online marketing, but most did nothing. If another two years go by with you doing nothing to succeed online, you won’t be reading this publication anymore because you will have left the business. The process of buying a home has moved online. Have you?

©2009 Mike Parker - About the Author: Mike Parker (mparker@theblackwatercg.com) specializes in online marketing services for Realtors® and real estate professionals. To request a free review of your online marketing and website to determine if it is set up properly to be effective click here and it will be evaluated free. Also feel free to obtain the new booklet “REAL LEADS™ - How to get them and Sell Homes Online,” FREE with no obligation. Just go to the Blackwater Consulting or Compass Internet site and download the booklet in the Success Stories section or from the homepage.

NAR Mid-Year Ethics Changes - False & Misleading Statements Made via Social Media Tools

2009-05-17T09:59:00.003-04:00

Standard of Practice 15-2 was amended and a new Standard of Practice was approved to strengthen members’ obligations to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, including in use of social media tools.

Standard of Practice 15-2 has been amended as follows: "The obligation to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, competitors' businesses and competitors' business practices includes the duty to not knowingly or recklessly publish, repeat, retransmit, or republish false or misleading statements made by others. This duty applies whether false or misleading statements are repeated in person, in writing, by technological means (e.g., the Internet), or by any other means."

The new Standard of Practice related to Article 15 is adopted as follows: "The obligation to refrain from making false or misleading statements about competitors, competitors' businesses and competitors' business practices includes the duty to publish a clarification about or remove statements made by others on electronic media the Realtor controls once the Realtor knows the statement is false or misleading."

For example, if you’re publishing a blog and someone posts a false or misleading comment about a fellow REALTOR® on it, it’s your duty to remove the post or publish a clarification when you become aware of it.

While I do not have any problem with using social media to promote our profession, I think this change is long overdue as using social media as a means to publish hurtful, false or misleading statements about fellow Realtors. It hurts not only the intended recipient but it shows a lack of integrity on the part of the sender who is in the same profession. It hurts us all in the long run.

NAR Mid-Yead Meeting Update

2009-05-15T08:14:00.002-04:00

As a Director of the National Association of Realtors I a must attend all meetings regarding budget and policy issues.

Every mid-year meeting is held in Washington, DC and fortunately they have reserved a great room for me at the Omni Shoreham Hotel which is just across the street from the convention hall.

Many here are showing cautious optimism about the economy and market in general. Saturday is the big day where all the Directors will vote on all issues. It sometimes becomes a little intense as like with all organizations there are some that have opposing views on certain issues.

They also have a trade show where I finally me the designer on our Lucero system as well as other systems that can make our company more efficient and profitable.

As for food, we had a Board dinner at Morton's Steak House which I thought was not that good. So last night Cindy and I broke ranks and went to B. Smith's and it was fabulous and relatively inexpensive....a real plus!

Today I have a division 2 meeting that is with directors from NY, NJ and PA. After that there is a cocktail party.

I do enjoy giving back to an industry that has given me so much. It also provides our company with info to help us grow and in this economy, just try to stay alive.

More to follow...

Company Mixer Planned at Veltri Realtors

2009-05-05T19:34:00.002-04:00

I once heard somewhere that when times are tough...have a party!

That's exactly what we are going to do. Have a company mixer! It's time once again to welcome our newest Sales Manager and over 10 new sales associates. Over the years we have scheduled these events with great success. It's a wonderful time for all of our colleagues to meet one another and to network.

It is also a time for those who are curious about our company to come and see first-hand the power of our marketing, lead generation and sales systems and to meet the successful sales associates who take advantage of them. Our company is heading in a new direction with re-aligning offices and expanding our sales territories.

The event will be held at our...

Ocean County Regional Sales and Support Center

Corporate Offices

1012 Cox Cro Road

Toms River, New Jersey 08755

May 29, 2009

5:00 to 9:00 pm

Anyone wishing to learn about our company should call Al Veltri at (732) 600-9904 to RSVP.

Veltri Realtors Conducting Homebuyer Seminars and Food Drive

2009-05-03T19:29:00.000-04:00

Veltri & Associates, Realtors will be conducting a series of Homebuyer's Seminars at locations in Monmouth and Ocean Counties. “The goal is to help the residents of both counties realize the dream of home ownership by providing accurate and timely advice on how to prepare for the process of purchasing a home” explains Cynthia Curry, Broker Associate and event coordinator for Veltri Realtors. Discussions will include information on the government's First Time Homebuyer Credit, Credit Repair, the Mortgage Process and working with a Professional Realtor.

