Posts Tagged ‘Amp’

When it comes to writing Real Estate Ads, one of the most well known methods of advertising, ‘Newspaper Display Ads’, are usually the real estate ads that come to mind. You know, ones with classic headlines such as…

“Renovators Delight” – this really means a demolition job and start again.

“Position, Position, Position” – can’t think of anything else to say.

“Owner bought elsewhere” – the owner was silly enough to buy somewhere first and now needs to sell quickly…

“Owners Instruct to Sell it” – this would have to be one of the most ridiculous headlines. I mean, of course he’s instructed you to sell it? Derrr…

“Views, Views, Views” – you can see what looks like a mountain range if you stand on the roof

But seriously, another well known method of advertising homes for sale is the internet. It is now the most widely used form of real estate advertising available to home sellers, both FSBO home sellers and those using agents. However, for this article, I will concentrate on newspaper advertising, as most of the information provided will also apply to the internet.

So in this article I will cover the following…

1. What Components Make up a Good Advertisement

2. What type of Buyer do you want to Attract?

1. What Components Make Up a Good Advertisement?

A good ad will have all of these:

a) Good Quality Photographs

b) Suburb

c) Price Details

d) Attention-grabbing headline

e) Descriptive body including housing attributes

f) Contact & Viewing Details

The first thing a buyer will do when scouring the newspaper, is quickly scan the pages. Firstly, they will look for either a) a Photograph, and/or b) Suburb, and secondly the Price.

These three things will determine next whether the buyer will continue to read your advertisement or not. And if your home is advertised on a website, whether they will get on the internet to find out more.

Your home obviously has to be in the right suburb, and the photo has to have the right impact and convey to the buyer that it is the style of home they are looking for.

Then next comes the price. Regardless of how great the photos look and the suburb, if your price is not within the range they are looking, your advertisement will be passed over.

What makes a great ad though, is how these components are put together and presented.

a) Good Quality Photographs

As the saying goes…’A picture paints a thousand words’. This is especially true when it comes to photographs. In this day and age of camera and computer technology, there is no excuse for a bad photograph!

If using only one photo, make sure it’s the one that is the most flattering and conveys the ‘true essence’ of your home. If more than one, then obviously the ones that are of best quality and will convey the most important aspects, and quickly.

Quality of photographs not only has to do with what you are
photographing, but also the quality of the photo itself. If your photo is blurry, too dark, or too close to capture any detail, then it’s only going to turn buyers off, or give a less-than-appealing impression of your home.

***Important Tips for Better Photos***

i) When taking a photo of rooms inside your home, try taking photos from the corner of the room and take the shot from around chest
height. By taking photos this way, you will take in more of the room and give a more flattering look to its’ features.

ii) Take photos of the outside of your home on a sunny day, taking care that any shadow is falling behind your home, not in front, i.e. the sun should be behind you. The colours are more vivid and details are sharper.

iii) Try to take inside photos on dull days, or if not possible, then close the curtains and turn on the lights. Otherwise the light outside will make the inside of your home too dark to see any detail.
You can use the flash on your camera to provide more light. However, if the room is large you may get only a part of the room lit up and the rest appearing dark.

iv) To avoid blurred photos, try using a tripod or something you can rest your camera on, so it doesn’t shake.

v) Now when it comes to the size of the photograph, i.e. the pixel size, depending on what you intend to use the photos for, it’s best take the photo in a medium-to-large pixel size.
This way you can take copies and have them converted into a smaller size for the internet and newspaper, and the larger size can be used for signage.

b) Suburb

This one is pretty obvious, and needs to be displayed prominently in your ad. The suburb is usually done in a larger font size, and situated at the top of the ad or towards the top, since people read from top to bottom.

c) Price Details

The most important tip I can give you about price details is…Include it in your ad!

Unless you are auctioning your home, a price or price range
should be displayed if you want people to look further. You see, most people have an amount in mind that they can spend. Unless you display a price, buyers don’t know if your home sits in their price range.

The only other time that you can really get away with advertising without a price is if you are selling a prestige home, since the buyers in this category have a large disposable income or asset base, so price is of no concern.

If your ad doesn’t display a price, more often than not, buyers will glance over your ad and look for another property that shows a buying price range.

d) Attention-grabbing headline

The buyer has seen your ad. It’s in the right suburb; they like the photograph of your home; it’s in their buying range; now you need them to read the print.

You do this with an ‘attention-grabbing’ headline, and I don’t mean one of those headlines at the start of the article. Entice your buyer with a headline which summarises what your home is all about.

Instead of “Great views”, why not try a headline that tells buyers what the view is.

