Las Vegas Real Estate Blog

One of the things that kept coming up at PubCon was the importance of having links from trusted sites pointing to yours. I think Active Rain certainly qualifies as one, despite being very new. Social networking sites and their importance for drawing traffic and exposure to your website was another topic that kept coming up. I had heard of Squidoo, but just never got around to visiting or setting up a profile there. For those you that don't have a Squidoo profile, called a "lens", the site is little like myspace but with a few significant twists. For starters, it is a revenue sharing site.  The google ads displayed generate revenue for you, or it can be directed to a charity.  The ads revenue is pooled and then split up based on the amount of traffic your "lens" generates. You also can add affiliate information from companies like Amazon.com and Nexflix which goes directly to you.  I can see some of the things available on Squidoo appearing on Active Rain in the future.

Generating a lens is pretty painless. You can sign up here for free.  You are then presented with a choice of "modules" to add to your lens.  These are sections that appear on your page and allow you to add links, random topical content, polls, your own or favorite RSS feed (like from your AR blog), guestbook, money generating options like topical books from Amazon, Netflicks, etc (they have the money making section broken down by topic), flickr pictures, youtube, google maps, Del.icio.us!, the list goes on and on.  Once you have finally selected the modules you want, the page pulls up and then you can rearrange your modules, add bio information, links, upload photos and customize it.  You can also change or add additional tags, so users can find your lens. Lens are ranked (sound familiar?).  You can increase your lens rank by getting additional links, positive reviews, frequency of updates, etc.

Another thing discussed at PubCon was widgets. Widgets are little add-ons that you can put in a blog, your myspace profile, etc.  They are a great way to generate traffic and links.  Most of the "modules" that are available on Squidoo are really widgets. As AR evolves, I'm sure we'll see some widgets appearing as well. If you do stop by Squidoo, check out our Las Vegas homes and Las Vegas high rise condos lens and rate it (be kind :) ). I'm waiting for my favorite charity to get signed up so I can direct my lens revenue. -Charles

Digg it!

Vantage lofts is one of the first loft projects in Henderson. It will be located on the corner of Gibson Road and Paseo Verde. The community will be made up of mid-rise buildings, offering a choice of six different loft and flat floor plans. Homeowners will have a choice of upgraded flooring, countertops and other luxury upgrades. Each loft or flat comes stocked with Viking designer appliances and European kitchen cabinets.

Residents will enjoy a level of security.  Vantage lofts is a gated community with gated access to parking, fire sprinklers throughout that are hooked up to a central alarm and controlled access to the building lobby. When not working out in the on-site fitness center, residents can enjoy a swim in one of two outdoor swimming pools or the indoor pool, soak in one of huge hot tubs, watch a movie in the theater room or just hang out at the gameroom in the clubhouse. Vantage lofts is also pet friendly with an enclosed Pet Park with plenty of room for your furry friend to play. 

Expected move-in for this community is Summer of 2008. Unlike many of the similar luxury communities in Las Vegas, Vantage only requires a 10% deposit.  Many of the lofts offer strip or mountain views and Vantage is just a short 20 minute drive to the airport or the Las Vegas strip. Vantage lofts would make an excellent second home or primary residence.

For more detailed information about Vantage Lofts and Flats including floor plans or other Henderson lofts, visit our Henderson real estate website or call me directly at 702-493-8033. -cr

Digg it

This past week I've been absent for the most part because of the Las Vegas seo conference.  One of the big things that kept coming up as a reoccurring theme was information accessibility. Making a site accessable by everyone, regardless of browser, os, etc. During one of the sessions, there was a website owner from San Diego that wanted to have the best Chiropratic website on the web.   He told us about how one of his customers found him and gave him the best compliment he ever got. The customer was blind and was able to find his business because the content was so well written the screen reader program he was using didn't have any problems translating it for him.

Which brings up a good design point---write content so straight forward that a screen reader will be able to read it. The same thing goes for your alt tags. They should be descriptive and to the point. A half a page paragraph doesn't do anyone any good. After all, you never know who is going to visit your site. -Charles

Stallion Mountain is a golf course community located on E Flamingo, adjacent to Sunrise Manor and just minutes from the strip. It is an older community, with resale homes and new construction available by Pulte Homes. Unlike other golf course communities in Las Vegas, Stallion Mountain is unique because the golf course actually surrounds the community.

