Relify's Blog

Don’t turn back time…utilize every option to market yourself

relify — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:14:23 +0000

This is what makes Relify.com stand out from other Real Estate Sites!!!!

You maybe thinking that relify.com is just another real estate website…WE OFFER SO MUCH MORE. The site is designed for people who work in all facets of real estate. We designed a comprehensive real estate site.

Real Estate Posting section:

Broker Co-Op: as far as we know we are the ONLY site that makes this a required field when an Agent, Auction, For Sale By Owner, or Builder post on the site. We designed the system to allow for either a numerical value or letter value (ie. yes or no)

Auction Posting and Search:

We designed a place for real estate auction companies to post upcoming auctions and criteria that is specific to auctions. We are the ONLY site where real estate Auctions ALWAYS comes up in a search. If you search a zip code no matter what the price the auction is always displayed.

Agent Mortage Company and Home Services (Contractor and Resources) Profile:

The profile on Relify.com is designed to as a mini webpage. We allow Bio, Photos, Logo, Videos of either a property or a personal profile video (mini commercial about yourself), email, and links to multiple websites.
Additional features under the profiles.
The real estate profile offers agents the advantage to post all of their listings to be displayed under their profile.
The mortgage profile displays the types of loans offered as well their States they are licensed in.
Home Services and Resources profile allows professionals to select the State and counties they serve.

Check out Relify.com, we are building a better real estate website for you and the consumer. With your support we can achieve this goal.

Thanks for your support and please forward our information along!

www.relify.com

Stuart Berman

Co-founder

Relify.com

From home owner to landlord, some friendly tips

relify — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:40:22 +0000

Becoming a landlord may not be a choice in this market. Most people prefer to sell their home and look to the future to begin the next chapter of their life. If you are finding yourself with more than one home and in need of extra cash to cover your additional mortgages here are a few tips to help.

Get a lease. Even if you are renting to a friend or family member it is important to have something in writing.
Change your locks after you move out and after each tenant moves out.
Let your incoming tenant know they should consider getting renters insurance.
Get some background information on your incoming tenant.

Find a company that does credit checks

Call their previous landlord

Check current employment to verify income

Find a good handyman or contractor that does various types of work.
If you find a company that provides plumbing, electrical services and minor repair work you might be able to negotiate a deal for using only them on your property.
If you have doubts about someone financial ability to pay the rent – Remember – it can be more costly to evict someone than to have it vacant for a couple of extra months.
If you are moving far away or do not want to deal with managing your property consider a management company. It maybe worth it.
Provide your new tenant with local information including trash/recycle days and gas and electric numbers.

Remember you can post your rental properties for free on Relify.com. If you have any questions feel free to email me at relify@relify.com

Stuart Berman

Co-founder

www.relify.com

Out of Beta —

relify — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:10:37 +0000

Relify.com has officially launched in Maryland!

We want to thank everyone that has supported us during our Beta testing phase and encourage you to check out our updated user friendly website.

Relify.com is a comprehensive real estate website that offers you a unique place to market and promote yourself for FREE.

Our site is ideal for:

Agents / property listings
Auction companies
Builders
For sale by owners
Contractors
Retail resources
Mortgage companies

Features on Relify.com:

Post a description of yourself and your company
Post promotional videos that link to YouTube
Post multiple photos
Post your company logo
Add a link to you website
And more

The idea is to unify and simplify the real estate industry. With support from you and your company, Relify.com will provide information to consumers for all of their real estate needs while promoting yourself.

Thank you for your support and feel free to contact us with any questions at relify@relify.com

Here is a link to a recent article about the company. http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11310&type=UTTM

Thanks Again,

Stuart and Amy

Founders

http://www.relify.com/

Thinking outside the box “refinance or purchase”

relify — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:24:38 +0000

My daily ritual, get up, get ready for the day, work, come home check the mail and hang with the family. Usually, I sort my mail right at the recycle bin (as so much of what I get is junk mail and catalogues). A few weeks ago, one letter caught my eye. The front of the letter had the Bank of America logo on it and since I previously had a loan with them I felt I should look. Like so many home owners I received that dreadful letter: due to declining values we are freezing your equity line and as of this date you can no longer use it. Great…now what? The letter goes on to say that I can appeal the decision, but there is no guarantee anything would change. I can refinance, but who is going to give me another equity line in this economy since I am self employed in Maryland and stated loans are no longer allowed. I think about my options, I cannot get a Fannie or Freddie style loan since I do not fit the parameters. I can’t go to a hard equity lender, it will cost me a fortune and probably not save that much money. Where do I go?

In my case I go to two networking events, one at the new Legg Mason Tower in Baltimore and then to a Greater Baltimore Board of Realtor event. I have a few drinks and talk with people in the real estate industry. The GBBR networking event turned out to be the ticket. As the event was winding down I was at the bar talking to a mortgage banker about my situation. Next to him was a nice; quiet gentleman who listened to my story. When I was thru he handed me his card and told me to call him. He is the vice president of residential lending for Midstate Federal Saving & Loan Association. His name is William Allen (Bill) and he told me that he could help me. I met with Bill and he explained that his company has a loan committee that reviews loans and makes decisions a couple times a month. How cool, this is really old style lending. Obviously they look at the whole portfolio and other attributes. After dealing with the processor she felt the loan would go thru.

Dealing with smaller banks can be a great option in this crazy lending market. Just to make sure I was getting a good deal from Midstate I called a few small banks in Baltimore to see what they could offer. After a few calls I realized I was getting a good deal on an investment property. If you need a lender who thinks outside the box call William at 443-761-6301 or email him at wallen@midstatefed.com.

