eMarketSouth Central

The phrase “going green” was once considered a catch phrase for environmentalists who liked to recycle paper and cans. But today, most industries are making sure they show their clients and consumers how “green” they can be. This does not exclude real estate and home developers. You can Google search lots of blogs with tips on how to make your family more green friendly, but I am talking about the actual structure of your home. Maybe we are seeing a slit shift away from the mansions built a few years ago, to the more sensible designs of homes with just the space we really need and nothing more. Global Green is one organization making a huge contribution with the real estate movement in New Orleans. They are pulling in heavy weights like Brad Pitt who are dedicating energy, time and financial support to this flood ravaged area by not only building new homes for the thousands of misplaced but making their homes GREEN. The cutting edge of development in housing in our country hopes to turn the tide away from poorly constructed homes that drain our economy of natural gas and energy resources to a more eco-friendly way of being. In consideration of Earth Day, we should all reevaluate our contributions to wasted energy in our homes. If you are in the market for a new home, consider asking questions about updates previous homeowners have made in an effort to make the home more compatible with the environment. The development of these new homes will be fascinating to watch. It will be interesting to see whether or not they stand the test of time. It will be interesting to see the impact the changing economy has on how home owners and real estate developers treat new structure and renovate old. Only time will tell but while we wait … collect your cans, paper goods and plastic… every little bit counts.

Tags: USA Homes by Suzy Buelvas
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Location, location, location that has always been a catchphrase in real estate and it holds a great truth. I have just returned from the island of Grand Cayman … can we talk about location? There are few bad locations on this rather small island (22 miles in length and roughly 8 miles wide and occupies 76 square feet). One of the most amazing lessons I gleaned as we wandered through paradise, was seeing how little real estate you really need to have everything at your finger tips. There are bars and restaurants in the downtown area with as little as a step ladder access to an incredible underwater world of creatures & corral. Most bars and restaurants boast 8 or 9 tables … what more do they need? A few customers, some good food and cold drinks with a built in view. There is very little need for more. Maybe it is the concept that the ocean lends itself to vast openness and extreme fresh air. Maybe it’s the constant breeze and crashing waves or the cold drinks and easy way of being on the island. There is no where to get in a hurry to go… no one wants to be in a hurry.With the exception of some waterfront properties with hurricane shutters, three car garages and large swimming pools over looking the bay, the residential areas in the interior of the island are very humble. The homes are ranch style and appear to have two to three bedrooms with possibly two full bathrooms. Most homes have a small porch or portico with windows open and very few hvac units were spotted. Several have clotheslines with the day’s laundry strewn about to dry and roosters pecking the ground. The houses are not very well organized but sort of randomly situated around the interior. There are few street signs and several round abouts. No need for a map … you can probably cover the island by car in an hour or two and that is with traffic.When we talk about waterfront property and being on deep water in Savannah, we are hoping for access to the open seas and a place to dip our crab lines. Location matters where ever you decide to plant roots, be it island roots or city roots. Location is everything … decide what you require around you, what would appeal for resell and what your family needs … that determines the value of your location but keep in mind a little blue water never hurts!

Tags: USA Homes by Suzy Buelvas
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Oh to work in the real estate industry these days. Yeah, we’re sympathizing with you publishers, brokers and agents. With articles in every conceivable news outlet using words like slump, foreclosure and woe to describe the current real estate situation, it’s no wonder that brokers and publishers are looking for newer and easier ways to make their properties stand out and streamline their business. While there are a few ways to do that, putting available real estate on the web, well that’s a no-brainer; CBSNews reports that, while once a luxury, advertising your home online is now a necessity.

eMarketSouth to the rescue. In addition to creating easy-to-use, eye-catching real estate websites with practical home-buying information, we created Real Estate Manager allowing advertisers to upload their own properties to the site and, along with Ad Submission, create their own advertisements for the publication. For our clients like Homes of Savannah, UtahHI and Atlanta360, this alleviated many organizational problems and streamlined their relationship with their customers.

Now in its third version, Real Estate Manager also sends all your properties to Google, Trulia, and our own USA Homes, giving you and your advertisers or clients more bang for their buck. REM III gives stats on all your properties as well as allows for multiple MLS feeds. And, it allows you to control the Search Engine Optimization of your own website, enabling you to manipulate keywords and craft your content. Now if it only it did windows. . . .

Tags: General, USA Homes, eMarketSouth by Rebecca Fuller
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