Ruth Ann Macklin's (virtualassistant) Blog

"Why is Tweeting on Twitter good for your real estate business?"  you ask. Because that is where the people are!!  Twittermania began last month when Oprah ‘tweeted' for the first time. For the week ending May 9, HitWise ranked Twitter.com as the #6 social networking website. All those young ‘20 ...

Alex Charfan of the Certified Distressed Property Institute (CDPE) reported on the 4th Quarter (2008)foreclosure statistics put out by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Take a look at the numbers: All Mortgages3.30% in Foreclosure7.88% in Default (30+ days late)11.18% Total in Default Prime Mortg...

You wouldn't be alone if you have been apprehensive of pre-foreclosure listings and short sales. These transactions are very often a long and drawn out process and are a ‘bear' to close! You also wouldn't be alone if your apprehension has given way to acceptance of a necessary evil or maybe even ...

The Certified Distressed Property Institute (CDPE) has just reported the most recent distressed property statistics form the Mortgage Bankers Association and I'll tell you folks, "they ain't pretty!"  The statistics below are based on 45,000,000 mortgages for the 3rd quarter of 2008:  All Mortgag...

First let me say, if you haven't taken the Certified Distressed Property Institute (CDPE) course, you are missing out. This is an invaluable course, teaching you how to identify/qualify distressed property owners, effectively negotiate with the lender, getting to a successful closing.  Until I to...

10 website "must-haves" needed to ensure success a successful and profitable website. With 78% of home buyers starting their home search on the Internet, real estate professionals have embraced websites and an Internet presence in a big way. Let's face it, you need to be where the consumers are a...

It was brought to my attention by a reader of my Walk Score post, that Drive Score is also available. Drive Score shows a map of what establishments are in a property's neighborhood and calculates a Drive Score based on the number of places within a convenient driving distance. With Drive Score, ...

It has been awhile since I first told you about WalkScore.com. This is a fun website that helps people find walkable places to live. You type in any address and Walk Score shows you a map of what's nearby - stores, movie theaters, parks, restaurants, schools and more. It then calculates a Walk Sc...

Branching Out offers a custom weekly drip campaign service. Real estate is all about relationships. It seems we have a never ending challenge to communicate in a meaningful way with our clients and prospective clients. Providing real estate information is the easy part. It is constantly communica...

As a real estate professional, your email signature is as important as your business card. It may even be more important, if you think about how many emails you send in a day compared to how many business cards you hand out. You probably wouldn't hand out a plain white business card with simple b...