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        <title>Marin County Real Estate Market Blog | Marin Market Trends</title>
        <link>http://www.marinrealestate.net/blog/tags/real-estate/</link>
        <description>Stay knowledgeable and on top of the Marin County Real Estate market with Peter &amp; Karin Narodny's Marin Market Blog. Information about top listings, Marin market trends and Marin bank owned homes updated weekly.</description>
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            <link>http://www.marinrealestate.net/blog/where-to-begin-your-search-for-a-marin-realtor.html</link>
            <author>peter@marinrealestate.net (Peter Narodny)</author>
            <title>Where To Begin Your Search For a Marin Realtor</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
Ask friends for referrals.
Friends can give you a starting point, but don't hire an agent solely
on a friend's recommendation, says Brenner. Don't choose an agent based
on personality alone, but make sure you can get along well.

Choose the broker or real estate agency first, and then ask the agency to recommend a couple of their best agents.
Then stick with her. If you see a house for sale and call the agent
listed on the sign, that agent's first concern will be representing the
seller, not you, the buyer. &quot;Sometimes the broker is associated with a
franchise, such as Century 21,&quot; says author O'Hara. &quot;If you select a
franchised broker, you have the advantage of national name recognition
and usually a strong national advertising campaign.&quot; But beware. &quot;You
aren't guaranteed a great agent just because you selected a well-known
real estate franchise. You should select a firm based on that office's
reputation -- not the reputation of the national firm.&quot;Consider choosing an agent who is a Realtor. In
addition to being licensed by the state to sell real estate, Realtors
belong to the National Association of Realtors and must abide by a
strict Code of Ethics. Brenner says, &quot;The National Association of
Realtors has a code of ethics that will knock your socks off, and they
are very strict in dealing with people who don't abide by them.&quot; Also,
only Realtors have access to Multiple Listing Services (MLS) through
which members share listings and have access to many more properties
than non-members.Choose an agent that handles homes in your price range.
Some agents specialize in high-end properties and won't give their best
effort on properties under a set value. If they usually deal in
fixer-uppers, they won't have the experience to navigate &quot;Millionaire's
Row&quot;.Choose an agent who listens to your needs and takes the time to explain things you might not understand.
Real estate transactions can be complicated and the terminology
confusing. You need an agent who will both know the answers to your
questions and takes the time to explain them. &quot;It's extremely important
to find an agent whose personality you like,&quot; explains Purcell, whose
firm helps people find professional, trustworthy agents. &quot;You want them
to be bright, professional, trained, and someone who works in the
business full-time, but personality is important. You're going to spend
a lot of time with this person whether you are buying or selling. If
you hate the agent and the agent hates you, you may be too far along in
the process to correct it.&quot; Choose an agent who can and will provide other services.
Will they help arrange a house inspection, refer you to qualified
lending professionals and real estate attorneys, and conduct a study of
the property's value?
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:54:23 -0700</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.marinrealestate.net/blog/the-marin-real-estate-internet-fever.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.marinrealestate.net/blog/the-marin-real-estate-internet-fever.html</link>
            <author>peter@marinrealestate.net (Peter Narodny)</author>
            <title>Marin Real Estate Internet Fever</title>
            <description> <![CDATA[ The real estate industry has a fever and the only cure is more internet! The internet has revolutionized real estate, buyers and sellers can now see what agents see, an industry that was once opaque is now transparent. Buyers can now further due diligence what they hear from their agents and agents have to be conscious of the importance of internet marketing and the fact that over 80% of all buyers start their search on the internet. That being said, the internet has caused some major problems in the real estate industry and we thought, &ldquo;What better way to start a new blog on a new ultra-advanced real estate site than to start with a word of caution?&rdquo; Below is a brief overview of what parts of the internet revolution have been blessings, and what parts have been curses and I hope for comments from readers to bring up more:
Benefits of the Internet to Real Estate


Online home search makes you no longer have to rely on your agents subscription to MLS

The ability to quickly see &ldquo;Comps&rdquo;

Directions to homes from sites such as Google maps

Easy centralized place to see open houses in your area

Proliferation of knowledge through bogs such as this one

Buyers can quickly diligence realtors and home sellers online with a quick Google search

Email campaigns done through sites such as Campaign Monitor and Mail Chimp

Online CRM systems allow you to have full access to your clients where every you are

The ability to quickly search foreclosures and short sales in your neighborhood (Visit our Marin Foreclosures section for more) 

Quickly get honest opinions on schools and communities (View our San Anselmo Real Estate Example: San Anselmo)

Diligence potential neighbors to see who you will be living next to

Social networking sites such as facebook &amp; Linkedin allow agents to extend their network and gain valuable referrals


Negatives of the Internet to Real Estate


The proliferation of &ldquo;For Sale By Owner&rdquo; sites has lead quite a few sellers down a difficult path ( Read more on our page &ldquo;The Dangers of Using Discount Online Agents&quot; 

Too much information makes it difficult to know who to trust

Some sites have just plain wrong information on homes for sale and as an agent it can be difficult to manage buyer/seller expectations when certain sites &ldquo;pull&rdquo; incorrect information

Older, experienced agents are getting pushed out of the market because of a lack of tech knowledge

Any others that I may have missed? Feel free to comment!- Peter Narodny runs the top real estate website in Marin County, CA: www.marinrealestate.net  ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:50:59 -0700</pubDate>
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