tampa4u's Blog: MARKETING stuff

Almost every other day, we'll get a call from a seller wanting to know if we have buyers who may want to buy their property.  Apparently sellers know we have buyers. Question is, why didn't they list with us in the first place? - Because sellers don't look online for an agent or brokerage to list their homes. They start looking online when they become anxious after 60 days without a showing. This have been very frustrating. How can we get the message to the sellers that the buyers are online and that the best exposure for their listings will be online. Thru postcards? Bench advertising? Billboards? Thru farming?

So far we've gotten listings thru referrals and from past clients who are now selling. But the goal is to have as many sellers as we have…

We do real estate the amateur way. We don't even pre-qualify our buyers. We don't make them sign a buyer-broker agreement. We show them as many house as they like to see and houses we feel they should see. We take them  to lunch; we take them to dinner. If they're out of state, we often pick them up from the airport and take them to their hotel. We never ask for referrals.

But we have a very good convertion ratio (almost 90%) and we have built up a network of referrals that we never asked for. We have tried different methods but we always come back to this. This, for us, is the most effective. It's all about rapport and service. We treat clients how we would like to be treated. It's as simple as that. All our agents are trained (or re-trained) like this -…

While everybody is hustling on closing and making offers on short sales and bank owned properties, we've been searching for alternatives to this frustrating aspect of real estate here in the Tampa Bay area. Enough of this short sales and foreclosures. Enough of the attitudes and incompetence. Welcome the alternative: Brand New Homes!

See this week's "Best Deals in Town" and our Tampa New Home Search.

Yup these are the alternatives. Most people wanting to get short sales and foreclosure properties are really looking for great deals. Currently there are lots of great deals on Brand New and inventory homes from builders in the Tampa Bay area. Builders offering very competitive pricing, Closing cost assistance, down payment assistance, and points buy down.…

TAMPA, FL, April 1, 2008:  Tampa4U.com Realty, Inc, amidst the slow real estate market, is opening a new office in Channelside, FL. Tampa4U has become known as "The" real estate website in Tampa largely due to their attention to customer service and knowledgeable agents. In a bold effort to spread their knowledge to a larger resident base, the Channelside office is being launched. Tampa4U has managed to set their real estate cause apart from other Realtors in the Tampa area by thinking “outside of the box” and suprisingly, by just answering their phones and returning calls immediately. Read the rest of this story.

Tampa: Open 4 Business and/or Pleasure

First off ... we're so proud and happy to have this site as part of out Tampa Real Estate blog family.

What's in it 4U: Tampa is recognized as one of the country’s fast growing cities today. Being a bustling port that is home to hundreds of people from varied socio-economic background and lifestyle, Tampa has a rich ethnic diversity that sets it apart from other port cities in the country. People from all over the world go to Tampa to enjoy the beautiful scenery and recreational activities it has to offer.
 
What more is there 4U: While Tampa is known for its gated master-planned communities that offers fantastic golf courses, it is also interesting to note that Tampa offers so much more than this. Visitors…

A recent article in Forbes.com showcased homes from all over the world which can be bought for $1 million. In metropolitan European cities like London and Paris, this specific amount gets the buyer a one-bedroom apartment near the center of the town. In comparison, a cool million dollars get the buyer a mansion in a master-planned community  in sunny Tampa.

And if one takes into consideration the decreasing value of the dollar in world market, it would be not hard to see how attractive real estate investment is to foreign buyers.

Even if general sale of residential properties have markedly slowed down, foreigners would still have a lot to gain when they decide to purchase a property in Tampa. Apart from the prospect of owning a house in one of the most…

Thank God we survived 2007. 2008 is going to be better.  We're looking forward to a very fruitful, "fun-filled" exciting year. Can't get any worse than the last:) ... or will it. See our Welcome 2008 message to our customers: Welcome 2008

I always tell pessimists that in any market there are opportunities. In spite of what we read about the sluggish real estate market and what buyers and sellers tell us, there are a lot of positives in this market:

Prices are falling to the point that first-time home buyers can afford to buy again. In some areas of Tampa prices have dropped by almost $100K. 3 bedroom, 2 bath , 1600 sq ft homes can be purchased for a little over $150K in nice master-planned communities.

Lots of real estate agents are not going to be renewing their licenses this year: that means LESS competition.

Builders are once again kissing our behinds and offering substantial co-broke incentives.

Sellers are more willing to give us more to list their homes and are once again…