Actually, this post applies to anybody in business, it’s just that Realtor’s® have a ton of competition.

Have you ever looked up your business ‘niche’ in Google Search and wondered why your website doesn’t show up until page 6 or 7 … Or even worse.

I’m not talking about a search for your name and job title. I mean a search for your location and service.

In my case, I knew people weren’t looking for a mortgage lender by name and I used to think, “Who cares if my name shows up at the top of the search engines… I just want my business to show up!”

A high rank in Google is an exciting and powerful way to get new business … My results were down-right depressing.

But, once my eyes were opened to the power of blogging — and Wordpress — it changed everything in just a few days.

If you really “get this”, you’ll be just as amazed as I was.

What happened to me …

As a loan agent here in Whittier, my ‘niche’ is people looking for mortgages in Whittier. I used to have the typical pre-packaged website that “they” said would do it all. But I’ll bet you can’t even find it anywhere on Google.

I think I might have ranked on page 3,946,677 … On a good day.

But now — if you’ll open up Google in another window or tab of your web browser and do a quick search with my niche keywords “Whittier mortgage” — just make a note of where my site comes up and then come on back. Don’t worry, I’ll still be here!

Did you see that I’m in position #2 on page #1 of the organic search results?

“Organic” just means that if someone was looking for someone in my city to help them with a mortgage, I’d be at the top of the list because they would probably just type “whittier mortgage” into the search bar.

“Organic” also means I didn’t have to pay to get there… And FREE is GOOD.

By the way, did you notice that my blog ranks ahead of Zillow, Trulia, and even RealEstate.con*?

What could this do for your business?

You have probably guessed — correctly — that it didn’t happen by accident. There are specific steps you will need to take in order to get your site to rank this high. But it’s not difficult. Believe me, if I can do it, you can, too.

And my blog was on page #1 of Google within four days…

Just a little while later I was in the top five!

You can discover these powerful secrets for yourself if you follow the link below. When you get there you’ll be asked for your First Name and Email Address. In exchange you’ll get instant access to a Free Report called the “Real Estate Blog Success Blueprint”.

I promise you’ll never look at your old website the same — and in just a few minutes you’ll be on your way to creating a website that…

• Dominates your niche market
• Generates a hot hoard of leads
• Gets your blog ranked on the #1 page of Google (for free)
• Builds and enhances your branding
• Capitalizes on the topics real estate visitors are actually looking for
  
• Builds lasting ’sale-getting’ relationships
• Positions you as the GO-TO real estate expert in your market
  
• Harnesses the power of Web 2.0
• Drives targeted traffic to your blog (the key is that it’s targeted)

And if you already have one of those pre-packaged websites like I used to have, you’ll save yourself anywhere from $199 to $799 a year. (I had two which ran me around $1,400 a year)

The Free Report is here: http://tinyurl.com/ybla8xe

To your success!

As yet, guilt trips are lawful. (And for some, mother-in-lawful.)

But real estate law expert Nick Love, disagrees. He says that foreclose is a legitimate option in the trust deed which may be in everyone’s best interest for some borrowers to exercise.

“It is vital to California’s economic recovery that underwater homeowners walk away from excess debt. Lenders who insist on homeowners fulfilling an artificial moral obligation to their contractual promise have no interest in allowing homeowners to contribute to the future economic recovery of our state. Lenders (and congress who crippled the saving grace of bankruptcy in 2005) want homeowners to lock every cent of their income into supporting depressed assets.

“Homeowners who walk away from underwater homes free up their income and are able to spend more freely on consumer goods. Disposable income spent on consumer goods boosts both the job market and the economic health of our sales tax dependent state.”

Read the rest of the story …

If you want to actually enjoy your holiday drive-time just practice eating traffic waves!

This video explains how it’s done:

What is a potential home buyer supposed to do in this situation if all they saved up for was their down payment and closing costs?

Enter the FHA Renovation Mortgage. This loan product, created and insured by the Federal Government through HUD is the solution.

And unlike other government programs offered lately, this one has been around for a while and actually works the way it’s supposed to!

It’s pretty much the same as buying a home with a regular FHA loan with the added benefit of of receiving up to $35,000 for basic repairs, fixtures and appliances. And here’s something more — you might even qualify for an additional $8,000 for upgrading to more energy efficient windows.

