Good Industry News and How to Use It

For the real estate news hound, good news might seem hard to come by in general, but during the last few days headlines have surfaced that could make real estate agents feel good about the future. But how agents take advantage of the news is crucial.

The first story is about investment property sales and second home sales projections. According to the National Association of Realtors' 2012 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, investment home sales increased 64.5 percent in 2011, and vacation home sales rose 7.0 percent. According to NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun, "During the past year investors have been swooping into the market to take advantage of bargain home prices. Rising rental income easily beat cash sitting in banks as an added inducement. In addition, 41 percent of investment buyers purchased more than one property."

The next headline also concerns NAR data, this time about overall sales. The National Association of Realtors is predicting existing-home sales will jump 7 to 10 percent in 2012 to the highest level in five years, based on an "uneven but higher sales pattern" so far this year. This slightly deviates from January projections calling for a lukewarm 2012.

Good industry news is always welcome, but anything less than a complete boom report means that a lot of hard work and pavement pounding is needed to take advantage of the upward trajectory in home-buying sentiment. Real estate agents are known for taking advantage of any and all marketing tools to promote their listings. But their reputations also need promotion. According to comScore over 25% of all Web users read online reviews prior to making a decision and 80% said reviews strongly influenced them. We've all read reviews of products before purchasing, and many people are already looking to online reviews before hiring lawyers, doctors, therapists and Realtors. It's a great way to put yourself ahead of the competition by reminding prospective homebuyers that it does make a difference who you choose to represent you in the home purchase process.

If you already have a ReachFactor account, you're already able to submit real estate agent review requests to clients and have them appear on your ReachFactor profile and Facebook page.

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