Category Archives: Press Room

Homes.com Invading D.C. for Midyear NAR Conference!

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We’re almost halfway through 2013 and that means it’s time for one of the real estate industry’s largest events, NAR Midyear 2013!  Homes.com is very excited to head back to Washington, D.C. to attend the Midyear Conference that kicks off May 14 and runs through May 16.

So far 2013 has been shaping up to be a great year in the real estate industry, as consumer confidence rises now more than ever it is crucial for real estate professionals to connect with local consumers searching for homes in their local areas.

Visit Homes.com at booth #502 and be one of the first to learn how you can connect with buyers and sellers in your area with mobile local ads!

While you’re at the Homes.com booth, make sure you enter for a chance to WIN a VISA gift card! Also, stay up to speed on the action at MidYear by following our LIVE updates on Twitter via @HomesPro using #NARmidyear. See you there!!

 

Ancillary Services Bring Luck to Your Brokerage

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Are you and your agents meeting all of your clients’ needs? A new report analyzes the business models employed by many brokerages that offer ancillary services (also known as  ”home services”) and how they use them. Do these services make sense for your brokerage? This report focused on enterprise brokers, with 500 agents or more, because they usually have a relationship with a mortgage company or insurance company.

The report was given by WAV Group Inc., and can be found in its entirety here.  The term “home services” refers to providing residential, mortgage, and insurance services to the consumer when speaking in conjunction with brokerages. It’s common for these same brokerages to have a settlement service and home warranty service in combination with the home or ancillary services. According to the report, these additional practices will really only benefit the brokerages of significant size because they will be able to “have enough data to profit from the harvesting practices outlined” in the report.

The full report for you shows the best data analytic and business intelligence practices by the largest banks and mortgage companies in the United States.  WAV uses with their examples to show how large real estate brokerages that offer home services can show consumers and other brokerages a more competitive edge as well as be more profitable. See what these ancillary practices can bring to your brokerage; it could be just the luck you need!

Kick Off Football Season with a Winning Tailgate Party at Home

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For more media information:
Ivette Faulkner/SYDNEY WEAVER-BEY
The Zimmerman Agency • (850) 668-2222
ifaulkner@zimmerman.com
SWEAVERBEY@zimmerman.com 

Kick Off Football Season with a Winning Tailgate Party at Home

Tips and tricks to entertain friends and family like a pro 

NORFOLK, Va., (Sept. 4, 2012) – As summer winds down and fall makes its way around the corner, cheers of football fans across the country are imminent. Football games are the perfect time to reconnect with friends and family, and it all starts with tailgating. Homes.com and ForRent.com, leading real estate listing sites and complete lifestyle resources, have partnered with Nature’s Own, America’s number one soft variety bread brand, to kick off this football season with tailgating tips.

If you can’t make it to the stadium on game day, you can still throw the perfect tailgate party at home. Follow these tips from Homes.com and ForRent.com to create a winning tailgate party:

How to Throw the Perfect Home Tailgating Party

  • Countdown to Kickoff – 3, 2, 1…Get ready for the big game with fun activities that will help guests liven up and get ready to cheer on the team. Choose three activities like a bean bag toss, horseshoes or a football game of your own and let the excitement begin. Pick two teams, each competing in the separate activities, and select one grand prize for the winning team. Guests will have a great time before the big game even starts.
  • Spirited Décor – Spice up the look of your home and get in the game spirit with decorations. Buy tablecloths, balloons and other supplies in your team’s colors and dress up food displays with black and white striped fabric, reminiscent of a referee’s jersey. An overturned helmet with your favorite team’s logo is a great place to store tailgate essentials like bottle openers, silverware and more.
  • Fan Favorite Foods – Snacks are a game day essential. A buffet is an easy way for your guests to fuel up before and during the game. Homes.com recommends the Southwest Turkey Burger made with Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Rolls as a healthy alternative to burgers and hot dogs.
  • Halftime Happenings – Not being at the stadium on game day doesn’t mean missing out on halftime entertainment! Create fun activities for guests like guessing and voting on the final score. Mix it up with a re-match of pre-game activities, and don’t forget to let guests fuel up on food before the second half.   

Using these simple tips and tricks is a surefire way to throw a tailgate touchdown on game day. For more information and entertaining tips, visit the Homes.com Idea Gallery at blog.homes.com and check out the Homes.com Tailgating Fever Entertainment Guide, available free for download at http://blog.homes.com/2012/08/homes-com-brings-you-the-ultimate-tailgating-guide/.

About Homes.com®

As one of the nation’s top online real estate destinations, Homes.com inspires consumers to dream big. From affordable houses to luxurious estates, condos, apartments and more, Homes.com features more than four million property listings and a user-friendly format, making finding your next home or a licensed real estate agent easily accessible. Visitors to the Homes.com blog will find a collection of rich content and posts on DIY projects, painting, gardening and more, providing the ultimate resource for everything home related. From purchasing a first home, to upgrading, downsizing and everything in between, Homes.com is an inspiring and engaging partner in every phase of the home buying process. For more information, visit http://www.homes.com or blog.homes.com.

