I saw the following post on BusinessWeek.com - Hot Properties and thought I'd share it with you..

Real Estate Web Sites See Surge In Traffic

Posted by: Chris Palmeri on May 15

Right up there with Twittering and people seeking info about the swine flu at the Centers for Disease Control, online real estate sites are seeing a boom in traffic.

Web tracker commScore reports the Real Estate category saw a 10 percent increase to 48.4 million visitors in April. Move Network, parent of Realtor.com, led as the most visited real estate site attracting 13.2 million visitors (up 88 percent vs. March), followed by Yahoo! Real Estate with 6.8 million visitors (up 11 percent) and AOL Real Estate with 3.6 million visitors (up 15 percent).

The start of spring led many Americans to consider home repairs and remodeling, driving traffic to sites that are home improvement related. About.com Home & Garden led the category with nearly 4 million visitors (up 16 percent), followed by AOL Home with 3.8 million visitors (up 29 percent) and Better Homes & Gardens Network with 3.8 million visitors (up 13 percent).

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We are in the process of setting up Sara's Home as a 401(c)3 tax exempt organization and will be able to give tax exemption receipts for your donations very soon. In the meantime, we request that you give to Journey's case and help her family not lose their home to foreclosure due to the heavy burdens of dealing with cancer. Journey is the first of hopefully hundreds of patients we will help during this already difficult time period.

Please donate now (Attn: Journey) and make a difference in a little girl's life!

Last week I went to the monthly foreclosure sale at the courthouse steps. It was my first time attending a foreclosure sale and these were my observations.

When I first arrived, the sheriff was standing higher up on a bench and there were about 20-30 people around him. An assistant passed out a handout of the properties that were up for auction. You are to arrive with cashier's checks or money orders on hand to purchase the properties on the spot and be given the title. There were 14-15 properties on the list with 2-3 of them being struck out and the rest available. As the bidding began there was a common theme that began to arise. There were many spectators and those wishing to bid and then there were those that actually had the cash to buy. It was easy to note whom were the investors in the crowd. Most of them stood together as they all knew each other and had pre-printed lists that they had brought with them of the properties with comps, maps, and details. They didn't bid on any of the properties in this case all acred lots that were up for grabs at $1500 each but instead waited to bid on actual houses. A certain man did pick up about 5- 7 lots all within the same subdivision. This man was an interesting figure. He was a lean, hispanic man whom seemed to be in his late 30's-early 40's. He wore a soiled mechanic's jumper suit and had various tattoos and looked a bit scruffy. He didn't seem the kind of person whom would have the cash to buy these properties all at once yet he did. The investors in the crowd mentioned that he was probably buying to build small houses on the land to sell or rent out. I didn't ask. There was one property or piece of land that did gain interest from the public and the bidding started a bit higher at $2500. It ended up going for about $5000 for that piece of land to a couple in the crowd. (read more)

Here's to Education, Wealth, and Freedom! - Flower De Raadt

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Q. What are the top 3 essential marketing materials a newbie investor needs to have when starting out and why are they necessary?

A. (answer on the podcast)

Q. Why is it necessary for an investor to have proven copy and marketing tactics?
A. (answer on the podcast)

Q. Foreclosures are predicted to rise in 2009 above last year’s numbers, how can investors capitalize on this growing opportunity?

A. (answer on the podcast)

Here's to Education, Wealth, and Freedom! - Flower De Raadt

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