In conjunction with these sessions, the company will be organizing a Food Drive to benefit the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties located in Neptune NJ. “We are asking attendees to bring a nonperishable food item or monetary donation in lieu of a fee to attend the seminar,” states Curry. For every $1 donated, the FoodBank can provide 5 meals or distribute up to 7 pounds of food. Receptacles will be provided to collect the food donations. Anyone can drop off items during the seminar hours whether or not they will be attending.

Two seminars are currently scheduled with additional locations to be added. The first will be held Thursday, May 14, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn on Rt. 70W in Lakewood (vicinity of Brick, Lakewood, and Toms River). The second will be held Sunday, May 17, from 12:30-2:30 p.m. at The Wine Loft in Long Branch at Pier Village. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited. Please call Veltri Realtors’ Cynthia Curry at cell 908-910-9029 for more information and to make your reservation.

Veltri & Associates, Realtors, ranked in the top 4% of all real estate companies in Monmouth & Ocean Counties in closed sales in 2008, is a full-service real estate agency with locations in Pt. Pleasant, Lavallette, Toms River-North Dover, Howell, Brick and Lakewood.

It combines both traditional and Internet sales capabilities including residential sales and rentals, commercial, adult community, new homes, luxury homes and estates, vacation homes and rentals as well as worldwide relocation. The company features an array of flexible money-saving listing fee plans as well as a broad range of compensation opportunities for its sales associates.

10 Reasons why you should wait to buy a home right now!!!

2009-04-26T14:31:00.002-04:00

With all the posts out there about how now is the best time in history to run out and buy a home, I thought it only fair to show you the reasons that you should not do so. The last thing this economy needs is for consumers to start spending money, that would actually cause the great deals to go away. Mainly due to the fact that it would cause the economy and the real estate market to recover, and at this point that's the last thing we need.

10- Rent is fun to pay. I mean it's not at all like having to pay your own mortgage, why do that when you can pay a mortgage for someone else. If you went out and bought a home, there would be one less investor out there getting a free house with your money.

9- The amount of homes for sale on the market. There is no need to running out there when you have a ton of homes for sale at your disposal. You should certainly wait for the numbers to dwindle so you will have less of a choice you decide to buy. This will keep you from having to be so picky.

8- The great deals will be the first to go. This will be your indicator that you are getting close to time to start looking. All the good homes will be taken and then you can go sift through the left overs for what you can salvage.

7- Low Interest rates. Low interest rates will cause your mortgage payments to be lower, and this may make you feel like you are not doing your fair share. You should definitely wait around for those rates to rise so you can make a higher monthly payment. Then you won't have to deal with the guilt of saving money.

6- The price of homes for sale. Currently many homes for sale are on the market at very competitive lower prices. If you can manage to hang in there a little longer without buying a home, then you can catch market during or after a recovery. This means that you will get to pay more for the home than you would today.

5- With today's rates and prices, mortgages on many homes for sale are actually cheaper than rent on the same homes. Again this would possibly save you money, and that's not what you want to do. You need to wait for the prices to rise so you're not getting as good of a deal.

4- A 10% of the sales price tax credit up to $8,000. If you were to buy a home now,and you are a first time home buyer, then you would receive this tax credit. If you can hold out until next year, then you will be able to avoid this tax credit all together. This will save you the aggravation of trying to decide what to do with the extra money on next year's tax return.

3-Builder incentives. At present, in addition to the competitive prices, many builders are offering other incentives on new homes. Incentives like a percentage of of the home for sale depending on your employment and reduced pricing on upgrades. Some are even offering free upgrades and tossing in little extras that they normally do not offer in order to sweeten the pot. This would mean that you could get a great deal on a brand new home in your area, and that's the last thing you want. Wait for these deals to be snatched up other buyers before you even consider looking for your new home.

2- Lack of competition for you. Right now with many would be buyers sitting on the fence trying to make a decision, you would have your pick of the litter as far as the homes currently available are concerned. You need to wait until many more buyers are on the search, that way you can possibly end up in multiple offer situations and have to fight another buyer over the home you really want.

1- The pride of home ownership. There is no reason to come home to a home that actually belongs to you. Why not constantly come home to a house that you are buying for someone else.

I hope that in some way this has helped anyone reading to figure out why you should stay on that fence. There are really too many great deals and incentives out there to subject yourself to making a decision as to which one you want. So hang in there and stay on those sidelines. With a little discipline and a little luck you'll be able to avoid all the great deals that this current market has to offer. Best of luck to you.

www.jlboney.com

Originally Posted by JL Boney, III Columbia, SC Real Estate

Up At Bat...Hoping For a Double and...Hitting A Home Run

2009-04-21T16:05:00.005-04:00

That's what it feels like with our new Internet based transaction management system! Now our agents, clients and vendors have 24/7 access to their files through our website! No more calling or having to drive to the office to retrieve, send or receive a document! It's all done via our new system.