Something along these lines…’Relax…Put your feet up… Enjoy exclusive 180deg Views of Mortein Bay’. Buyers want to be able to picture themselves in your home.

They probably have a picture in their mind of what they want to be doing and how they want to be feeling when they buy a home. Maybe, all they dream about is kicking back after a hard days work and just looking out over the ocean and sipping on a glass of wine. Do you think then that this headline may get them to read more?

The key is to summarise what makes your home unique. Something that other homes don’t offer. And then offer it to them in a way that ‘paints a picture’in their minds of what they’re going to get if they buy ‘your’ home. How good is it going to make them feel when they live in it?

e) Descriptive Body including Home Attributes

When I say descriptive, I don’t mean bending the truth. You still need to be honest about what your home offers. And you need to mix some facts with detail.

Example: Instead of…

“3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1 garage home with large kitchen and yard. Close to shops, schools, transport”

B-o-r-i-n-g…What does this tell the buyer, apart from the basics? Does this inspire you to want to know more? Probably not!

Now try something with a little more detail. Tell the buyer about the great things you love about your home, and why
you chose that home to live in. Something along these lines…

“Sadly, it is now time to part with our beautiful character, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, chalet-style home. Set amongst the lush, tropical rainforest of Springbrook National Park, our hardwood timber home has been carefully built with the environment in mind.

Using all natural materials, our elevated home enjoys cool mountain breezes all year round, so doesn’t require air-conditioning. Heating is provided during cooler months with a central fireplace keeping
you and your family warm and cosy, where ever they are in the house.

Enjoy cooking in your large, country-style kitchen opening out to a spacious verandah. The kitchen has everything you could want… modern gas appliances, lots of bench and cupboard space; a huge walk-in pantry; dishwasher with 5 star water rating….”

Well…Do you get the picture? How different is the second description? Wouldn’t it entice you if you love rainforests and mountains? Can you actually see yourself right there?

And just in finishing…make sure it’s not too long winded by separating longer paragraphs with a space, to make it easier to read.

Also, make sure you include the most important details which differentiate your home from other homes in your area. Especially things that nobody else has that they want.

f) Contact and Viewing Details

Pretty straightforward. Make sure buyers know how to get in touch with you. You only need to supply your first name and a contact phone number.

If you are selling privately, it’s a good idea to give a phone number that you can be contacted on more readily, like a mobile phone number. Not only is this convenient, but you can also screen calls (with a message bank) if you need some privacy. This is also good if you get unwanted calls from agents pestering you.

Viewing details tell buyers when they can look at your home in person. Depending on your situation, you can either have ‘Inspection by Appointment’ or ‘Open for Inspection’ (with days, dates & times).

‘Inspection by appointment’ is better for people who might need time to clean beforehand and are really busy people who may work long or odd hours. Or you may have someone else handling inspections and need to organise them ahead of time.

‘Open for Inspections’ are good if you just want everyone through at the same time, so you’re not continually cleaning up during the week. If you have one or two set of Open House times, you only have to clean and prepare your home a couple of times during the week, rather than continually.

2. What type of Buyer do you want to Attract?

When you bought the home you are now trying to sell, what things attracted you to the home? What made you buy it?

By answering these simple questions, will tell you alot about why the next home buyer will want to buy your home. You’ll find that their needs and wants are probably very similar to what yours were when you originally bought. You’ll also find they’re probably much like you.

When you first bought your home, were you a young family starting out, or were you middle-aged and the kids had flown the coop. Perhaps you were working in the city and you just needed something close to public transport and that was easy to look after.

These are important points to help you determine your ‘Target Market’. Who or what type of buyer would be interested in your home?

So make a list of basic attributes your home has to offer. No flowery stuff here, just the facts, e.g. large back yard with small, landscaped garden; pergola; 4 bedrooms with rumpus; pool; bar; gourmet kitchen; 2 bathrooms; media room; etc. Rememember to put in whether you are close to the freeway if that’s relevant. Or maybe the
bus stop is only 50 metres from the door.

See… once you’ve made a list of things and you’ve thought about what attracted you originally, these details will tell you what type of buyer would be interested in your home.

By knowing this, you can then style your advertising to attract only those type of buyers. Because in all honesty, not everyone
will want to buy your home.

Lastly, but not at all least, choose your colours, font types and sizes carefully for your advertising, especially when it comes to newspaper ads.

Use the KISS (keep it simple stupid) principle.

*Using the colour ‘red’ in your ad somewhere is good, but use it only sparingly, and use it to draw your potential buyer to something important like the headline or the suburb.

