Business

Google Places Optimization Tips Get your local business listing on the first page of Google

Does your company appear on the first page of Google?

If you’re a small business owner, I’m sure you’ve heard of Google Places, Google’s free business listing service. And if you haven’t, do a Google Places search and fill out the form and then come back here for tips on how to get more out of your free Google Places business listing.

In 2009, Google relaunched its Business Center on Google Places, which allows local business owners to create a profile of their business, including phone number, address, website, images, videos, business hours, etc. and also mark the location of your business on Google. Map service.

Building a Google Places listing is a great way to get your business (even if you don’t have a website) to appear on the first page of Google search results when someone performs a local search.

A Google Places listing is very easy and straightforward to set up, however what I want to do in this article is to give you some additional tips that will help you get more out of your Google Places listing.

1. Customer reviews – The more reviews you have on your business listing, the better it will work. Firstly, it provides social proof to your customers or potential customers and it will also help keep your listing on top.

A good way to do this is to send your new customers an email asking them to leave a review; this can be done on complete autopilot with an autoresponder or email management service.

Include a link in your email signature inviting existing customers to leave reviews, ask people on your Facebook page, and when people enter your shop/store.

2. Other business listings – Google discards information from other business directories to verify that phone numbers, addresses, etc. are the same and you also place these listings on your Google Places profile. Make sure all other business listings you create on other directories are consistent.

3. Keywords – This is a very important factor when creating your company listing. If you’re running a house painting business in Parramatta, Sydney, you’ll want to target keywords like “house painting”, “interior house painter”, “exterior house painter”, “residential painter”, etc.

Don’t try to trick Google by putting a bunch of keywords in your business name. For example, if you have a house painting business called ABC Painting Service, you might want to include your business name as ABC House Painting Service.

This way you can get 2 of the targeted keywords “House painting” instead of just “Painting”. to get more keywords may work in the short term, but Google quickly picks up on this and will work against you.

Home Kitchen

BR111 Flooring – The Nation’s Largest Exotic Hardwood Flooring Manufacturer

As the nation’s largest manufacturer of exotic hardwood flooring, BR11’s vast selection of hardwood flooring provides homeowners with a variety of high-quality exotic flooring options, all at an affordable price. BR111 manufactures the highest quality solid and engineered hardwoods, which means there is an option for every homeowner looking to add value and aesthetics to their homes.

For solids, BR111 created “Indusparquet”, a line featuring stunning exotic hardwoods including Brazilian Cherry Hardwood, Tigre Hardwood Flooring, Amendoim Hardwood Flooring and Santos Mahogany Hardwood Flooring. Indusparquet floors come in thicknesses of 3/4, 7/16 and 5/16 inches. Planks come in 3, 5, 5 1/2, and 7 3/4 widths with random lengths. They are micro-beveled on all four sides, which allows for an excellent fit, minimizes seasonal movement, and prevents variations in height during installation.

What really sets Indusparquet apart is the ultra-smooth and velvety appearance of the floors, by far the best on the market. This is where the line’s precision milling and UV-cured aluminum oxide finish come into play. They just scream sophistication with their polished appearance.

Another distinguishing factor of Indusparquet and of all BR111 Floors is that all floors are kiln-dried. Wood kiln drying is a cutting-edge new technology that substantially reduces the likelihood of shrinkage and expansion problems seen in hardwood floors due to moisture and temperature changes.

If you’re looking for engineered wood flooring, BR111 has two beautiful lines to choose from based on your preferences: 5/16th Engineered and Antiquity Engineered Hand-scraped. If you prefer the ultra-smooth look of Indusparquet, you’ll want to opt for the 5/16 line. Antiquity Hand-scraped, on the other hand, is a perfect option for those who want an antique, antique look for their flooring.

For 5/16th Engineered, Timborana dazzles like an autumn sunset, with a bright, coppery resonance. White Oak is equally spectacular, in a buttery hue that will warm any home. Just as the copper-colored woods shine in 5/16 Engineered, Antiquity Beaujolais Cherry is impressive.

