The Residential Specialist, November/December 2011

N ov e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 1

THE RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST

Business Planning for A NEW ERA The New Breed of STIGMATIZED HOMES Social Media AND PRIVACY

â–

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

Home prices are low, but selling home affordability has become increasingly difficult.

OPENING MINDS Michael Kelly, CRS

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residential The

S pecia li s t

November/December 2011 VOL. 10, NO. 6

20 features

32

20 Open Question

By Daniel Rome Levine Selling home affordability is tougher than it seems. CRSs talk about tactics for getting potential buyers over the hump.

24 The Privacy Paradox

By Regina Ludes Has social media made privacy a thing of the past? Not necessarily.

You can keep your online connections private.

28 Past Tense

By Caroline Mayer Stigmatized homes can be a tough sell, and with a glut of foreclosures on the market, selling them has proved even more challenging.

32 Charting a New Course w w w . c r s . c o m

By Mary Ellen Collins Business planning can be tricky in an uncertain market. CRSs share their strategies for success.

Cover photo by Robert Houser

www.crs.com | 1

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S pecia li s t

18

11

departments 5 6 11 12 14 16

PRESIDEN T ’S MESSAGE

By Frank Serio, CRS

Q UICK TAKES Homebuyer satisfaction; social media apathy; minority borrowing; and more

Home security devices

TECHNOLO GY

By Dan Tynan Video blogging 101

38

By Chloe Thompson The art of negotiation

P IP ELINE

By Michael Fenner CRS chapter involvement

UP CLOSE

36

GO OD READ

NEWS FROM THE COUNCIL Sell-a-bration® 2012 New CRS Partnership Chapter Leadership Your Home newsletter

TRENDS

18

2 | November/December 2011

inside CRS

GREAT FINDS

46 48

REFERRAL MARKE TPLACE ASK A CRS Advice from the country’s top agents

Jo Snyder Ritter, CRS Ferrari-Lund Real Estate Reno, Nev.

Reviewed by Allan Fallow Drinking From the Firehose: Making Smarter Decisions Without Drowning in Information

By Christopher J. Frank and Paul Magnone

6

residential The

Coming In The Next Issue ...

■

Meet the Prez

Get to know Mark Minchew, CRS, the 2012 CRS president.

■

A Matter of Trust

Buyers and sellers seem to be disenchanted these days. How can CRSs build trust and win them over?

■

Break the Bank

Knowing the ins and outs of how banks operate is key to getting REO listings and short sales closed.

■

Sound Solutions

What would you do to fix the housing market? CRSs offer their perspectives and suggest ways to keep it healthy in the future.

Would you like to be considered as a source for a future story in The Residential Specialist? Send an email to mfenner@crs.com to be added to our potential source list. To see a list of the topics we’ll be covering, check out the magazine’s 2012 Editorial Calendar online at www.crs.com/File/ PDF/editorial_cal.pdf.

PLUS: Shadow inventory revisited

Specia li s t

EDITOR Michael Fenner Email: mfenner@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4428 Fax: 312.329.8882 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Regina Ludes Email: rludes@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4404 Fax: 312.329.8882 2011 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL Moderator: Lois Cox, CRS Co-Moderator: Mark Shepherd, CRS 2011 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL MEMBERS Rebecca Boomsma, CRS; Gretchen Conley, CRS; Jeff Dowler, CRS; Daisy Edwards, CRS; Treasure Faircloth, CRS; John Goede, CRS; Sandy Kaplan, CRS; Geri Kenyon, CRS; Daniel Kijner, CRS; Colleen McKean, CRS; Rita McNeil, CRS; Nancy Metcalf, CRS; Landa Pennington, CRS; Rae Roeder, CRS; Cynthia Ulsrud, CRS; Beverlee Vidoli, CRS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mary Ellen Collins, Daniel Rome Levine, Gwen Moran OFFICERS: 2011 President Frank Serio, CRS Chief Executive Officer Nina J. Cottrell 2011 President-Elect Mark Minchew, CRS 2011 First Vice President Mary McCall, CRS 2011 Immediate Past President Gregg Fujita, CRS

PUBLICATION MANAGEMENT

Tel: 202.331.7700 Fax: 202.331.2043 Publishing Manager Andrea Gabrick Email: agabrick@tmgcustommedia.com Advertising Manager Kirsten Nagel Email: knagel@tmgcustommedia.com Tel: 202.721.1489 Project Manager Katie Mason Art Director Josh Coleman Production Artist Tommy Dingus The Residential Specialist is published for Certified Residential Specialists, General Members and Subscribers by the Council of Residential Specialists.