So far, we have a few sales associates on the system and they love it. One of our sales associates, William Troy, uses it often. He is a busy agent and gets all his updates and documents on his Blackberry! He then forwards them to whomever he wants. Another, a sales manager, Tony Barone thinks it fabulous. "Someone called and wanted the telephone number of an attorney working on one of my transactions and instead of having to get up and go to a file and flip through papers I was able to go online and retrieve it immediately", Tony told me. What if Tony was not in the office? He would have had to call in for the info and ask a fellow agent to retrieve it for him.

Sales associates access and work on their files on their terms. No lock downs here. Yes, according to the NJREC we do keep a hard copy of the complete file in our support center where all this work is processed.

From a legal perspective this system may help keep our E&O premiums down. All files are set up identical and handled identically. The best thing is that a history is kept in the system of who did or sent out what. This goes a long way should you be so unfortunate and get sued!

It also allows us to hire agents who "distance sell". By that I mean agents who work outside the normal marketing area of traditional bricks & mortar offices. It also works well because we belong to nearly every MLS in the State. Agents can telecommute from any county in New Jersey while providing the most effective sales and marketing techniques in the industry.

If you would like to know more about Veltri Realtors or thinking of becoming a professional sales associate please call Al Veltri directly at (732) 600-9904.

If you would like to real our latest newsletter click here.

Internet Leads More Productive at Veltri

2009-04-04T15:18:00.003-04:00

Recently I have seen a marked increase in the Internet lead conversion. Two cases in point that happened this week.

Kudos to Lind Romeo from our Howell Marketing Center for converting an Internet lead who was looking to buy in Howell. The prospective buyer made an appointment to come down this weekend to see properties.

Kudos also to Sue Warren of our Adult Community Marketing Center in Leisure Village East. She received an Internet lead this morning and has already had the mother and daughter looking at properties!

Way to go Linda and Susan!

Our website http://www.veltrirealtors.com/ receives neatly 70,000 hits per month and offer buyers to search the MLS remarkably free from pressure!

Top 5 Staging mistakes when selling your home

2009-03-25T19:37:00.004-04:00

You've heard the saying "You never have a second chance to make a great first impression" right? If you are selling your home or will be shortly, you need to take that little saying to heart. I'm going to share with you my top staging mistakes to avoid and hope that you'll apply what you've read today and be on your way to a successful sale.

Staging Mistake #1: BAD MLS Photos Did you know that over 85% of buyers are looking on the Internet first to find a house to buy? First Impressions start here folks! How do your photos look? I am amazed a lot of times when working with sellers that currently have their house on the market that they have not even bothered to take a look at their pictures online. I think it didn't even occur to them that this is a critical marketing tool that pulls those buyers in. GREAT PHOTOS are a must! Professional Photography makes all the difference in capturing buyers attention and getting them in the door. Great photos capture ALL of the room, have good color and clarity and show interesting angles of each room. I see bad photos all the time. Blurry. Dark. Boring. And the worst is when you can only see a small portion of the room. I don't know about you but I could care less what the sellers BED looks like...what about the room? Potential buyers want to see everything in the room in one shot. Do make sure you have at least 15 pictures advertising your house on the Internet/MLS. Buyer's really want to see as much of the house as possible.

Staging Mistake #2: Disappointing Curb AppealEver get fixed up on a blind date? Remember the anxiousness you felt as you anticipated meeting this person for the first time? If your date went anything like mine, I was REALLY disappointed with my first impression of her and wasn't even sure I wanted to proceed with the date. When selling your home, don't disappoint your buyer! When they pull up to the front of your house, they carry with them their hopes and dreams that this home could be the one! Shouldn't you do whatever you can to impress those buyers so they will want to come in for a closer look? It's amazing how a green, freshly cut lawn, new mulch, shiny new fixtures and a fresh paint job on the front door can sing "Welcome Home" to your potential buyers. Doing these basic items make all the difference! And don't forget a new welcome mat and doorbell too. Believe it or not, these are the 2 items that get overlooked all the time.
Staging Mistake #3: A Dirty, Cluttered HouseHave you heard this one before? "The way you live in your house and the way you sell your house are two completely different things." Sellers can throw up their hands and say, "But I have to still live here!" so remember...you're house is not YOUR home anymore. When you put it up for sale, it became a PRODUCT. In order to sell a product, it has to be packaged beautifully so it sells! Your buyers expect to see an immaculate house with no visible signs of dirt, dust and hair. It's no different when you go on vacation and you've decided to stay at a very nice hotel. You expect that when you walk into your room that the bed is made to perfection, everything is sparkling clean and they've even left you a little something that says "Welcome", right? What if you walked into the bathroom and you spotted hair in the sink and you couldn't tell if the towels were used or not? If that were me, I'd be calling the front desk and demanding a new room! Your buyers are really no different either. Dazzle them with a sparkling clean and clutter free house to buy! Clear away all your clutter so that the selling features in each room are highlighted and your house becomes the STAR, not the people that currently live there.

