Best Google+ Real Estate May 2015 With so much great real estate content found daily on Google Plus, I think it’s important to recap and pull out those articles that really stood out. Every month, Bill Gassett asks a regular contributor to the Google Plus Real Estate group to gather the articles that meant the most to them into a “best of” list.

I’m thankful for those who take the time to put these posts together, as they usually have some articles that I didn’t get a chance to read because I was too busy at the time they were posted. The month of May was packed with excellent real estate articles on Google Plus. It’s likely that you may have missed a few of these, or all of them if you’re not on Google Plus (which you should be). Dig in and reach out to the bloggers below to let them know that you appreciate their articles.

What are Closing Cost Credits and How Do They Work?

When real estate market conditions change, the way buyers structure their offers also changes. Knowing how closing cost credits work is essential to knowing how to properly structure an offer, based on the market. It’s also important to understand these credits as a seller and not get flustered if you receive an offer form a buyer asking for closing assistance. In this article, Bill Gassett does a great job of breaking down all the details of closing cost credits and how they work. He explains how closing cost credits often times are the difference between being able to put a transaction together or not.

10 Common Mistakes First-Time Home Buyers Make

Buying a home for the first time is a big deal. There are many mistakes that can be made as a rookie home buyer. In this article, Xavier DeBuck covers the 10 most common mistakes made by first-time home buyers. A couple of the points talk about not letting your emotions control you throughout the process and not automatically assuming that every house will appreciate over time. Xavier has some really great info for 1st time buyers including some exceptional references in his articles that first timers can soak up!

23 Must Read Real Estate Blogs

Tyler Zey at Easy Agent Pro has put together a great list of real estate marketing blogs that are packed full of useful information for real estate agents. There are a few blogs on this list that are not real estate related and are more focused on general marketing. Finally there are some excellent individual real estate bloggers featured. That is one of the main reasons I appreciate this list so much. I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with these blogs; be sure to bookmark them for easy reference later on.

How To Buy A Home In A Sellers Market

In my local real estate market of Colorado Springs we have seen a large shift from a buyers market to a seller’s market within the past 18 months. When markets shift, the requirements of buyers go up. In order to compete with all of the other buyers in the market, you need to know how to adapt. In this article, Kyle Hiscock does a great job explaining how you can be a successful home buyer in a seller’s market. This article is very relevant to most local real estate markets right now.

4 Methods to Selling A Home – Which Works Best?

Have you seen those listings in your area that have terrible pictures? Ever wonder how those agents got hired to list those homes? Well, in this article, Lynn Pineda explains the 4 main methods that home sellers use to find their listing agents. If you’ve ever sold a home, I’m sure you will be able to relate to the 4 scenarios she lays out in the article. Take her advice and don’t hire cousin Jimmy! This kind of agent is the one that gives real estate agents a bad wrap. Unfortunately it is all too easy to pick one so make sure you do your home work when buying or selling a home.

When Right Brain and Left Brain Buy A Home Together

The psychology behind the home buyers process is fascinating. After being in the business for many years now, it is still interesting to watch how people react differently to the home buying process, depending on their personality type. In this article, Chris Highland of The Highland Group with Turning Point Real Estate talks about how the left brain and right brain work together to buy a home. It’s a great read that helps explain how people think when they are shopping for a home.

A Realtor’s Intro Guide to Search Engine Optimization

The topic of SEO is not one most Realtors are well schooled in. The average Realtor is 57 years old, according to NAR. So how is the average Realtor supposed to learn nerdy lingo about the complicated topic of search engine optimization? Well, they can start by checking out this great real estate SEO resource on RESAAS’ blog by Anita Clark. She covers the basic details that you need to know to get your website cooperating with the major search engines. Anita is a real estate website pro and her guide is set up to help agents through the intimidating topic of SEO.

How To Make The Most Money When You Sell Your House

Most consumers know that pricing a home right, getting it cleaned up and presented well are essential to making money when they sell their home. Unfortunately, they do not always realize that great marketing is equally as important as price and condition. In this article, I cover the main aspects of marketing real estate to sell for the most amount of money. From professional photography to full HD video walk-through, it’s all covered in this article.

If you enjoyed this May’s recap of the best Google Plus real estate articles make sure you also have a look at previous installments. Each month there are new real estate bloggers featured who put out exceptional content!

Pool or No Pool?

One of the more popular questions both on and offline you will see people ask is whether a pool will add value to a home? There really is not a definitive answer to this question as Debbie Drummond explains in her article frequently asked questions about pools. As Debbie points out in her article to answer this question you have to dive (no pun intended) into what type of home and where the pool will be installed. For example a pool installed in a warm weather climate will more than likely have far more appeal than a place where the seasons are limited. There may also be a much better ROI when the pool is installed at a luxury residence where it is almost expected.

Previous Best Google+ Real Estate Article Recaps

Andrew Fortune This article was written by Andrew Fortune at GreatColoradoHomes.com. He is a top Realtor in Colorado Springs who enjoys creating content for the real estate community and networking with other real estate professionals on all social channels.