NORFOLK, VA, August 11, 2014 -- For Rent Media Solutions™ and Homes.com®, leading real estate marketing resources designed to assist today's apartment and home owners throughout every stage of the rental and owning process, have released the "Rise to the Top: Be the Local Expert" guide to help real estate and multifamily professionals overcome marketing challenges, achieve success, and better understand what being a "local expert" in their communities entails.

According to consumer trending research, "local love" is becoming increasingly popular across the nation. For Rent Media Solutions and Homes.com saw an opportunity to share with customers a way to better reach and connect with their clients and increase their business. Rise to the Top: Be the Local Expert not only reveals how important it is to be the local expert in the real estate and multifamily industries, but also includes best practices on how to become that expert. Real estate professionals will gain valuable insights into this unique trend of local love, impactful because of the emphasis it places on communities and the feelings of pride it generates within inhabitants of these communities, through tips and tricks for getting on that local level.

Key tips and best practices included in this guide:

• How to use video to engage customers and, more importantly, how to share that video effectively
• Marketing best practices for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ for real estate professionals to most effectively reach and connect with local renters, buyers and sellers
• Insights into mobile trends and the influence they have on American consumers and the real estate industry, specifically. With 90% of mobile searches resulting in taking action and over half of those actions resulting in a sale, local mobile is crucial to a real estate professional's marketing strategy
• Detailed insight into incorporating the latest technology within a business plan, staying on top of prominent search trends, and effectively driving exposure to listings and the local community

According to Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Times best-selling author and social media expert, "You must be your town's local newspaper. Everyone's a media company, so the number one thing you should strive for is to become the authority in the local market."

Like Vaynerchuk, experts such as Jay Baer, marketing keynote speaker and best-selling author; Jennifer Williams, Digital Marketing Manager, Homes.com; and Michael Krisa, renowned internet marketing consultant, offer their comments throughout the guide, adding another layer of knowledge to the information provided.

"Local love is a hot topic recently, and in order to drive more quality leads for our customers, we wanted to share applicable insights with them to engage with customers, both present and potential, and increase their business," said Terry Slattery, president of For Rent Media Solutions and Homes.com. "The dedicated teams at For Rent Media Solutions and Homes.com are fully committed to providing customers with the most up-to-date information essential to gaining exposure to their communities."

For an in-depth look at influential trends and constructive tips for rising to the top of your local market, download the "Rise to the Top: Be the Local Expert" guide today!

About For Rent Media Solutions™

Founded in 1982 as For Rent Magazine®, For Rent Media Solutions™ is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, and provides property managers and owners with diverse marketing and advertising products, services and education. These products are easy to use, easy to understand, and designed with renters in mind. For apartment shoppers, For Rent Media Solutions provides robust community listings in a multitude of media, including print, social, online, mobile, video and an extensive distribution network. For Rent Media Solutions publishes 80 magazines covering more than 80 markets nationwide, including AFTER55.com™ A Senior Housing and Care Resource, ForRent.com® Magazine and ForRent.com en Español Revista De Apartamentos. For Rent Media Solutions operates five websites: ForRent.com, AFTER55.com™, CorporateHousing.com®, ForRent.com en Español and ForRentUniversity.com™. Additionally, ForRent.com listings receive exclusive distribution to Homes.com® Rentals. Visit ForRent.com for more information, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn.

About Homes.com

Homes.com is a leading provider of real estate marketing and media services, including brand advertising, property listing exposure and syndication, search engine marketing and instant response lead generation. Homes Connect by Homes.com offers the real estate industry's first-ever, all-inclusive marketing platform for agents and brokers featuring single-login convenience, and the new Homes.com Social offers innovative tools and resources to help real estate professionals save time and simplify social media marketing. Over 10 million consumers visit Homes.com each month to search nearly 3 million properties for sale or rent, to locate real estate agents in their area, and to find useful home buying tips. For more information, visit Homes.com.