REAL ESTATE....FROM A REALTORS VIEW

Well, the Roller Coaster in the Stock market continues, as does life.  But, as I said in my last update. ...  The first time buyers are there.  We are getting daily walk in's and phone calls.  They (the first time buyers) are looking in better neighborhoods, for foreclosed or short sale homes.  We, as Realtors, are showing them that there are regular homes loved and maintained by homeowners and tenants, that are similar if not better bargains.

According to polls, the time from first contact to sale is anywhere from 3 to 6 months on average.  That means AFTER the holidays, this spring, if the interest rates hold and jobs stay, then we should have a great spring.

Remind me in the spring if I am right or wrong.

Any opinions? 

I am back!  

Yes, it's been too long for my random thoughts on the market. I have been busy listing and doing paperwork on the many foreclosures hitting the market.  Most are fraud cases where the owners scammed the bank and never lived in the home, very few are hard luck stories with adjustable rate mortgage horror stories, and even less are due to death or divorce. .. but it is a normal real estate cycle that I have seen before.  I remember the old Real Estate Prayer from the 80's.  "Please Dear Lord, let this cycle rebound and let me remember to save some money this time"  The abuse of cheap money, the greed of Wall Street and the mismanagement of Our money on the market has really really created a Perfect Storm.

There is a Light at the end of the tunner.   I see hope and windows of opportunity. My phone activity the last 30 days has almost tripled.  Buyers feel that the homes are now affordable and they want to take advantage of the low prices and low interest rates. The only problem is ... they are looking at foreclosures and short sales more often than the owner occupied home, or the rental properties in better condition. They are price shopping rather than value shopping.  BUT they are shopping, which hopefully leads to sales.

There are some GREAT priced homes on the market today.  Vacation homes (unless you are on the strip at the NJ shore) are down to values not seen since the mid 80's, Urban centers have values down to late 70's and mid 80's with low interest rates, and purchasing home repair supplies have not been easier with sales and discounts all around.

If you are a buyer and you are reading this blog. PLEASE take my advise on two items.

1. Get approved for a loan subject to the appraiser only. This makes it easier and faster to close on the home of your dreams and makes it easier to take advantage of the low interest rates.  ASK your mortgage rep about what is required on the property condition.  Foreclosed homes are sold AS IS, and while you are willing to put in in a kitchen or a new boiler, the bank may not be willing to lend on such.

2.  Work with a REALTOR®.  A REALTOR® is a member of the National Association of Realtors® and follows a strict code of ethics. He/She has access to the local market and has the tools to keep you posted faster and easier than you logging in and searching daily.

That's it.. A light at the end of the tunnel.

This last year, I have had the pleasure of serving as the Meadowlands Board of Realtors President.  As such I have been invited to NJAR meetings in Edison, to Mid Year conventions in Washington DC, and at the end of the year, G-d willing to Orlando to the National Convention.  Why am I telling you this?  Because I want to say thank you to those who allowed me to serve my members and work with the New Jersey Association of Realtors in helping my fellow realtor through this tough time (by the way, Realtors is a trademarked name by the National Association of Realtors that describes someone that abides and follows a strict code of Ethics) in todays market place.

What I hear from so many people is,"This is a rough market, soon I will have to go and find a job."  While I understand, and watch our membership dwindle, I wonder if they thought they had a "real Job before?"

I think they did, but again, rising gas prices, food prices, war and consumer confidence at an all time low.. what else can you do but look for security and safety for yourself and your family...............

Which brings me to the next item, or rather, the main item.  NJAR is about to launch a Good News campaign telling the consumer that the market is regional and it may not be as bad as you think... but rather every cloud does have a silver lining.  I see it in the phone calls that come in from the consumers that are still looking at homes, and at the solds every day off the mls services that I belong to.

What I also hear is that in each office, about 5 agents are making most of the money while the others are not... that 's about right with the "10% of the agents make 90% of the money" theory. 

Those agents make it by treating this job as a real job, coming in on time in the morning and calling expired listings, sending out letters, holding open houses and getting flyers delivered by hand or by mail. They go and talk to for sale by owners and maintain a modest web presence hoping to attract both buyers and sellers.. They make it a job.  They do not go in around 10, complain about the market while they hope someone calls in, go to lunch, and then stay home and complain how no one calls them.

