A Better Year for Housing

The housing market is showing signs of life, according to analysts.  Sales of previously occupied homes are at their highest since May 2010.  A larger number of first-time buyers are making purchases and the supply of homes fell last month to its lowest point in nearly seven years.  Home sales have risen almost 13 percent over the past six months.  Though they are below the 6 million that economists equate with a healthy market, the gains, combined with other changes in the market, suggest that more sales are coming.  Single-family home sales have risen 3.8 percent and the number of first-time buyers, critical to a housing recovery, increased slightly to make up 33 percent of sales. That’s still below 40 percent, which tends to signal a healthy market.  But hey, any improvement is a movement in the right direction.

Of course, all good news comes with its share of skeptics.  Many are concerned that the market is still saturated with homes at risk of foreclosure, which lower broader home prices. Those increased to make up 35 percent of sales (though most economists said the January Housing report was encouraging, especially when viewed with other recent positive housing data).  “The rise in existing home sales in recent months adds to the indication from housing starts, building permits, and homebuilder sentiment that the sector has improved modestly since the middle of 2011,” said John Ryding, an economist at RDQ economics.

With a greater amount of people buying homes and moving into new areas, demographics could change considerably.  At MarketMAPS, we understand businesses’ need to continually manage and redesign their sales territories in accordance with demographics, and an influx of new homeowners into your area is a good reason to reexamine how you design your territories.  We combine geographic and demographic data to create customized maps that help businesses identify where their best opportunities lie.

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Homes of the US Presidents

When they weren’t spending time in D.C., where have our US presidents called home?  While some of our presidents have come from modest homes, others have preferred the luxury living that the role of commander-in-chief has afforded them.

Barack Obama: Chicago,IL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Obamas purchased a 6,199-square-foot, two-story, single-family home in Chicago’s Kenwood neighborhood, in June 2005 for $1.65 million — $300,000 less than the asking price.

 

George W. Bush:Crawford,TX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2000, a year before he took office, George W. Bush bought a 1,500-acre ranch for an estimated $1.3 million.  The 4,000-square-foot, environmentally sustainable Prairie Chapel Ranch house is constructed from local limestone, sports tin roofing, and uses geothermal pumps and underground cisterns to collect rainwater.

 

Bill Clinton: Hope,AR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

President Bill Clinton never owned a house before he became president, though his birthplace and childhood home is celebrated by the Clinton Birthplace Foundation, which preserves his childhood history in Hope,Ark.Hope’s “Clinton Loop” is an auto tour route marked with signage.

After Clinton and wife Hillary departed the White House, the couple moved into their Chappaqua home at 15 Old House Lanebefore Hillary ran for aNew Yorksenate seat. With an estimated value of $1.3 million, the five-bedroom Dutch Colonial offers 1 acre and a front door that is 60 feet from a public road.

 

George H.W. Bush: Kennebunkport,ME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bush family compound is situated on Walker’s Point (originally Point Vesuvius) in the town of Kennebunkporton the Atlantic Ocean in southern Maine. The summer home of George H. W. Bush, the 41stU.S.president, the estate was purchased in the late 19th century by St. Louisbanker George H. Walker, and the mansion was built in 1903.

Passed to Dorothy Walker Bush and her husband Prescott Bush, the estate has been a Bush family retreat for more than a century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether or not you have a president living in your neighborhood, it is important for businesses to know demographic information about their target markets.  Knowing your area’s median income, average age, family size, etc. can greatly affect your marketing strategy.  MarketMAPS provides you with the vital demographic data that you need to make appropriate business decisions.  Discover how our accurate demographic maps and web applications can help your business today.

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

Old Milwaukee’s Will Ferrell endorsing Super Bowl Commercial

On Superbowl Sunday, did you happen to catch Will Ferrell striding down a field in plaid shorts, catching and opening a can of over-shook beer, before being abruptly cut?

 

You’re not alone. Unless you live in North Platte, Nebraska you didn’t see the awkwardly humorous clip, as Old Milwaukee chose to only air it in the country’s second smallest TV market. But while only 15,180 TV owning homes actually witnessed the aired commercial, the amount of attention that the beer company received via social media, toppled most every other competitor.

