Reflections of 2012: LANDFLIP Year in Review

As we prepare to herald in the New Year, we at LANDFLIP wanted to take a moment to present a snapshot of the previous year, highlighting stories and significant activities that have contributed to another year of growth and improvement. Fortunately, 2012 has been a come-back year for both the real estate land industry and the housing market. The market rebound has been slow and steady, but this past year saw increasing consumer confidence, as buyers took advantage of historically low interest rates and attractive prices. As we witness the continued recovery of the market, LANDFLIP is grateful for a fantastic year.

In January 2012, LANDFLIP blazed a westward trail and launched its fourth complementary website, RANCHFLIP.com. RANCHFLIP is a specialized website that showcases ranch land for sale, including cattle ranches, horse ranches, hunting and recreation ranches, dude ranches, guest ranches and more. With RANCHFLIP’s debut, we expanded the LANDFLIP reach to sellers of ranch land all across the Western landscape.

One of the most notable events of 2012 came in May, when LANDTHINK.com, LANDFLIP’s sister site that is an authoritative online resource for advice, knowledge, opinions and trends related to land, kicked-off a new monthly survey, the LANDTHINK Pulse. Each month, we ask our audience all across the country to answer one, straightforward question, related to the land industry. LANDTHINK reports the results the first of every month and announces one winner of a $100 Amazon gift card. Since its debut, the Pulse has exploded in popularity and each month trumps the one before in the number of participants.

LANDTHINK.com boasts an exemplary panel of Contributors who regularly write articles that cover different segments of the land industry. In October, Jonathan Goode, land agent with AlaLandCo, was recognized as 2012 Contributor of the Year. Jonathan has written some of the most talked about and relevant articles on LANDTHINK and we would like to thank him and our entire panel of Contributors for keeping our audience abreast of current topics related to the land real estate market.

The phenomenal growth and popularity of all our Social Media platforms was once again a high point for LANDFLIP in 2012. LANDFLIP, LANDTHINK, and our entire network of land for sale websites, are actively engaged with our audience on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. It seemed only fitting that LANDFLIP and LANDTHINK join Pinterest, a digital corkboard where users can “pin” photos of things they see and like when browsing the Internet. We invite you all to check out our boards and follow.

Last month, LANDFLIP rolled-out two exciting new features on LOTFLIP, FARMFLIP, and RANCHFLIP. We added a Full-Screen Map Search and Improved “Find” Box Search. The new map search allows agents and buyers to spend less time in the search process and the improved search makes searching for land virtually effortless. With the new map, users can tract boundaries, turn on both county and zip code layers in upper right corner, and the listing panel on the right of the map updates with map movement. The needs and desires of our site users and customers come first here at LANDFLIP and we strive to deliver the most advanced features and tools.

More than 80% of buyers now begin their search for property online. Last month, LANDFLIP, LOTFLIP, FARMFLIP and RANCHFLIP added new videos to help brokers, auctioneers, and land owners recognize the plans, features and services we offer to anyone with a need to advertise land for sale. Watch the new LANDFLIP video to learn more about advertising your land for sale in the New Year!

None of our successes in 2012 would have been possible without the support of our loyal advertisers, sponsors, advisors, contributors, and the land buyers and sellers that see the benefits of being associated with LANDFLIP and our network of sites. It’s our goal to keep devising ways to help promote and further the growth of the land industry.

As we get ready to ring in 2013, the LANDFLIP team would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and blessings for a prosperous New Year!