How to Manage Your Online Reputation as a Real Estate Agent

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If you are a real estate agent, your reputation is an essential element of your success in the industry. With this, a real estate agent should always be paying close attention to how they are perceived over the internet. Today, many real estate leads are generated online. For this reason, agents must monitor and make improvements to their online reputation over time. There are several steps that an agent can take to strengthen their image and presence online. Keep reading for a few tips on how to manage your online reputation as a real estate agent in 2019.

Keep a close eye on social media

Social media continues to grow in popularity for multiple generations today. In this, a strong social media presence is a necessity for any real estate agent looking to market their services. While social media platforms are incredibly useful marketing tools, they can also backfire with a negative impact if neglected or not managed properly. Unprofessional behavior or negative reviews will reflect poorly on your overall image as a real estate agent. Interested buyers and sellers will most likely reach out to you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other convenient platforms online.

Publish high-quality content regularly

To improve your lead generation process, it is crucial to invest time in building your inbound marketing strategy. Compelling content and photos will present your services in a polished way, as well as drive people to your website. Consider creating a blog page where you can craft content about the real estate industry. Write articles and post pictures or infographics of stages in the home buying process. By posting useful and informative content regularly, you can market yourself as an expert in the industry.

Make the most of the negative feedback

People have no problem sharing their opinion on the internet. For this reason, it is imperative to actively monitor your pages for what people have to say about you or your business. Should you encounter a bad review, first try to understand the perspective of the client. Responding in a positive manner will ultimately reflect well on you as an agent.

HUD Foreclosures

HUD foreclosures and VA Foreclosures are some of the best homes to buy when price is part of the equation. As with most Americans, price is always a concern. If not buying the same house for less, why not buy more house for the same dollar invested? When looking for a good deal it is hard to do better than the VA or HUD foreclosures market. The simple truth is that there are just more VA and HUD homes on the market, as they represent such a large number of mortgages that are generated each year. This translates into more foreclosures just by the magnitude of difference between all others comparing to the two largest.

The two largest also being government owned and operated means that they have less time to wait to make money back on the home. The FHA is especially known for selling HUD homes for less than the average sales price in a given area. FHA foreclosures represent a fraction of HUD but they are still a significant number of homes and both should be considered.

VA (Veterans Administration) and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) have different and unique opportunities for the buyer. Both are often forgiven for the local taxes normally associated with the purchase of a home (this is on a county by county basis). Be sure to ask the local title company or escrow company to look into it for you before closing as this is often missed due to their are not used to dealing with the 2 to 3 percent of the market that VA and HUD foreclosures represent.

Foreclosure Listings Increasing

As the market settled after the mortgage meltdown foreclosure listings also settled and fewer homes were on the market with a placard reading “Bank Foreclosure” in big red lettering. This was a good thing for the entire real estate market. Having an abundance of foreclosures brings the entire market down and it makes it harder for home owners, who would like to move, to get the appropriate price for their home as a similar home down the same street was sold for substantially less and the appraiser is using the foreclosure as a comparable sale.

This is just one of the problems when there are too many foreclosure listings in any area. Another issue is the television set that sits in everyone’s living room harping about the price of homes based on the number of foreclosures and this constant barrage of negative information makes most people sit on the sidelines waiting for the market to either implode completely or to correct itself. Meanwhile while they wait, others are buying foreclosure listings and making great investments.

Whatever the reason, a market can only handle so many foreclosure listings at any given time. The more foreclosures, the lower the market gets and this is a lesson the banks that were foreclosing and selling off realized too late. The market and their investments would have been better off if there had not been a rush to divest themselves of the toxic assets made more toxic by their own actions.