Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - James Lunsford - iPro Real Estate

Real estate brokerages house agents, clients displaced by wildfires

Offices open their doors to the homelessIn times of disaster, real estate offices can turn into second homes for agents and their clients by providing them with a place to rest their head, take a breath and plan for the next step.It happened in hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico and Houston, and last week was no exception during the devastating wildfires that have so far killed at least 40 people and destroyed 5,700 structures in Northern Californi

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Rent or buy? Top cities for owning, renting and sharing

Roommates are changing the numbersKey Takeaways If you live in one of the uber-expensive coastal cities of California and Washington state, then continuing to rent is often the only option. In Detroit, a median priced starter home costs $16,463 — the lowest median home sales price in the nation. Buying is typically cheaper, but that changes when roommates are thrown into the mix.In today’s market, renters and buyers often find themselves in t

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REALTORS: 7 easy ways to stay in touch with your clients this Halloween

Don't let your epitaph read 'forgettable' this Allhallow's eveAny holiday is a great excuse to engage with clients. With Halloween right around the corner, here are seven clever real estate agent “tricks” that’ll “treat” your clients to something fun!1. Pumpkin patch map Door-knock or send a Halloween mailer to your farm with a map of local pumpkin patches in the neighborhood.Make sure to put your face and contact information on the m

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REALTORS: 3 essential tools that will 10X your real estate marketing

Smart landing pages, a synchronized database and automation generate resultsSpraying your message high and wide does not breed online marketing success; rather, standout results emerge when you pair smart, strategic decisions with the right tools.An integrated marketing strategy ensures your message reaches the right audience at the right moment—the marketing holy grail. It also multiplies your results.With your systems and tools aligned, your

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The government pays more to rich homeowners than poor renters

Housing subsidies are going to wealthy homeowners at nearly twice the rate of low income rentersThe United States government spends nearly twice the amount on housing subsidies that favor the rich over the section 8 housing program for low income Americans, a new report finds—$71 billion compared to $29.9 billion in 2015, the report from the website Apartment List found.Credit: Apartment ListAs the country heads towards a likely partisan deba

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58% of people would live with a ghost

Looks like haunted houses don't scare off all buyers, according to realtor.comThis Halloween, consider mentioning any (friendly) ghosts and goblins that may have taken up residence in one of your listings — as it turns out, more than half of buyers are open to living in a haunted house.In September, realtor.com conducted a Haunted Real Estate survey where 1,000 respondents shared their opinions on living in a home with a “few extra guests.”

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REALTORS: 7 tips for writing listing descriptions buyers can’t pass up

Listing descriptions are your opportunity to grab potential buyers’ attention, don’t mess it upKey Takeaways Avoid vagueness, writing in caps, misspellings, grammar mistakes and repetitions. Be brief, use lists and bullets and create a compelling call to action.First impressions are critical in real estate. You only get one shot to impress sellers enough to hire you and one chance to put the home on the market.A crucial aspect of marketing a

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REALTORS: 12 basic rules of online marketing

Don’t just throw spaghetti at the wall -- create value with your messageKey Takeaways Make sure your online marketing plan is in sync with your overall business goals, and be consistent.In today’s ever-changing, digital marketing landscape, you have to have an online presence, or you’ll get passed by.But not knowing where to start and feeling like you have to do it all to be successful leaves many real estate agents frustrated and intimi

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Best Alternatives to Pricey Urban Meccas

Many of the nation’s premier urban meccas come at a steep price to home buyers and renters. But researchers at realtor.com® have pinpointed affordable alternatives to the country’s hottest locales.They uncovered budget-friendly counterparts to some of the nation’s most expensive metros, referring to them as “metro matchups.” They are places comparable to urban meccas in many ways but whose housing prices largely remain below $350,000.

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Lot Prices in Midwest Hit Record High

Builders are paying more for new-home lots, and those expenses will be passed on to home buyers. Single-family lot prices remained at record levels last year, with half costing $45,000 or more, according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis of Census Bureau data. It’s the second consecutive year that lot prices have been at record highs; the previous record was in 2006, during the housing boom, when lots averaged $43,000.Rising l

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