Welcome to the first online edition of our newsletter. It is a little daunting moving along with technology, but here we are.
 
It has been an eventful few months and we are glad many of you took advantage of the coffee and fudge vouchers from our first newsletter. Winter is on its way out now and daylight saving is only a few weeks away, fantastic!

Enjoy the warming weather, be kind to each other and have fun!

Jane
 
  
What's Happening

 Floor Plans! These are used extensively overseas as a standard marketing tool and are now gaining popularity in New Zealand. We believe that they will greatly benefit your out of town buyers. Already a number of agents have taken up the option. Only $109 +gst (up to 160m2). Available in 2D and 3D format, suitable for print and web use. 

Property layout is easily interpreted, generating more customer interest and working to establish a stronger visual point of difference to competitors.  In Australia there has been a 20% increase in the use of Floor Plans over the last year.


 
Facebook. Wow - Front Door Photography is on Facebook! It has been exciting to see which homes receive more “hits” than others. So far, the internal shots receive more hits than the external shots. Also, big is not necessarily better. As the public and home owners become more aware of the Facebook page, an accurate picture of what attracts their attention will emerge. Other features are also being developed – watch this space!
 
Flyer- Front Door Photography has produced a small flyer promoting the benefit of professional photography in all property marketing. If you would like a copy or know someone who we may be able to help, send us an email and we will happily post or drop one off.
 

IN THE NEWS:

Buyers are willing to pay top dollar only if the home fits a detailed definition of quality, in terms of region, location, size, design, construction style, layout and presentation. They ignore the rest and offer such low prices the vendor won’t budge.
“…prices have been holding because buyers feel there is not a lot to choose from once you rule out the rubbish,” says Gary Brunsdon, a director of valuation company Sheldons.
 Shayne Donovan-Grammar, QV’s valuer in Tauranga, says “The days of getting reasonable money for a tired looking property are long gone; the market simply won’t tolerate it” Property Investor June 2011

Enjoy the warming weather, be kind to each other and have fun!
 
Jane

Technology 

iPHONE APP- The latest RealEstate.co.nz app for iphones saw over 20,000 downloads in just three months and growing at 140 downloads per week – now 11% of traffic to the website is coming from those iphones. To me this underscores the need for clear and attractive photographs in all forms of marketing, as well as information to encourage a viewing rather than passing it over for another. Food for thought….
 
LINKEDIN-  So who belongs to Linkedin.com? It is a business-related social networking site. It is mainly used for professional networking and as of March 2011, Linkedin reported more than 100 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries linking professionals in their fields.
 
It is interesting to see what is happening in the Real Estate market in other countries, particularly Australia and the USA. I chat regularly with a Technology and Marketing (real estate) specialist in Tasmania and we are working on bringing you a service via support from an agency in North Carolina!
 
Through your Linkedin contacts and groups you can extend your database to people they know.

At Janes Place

What a busy few months! Rugby has definitely been in the forefront of my endeavours. I was so thrilled to be on the paddock for the Tri Nations All Blacks v South Africa game!  The crowd really made the night and it was a learning experience to see the game at that level. The fact that the All Blacks won certainly helped!

 
One of the best parts of my job is meeting people from all walks of life. At the game I chatted with Peter Bush (All Black photographer and amazing man), a well travelled French reporter and one of the videographers from the Intrepid Journey TV series who said his favourite place was Rwanda. Go figure!
 
Photographs from the Turbos, All Blacks and club rugby games are uploaded to the Janes Place Photography Facebook page for public viewing.