Guys, you have to be in it to win it!  Treat this like a job at least and be honest with yourself and the customer. YOU have to make time for THEM and not hope that the customer will find his dream house because of an ad your broker put in the paper and call  YOU.  YOU have to stop saying that he/she/they are your customer because you gave them a card a year ago. How dare they not call you back.

Come on!  This is such a great Customer service Opportunity!  The buyers ARE there... just not biting yet but that does not mean you go home, does it?  (ask any fisherman what happens when the fish are not biting... change bait and keep fishing).

This blog is long winded, but it's in the hope that you the realtor, will remember to treat Real Estate like a job and work at it, rather than waiting for it to work you OUT of the business.  I LOVE seeing you at the conventions and I love the comradarie of the Real Estate Family of REALTORS.  The new economic stimulus package may help, along with the new ad campaign by NJAR.  Hold on a little while longer.

Manuel Couto,CRB  201-997-7860 x16

To those of you who commented.. thank you!  Now if I can figure out how to respond clearly in this forum I'll be golden!.  

It's the consumer that drives the economy.  The cyclical round house kick in the teeth, knock you down and you get backup fighting economy.  The consumer who when you talk real estate gives you the look like you are trying to sell them ice cubes in the N. Pole! Or tell them to go 15 miles BELOW the speed limit on an open highway.  The consumer thinks that we, as an industry, are not only dying, but dead!  No buyers, HIGH inventory, LOW desire... and the Internet will save them Billions in commissions. 

Whoops that I say that out loud?  YES, I did.  The Real Estate industry is getting kicked in the teeth, but we will get back up. 

Geez Luise.  WE as Realtors (r) are professionals and need to be better trained at doing what we are supposed to be doing.  Educating the consumer.  Not just using that fateful line in the old Real Estate Commercial "I can sell your home".  WE are now back in the position of teachers, friends, confidants (whoops, can't say that with the "Who do you represent" guidelines in each state), and knowledge base.  During the last 10 years we had hundreds of thousands of new members that never bothered to take a real estate course or to push themselves past the Code of Ethics and New Agent training that many boards offer (Yes, I am a trainer for the www.MeadowlandsBoard.com).  Realtors believed that the consumer would look up the home on the internet and call them, the consumer would know all the answers and all we had to do was show them the home (in some cases YOU sent them to my open houses and expected them to go back to YOU.. HA HA).  Boy oh Boy that's just the opposite of the old Realtor model where WE, the Realtor, was the gatekeeper of the information.  NO ONE would get our information without paying us our due (nice word for commission).

NOW is the time for REALTORS(where is that pesky little trademark R) to take stock in themselves and get more training, and more education to better serve themselves and the consumer.  Go out and get yourselves a GRI designation, a CRS designation (hey, the www.MeadowlandsBoard.com still has space available for one of their CRS sponsored classes), the ABR, the E-PRO, the SRES or any of the other alphabet soup letters that appear on business cards now a days.  Education is so very important to maintain a freshness in this business and to maintain an edge against your competition.

The economy will turn around, and when it does, many Realtors and Real estate agents will be out of the business or just hanging their licenses on the wall.  No problem.  The economy will still be there, rolling along... but the trained and educated Realtor will be the FIRST to jump on the wheel and show the consumer that WE are a valuable asset to the economy and to the practice of buying and selling homes.  (If you don't believe it, how will the consumer believe you?)

And, just as importantly, to show the consumer that YOU, as a Member of a Honorable and 100 year old association, are truely worth your merit and fee for the services you perform, YOU should be better educated and willing to invest in your own future and industry (wow, run on sentence?).  I hope to see some of you in Washington DC this week, or in Florida in November (go check out the www.NAR.org website to see what is happening those months).

www.MCoutoRealtor.com

Gosh Darn.

So many people still looking at homes, and yet, no one is pulling their hands out of their pockets! 

Gas Prices, Food prices, War, Election time, Kids at school, Car payments.. but yet... People pay rent for what?  A safe place to live and a roof over their head.  That money goes to the landlords mortgage and NOTHING goes to tenant other than shelter.