If you really like color variations, Zinfandel Tigerwood is a special style with bold variations in dark brown and tawny colors. If you want a solid hardwood floor and like the idea of ​​hand scraping, Antiquity also comes in solids with colors similar to the engineered collection.

Auto

Games: evolution and return

People often have trouble understanding the word “compensation”, of course it’s easy enough to understand as exchange, but in today’s corporate parlance it’s understood as exchanging one commodity as a cost for another. Yesterday I was playing Final Fantasy Dissidia on the old PSP when I was amazed at the replay value of the game, yes I’ve already spent over 50 hours on it which is what this whole topic is about.

Normally, if you look at older games like Mario and Dave, they unanimously had one thing in common, addiction to them. Not that I’m spreading the obsession for nothing, though, this is what the current gaming paradigm has been reduced to; A comfort. I have always been a gamer, I will not deny it and this is exactly what my dispute with today’s games is. The early games had a lot of things that got people hooked, but mostly it was about the level of engagement the player had with the game environment or the “world” of the game. And this compromise has little to do with 3D graphics or the extensive options available.

Let’s take a look at the progression; First there was the advent of simple arcade type games which were phenomenal up to a point. It kept gamers hooked and introduced a new media boom to the world. This was where literally every kid was begging for Atari systems and their Pentium II and III machines had both Sega and NeoGeo emulators installed (mine still has both installed by the way) and the game elements consisted of difficult commands mixed with scripts. smart. Take this a bit further and the same two systems incorporated decent mixed storylines and continuity into the games enhance the capabilities of the media being explored on both tracks. The KOF series of fighting games is a fervent testimonial to this, and from there came the further rise of turn-based strategy and role-playing games that became something akin to “user-controlled novels” on computers. This adaptability of both the game and the media can be called the inflection curve of the gaming industry.

Because this was where many entrepreneurs realized that games could be used to simulate many things, almost everything, so the potential as a commercial product was obvious even from that point on. Progress from then on was focused on improving the game’s visual effects, additives were obvious, visuals needed more work, thus came the influx of investment in game studios and the push for 3D graphics in games. . That apex can be called the secondary curve because once it was established, the potential for trading gains through gaming became insurmountable. Hollywood movies will tell you the story of the rise and fall without fail, but games have the replay factor attached to them, regardless of audience size, which is guaranteed to pay off.

And this replay factor was charged below. We can all see the online capabilities offered by the games that also paved the way for players to simply buy the next booster or upgrade online. The concept of “buy all” is where we can point and say that the game has evolved. So at a point where games were fun with added complexity like Baldur’s Gate, Ys, Metal Gear Solid, games became more about commodity value.

The biggest factor in all of this is mobile gaming, of course, and here I’m pointing to smartphone games that focus solely on killing time. The problem occurs when most of the smartphone gamers are not regular gamers but are just there to kill time. So when you give a game like Subway Surfers online shopping advantages for “normal” people, there’s some level of competition between console/PC games and phone games. The niches are different, the categories are different, and the size is different. A game like Temple Run can’t be compared to Farcry 3, but ultimately when games turn to money, these things get sidetracked and mixed up.

Today you have fantastic game elements that are being added, furnished and perfected. Complexity is a given and with that, some features fit well while others don’t. What is adverse to the gaming paradigm in general is the holistic approach to sales that often engages them in many things from the gaming side. Ultimately, when games are more focused on buying rather than playing, the whole reason to play a game is removed.

Digital Marketing

How to make your website compatible with Google’s Mobile-First Index

Google has started rolling out its mobile-first index, which is a direct change to one of the biggest changes in user behavior. The change is not unexpected, as over the past two years, surveys and research have revealed that mobile devices account for approximately fifty-seven percent of all traffic. This move by Google means that mobile-optimized websites will take precedence over desktop-only websites in terms of ranking. Once the index changes completely, the mobile version of the websites will become the main version. To benefit from this development, search marketers need to be very vigilant in making sure that their websites are fully optimized for mobile devices.

Here are helpful tips for Search Engine Optimizers to help them take advantage of the mobile-first age.

