Study after study has confirmed that those who strategically increase marketing efforts during economic declines reap noticeable gains in market share over their competition. In the real estate business, that means allocating capital towards more professional means of marketing: professional staging, professional photography, and promotional videos for listings are examples.
By Inman News, Tuesday, December 30, 2008.
Own local
Make everything you write relevant to your city. For example, if you are writing about national home value trends, juxtapose that data against local information. You’ll draw a more relevant audience, build new connections with area business people and come across as a local expert.
Commit to a writing regimen
You have to make a time commitment to writing – and probably every day. Make a regimented and daily commitment to feeding your blog, and writing will get easier over time.
Write for people not currently looking for a home
If you write only about home buying and selling strategies or your new listings, you will have a tough time building a longer-term audience. To build an audience that stays with you, cover topics outside of the home transaction sphere. Write about home improvement, highlight cool things to see and do your community. If you pique the interest of homeowners who are not yet looking to buy or sell, they will be much more likely to turn to you when their time comes.
RISMEDIA, February 10, 2009
Housing could get a big boost from the latest addition to the stimulus bill working its way through Congress. The latest proposal provides an initiative for first time homebuyers; a $8,000 tax credit.
To qualify for the credit, the purchase must be made between Jan. 1, 2009 and Nov. 30, 2009. Buyers may not have owned a home for the past three years to qualify as “first time” buyer. They must also live in the house for at least three years, or they will be obligated to pay back the credit. To qualify, buyers must make less than $75,000 for singles or $150,000 for couples. (Higher-income buyers may receive a partial credit.) And applying for the credit will be easy – homeowners just claim it on their return. 
Current law provides for a $7,500 tax break that is more of a loan. This latest provision is truly a tax credit which eliminates the repayment feature.
According to estimates by Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, the $8,000 credit will bring an additional 300,000 new homebuyers into the market
