Closing Gift Ideas for Executives

As an Executive, you always go above and beyond for your clients. What better way to show you care than to go the extra mile with a personalized gift on closing day?

Here are a few ideas for your next closing gift...

• Homemade taco night in a box (an easy fix for dinner on moving night!)
• Homemade pasta sauce with a personalized tag
• Herb garden in a pot
• Personalized candle holders
• Sweet little plant with a note
• Personalized wine bottle cooler
• Heirloom seeds for the garden

You can find these and so many more ideas on our Pinterest Board dedicated specifically to this topic at http://pinterest.com/realtyexecs/gift-guide-for-clients/.

International SEO - Why It's Different

If you're looking to reach an international audience for your home sales, then you need to think internationally when performing search engine optimization (SEO) on your website.

Inman News featured a great article about how you can modify your SEO practices so they're tailored towards an international audience. Here are a few tips:

•  Choose the right search engines
• China uses Baidu
• Russia uses Yandex
• South Korea uses Naver
• Czech Republic uses Seznam
• Start with search engine marketing 
• Reconsider your keywords
• Have international professionals handle your international SEO
• Integrate your international marketing into your everyday business

Click here to learn more.

*Photo via InmanNews.com

Shake Up and Wake Up

Wow! Did any of you attend Shake Up and Wake Up at movie theaters across the United States yesterday? Talk about inspiring. About 25,000 real estate professionals gathered in front of movie screens as famous football coach Lou Holtz and top real estate coach Brian Buffini provided invaluable insight and wisdom about the real estate industry and life itself.

The event kicked off with Lou Holtz. This man is pure wisdom. He entertained audiences with delightful stories and more importantly engaged us all in how to tune into the most important factors in life; trust, commitment and love. He taught us that if we create dreams for ourselves and then focus on the present to accomplish daily tasks that benefit that ultimate goal, we can accomplish our visions. Holtz shared that if we exit bad situations with grace and dignity, far better opportunities will present themselves on the horizon, much like his career winning move to lead Notre Dame to victory. Let's just say the event could have ended there and all 25,000 of us could have walked away feeling refreshed and invigorated, but it wasn't done yet...

Then, Brian Buffini stepped in and leveraged what his mentor Lou Holtz taught us by catering the message specifically to the real estate industry. He focused on these five key principles of why real estate agents struggle:

1. Peaks and valleys in income - Buffini taught that the only workaround for this is lead generation year-round, not just after a closing.
2. Not knowing where the next lead is coming from - The answer to this is developing systems. If you do this you will...
   
• S. ave
• Y. our
• S. elf
• T. ime
• E. nergy
• M. oney
3. Not being able to stand out against the competition - Provide value and benefit to your clients by sending out resources (systematically of course) such as how to raise your credit score, how to stage your home and statistics about your current market.
4. Not having a skillset for the market - Go to educational events, such as Shake Up and Wake Up to keep yourself at the forefront of your industry so you're prepared for everything.
5. Being disorganized - In order to stay organized, Buffini suggests you:

• Prioritize
• Remove and Replace
• Start Today!

If you attended this incredible event, we'd love to hear what your takeaways were. We hope you're buzzing with energy and ideas just as we are after that one-of-a-kind presentation!

Calling All Real Estate "Tweeters"

Do you fancy yourself a Twitter king or queen in your community? Then, Inman News has a new challenge for you!

Introducing #MadRESkillz from Inman News. Each time you make a quirky, insightful and/or out-of-this world real estate marketing Tweet, tag #MadRESkillz and Inman will determine if your post is worthy of its new weekly Twitter conversation taking place every Thursday.

Inman News will pick their favorite and most unusual top two posts and post them to their Facebook page each Friday. The winner will even get an interview featured on InmanNews.com.

Calling all tech-savvy and social media crazed real estate agents, this mission is geared for you!

To learn more about how you can participate click here.

*Image via Inman News

Housing is Back!

Great news for the real estate market! The cards are in your favor if you're selling your home, according to CNN Money.

Six years after the pricing collapse, housing is on its way up. CNN Money has offered some insight and strategies for selling your home in this new market.

• Lower your sights to make more money.
• Trading up? Move fast. Downsizing? Go slow.
• Smooth out your home's rough patches. Renovate before you sell.
• Stage your home to bolster appearance.
• Take professional photographs to increase your sale.
• Guard against low appraisals.
• Find a real estate agent that can help you market your home to investors.

Click here to read the details about these tips. The takeaway here is that housing is back and it's an exciting time for home sellers, home buyers and real estate agents!

*Photo via CNN Money

More Americans Moving Further Away

Thanks to a recovering economy, USA Today recently reported that more Americans are moving longer distances. Another key factor includes rising home prices which is making Americans rethink their next big move. Here are a few of the main elements impacting this change as provided by USA Today.

Moving is up
An estimated 36.5 million people moved in 2012, that number is up from 35.1 million in 2011. 

What was preventing them?
The average American moves six times but most Americans have been cited as saying that number is not as frequent because of the challenging real estate market the past several years. 37 percent of those putting it off cited lack of economic stability as the reason for not moving, while 31 percent said it was due to the real estate market

The good news
Statistics show that recent movers are traveling out-of-state and that is attributed to job availability in different markets. A sign that jobs are beginning to open up.

Click here to learn more.

*Photo via USA Today

Millennials Seek Homeownership

Now is the time to start marketing to millennials. According to a survey performed by the PulteGroup, 65 percent of millennial renters (age 18-34) with an income of more than $50,000 expressed that their intent to purchase a home has increased over the past year.

According to the study, the following elements served to be the most important to young potential homeowners:

• 84 percent said ample storage for daily items
• 76 percent said space for TV, movie, sports watching
• 73 percent said the entry to the home
• 63 percent said outdoor living/deck
• 36 percent said the ability to conduct business from home

The internet seems to be the most prominent source for where this age group is seeking information as they start to consider purchasing a home.

"Millennials really do their homework and use several resources to make this important decision." said Fred Ehle, vice president for PulteGroup.

Click here to learn more about the study.