photo credit: anneh632

Tips, training, updates, advice, with all of these you would think we would be adept at this website stuff, but were not. There are a lot of tinny little details we need to be aware of when marketing our business, when interacting with customers, when starting our business, when listing a property, and now we need to know about SEO. What the heck is SEO? And more importantly, why do I need to even know what it is, let along how to use it. We all have so much to do and deal with it just seems like so much to keep up with, especially with all the new social networking we need to keep up to date.

Well SEO is Search Engine Optimization, which simply means saying the right things on your website to get to the top of the search engines. Thats it! Nothing fancy, its just what you say and what you put on your website. It is a simple concept, but a lot goes into it, its an entire industry. Here is a basic rundown of what it is and how to use it.

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Posted in Education And Training, Giving Back, GenX GenY, Online Education, Metro Brokers Offices, Metro Brokers Agents, Metro Brokers Staff

photo credit: docpop

The housing market has sunk and the financial market is on the verge of collapse, jobs are scares, and we have an administration racing to see how fast they can bankrupt us, these are strange days indeed. However, people still want to own homes, people still want to invest and be prosperous, so how do we do that when banks arent lending and we will soon be handing all our profits over to the government?

One answer is that if you plan to buy a home to live there and raise a family there, maybe stay there for ten years or more, and your life is stable in that sense, its okay for those people to buy a home, those with a long term plan. Keeping in mind that your home will probable loose value for several years, but if you're there for the long term you can ride out the storm.

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Posted in Press Room, Giving Back, Buyer Resources, GenX GenY, Online Education, Metro Brokers Agents

photo credit: chimpasaurus

Remember the days when you came to America and you could just claim a stake in a piece of property and it was yours? Well, I guess none of us actually remember those days, but we remember learning about it in history class. They even made a movie about it with Tom Cruise, Far and Away. There was a large race, and the first one to that parcel of land gets it. Dont we wish it was that way today? Well some people think that it should be that way, and they even push the envelope.

These people are squatting in, not just a house and land, but mansions. How about that? I guess if youre going to squat you may as well do it up right, right? There is a case in Seattle where a real estate agent was preparing for an open house to sell a $3.3 million mansion and was amazed to find out there were perfect strangers living there. Squatters! How funny to see this in todays society.

The real estate agent selling the house said it was entertaining, but the story of our mansion squatters ended when police retook control of the house for the bank that owned it. The fiasco cost his client, the bank, $35,000, not so funny now. The squatting team tried to claim three new mansions on the Eastside. Police say so far no one has moved into any of the houses.

The bank securely attached notes to the front door of all the mansions, "ordering anyone claiming ownership to surrender possession within three days." Also, threatening "judicial proceedings" against anyone who doesnt comply. Maybe we can hold a race for squatters, the first one to break a law goes to jail.

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Posted in Education And Training, Press Room, Giving Back, GenX GenY, Online Education

photo credit: SchneiderMac

I love technology, a lot of people do, but what are our top picks? The reigning champion is Apple, for quite a while now. I guess if youre leading the pack you got to stay ahead of the pack, and Steve Jobs is doing a great job of it. Since the introduction of the iPhone mobile devices havent been the same. Apple has defined the industry. Other companies make fine devices, but they are trying to keep up with Apple, theyre not going their own way, they are following Apple.

The real estate industry seems to be in agreement because its the iPhone that most real estate agents use for their mobile needs. There are more and more apps for real estate agents and for the industry as a whole. Its amazing, if you want to know anything, any type of information at all, you have it right in your hand. How fun!

Of course Apple offers no shortage of devices. They seem to out do themselves every time they turn around. The iPad is another industry standard setter. Now other companies are following their lead, yet again. Even their software that comes as standard gear on their computers is setting standards. You are now a whole production studio if you own an iMac. How cool is that, (Thats rhetorical of course)?

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Posted in Education And Training, Technology And You, Buyer Resources, GenX GenY, Online Education, Metro Brokers Agents

photo credit: jacksnell

Every once in a while technology jumps forward and we all get to look on with chagrined amazement. Back in the 80s Star Wars gave us a glimpse into the future and we were all simply amazed. Dumb struck, we all looked at the screen with hopes of our own space ship in the near future, at least I did anyway. Apple Corporation has certainly given us a technological jump or two in the last decade. Looking at the iPhone and iPad, and even the iMac, it really feels as though we are in the new millennium, but our cars still have wheels. No floating around for us yet.

Well, one of those technology jumps forward is here. Its not ready for the public as of yet, but wow, its cool looking. I think it has a little ways to go, but it looks like well be floating around before you know it. This is almost better than one of those futurist sci-fi movies. The movements are what make this thing so cool. It looks like magic.

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Posted in Technology And You, Marketing, Press Room, Buyer Resources, GenX GenY, Online Education