Just Announced! the Best of Winston Salem

Smittys Notes Best of Winston Salem

Just announced are the 2008 Smitty’s Notes Best of Winston-Salem awards, the best of what readers of Smitty’s Notes like and appreciate about Winston-Salem.

While many of these winners may seem like no-brainers, a few of them are new on the scene (or maybe I just need to get out more). There are also a few categories missing (IMHO). Like “Best Doughnuts” or “Best Lunch Bargain” or “Best Kids Dining” or “Best Greasy Spoon.” Then again, maybe it’s just me. What do you think?

$1 Tripod Substitute for Better Photos

Calling all real estate agents. Take note and redeem your MLS photos for less than $1 in materials.

In my last post about bad real estate photos I noted:

I can’t help but be amazed at the substandard work which agents and sellers seem to be prepared to accept when it comes to photography. If you’ve spent any amount of time looking at homes on the internet, you’re already aware that there are far too many lousy and useless images out there.

If investing in a good tripod is not on your to do list then please consider the following option - take minute to view this video and learn how to get similar results for less than $1:

We take the “spin” out out of internet marketing

TourTheTriad has done the homework for you. As a leading provider of Full-Service real estate photography and virtual tours, you can trust that we know what works and what doesn’t. We take the “spin” out out of deciding
how to effectively market your properties and your self on the internet.

A recent post in the RealEstateShows blog reads:

Consumer confidence is down. Home sales are declining. Inventories of unsold homes are at record highs. Realtors are depressed and so are their earnings.thumbsdown

This makes no sense to me.

Here’s why. The forecasts that I have seen for home sales say that roughly 5.9 million homes will be sold this year. It’s down from 6.4 million homes last year. So the real estate world is going to hell in a hand basket because only 5.9 million homes will be sold? I don’t think so.

The strategic challenges for you are these:

1. To develop an effective marketing plan to make sure you get your share of listings.
2. To educate your sellers to bring their expectations in line with the current reality of the market (that
applies to pricing and time on market).
3. And to strengthen and broaden your marketing approaches to selling listings – especially everything having to do with the Internet.

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Photo Quality Attracts Buyers

RealEstateJournal.comA recent article by Dana Mattioli at the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate site offers tips for taking home photos that will draw buyers.” Mattioli introduces the idea of “pix appeal” that is fast replacing curb appeal in marketing real estate. Since most real estate buyers are beginning their search online, the quality of the property photos play an important role on whether the house is added to a person’s “favorites” list. If a house is not marked for later reference, it surely will not get seen in person and another sale may be lost.

“Without pictures I am much less likely to go see a house,” says house hunter Dan Dillbeck of Grand Rapids, Mich. In most cases — 85% of the time — online photos are his first view of a home, he says, adding that poor pictures tend to turn him away.

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