The magazine’s mission is: To be a superior educational resource for CRS Designees and Members, providing the information and tools they need to be exceptionally successful in selling residential real estate.

The Residential Specialist is published bimonthly by the Council of Residential Specialists, 430 North Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-4092. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices.

Change of address? E-mail requests to crshelp@crs.com, call Customer Service at 800.462.8841 or mail to CRS at the above address.

The Residential Specialist (USPS-0021-699, ISSN 15397572) is distributed to members of the Council as part of their membership dues. Non-members may purchase subscriptions for $29.95 per year in the U.S., $44.95 in Canada and $89.95 in other international countries. All articles and paid advertising represent the opinions of the authors and advertisers, not the Council.

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Residential Specialist, c/o Council of Residential Specialists, 430 North Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-4092.

COPYRIGHT 2011 by the Council of Residential Specialists.

All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

www.crs.com Ja nua r y/

Feb r ua r y

2011

DENT THE RESI

nts Working With Clieaster Affected by Dis ships Managing Relation With Vendors

IALI IAL SPEC

s Small Brokerage Thrive

ST ■

Building

JANUARY

4 | November/December 2011

/FEBRUAR Y 201

NEW COUNCIL NK SERIO PRESIDENT FRA ION FOR THE

President’s Message | News from Frank Serio, CRS

Gary Landsman

Raising the Bar

As the competition gets better, CRSs know they need to raise the bar once again and reach a new standard of excellence.

Recently I was asked to make a presentation at a state convention about how we can “raise the bar” in the real estate profession.

To get into real estate, would-be agents need only to take a principles and practices course, sit for the state exam and then find a broker to handle their license.

Then they can call themselves real estate professionals. And as much as we define ourselves that way, many agents do not approach their business in a professional manner. It’s not uncommon for brokers to give new agents only a desk to work from, some business cards and no additional training. Given that lack of practical education, it’s no wonder the attrition rate is so high in our industry.

CRS has been on the leading edge of real estate training for decades, and our courses help propel agents toward excellence in their marketplace. CRS courses are constantly updated to help both new agents and those who have already earned their CRS Designation to stay ahead of the competition. As the competition gets better, CRSs know they need to raise the bar once again and reach a new standard of excellence.

Take a good look at your business. Re-evaluate your systems, customer service, technology tools and selling skills. Find areas that need improvement and address them by taking a CRS class. You may just find new ways to improve your business and raise the bar in your local real estate community.

This is my last presidential message in The Residential Specialist. As I have traveled for CRS this year, I enjoyed hearing all the kind words and comments from people I met along the way. We have accomplished a lot, and we will continue to strive to raise the bar by delivering cutting-edge webinars, podcasts, live classes and a robust new website. CRS 2.0 is well on its way.

Be proud to display your CRS Designation. I look forward to seeing you in a class soon. It has been my pleasure to serve you.

www.crs.com | 5

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

HOMEBUYER SATISFACTION

DECLINES

Real estate may still be in the midst of a buyer’s market, but homebuyers have become less satisfied with real estate companies compared with a year ago, while sellers have become more satisfied with their services, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Homebuyer/Seller Study.

Now in its fourth year, the study examines three factors involved in the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; office support; and variety of additional services offered.

Four factors determine the home-selling experience: agent/salesperson; marketing; office support; and variety of additional services offered.

Among homebuyers, overall satisfaction averaged 797 on a 1,000-point scale, a decline of six points from 2010. The decline is attributed to lower satisfaction with the agent/salesperson, which fell 14 points in 2011 from the previous year, the study finds. Satisfaction among home sellers averaged 779 on a 1,000-point scale, up from 742 in 2010. The biggest gains occurred in the marketing factor, which increased by 62 points in 2011.

The study also finds that buyers were shown an average of nine homes in 2011 before making a purchase, down from 17.5 in 2010. The average number of home showings also fell from 12.1 showings in 2010 to 8.6 in 2011.

• More than 50 percent of renters report living in singlefamily homes.

• 53 percent of those renters say they will continue to rent if they move.

• 73 percent of single-family home renters say it would be difficult for them to get a home mortgage, with 33 percent citing their credit history as the biggest obstacle.

• Compared with apartment dwellers, single-family home renters are younger and more likely to have children.