Staging Mistake #4: Making Your Buyers Feel Like A GuestEver walk into someone else's home and as you look around at their family photos and decor, it is apparent that this is "their" home. Their personality is in every room and even if you squeezed your eyes shut and tried really hard to imagine living there, you just couldn't do it. Trying to imagine your stuff over top of all of their stuff is just impossible to do. This is how potential buyers feel when they walk into a home that is full of family photos and taste specfic decor. Those buyers immediately feel like a GUEST in your house and this is one mistake you don't want to make! That is why it is so important to pack away your family photos and neutralize each room to appeal to a broad range of buyers. That also includes your collections, religious items, personal awards and trophies, your family calendar and those fifty million magnets, invitations and "TO DO" lists from the refrigerator. Don't forget your taste specfic decor as well. You may LOVE your kitchen bright yellow because it goes so well with your sunflower collection but its got to be neutralized so buyers can SEE your kitchen with its 42" cabinets and corian countertops. They need to be able to visualize themselves cooking and entertaining in there! See what I mean?

Staging Mistake #5: Decor That Fails To Connect With Your Buyers
I see this one a lot. A homeowner has lived in their home for the past 15 years and the last time it was decorated was when they first moved in 1994. Lots of oak furniture and dried flower arrangements. Dated decor, empty rooms and random furniture pieces scattered throughout can make any house no matter how nice the selling features feel TIRED, DATED and OLD. Think about it this way. You know how it feels when you get your hair done? Not just a trim but when you go all out and get a new hair color and a trendy haircut? When your hair designer is done, YOU look and feel like a million bucks, right? You look YOUNGER and FRESH and everyone you see that day smiles and their eyes light up as they take in the NEW YOU! You know, you're house is really no different. It is amazing what a few key decorative items can do for a room too. You want your buyers to have that same reaction...their eyes lighting up as they view the room becoming more impressed as they tour your house.One of the biggest misconceptions about staging your house is that you need tons of new furniture and decorative items to make your house look like a model home. You can relax now when I tell you that it isn't true. If you are living in your home while it is for sale, working with what you have plus maybe a few new items with a minimum investment is all you need. Consider working with a professional Stager that are experts at working with what you have using their creativity to re-purpose it and sometimes blending it with a few newer items. This gives older furniture and decor a fresh new look and feel. I am always amazed at how a few key accessories can make all the difference in highlighting a selling feature and breathing new life into a room! Slipcovers, new pillows that pop color, updated lamps, a rug or some inexpensive window panels might be all that is needed to turn unimpressive decor into a fabulous new room that your buyers will love and connect to! Of course, I will say that if your house is vacant or you have empty rooms because you never got around to buying that dining or living room set, you will want to consider options like renting furniture. Most professional Stagers carry beautiful furnishings you can rent and will work with your budget.Stage For A Successful Sale Selling your home and getting it ready can be a pretty overwhelming task that is stressful to say the least. Did you know that working with a professional Home Stager can take that stress away and let you focus on the other important things about your move like finding YOUR dream home? They can create a staging plan for you that is unique to your property. You can have complete confidence in knowing that you will not be making any major staging mistakes with a Stager on your team while you sell your home!

Happy Staging From Your friend Tony Barone!

-This article was written by : Teresa Meyer ASP Owner/Accredited Staging Designer of Stage a Star Staging & Consulting . You can read her blog at Blog: www.activerain.com/stageastar or visit her web site at www.stagestar.com

10 Facebook strategies everyone should know

2009-03-24T18:56:00.002-04:00

Facebook Pages present a massive opportunity for brands to directly engage with their existing and future customers, even the occasional passer-by. This conversation brings with it the power that all other social media tools and platforms provide which is why this latest release of Facebook Pages is so important for brands. Yes, changes will come to the Pages product over the coming months and years but as many early adopters know, it’s often best to wait until the second version of a product arrives. Now that the second version of Facebook Pages has launched, it’s time for you to take your brand to the next level.
Below, I have outlined 10 tips for creating engaging Facebook Pages. These are only the top 10 and there are many other lessons to be learned but this should serve as the ultimate starter guide for any brand/company looking to make their entrance into Facebook.
1. Develop Custom Tabs for Custom Ads