 

According to a post-Super Bowl tally by Mullen, Ferrell’s Old Milwaukee ad generated 1,640 mentions on twitter. This is more than some of the nationally broadcasted spots including Cadillac, Century 21, Lexus, CareerBuilder, and Hulu. Since then, the ad has been viewed over 760,000 times, more than double the amount of viewers that watched Budweiser’s nationally broadcasted commercial on YouTube (320,000 times).

 

While most businesses were spending roughly 3.5 million for 30 seconds of national air time, Lewus Carlini, the general manager of KNOP, says that advertisers paid as little as $700 for the same time in local North Platte airtime.

 

These Ferrell endorsed Milwaukee commercials aren’t just paying homage to great Old Milwaukee towns but they’re proving that you don’t need to spend 7 figures to make a big impression.

When it comes to choosing a specific place to air a commercial that tailored, observing demographics is key. MarketMAPS combines accurate geographic visuals with vital demographic data in order bring you valuable planning tools. If you wanted to find out how many men over 30 lived in North Platte, you know where to turn.

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

 

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

NJ Steel Pier’s Diving Horse Act is spooked for Good

In the 1930’s, Atlantic City’s Steel Pier was better known as the “Showplace of the Nation.” Along side a water-skiing canine named Rex the Wonder Dog, the diving horse was always the crowd stealer of New Jersey.

 

Plummeting from a 40 foot drop, the Steel Pier’s brave steeds would plunge into 12 foot tanks and resurface to endless applause. From the 1920s to the 1970s this single act would make the pier about as famous as its frequent musical guests like Frank Sinatra and Al Jolson. Men, women, children- people rolled in by the thousands; times were good.

 

It’s the memories of this family orientated success that made Anthony Catanoso, whose family owns the historic pier; want to bring the diving horse act back toNew Jersey. But times have changed, and so has Catanoso’s vision for the pier, and this time it’s a horseless one.

Catanoso has tried to bring the act back before. In 1993, he revived the horse dive, which again people flocked to see. But despite its success, the attraction brought just as much negative attention as it did positive. The act shut down after 2 months of protest by animal-welfare activists.

 

A month ago, as part of a $100 million renovation project for the entire Steel Pier, Catanoso attempted to bring the dive act back again. After extensive research, including speaking with past performers, Catanoso concluded in press release that no horse was ever harmed in a dive. He further clarified that “the new act will be humane, provide the horses first class care, operate under modern safety standards to protect both the riders and the horses and will not subject the horses to cruelty.”

 

One day and 10,000 petition signatures later, Catanoso would realize that his findings wouldn’t sway the mass opinion of his coveted diving horse act. He announced the cancellation of its return on Tuesday.

 

Despite that the Diving Horse was one of the biggest aspects of the makeover, plans for renovation will continue without a new water tank. The construction period is expected to take 3 ½ years and will make the pier into a year-round attraction. Some work is already under way. Six new rides, various new games, new food and beverage kiosks, a beer garden, and a resurfacing of the pier floor are expected to be complete by this summer.

Horse or no horse, a renovation that big is going to take some major planning. When it comes to organizing construction, MarketMAPS provides the most accurate geographical visuals for any job. Combined with custom details ranging from logos, to icons, labels, shading, and anything else you could need, our maps are the best visual tools for any renovation planning.

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

 

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

Chevy Chase Section Five & America’s Wealthiest Neighborhoods

At first glance Chevy Chase Section Five of Maryland is like any other typical suburbia.

Trees line the streets, neighbors wave as they walk their dogs across the street, people have neighborhood barbecues…there’s almost nothing abnormal about it. But a glance at the latest American Community Survey, released in December 2011, makes it plain to see that there is a difference (a six figure difference). Chevy Chase Section Five Village is home to the highest median household income in the nation.

 

Village Manager, Frances Higgins, claims that their wealthy little community has “more lawyers per square inch than anyone.” The Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey breaks the nation down to 29,000 cities, towns, villages, and towns. The break down allows for examination of the highest median household incomes in the US. The results might surprise you.