Observe Google’s crawl activity

When your website has moved to the mobile first index, you will receive a notification from Google through your search console. However, you should collect more detailed information about the search giant’s crawling activity. By monitoring log file data, you can find out how search engine robots access your website. In case you find that there is more activity from mobile devices than on your desktop counterpart, you will have to work on making your website mobile friendly or you will lose end users to the competition. Since Google performs various tests and the data it gets may not be conclusive, you can hire search engine optimization services and ask the experts to keep a close eye on your website activities.

Develop content for mobile devices

Companies with responsive websites have very little to do in mobile-first index preparation, but only if their content is tailored to a mobile audience. In case you have the same content on multiple devices, there is no guarantee that your site’s ranking will remain the same. In fact, research suggests that keywords yield different results on desktop and mobile. This means that consumers expect different content on different devices. For smartphones and other mobile devices, you need to create content that helps users achieve their goal quickly. You can integrate Progressive Web Apps into your mobile content strategy to give your consumers a fast experience.

Understanding the journey of a mobile user

On mobile, the audience’s attention span is even shorter than on desktop. Therefore, you must have a solid understanding of micro-moments. When your audience is on mobile, you basically get very short windows of opportunity to engage with consumers. To make the most of this opportunity, you need a powerful data-driven strategy, like perhaps a voice search strategy, since it targets certain micro-moments. If studying consumer behavior is too much of a task, you may want to hire the services of a professional SEO agency, as they have the tools and experience to instantly provide you with the answers you are looking for.

Cover technical SEO best practices

To prepare for the mobile index first, you need to follow certain technical SEO best practices, which are:

  1. Verify that your website is a mobile site in Google Search Console by adding the robots.txt file. Your site should have an “m”. to be a mobile site.

  2. Review the metadata to see if you can further optimize it for a higher CTR (click through rate) on mobile.

  3. Run a speed test to make sure your mobile site isn’t slow. In case it is, you should take appropriate steps to optimize and speed up its speed.

You can no longer delay having a mobile website. So, get in touch with expert SEO agencies and improve your chances of ranking.

Relationship

Scorpio Women’s Sexual Attraction: 5 Seductive Ways To Capture Her Heart

Scorpio is the most intense and extreme zodiac. People under this sign have no shades of gray, they are white or black, good or bad, silent or loud, you will either love them or hate them. However, being involved with a Scorpio woman is a worthwhile experience. A man can never feel love as passionately as a Scorpio woman can and expect to make red hot love with these irresistible sirens. Now, to give you a better look at what lies beneath this woman’s seductive and alluring personality, here are the top five things to know about Scorpio women’s sexual attraction:

  • Scorpio women are passionate. In everything she does, a Scorpio woman gives her best. Is it that she is totally into you, or she totally despises you with a passion. Either that or she is too indifferent to something she doesn’t like or she doesn’t want in her life. She expects a fiery temper, as well as fiery passion and love.
  • Scorpio women are extremely jealous. Blame it on their childhood: Scorpio women are often raised independently at such a young age that they sometimes think they were abandoned. So if you are planning to cheat on a Scorpio girlfriend or just play with her heart, you better think twice. Her sting is like poison — you never want to taste her wrath.
  • Scorpio women are very seductive and sexual. The Scorpio zodiac has always been seen as the most sexually aggressive of all the zodiacs, so expect your Scorpio woman to be a hot match in bed. Enough talk. It’s up to you to find out for yourself.
  • Scorpio women find it difficult to forgive and forget. A Scorpio woman will never forget a slight offense. She is ruthless and will contact you. Although they aren’t really interested in revenge, you will fear her presence and you won’t be afraid to let it be known that she doesn’t like you. Better be warned.
  • Scorpio women are possessive lovers. As passionate lovers, Scorpio women are extremely possessive. If you offend her once, she will offend you ten times. However, if you show her love and do her a favor, she will also pay you back a hundredfold. These women are quite unpredictable, fiery and free-spirited, so you’re in for a roller coaster ride if you’re up for the challenge.

Are you still having trouble figuring out the secrets on how to ask a girl to sleep with you and what women want during sex? Do you want to know how to successfully seduce your girl and make her love you more? Find out more about tips for good sex, the sexual attraction of Scorpio women and other zodiacs by visiting my website right now. It contains all the amazing methods on how to do it all! You are one click away from all the excitement.