Advertising your brand’s page is always extremely important. One of the greatest features of Facebook’s new pages product is that you can link directly to specific tabs. That means you can separate which pages a user views by default based on the ad that they clicked on. For example, perhaps you’d like to target two groups of users in different geographic locations. You would display one advertisement for people in Ocean County and those users will land on a page which is specific to users from Ocean County. A different page would be displayed to users from Middlesex County for example.
While this system isn’t necessarily the most scalable (for example having 500 tabs doesn’t really make much sense), it can instantly increase the conversion of new visitors into fans. This method also requires a bit more investment in customization but I’d argue that it’s well worth it, especially for smaller brands and companies.

2. Don’t Let New Users Land on the Wall

Why on earth would I tell you not to let users land on the wall? Well, my biggest concern is that they’ll bump into humpty dumpty. Seriously though, there is a huge opportunity to present users with engaging information and while the content provided by fans of your brand can be engaging, you have absolutely no control over it. That’s why it’s much better to have new visitors enter a controlled environment and then proceed to navigate through areas with less structure. Yes, the wall can be extremely valuable for letting users talk to you and your brand but such unfiltered waters are the last place you should force a new user to navigate through. Provide your users with a safe entrance to the muddy waters we call “social media” and they will forever thank you for it, trust me.

3. Create a Unique Page Image
I honestly believe that this is one of the most important components of a fan page. It’s a simple component yet within the confines of a 200 pixel wide box, you would be surprised with the creative ideas that people come up with. Recently Rob Banagale, a guest author on AllFacebook, published an article entitled “5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo“. If you haven’t read it, I suggest you check it out. More impressive than the photos included in the tutorial are the photos that numerous users posted at the end.
I cannot tell you how many standard Facebook Pages I’ve seen in which the basic logo is displayed. There should be no excuse for not creating an engaging photo for your Facebook Page. It’s one of the first things users look at and it has the potential to leave a lasting impression so make it good!

4. Integrate Applications To Increase Engagement
The last thing you want is for users to land on your Facebook Page and leave immediately. The greatest opportunity you have to capture their attention is through engaging applications. There are currently over 55,000 applications on the Facebook platform and a relatively large portion of them can be directly integrated into your fan page. Over the coming weeks there will be numerous applications that are built around the soon to be updated Facebook Page API which will make it easier for brands to launch a relatively engaging Facebook Page within minutes.
For larger brands I highly recommend that you develop a more robust experience for the user. Games, quizzes, and other types of dynamic content in general can help keep users on your Facebook Page for longer durations of time. As you know, we live in an attention economy and that means you want to get all the attention you can from consumers. One thing you should make sure is that your application has a call to action so that when a new user lands on the page they are immediately engaged.

5. Join the Conversation, It’s Not Optional Anymore
As I stated before, this is the first time that brands have the opportunity to be a major part of a user’s conversation on Facebook so take advantage of it. That means every time someone comments on your new status, a photo, a video, a discussion thread, or anything else, you need to comment on it. Gone are the days of a one-way conversation in which the brands talk down to their customers. We are in the midst of a conversational revolution and your company needs to be part of it. At this point, you don’t have the option not to participate.
Failing to engage your customers and potential customers means less revenue, and it also means you’ll be losing to your competition who is engaging with their customers on a regular basis. Whether you are a small business (dentist, physician, plumber, restaurant, etc) or a large corporation, you need to be talking to your client and the only way to do that is through a two way dialogue. They’ll ask you questions that you can reply to and you can ask questions as well. Ask about what would improve their experience with your company. Also, ask them about the world in general because at the end of the day, they’re humans just like you.
It takes extra effort to engage your clients and going that extra mile will always keep clients coming back. You want to promote an exceptional brand right?

6. Publish Interesting and Relevant Content
Just like in other areas of social media (blogs, Twitter, etc), it’s extremely important to provide interesting content to your readers. Facebook is no different. By regularly referencing other relevant content, your fans will keep returning to your page. While attracting repeat visitors is not the single most important component of fan pages, repeat engagement is easily the second most important variable. In virtual economies, one of the most effective measurements of the state of an economy is repeat usage. Facebook pages and other digital content channels are no different. Users that return to your page regularly are significantly more likely to become home buyers and sellers
Even more important is that existing clients who return to your Facebook page are more likely to continue as clients. The bottom line is that a plain looking Facebook page is not doing your company any favors. Yes, having any sort of presence is always better than nothing at all but if you took the time to read through this guide, please do me a favor and make a little extra effort to create an engaging Facebook page. So how do you find interesting content?
While I won’t dive to deep into the details about finding interesting content, you should be able to find relevant content to your readers by doing a search on Google Blogsearch, and leveraging an RSS reader like Google Reader. Typically I would assume that most readers of this site know what RSS is but if you don’t it’s a simple way to read the content on sites without actually having to visit each site individually. If you want to learn more, check out Google’s Feed 101. If you want the short answer for finding interesting content: look for it. I wish I could say it’s easier than that but unfortunately it still takes time to find interesting content.
You can turn to other forms of content aggregators like Delicious.com and Digg.com but those typically only serve specific communities. If you are outside of the new media industry, you’ll have to use traditional sources like Google News, Google Blogsearch, and the mainstream media.