* Try to stick to black print in an ‘arial’ type font. It’s clean and easy to read.

* Never use white on a dark background. It’s difficult for the eye to read.

* Yellow can be used successfully as a background, and can make your ad stand out from the others.

* Make sure your photograph is in colour, and not edited in any way, i.e. don’t distort the photo or colour or do something ‘artistic’.

* Never use more than two different types of font in any
advertisement. It’s too confusing for the eye, and people just won’t read it.

Now all you need to do is sit back and wait for the calls! Provided of course that you’ve done all your homework on selling and pricing, then you’re onto a winner!

P.S. If it works keep using it until you sell. If it doesn’t, change one thing at a time and monitor the response.

Kerry helps educate home sellers by providing tips, strategies and resources for selling their home, whether they are FSBO or using an agent. This is done from Australia via her information website [http://www.home-owner-selling-solutions.com]

Author: Kerry A Warnholtz
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Can you guess how far it is between these two points? A: The starry-eyed dream of building your own home. B: The passionate and committed decision to build the home of your dreams!

Actually, only you can answer that question accurately … as it relates to you! Personally, I’ve noticed that for so many people, the distance is staggering. And the gap is often a deep chasm that results from the dread of the unknown.

You see, the dream of home building, or even remodeling, is often followed by that nasty little devil of fear. So what happens? RETREAT! Yes, we retreat back to our comfort zone, put that dream away for a while and breathe a sigh of relief that we won’t have to face THAT devil again for a while!

But, what happens when you dare to face your fears and make a decision? What happens when you actually take the dream and give it life by adding action and the “real time” details that bring building or remodeling your own home into focus? Details like who, what, when, where, why and how?

THE PERFECT HOUSE PLAN

It wasn’t long ago that I was displaying house plans and building materials at a Home Show and watched as some folks were eying the home designs on the table. They seemed intent on them and I sensed they wanted to talk to me. I asked them, “Are you planning to build a home?” Their answer was to laugh nervously.

“We have our building lot and as soon as we find the right home plan, we’ll build” they answered with another laugh. Now, as this didn’t seem that funny on the surface, I knew there was something behind the laughter. As it turned out, they’d been looking for that “perfect house plan” for six long years! Needless to say, they had not made a strong decision to build.

CLEAR DECISIONS BREAK DOWN BARRIERS

To make a long story short, I was able to help these folks decide upon a house plan. This didn’t happen because I knew just what would be good for them. It only happened as I helped them gain the clarity they needed through a series of questions and answers about what they really wanted and why they were stuck in neutral.

Could you gain some clarity? What’s holding you back? Are you looking to break those barriers that have kept you from moving forward with your home building dream? See if you can relate to one or more of the following limiting mindsets … maybe one of them will get you closer to that empowering decision so your path can be cleared.

• The home building dream is only a wish until you make it specific and measurable: What specifics are missing in your wish list?
• Wanting to build but having no idea what that new home will really look like does not make for a good aiming point: When will you create that one vision that turns your fuzzy homebuilding picture into a sharp vision?
• Simply thinking that you want to build a home, but having no idea what the cost of building is, means you’re happy enough with the warm, fuzzy feeling of “some day maybe:” Who will you contact to determine building costs of your area?
• Looking at house plan after house plan without narrowing down the features and benefits that really work for you: Why do you choose to remain so general and what are you fearful of?

THE POWER OF DECIDING TO BUILD YOUR OWN HOME

Nothing happens until you make a decision! The powerful action of deciding exactly what you want is the catalyst needed to make a whole series of decisions. Dozens of decisions come together once you gain focus.

So, what will you do today or tomorrow to bring you closer to a decision about what you want in a home?

Will you identify the one single scariest feeling you have now and resolve to find an answer?

Will you find one single decision that you can definitely make and follow through on? Progress is made by taking one step at a time.

Define your home dream first. It’s empowering!

You can learn so much more about home building and remodeling online. One great option is to take advantage of a very informative yet simple to follow *free* e-course that you can find by clicking here http://www.DreamHomeCreation.com You will also find other tips and tools, surveys, videos, and additional articles by Mel Inglima.

Author: Mel Inglima
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Today’s real estate market has become tricky to navigate. Many homeowners have said to themselves “I have to sell my house”. You may need to sell fast due to foreclosure, job relocation, or loss of income. Or you may want to sell your house fast because you are ready to move on. Whatever your reason for selling, you don’t want to wait that long and need to sell your house fast.

So, how can you sell your house fast? Here are three tips.