Health Fitness

Stationary bikes: no excuses, 30 minutes a day on a bike will change your life

Stationary bikes are the ideal exercise equipment for the home. We are all recommended to exercise for 30 minutes per day to stay healthy combined with a good intake of balanced meals. Most people complain about not having time to go to the gym or get ready for a run etc, but if it was 30 minutes of TV, I bet time wouldn’t be an issue. Why not combine the two, TV and exercise? Watching TV while exercising eliminates the boredom of being locked in a room staring at all four walls while exercising. If you have a show that you watch regularly, time will just fly by.

What stationary bike will I buy?

Stationary bikes come in all wonderful styles, from the basic stationary bike to integrated programs for spin and mountain races. The best is what you can afford to pay, the main thing is that you exercise regularly or intend to. The most basic stationary bike can be as low as $80 and up, and usually has a few different gears available to make the exercise more intense as you progress with fitness. I have to say that if you can afford to spend $200, you will find stationary bikes that have preset exercise programs that are easy to follow and are a great way to burn fat.

How to start:

Getting started can be daunting, but after a week or so you’ll notice your fitness level and overall health improve. You should introduce your body to the exercise for the first few days, for many people who buy stationary bikes it is the first time they have done an exercise of this type in years. The first few days should be a slow introductory pace, if you go all out on the first day you will only end up with sore muscles and may even stop exercising again. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Who are the main manufacturers of exercise bikes?

Weslo, Reebok, Tuntui, Stamina, Proform, Nordic Track and Fitness Track have for many years made some of the best exercise bikes we have ever seen and they all continue to do so. There are folding bikes available for those who live in apartments or people who are simply limited by space. Many people are now trying to build a home gym with the essentials of exercise equipment; the exercise bike should be first on the shopping list. The exercise itself is a great aerobic workout, easy to get started with, and works ideally as a cross trainer with most other fitness equipment.

Some exercise bikes have a double function, exercise for the upper and lower body. In addition to the obvious leg exercise you will also find upper body levers on some, this is an ideal exercise for a full body workout and will burn fat faster than the standard stationary bike (the more muscle groups you exercise, the more fat you will burn). and faster).

Why buy an exercise bike when I can get a treadmill?

The exercise bike has a very low impact on the joints. If you have previous injuries or generally weak joints, the stationary bike is an ideal gentle exercise. The treadmill is a much higher impact exercise on the joints and should be taken into account by those with weak knees or ankles. If you decide to get a dual exercise (upper and lower body) stationary bike, you will burn more fat than with the treadmill since you have no upper body resistance with the treadmill. There are arguments on both sides of the fence as to which is better the bike or the treadmill, but you should look at your goals and see what fits both your budget and your overall fitness or weight loss goal. Cardio currently benefits you as a user is greater with the dual-function stationary bike than with the treadmill.

Soon:

The exercise bike is ideal for beginners and more advanced groups; offers a low-impact, calorie-burning workout that’s a great cardio workout. Combined with a balanced diet, the exercise bike used regularly will help you achieve your fitness goals.

Legal Law

Step-by-step guide to affiliate marketing: 5 key fundamentals

Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing in which a business rewards its affiliates for every customer that the affiliate’s own marketing efforts attract. It is not too expensive because affiliates do not need to purchase their own products. Some affiliate marketers choose to run high-cost promotional campaigns to earn commissions, while others go the organic route. Both strategies can be effective, but for people just starting out in this business, the organic route is the sensible and sustainable option. This option involves the following five fundamental steps:

• Find a gap in the market within a niche of interest.

• Choose a communication platform

• Create valuable content

• Traffic monetization

• Expand and maintain your business

Find a gap in the market within a niche of interest

There are two parts to this process. The first task is to find a gap in the market that you want to fill. This is the research phase of the process and getting it right would put you on a solid footing. The second part of the process is to find this gap within a niche that interests you.

The reason behind this is simple but very important. When you love what you do, it is no longer an obligation. You will be required to create content on this topic for a long time, so it would be easier if you found the niche interesting. Choosing a niche requires a balancing act. While a niche interest is key. Your chosen niche must be profitable. There are several ways to determine a profitable niche. You should explore the products and services within the niche and its content potential.

