I don't think it's just me. But, I wondered if some of you are also having the experience of running into great potential home buyers, who are buying their first home, and have somehow MISSED the news about the FREE money they can access if they buy a home this year? Up to $8,000 worth to be exact!
This has happened several times within the past couple of weeks. I've learned not to ASSUME that everyone who needs to know does. I've started asking everyone if they've heard about it. The other issue is that even those who have heard about it are often not clear about how it works.
I'm not sure why this message seems to have been lost in the mix for so many. Perhaps, because it has been sandwiched in between news about bailouts and bank failures. I would hope that this opportunity does not pass by numerous people for whom it would be a substantial benefit simply because for whatever reason...they just didn't get it.
I wonder if the real estate community could be more effective in delivering the message. After all, with the tools now available through social media to reach the world, a coordinated message outreach by a MILLION of us would be huge. What if for just one 24 hour period, every agent did just one of these things:
24 HOUR TAX CREDIT AWARENESS ACTIVITIES:
1. Twittered about the tax credit @ least 2X
2. Mentioned the tax credit on their facebook page
3. Updated their status on 1 social network asking people to contact them about FREE money
4. Wrote a blog post and referred people to a lender to answer questions
6. Wrote a blog post explaining how the tax credit could benefit people in their local community
7. Volunteered to answer a question or posed a question about the tax credit on LinkedIn, Trulia or Zillow
8. Sent out a message about the tax credit to 10 of their friends & asked them to pass it on
9. Asked the next person they talked to about buying a house if they'd heard & understood
10. Set up a Page or Group online in their local community about the TAX credit
WHAT CAN A MILLION AGENTS DO?
I'm thinking that in one 24 hour period, 1 MILLION people would do what the media could never accomplish. Why aren't we using our power to connect more effectively? NONE of these suggestions needs to take more than 10 minutes of your name...many can be done in 10 seconds.
pictures are courtesy of aussiegalls photostream on Flickr
*New home buyer defined as someone who has never owned a home or who has not owned a home within the past three years.
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Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate. Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511. Thanks for visiting our blog. Here are links to some of our most popular posts for you to enjoy!
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I know people are misinformed. I ran into someone a week or two ago that said they read an article that had just been posted (at least according to her it was) and it said that the credit had to be paid back. I told her that was the way last year's credit worked, but the $8000 credit does not have to be repaid. Not sure she actually believed me since what she read was in "print" and I was just giving her my "word"....
~Chanda
Chanda, when I ran into it initially, I thought it was just an incidental awareness. But as time has gone on and I'm talking to more people who don't know at all or are misinformed, I'm realising that we have not done a good job of getting the word out on this one.
You're right we assume it is getting out and some potential buyers have not heard about it and we do need get the message out.
Lola, I know that weeks later that is still my most searched blog post on Ann Arbor Real Estate Talk so I think there is just so much confusion. I think that is a great idea to continue to get the word out.
Lola, Just last night when showing one of my listings, I was sharing this with the potential buyers. They were going to be contacting their lender right away. Thanks again for continuing to share good information.
Lola that is not a problem here in Connecticut. It seems that every Realtor and Lender have been advertising this, and most Buyers that contact me already know about it.
Terry, I have had some conversations with other brokers and agents in our area about the fact that they are not seeing the kind of response to this stimulus that they expected. There may be many reasons for this, but real estate professionals can do our part to get the word out in a concerted fashion if we choose to.
Missy, with all the dire news, it's easy for good news to get buried or marginalized. More professionals need to be doing what you are.
Margaret, I've been surprised to run into potential home buyers who are not aware of the credit or do not know if it applies to them. Thankfully, your buyers were working with a real estate agent who informed them.
That's great George! I hope your experience continues to inspire all of those to get the word out.
Lola - great idea. There ARE lots of folks who don't seem to know. I have sent it out to my database, and to my Growth Leader database, I tweeted, I posted on all three of my blogs but I could do more...as could we all. We also, here in CA, have a $10K tax credit for folks who buy a new construction home (I have a first time buyer who will be getting both...what a deal).
Jeff
Jeff, I tweeted this and was retweeted by a couple of folks. If all of us did these simple actions, we wouldn't have buyers standing on the sidelines without any awareness of the opportunities available to them. It sounds like you're experiencing some of the same vacuum of information in CA too...
WOW! Lola I never thought about this. But you are so right. It is sandwiched between bailouts and bank failures. But your post is brilliant. I am going to do exactly that. Have a great day. Great post.
Great list! Thanks to Lanre or I would have missed this.
Lola,
I too have been surprised by a few who have not heard of the free money. I would not mind having some of it...;-)
Ann Hayden in rainy Wildwood, Missouri