The first tip is to price your house below the competition. Today’s real estate market is a buyer’s market in many areas. That means buyers have a choice. There are many homes that are in excellent condition and priced low so they sell quickly. If you are the highest price, the buyers will not even come see your house. You need to let buyers know that your house is a good deal.

The second tip is to make sure your home is in tip top shape. That means all the clutter has been removed from the house. Don’t shove things in the closets or garage, put it in storage. You want buyers to see how much space is available for storage and they can’t see that if you’ve filled it up with your stuff. Touch up the paint, have the carpets professionally cleaned, landscape the yard, and keep the house clean. A clean house will sell much faster than a “lived in” house.

The third tip is to consider seller financing. Seller financing means you will carry the note for the buyer. There are many ways to do this so make sure you get assistance from a professional who understands seller financing. This works extremely well if you own your home free & clear and want a good return on your money. The buyer will make a monthly payment to you instead of the bank, which means you can get a higher interest rate on your money than if you were to put it in a CD. You can also sell your home for a lower price because you will make up the difference in the interest payments you receive over time. This also allows you to sell your house fast because you don’t have to wait for a bank to process a loan.

Imagine if you do all three things, your house will sell much faster than the competition. Your job is to make sure the buyers know that you are offering them a chance to own a great house.

For more tips, request a FREE Report on “How to Sell Your House Fast in Today’s Market” at http://www.EmeraldHouseBuyer.com

Author: Heather Dunlop
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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It is important for you to first understand why you should invest in real estate. Because once you understand “why” real estate investment is the best vehicle of wealth creation then “how to” is the easy part. It is the “why” that will provide you with the motivation and energy to invest in properties. Without understanding the “WHY” you will never succeed.
 
You have to understand how real estate compares with other investment avenues such as savings account, shares/stocks, commodities & businesses.
 
Rate of Return
 
Shares and stocks are perceived to have higher returns than property and provide hedge against inflation but they pale in comparison to real estate when you take into account the leveraging power of real estate investing and tax advantages of property. It is possible to buy properties by using other people’s money (OPM) with returns that are 20 or 30  or 50 or 100 percent or more per year.
 
Investment Risk
 
If you wish to understand risk then just check what banks are willing to lend their money for.  Are they willing to loan money to buy paintings, antiques, diamonds, mutual funds, CDs, commodities, stocks & businesses? If so to what level of funding? For properties banks will easily lend to 70 or 80 or 90 percent and in some cases to even 100 percent of the value. Banks are the most risk averse institutions and if they are willing to invest in properties up to 100% of value then they consider the investment risk to be extremely low when compared to other investments. You should take your cue from the banks.
 
Buy Below Market Value
 
You must have heard the saying that ‘you make money when you buy’  and not at the time of selling. Is it possible to buy stocks or diamond or commodity or gold below value? When you buy $100,000 worth of stock you pay $100,000 in cash.
 
Investing in real estate after gaining a bit of knowledge, you can buy properties that are 10 or 20 percent or even more below market value. There are many reasons why people sell their properties below value. You can amass great wealth by simply buying property below market value.
 
Increase Value of Investment
 
Can you increase the value of your stock or bank deposit by tinkering with it? There is simply no mechanism by which you can increase the value of your stock or any other investment because you do not control them. However you can greatly increase the market value of your investment property by spending a small amount of money on making cosmetic changes or applying for change of use of the property.
 
Financial Leverage
 
No one has ever become rich without applying the power of leverage. Archimedes rightly stated in 200 BC that ‘Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the entire earth.’
 
The financial leverage in the investment world comes from the use of OPM or Other Peoples Money. In real estate investing we buy property  with 10% down and yet we control 100% of real estate.
 
It is extremely difficult to finance other types of investments such as stock and businesses because funding is always an issue. Banks love property because of the low risk and capital appreciation associated with real estate.
 
Leverage can be used for quick wealth creation. If you know how to use leverage you do not need large amount initial capital to start your property investment portfolio.

Praveen Kumar is a real estate investor and an educator whose aim is to help create one thousand property millionaires in next 10 years . He wishes to share his knowledge and strategies on how to create wealth through residential and commercial real estate investment. On his website http://www.real-estate-investment.net you will find hundreds of informative articles, videos, audios and ebooks that will provide you with the leverage of knowledge to accelerate your progress.

Author: Praveen Kumar Panghal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Are you a landlord or a house owner who has let out a house on rent? If yes, then you might be running the risk of default on payment of rent. You can not predict when the tenant may miss out on paying the rent. As a landlord, you may be prone to suffer heavy losses when tenants default on making payments. If you were to find yourself in a similar situation, how would you cope up with the situation? The only way to deal with such a situation would be to get rent guarantee insurance.