And guess what… If your existing home needs renovating, you can even use this loan to refinance and get the money to perform the repairs, even if you have only 4% equity in your home.

This loan is not offered by every lender and even the lenders who do offer this product require loan officers to be certified to originate one for you.

If you think this might be the solution you’re looking for, read more about the Renovation Mortgage at HUD’s website or give me a call to discuss how you can qualify.

But I was vigilantly watching interest rate activity.

I was. Really!

Well, last week we saw the lowest fixed interest rates in six months — due to the following two things…

The first was the news of Dubai’s possible loan defaults. In any financial crisis which effects a large portion of global investment dollars, countries tend to park their money in U.S. Treasuries. Because Treasuries are still considered extremely safe. This actually has a good effect on mortgage rates.

The second reason was that weakness in the dollar is also keeping a lid on inflation pressure. See, inflation is the enemy of Mortgage Backed Securities, so any inflationary economic data is bad for rates.

And we’ve had  few items that should have sent Mortgage Backed pricing reeling, but for now, rates are great.

However, please bear in mind that there is no compelling reason for interest rates to go lower or for this pricing to continue long-term.

This is a very temporary situation, so act soon if you ought to.

Jumpin’ housing data!

The pundits are watching existing home sales, which shot up 10.1% in October. And this was the highest level in two and a half years.

The National Association of Realtors reported that our median home prices had the smallest decline in over a year. New home sales also up 6.2%, to reach a new 12 month high. The Commerce Department reported that new home sales hit annual rate of 430,000 with the strongest sales coming from the South.

A little while back, I mentioned that new home starts were down. Remember, when inventory is reduced, demand is increasing and this helps home prices in the long run.

Finally, the Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller Indexes were released. This report showed home prices rose for the fifth straight month. This is a composite index of 20 metro areas and showed a price increase of 0.3 percent.

Not a big deal, but the direction is good.

This video explains the facts and answers many home buyer questions regarding the tax credit.

Single family starts dropped 6.8% and building permits dropped 4.0%.

I can hear some of you asking, “And… This is good news?!”

‘Tis indeed…

Because it makes for stronger demand which helps drive more sales, and we need more sales to pick this economy up.

With several months of strong sales in existing and new construction both behind us, we have seen lower inventory levels each month.

Just last week I read that there were only 233 homes listed in the Whitwood area of Whittier.

Also helping this situation is the newly extended and expanded Home Buyer Tax Credit (What’s This?) and historical lows in mortgage interest rates.

This could help ensure strong sales going into next year… But watch out, because both the tax credit and the mortgage rates are going away shortly.

While the window of eligibility for the Homebuyer Tax Credit doesn’t expire until June, 2010. It’s important to know you will need to have a purchase contract signed by April.

Keep in mind that most people take about 60 days to locate a property and get into escrow. That means you’ll need to begin locating your house by February without being rushed.

That leaves you three months, not six.

It’s a great time to look at homes in or surrounding Whittier as there are more than a few bargains out there. Mortgage rates won’t get any better and home prices are at their lowest levels in many years. Combine this with a tax credit and you’ve got a great opportunity if you’re fortunate enough to have a good job and some savings.

If you’ve tried to time the ‘bottom’ — it’s now — and it’s going to pay off.

So, expect mortgage interest rates to stay very near the 4.75 to 5.25% range for the short-term  — until the Fed stops buying the Mortgage Backed Security.

After that — like, the day after that — expect mortgage rates to return to 6.25% as that’s where they were in November 2007 when the Fed began to purchase the MBS.

The payment difference between 4.75% and 6.25% on $150,000 is $141.11 more per month.

$250,000 is $235.17 more per month.

$350,000 is $329.24 more per month.

Their recent article “Beware of Reverse Mortgages” was not even about reverse mortgages, but scams related to fraudulent reverse mortgage practitioners.

My appropriately sarcastic comments are currently on the first page just below the article. Look for the one called “That’s Not The Worst Part!!!”

See it for yourself at this link.

It’s worth a read if either: 1. You’re my wife and into me; 2. You want to know something about how to avoid getting scammed yourself.

Parade’s main demographic is 55 years and older. Shame they don’t think more highly of their readers well-being.

Did you read it? What do you think?