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Hawaii Realtor
Should I Pay Someone to Build my Real Estate Website or Do It Myself?
May 22nd
Pay Someone to Build and Host my Real Estate Website?
You need three things:
1. A domain name. You can use FatCow, LowestDomainRates, etc…It runs $10-$15/year for the domain name. Just the name. Mine is http://www.hawaiihome.biz/
2. A place to load the site. BlueHost is one of them. I have used them for 5 years and had a few minor problems while they were switching servers.
3. A software platform to load all of your features, i.e. WordPress (free and relatively easy to use and learn).
So the domain is your “garage,” the hosting provider is your vehicle and the software has the bells and whistles, or accessories.
If you set yourself up with BlueHost, you can load a WordPress site easily in a few minutes. It’s part of the BlueHost setup. You click on scripts on your Control Panel, then choose WordPress, then tell what site to load it on. You need a domain name of course, to load it on to, AND you have to know how to unlock the domain name to load it on BlueHost’s servers. Make sense?
As far as WordPress goes, it has themes and plugins. Themes are the backgrounds (like the chassis or frame of the car) and plug-ins, these are mini-programs that you run on the website or blog, such as IDXSearch, SEOs (Search Engine Optimization), broken link checker, search, and control of your sidebars and pages. Sound like a lot of work? IT IS! But I have 100% control over your site. Themes can be fancy or simple, free or several hundred dollars.
Two biggest lessons learned:
1. Buy the daily back up feature in BlueHost. I think it’s $10/month, can’t remember exactly. If you ever do something screwy, you (or a blog professional) can reload your site within a matter of 10 minutes. I have daily and weekly backups set up.
2. Buy the spam filter feature for your website as one of the options on BlueHost. It’s called Postini, for $1/month per email address. As soon as you post your email address on the Internet, some smart Russian guy is scooping it up and adding it to a spam email list. Positini filters those.
Within WordPress, there is a feature (plugin) called Askimet. It’s free. It filters out people trying to spam comments on the site directly.
I have lots of other tips, but these are the main ones. You can do it. It may take you a hundred hours to set it up, or you can pay someone thousands of dollars. Instead of embarrassing yourself, try buying a domain for a hobby you have and practice loading it up and writing posts. I have 100+ domain names and 6 or 7 blogs. My other job is EHRs – see http://www.hawaiiehr.com/
I spend a lot less time on that one and get around 200 hits a day on it.
BTW, it’s a misnomer to say that someone is on the “first page of Google.” If I type in Hawaii Real Estate, I am competing with multi-million dollar companies with a full IT staff. You need to find niches with keywords. If you type in “Hawaii Public School Calendar” I hit positions 1, 2, 3, 7 & 8 (via Trulia). I rank higher than the State of Hawaii that publishes the calendars. Doesn’t always have to be “real estate.”
Last thing (I promise). I would never use Yahoo! or Hotmail for real estate. You can get BlueHost just for email as well. Unlimited email with unlimited storage, up to 10 MB per email limit.
Using SalesForce for Real Estate
Aug 8th
SalesForce or Top Producer CRM for Real Estate
Recently I have seen a lot of questions relating to a replacement for TopProducer. I have used SalesForce (SF) for tracking leads. Hundreds of professionals use it for tracking leads. Some of the features:
1. Allows you to sort on any column (date, sales price, address, zip)
2. Since Excel is not for everyone, it’s more user friendly, since you are not crunching numbers and thinking of cute formulas, just sorting after you enter the info,
3. Allows you to put leads in stages, such as 25%, 50%, etc. As you do that, it calculates your sales volume in total dollars.
4. Allows you to sort leads by priority or stage. For example, a lead may be a 1 when you first talk to them and move to 10 when you actually get the property listed.
5. Everything can be exported to Excel.
6. My favorite item was sorting by zip code. I could manage my contacts by address, calling on several in one day, or contacting several in one day in close proximity. I used a Fujitsu Tablet and it worked great with this part of it.
I was doing business prospecting (selling software) and it worked well. I used it 3 or 4 years ago, so I’m sure it has improved. Another advantage is it is an ASP (Application Service Provider) based service, so you can access it from any computer. It is also a huge company, it just acquired Jigsaw. Other companies are building apps for SF including http://www.activalive.com/salesforce and Docusign. The problem with CRM as Spring mentioned is that it is not always simple. Once you learn it, it can be powerful though. I guess it depends on how many contacts you are trying to manage. I have over 1000 and do mail out campaigns every month or two, for 500-1000 addressees, so SF may be best.
Lastly, you can assign permissions based on role. The owner of a company could have the top level, then see the leads for individual agents. The agents wouldn’t be able to see each others leads, and so on.
I may try TimetoNote as mentioned above. One entry point is ideal, and I use Google for other apps. I have used BaseCamp for tracking projects, it works very well for assigning tasks and managing time lines. Another one to look at would be Gist. It pulls the contacts out of your email for you. It works with GMail and Outlook.
Mariners Ridge Homes – Mariner’s Ridge Real Estate
Nov 18th
Mariners Ridge Real Estate – Mariner’s Ridge Homes
Mariner’s Ridge is a community that overlooks Koko Crater on the east side, Olomana and Bellows Beach on the mauka side, and breathtaking views of Maunalua Bay at the base or entrance of Hawaii Kai. There is also a quick, yet moderate to steep hike. To get to the hike, drive up the mountain road through the Mariner’s Ridge (in Hawaii Kai) community. The trail head is on a cul-de-sac, drive to the very top of Kaluanui Road in Mariner’s Ridge and park at the end. You’ll see a metal sign leading you to the trailhead on the east side of the last residence. Once you reach the top, there are magnificent views from the ridge of the southern edge of the Ko’olau range.
Mariner’s Ridge hike or Kaluanui Ridge Trail is the easiest and shortest ridge hike to the Ko’olau summit. Located in Mariner’s ridge community
The Area Near Mariner’s Ridge
There are numerous shopping complexes and recreational activities. Shopping at Koko Marina, Hawaii Kai Towne Center, Costco, Safeway, Longs, Ross and more. Great restaurants such as Harbor Village, Bluwater Grill, The Shack, and my favorite, Kona Brewing.
Hanauma Bay, Makapuu Point Lighthouse, Sandy Beach (great kite flying here) and The Halona Blowhole are a short distance away. Here is a map of the area between Diamond Head and Makapuu.
If you are looking for a home in Hawaii, contact me by phone, email or leave a message on my website.
Showing properties
1 - 10 of 185.
See more Real estate in the city of Honolulu.
(all data current as of
5/17/2013)
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$1,475,000 : 1880 Laukahi St, Honolulu3 beds, 2 full baths
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$1,175,000 : 6709 Hawaii Kai Dr, Honolulu3 beds, 3 full baths
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$785,000 : 905 16th Ave ,Unit 3804A, Honolulu3 beds, 3 full baths
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$1,299,999 : 7152 Makaa St, Honolulu4 beds, 3 full baths
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$789,000 : Bertram St, Honolulu3 beds, 2 full baths
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$825,000 : 1930 9th Ave ,Unit 1930, Honolulu4 beds, 3 full baths
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$1,087,000 : Ala Napunani St, Honolulu5 beds, 3 full baths
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$825,000 : 2711 Booth Rd, Honolulu3 beds, 3 full baths
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$1,288,000 : 6806 Hapuna Pl, Honolulu4 beds, 3 full baths
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$878,000 : 634 9th Ave ,Unit B, Honolulu5 beds, 3 full baths
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