7. Repost Comments By Other Users
If you are on Twitter, reposting information is essentially the same as a retweet. By reposting a person’s information, you are complimenting them and they will be more likely to pay attention to you. I should note that I’m using “you” and “your brand” interchangeably in this part because in social media, you should be placing a face on your brand. Right now Fan Pages aren’t extremely conducive to putting a face on the brand but that will change overtime. Reposting the information that other users post is extremely valuable.
Don’t overuse this though! I can’t tell you how often I see people on Twitter retweet other users continuously, hoping that it will suddenly increase their follower base drastically. While it will help, this is not something which should suddenly drive thousands of users to your fan page. Instead, it’s a good habit to get into as overtime you and your company’s reputation will build for engaging users on a regular basis.

8. Update Regularly!
While it’s extremely important to monitor the conversation that users are having within your branded Facebook Pages, it’s also extremely important to help spark the conversation. By posting questions to users, creating new topics within discussion forums, and performing other activities that create dialogue (such as the previous one mentioned), you’ll keep users coming back to your Facebook Page. This is similar to the concept of posting blog posts regularly (which by the way can be automatically imported to your Facebook Page) on your company blog.
Just as I’ve emphasized the importance of quality content and engagement with your fans, the most important thing is persistence. Unless you keep engaging your fans on a regular basis and continue to post interesting content, you are going to find it difficult to continuously attract new fans.

9. Post and Tag Users in Photos and Videos
Tagging users in photos and videos is probably one of the most effective promotional activities that you can do. The only challenge is coming up with content to tag users in. The best way to get photos and videos of your fans is through hosting events as I mention in the next tip but if you can’t host events, you’ll need to come up with creative ways to tag your fans. So how do you do that? That’s a bit more complicated but nothing that a creative marketer can’t figure.
One way would be to introduce a contest to your fan page and then tag the winners of those awards in a trophy photo. If you want to take that idea a step further you could actually integrate your fans’ photos into the trophies. This is just one idea though and there are a limitless number of ideas out there. Tagging users is a naturally viral process because as soon as you tag one person, their friends see it and then users are driven to that album which in this case, resides within your fan page.
There is one extremely limiting factor about fan page photos though: you must be a friend of a user to tag them! Yes, it’s unfortunate and honestly I don’t think it makes much sense. While Facebook should enable fan pages to tag members of the page, they haven’t done so yet. Theoretically I could suggest leveraging “guerilla tactics” or overly aggressive techniques to tag members. What are these “guerilla tactics” that I speak of? Well you can figure it out on your own but one example would be adding a fan as a friend for the sole purpose of tagging them in a photo.
I don’t recommend using this technique or any technique similar to this though because you may end up in Facebook jail (a.k.a. getting banned from the site). For the time being I would recommend posting as many relevant photos as possible and tagging those users that are in them. The more tagging that takes place, the quicker your page will spread.

10. Leverage the Power of Facebook Events
Events provide an amazing opportunity for brands to reach out to their fan base. Best of all, these events don’t actually need to be in person events! While it’s not possible to view the network density of the fans of your brand (you can’t easily see how many fans are friends with each other), when multiple people RSVP to an event there are increased odds that your event will be distributed through the social graph, in turn driving new users to your brand’s page.
Like previous tricks or tips that I mentioned, there are inherent limitations. The primary one being that messages sent out to an event created through a fan page do not end up in a user’s inbox. Instead, those messages are sent via page “updates” which are displayed in a separate area. Fortunately, Facebook’s redesigned homepage, which is launching this week, includes updates at the top of a user’s homepage, making them more visible.

