Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Market trends and real estate appraisals for divorce, estate settlement, loans, property tax appeal, pre-listing and more. We cover Sacramento, Placer and Yolo County. We're professional, courteous and timely.

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Can you hear me now? Announcing Audio Posts on the Sacramento Appraisal Blog

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I’m very excited to announce that I started an audio component to the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Well, I actually began doing some “podcasts” earlier this year, but things will really be taken to a whole different level now. WordPress just announced a “Post to Voice” technology a couple of days ago where you call a number, leave a message up to an hour in length, and that message posts instantly to your blog. This should be fun and handy for quick thoughts, interviews, and even recording things like a concert or seminar.

Since I self-host all my wordpress themes, I had to break down and get a free blog at www.wordpress.com since “Post to Voice” is only available there right now. The “audio” portion is linked up throughout my “full blog” here though, so it should be easy to sync together. Check out my brand new audio blog at www.SacramentoAppraiser.wordpress.com

I already put up three posts: Why I’m starting an audio blog, New 2010 property tax assessments (days away from being announced), and Bank-owned Properties and a Sense of Entitlement.

What other ways do you think a technology like this could be used? What are the pluses and minuses of audio vs. text?

Jeopardy and Building an Online Business Presence

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I remember stumbling upon an episode of Jeopardy in the early 90s and seeing that they too had jumped on the “bandwagon” of the world wide web. Yes, even Jeopardy now had a website just like everyone else. Do you remember those days?

It’s wild to think that just 15 years ago the idea of the “world wide web” seemed to be on the fringe, but it’s now a very significant part of our lives. Consider how the world has changed in the past several years with the advent of things like smart phones, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google, and blogosphere. The web has opened up opportunities for us to communicate, do business, be more efficient, waste time, shop, date, read the news, share videos, meet people, etc…

If you are in business, the truth is that people want to reach you online. They hope to find your website, understand more about your company, and see what others are saying about you too. They may even wish to connect with you on Twitter or Facebook. I know it can sound overwhelming to someone who is not a social media convert, but don’t worry because you don’t have to be a tween techie guru to be successful online, and you can certainly take small steps to further develop your web presence over time. The key is to find what is going to work for you and your business and then incorporate a realistic and doable social media rhythm into your life. Ask yourself the question: What facet of the web or social media right now will help you further connect and build relationships with people? 

Why do I spend time thinking about this stuff? Because it’s the wave of the future that is now here. My goal in business is to provide a great product and be relevant, resourceful, and focused on relationships with people (both online and in person). Just yesterday a local home owner googled me and ordered a pre-listing real estate appraisal for his house in the Rosemont area of Sacramento. After this man perused my website, he called me to connect for business. That’s how it works these days in many cases, and I plan for this scenario to only increase over time as our society continues to embrace an online lifestyle.

What do you think of all this?

My Blog Turned One Last Week

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If my blog had feelings, it might be upset I’m a few days late in saying this, but February 20th marked the first birthday of the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Here we are….. 243 posts later.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and for the conversation too!!! This was a great and fun first year and I’m looking forward to the next one too.

I was Mentioned in a Working RE Magazine Article!!!

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get_imageI was excited for Winter’s edition of Working RE magazine to arrive in the mail today. Bill Cobb, an appraiser in Baton Rouge, wrote an article entitled “Using Blogs to Grow Your Business”. The two-page article is very informative for appraisers and inspectors, and I was honored to be included as an example in the story. I included the original content below for reference. Follow Working RE on Twitter at @workingremag and view the full article HERE.

Becoming a Trust Agent

Another appraiser experiencing success with WordPress is Ryan Lundquist in Sacramento, California (Lundquist Appraisal Blog and Twitter @SacAppraiser). Ryan has come a long way in a short period of time generating 8,391 visitors [actually 16,196] in 2009 based on his “hit counter”. His is a testimony to how easy WordPress is to use. Ryan has incorporated both local photos and short videos to make his posts very interesting. The philosophy that Ryan and I share is that our sites are where locals find out what’s really taking place in their uncertain housing market. Where else are locals going to get trustworthy news about their housing market? This is an appraiser’s opportunity to shine and become a “trust agent” within their local community. Has this effort paid off for Ryan? Yes, in the form of multiple tax appeal appraisal assignments (non-HVCC compliant appraising).

As always, thank you for following the Sacramento Appraisal Blog. Welcome also to any readers of Working RE magazine. If interested, you can subscribe to posts by RSS, follow on Facebook, or get articles delivered to you by email.

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