Swear Off These Bad Habits on Social Media

Swear Off These Bad Habits on Social Media

If you’re using social media to expand your connections with customers, make sure you don’t fall for one of these bad habits. Forbes.com highlights a few:

Auto-Posting from Facebook to Twitter

Your audiences for each social network likely differ slightly, so your messaging should change slightly, too. “Facebook posts that are auto-shared to Twitter are often cut off and missing images, presenting an unpolished and unprofessional appearance to followers,” columnist Brent Gleeson writes at Forbes.com. Several tools such as HootSuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer make sharing easy across multiple social networks.

Talking at Customers, Not With Them

Social media does not equate to free advertising. “Stop posting only about your brand, and start using social media for what it was intended: communication between humans,” Gleeson notes. “Imagine if you went to a holiday party this year and only talked about yourself and your selling points.” Ask your followers questions, reply to their comments, and engage with those who have similar interests to you, Gleeson says.

Failing to Track Your Links

Know which social media posts are connecting most with your network and bringing in the highest volume of traffic to your website. “Brands are still frequently posting untracked or shortened links back to their website, therefore only measuring how many visitors came from each social media channel or how many clicks each link received,” Gleeson writes. “Tracking your links with something like Google Analytics’ URL Builder will allow you to see how much traffic came from each post you shared and the quality of that traffic with metrics such as bounce rate, average session duration, and average pages viewed per session.”

Source: “5 Things You Should Stop Doing in Social Media Marketing by 2016,” Forbes (Dec. 15, 2015)

Do Neighborhood Watch Signs Hurt Sales?

Do Neighborhood Watch Signs Hurt Sales?

Neighborhood watch signs may be intended to show home owners’ that neighbors have one another’s backs but that may not be the message to home buyers. The signs plastered on telephone poles and parks may be a deterrent to home buyers.

In Longboat Key, Fla., a debate is raging whether neighborhood watch signs are good or bad for property values. Former Mayor George Spoll argues that the signs can make an area look crime-ridden and can dent home prices and scare off potential buyers.

“I’ve had clients remark that it’s a peaceful positive gesture that the community is keeping an eye out,” David Zarghami of Keller Williams Realty told MySuncoast.com. Meanwhile, “others perceive it as: ‘Well why did they have to create the neighborhood watch? What was the issue that started that?’”

The signs may be viewed as a red flag to would-be buyers.

“The fact that the sign is posted begs the question why and what has transpired,” says Cara Ameer, a real estate professional in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. “It is definitely something that a buyer would notice and question regarding the safety and security of the neighborhood. If it is concerning for buyers who may hesitate on moving into the neighborhood, I think these signs could negatively affect property values.”

The verdict is out whether the signs make a difference.

“It would be hard to say that a watch sign on its own is a good or bad thing, but in particular contexts it could make a difference,” says David Reiss, research director at the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship at Brooklyn Law School. “If home buyers have heard that crime is an issue there, neighborhood watch signs may give comfort that the neighborhood is doing something about it. On the other hand, if it’s a neighborhood that is not facing major crime issues, signs may be a confusing signal.”

What do you think? Reply in the comments below.

Source: “Are Neighborhood Watch Signs Turning Off Prospective Home Buyers?” MySuncoast.com (Dec. 13, 2015) and “Are Neighborhood Watch Signs Killing Home Sales?” realtor.com® (Dec. 14, 2015)

Ally Financial Offers Mortgages Again

Ally Financial Offers Mortgages Again

After two years out of the mortgage business completely, Ally Financial Inc. has decided to re-enter the business and offer new home loans to customers.

Ally’s GMAC Mortgage unit was one of the largest lenders of subprime mortgages prior to the 2008 housing crisis. It now plans to offers home loan originations next year.

“Don’t think of this as Ally going down the road of the old GMAC,” Jeffrey Brown, Ally’s CEO, said at a recent Goldman Sachs Group Inc. financial conference in New York. Brown vowed that the mortgage company will do things differently this time around.

Ally spokeswoman Gina Proisa says that the bank does not have plans to securitize its originations and it doesn’t plan to keep any servicing rights or build out a servicing operation. Ally will provide more details about its new product offerings in February, but it does not expect to start offering risky products like GMAC did.

During the housing boom in 2006, GMAC’s Residential Capital once ranked 12th among U.S. subprime lenders, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Ally exited the home lending business in 2013, which led to more than $10 billion in losses and a $17.2 billion U.S. bailout.

Source: “Ally Returns to Mortgage Business Two Years After Total Exit,” Bloomberg Business (Dec. 11, 2015)

Fannie, Freddie Halt Foreclosures for the Holidays

Fannie, Freddie Halt Foreclosures for the Holidays

Fannie, Freddie Halt Foreclosures for the Holidays

Mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced they will suspend foreclosure evictions during the holiday season. The holiday moratorium, which the government-sponsored enterprises have done for the last few years, will begin Dec. 18 and run until Jan. 3, 2016.

During that time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say they will not conduct any eviction lockouts and allow families to remain in their homes during the holidays. However, legal and administrative proceedings for evictions will continue during that time, but families will be permitted to stay in their homes.

The moratorium will apply to all foreclosed, occupied single-family homes as well as 2-4 unit properties on which Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae guarantees or owns the mortgages.

“As we have done in past years, we are suspending evictions during the holidays,” says Joy Cianci, senior vice president of credit portfolio management for Fannie Mae. “We also continue to remind home owners who may be struggling with their mortgages to reach out for help. Options are available to avoid foreclosure, and we want to help pursue those options whenever possible.”

Source: “Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Suspend Foreclosure Evictions During Holidays,” HousingWire (Dec. 10, 2015)

Why You Should Avoid Using Periods in Texts

Why You Should Avoid Using Periods in Texts

English teachers will cringe, but a new study suggests that using a period in your text messages can make the message appear “less sincere” than if no punctuation is used to end a statement.

Researchers at Binghamton University’s Department of Psychology studied the communication behavior of 126 undergraduates through either text messages or handwritten notes. Texting was chosen as “one of the most frequently used” communication methods and “mimics face-to-face communication,” according to the study, titled “Texting Insincerely: The Role of the Period in Text Messaging.”

“When the exchanges appeared as text messages, the responses that ended with a period were rated as less sincere than those that did not end with a period,” according to the study. The study found there was no difference whether punctuation was used on handwritten notes.

“When speaking, people easily convey social and emotional information with eye gaze, facial expressions, tone of voice, pauses, and so on,” says lead researcher Celia Klin. Texting omits social cues and so “it makes sense that texters rely on what they have available to them — emoticons, deliberate misspellings that mimic speech sounds and, according to our data, punctuation.”

Source: “Study Says Using Periods in Text Messages Is ‘Less Sincere,’” AJC.com (Dec. 9, 2015)