Real Estate News

How to Take Real Estate to the Social Media Space:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are taking on new and bigger roles in the Real Estate industry. Social media is now just as important – or more so – than traditional marketing. The good news is that it's relatively cheap and easy to make a big impact in the social space.

Adwerks shows agents how to make the most of each of the social media platforms. The blog breaks down the dos and don'ts of social media on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google Plus. Adwerks writes: “We aren’t the first to say social matters. You know it matters. But it can be overwhelming to identify best practices for the various social channels that are available to you.”

Change to Real Estate Sector Could Drive Investment:

As the blog Seeking Alpha reports, the Real Estate Sector will officially become part of the Global Industry Classification Standard this year. The GICS will now include an 11th sector of business, mostly made up of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and larger brokers and builders.

Seeking Alpha writes; “REITs are often viewed as a quirky, niche investment, and that image has done a lot to keep both institutional and individual investors skeptical of them. But the new spotlight on REITs should change that – achieving a headline sector is tantamount to proving the REIT business and investment model is strong and enduring.”

Tracking the Important Numbers:

Bill McBride of the CalculatedRISK blog tracks all of the important metrics and numbers in the real estate industry. He reports and explains recent trends in mortgage delinquencies and unemployment rates. As usual, his analysis and predictions are must reads within the industry.

The blog isn't only about Real Estate, but with the housing and commercial sector making up a big part of the economy, McBride's look at the hard numbers is authoritative, comprehensive and easy to understand. James Hamilton, a professor at UC San Diego told the L.A. Times: “If you only follow one economics blog, it has to be CalculatedRISK. If you find yourself reaching a different conclusion from Bill about where the economy is headed, my recommendation is think again."

Find the Humor in a serious business:

The Lighter Side of Real Estate Blog is full of funny articles, photos, videos and stories. As the site describes itself: “We’re here to provide an escape from your daily real estate hustle. Although we can’t give you back the time you spend here, we have a motto which hopefully you’ll embrace:

“The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.”

But the blog also offers serious advice for professionals as well as buyers and sellers.

Crowdfunding for Real Estate:

Ever since the Securities and Exchange Commission changed its guidelines to allow the active solicitation of investors over the internet (similar to how Kickstarter works for arts projects), a large number of firms have looked to unite capital with those looking to put deals together on a smaller scale.

Blogger Joe Stampone of “ A Student of the Real Estate Gamerdquo; warns that fees in the “fragmented and &entirely unregulatedrdquo; crowdfunding space can vary wildly and deal structures can be such that fees and cash flow splits eat up the profit for a passive investor. Stampone uncovers the wide range of deal structures out there. He also analyzes the importance of “ risk adjusted returnsrdquo; in such a risky space.

Investment in this sort of crowdfunding is still open only to accredited investors, which generally refers to high net-worth individuals with a presence in the market.