So Where Are My Millions Of Fans?
I know that I started this blog by suggesting that you could attract millions of users to your Facebook fan page. I firmly believe that it is possible but it will take a lot of effort. Putting forth that effort though can produce substantial rewards. I’ve only touched on ten strategies that can be used to drive new fans to your page but ultimately, the more time you invest in your brand’s Facebook page, the better response you’ll get.
Yes, you could choose to simply set up a page and let it stand there because your brand alone can attract hundreds of thousands if not millions of users. If you’ve read this far in the guide though, I’m guessing your brand alone will not cut it. Instead, through persistence and consistent attention to your branded page, you will be able to generate new customers and retain existing ones. Note, a Facebook page should not be the end of your company’s social media strategy but with 180 million or more Facebook users and millions more joining every week, there is no excuse not to be on the site.

How to persuade buyers & sellers with authority

2009-03-17T14:10:00.000-04:00

As a consummate student of the real estate industry, I am always searching to better understand its breadth and depth and I certainly couldn't get a good handle on that unless I understand well what motivates people to make decisions.

The engineer ( detailed oriented) type of personality is not easily motivated by the splashy hype or the bottom line type of decision making. They want details of how you arrived at any particular decision. They may be the only group that clings to Aristotle's concept of reason and logic with all the nuances that got you there.

Aristotle wrote once "The best route to persuasion is with logic and reason". It took experts 2500 years to disprove this belief.

We now better understand that people are mostly persuaded by emotion, not logic and reason. We have also learned that these emotional decisions have a number of possible triggers. Allow me to give you an example.

If you have a bad knee and the specialist says that you need surgery and it is your only hope to remove the pain, you will likely accept his/her authority and have the surgery. Authority is one of these triggers. You made the desision because you accepted that specialist as the authority.
This is the key trigger of the seven known triggers for decision making.

The reason I chose this trigger is that it is the trigger we most want to use in the real estate business to encourage people to make decisions.

The authority trigger requires that you be the authority. The best way to cause this trigger, is to be the authority. In order to accomplish that, it requires that as a local authority you must know the market, know the likely problems in that market and as many solutions as possible. People will be comfortable and accept your authority only by what you can demonstrate, not so much by what you say.

Some of the areas that will cause you to be known as the local authority is having a firm understanding of the neighborhoods characteristics, the demographics of who makes up the market, sales statistics, expertise in marketing properties, and consultation expertise in personalizing the neighborhood for the individual seller or buyer. Having a recognized presence in the neighborhood, on the Internet and in the media will also add to the expertise and present you as the authority figure.

Now think back on the last half dozen or so prospects. Did they take your advise as though you were the "authority" or did they have to reason through what you said and perhaps haven't made that decision as yet. If they did accept your "authority", you have utilized the most effective emotional trigger known and it has virtually no resistance when dispensed to a consumer that is actually interested in buying or selling real estate.

Weekly Affirmation from Eleanor Roosevelt

2009-03-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

Eleanor Roosevelt was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and assumed a role as an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an internationally prominent author, speaker, politician, and activist. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements and she was one of the most admired people of the 20th century, according to Gallup's List of Widely Admired People.
This week’s affirmation is from Eleanor Roosevelt and is about overcoming your fears.

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

This week, do something you think you can't do and have a Great Week!

Brick Office Recognizes T.J. Salvia

2009-03-17T13:47:00.002-04:00

T. J. Salvia of the Brick office is the poster child for time management. T.J. Has closed 2 transactions over the last week and just wrote another contract last night. Working 1-2 days a week at real estate he has managed to generate a steady flow of closings with a minimum amount of time invested. Everyone should remember that being thorough and organized will result in a greater return on your time investment. My hat is off to T.J. Salvia for a great return on his time investment. Now if he could only learn how to use the fax machine he would probably increase his production by 200%. Keep up the good work T.J.!!!!

Mortgage Market news

2009-03-17T13:45:00.002-04:00

Subject: market update

"Mortgage Bonds continue to trade in a sideways range above a floor of support at the 25-Day Moving Average. Stocks, on the other hand, have rallied several days in a row, but appear stalled at a ceiling of resistance at their own 25-Day Moving Average.

In the news today, Housing Stats for February came in better than expected. This was the first increase in 8 months and is due in large part to an 82% increase in the construction of apartment buildings.

Today, the Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting, which will conclude with a rate and policy statement tomorrow afternoon. For now, I recommend floating to see if Mortgage Bonds can remain above support at the 25-Day Moving Average."

First Time Homebuyers Seminar

2009-03-15T16:33:00.002-04:00

If you are considering purchasing your first home you can't miss this valuable seminar! You will learn:

How to choose the right mortgage product
What is a FICO score and how does it affect my ability to obtain a mortgage
Identifying properties that offer downpayment assistance
Credit management
How a home warranty can prove you with peace-of-mind
MORE!

You will receive a free credit report and there will be gift for the 1st 20 attendees!

