For this update we are announcing our brand new multiple MLS support feature.

User accounts can now support multiple MLS IDX widgets that can either be used on a single website, or across multiple websites. Leads from these different MLS systems are all managed from one single account.

This is a huge advantage for Agents who know that being a part of more than one MLS increases your potential client base and gives listings much more exposure.

The multiple MLS feature provides Agents with even more real estate leads, which in turn increases sales.

Since the My Buying Buddy IDX solution plugs into any website, you can easily start generating real estate leads directly from your current site, and start dominating your real estate market today!

Click here for more great features in the My Buying Buddy IDX and Lead Capture solution.

We have compiled the following list of 5 essential FREE apps that real estate professionals need to consider:

1) Zillow
Zillow is a leader in mobile real estate, providing data for all homes in the U.S. on the Zillow network. Making sure your listings are on Zillow will give you a huge advantage, making it easy for buyers to find your listings wherever they are. Buyers can look up rent estimates, home values, homes for sale/rent, and more.

2) Realtor.com Real Estate Search
Realtor.com has a huge amount of listings that are constantly being updated. It has a ton of great features including map search, saved searches and listings synchronized with the website, private ratings and notes, and the ability to share listings with your friends, agent and social network.

3) Trulia
This is another great app for potential buyers to find local homes and apartments for sale or rent. Buyers can also use the Trulia app to search for local real estate professionals and Agents in their area.

4) HotPads
This app is geared towards renters looking for information on apartments, houses for rent, real estate, vacation rentals and hotels.

5) Craigslist
It’s obvious that Craigslist plays a huge part in how people find home and apartments for sale or rent. The app let’s them see all your Craigslist property listings including all your beautiful property images and contact information directly on their mobile device.

What are some of your favorite real estate apps?

According to an article today on Reuters, applications for home mortgages have surged more than 20% as a result of low mortgage rates.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the low rates haved fueled a huge increase in both refinancing and home purchase demand, causing a 23.1 percent increase in mortgage application activity in the week ending January 13th.

That number breaks down into a 26.4 percent increase in refinancing applications, and a 10.3 percent rise in loan requests for home purchases.

Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, stated that, “With mortgage rates reaching new lows, refinance volume jumped. Purchase activity also increased as buyers returned to the market after the holiday season.”

The percent of refinancing rose to 82.2 percent of total mortgage activity, which is now the highest refinancing share since October, 2010.

Please comment and share your thoughts on how this affects YOUR real estate marketing strategy!

In order to help you get a leg up on your competition we have compiled the following list of 4 simple ways you can utilize video in your real estate marketing strategy.

1) Potential buyers love visual aids.

- Property Walkthroughs
Virtual slideshow tours are great and should definitely be used, but why not add a video walkthrough of your property? You can never have enough pictures or videos of the inside and outside of an available property, and potential buyers love having the ability to preview properties from the comfort of their own home. You don’t have to be Steven Spielberg to create a great video walkthrough. While recording the video, tell the viewer some important facts about the home or some interesting features. Incorporating video walkthroughs with slideshows and still pictures will give your potential buyers some great visual aids in helping them make their decision.

- Neighborhood Tours
When buyers are deciding on potential properties, there is no argument that the surrounding neighborhood is a huge determining factor. How can you leverage the neighborhood’s best qualities? That’s right, with video! Drive to some of the local hotspots and take a few shots panning the area. Think about what makes that area unique, and go out and film it. This is especially useful for out of town buyers.

2) Word-of-mouth marketing is FREE.
One of the single most effective means for marketing in real estate is word of mouth. Potential buyers obviously need to build up a level of trust in you in order to help them feel more comfortable in their home buying experience. Contact some of your previous clients and ask them if they’d be willing to record a short 30 – 60 second video on how you helped them through their purchase. Give them 2 or 3 prompted questions, or simply let them ad-lib, whichever you think will portray you the best.

3) Be the expert.
In an industry with such a high amount of competition, it is very important that people view YOU as the expert. A great way to show people that you are the “go-to guy/gal” is to record short webinars. You can talk about anything you want, from home buying tips, to industry events, to addressing common questions… Anything that you think will help potential buyers and sellers.

4) Distribution is key.
Having a wide variety of well-planned real estate videos won’t do you any good unless you can effectively get people to watch them. YouTube is one of the best places to share your videos to potential buyers. You can set up your own YouTube channel that allows you to have all your videos hosted in one place. Be sure to link back to your videos on your other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can even grab the embed code of your videos and post them directly onto your website.

