~List properties/view responses on your mobile, without any Internet connection~

Makaan.com, People Group’s Indian Property site announced the launch of ‘Makaan Mobile’ ” the country’s 1st SMS-based Real Estate Mobile Application. The application, developed by one of India’s leading MVAS companies, Mauj Mobile is aimed at enhancing the overall consumer experience for property sellers. Makaan Mobile provides an attractive alternative to property sellers who currently need to log on to the Internet either to list their property or to view responses from interested buyers. Harnessing the power of SMS, the Makaan Mobile application is compatible with almost all GSM models, and will cater to a subscriber base close to 200 million in India alone, which is almost 4 times the size of the Internet consumer base.

With this application, Makaan.com becomes the first Indian Real Estate site to have launched a pure SMS based product. The website aims at making property buying and selling effortless and non-technical for the user. Ease of use, and mobile convenience are the cornerstones of success for Makaan Mobile.

Speaking on this initiative, Mr. Aditya Verma, Business Head, Makaan.com said, “All our innovations till date have revolved around ensuring ‘customer delight’, and Makaan Mobile is another step in this direction. The idea of the application germinated from the need to connect with users who are generally on the move and do not have regular access to the Internet. This application will take Makaan.com product offerings to a far greater audience. With the launch of this service, we anticipate a 30% growth in daily property listing rate over the coming months.”

Makaan Mobile is expected to revolutionize the way properties are bought and sold in the country, and given the fact that Makaan.com sees around 8.5 lakh unique visitors per month, the application is sure to garner acceptance amongst the property-selling community, especially real-estate agents, for whom the mobile phone is the weapon of choice.

Commenting on the relevance of the application to the Indian market, Mr. Manoj Dawane, CEO, People Infocom (Mauj Mobile), said, “For Makaan, we needed to create a service that would have a high penetrability facilitating greater reach, and which would be completely user-friendly. Hence, we opted for an SMS-based service that would function without any Internet connection. And, with Makaan Mobile, we have achieved just that.”

The Makaan Mobile innovation comes close on the heels of theMakaan.com TVC on IPL, which also aimed at achieving greater consumer connect, and growing the online real estate industry as a whole.

About Makaan.com
Makaan.com is an online real-estate service promoted by People Interactive; the consumer Internet division of the Anupam Mittal led People Group. This site has been conceived to explore and invent opportunities in the online real-estate space. Makaan.com is committed to helping users make wise and profitable decisions related to buying, selling, renting and leasing of properties, in India and key global geographies. This user-friendly portal has Pan India presence, with physical offices in top 13 cities of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Vizag and Vijaywada.

About People Interactive
People Interactive was founded in 1997 to help architect India’s Internet landscape. Today it is one of India’s leading Internet companies and boasts brands such as Shaadi.com, Shaadi.com Centres, Fropper.com, Makaan.com and Astrolife.com. The company is focussed on discovering and developing scalable Internet business models around communities and classifieds. It prides itself in being a pioneer of Indo-centric Internet business models and believes in innovation led growth.

The company won the IT People Award 2007 for Excellence in Information Technology, and was also awarded the Red Herring Asia Top 100 Awards in 2006. In September 2007 Business Today recognized the company’s flagship brand ” Shaadi.com as one of the Top 10 Marketers in the country. Shaadi.com was also felicitated at the WEB18 ‘Genius of the Web’ Awards 2007, as the best E-Commerce site (Matrimony), and Shaadi.com Centres won the ‘Franchisor of the Year Award’ for the third consecutive year in 2007. People Interactive was also named as one of the Top 500 companies in Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ” Asia Pacific Awards 2007.

People Interactive is a Sequoia Capital backed company and is part of the Anupam Mittal led People Group.

Some Real Estate Agents are Set Apart from the Rest Because of their Marketing Experience, Knowledge and Innovation

Selling a home is not the easiest task in the current real estate market, but neither is it a lost cause. Asking the right professional for assistance with your real estate endeavors is key. It important that you choose a real estate agent that has experience and understands the various parts of the homebuying and selling process. An agent must also have up to date knowledge about the market value in your area and the advantages or selling points of your location. Great, high producing agents also think outside the box. They evaluate all of the options they have for marketing your listing and come up with a plan that gives you maximum exposure. Here are some tips on what to look for when you hire a listing agent.

Tip 1: Honesty is the Best Way to Achieve a Successful Home Sale

Honesty with sellers is always important but in the current market it is essential. Many home sellers are struggling to get the price they want for their home. Often times the listing agent allowed the sellers to have unrealistic expectations by not being honest about the home values and prices in the immediate area. Work with an agent you can trust and speaks openly. Sometimes an agent might not tell you what you want to hear, but this proves they are looking out for your best interests. As a seller you will need the facts in order to decide if now is the right time to sell and if there is no choice to make the best financial decision possible.