Stallion Mountain offers a wide range of housing choices. Homes sizes range from 1,190 square feet all the way up to 2,881 square feet. For those that prefer a more maintenance free lifestyle, Blackhorse condos are the answer.  Del Webb is in the process of adding an age restricted community, Solera at Stallion Mountain.  The community offers a great range of amenities, including a nice little restaurant at the golf club, the Squires Grill.  Residents that love animals will find this community a great fit. Its just minutes from the horse and dog fancier's park that is maintained by the city.  

If you would like more information about Stallion Mountain homes or Solera at Stallion Mountain and to receive emailed listings of homes for sale, please contact me through my Las Vegas Real Estate site at lvrealty.net or by phone at 702-493-8033. Sales activity is usually fairly constant so resales are usually available at the time of this writing. -cr

I'm sneaking this in before I pickup Ken on my way to Pubcon. Yesterday was the first day of conferences at Pubcon. The keynote speaker was Guy Kawaski, former software evangelist for Apple computer (mac) back in the late 80's. For those of you that aren't familiar with the term, Guy's job was basically getting software companies to write programs for Apple users.

Guy is now a venture capitalist. In his speech he told a story about his job offer to run Yahoo when it was just a start up. He ulitimately refused the job, much to his later chagrin. The point he was making was a good one, not to listen to bozos. He identified two types, the guy who tells you that it can't be done and you can't do it. You know him, drives a beat up car, has few if any friends, always negative, dresses poorly, etc. He explained that those bozos aren't the dangerous ones, they're easy to spot.  He said the dangerous ones are the ones that dress in armani, drive german sports cars and are wealthy...which is where he tied in his Yahoo story. See when the guys from Yahoo approached him about the site, he was a bozo.  He told him he couldn't see how it could work, it was too far for him to drive to work (an hour each way) and generally told them it was a pipe dream!  He figures it was a 2 billion dollar mistake, or one and a half youtubes. 

He was a great speaker and if you get a chance to hear him speak I highly recommend it. I'll be shifting through my notes on the various conferences I've attended and will change some of the highlights in later posts, so stay tuned. If you have any requests, feel free to put them in comments.  I'll try to accommodate everybody. -Charles

Los Prados is a truly unique golf course community in Las Vegas. The community is divided with roughly half of the neighborhoods being aged restricted and the other half open to all ages. This gated gofl course community is centered around an larger than average Executive 18 hole golf course. The course is 4937 yards,  par 70 and sloped at 107 and best of all, it is owned by Los Prados residents!

The community features lush landscaping, green belts and water features throughout. Los Prados offers all the amenities you would expect from a golf course community. It also has a great clubhouse with a restaurant, family swimming pool and tennis courts should you get bored playing golf. Resales are usually available but normally don't stay on the market for long due to the high demand for homes in this community.

For more information about Los Prados homes or to receive listings by email, please feel free to contact me through my Las Vegas real estate site, lvrealty.net or by phone at 702-493-8033. -cr

Pubcon, the Search Engine Opitimization convention sponsored by Webmaster World kicked off today.  I got to meet some of my online friends for the first time, including AR's own Ken Smith.  We met the day before the conference at one of my favorite buffets at the Orleans.

This site is about making connections with other agents in different areas. Matt, Max and their spouses joined a little later.  It was a really great time and was nice to be able to get to know them better.

We ended up staying there in buffet for a couple of hours chewing the fat.  Developing relationships with others outside of your area can give you great insights into your own market, not to mention that you can meet some truly wonderful people you otherwise wouldn't have known.

So if the opportunity presents itself, put yourself out there...take a chance....you may surprise yourself.  I think being on the web sometimes isolates us too much. Its easy to just email versus call or even call versus actually showing up. Take this opportunity and make connections, you'll be happy you did. -Charles

Southern Highlands is a luxury master planned golf course community located in Southwest Las Vegas. This exclusive 2,300 acre community features the award-winning, members-only golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-one of only four courses in the world that can make that claim.  Southern Highland residents enjoy a plethora of amenities, including a member's only spa, 50 acres of parks, baseball and softball fields, volley ball and tennis courts, biking and jogging paths and a spectacular golf club.

For looking for Southern Highlands homes, the community offers single family luxury homes and custom home lots. New construction and resales are available. Homes range in size from 2,100 to more than 3,300 square feet on average, depending on the Southern Highlands neighborhood you are interested in.