When & Where:

March 25, 2009
Woodlake Country Club
6:00PM to 7:30PM
RSVP (908) 910-9029 to reserve your seat

I want to thank our sponsors, SunQuest Funding LLC and Woodlake Country Club for their gracious generosity!

Hurry and reserve your seat today!

No Negotiation of Preforeclosure Sales Commission

2009-03-04T14:00:00.002-05:00

On February 24, 2009 FannieMae sent out Announcement 09-03 which amends Loan Servicing.
There are 5 parts to the announcement but the most important part for the Realtor community which states, "Effective March 1, 2009 closing of preforeclosure sales may not be conditioned upon a reduction of the total commission to be paid to real estate agents to a level below what was negotiated by the listing agent with the borrower, unless the fee exceeds 6 percent of the sales price of the property in aggregate. Servicers are reminded that they must continue to obtain any approvals that may be required by interested third parties in connection with preforeclosure sales".
This is good news for Realtors, borrowers and buyers.

What's Stopping Buyers from Buying?

2009-02-27T09:31:00.003-05:00

Buyers across the country have been holding off from making a home purchase. This is, in part, the fault of the media and the "gloom & doom" scenarios they are painting.

While I am not minimizing the economic effect on our country, not all markets are the same and you can't paint them with the same broad-stoked brush. Commentators like Suzie Ormond are proponents of the "holding off" position and I can respect her conservative approach to a point but I still believe that right now is the best time to buy a home.

In our area, Monmouth and Ocean County, there are pockets of markets that have hit bottom already and have started to increase the selling prices. Right now today interest rates are extremely low and housing prices are at their lowest point in 8 years and I can't see any reason for waiting especially if you think the prices will fall even lower.

Now I do not have crystal ball. If I did I would be rich and enjoying a Bahama Mama on the beach. Unfortunately that's not the case! But I want to make a point that the huge variable here is interest rates and where they may be heading.

Take a case in point. If you were to wait for that $250,000 home to drop 3% and the interest rates went up just 3/8% you would have lost all of the savings you would have gained by waiting.
I don't know about the buyers out there but I believe a bird in hand is worth more than two in the bush! Which means buy now and know what your rate would be as opposed to rolling the dice hoping the rates would be the same AND the price of homes will still drop.

Veltri Blog

2009-02-26T11:01:00.003-05:00

This is a great new addition for Veltri & Associates, Realtors. Al has once again jumped to the forefront in creating a blog for the online community. This is the wave of the future, and we all need to 'ride the wave'

FannieMae Helps Investors to Buy More Properties

2009-02-26T10:33:00.003-05:00

On February 6, 2009 FannieMae published Announcement 09-02 which makes updates to Multiple Mortgages to the Same Borrower Policy.

This is a good thing because it allows investors to become more active. Last year FanneMae reduced the number of properties a single borrower could mortgage under it's guidelines to 4 units. This announcement has increased the number this year to 10 properties!

I guess they figured they made a mistake? Investors who have maximized their buying potential under last years guidlines can now take advantage of purchasing "short sales" and "foreclosures". The effect can be that the inventory will be reduced and that will help stabilize prices.

There are some strict requirements for borrowers such as 720+ FICO scores, 75LTV, and new reserve requirements.

Anyone interested in receiving a copy can call any of our offices and request a copy be sent.

Real Estate Careers

2009-02-26T08:48:00.005-05:00

Most people think that having a career in real estate right now is not a good choice. I couldn't disagree more. Real estate, like any other profession, can be very rewarding. I can say without any hesitation that this is an industry that has no glass ceiling. Your earnings will be directly proportionate with the time and effort you put into it.

People are always moving. Be it a growing family, relocation, retirement and the like there is a constant need for professional real estate sales associates.

It's a great way to start your own business with little money and having support of a good Broker. Our company, for instance, fosters individuality, professionalism and ethics. We are constantly looking for sales executives that have been downsized from corporate America and love what they do without all the corporate competitiveness. The only competitor you have is yourself!

Obama Stimulus Plan

2009-02-25T19:30:00.004-05:00

Here is my take on the Obama Stimulus Plan as it relates to our local real estate market.

There is one significant items that helps first-time buyers only. It's the $8,000 tax credit. This will help buyers by giving a credit that can reduce or eliminate their income tax liability. Balances not used in the year of purchase can be carried over until credit is used up.

It can be used for single family homes, condos, co-op's that will be your primary residence.

The full credit is available for purchasers who make less than $75,000 (single) $150,000 (joint) and phases out after $95,000 (single) $170,000 (joint).

Here's the catch. If the home is sold after three years of purchase the credit is recaptured on sale.

This applies to home purchased between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009