This is a “SMART” car for more than one reason.

It was spotted in a Home Depot parking lot over the weekend near our corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida. As you can see, the energy-conscious vehicle stands apart from the endless sea of cars in the crowded parking lot.

And not just because of it’s unique compact design.

Leveraging a small space, this real estate agent tandem took an opportunity to promote their services within the community by wrapping the car with a clever marketing message. Without the message it’s just another SMART car driving around town.

In this tough economic climate, successful agents are going above and beyond the ordinary methods of building their businesses. What worked five years ago doesn’t necessarily cut it anymore. And since more than 70 percent of homebuyers start their real estate searches online, expensive traditional print ads just don’t have the same impact … or return on investment.

Indeed, homebuyers today are savvy — they understand what’s going on around them and are looking to save big money on home purchases. This reality is underscored with preforeclosures and foreclosures selling at a rate of 2-1 over non-distressed real estate.

So bargain shoppers are out on the Internet in full force. It’s no coincidence, therefore, that most of them end up on Foreclosure.com — the name says it all.

Many of the folks who search Foreclosure.com do not currently have agent representation. It’s the reason we launched our Community Expert Program, which provides exactly what it says — a community agent expert to help homebuyers achieve their goals of homeownership.

Many of our agents have had overwhelming success with this program. It accomplishes two things:

1. Assists homebuyers with finding incredible deals
2. Directs homebuyers to the “cream-of-the crop” agents in their communities

Homebuyers can find community experts on each property details page just under the listing address. An agents name, photo and complete contact info are displayed. So just do a quick home search on Foreclosure.com and you will be on your way toward connecting with the community expert in your area.

If you are an agent who would like to be considered as a community expert click here.

There’s a lot you can learn about homes for sale just by reading the basic descriptions online or in print — and we’re not talking about the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

The queen of New York real estate, Barbara Corcoran, recently discussed some bad real estate ad terms that should raise a few red flags if you see them. To check out her video bit on NBC’s the “Today Show” visit BarbaraCorcoran.com.

In the meantime, here are a few of the no-no’s she mentions:

• Unique = Impossible to sell
• Original condition = at least 45 years old
• Conveniently located = too close to town, noisy
• Cozy = small

It’s often difficult to write compelling ads when there is often a limit on the amount of characters you can use and space on the page. That’s part of the reason numerous ads are ineffective — sellers overthink and gussy the ads up with nonsense.

Here’s the key: Keep it simple.

“Stick to the basics and leave real estate ads short,” says Glen Daniels, Foreclosure.com REO Director. “The goal is to convey all of the important information and leave potential buyers wanting to find out more by picking up their phones.”

According to Daniels, most buyers just want to know the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage and price — everything else is just fluff.

One element that Daniels suggests adding to the basics, however, is highlighting the most important point on property, whether its the view, location, size, price — whatever it is — and including that in the ad.

With an understanding of good and bad real estate ads it also saves investors time pursuing dead-end leads. In short, buyers can weed out all the so-called “deals” right from the get-go and focus on the surefire investment opportunities.

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