Coldwell Banker's Cutting Edge Digital Marketing

October-Article

Marketing a home has changed dramatically in just a few short years. It wasn’t that long ago that selling a property meant sticking a for-sale sign in the front lawn and taking out an ad in the local paper. Those days have changed!

Real estate marketing isn’t just print advertising anymore – or radio, or TV, or direct mail, or even online, social media, blogs or Twitter. It’s ALL of these marketing tools and more. And it’s critical if you’re thinking about selling your home to select a REALTOR® and a brokerage that understands how to market in the digital age.

When it comes to digital and social media marketing, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage leads the way.

We deploy a comprehensive, cutting edge marketing strategy that capitalizes on all the important new digital channels without forgetting the traditional marketing tools that still work well.

Why is digital marketing so important when it comes time to sell your home? Consider this:

•On an average day there are more than 400 million tweets, 500 million active LinkedIn and Google Plus accounts and 3.2 billion likes and comments on Facebook;

•More than one billion unique users visit YouTube each month;

•Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube (that’s almost an hour for every person on Earth);

•Nine in 10 homebuyers today rely on the Internet as one of their primary research sources, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.

As the leading brokerage in Northern California, we have been at the forefront of the revolution in real estate marketing, deploying a multi-pronged marketing strategy to reach consumers in the channels they use today – and that’s increasingly online, social media and mobile communications.

While some other real estate brokerages still rely primarily on traditional and limited marketing programs, we understand the vital role that social media and digital sources play in effectively selling a home to modern consumers.

At Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, we like to think about real estate marketing as spokes on a wheel. These various marketing tools, like spokes, may be pointing in all different directions. But they all work together, overlapping, reinforcing each other, and all pointing back to the center of the hub. That hub is our website, CaliforniaMoves.com, and by driving traffic to it, we are also increasing the visibility of your listing.

Earlier this year, we launched a comprehensive new digital marketing initiative which leverages Google advertising, local TV station websites, a wide variety of popular real estate sites, YouTube videos, Facebook, Twitter, and many of the other top-ranked social media sites -– in addition to major print publications.

It’s estimated that this new digital marketing program will attract an additional three million viewers every month and help drive more potential buyers to CaliforniaMoves.com, our Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage website, and again, ultimately to your listing.

Real estate marketing has indeed changed dramatically over the years. So it’s more important than ever to work with a REALTOR® that “gets it” and truly understands how to use a cutting-edge digital marketing program to sell your home.

For more information about Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s digital marketing strategy and how it can help you sell your property or help you find your next home, please contact me today. I’m ready to help! Visit me at www.RealtorLisaWu.com 

©2013 Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Office Is Owned by a Subsidiary of NRT LLC. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully. BRE License #01908304

What Foreign Buyers Need to Know About Buying a US Property

Source: Bay East Association of Realtors
Summer 2013

The United States places very few restrictions non-US citizens buying, selling and owning real estate in the United States. As an international buyer purchasing property in the United States you may acquire, transfer, or be involved in a real estate transaction without the permission or approval from any federal, state, or local government. However, there are some countries that may place restrictions on its own citizens from buying real estate in the US – therefore you should check the rules of your country to verify you are not under any home country restrictions.

Buying real estate in the US is safe and secure, as all transactions are subject to US contract law and are handled by neutral third party escrow companies who oversee all aspects of the transaction between seller and buyer. For a successful efficient transaction, international buyers should have a good REALTOR®, a good attorney, and if you are financing, be working with a good bank.

International buyers and sellers also need to comply with visitor visas and immigration laws, federal taxation rules and reporting and compliance.

Withholding of Tax on Dispositions of U.S. Real Property Interests

This article, from the IRS, explains the rules for proper withholding of tax on the dispositions of U.S. Real Property interest. It also clarifies who is obligated to conduct the required withholding of tax upon the foreign investor’s disposition of real property interests.

For more details Visit Me at www.RealtorLisaWu.com

Survey: 1 in 3 Buyers Would Bid Over the Asking Price

Source: Inman News July 2013

One in 3 buyers are willing to bid higher than a home’s asking price, according to a survey conducted by Trulia in partnership with Harris Interactive. That was just one of several other findings of the survey that appear to show that homebuyers are feeling the squeeze of market conditions that are significantly altered from those of a year ago. At the same time, they capture improved sentiment towards the housing market. Today’s tight home inventory appears to be pushing some buyers to use aggressive tactics to beat out competing buyers, the survey found. In addition to a third of buyers being willing to make above-market offers, 1 in 4 said that they would offer to pay a seller’s closing costs. “Tight inventory means slim pickings for buyers. Even though inventory is starting to expand, and rising home prices should bring more for-sale homes onto the market, people who actually want to buy within the next year are feeling the pressure of competing buyers and limited inventory,” wrote Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko in blog post about the survey. Also seemingly a symptom of today’s limited housing stock, homebuyers who plan to buy within the next year said that finding a home that they like is their biggest worry. And highlighting two other defining characteristics of today’s market, consumers who said they might buy someday indicated that their two greatest fears were that mortgage rates and home prices would rise further. But in a sign that people’s attitudes towards homeownership have recovered significantly since the downturn, 60 percent of respondents said that they thought homeownership is one of the best long-term investments they could make, up from 47 percent two years ago.