Choosing a communication platform

The second step is to have a medium to communicate and share your knowledge with your audience. This would involve creating a website and creating content. Your website and publications would be your communication vehicle. You don’t have to be an internet genius to create a website. All that is required is a domain provider, web hosting, and knowledge of WordPress. If you prefer to build on the front-end using drag and drop tools. You would find platforms like Wix.com, Web.com or Weebly.com etc. very useful. If you have the right guidance, setting up a website or blog can be done quickly, allowing you to build content over time. There are platforms where you can learn how to set up a website for free. Read on for my top recommendation.

Creation of valuable content

Content is king is a phrase to remember. To be successful, you need traffic and that is achieved by creating valuable content. Delivering value to your target audience is very crucial to achieving success. Think about the gap you identified in the first step and how you are going to bridge it.

What is the solution to the problem? Are there multiple solutions available? What are the options? What information is required for your hearing to make an informed decision? If you offer value to your audience, they will stick around. There are several techniques and resources that will help you get traffic, but this will be dissipated if your content is not considered valuable. There are several resources, for example keyword tools that will allow you to target specific keywords, although most will be paid resources. If you’re just starting out, there are free platforms that you could take advantage of the same resources. Read on for my top recommendation.

Traffic monetization

Monetizing your traffic is what affiliate marketing is all about. You generate commissions through promotions and affiliate advertising. For example, if you are recommending a product or service. Your audience will reward you for the value provided by following your recommendation. It’s important to understand that your earnings grow as your following grows. Google AdSense is also a way to monetize your traffic. This is a program administered by Google that allows publishers on the Google network of content sites to serve automated text, image, video, or interactive media ads that are targeted to the site’s content and audience.

Expand and maintain your business

After establishing traffic and monetizing it. The time has come to expand your operation. Naturally, if you took care of steps 3 and 4 correctly, you should be able to generate repeat business. Expanding your operations sometimes requires doing things like outsourcing or bringing in more resources. This would allow you to grow your business. To keep your business scaling. You need to make sure that those values ​​that have brought you success in the first place are not compromised. If you maintain that and evolve correctly, you will be able to sustain yourself and grow successfully. Expanding your business with sustainability in mind ensures that you are on solid ground.

Conclution

Mastering these profitable fundamental steps would put you on the right path to success within any online business. You will be able to grow your business organically and be sustainable in the long term. Mastering them requires proper guidance and training. To be a doctor, you would have to go to medical school and to practice law, you would have to go to law school. It’s not rocket science to realize that the same is true for being successful online. Do your due diligence and choose a training resource platform to help guide your way.

Lifestyle Fashion

If my husband wants to get a divorce, does this mean my marriage is really over?

The other day I received an email from a woman who wrote in part: “My husband has finally filed for divorce. Does this mean my marriage is over? I wonder if I should throw in the towel and give up the fight, because frankly, I have no more fight left.” He was a bit confused as to what she really wanted the result to be. The words she was using almost indicated that she was tired of the whole thing and she felt that perhaps it would be the right decision to let the marriage come to a natural end. But, when I asked him some follow-up questions, she indicated that she really wanted the marriage to work, but he felt that she had tried everything and that she was tired of going around in circles with no real solution. Ultimately, I told her that since everything she had tried was only making the situation worse, she would have to completely change tactics if she wanted to save her marriage from divorce. I will talk more about this in the next article.

Your desire for a divorce doesn’t have to mean it’s officially over, but it does mean you have no hope that things will ever really change.: There are many men who come across my blog while researching divorce. Some write to me and share their feelings. I can tell you that the vast majority of them indicate that they are giving up because they just don’t know what else to do. They tried everything they could think of and there was never any lasting change. Over time, the harsh reality has set in that this is the way things are and that despite what both of you may say or do, nothing really changes for the better. Sure, there may be some temporary improvements, just enough to get everyone excited, but in the end, both of you are back to sabotaging patterns and behaviors that leave you dissatisfied and frustrated.

