We’ve done some fine-tuning to improve our mapping experience.  For example, we’ve added “Reset Polygons” and “Reset Search” as menu items.  We’ve made these options available on “Right Clicking” as well. Also, we have created a helpful video that demonstrates the Polygon Tool and gives a nice overview of Google Maps.

Here’s the Video:

Not only is Google Maps a robust and powerful application, it’s fun to use. Give it a try here!

If you remember the wonderfully inspiring 1989 film, Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella, an Iowa farmer played by Kevin Costner hears a voice in his corn field tell him, “If you build it, he will come.” He interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm upon which appears the ghosts of Chicago White Sox Players banned from the games for throwing the 1919 World Series. Another quote from Terence, played by James Earl Jones says, “People will come, they come for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it… They’ll arrive at your door.”

What does this have to do with real estate?

This can help you visualize what can happen if you create this kind of interest in your home. It’s always been my belief that whatever real estate market you are in, perfect pricing will create magic for you! It’s important to bring it upon yourself to carefully analyze your property in comparison to other similar properties in your immediate area.

The homes on the market in close proximity to you are important to know, however the homes that have recently sold are much more important to know. This is the key to perfect pricing.

The broker representing you, the seller, will be able to bring valuable information to you concerning the pricing of your home. The broker is doing his or her job by sharing an informed and honest opinion about the pricing of your home.

It’s very effective to properly price your home out of the gate! Buyers of today are very well informed. They do their research. Sold data is available to everyone. Brokers representing buyers are prudent in their efforts to interpret and evaluate comparable homes as well.

Find the lucky number.

If you want your broker to try a higher price to see what happens, usually nothing happens. The first couple of weeks of a listing are critical! There is a tendency to price homes as you would in retail, such as $199,900 or $599,999. I know some very successful brokers who will never put this kind of price on their property.

Have you thought about incorporating your lucky number in the price? We currently have just under 6000 listings in the Rhode Island market. How about making your home stand out with a different number. A well-priced property will get the attention of brokers and buyers. In my experience, well-priced properties create great interest and generating multiple offers, even in today’s market.

If you price it right, the buyer will come.

As consumers, nothing is less welcomed than a phone call right in the middle of dinner asking:

Do you want a lower mortgage?
Are you happy with your satellite provider?
Would you like to consolidate all of your debt into one low monthly payment?

The cold call is the exact opposite of what most successful sales people know to be effective: referrals from people they know or have done business with in the past.

Sure, the buckshot blast method of distributing the message of one’s product or service may hit some, but it will miss most.

I recently attended a conference in New York which explained social media and its role in the future of personal real estate marketing.  Social media includes not only social networking but also blogging, photo sharing, podcasting and more.

Never has there been a more opportune time to build a network than right now.  With the advent of social networking, reaching one’s sphere of influence has never been easier, or more welcomed.

Haven’t we all received an email from Classmates.com at one point or another?  This is a prime example of social networking.  Old schoolmates share a bond.  Now with the popularity of Social Networking Services including MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, reaching out to past contacts is simple, unobtrusive and a lot of fun.

People like to interact and do business with people who they perceive to be like themselves, and especially with people they know who fit this bill.  Within this vetted group, consumers will find the already trusted doctors, lawyers, dentists, plumbers and Realtors.

While January is typically a quiet month in the real estate world, it is actually a perfect time for buyers and sellers to do their homework.

This is the time of year for would-be sellers, those expecting to put their houses onto the market in the spring, to begin the process of getting the house ready to be seen by potential buyers. This process includes de-cluttering, touching up paint, and organizing and tidying closets and basements.

When the time gets closer, the windows should be washed, exterior paint should be touched up and the landscaping should be cleaned up. It makes sense to take a few pretty winter photos of the home’s exterior now for use in the marketing process.

With older homes, the owner may want to hire an inspection company to do a pre-inspection of the property. Sometimes problems frighten buyers so this is a way to address this issue without a buyer present. Necessary repairs that turn up at the inspection should be completed.

Would-be buyers may want to begin both looking online at homes and going to weekend open houses. They should read about the transfers in the newspaper. Their purpose should be to educate themselves about current home values.

Buyers should meet with a lender to organize their finances and learn what needs to be done before they are in need of a new mortgage. For example, sometimes funds have to sit in an account for a certain amount of time before a mortgage can be approved. Buyers may also want to contact a real estate agent in order to become educated about the process, laws, and procedures in a real estate transaction.

These dark, cold days of winter are actually a great time to begin daydreaming about and planning for a new home.

Rhode Island Food Culture: Dining, Drinking & Food Stuff

Our friend and former sales associate Seth Price has started a wonderful community site entitled – Providence Palate. It’s a space for anything related to a passion for food culture in and around Rhode Island. The site has some great modules including: Chat, Forums, Blogs and more. It also has a great video page. Here’s “Piping meringue with Susie” from Gracie’s kitchen in downtown Providence.

Sign up and join the conversation!