BUT, buy a home and you get the same shelter and maybe equity for the LONG term. 

Low interest rates and a need for housing still drives the market place.  As peoples lives change they buy or sell homes.  It's a fact.  And the only way to make money is by taking that chance.

"But the market is still dropping and I don't want to lose money".

Sorry.  Real Estate is always going to be somewhat cyclical, but Rent.. well, that always gets thrown into the wind because you will NOT see any of it the following month.

So, take the plunge and go look at a home!  There are so many great homes on the market waiting for YOU to make an offer. 

Call me today at 201-997-7860 x16

ok,

The wonderful thing about a blog is that it allows a reader, and a writer, a glimpse into a small window of what they both may or may not see.

Eh?  I have the wonderfully hard job of being a Realtor in todays' market.  Mind you, a Realtor has to follow a strict code of ethics and belong to the National Association of Realtors.  But what the general public does not realize is that right now, an experienced REALTOR should be worth his/her weight in gold.  They probably have been through a market like this and know where it should be going... when it gets there will be anyones guess, but experience counts.

What do I mean?  Well, I have been doing this for over 26 years and yes, I have seen a similar market where the phones just did not ring.  It's here again (ok, let's add in a bad pun and say I don't hear the phones ringing).  But the phone calls that do come in are from interested and excited buyers. Buyers that need the direction of the Real Estate industry and the Mortgage industry to get the best programs and rates.

AHHHH, there lies the problem with the inexperienced Realtors and Mortgage People (anyone remember that horrible commercial..."I can sell your home?")  Right now Realtors and real estate agents are hungry to sell you homes, and bankers are hungry for you business... but in many cases NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO PACKAGE THE LOANS AND OFFERS!.

Geeze louise!  If buying a foreclosure or short sale or other home that needs work, look for an experienced Banker that knows how to do a REHAB loan and not do the deal as a regular loan.  You may have the best credit and documentation in the world, but if the house does not qualify, YOU ARE NOT GETTING A HOME, OR A LOAN.

It hurts to say don't believe someone when they say they can work it out.. but heck..do you need that extra stress?  The rates on most of these rehab loans are just about equal to regular rates..and you can get some money up front to fix up the house. (NO, DO NOT go over your head in bills, be safe and cautious, especially in todays world.).  www.FeedThePig.ORG is a GREAT site to run numbers and to learn basic financial responsibility, but I'm changing the subject.

Look for an experienced REALTOR when shopping for home.  If your Realtor has limited experience or no experience in a market such as this, make sure that they have a strong support system (office staff and banker contacts that do have experience).  In some cases, an less experenced Realtor may serve you better because they have the dedication and drive to learn and to treat the Real Estate Market as a business.

Either way, DO NOT BE AFRAID of shopping for a home ("But the price may drop and I would have paid too much, what happens if the price drops more, but I don't want to spend the money")  Yep, I've heard it all before and all you have to remember is that:

1.  They're not making land anymore

2.  You need a place to live, it may as well be yours with low prices, high inventory and low interest rates, this may be the opportunity of a lifetime

3.  If you were really worried about prices dropping, you would not be driving a new car!

My resume is posted on my site and shows the courses that I have taken to better help my clients and customers.

In an article by Robert Williams from the Star Ledger... This is GOOD NEWS!

What real estate slowdown?

by Robert E. Williams III / The Star-Ledger

Sunday April 06, 2008, 6:30 AM

Chain link fences are being stretched around cleared patches of land, and bright yellow construction vehicles rumble throughout town.

After years of languishing, some of the long-anticipated building projects in Morristown are moving forward, spurred by recent hearing and approvals at municipal meetings.

Near the train station, the long-planned transit village project, slated to bring more than 200 apartments near the train station, is well on its way.

At the Green, work on the 250 units that help make up the town's biggest redevelopment project, at the Epstein's site, has progressed far enough that a local sales office is expected to open next month.

And off South Street, developers have nearly completed the renovation of luxury condos at the Vail Mansion. All but four of 36 units have been sold.

Despite the slow real estate market, developers are still interested in projects that would attract tenants.

