I have received many calls and questions emailed to me from readers wanting information about Crystal Coast homes and specifically about Emerald Isle condos for rent and for sale. Most of these questions center around the local Emerald Isle real estate market, and questions about things to do in Emerald Isle.

My Personal Favorite Entries From the Crystal Coast Blog

To help provide the answers many visitors to this blog have asked, here are some of my personal favorite past Crystal Coast Blog post.

Which Type of Emerald Isle Real Estate Agent Should You Select? One Who Blogs or One Who Doesn’t?

Internet Connectivity High on the List of Crystal Coast Hotel Guest

Questions for Crystal Coast Home Buyers

Factors that Impact the Success of Selling Your Emerald Isle Property

Is There Such a Thing as a Long-term Emerald Isle Rental?

The Cool Things You Can Do With Your iPhone on Emerald Isle!

Great Coffee on Emerald Isle – Beans-N-Screens

I hope you enjoy reading these post as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know which one was your “personal fav”!
Bobby Carroll – Your Crystal Coast Blogger

It seems a day doesn’t go by that another really cool iPhone APP is introduced. I really enjoy my iPhone and try to take full advantage of all its available applications, features and benefits. For everyone who visits or lives on the Crystal Coast and especially in the town of Emerald Isle, I suggest you put to good use your iPhone the minute you arrive and select the “Nearby” application. With Nearby, you can locate all kinds of great information uploaded by local Crystal Coast residents.

Search for Emerald Isle Homes for Sale with the Trulia APP!

If you are in the market for an Emerald Isle home or condo, be sure to download and test-drive the property search app provided by Trulia. This neat application offers Emerald Isle home buys a property search and mapping solution while the Nearby application contains user-generated content of recommended restaurants and services with mapped Crystal Coast locations.

Emerald Isle Home Sellers

If you are thinking about selling your Emerald Isle home, the first question that I would ask my Emerald Isle real estate agent is this – “Do you own an iPhone (or some sort of smartphone) and do you know about the great APPs (especially the APP called Nearby?” and the second question I would ask is this – “Do you upload your Emerald Isle property listings to the website Trulia?” Now I’m sure you are wondering why in the world would an Emerald Isle real estate agent would need to know about iPhone applications. Allow me to explain:

• First, it is a true test just how tech-savvy (and marketing savvy) your Emerald Isle real estate agent really is. Are they keeping up with the latest smartphone technology available to empower consumers. For your sake, you better know your agent is staying ahead of the technology curve.

• It lets you know how web-savvy your potential listing Emerald Isle real estate agent is. If your agent isn’t taking advantage of these tools to attract more buyers to your Crystal Coast property, you might be risking your Carteret county home languishing on the market due to lack of maximized exposure. This is especially true now that more consumers are using smartphones and specifically, iPhone apps like Nearby and the Trulia property search on their cell phones.

What Other iPhone APP’s Do You Use?

As you can see from the screenshots from my phone, I have a wide variety of social networking apps, a couple of games and the really critical applications like Twitter and WordPress app so I can blog on the fly from my phone.

Own an iPhone?

So which applications do you like and use often when visiting or residing on Emerald Isle?

I look forward to your comments,

Bobby Carroll

Your Crystal Coast Blogger

Update: phones and other similar technology tools (blogs, websites, and marketing tools) help real estate agents carry out their duties and responsibilities to serve their clients. Consumers would do well to carefully look at the way an agent uses all technology tools efffectively to deliver the results you seek.

Lately I have been thinking about the direction of topics and information provided in this blog. One key element I teach every blogger is you must know who your audience is and then provide “high-value” content to your audience in your blog. That way, loyal readers will return time and again to read your fresh content.

The SEO Benefits to a “Themed Blog”

Another important element is to make sure a blog has a central theme for search engines. Random thoughts across a broad spectrum of topics can confuse the likes of Google and Yahoo, not to mention my readers.

Real Estate Agents and Brokers Read the Crystal Coast Blog

Because of my activities as a real estate marketing coach, I advise my real estate agent clients and other real estate related professionals the best practices related to real estate web sites, blog sites, blogging and search engine optimization. And yes, I have used this portal to occasionally speak to that audience. I’m confident my clients and other industry friends who hang out at online social media sites read this blog too. My site stats and the comments left by real estate agents bare this out.

Speaking to Crystal Coast Consumers

Then again, consumers who visit the Crystal Coast for their vacation, and others who are thinking about buying and selling a home on the Southern Outer Banks of NC read this portal. It was and still is my mission to provide meaningful travel and vacation tips mixed with real estate buying and selling strategies so you will make the absolute best decisions about your Emerald Isle real estate transaction or vacation trip.

Slight Topical Shift Ahead

Going forward, each new post added to the Crystal Coast Blog will be 100% focused to you, the consumers. If you are seeking information on vacations on the Crystal Coast as well as those families and individuals seeking to buy and sell property in Emerald Isle and all along the Crystal Coast, this blog is for you!

Plenty of Resources for the Real Estate Crowd

If you’re a real estate agent or broker and you were expecting to find articles to help you  better understand the dynamics of real estate marketing, I will be featuring those articles on several blog portals including the blog at dakno.com, at BloggingBootCamp.com and the Bloggerlounge.com blog.