Women are often surprised to learn that it is the perceived ability to change that they must overcome, not the fact that their husbands do not love them deep down or the external stressors that many blame for their divorce. Often it is the fact that you are tired of muddled through and that your hopes are dwindling. The repetitive motions and disappointments start to pile up so much that you start to think it’s better to start over than to continue the same way.

Change course and find something that works to save your marriage: Your first step is to identify what you’ve been doing that hasn’t worked. In the case of my reader, I had actually tried two tactics. First, she tried what I call the “hard ball” tactic. She had taken a somewhat combative stance, insisting that her husband was quite wrong. The involvement was what I really expected from a relationship that was over a decade old. People get busy. Children and jobs require most of our time and energy. You’re doing the best you can, and he shouldn’t be so selfish as to imply that you’re not.

Of course, unsurprisingly, this was not met with a warm welcome from her husband. Nobody wants to be told that he is wrong or that he is selfish. When it became clear that this was not going to work, she made a drastic change and tried what I call the drastic or desperate tactic. She began to act in a way that had not been typical of her, telling her husband that she couldn’t live without him and begging him not to leave her. The problem with this is that her husband knew that she was being insincere because during their entire relationship, he had never been subservient before. He didn’t buy this and it didn’t ring true.

Try the middle-of-the-road tactic to save your marriage:To be successful in saving your marriage for the long term, you need to find a solution that you can live with and be excited about. Remember when she said she “didn’t have much of a fight left?” Even using these words is an indication that what he was making of her was not desirable to her and certainly wasn’t giving her much pleasure or anything to look forward to. So she, in a sense, she’s beaten before she even starts playing the game.

You have to find a solution that will hold up and be credible over time. I often advise people to sit down with their spouses and agree that you are not happy either and agree that the marriage is stagnant and stuck. You can honestly see why he wants a divorce and it makes you sad to see how opposite this is to how you used to interact with each other. In fact, this bothers you so much that you’d like to try taking small steps and see if you can salvage the relationship, even if it ultimately ends in divorce.

The reason you move so slowly is because if you are too strong, you are likely to encounter resistance and doubt. You want to appear as non-threatening as possible and set yourself up for success. He’s likely to accept that you just want to make it easier for both of you (and the kids, if you have them), since you’ll be working together rather than against each other.

He may resist at first, but if you show him rather than tell him that genuine change can happen, over time the perception will start to change that this is your real problem in the first place: that nothing will really change, so it’s better than cutting. your losses now.

Pets

How to Give Oral Medications to Dogs

Most dog owners will inevitably find themselves in the situation where they have to give their dog tablets or medication to treat a condition during the dog’s lifetime. As with their human counterparts, most dogs don’t like being forced to swallow any kind of medication, so what’s the best way to give a dog an oral treat?

We have found six ways to accomplish this sometimes difficult task:

1. Insertion into the mouth by hand.

This is the fastest method of giving oral tablets to dogs. Tilt your dog’s head up and insert your thumb and forefinger behind the upper jaw behind the canine teeth, which will cause your dog’s mouth to open. This will allow you to insert the tablet into the back of your mouth as far as it will go. Then remove your fingers and hold your dog’s mouth closed for a few moments and blow into his nose, forcing him to swallow in response. However, nose blowing is unpleasant, so avoid doing it with more aggressive dogs.

2. Hidden in food or candy

The easiest way to give tablets to dogs is in their food. Most dogs will not realize that the medication has been hidden discreetly within the dog food and will eat it with gusto. In some cases, you can crush the tablet and then add it to food; however, check with your vet as some medications are less effective when crushed. Try hiding the tablet inside your dog’s favorite snack, or dip it in honey, peanut butter or any food that coats the tablet with delicious flavor.

3. Use a ‘Dog Piller’

A device used to administer tablets and capsules, and designed by veterinarians, this is an ideal way to give your dog the medication he needs, as well as protect your fingers from aggressive dog bites! Available at most major pet stores, the pet piller (or pill popper) is a plastic plunger with a soft rubber tip that makes it easy to administer oral medications. Place the tablet inside the tip and place the plunger in your dog’s mouth, push the plunger and the tablet will drop into the back of his mouth. Similar to administering medication by hand, keep your dog’s mouth closed for a few seconds until the dog swallows the tablet.

