Tuscany Comes to Bixby!

One of the benefits of being a REALTOR  is coming in contact with unique properties  and the people who live in those homes! The owners/builders of this home contacted me to market their Tuscany inspired villa  so they could move to Santa Fe, NM. They lavished love and attention on every  detail throughout the design and building process.  It is located  in the Deer Run Estates neighborhood just south and east of Bixby on the way to Leonard.  Lavendar Hills Winery, and Bixhoma lake are close by
I love to market homes on the internet because that’s where everyone shops for homes in today’s modern age!  I’ll give you an example of how I market this home located at 12963 E 183rd Street, Bixby, OK. That preceeding link is found in the Tulsa Realtors web site.  Lots of  buyers go to this site for information before they contact an agent.

The next web site I use is my own. Check out this home on my web site.  You might notice the Virtual Tour Link. on the featured home page.  This is a tour I construct using a company called Obeo As we proceed, you will notice this tour link on every real estate site in my arsenal!

The next site I use is our own McGraw Realtors web site.    When you click on the McGraw Listings tab and enter just part of a street address, you will see how your home appears!

From this stage,  I start posting to all the other consumer web sites that are in popular use today.  Realtor.com,  Zillow and Trulia.

You may be aware of all the social media sites in use today.  I have a personal Facebook page, as well as one devoted to my real estate business.  Let’s be friends if you are on Facebook!

Technology is evolving everyday and changing the way we view the world.  I think the internet was invented for marketing homes!  Potential buyers can select their future home simply by logging on to any web site of their choice and choosing from hundreds of homes.  The homes that have the best photos and are able to tell the story of how the home “lives” will be the ones that “make the cut”!

Metropolitan Tulsa Home Sales are Up!

I’m always looking for newsworthy items to talk about when I’m with clients and other Realtors.   I was excited when I read this in today’s  Tulsa World Business section! The front page headline read…..“Tulsa home sales up from last year” To paraphrase the World staff writer, Robert Evatt, 3,127 home sales have been recorded through April 30 and is up 3% compared to the same time period last year.

Could this be the result of the recent stimulus package that enabled first time , and move up home buyers a tax credit?  Probably.  It could be a combination of the US slowly emerging from the recession that began in 2007 and the tax credit.  The months ahead will tell the whole story as the  real estate industry begins to stand on its own two legs!

Tulsa’s Midtown Featured in National Magazine!

My fellow Realtor and friend Beth Rengel called me last Friday, February 19th, asking if I would be willing to be interviewed by Channel 8 news.  I was still sitting in front of my computer, not shaved or dressed.  It’s amazing that men can get cleaned up in 20 minutes if it means free publicity in front of a news camera!

The reason for the interview was to talk about an article in the March issue of  This Old House magazine that featured Tulsa’s Midtown as one of the best old house neighborhoods in the Southwest!  Quite an honor for our lovely city!  You can click on the above link to read the entire article, but it basically said what all of us know to be true…..Midtown Tulsa is a great place to live!

Oklahoma ranks best in cost of living

As reported in the Tulsa World newspaper, August 1, 2009, a survey from CNBC.com says Oklahoma beats out the rest of the nation in the cost of living category.  It was not broken down by cities, but an overall ranking of #1 is huge for our state.

Here is a category by category ranking of other factors that might be of interest:

 

Cost of Living……………………………1

Cost of Doing Business……………..9

Quality of Life…………………………37

Economy………………………………….3

Business Friendliness……………..16

Workforce……………………………….29

Education……………………………….46

If we can just bring up some of the lower rankings like education, Oklahoma would be absolutely great!  Another observation so often spoken is this: being in the middle of the country has certain advantages.  We have not experienced the highs and lows of the coasts economically, so our recession has not been as severe as those areas.  Moderate, sustainable growth has been a real plus for all aspects of our Oklahoma “Quality of Life”!