"Developers are recognizing it's time to come back to the small cities with transportation," said Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello. "You are still having growth in New York, but it's just a little cheaper to live here than there."

The projects hit delays last year due to a variety of reasons, including labor union issues, lawsuits and a major developer's declaration of bankruptcy. Those problems have since been resolved.

Most of the redevelopment projects are being handled by the Roseland Property Co. and Woodmont Properties in a joint development partnership. Work is already well under way on several of their high-profile projects, including the transit village project, renovation of Vail Mansion and the Epstein's redevelopment.

In January, the NJ Transit parking lot at the Morristown train station was closed to start construction on the transit village, known as the Highlands at Morristown Station. It is one of the largest and most elaborate of 19 transit village projects in New Jersey.

Construction crews have cleared the 3-acre property at Morris Street and Lafayette Avenue, where the $75 million project is slated to bring 217 luxury apartments and 8,000 square feet of retail space in a five-story structure.

The parking lot, the first phase of the project, is due to be completed in 15 months. The building is scheduled to be completed in spring 2010.

The developers have completed renovations at Vail Mansion, the former home of AT&T executive Alfred Vail, turning the South Street structure into 36 luxury condominiums. Thirty-two of the units, which range from 1,500 to 2,200 square feet and are priced between $650,000 to $1.3 million, already are occupied. The total transformation of the residential portion, budgeted at $24 million, is expected to be completed this year.

Developers recently held their first homeowners association meeting with the new residents, most of them couples from around the region, according to Debra Tantleff, vice president of development for Roseland Properties Co.

"They have been complimentary of the town and having the greatest front lawn in the state," said Tantleff, referring to the great lawn on the property, which developers plan to landscape this spring.

Construction also continues at the former site of the Epstein's department store at the Green, where a seven-story residential building known as 40 Park Place has been planned. Developers expect sales to start this spring for the first group of the 73 condominium units and penthouses.

Other projects at the site include The Metropolitan at 40 Park, a 130-unit rental building, and The Lofts at 40 Park, a 30-unit condominium building. Developers have drafted plans to build an additional 18 townhomes near McCulloch Avenue.

The site also will house The Shoppes on the Green, 70,000 square feet of retail space in the buildings, as well as an 800-car parking garage, scheduled to open this spring, and the office building, which expects tenants this summer.

Down the street from the Epstein's site, the same development partnership recently completed the construction of nine townhomes on DeHart Street.

The town recently approved a scaled-down plan for Pulte Homes, consisting of 66 residential units where six 19th-century buildings once stood on Ann and Court streets. Seventeen of the units are earmarked for affordable housing. Construction is expected to start in the fall.

On Coal and Center streets, developers are finalizing plans for the redevelopment of a 10-acre site, constructing three buildings providing 162 residential units and 15,000 square feet of retail space. If the revision is approved by the planning board, a contract between town officials and the developers could be in place in September, Cresitello said.

'HUGE DEMAND'

Three other redevelopment projects are still inching toward construction. Developers for the Speedwell Avenue redevelopment continue to hold meetings with the redevelopment agency. The project, as envisioned, would bring an estimated 600 homes to Morristown.

Plans for Spring Street, which will add 240 units to the town, are undergoing a revision to expand the redevelopment zone and lower the height of the proposed structures.

A proposal for the mixed-used property for a firehouse and residential units on Lafayette Avenue, which would bring 100 units, are also undergoing review, with a new development company partnering with the original developer.

Tantleff said this type of development will continue in Morristown despite a downturn in the overall housing market, because of the public's desire to live there.

"There is so much potential in the town that is being tapped into, as far as redevelopment areas," she said. "There are so many things built on the culture and character of the existing town. There's a huge demand from people young and old."

REad the article HERE

Well, the prices continue to drop, but we're starting to see investors coming back into the market, and sellers becoming more realistic as to the pricing of their homes.

This is still a great time to buy a home.  Why?  Interest rates are low, Values are discounted and while you may want to "Time" the market.. remember that you may still be paying rent that you can NEVER get back.  While a mortgage payment to the bank still goes towards your home value... which has HISTORICALLY over time gone UP!! (go buy Manhatten back for the same $24 and change in beads and trinkets).

