The month of July marks the start of a new quarter for Neighborhood Expert reservations on Point2 Homes.

If you haven’t yet reserved a neighborhood, you can see which neighborhoods are still available and reserve them today.  Read the User Manual for further instructions about how to do this.

For any who have already reserved their neighborhood, it’s a good idea to make sure you’ve got the rich community information to display you as the neighborhood expert.

Neighborhood Expert reservations can prove to be an effective marketing investment tool which draws traffic to your website and encourages consumers to contact you.

Once you have made your reservation, how can you be sure to put your Neighborhood Expert page to good use?  I have some tips and suggestions for working with your Neighborhood Expert page content so you can get the most out of it.

1) Remember the fundamental purpose of having a neighborhood information page in the first place.

Point2Homes.com is a premier consumer search site for listings.  The neighborhood data pages are provided so consumers can obtain more information about an area they may be interested in.  In many areas, especially in the United States, default demographic information is provided.

However, more than just displaying default demographics, your neighborhood expert page should have a personal touch with real, relevant information that consumers want to see.  We recommend taking the time right away to add your own content to your reserved page.

Information consumers want to see:

• Community information
• Local amenities
• School information
• Local history

2) Take advantage of the ability to upload photos of the neighborhood to the Neighborhood Expert area.

Take pictures of local attractions, parks, waterways, or anything that would be attractive to consumers and potential prospects.  You can add images right to the content for your page, and also upload up to 4 additional images to appear on a separate ‘Photos’ tab on the Neighborhood Expert page.

3) Keep personal promotion to a minimum.

You may have the urge to use the Neighborhood Expert page as an area to talk about yourself and why people should use you as their real estate agent.  Don’t do it – Fight the urge, people!

Remember, your neighborhood reservation is intended to allow you to showcase yourself as the expert of the area by providing relevant information on the area, not information about yourself.  Your neighborhood reservation page already includes your logo, photo, contact information, email link and a link back to your website; all right at the top of the page, very prominently.

We do not recommend using the Neighborhood Expert page for means of advertising just yourself or any specific listings in the neighborhood as this will likely frustrate consumers who are geniunely interested in finding out local information.

OK, so there you have it.  Three important things you should keep in mind when working with your Neighborhood Expert page.

I’ve also compiled this nice little list of DO’s and DON’T's for your reference:

DO:

• Add lots of relevant local information about the neighborhood
• Include well-taken photographs of the area
• Provide useful maps, graphs, or other visuals about the area for consumers

DON’T:

• Use the page to talk all about yourself
• Use the page to advertise one specific listing
• Leave the page blank – you’ve invested in being the expert – put it to good use!

Take a look at a few examples below to spark your creativity.

Steveston, Richmond, BC

Power Ranch, Gilbert, AZ

Grand Haven, Ottawa County, MI

Browse through the Neighborhood Expert directory on Point2Homes.com and I’m sure you’ll find many more great examples of awesome pages to get some ideas from.

So, I decided it was time to make an escape.  And I have found just the place where I am going to run to.

Yep, that’s right, I’m going to Los Cabos, baby!  I found this listing on Point2 Homes and fell in love.  It’s just $7.9 million, and what a view. 

Because I am so generous I might be willing to go half-ers on the property with anyone who is interested.  There’s one condition though - I get dibs on what months of the year I get the place.

Ah nuts, I just checked my bank account.  I’m a few million dollars shy of the asking price.

Guess it’s onto Plan B – I hear the forecast calls for warmer weather on the weekend and into next week.  Finally!  That’ll do. 

There are some beautiful properties for sale closer to home too.  Maybe instead of going south, I’ll find myself up north at one of the many Saskatchewan lakes.