Tip 2: An Understanding of the Local Real Estate Market Means Everything

The first time you meet a real estate broker or listing agent ask them to talk to you about the local market and even your neighborhood. Their ability to give you relevant information about the area in which you live or to provide data, resources or stats to support their recommendations, shows they have taken the time to educate themselves about the local area in detail. Attention to detail is what can make or break a successful home sale.

Tip 3: Work with a Full Time Agent or Broker

In order to get the customer service you deserve and the personal attention selling your home requires it is always better to hire a real estate agent that works full time. This means the agent’s priorities center around their clients and not a secondary part time job. It also ensures the listing agent has time to spend marketing your property.

Tip 4: Look for Creativity in Your Agent

Agents with experience often work with photography and staging experts. If you need to sell your home fast find out what solutions your agent suggests. If the agent is up to date about what is happening in the current market he or she should be able to recommend local real estate services that can assist sellers in need of a faster home sale. Agents that think outside the box are sometimes able to create the most creative solutions for sellers in order to facilitate a simpler, faster closing.

Tip 5: Innovative Online Marketing Ideas: Share an Online Video of Your Home

The Internet is where the majority of homebuyers begin their property search. Will your home be online when the perfect buyer starts to look for a home? The Internet is so important to real estate these days, it makes sense that video, which is incredibly popular online, is now becoming an even more powerful tool for sharing real estate information. Youtube.com is the largest social media site online today. National real estate companies like Coldwell Banker now have Youtube channels focused on regions across the country. According to Michael Fischer, senior VP of Marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate, LLC in an April 5, 2010 press release, “…video plays a major role in the home buying and selling process. There is no other medium that can showcase the personality of a home and agent more effectively than video.  And our agents…have responded by posting more than 11,000 videos to date.”

Selling a home can be stressful and requires focus and hard work. Every seller needs assistance from a real estate agent they trust to listen, create successful strategies and execute a clear marketing plan. So remember to choose your listing agent wisely.

Nora Hall is a real estate and relocation specialist in WNC. Nora assists homebuyers and sellers with Asheville real estate and NC mountain properties. To find out more about homes for sale in Asheville, Asheville travel or mountain homes visit http://www.norahall.wordpress.com.

Everyone has a different opinion about Realtor advertising strategies and how you should market your real estate services. Most experts tell you to make yourself (your brand) unique and different compared to your competition. But what they don’t tell you is that you should never, ever compete on “price” alone if you want to be a top producing Realtor. It’ll put you out of business faster than you got into it!

Some real estate agents think that if they brand themselves as the “discount Realtor”, in their Realtor advertising, that they’ll get more and more business and increase their income. False; don’t get caught up in this myth.

You can give cash back to buyers and discounts to listing clients until the cows come home but guess what? There will always be another Realtor out there who will undercut you on price, always! Even when it comes down to a client deciding between two great “discount Realtors”, the client’s final decision is based on everything but price, 99% of the time.

When it comes to Realtor advertising, think about this…….

If a client has a choice between two “discount Realtors” who are within a couple of dollars of each other, unless that client is super sensitive to price, they’re going to base their decision on the relationship they have with each Realtor; how they “feel” about them. How they “feel” comes down to the brand and how well that brand has been marketed to them.

You don’t believe me that price is a stupid point to compete on in your Realtor advertising? How about this…..

What is one of the most plentiful, free resources we have in the USA? Water.

How many different bottled water companies are there? About a “bazillion”, right? Just look in the grocery store aisle and see all the different shapes, styles, colors and names of these bottles of water. Consumers choose to buy something that’s otherwise free just because a company throws it in a bottle and puts a story behind it.

People are buying that bottled water’s “brand”, not the water itself. They believe the story, the brand, which the company is selling the bottled water with. People could get this stuff for free but they choose to spend their hard earned income on it because of how it makes them “feel”.

And to top it off, just about all the bottled water companies are selling their water for the same price. They’re not making sales because it’s cheap; it’s stinkin’ expensive to buy bottled water! They’re making sales because of the story, the brand, which they’re marketing it with.

That’s exactly what you need to do in your Realtor advertising! Realtors like us are a dime a dozen. Sure, some of us are more experienced than others but consumers don’t buy that unless we sell it to them as our brand in our Realtor advertising and marketing.

Even the real estate start-up superstar, Redfin.com, markets their brand as “highest in customer satisfaction”, even though their entire business model is based on giving buyers a rebate of 50% of their commission on every deal. Redfin’s business model is about price, yet they are purposely not branding themselves as that. This is exactly how intentional you need to be with your Realtor advertising.

BuySideRealty.com is a perfect example of the competition trying to out-price Redfin. Instead of giving only 50% of a rebate to buyers, they decided to give a 75% rebate.

So how did they do? Terrible.

They couldn’t get any traction and ended up merging with another company. They were able to out-price the competition but couldn’t last for any length of time. Redfin’s “brand” was too strong!