Please let me know how you feel about this slight change in topical direction.

Bobby Carroll – The Crystal Coast Blogger

How a Blogger Will Benefit You in Your Next Emerald Isle Home Sell or Purchase

The purpose of this post is to convey the many ways an Emerald Isle real estate agent will benefit  you. Yes – believe it or not, an Emerald Isle real estate agent that regularly writes on a blog offers Crystal Coast home sellers and buyers so many benefits. So now that I have you wondering how a real estate blogger is going to help you Mr. or Ms. Emerald Isle home buyers or seller, consider this; real estate professionals who blog tend to be:

• Far more tech-savvy than the average agent allowing them to utilize all of the computer technologies to make their business more productive for their clients.
• Agents who are well read! Another words, effective real estate agent bloggers understand they must be good readers to be a good blogger. That means you will be getting an agent who typically stays abreast of the latest tips and tricks in the industry to bring more knowledge and greater value to your experience. Remember – knowledge and value are powerful assets for you!
• Understanding of the power of online resources and has the unique ability to tap into the resources of the web including proficient use of online social tools and networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Squidoo and many other portals. As a consumer, you benefit because the agent blogger tends to be a more knowledgeable real estate marketer with a superior understanding how to effectively market your Emerald Isle home in the digital arena.
• Blogging Crystal Coast real estate agents who know how to use the marketing power of high-traffic syndication websites like Realtor.com, Trulia.com and Zillow.com to market your Emerald Isle home to millions of potential buyers from all over the nation. Atracting a larger pool of buyers is critical to selling your Emerald Isle home quicker and for more money.
• Blogging real estate agents who tend to network with other bloggers and regularly attend real estate blog conferences to gain even more knowledge to blog more effectively.

When You Interview Your Next Emerald Real Estate Agent

Ask them if they have a real estate blog. Ask them to show you their total online presence (all of the websites and blog sites) so you can see if the agent you select brings more to your Emerald Isle real estate experience.

Emerald Isle Consumer Feedback

What other qualities do you seek when selecting an Emerald Isle real estate agent to help you with your real estate transaction?

Helping Crystal Coast real estate consumers buy and sell smarter!

Bobby Carroll
Your Emerald Isle Real Estate Blogger

Use the Power of the Internet and Save!

Who in their right mind would simply jump in their car and ride around neighborhoods looking at houses for sale on the Crystal Coast? I’m of the opinion plenty of folks are doing this and you have to ask yourself why? With the price of a gallon of gas on the rise, it just makes good sense to use the power of the web to search for homes for sale on the Crystal Coast before you hit the road. This post will help provide numerous easy steps to help you narrow your Emerald Isle property search plus help you save $$ by eliminating wasted gas and time driving around Emerald Isle looking at listings that will never meet your home buying needs.

Strategies to Use Before You Get Behind the Wheel

Before you’re tempted to launch a wholesale property search for an Emerald Isle home or condo, it is recommended you consider the following aspects of buying your next Crystal Coast property:

• Consult by phone with a trusted lending professional so you know how much vacation home or primary residence you can afford to buy assuming you will finance your Emerald Isle home purchase with a home loan. If you’re going to pay cash for your Emerald Isle luxury condo or oceanfront home, this consideration is a moot point.
• Before hitting the streets of Emerald Isle, define what you absolutely “need” and what features you “want” but can live without. For many buyers, you will “need” a certain number of bedrooms, baths and minimum square footage, whereas you might “want” a specific feature or amenity that would not necessarily be a deal breaker for you if you didn’t get it with the house. To expedite your home search, it is recommended you make a list of your wants and needs and be ready for compromise.
• Before striking out in your car, use the power of the web to get really familiar with previously sold properties in the Emerald Isle area, condo complex or neighborhood. When the time comes to select the home Emerald Isle property that best aligns with your wants and needs, you’ll be prepared to make a smarter offer. When surfing the web be on the lookout for terms like “Neighborhood Sold Report” or “Past Sells” and similar verbiage to access this data. Just understand, you’re probably going to have to “sign-up” with your name and email address before “receiving” this data from an agent.
• Remember, not only are you buying a property in Emerald Isle, also know you’re buying the neighborhood with it too. Where possible use the power of the web to learn about areas and condo developments.
• When you begin to narrow your choices using an Emerald Isle property search tool, don’t forget to consider resale even as you’re looking for a property to buy. Would someone else find the property equally attractive if you needed to sell quickly.
• Google Crystal Coast real estate and see what agent or agency is at the top of your search results and select several real estate agents to interview. Choose the one you feel comfortable with and advise them what type and price Emerald Isle home you are in the market to buy. Teaming together, your agent should help eliminate Emerald Isle properties that fail to meet your search criteria saving you time and money.

By using these time saving strategies, you will be a smarter consumer. Why not take advantage of these home buying ideas and save some cash on gas along the way too.

Your Feedback

Be the first to comment and tell everyone how you saved gas and time using the power of the web to search for your Crystal Coast home? BTW – I promise your name and email address will never be sold, rented or shared with any third party to send you unwanted spam emails. You can comment with confidence on the Crystal Coast Blog.

Helping be a smarter Emerald Isle home buyer,

Bobby