In these hard times, more American families are finding out just how costly putting a down payment on a new house or renovating their old one can really be. Knowing this, the government has begun implementing various programs designed to provide American citizens with free money to put towards their homes.

All legal citizens aged 18 years and older are eligible to receive a number of different government grants. you need simply apply to be eligible for these grants. There is no limit on the number of government grants you can receive; meaning you could be awarded multiple grants at any given time.

The funds awarded to those Americans who apply vary in amount depending on what they are used for. For instance, there is $2,000 available to anyone who needs to pay off their credit and $5,000 available to seniors who need to do repairs on their homes. Another $10,000 can be awarded to those in need of a new roof, and $15,000 can be put towards the down payment of a new house. These are but a few of the different grants you may be eligible to receive.

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Ezines have already moved from the hot new marketing trend, to a staple that practically everyone is using, but few people actually get new clients or more sales from their Ezines. If Ezines are so great, why don’t they work, and what are the Ezine killer tactics you must avoid?

11 Ezine Killer Tactics That Will Send Your Realtors Running for the Door

DO NOT:

1. Use your Ezine to inundate your clients and prospects with tons of daily offers and last minute specials, which quickly trains the “readers” to ignore the messages.

2. Load your Ezine messages with tons of images. When you open the Ezine message all you see is a few words, a bunch of boxes and a button that says “to download images click here” even if it’s loaded with valuable information the mess screams, “junk mail” and will likely get deleted.

3. Sign people up to your Ezine who didn’t ask to receive it, just because you have their e-mail address.

4. Sell, trade or rent your Ezine members addresses to other organizations.

5. Send your Ezine members offers from affiliates that are totally irrelevant to your business and their interests. (more…)

Recently, a 3D floor plan company was called to our attention that takes virtual tours to a new level. As former commercial real estate brokers we appreciate the need to help clients visualize how their office space will lay out. Space planners offer renderings with elevations to accompany floor plans that help the visualization process, marginally. For major tenants they build 3D models which work much better. However, they are expensive to produce. So, 3D web graphics may be just the ticket. But, will this work when marketing luxury real estate?

Perhaps, if a buyer of a luxury condo needs to compare floor plans this would be helpful. Or, possibly a second home buyer from outside of the market place could save a trip by being able to better visualize the views from certain rooms. Or, maybe it would helpful to see the potential of remodeling, and the advantages of removing certain walls to rework the flow of rooms.

The old bottom line questions that luxury real estate professionals need to ask about the new wave of innovative interactivity still apply:

• Will this new technology help me get more listings and sell more homes?
• Will investing in this technology give me a genuine competitive advantage?
• Is this the next fad, or is 3D here to stay?

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You’ve found the ideal property you’d like to make an offer on and have to evaluate how much to offer so you get the property at your price, how do you do it?

It is said that Real Estate Investors make their money when they buy the property. For the most part, this is true. If you pay too much, you’ve just become a long term investor and potentially a landlord waiting for the market to catch up hoping you get positive cash flow on the property. If that was your strategy all along no harm, but if you wanted to resell the property quickly, you may not be able to. This article addresses the steps and items you should consider when evaluating investment properties.

First, you must have an exit strategy in mind and I recommend an alternate exit strategy in case your primary goal doesn’t work out. Typical exit strategies are to wholesale the property immediately, rehab the property and resell it, or keep the property and rent it out for cash flow. There are other strategies that incorporate several of these like lease options but the point is to decide what you will do with the property before you own it.

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While we seem to be in the middle of a monsoon season as opposed to a gorgeous heat wave, many people dream about buying a holiday home for lots of lovely long weekends and sunny breaks.

Is it worth investing in a holiday home in the sun? Can you make money from holiday homes or could you suffer the same fate as some who have bought on the Costa del Sol and are currently unable to sell?

Follow Kate’s Top Five Tips if you are considering buying a holiday home:

Tip One

Don’t buy on a whim while you are away! By all means look for property and check out what you can afford, but then come home and plan to re-visit local experts once you have worked out the finances. Compare the costs of buying (and selling) as well as on-going costs versus renting or staying in hotels.

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