 

Believe it or not, the hustle and bustle of metropolitans like New York City, Dallas, and D.C. isn’t ideal to everyone, and not all the rich and famous flock to them. But for people with enough money, their own escape is just around the corner.

Here’s a list of 5 cities with the highest median household incomes in the nation:

 

5. Oyster Bay Cove, New York

Median household income: $246,987

 

The fact that Theodore Roosevelt had a summer white house here and is buried off of a local road says it all.

 

4.Plandome Village, New York

Median household income: $248,036

 

This historic Long Island village has a posh Plandome Country Club that dates all the way back to 1931.

 

3.Coldstream CDP, Ohio

Median household income: $249, 750

 

Another town centered by a prestigious country club.

 

2.Westlake town,Texas

Median household income: $250,000

 

This lush town is home to the Texas Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg, former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond, and the Jonas Brothers.

 

1.Chevy Chase Section Five Village, Maryland

Median household income: $250,000

 

The town is so small that it barely encompasses more than 1/10 of a square mile, and holds 640 people. The average income here has boosted up to 63 percent since 2000.

Click here to see maps with census data & other essential demographic data!

 

US Plans to Ease Visa Hassle for Tourists Who Shop

Retailers like Michael Gould, Bloomingdale’s CEO, have successfully lobbied to relax travel rules for Chinese and Brazilians.

 

For centuries, Chinese tourists lined around the block to buy from the high-end boutiques of Paris, Rome, and every other European Metropolitan, while US retail owners like Gould could only watch and sulk.

 

Post-September 11 security policies have left many wealthy foreign shoppers waiting for months for travel visas to the US, leaving retailer’s international sales at a decade’s all time low. At least until Gould and CEOs of Macy’s and Saks began lobbying the federal government to ease the rules for high spending tourists from China and Brazil. According to the Commerce Department, the average Chinese tourist spends $6,000 while in the US.

 

In January, President Obama gave the State Dept. 60 days to develop a way to decrease the time that Chinese and Brazilian tourists have to wait for a visa from a whopping four months to three weeks. This should help raise the 30 percent drop that the US had experienced from 2000 to 2010.

 

Roughly 1.4 million Chinese 1 million plus Brazilians are expected to come to the US this year under the new program. And a greater business, of course means a greater staff. Bloomingdale’s is preparing to higher more multilingual sales staff and planning new overseas ad campaigns.

With an uptick in growth as big as retailers are expecting, planning will be essential. MarketMAPS provides integral visual planning tools in order to help companies like Bloomingdale deal with the shifts in sales management, customers, expansion and more.

Maps can be customized to include icons, logos, color shading, text, and more, that best represents your company.

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

 

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

GE Plans to Hire 5,000 U.S. veterans

General Electric Co will invest $580 million to expand its aviation foothold in the US for 2012.

The conglomerate juggernaut released word of its plans today, claiming that their focus is on boosting the American economy. Now the world’s largest maker of jet engines, GE has made plans to open three new US aviation plants in Ellisville, Missippi, Auburn, Alabama, and Dayton, Ohio.

GE has created nearly 9,000 US jobs since 2009, and will continue to hire another 4,500 workers in the immediate future. Such action will help act as an improvement to US unemployment, which has fallen to a near three-year low of 8.3 percent since January.

When making an expansion that significant, organization within planning is key. MarketMAPS provides the most accurate geographic and demographic data to bring companies like GE the most powerful visual planning tools available. Our design team can customize any detail of your map, from logos, to icons, labels, color shading, and anything else you might need.

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

Disneyland Expansion Creates Thousands of Jobs

Disney’s plans for renovation and expansion of California Adventure park will create up to 2,300 permanent jobs by the end of 2012.

 

This billion dollar makeover, combined with the construction of a new resort in China, the company will be making its biggest expansion ever. Most of the money and needed hands will apply to the almost completed ‘Cars Land,’ a five-year expansion project that offers three rides, a man-built mountain range, stores, and restaurants that look like Radiator Springs, the fictional town from the movie “Cars”.

 

Our first thought…beyond whether or not this new theme will be anticlimactic or not…is that they better be using a strong visual aid for expansions of such proportions. An accurate geographical portrayal of current layouts, future plans, and construction sites are crucial to keeping an organized and succinct business.

