Tag: social media

Find A Great Real Estate Agent The Easy Way

Looking to buy or sell your home? You may have noticed the vast amount of information available in the news and on the internet about real estate. When trying to make sense of it all, one can easily get overwhelmed or confused.

You need an agent who can help navigate the current housing market. If you are looking to sell, you need an agent who can help you price your home correctly and appropriately. If you are looking to buy, you need an agent who can help you determine what to offer on your dream home (without overpaying or offending the seller with a below-market offer).

How high should you price your home? How much should you offer on a listing? A great agent can help you determine these numbers, and help you come out on top.

Financial guru Dave Ramsey says,

“When getting help with money, whether it’s insurance, real estate or investments, you should always look for someone with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.”

An Agent Who Knows Your Market Can Make Your Experience Easier

We admit, this seems rather obvious. But, how do you know whether an agent is really up-to-the-minute on what is happening in your real estate market? How do you know if they will take the time to simply and effectively explain what it all means and how it may affect you?

A simple way to find out is by searching through a real estate agent’s social media channels. What kind of material are they sharing? Are they using their social media platforms to share current, helpful information or are they just posting trendy recipes and inspirational quotes?

The best agents spend time educating and informing so you can be confident when buying or selling your home. What they share online will help you to determine whether an agent meets the description advised by Dave Ramsey above:

“…you should always look for someone with the heart of a teacher.”

Do you know a great agent like this? What other tips do you have for us? Share this article with your additions.

The Five Best Ways to Use LinkedIn

by bmadmin

LinkedIn has tools and resources that can help you boost your career and build a professional network of friends and business associates.

There are over 100 million registered users on LinkedIn, which unlike other social media platforms, is focused on professional relationships and business contacts.

Here are five ways to take advantage of what the LinkedIn site has to offer:

1. Find a Job. LinkedIn is a favorite haunt of recruiters and headhunters. Career sites such as TheLadders or Monster are nice too, but LinkedIn adds the element of networking. You can let potential employers know about your skills and background through your LinkedIn profile – just as if you were posting your resume on a job site – but it also helps when you can get a credible referral through your LinkedIn network.

2. Build professional relationships. Success or failure can often be measured by the size of your Rolodex (or Google contacts). LinkedIn provides a platform for you to branch out and make new connections within your field or your company, and to leverage your connections’ connections when necessary.

3. Conduct research. LinkedIn can be an invaluable tool for gathering information. Its search tools support searches for LinkedIn members in a particular industry, or for a specific company. You can also research a company before you go in for an interview or accept a job with a new company.

4. Seek advice. You can use LinkedIn Answers to pose a question – big or small – to your entire LinkedIn network. Whether you’re trying to decide which laptop is best or you want advice on the best photo editing app on a smartphone, you can turn to your network of business professionals for guidance.

5. Establish a community. You can form a group on LinkedIn dedicated to a specific topic or industry, and then invite others to join that group to debate, discuss, and share ideas. Such a group is also an opportunity to demonstrate your own knowledge and expertise by sharing what you know.

While you can do many of these same things on other platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, LinkedIn lets you focus on professional business relationships using the rich set of tools available to LinkedIn members.