About For Rent Media Solutions™

Founded in 1982 as For Rent Magazine®, For Rent Media Solutions™ is headquartered in Norfolk, Va., and provides multifamily housing solutions for apartment seekers and property/apartment managers and owners through integrated marketing techniques, including print and Internet, mobile media, custom video and social media solutions.  For Rent Media Solutions operates For Rent Magazine, as well as Apartamentos Para Rentar®, and publishes 94 magazines covering more than 190 markets nationwide, including After 55™ Housing & Resource Guide, and ForRent.com™-The Magazine. For Rent Media Solutions operates four additional websites: ForRent.com®, SeniorOutlook.com®, CorporateHousing.com® and ParaRentar.com®. Visit ForRent.com for more information, or visit us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

Homes.com and For Rent Media Solutions are divisions of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information, visit www.dominionenterprises.com. 

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“Powered by Homes.com” Brings Branded Real Estate Listing Solutions to Media Outlets

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For more media information:
Ivette Faulkner/sydney weaver-bey
The Zimmerman Agency • (850) 668-2222
ifaulkner@zimmerman.com
sweaverbey@zimmerman.com

 

“Powered by Homes.com” Brings Branded Real Estate Listing Solutions to Media Outlets

Customizable listing sites now available to media outlets

Norfolk, VA (Aug. 29, 2012) – Leading real estate listing service Homes.com has launched the “Powered by Homes.com” platform, a media solution and easy-to-use product which offers media outlets access to Homes.com and ForRent.com classified real estate listings. The new feature lets media partners integrate Homes.com into their existing site. This platform is easy to implement, free of charge and also offers revenue opportunities for partners. 

The highly customizable add-on is co-branded to match existing sites and gives partners control over the page’s appearance. Partners can make edits and incorporate elements of their websites, creating a seamless transition from the outlets’ sites to the listings. 

Key benefits of “Powered by Homes.com” include:

  • The plug-and-play tool is simple to implement, allowing partners exclusive access to the Homes.com real estate classified network comprised of 4 million listings, including almost 20,000 apartment listings from ForRent.com.
  • Affiliate control panel allows partners to edit and incorporate elements of their websites into the co-branded platform.
  • Search widgets where users can conduct a real estate or rental search from the media outlet website.
  • Opportunity to generate revenue from the affiliation, including the ability to incorporate media partners’ display advertising networks, allowing them to generate revenue on a site hosted by Homes.com.
  • Homes.com controls the listing display to ensure content displays accurately and represents the listing broker and agent fairly by applying the same data quality assurance process used on Homes.com. This ensures that media partners receive and display only the most accurate listing data.

“Continuing to provide top-of-the-line products and tools to media partners, agents and consumers is our mission at Homes.com,” said Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com and For Rent Media Solutions. “The partnerships give consumers access to millions of classified real estate and rental listings across the country. It’s just another way we extend ourselves as a partner through every life phase, making the search for homes and rentals easy and convenient. We’re looking forward to continued success with the “Powered by Homes.com” platform and expanding partnership opportunities with outlets across the country.” 

The first major media outlet to utilize the program is Landmark Community Newspapers, LLC. With more than 50 publications across the country, LCNI is thrilled with the opportunity to offer its readers an additional resource – real estate listings. 

“The ability to expand and upgrade our real estate sections with this added feature on our online newspaper sites at no cost is very important to us.” said Dan Sykes, executive vice president of Landmark Community Newspapers. “Their ongoing support is excellent, which allows us to focus on revenue opportunities available with the Powered By Homes.com platform.” 

About Homes.com

As one of the nation’s top online real estate destinations, Homes.com inspires consumers to dream big. From affordable houses to luxurious estates, condos, apartments and more, Homes.com features more than four million property listings and a user-friendly format, making finding your next home or a licensed real estate agent easy. Visitors to the Homes.com blog will find a collection of rich content and posts on DIY projects, painting, gardening and more, providing the ultimate resource for everything home related. From purchasing a first home, to upgrading, downsizing and everything in between, Homes.com is an inspiring and engaging partner in every phase of the home-buying process. For more information, visit http://www.homes.com or blog.homes.com. 

Homes.com is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information, visit www.dominionenterprises.com.

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Expand your Database in Homes Connect with your Social Networks

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You can access your Facebook , Google and LinkedIn accounts through Homes Connect and guess what, you only have to log in once!  Import contacts and expand your database in one place by connection these networks through the dashboard of Homes Connect. We can also check for new contacts when you log into Homes.com and update you on who is using Homes.com. 

To get started click here, and from the Social Networking dashboard you can access your social networks without tediously logging into each account separately.  Let us make your work and lead capture faster and more productive, we know you are busy this time of year and this function can expand your database quicker than before!

With the Homes Connect dash, you will start with Facebook.  We will ask you to login to your account to allow full access. **Note: If you are using a public or shared computer, make sure the “Keep me logged in” box is not checked. If you do not sign out of your social networking accounts, others using the same computer will have access to your information. Once you have logged in you can import your prospects.

The process is the same for Google and LinkedIn. Once you have accessed all of your social networks, click “Prospects” from the Social Networking dashboard to view your imported prospects. From here you can add your prospects to your contact database or send a message directly from the chosen social media platform.

Your contacts will be updated with their picture and social networks you are linked to them through. Finally, add the social networking gadgets to your home page to view your news feed and updates. By adding the Twitter gadget you can also connect to your Twitter account and see updates from everyone you follow. Create your own status updates and tweets all from your HomesConnect Dashboard!

 

Not signed up yet? Call today. (888) 510-8795 or email us at productinfo@homes.com