"Which Phone to Choose?"
Realty Times (02/01/10) James, G. William

With so many different smartphones on the market, mobile real estate professionals need to carefully consider what they need from a device before making a purchase. While the sheer number of applications made available by Apple and other manufacturers might be alluring, most are not useful to mobile professionals. The most valuable apps to mobile agents are document management software, GPS navigation, real estate calculators, sales management tools, and database management tools. After determining the top three tasks a device must accomplish, agents should choose a smartphone based on battery life, screen size and resolution, size and shape, input technology, and useful apps. When considering cost, the total cost of ownership -- including service costs and application purchases -- should be factored in. Finally, agents must understand that the most popular smartphones might not fit their needs, as ease of use, functionality, and affordability are more important than bells and whistles.
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"Lag in Digital Marketing"
Inman News (02/01/10)

A survey of 300 real estate firms by Brandeis University's International Business School and the digital marketing firm inSegment Inc. reveals that 58 percent of respondents do not operate search-engine marketing campaigns, despite findings by the National Association of REALTORS® that 90 percent of home searches initiate online. "There is nothing surprising about the fact that all real estate consumers are on the Web," says inSegment founder and principal Oleg Vyadro. "What is surprising is that while Google generates approximately 3 billion unique daily searches, only a small minority of real estate players are tapping into the opportunity in a serious way." The research indicates that 53 percent of respondents plan to boost digital marketing budgets in the future and 37 percent expect budgets to hold steady, with lower marketing budgets and the complexity of digital marketing playing a role in reduced participation. During the next five years, 42.5 percent of respondents hope to boost brand awareness through marketing, 35 percent want a higher return on investment of their marketing expenditures, and 22.5 percent hope to obtain new clients through marketing.
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"4 Easy Promotional Strategies to Get Your Name in the Marketplace"
RISMedia (01/31/10) Bogard, Eric

Real estate agents seeking to get their name out there should ditch traditional business cards and put their contact information on a magnet. Magnets with calendars, local sports teams schedules, and other clever designs likely will attract attention and earn a spot on the prospective client's fridge. Moreover, direct mail is 60 percent more likely to be opened when a magnet is included and, for less than the cost of a phone book or newspaper advertisement, the agent's contact information is highly visible and readily available to buyers and sellers when they need it. Agents also could deliver boxes of magnets featuring special offers to local businesses and organizations and post the same offers on Facebook, Twitter, or their blogs to generate even more interest.
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"Keeping REALTORS® Safe"
KAALtv.com (01/27/10) Swistak, Sara

In Minnesota, crime prevention specialist Darrel Hildebrandt recently paid Keller Williams Realty professionals a visit to discuss safety -- an issue that affects not only local practitioners but agents nationwide. Among the advice he shared was to know the locations of all exits to a property holding an open house; leave doors unlocked; document the client's license plate number; remove prescription drugs; and hide anything that could be used as a weapon. "Make sure that all the sharps, scissors, anything like that are put away," Hildebrandt reminded. Agents attending the event called it informative, noting that property showings often involve meeting with an unknown person -- sometimes at night -- in a home that is empty. "REALTORS® need the protection because they're out there alone," said Hildebrandt.
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"Snatch Up Buyers with Staging"
candgnews.com (01/27/10) Demske, Kristyne E.

Carolyn Stieger of We Stage Greater Detroit is convinced that staging a home is one of the best ways to sell it quickly in today's housing market. Another staging expert, REALTOR® Kathi Jones-Cutler of Max Broock-Birmingham, describes the process as "creating that 'I want to live here' feeling, but showcasing all the features of the home." Stieger says proper pricing of a home and staging it to attract a wide variety of buyers can mean a selling period of 45 days or less, according to national averages. She charges $200 for a consultation and the creation of a list of issues homeowners can tackle themselves and $800 for her to come into the occupied home and stage it. For sellers who cannot afford the fees or do not have access to a home stager, Jones-Cutler recommends enlisting the help of a friend with an objective eye. The top priority for preparing a home for sale is cleaning away odors, not by covering them up with other scents but by scrubbing. Next, she says that clearing out clutter, taking care of repairs, and organizing certain areas in the home to show specific uses will help a house show better.
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"1000Watt Releases Real Estate Tech Guide"
Inman News (01/21/10)

1000Watt Consulting's new 1000Watt Index features over 350 links in 30 categories to help real estate professionals assess technology companies that offer everything from marketing tools and transaction management systems to mapping software, mobile applications, and agent and broker Web sites. To be updated on a weekly basis, the guide features companies with an established presence in the real estate sector or startups whose technology is unique and innovative. According to Joel Burslem of 1000Watt, "It's to help you find vendors, competitors, partners and/or just plain-old cool stuff . . . Think of it as a 30,000-foot view of all things geeky in real estate."
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"New Home Construction the First Sign in Hobart's Centennial Centre Development"
Green Bay Press Gazette (02/03/10) Jagannathan, Malavika