The ways in which you can utilize videos in your real estate marketing strategy is really only limited to your own creativity. What are some of the most creative uses of video in real estate marketing that you have seen?

Whatever the reasons for lacking a blog, “content marketing” is essential to add to your site to set you apart from your competitors.

The following are 4 reasons you need to incorporate content marketing in your real estate marketing strategy:

1) It builds TRUST
It’s hard for potential home buyers to go an entire day without being bombarded with some type of advertisement to buy a new home. This has caused potential buyers to always have their guard up, wondering, “What’s the catch?” Providing consumers with helpful content shows that you are genuinely interested in helping them, and also allows them to find your content when THEY want it. If you write content based on what you know and what you are good at, the consumers will be able to see that you are a trusted resource instead of some greasy salesperson with malicious intentions.

2) Content Marketing is FREE
Not only is blogging a great real estate marketing technique, it also requires no monetary investment on your part. The only thing it will cost you is the time it takes you to research your desired topic and type it out. What’s better than effective marketing? FREE effective marketing.

3) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Blogging isn’t just a platform for you to get your opinions in front of potnetial buyers, it’s a way to boost your website’s search ranking as well. If you have already begun a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program, incorporate your target keywords into your blog posts at least a few times. Not only does this show the search engines what your article is about, it also helps you keep your content on-topic and relevant for your target market.

4) People like to share good content
By adding social media buttons to your blog posts, you allow people to share your content with their social networks as well. WordPress and many other blogging platforms automatically include these buttons in your blog posts in order to make it as easy as possible for others to share your quality content. A well written blog piece can take on a life of its own after people begin to share it!

When it all comes down to it, the best rule of thumb to remember in your new content marketing is to write about things that people want to hear, and stay focused on your target market. If you are a Real Estate Agent, writing articles on video games will likely fall on deaf ears. Keep the content interesting, unique, and beneficial, and you will see great results for your real estate marketing!

“The Board of Directors has accepted the resignation of Patricia Bybee, President and CEO,” said Jim Wanzeck, chairman of the Metrolist board, said in a statement. “We sincerely appreciate Pat’s 27 years of leadership and wish her well in her new pursuits.”

With Bybee’s resignation, Metrolist is no doubt poised for some major changes.

I look forward to seeing Metrolist grow as a constructive and supportive partner to the Real Estate industry here in Colorado.

Leads And Contacts

• Email Attachments now working in the LAC
• Saved Search audit trail now reports correct number of properties sent
• When a lead is assigned to a Loan Officer or Assistant, they will now receive an email alert. Additionally, Loan officers will now see leads assigned to them
• The Newest Leads panel on the LAC home page now consistently the most recent leads at the top of the list
• You can now add NOTES to a listing saved by the Lead
• Its now clearer for a viewed listing if there ARE or ARE NOT notes
• Lead Search mini-form now works when you press ENTER not just clicking the magnifying glass icon
• The full list of future actions of an attached campaign can now be seen on the Lead detail page in the “Tasks and Notes” panel
• The Recommend Property Alert now has a default end date of + 3 months
• More fields are now included in the Lead Export function
• Updates to how Lender Owned and Financing options work for IRES

MBB Website Widgets

• The animation of photos on the Property Details page is now improved
• Searches via Custom Search forms now correctly support use of the BACK button to go from the results page back to the custom search form

WordPress Blogging

• Blog posts on WordPress websites homepage updated to only show summaries

Plus, there have been various other small user-interface corrections and improvements.

To use this function, go to a lead record and click the link to Send Email. The popup window has an option that allows you to attach a file.

The new association’s board will also have a representative from the Colorado Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (CAHREP), John Lucero (Lucero and Company) and one from the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAHREB),David Babineaux (Public Realty).

Steve Cramer (Exit One Realty), Steve Danyliw (Danyliw and Assocates), Rob Horton (Metro Brokers Absolute Real Estate Services), Alanna Kimmel (Metro Brokers Kimmel & Co.), Karen Levine (RE/MAX Alliance), Jolon Ruch (Keller Williams Realty Professionals), Merry Whyman (RE/MAX Alliance) and Skeeter Wilson (Exit One Realty) will represent the association as directors of the Colorado Association of REALTORS® and Gretchen Faber (Kentwood Company at Cherry Creek) as director at the National Association of REALTORS®