November 9th, 2008
by vision
Every morning’s newspaper now spells out the same headlines, locally and internationally - the economy is on a downward spiral.
This sentiment is also carrying over into what was just a few months ago, a booming industry in the region - The real estate sector.
Real Estate marketing agencies, developers and agents had their portfolios overflowing with great deals, and could not keep track of where one sale concluded and the other began. This is of course rapidly changing.
Brushing up on your Real Estate sales pitch.
Yes, until today there was no need for a sales pitch, it was a seller’s and developers’ market. Everyone was buying off-plan and, from pictures on brochures.
Real Estate agents, some of them unfortunately *did not* have the time to even know where a project was located on a map, before selling - So great was the rush. We all understand now, that the market demographic of buyers has changed, but thankfully there are still investors and home seekers… what’s out is the speculation.
So what is this consolidated buyer demographic looking at in Propertys?
Read the rest of this entry »
November 2nd, 2008
by vision
Real Vision Consultancy ( the people who bring you realvisionhomes.com), was recently working on a project for a client that is non real estate related, where a quick 30 second video had to be created followed by still photographs of various guests at an event, who were invited to write a slogan that was superimposed over their still images.
Thus a completed video was produced and then had to be burned to DVD, sent off asap to be popped into a DVD player for play back on all video screens at the event venue.
What’s the reason for this appearing on a real estate blog? - Well the software / system used for making these videos had to be easy to use, quick and no- fuss and if need be, managed by non techie people… Isn’t this exactly what real estate agents or home sellers want when making a property video?….
Read the rest of this entry »
August 10th, 2008
by vision
Home Staging, as it’s called in the US, or Home Doctoring if you are in the UK, is a long established practice when preparing a house for sale. Traditionally, it is almost always a lived in home or property that is ’staged’ in preparation for a sale or open house viewing day.
The reason a home is staged is to make it look fresh and inviting to interested people who come in for a viewing.
In many real estate markets worldwide, a real estate agent or consultant will always advice you to either stage a home yourself, or seek the services of proper home staging firms.
Yes, such a service may not be that familiar with residents and even real estate agents here in the UAE, and why should it be? There are hardly any homes that are lived-in for that long, that they need to be staged to sell them.
In fact, it is radically different here. Properties and homes still have that fresh brick and paint smell whenever there is an open house. If indeed there even is such a thing as an open house!
With most properties being bought out within a few hours of their launch announcements, it still is a virgin market for real estate here. Read the rest of this entry »
April 6th, 2008
by vision
What were the Top searches on RealVisionHomes.com in the last two weeks?
While this is not an authoritative statistic on what projects might be considered ‘hot’ in the Dubai and UAE market, it is an indicative pointer as to what may well be interesting projects that people are searching for or investing in.
Using Search Results to predict Trends:
It may still be a long shot to accurately predict the rise of a Real Estate Project, it’s popularity and investment potential solely from word of mouth or developer promises alone. Read the rest of this entry »
March 23rd, 2008
by vision
Everyone knows that Dubai has been dubbed the playground of the rich and famous. However, there is a thriving down to earth class of professionals also re-locating here, to start off their new careers and lives.
The direct benefit of this phenomenon is the meteoric rise of the real estate sector in Dubai, and in the capital of the country, Abu Dhabi.
If people are re-locating here in droves, they all need housing. Real Estate Developers are announcing project after project, from Towers to palatial villas with exclusivity guaranteed.
Property Rush hour in the UAE:
That is exactly how you could describe the situation outside the big real estate developers offices on announcements of a new project. Entire buildings and phases of villas get sold out in a matter of hours if not a few days.
Then of course these units are put back on the secondary market, where the serious investors and end buyers who are accustomed to traditionally studying an investment, begin to make their choice. Read the rest of this entry »
March 15th, 2008
by vision
Google has finally implemented a bit of Geocoding for the UAE in the world famous Google Earth Product. What is the benefit of this? There are many… For starters all the main Emirates Highways and arterial roads are marked with the eye catching falcon symbols in blue and green with the Route numbers clearly listed. This will encourage the practice of using highway and exit numbers when giving driving instructions (not in Google earth yet) but when following a printed map.
Secondly, although at present Geocoding of buildings seems to be relying on locations marked by end users, it should get more accurate if the project is taken up seriously by Google itself. Read the rest of this entry »
