A neighborhood profile is a post about a particular subdivision (tract) or condo community. Information is drawn from new posts in a given area. Each neighborhood profile has the following attributes which will be created by you:
- Title
- One or two lines of text about the neighborhood. This is gleaned from source material described below.
- Listings — properties for sale inserted into the text based upon criteria you will select
- Comparable listings — similar properties representing criteria selected by you
- A featured image — from our Media LIbrary
- An image in the post — from our Media LIbrary
- Tags — The zipcode and type of home
- Categories — The neighborhood and city of the subject
Source Material
Start by going to Settings>>RSS Multi-Importer>>Manage Posts.
Click this and all images to see screenshots with further instructions.
When you click “View Post” you’ll see something like this:
5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 0 sq ft
Lot Size: 11,252 sq ft
Added: 06/05/13, Last Updated: 01/14/14
Property Type: Residential for Sale, Detached for Sale
MLS Number: FA8099637
Tract: Hillwood/Buffalo Park
The price of this listing was last reduced on 10/7/2013 by 0%
Status: Active
NU YEAR,TIME 2 BUY A NU CITY ARTS & CRAFT 5 BDR GREENBUILT HM.Ready 4 move-in! LOCATION,VALUE & QUALITY BUILT/ FINE DETAILED WORK.OPEN FL PL,STONE,PLANK,SHINGLE EXTERIOR,PAVER DR,BREAKFAST RM, RI SOUND,SECURITY,MUD RM,BUILT-INS,9 FT CEILINGS,HARDWOODS,GREAT COOK’S KITCHEN,BRKT RM,2 car gar, great yard space.METRO,FARMER’S MKT,CITY SCHOOLS.Talk/meet builder.OTHER NU MADISON LN & 401 Meadow Ln
Save the image to your local drive. Instructions will follow on what to do with it, but this will be your featured image.
Save the image found in the post to your local drive.
Click on the image in the post. That will open a page that looks like this:
Listing page
Pull down a bit to find the information you will need to create the post.
Use this information to create your post.
Writing the Post
In another tab, open “New Post”. This link is found at the top of each page.
Titling your post
Your post should have have one of the following titles:
- Facts about “Tract”
- Learn more about “Tract” in “City”
- What is “Tract” like in “City”?
- Where is “Tract”?
- How much do homes cost at “Tract”?
- “Tract” Market Update
- “Tract” is near “Parks”*
- “Tract is near “Placename”*
- “Tract” is a walkable community — Only if Walkscore is 70+
- Things to know about “Tract”
- Things you might surprised to learn about “Tract” in “City”.
* See below.
Vary your title from post to post. Never use the same title twice in a row.
Featured Image
Set the Featured Image. This is the image that you saved from the original post. The Featured Image must be properly titled, captioned, etc.
- Title — The title of the media is the “TRACT in CITY.
- Caption — The caption of the media is the “PROPERTY TYPE at TRACT is in CITY ZIPCODE”. For example “Townhouse at Ridgefield Crossing is in Woodbridge 22192”
- Alternative Text — The alternative text should read “TYPE OF HOUSE at ADDRESS”. For example “townhouse in 5207 Flatback Ln Woodbridge VA 22192.”
These are the types of houses:
- condo — A condo looks like an apartment. Condos can be high-rise or low-rise.
- townhouse — A townhouse is a house that is attached to another house. There are several types of townhouse. When you can’t tell what type it is, just say “townhouse”
- Duplex — two townnhouses stuck together
- Rowhouse — many townhouses in perfect alignment
- single-family — A single-family is a house. It’s a stand-alone home for a single-family and does not touch any other houses. Types of houses:
- cottage — a very small and cute house
- manor — a very large and impressive house
- house — a typical American home
For extra credit, describe the architectural style of the home:
Now add the image’s description. The description is the following code:
Decription =
[idx-listings tract="INSERT TRACT HERE" statuses="1" propertytypes="132" orderby="DateAdded" orderdir="DESC"]
Change the text of INSERT TRACT HERE to the name of the tract in the orginal post.
Writing the post
Your post will use the following formula.
*TRACT* is a community of *Property Type*s in *County*. The community is served by *Elementary School*, *Middle School* and *High School*.
Use the source material to substitute the variables above.
- Tract = Tract
- Property Type = condos, townhouses or houses depending upon what types of homes are here
- School = Insert the name of the school plus Elementary School, etc. If there are no schools in the source material then skip this part.