 

MarketMAPS combines accurate geographical data with custom design, including logos, icons, labels, shading, and anything else you could need, in order to provide companies like Disney with the visual tools they need to make dealing with significant expansions significantly easier.

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

“The Man Who Lived On His Bike” – The Perfect Branding Tool

How do businesses utilize a montage of a nude man shaving while riding his bike?

A three minute short film called “The Man Who Lived On His Bike” depicts literally just that. Guillaume Blanchet spends 382 days riding his bike through the streets of Montreal, living each moment of normal every day life above two wheels.

 

While the film is entertaining, creative, and bizarre (all the necessary qualities for a viral video), the best part about this film are the sneaky product placements.  Product placement takes advertising away from the (sometimes annoying) in your face ads, and puts it into real life scenarios.

 

In sequential order, here is a list of some of the brands featured in the short film that you may or may not have caught-

 

FedEx @ 0:24
Adidas @ 0:29
Tropicana @ 0:33
Urbania Magazine @ 0:44
Apple @ 0:57
Mcdonald’s @ 1:00
MTV @1:36
ShamWow @1:37
Visa/Mastercard @1:39
fashiontv @1:42
ESPN @ 1:45
Northface @ 2:09

 

Television and film are two major methods of dropping a product conveniently in the background of a scene, and thus into the subconscious of a viewer. But an even more effective and less costly method of product placement can be found in the use of viral videos. A simple, yet charming video like our nude bicyclist friend’s might have taken little to no money to create, but thanks to the power of the internet, will be receiving millions of views just the same.

But setting up the product placement of that many advertisements, especially when the character is moving across an entire city, can be difficult. The best way to organize this branding technique is with an accurate visual tool. MarketMAPS offers detailed geography and custom design to create the display that you need. Our design team can customize any number of details on your map, from logos, to icons, shading, text, and more!

 

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com

US Domestic Oil Ready To Boom

In the grasslands of western North Dakota lies one of the biggest domestic oil discoveries that the US has ever seen.

A province that stretches across western North Dakota, northeast Montana, and into Canada, is a province called Bakken. The depths of this land are filled with shale rock formations that are practically seeping with oil.

The combination of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and high oil prices have led production Bakken through the roof. Production went from barely 3,000 barrels a day in 2005 to over 225,000 in 2010, according to the US government’s Enegery Information Administration. The EIA predicts the production of 350,000 barrels a day by 2035, a number that analysts say is way to low.

Harold Hamm, president of the energy company Continental Resources, claims it could produce a million barrels a day by 2020.

Challenges

Getting to those million barrels a day won’t be easy. One of the biggest challenges involved is moving the oil out.North Dakota isn’t ready for that kind of shipment, pipelines will need to be built, and that takes time.

Another major issue is whether fracking is even safe. Even if it is, convincing the public will take a lot of effort. Extracting oil from shales uses the same process as extracting gas from shale- injecting massive amounts of water , sand, and chemical at high pressure, deep underground, in order to crack the rock formations and let the oil or gas flow.

Many are concerned that oil, gas, or fracking chemicals could migrate into our water supplies. Several water wells have already been contaminated by the process. Even if the fracking material is contained, its disposal remains another issue.

Hamm denies the danger of fracking, saying that the process is a time-tested practice and poses no threat. He has downplayed drought issues in North Dakota with claims that his workers are developing ways to use less water.
He hasn’t even been spooked by the pipeline issue, as he said he’s moving most of his oil out by rail.

The hardest part about his business is the drilling, says Hamm. Making a drill bit go where you want at 10,000 feet below ground is no easy task. Finding qualified skilled workers is also tough.

This might be good news for those in North Dakota looking for work and trying to wean the US off foreign oil. But as for the welfare of our natural resources, people remain worried.

In order to strategize labor distribution, territory management, and production planning,Hamm had better be using the right geographical visuals. MarketMAPS provides accurate geography and custom design like labels, icons, shading, and more in order to make planning likeHamm’s an easier process. Whether or not you’re the next oil tycoon, stay one step ahead with a the right visual tools of your business.

Click here to learn more about how MarketMAPS can help your business!

Visit us at www.MarketMAPS.com