4. Pillboxes

Pill Pockets are a delight that have a built-in pouch that is perfect for hiding tablets and medication. The pocket masks the medication, making it an easy and stress-free way to administer tablets to dogs. They come in a variety of flavors to choose from. Some are also an excellent source of vitamins to supplement medication and promote a healthy immune system.

5. Liquid medications

If you need to administer medication in liquid form, you’ll find this a bit easier than tablets or capsules. To do this, separate the dog’s lower front lip from its teeth to form a socket into which you can inject the liquid medication. As with solid medications, be sure to keep your dog’s mouth closed for a few seconds so it spreads into the mouth. Check with your vet to see if the liquid medication is suitable to add to your dog’s food.

After you have administered the medication, reward your dog with a small treat. This will create a positive association between giving them medication and receiving a treat.

As with all pet health medications or treatments, be sure to follow the directions and instructions printed on the product label.

Real Estate

Investing in real estate in times of Covid

Wow, how things have changed, quickly! If you’re still investing, I’d love to hear how you’re adjusting and what you see for the future. I’ll start with some of the Covid changes we’ve already made.

NOTE: Much of what I share is what we are already experiencing and changing in our own business. Much of it is based on our real estate investing experience from 2008-2010.

  1. do not stop Historically, real estate always works, you just need to adapt to changes in the market. Therefore:
    • stay flexible
    • Get informed and secure financing.
    • stay involved in online networking groups, both local and national, to stay on top of changes to be aware of as they happen.
  2. We have increased our marketing. Why?
    • People are going to need money, which means selling their personal property or that of their family members. We want to be available when a need arises to offer what help we can.
    • There are already fewer investors buying due to fears of the future and lack of financing, so there hasn’t been a better time to be in the market in years!
  3. find out. What we have seen recently is exactly what we experienced in 2006-2007; everyone was getting into real estate investing because it was so easy. As business gets tougher now, those who are prepared, informed and educated have an incredible opportunity.
  4. Buy for less. We all know that the future holds uncertainty. Price values ​​may drop a lot in the coming months/years. Sellers know this too, which is why many will want to sell sooner rather than later. They also realize that you’re taking their risk when you buy, so they understand when you offer less than they expect. And, it is true, you are taking a risk. When you make an offer, make sure it’s a price you can live with if the value drops in the next 3-6 months.
  5. Properties continue to sell wellSo buy properties that you can convert quickly – this is not a time to buy big rehabs!
  6. Buy and sell virtually. This is the perfect time to learn how to transition your business to virtual. We are currently doing due diligence online, requesting permission to walk around the property and take photos, then asking the seller to send us photos of the interior or exit of the property while we enter and take photos. Vendors appreciate our concern for their welfare. We request that you allow a tour of the property prior to closing to ensure that your own photos do not leave out something we should know.
  7. Prepare for longer days in the market When Selling Look at the days on the market for your local property to get an idea of ​​what to expect. As lenders begin to dry up and/or their loan requirements increase, there will be fewer qualified buyers and both the sale and closing will take longer.
  8. Waiting for lenders to toughen loan requirements.
    • We have already seen private lenders stop lending due to fear of future risk and the need to keep their funds safe for themselves.
    • Many hard money lenders have stopped lending all together because they were bundling up loans and selling them. Those loans are no longer bought, so those lenders are no longer lending.
    • Banks have stopped offering jumbo loans, which means they are already concerned and responding.
    • Almost everyone who continues to lend has begun to require that the borrower have more available funds, a higher credit score, and be a stronger applicant in every way. Also, points and interest rates are increasing.
  9. Higher priced properties will be the first to slow downso focus on properties that are below the median price point for your area (and know what that price point is!).
  10. Expect this “event” to last a while – possibly years. In 2008, the common response was that the worst was over and things were starting to get better. “Things,” however, kept getting worse.

Remember, we are very early in the “new reality” and what is coming is difficult to predict. Stay informed, stay flexible, stay informed, stay in touch with other investors. There is always money to be made in real estate.

Do you agree/disagree with what I have shared?

What changes have you made or plan to make in the future?