Hopefully you understand how competing on price in your Realtor advertising is a recipe for disaster. At best, you’ll earn a living for a little while before you’re beat out by your competition. Instead, define your brand, what you stand for, and market that in all your Realtor advertising. That’s what will make you a top producing Realtor earning the big bucks!

Josh F. Sanders is a Real Estate Broker and the Founder of Shiloh Street University in Seattle, WA, an online marketing school designed specifically for Realtors and agents.

SSU’s purpose is to “Create Wealthy Agents through World-Class Marketing” by providing step-by-step video marketing tutorials, lead-generation lessons, tips, articles, recommended marketing vendors and much more.

Get your FREE 5-DAY SNEAK PEEK of SSU’s “The Marketing Toolbox” at http://www.ShilohStreetUniversity.com

All investments require a little research to make sure that you have covered all your bases. You wouldn’t want to just half-heartedly throw money in to something and find out later that it was a bad idea. When it comes to real estate, whether you’re buying a house to live in or buying an investment property, there are a few things to know. First of all, there are three primary concerns when investing: liquidity, safety, and rate of return. Liquidity is the relative ease with which you can transfer an investment.

Things that are liquid usually refer to smaller, more short-term commitments that can be traded or affected on a daily basis. Real estate is not considered liquid, as it is a large commitment that can take months to transfer and involves a lot of paperwork. The safety of an investment depends on a lot of things, but generally, things with rapid high returns are less safe. The rate of return is how much money you will make when you sell.

Investing money in real estate is thought to be a very safe option. With the recent economy, it is even safer because the market has switched from a seller market to a buyer market. This means that before, property values had risen considerably to a very high rate.

Therefore, the seller would make a lot of money selling where the buyer had little room for the property to appreciate in value. However, now things are lowering in value and prices are becoming more stable. This means that if you choose to purchase, you will get a better price for what you are buying and you can expect the property to gain in value more than it would have previously.

It is considered a generally safe thing to look into because typically, purchases are made long-term which means that your house will better stand the test of time. In addition, you can do things to raise the value, which makes it a better investment.

If you purchase a relatively inexpensive place and slowly make improvements, with the improvements and inflation you can expect to get a pretty big return in the next few decades. There is also the option to purchase for the purpose of “flipping,” or doing a quick renovation for a quick turn-around. However, safety is reliant on research. Just think before you buy something.

Have it appraised, see what repairs need to be made, look at trends in that neighborhood and the projection of the neighborhood. Is it slowly getting disreputable or is there a lot of new construction? Think these things through, as this will better help you determine the safety of the property.

Making regular mortgage payments is great for your credit and typically, you can expect a return if you bought wisely. Real estate is an area with a lot of information available, so a little research can help ensure that you are spending your money wisely.

In Asheville, real estate agents can help you out with any kind of formality or paperwork in case you are planning to buy, sell or relocate in an area of your choice. We give you the best service regarding property transaction. To know more, visit http://www.preferredrealestatecenter.com.

Investing in property is a kind of game, in which either you can be a winner or a looser. To get a fair deal of your invested money, you have to be a little tricky. By investing in a real estate you will earn beyond your imaginations, and you are also free of nightmares which you have after investing in stock market.

One of the best earning investment is to invest in property residential. Either you can purchase a residential building for a short span of time, or for whole life. It is one of the most increasing income source. So, if you are thinking about investment, then property investment can be a best choice.

After making the mind on property investment, the first question which arises in the mind is, how to find a good investment property. So, here we are with some ideas, which can surely help you to find a suitable and profitable property.

The first thing you need to know is, lying inside your mind, and that is for how long you want to own a particular property. The decision is obviously yours, but we can tell you both pros and cons of any period you choose. For example, if you are thinking to own a particular property for 20 years, then you will obviously get a fair deal, as the rents and price of property will go high. But you also have to spend a large some of money for its maintenance and repair. And, if you are thinking to keep it just for five or six years, then you need not to spend that much money for its maintenance and likewise you will not get that handsome a price for it.

The second step which you need to take on this path is to develop a network. Many landlords keep in touch with city hall clerk and bank employees. They are the one who know which property is available to sell and purchase and which property can benefit you the most. Some people get associated with local property dealers to get in contact with different people. The newspapers also can be proved a good support, as many people give adds in them.

Before buying a particular property, you should also make queries about its location and its development. As, a property in a developing area can bring an unexpected luck. A good maintenance of the property can shape its good future. So, go and try your own luck in this game.

For any help on investing in properties, check out the info available online; these will help you learn to find the Property investing!

The real estate market is a war zone – everybody’s doing their best to gain as much as possible from every transaction and not always through the fairest methods. But “if you can’t beat them, join them!” and take action in finding the best way to do it! The wisest investors or buyers know that the key to successful real estate business is in hiring one of the top real estate agents available. If you’ve made a wise choice, the top real estate agent who is an expert in this field will help you benefit from the purchase or sell of any property, saving you worries and a lot of effort.