Get out there now!  And call me with any questions. 201-997-7860 16

Existing-home sales are projected to trend up in 2008, with pending home sales showing a slight near-term rise, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of REALTORS^®. However, a recovery for new-home sales is unlikely before 2009.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch has already worked its way through the data. "The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming," he said. "Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels."

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 0.6 percent to an index of 87.2 from an upwardly revised reading of 86.7 in September. It was the second consecutive monthly gain, but remained 18.4 percent below the October 2006 index of 106.8. "The broad trend over the coming year will be a gradual rise in existing-home sales, but because sales are exceptionally low in the final months of 2007, total sales for 2008 will be only modestly higher than 2007," Yun said.

The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 16.0 percent in October to 80.6 but is 11.1 percent below a year ago. In the West, the index rose 8.4 percent to 87.3 but is 16.9 percent lower than October 2006. The index in the Midwest slipped 1.4 percent in October to 85.5 and is 11.7 percent below a year ago. In the South, the index dropped 7.8 percent in October to 91.6 and is 25.3 percent below October 2006.

"The improvement in the Northeast reaffirms a trend apparent for some months now that shows signs of recovery, noteworthy because that was the first region to slump, and the gain in the West indicates some easing of interest rates for jumbo loans," Yun said. "Lawmakers need to understand that raising the loan limits on FHA and GSE-backed conventional loans will markedly improve mortgage availability."

Existing-home sales are likely to total 5.67 million this year, the fifth highest on record, rising to 5.70 million in 2008, in contrast with 6.48 million in 2006. Existing-home prices should be down 1.9 percent to a median of $217,600 for all of 2007, and then rise 0.3 percent to $218,300 in 2008.

"Home price growth in the vast affordable midsection of America will help raise the national median existing-home price slightly in 2008. I then expect price appreciation to return to more normal patterns in 2009, perhaps rising one or two percentage points above the rate of inflation," Yun said.

"Even with a modest decline in the national aggregate price this year, it's important to keep in mind that nearly two-thirds of the metro areas in the U.S. are showing price increases," he said. "The apparent disparity results from fewer sales in high-cost markets, so a change in the mix of sales is dragging down the national median home price."

Areas showing healthy price gains include disparate markets such as Gary-Hammond, Ind.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Spokane, Wash. "We can't emphasis enough how much local conditions vary, even within a given area, so it's important for consumers to make decisions based on local market conditions."

New-home sales are forecast at 788,000 this year and 693,000 in 2008, down from 1.05 million 2006; no sustained improvement is seen for new homes until 2009. Because builders have correctly adjusted production, housing starts, including multifamily units, will probably total 1.36 million this year and 1.16 million in 2008, down from 1.80 million last year. The median new-home price is projected to drop 3.0 percent to $239,100 for 2007, and then decline another 0.2 percent to $236,600 in 2008.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is estimated to rise slowly to the 6.4 percent range by the end of 2008, with additional cuts in the Fed funds rate lowering short-term interest rates.

Growth in the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) should be 2.1 percent in 2007, down from a 2.9 percent growth rate last year; GDP growth is forecast to improve to 2.4 percent in 2008.

The unemployment rate is likely to average 4.6 percent for 2007, unchanged from last year, but rise to 5.0 percent in 2008. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, will probably be 2.8 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2008, down from 3.2 percent in 2006. Inflation-adjusted disposable personal income is estimated to grow 3.1 percent this year, the same as in 2006, and then grow 2.2 percent next year.

# # #

*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

Existing-home sales for November will be released December 31; the next Forecast / Pending Home Sales Index will be released January 8.

The National Association of REALTORS^®, "The Voice for Real Estate," is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Read the complete ARTICLE HERE

More businesses and organizations than ever before now have websites to provide marketing and promotion of goods and services and to open the lines of communication to a virtual 24/7 reality. Ian Loew, founder and president of LForm Design (www.lform.com), listened to the complaints of his clients concerning website designs—before they became his clients, of course—and decided to share his knowledge of effective website design so that others don’t start out with the same frustrations.

He calls it “pre-emptive knowledge,” or the ability for business owners to know what they want before they even attempt to have a website designed, or to choose a professional to design one. That could save a lot of time and aggravation.