Remember your small community banks, many of them have been around for decades! There is money out there for all types of deals you might just have to work harder to find them. I am pleased to say that I am now dealing with Midstate Federal Savings & Loan.

Stuart Berman

Co-founder

www.relify.com

Small Broker Growing in Tough Market

relify — Thu, 21 May 2009 01:11:22 +0000

Every Wednesday I go to the Broker Opens. This affords me the opportunity to see what is on in the market and to network with agents about my new website relify.com. This past Wednesday I had the opportunity today to go to a different kind of open house. This open house was for a new real estate office for a small real estate broker, Cummings & Co. Up until now they had one location in the heart of Baltimore City in an area known as Canton. In these times, I have witnessed some of the larger brokers close and consolidate their offices. I have seen small brokers affiliate with other small brokers to keep their offices afloat. When I heard about Cummings & Co. opening another office I was excited to hear about the success.

Here is a small broker going out on a limb to grow a business in a tough market. With an office in the City and now in one in Baltimore County, Cummings & Co. offers the best of both worlds to their agents and clients. I wish Dave Cummings and everyone at Cummings & Co. the best of luck with the new office. There are many great real estate companies in Baltimore with talented agents. I am writing this blog because it is so nice to hear success stories in real estate and I wanted to share it! You can locate and agent at Cummings & Co., or any other brokerage as well as going to www.relify.com and click locate an agent.

Stuart Berman

Co-founder

www.relify.com search for your next home, locate an agent, contractor or mortgage broker at our comprehensive real estate website!

Feel Free to follow me on Twitter. http://twitter.com/relify

Here is a link to a recent article about the company. http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11310&type=UTTM

Givng Back to the Community

relify — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:20:01 +0000

For me, being a real estate agent means more than just helping people buy and sell homes. I work with friends, family, and the general public to assuage their stress during a financial and emotional change. As many of us know it can take many, many man hours to locate the right property or eventually sell someone’s home. I know that time is a precious commodity and as agents we tend to be ‘on call’ for our clients but I feel it is so important to also give back to my community.

I am affiliated with the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors (GBBR) in Maryland. They recently had a booth at the Towson Town Spring Festival and I had the opportunity to give two hours of my day to educate the general public about buying or selling a home. This was one way I was able to give back to my community. I feel proud to be a part of GBBR and volunteer when needed. To learn more about GBBR and what they are about check out their website. www.gbbr.org

And remember – www.relify.com a comprehensive real estate website.

Stuart Berman

Co-founder

Relify.com

Feel Free to follow me on Twitter. http://twitter.com/relify

Here is a link to a recent article about the company. http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=11310&type=UTTM

Facebook

relify — Sat, 02 May 2009 03:13:21 +0000

I have to say thank you to facebook, twitter and blogging. Now when I can’t sleep instead of surfing the net or shopping online, I can chat with my “friends”. I can write quick notes, IM and read up on people I haven’t seen in months. This, of course being one of those nights. I used to unwind with the tv or book and now it is the computer. It seems to be the first thing I do in the morning (all related to relify) and then in the late evening when I am catching up with friends and family. So thank you I am no longer alone in the middle of the night

First Video blog

relify — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:20:54 +0000

Video blogging is one of the goals of my company, Relify.com. The idea of the video blog for Relify.com is to tell stories about what is going on in the real estate industry whether it is an agent or contractor or mortgage broker. We want to do mini interviews that would never be seen otherwise.
The website is designed with video capabilities so agents and anyone posting on the site can promote themselves as well as their product. We have developed a website which created a way for every listing to have its on mini commercial for your listings or company.
So today I am testing my first video blog and this is the start of exploring new ways to get out there. So I hope you like my first video blog giving you an idea of what Relify.com is all about. Stay tuned to more to come.
Stuart Berman
Co-founder
www.relify.com

Feel Free to follow me on Twitter. http://twitter.com/relify

the amount of time I spend on the computer…

relify — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:16:16 +0000

the amount of time I spend on the computer… (edit/delete)
I was talking to a friend the other day about how much time I am on the computer on “social networking”. It used to be checking my emails, but now I check personal and work emails, twitter, facebook, wordpress, activerain, and a few other sites. I love to write my thoughts and read how my friends and colleagues are doing. It is amazing how often I am on the computer. I used to think about how many hours a year I spent at red-lights or waiting in line to checkout at the store was wasting my time. Now of course I have my cell phone to make calls, text, etc… but really how much time is spent on the computer. I know the value of it, but why not just use one site? Why do I check all of these sites (like most of friends as well). How many hours per year am I toggling between social networking sites? How many hours per year are you?

amy berman
www.relify.com

The economy and our changing needs in real estate

relify — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:16:59 +0000

The other day…

I was talking to some friends the other day about the news and what is going on in the world. Many people are moving out of assisted livings b/c they can’t afford it anymore and back in with their kids. I started to wonder…what this must be like for both. How sad to have to move out of your home and into your children’s homes whose own kids are probably off to college. This ‘sandwich’ generation who are ready to enjoy life with their spouse (or go out and enjoy it with friends) are now caring for their parents. The elders most likely enjoyed their independence and are not too happy about needing to be ‘cared for’. what does this mean for real estate. Well, how is the house set up…does the parent have adequate space for themselves (like an aupair suite). Are they needing to move, maybe to a rancher? Is this a new niche market? People that needed to downsize may need to keep the size but have it all on one floor. Emotionally and Physically a lot of changes need to be made. This economy continues to ripple it’s effects downward. Maybe the silver lining is that families will be closer and we will surround ourselves with those we love.

Amy Berman
www.relify.com
real estate website