- Walkable – If the area has a walkscore more than 60, then write “This is a walkable neighborhood.” If the area has a walkscore more than 75, then write “This is a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood where residents can walk to most daily needs.”
In your post, please describe the year the community was built or developed. Take care to note that sometimes the year built is not obvious because sometimes homes are knocked-down and rebuilt so the new home might not represent the age of a community. In a townhouse or condominium the year built is almost always correct. In a single family detached home, look at the neighboring properties (in your article) before describing the age of the property.
Examples of how to write about when a property was built
- TRACT was developed in the early 1970’s.
- TRACT was built around 1973.
- Most homes in TRACT were built around 1973, but many have been renovated.
- TRACT developed around 1973 is located in CITY STATE.
Homes, condos and townhouses are built. Subdivisions (tracts) are developed. Subdivisions can also be built but it’s more accurate to say developed.
In your article please describe a community as walkable or pedestrian friendly if the Walkscore is greater than 70. Also, describe the price range of the subject community. For example, “1 bedroom condos at Place One generally cost from $175,000 to $180,000.” Or, “Homes in Virginia Hills will set you back from $350k to $400k.”
Then go to the Maps to get more content.
Open the maps tab to find valuable content.
Add this text to your post:
*TRACT* is close to *Place name*. The area is served by *Parks* and not far from *STREET 1* and *STREET 2*.
You can gather that information from the map above. Do not scroll the map out very far. We want the closest major streets. Next insert listings as described here.
Always add listings
“Listings” are properties that are for sale. Using tools on the blog you can add properties automatically to your post. Add listings to each post. More about this here:
Use the selection criteria to define a home that is as close to the source post as possible. The listings should always come from the same tract as the original post. Use additional selection criteria to describe the source property. For example use the same price range and/or same size as the original post.
Add comparable listings
In addition to adding listings that are from the source material, add another set of “comparable” listings. Comparable listings are similar homes that are for sale in similar neighborhoods. They are added the same way as described above. In your comparable try to use multiple criteria to make the other properties as relevant as possible. For example if the subject property was $350,000. Make the comparable properties have a minimum price of $340,000 and a maximum price of $360,000.
Or, bracket the square footage. For example if the source property was 2500 sqft, then the comparable properties should be 2200 minimum to 2700 maximum.
Call the comparable properties from the same zip code or city as your source post.
Vary the selection criteria between posts and vary the “display order” from post to post.
Finishing touches
Don’t forget to add a featured image. How to add a featured image.
Every tip should also have an image in the post. The image should link to the attachment page. Here’s how to add an image.
Every post must be properly tagged. Your tags should be the property type and the zip code, as well as anything you think is relevant. [More about Tags]
Every post must be properly categorized. Your categories should the TRACT and the CITY. Not all Tracts are found in our categories. Don’t add these. [More about Categories] In addition each post must be categorized according to price.
Redundant Posts
Do NOT post multiple articles for the same community in the same week. For example:
These articles are redundant and the second post adds no value. After a week passes you can write another article about the same community, but if you write another article on the same community you must find a fresh angle or something new to say. If you start running out of communities, let me know and we can increase your zip code spread.
If you have opened a property and realize that the article will be simply a repeat of an article you’ve already written this week, mark the original for auto delete. But add that property’s image to the Media Library. You may bill for this action but it’s obviously much less the the rate for a Neighborhood Profile. Check with your leader to get a rate.
Tips on making Neighborhood Profiles
If your work area does not resemble the work area in the screenshots, you probably need to click “Visual” on the tab above where the text is entered. When you click “Text” you’ll see code and different buttons. If you have done this but don’t see the green button, it might be because your monitor is too small. In this case, collapse your menu to see more of the toolbar.
Please keep in mind that we are trying to actually add value and not just create volume and noise. For example “Renovated Condos near Metro Station” is a great title and is exactly what someone might search for, but that article should actually point out a renovated condo and not just have a list of condos—some of which are renovated and some of which are not. To make this an article more useful, from time to time you might want to use the solitary green peg (one house not many) to show the exact home you found in your source post.
Try not to create two posts about the exact same neighborhood on the same day. When you do create two posts about the same tract/neighborhood, schedule the post to be published the next day. You can edit the publish date by tinker with a setting right above the publish/update button.
Try read your own posts. After doing this for a number of days you should become familiar with some of the features and neighborhoods in your area.