For more information about Southern Highlands or to receive listings of Southern Highlands homes by email, visit our Las Vegas real estate site at lvrealty.net. -cr

Red Rock Country Club is a luxury golf course community located in the master planned community of Summerlin in Northwest Las Vegas. This private, gated 738-acre country club community has roughly 1,116 homesites, three-quarters of which have golf course views.  Some homes also feature casitas and there are both single story and two story homes.

Red Rock features two Arnold Palmer golf courses, nine lighted tennis courts, sports clubhouse, cabana grille, aquatic center, 24 hour manned gatehouse, roving security patrol, member's only intranet site, tennis complex (including stadium court) and a golf pro shop. Resales are usually available and there are some new construction homes available as well.

For more information about Red Rock Country Club and Summerlin or to receive listings of Red Rock Country Club Homes for Sale by email, please visit our Summerlin real estate website at lvrealty.net or call 702-493-8033. -CR

I meant to put up a special post for number 100, but I missed the boat. Earlier today I had a great idea for this post. I sat down at my desk, waited anxiously for my pc to boot. I clicked internet explorer, clicked my link to ar and .... couldn't pull the site up. Doh!  I tried again and then got a message that the system was down for maintenance....

A lot of times we use outside events as an excuse or justification.  Well if that hadn't happened, I would/could have done this or that.  We're looking at these minor setbacks in the wrong way. Every challenge you face is an opportunity. One of the best sales training books ever written is Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham. The customer kept raising objection after objection as to why he won't like green eggs and ham.  Instead of getting discouraged, our salesman keeps coming back with another offer until he accepts. Even though its a kid's book, it has a great lesson about never giving up and sticking to your guns. The next time something doesn't go as planned, don't view it as a setback, view it as an opportunity. Keep a positive attitude and don't give up when you know you are right. If a consumer wants to argue with you and not take your advice, don't take it personally, but don't give up either.   Take a different tack and re-explain why they should follow your advice. After all, they sought out a competant professional to help them make the biggest purchase of their life.  They came to you for advice.  Don't let their fear get in the way. Be polite but firm. Eventually the client will see the wisdom of your argument and be thankful.  Later on they'll give you the biggest compliment they can give, a referral of your services to someone else.

The Power of Community

We've been members of Active Rain now for about six months. I've watched the network grow and GROW. Most of the active members that were top dogs are now nowhere to be seen. Social networking sites are all the rage now and a quick google search will show several sites for "real estate networking". There are also several that competing for not only realtors, but for all types of businesses. Will these sites enjoy similar success?  I don't think so. Matt and Caleb have done something extraordinary...they've created something old but new. With so many active members puting up content, links and inviting others to join, the size of the site has quadrupled since I became a member and the number of members has tripled. I've met several great people from all over the US and Canada. Made valuable connections for referrals and advice. In short, accomplished almost everything the site was designed for. Now we have new consumer content coming online, changes to help connect agents with consumers all within six months time. I can't wait to see what it looks like in a year or two.

Connecting 

The thing with this site is that you'll only get out of it what you put in. If you're a "lurker" who reads the posts and blogs but never contributes an opinion, you're missing out.  No one will get to know if you don't put yourself out there. A couple of members have put up some posts on how to start blogging, blogging etiquette and the do's and don'ts. I'm sure they'll be put into some kind of "guide" to make it easier to find them. So the next time you are taking floor time, waiting for the phone to ring. Peruse through some of the older posts and add your comments. Who knows, perhaps it will inspire you to put up a post of your own.  Networking is about making connections.  Several members have made those connections, but not in the way they planned. A few members have joined forces as a result of meeting here.

Great Posts

What makes a great post?  Well that's really up to the individual viewing it. One thing is for certain, everyone has different criteria. Personally I think great posts all have a few common traits. They are either very informative, giving great information in a concise manner.  They cause a lot of debate. Sometimes controversy is a good thing, especially when it leads to a productive conversation. Humor. Sometimes, everyone needs a good laugh. Shakespeare. A very well written post, even when not that full of information or being funny can still be great. Here are a few of my better posts from the past:

Forced Registration: Good or Bad?

Pagerank: The Trust Factor

Understanding Web Traffic 

Co-branding with Lowes

I've made several new friends, and for that I am very, very thankful. I look forward to meeting new people and learning new things. I'm looking forward to my 300th post.  Here comes the rain again.... -Charles