 

McGraw’s President, John Woolman, and his interview on Channel 8!

John was interviewed by Jerry Giordano with Channel 8 news about the Tulsa real estate market.  It was very positive!  Watch and see how many big green McGraw signs show up.

Click here for the complete interview!

Midtown Broker’s Open Tuesday, November 18th!

Come join us for a tour of 4 wonderful homes and snack on early Thanksgiving treats!

2136 E 22nd Place  $695,000  3 bedroom, 3 bath, exquisitely remodeled!

2222 E 22nd Place  $425,000  3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bathroom, plans for master

2824 E 25th St.       $805,000 3 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath on a huge lot!

3436 S Gary Ave.     $375,000 3 bedroom, 3 bath 2 living areas, 2 car

Click on the show for descriptions from each agent!

Click Here for a Video Tour of these 4 homes

A Happy Oklahoma Halloween!

Contrary to national news, Oklahoma real estate is doing OK!

click here for a special Halloween report……

Study Reports economic growth for Tulsa!

I always look for good news to comment about.  In the Tulsa World Business section of October 18, 2008 an article written by World Staff Writer, Laurie Winslow, quoted this from Mike Neal, Tulsa Metro Chamber’s CEO…

“Tulsa’s optimism and economic diversity is the silver lining in our current economy.  Tulsa still remains below the national average in unemployment, while reporting net new job growth.”  Home prices have grown steadily since the 2004 along with income.  Our Tulsa Metro area total personal income adjusted for inflation is expected to rise 1.9 % next year compared with flat growth for the rest of the US.  Bob Ball, Tulsa Chamber’s economic research manager compiled the report.

Personally, I’m glad I live in Oklahoma!

How I Market Homes

Since receiving my real estate license in 1992, I have witnessed a profound shift in how real estate agents market homes.  Before the internet there were only a few steps to getting a listing exposed to potential Buyers.  We used to fill out the paperwork, plant our yard sign, screw in a keybox next to the front door, process the paperwork, and advertise in the newspaper or real estate magazine for the weekend flurry of open house activity.  Oh, and we would type out a fact sheet of the features of the home.   The list and wait method was the only way real estate work was done!  We waited for the buyer to either drive by and see the yard sign, show up at an open house, or have another agent bring them to the house.

Fast forward to today….Now we…..

• Meet with the homeowner and fill out paperwork for processing
• Take up to 25 or more pictures of the home inside and out
• Process the pictures for optimum lighting, balance, and sharpness of detail
• Place 16 pictures on the Tulsa MLS for other agents to view and forward to their buyers along with copy of each photo explaining how that room is used
• Place 24 photos on the McGraw web site again with appropriate copy
• Place up to 25 photos on the Realtor.com web site
• Place up to 12 photos on the Gordon Shelton web site
• Produce a color flyer or 4 page brochure with features of the home
• Create a virtual tour using sound, motion, and a “story” about the home and it’s environment
• Send a cyber flyer to all of my sphere of influence clients to advertise the new listing.  Hopefully, they will forward it to their network of friends.
• Place an ad in the Tulsa World of Homes for an open house only if the house does not sell in the first month!
• Coming soon will be video tours with voice over that will be posted to all web sites

Whew!  Now we are amateur photographers and movie moguls with a strong bit of journalism thrown in!  We know that 80+% of all Buyers use the internet to find their new home, so it is vitally important to know how to use the internet for effective advertising.  The ability to send a message to potential buyers around the world is now possible!

 

 

 

 

Ranch Acres is Tulsa’s newest Historic Neighborhood

The Ranch Acres neighborhood received the coveted “Historic District” designation last December, 2007.  The area is filled with Mid Century homes that typify the “Ranch” style of large, open rooms that became popular after WWII.  Read the whole story here from the Tulsa Preservation Commission web site.  It’s fascinating!  And, click here to see a newly remodeled “Rancher” that Trebilcock Construction Company just listed.