I Believe in Strong Internet Presence in Marketing Real Estate

The 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers was recently published by the National Association of Realtors based on survey results from over 110,000 consumers who purchased a home between July 2009 and June 2010. My office carefully reviews this annual report because it provides insight into the needs and expectations of home buyers and sellers.

How buyers do their search process is of particular interest to us as we try to most effectively market the property we list. According to the Profile, the internet search process and the use of real estate agents continue to be the top two most important resources to buyers. The use of these two resources appears to be a complimentary relationship, with those buyers using the internet more likely to buy their home through a real estate agent.

I believe in a strong internet presence and properties I list are featured on my website, durangorealproperty.com and on the Wells Group website, wellsgroupdurango.com. Both of these sites will lead potential buyers to a virtual tour of the properties I list. All of my listings are also featured on YouTube.com. I also have a strong presence on Zillow.com and spend additional marketing dollars on search engine optimization (SEO) to encourage visits to our websites so that listed properties get maximum exposure. All in all, properties listed with me have internet exposure 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist


He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.

Durango one of Coolest Town's in America!

Check out this article from the March, 2011 issue of Men's Journal:

-

Put Your Outdoor Life First: Durango, Colorado

In its taste for fleece and proximity to awe-inspiring mountains, Durango often gets compared to Boulder 20 years ago. But with its isolation, modest size and population (16,000), and a down-home, just-folks genuineness, Durango clearly doesn’t aspire to Boulder’s growth, and it will never be a bedroom community for any metropolis. Tucked down in the southwest corner of Colorado, where the San Juan Mountains meet the arid Colorado Plateau, Durango has plenty of trademark Rocky Mountain beauty. But what distinguishes it from places like Boulder — or dream towns like Aspen and Vail — is how protecting its way of life and defining qualities is built into the town charter as well as its collective zeitgeist. Residents voted years ago to tax themselves to raise funds for parks, open space, and trails, all of which it has in crazy proportions relative to its size — 1,575 protected acres in town alone. Volunteers fervently maintain local trails through a nonprofit called Trails 2000, which boasts 2,000 members — that’s 12 percent of the total population.

The high-desert city, cleaved by the Animas River and perched 6,500 feet high at the stoop of the San Juans, has just enough oil and gas, ranching, and clean tech to support a handful of coffeehouses doing fair-trade brews, four microbreweries (seriously — it’s the water), and fine community arts and theater programs in an Old West downtown. The presence of four-year Fort Lewis College lends an additional cultural boost, but Durango is also decidedly laidback, the kind of town where a shopkeeper is likely to lock up early and post a gone skiing sign when fresh powder falls at Purgatory, just 24 miles away.

High-paying gigs are scarce, but plenty of locals are happy to work two jobs for the right to live in a place so blessed by geography and sunshine. A mile south of downtown, the RiverGate complex has lofts overlooking the Animas, with views of the La Plata Mountains and hop-on access to the town’s main bike path. Cars are left parked for weeks at a time as kayaking, fishing, hiking, and mountain biking are right out the door, as are millions of acres of Forest Service and BLM land. A Durango ritual that speaks volumes is visible on any summer Friday, about 5 pm — it’s the Animas River clogged with tubers nursing beers and hailing one another as they drift through town — happy hour in a happy place.

Real Estate Recovery: Are we there yet?

Although the answer is still "no," I continue to believe that brighter days are not so far ahead in real estate. The article I've reprinted for you below, by LawrenceYun, the chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, analyzes American population growth and its effect on home ownership as another predictor of an expected rebound in the real estate market. We still face a challenging 2011. Sellers still need to be diligent in making sure property is priced right and shows well. We are still in a buyer's market. But, just like you would say to the child in the back seat who continually asks "are we there yet" our watchwords are patience and optimism. We are getting there.

Sunnier Skies Are Likely on the Way, by Lawrence Yun, March 2011 Realtor Magazine

Thanks to population growth, the number of home owning households in our country normally rises by about 1 million each year. But economic conditions will sometimes throw a hurdle in the way of that.

We faced a big hurdle in the early 1980s when interest rates rose to as high as 18 percent, and we faced another hurdle after the housing "bubble" burst. The number of home owners did not grow from 2005 to 2010, even though the U.S. population grew to 308 million people—13 million more than in 2005. Instead, during that period the home ownership rate dipped to 66 percent from 69 percent.

We know those bubble years were fueled by artificial demand, so the 69 percent home ownership rate we had in 2005 was likely artificial as well. Thus, today’s 66 percent home ownership rate brings us back to a sustainable level.

When you combine this healthy home ownership rate with our country’s projected growth to 340 million people by 2020 (and 420 million by 2050), you can bet our industry’s long-term prospects remain bright. It’s the short-term economic pressure we have to worry about, but even here the news is brightening.

Manufacturing output has been rising. The stock market has recovered nicely. Companies are flush with cash. Consumer confidence has rebounded from very low levels, and jobs are being created.

Against this improving picture, we can expect to see some release of the demand that’s been building up for the last three years. Rising rental costs will also likely tip more renters into home ownership.

Putting these and other factors together, existing-home sales are projected to rise 8 percent to nearly 5.3 million units nationwide this year and possibly to 5.5 million in 2012. At this level, home ownership is solid, but it’s also sustainable given our level of population growth."

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me. You can reach me, Don Ricedorff, at The Wells Group 970-375-7014, don@frontier.net, or at my website at durangorealproperty.com.

Don Ricedorff is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Colorado, with 18+ years of experience, and he resides in Durango Colorado.He has numerous real estate designations, which have provided him with an unparalleled education to assist his clients. The designations include:

CRS, Certified Residential Specialist
CRB, Certified Residential Broker
CCIM, Certified Commercial Investment Member
CDPE, Certified Distressed Property Expert
ABR, Accredited Buyer Representation
GRI, Graduate of Realtor Institute
RSPS, Resort and Second Home Property Specialist
CIPS, Certified International Property Specialist
SRES, Senior Real Estate Specialist


He is also an active volunteer in the community and his church. His highest aspiration is spending time with his wife, Janet, and his three children Kelly, Katie, and Kyle. His other interests include playing tennis, fly fishing, hiking, boating, and water skiing.