Throughout New Jersey there are thousands of commercial ventures that have sites on the worldwide web, even though their marketing reach may be decidedly less than worldwide. Many operate within just their own counties or even towns.

A growing number of individuals and creative artists are also now using the web. The New York Times ran an article late last year about homeowners who supplement the efforts of real estate agents by building their own websites to show off their homes with even more visual detail and personal descriptions.

Website design is big business. Hundreds of firms in the Garden State are dedicated to the burgeoning field. Many of today’s commercial websites do a good job attracting new clients, though some have designs that are the internet equivalent of finger painting and navigation that makes a tax return look like a birthday card.

Designing an effective website takes special planning and considerations, as Loew points out to all his prospective clients. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Loew, who has also taught at the New Jersey Institute of New Jersey, founded LForm a few years ago and now has a client list representing an incredibly wide range of commercial ventures, from interior designers, law offices and dance studios, to architects, pharmaceutical firms and houses of worship.

George Cuellar, owner of Coqui Designs (www.coqui-designs.com), a high-end floral design firm in Cedar Grove, NJ, says he was pleased with LForm’s approach, particularly after nearly being frightened away from web design in general because of what he saw online from other companies. “We wanted our site to have a visual impact that would peak consumer attention, differentiate us from the competition, and be flexible enough to reflect the seasonal changes of our products and services. But we saw too many sites that lacked focus, took a scattershot approach, and provided too much information.” That’s why he thinks Loew’s pre-emptive knowledge is a handy tool for all newcomers to web marketing.

A new company based in Verona, NJ, Wildflour Designs (www.cakesbywildflour.com), recently launched a site that had to meet unique requirements. “It had to have a very personal feel, because the cakes we design are very personal,” says owner Bonnie Samberg. “I want people to feel like they’re sitting with me in my office and have the comfort to know that by selecting Wildflour they’re selecting the kind of individual service they won’t get elsewhere. I didn’t know if that could be done, until Ian shared his knowledge with me that it could.”

Loew based the creation of his “Do’s & Don’ts” list on the fact that businesspeople have so many different (and sometimes differing) notions and ideas about what it takes to build an effective website.

“I unofficially call it pre-emptive knowledge because I’m simply trying to help point out to prospective clients—not only mine, but those of my colleagues in the field—that when expectations are based on sound thinking, the easier it will be for the right decisions to be made at the initial design phase. Getting it right the first time will save clients time and money, and it will also help them reap the marketing benefits of effective web design the moment their sites go live.”

DO’s

• Keep the homepage simple. Avoid placing dozens of items on that all-important opening page. Remember: in web design people do judge a book by its cover, and they have every right to. A homepage does not mean that everything in the home (the home being your company) has to be there. What it means is that you simply want to invite people to come in.

• Keep the domain name (the website address) simple, too. It does not have to duplicate the name of your company or organization word for word, especially if the name is very long. It has to be easy to remember, easy to share with others, and easy to write down. If you have to shorten it, shorten it to something that really says what the company or organization is all about.

• Keep the navigation structure of the website consistent. In other words, if the navigation bar is at the top of the homepage, it should remain there on all interior pages. This is crucial. Also, the text of the navigation bar must be easy to understand. A long string or phrase will be confusing, and visitors to the site may not want to hang around long enough to figure out what it means.

DON’Ts

• Don’t use stock photography. You need the real deal. Spend money on a professional photographer or, if you insist on doing it yourself, a high-quality digital camera. Nothing beats originality. Stock photography tells many people that you’ve taken the cheaper and easier way out—and they may think that’s the way you run your business, as well.

• Don’t accept an eccentric or convoluted logo or corporate icon for your company. Just because it means something to you doesn’t guarantee it will mean anything to other people. Logos and icons should be bold, simple, instantly recognizable—and they should make sense as they relate to the name and the function of your company. Think of classics like the CBS eye and the Westinghouse W.

• Don’t allow bad or mediocre text (called web copy) on your website. Even a gorgeous website, graphically speaking, will never make up for text that rambles, uses poor grammar or tries to be cute and quirky. Many customers are easily turned off by that. Many company owners think they can compose their own effective text, but it really requires the skills of a communication professional.