With this kind of insurance cover, for a relatively small annual fee, landlords can protect against loss of rent. Landlord rent protection insurance is combined with Legal Assistance Insurance wherein the landlord’s legal costs of recovering rent and/or evicting a non-paying tenant are covered.

With help from rent guarantee insurance, a landlord can get the rent on time. He can be rest assured of getting the rent easily with its help. Herein, tenants are professionally credit checked before handing over the keys. This kind of insurance is very useful as it helps them keep their property protected without a letting agent, as the necessary checks involved actually tend to deter rogue tenants.

With rent protection insurance a landlord can protect his interests. Tenants who are likely to default on paying rent can keep themselves protected. Rent guarantee insurance is a type of insurance that keeps a landlord protected against any kind of proceedings to evict the tenant from the rented property where applicable. If you are protected against voids and non-payment of rent, including legal expenses and the cost of evicting tenants, you can make it happen through this kind of insurance. Rent guarantee protection service can help you keep protected.

By availing this kind of insurance, you can look forward to:

o Instant protection if your tenant fails to pay the rent
o Cover up to £2,500 a month in rent
o 6 or 12 month cover option
o Payment within 14 days of default, minus excess
o Expenses for legal action and tenant eviction
o Get Rent Guarantee insurance cover from less than £10 a month and protect against non-payment of rent in a short period

Rent Guarantee and Legal Protection can help you keep protected against all kinds of risks that you may be prone to against tenants. Now, without worrying about the tenants, you can lend your house or property safely.

Sadhna D, Expert Author

Building and Content Insurance:

Building and Content Insurance

Buy to Let Landlord Insurance:

Buy to Let Landlord Insurance

Author: Sadhna D
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A chunk of every home building budget goes to the inspector. Those sneaky people who come to poke around, slow you down, and make you redo what you’ve already done. Sometimes it seems like your local building authority is ready to dispatch one to analyze every move you make.
 
Are you planning to build or remodel? Well, you gotta pay the man. And sometimes those building department fees really add up.
 
Owner Builders and the Local Building Authority
 
Over the years, I’ve discovered that owner builders are mystified by the requirements of their local building authorities. They worry about the code requirements, the submission of plans, and the inspections. Often, owner builders are baffled by what seems like unjustifiable costs for permits.
 
Here’s an outline of some of the costs you should expect and the reasons you are being charged. My goal isn’t necessarily to justify them, but to reduce the mystery so that you can be empowered to move forward with your project.
 
The Dreaded “Permits & Fees”
 
Just another form of taxation? I hear that a lot and in a way, it could be true. Building Departments are government agencies and salaries and bureaucracies cost money. But, let’s take a look at this from a practical standpoint so you can figure your costs and budget accordingly.
 
These represent some of the most common and your agencies could require more or less:
 

• Compliance with universal and local building codes: You’re actually paying for them to hire structural engineers to review every single plan that comes across their desk each day. They scrutinize every aspect of the structure.
• Health and Safety departments: Fire safety and other departments have to put their stamps of approvals on things.
• Parks and common areas: Expansion and maintenance of local parks & recreation departments are often involved in cities and counties.
• Schools: This, as well as all of the fees, can vary. Is your area growing rapidly?
• Utilities and hook-ups: Gaining access to city sewer, electrical grid, water, etc. can be rather costly but the alternatives can be substantially more expensive.
• Mitigation and variances: It is becoming quite common in many areas to charge impact fees to help find ways to balance growth and building with the environment. If you’re in an area where this is prevalent, the fees can be exorbitant.
• Periodic inspections: Yes, these are the guys and gals that come and snoop around.

 
So what does all this add to the cost of building a home? Generally, you can figure on less than 5% of your overall budget. Your local building authority should be happy to provide you with a list of all the fees and I recommend that is one of the first things you should do when thinking about building.
 
Where to Get Help With Complying
 
Finally, you very likely need some help getting your plans through the building department’s approval processes. As always, I advise people to use experienced building professionals and recommend a home building coach. Your coach will point you towards other professionals as well.
 
Another suggestion would be to use a local architect, designer, or drafter in conjunction with a structural engineer. With this approach, most of your fears will vanish as they will not only design the home in accordance with all the codes, they will back up their work and make any changes the building authority requires.

You can learn so much more about home building and remodeling online. One great option is to take advantage of a very informative yet simple to follow *free* e-course that you can find by clicking here http://www.DreamHomeCreation.com You will also find other tips and tools, surveys, videos, and additional articles by Mel Inglima.

Author: Mel Inglima
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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