In Hobart, Wis., families moving into single-family homes this summer will be the first signs that the future Centennial Centre project is moving forward. Dubbed Cobblestone, the 84-plot subdivision is the initial phase being developed by Lexington Homes for single-family residences within the bigger Centennial Centre project. Builders are hoping the project gives potential homeowners in the area an affordable option. Michelle Stimpson, Lexington’s vice president of sales and marketing, states, "We will be back to prices for homes that we were at 10 years ago. We need to help the mass of people, and working with Hobart, we're able to do that." The average home sale price runs about $138,000, but newly constructed homes can cost more with landscaping and appliances factored in. The Centennial Centre project is set to track with the future reconstruction of the U.S. 41 and Wisconsin 29 interchange, set for between 2011 and 2015. Lexington Homes President Jeff Marlow comments, "It's amazing to see what has transpired in this community in terms of availability of homes. There's so much doom and gloom, but we’re doing things differently here."
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"Developments Transform Kenosha"
Kenosha News (Wis.) (01/31/10) Potente, Joe

The urbanization of Kenosha, Wis., and its surrounding area includes fewer farms, more homes and busier streets. A decade ago, the city limits effectively ended at Interstate 94. They now stretch west to Highway MB (152nd Avenue). On land formerly in Bristol, strawberry farms have given way to homes occupied by hundreds of city dwellers in a subdivision aptly named Strawberry Creek. Farm tractors have also disappeared along Highway H, another road that was firmly outside city limits earlier in the decade that now boasts large residential subdivisions and industrial projects. Kenosha's city center has also seen its share of residential development, most notably a new neighborhood of condominiums and townhouses that has taken root on the lakefront area east of downtown in recent years. According to former Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, the last decade marked a continuation of quality-of-life improvements the metro area has made over the last three decades.
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"Brown County Town of Holland Votes for Wind-Farm Ban"
Appleton Post-Crescent (02/03/10) Williams, Scott

Opponents of a proposed wind farm in Wisconsin's southern Brown County hope the town of Holland is just the first of many municipalities statewide to enact a one-year ban on wind farm construction. Back in the fall, Invenergy LLC applied to state regulators for permission to develop the Ledge Wind Energy Project within four neighboring Brown County towns. The Chicago-based company's plan calls for 54 wind turbines in Morrison, along with 22 in Holland, 20 in Wrightstown and four in Glenmore. Earlier this week, the Holland Town Board voted unanimously to impose a one-year moratorium and increase from 1,000 feet to 2,640 feet how far any wind turbines must be set back from neighboring properties. It remains unclear whether local moratoriums or other potential obstacles will have any effect despite the vote. Wisconsin's Public Service Commission (PSC) has the authority to approve such projects regardless of the moves local officials make. PSC spokesman Tim Le Monds states, "It trumps anything at the local level."
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"$225 Million Waste-to-Energy Project Planned in Milwaukee"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI) (02/02/10) Content, Thomas

Alliance Federated Energy has announced plans to build Project Apollo, a $225 million facility in Milwaukee that would convert municipal and industrial waste into renewable energy. Plans call for the 25-megawatt project to go online in 2013. Its first phase is expected to generate enough clean energy to power approximately 20,000 homes in the Milwaukee metro area. The locally based firm has an option on a site in the city but has yet to disclose the location.
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"Doyle $823 Million for Passenger Rail in Wisconsin"
WQOW TV-18 (WI) (01/28/10)

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle recently joined with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan to announce that Wisconsin is receiving $823 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to build high-speed passenger rail service. Doyle commented, "This is a major project that will create thousands of jobs in Wisconsin and invest in our long-term growth, connecting the major centers of commerce in Wisconsin and the Midwest." In addition to building high-speed passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin will also install crossovers between Chicago and Milwaukee to improve service on this highly popular route. Over the next 10 years, high-speed passenger rail in Wisconsin will eliminate 7.8 million car trips, save 27.6 million gallons of fuel, eliminate nearly 270,000 tons of carbon emissions, and create more livable communities with less congestion.
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"Contracts to Buy Homes Rise, Suggesting a Thaw for Spring"
New York Times (02/03/10) P. B3

The National Association of REALTOR®'s index of pending home sales is up for the ninth time in 10 months, thanks in large part to a U.S. government tax credit for first-time buyers. The 96.6 point reading in December, a 1 percent gain from November, suggests that home sales are stabilizing ahead of the spring selling season. However, issues such as high unemployment, rising foreclosures, and tight lending standards threaten recovery.
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"Housing Market: A New Normal"
Inman News (02/01/10)

In a new paper, "Housing in America: The Next Decade," Urban Land Institute senior resident fellow John McIlwain says the housing market will not return to what it was prior to the downturn but rather that a "new normal" will take its place. He expects another 10 percent decrease in residential prices this year, a jump in the number of borrowers abandoning "underwater" mortgages, and a change in consumer perceptions of homeownership. McIlwain writes, "The emotional imp1act on the children and parents and disillusion about the 'joys' of homeownership will be intense; new attitudes to homeownership and the American dream will emerge." He expects home price appreciation to hover around 1 percent or 2 percent per year after the market recovers and the national homeownership rate to drop from 67 percent currently to 62 percent by 2020. In the coming decade, McIlwain expects older baby boomers to move to urban, mixed-use, mixed-age centers near family instead of retiring to Sun Belt communities; immigrants to snub the suburbs in favor of more close-knit communities; younger boomers to face the challenges of lost home equity and a smaller pool of move-up buyers; and Generation Y to rent for long periods by choice or because they are paying off student loans or have stagnant incomes.
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