Devon Yu/Veer

Source: Fannie Mae Quarterly National Housing Survey, July 2011

6 | November/December 2011

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals recently released a study that examines the state of Hispanic homeownership. It finds the factors that support Hispanic homeownership include: • Hispanics’ high motivation to own a home • Near-rock-bottom home prices, historically low interest rates and more government-backed loans and assistance incentives • Hispanics’ steady gains in population, income, education and entrepreneurship • Greater access to housing counseling and improved coordination of best practices and leveraged resources • Greater number of ethical real estate professionals who are bilingual and/or cross-culturally attuned to Latino needs But the study also reveals some barriers and risks to Hispanic homeownership, including: • Tighter credit, stricter underwriting standards and higher fees • Concerns over credit history and job security • Lack of income and savings for down payment and closing costs • The perceived complexity of the home-buying process • Mistrust of financial entities and fear of getting bad loans • Lack of information on affordable homeownership programs • The potential for falling home values after purchase

Andy Dean/Veer

Rental Matters

Hispanics and Homeownership

Retire, But Where?

Gainesville, Ga., was named the best place to live and retire affordably by AARP, a nonprofit organization for older adults. The city of 36,000 residents was called the perfect destination for an active retirement in part because of its proximity to abundant water sports and other activities on nearby Lake Lanier, 15 golf courses and shopping. Georgia also does not have a state tax on Social Security. Other cities that made the list include:

NEGATIVE REVIEWS Online reviews can have a major impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions. A recent study by Cone, a Boston-based public relations and marketing communications agency, finds that four out of five consumers have changed their minds about a potential purchase based on negative information they found online. While positive reviews influence decision making, negative reviews are just as influential in tipping the scales against a planned purchase. Other findings: • 89 percent of consumers consider online channels to be trustworthy sources for product and service reviews.

• 87 percent of consumers say a favorable review confirmed their decision to purchase a product.

• 81 percent of consumers say they are more likely to research products online because of widespread access to the Internet, and 59 percent can access information easily on their mobile phones.

• 89 percent verify recommendations for high-cost purchases, such as vehicles.

• 42 percent look to news articles and blogs for recommendation verifications.

• • • • • • • • •

Columbus, Ind. Harrisburg, Pa. Portland, Maine Ithaca, N.Y. Tulsa, Okla.

Midland, Texas Winchester, Va. Wenatchee, Wash.

Cheyenne, Wyo.

Social Media Apathy?

While many small and medium-sized businesses have quickly adapted social media to their marketing mix, most small businesses still don’t see social media as a necessity, according to a survey by Hiscox, a small-business insurance provider. Many small-business decision makers surveyed say they use social media for business purposes, although some believe it isn’t necessary. Only 12 percent consider it a “must.”

Conversely, half the respondents say the one marketing tool they could not live without is word of mouth.

Source: Hiscox, June 2011

None of the above

7% 12%

It is a must; I use it all the time

43%

14% 24%

It’s not necessary to my business I do it when I have the time

I don’t know enough about it

www.crs.com | 7

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

Job Creation

Jobs are key to U.S. economic recovery, but don’t expect an influx of new jobs from startup businesses anytime soon. According to a report by the Kauffman Foundation, Starting Smaller, Staying Smaller: America’s Slow Leak in Job Creation, new businesses are starting up with fewer workers than historic norms and are adding fewer workers as they grow. For example, firms that were started in 2009 are on course to add 1 million fewer jobs in the next decade than new firms have done historically.

Analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of new employer businesses, which help generate jobs for workers, has fallen 27 percent since 2006. Historically, new firms have generated 3 million new jobs every year, but in 2009, only 2.3 million jobs were created. In the 1990s, new businesses started up with an average of 7.5 jobs compared with 4.9 jobs created today.

Minority Borrowers The Fannie Mae Quarterly National Housing Survey finds that many minority mortgage holders are having a tough time in today’s market.

• 31 percent of minority mortgage borrowers report being underwater on their loans, compared with 23 percent of non-minority borrowers.

• 35 percent of minority borrowers say they are making large financial sacrifices to own a home, compared with 20 percent of non-minority borrowers.

• Minority borrowers are more likely than nonminority borrowers to live in states with aboveaverage levels of negative equity and are more likely to report lower family household incomes; 44 percent say their family income in 2010 did not exceed $50,000, compared with 23 percent of nonminority borrowers.

Households Double Up Since the latest U.S. recession began in 2007, the number of combined households (homes hosting a combination of extended family members or other individuals) has risen nearly 11 percent, from 19.7 million in 2007 to 21.8 million in the spring of 2011, according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. A household is considered “doubled up” if it includes at least one additional adult who is not enrolled in school and is not the head of household, a spouse or a cohabiting partner. The 21.8 million doubled-up households account for 18.3 percent of all U.S. households.

Young adults ages 25–34 make up a large portion of doubled-up households. Some 5.9 million members of this age group live in their parents’ household in 2011, up from 4.7 million in 2007, an increase of 25.5 percent. The poverty rate of young adults living 8 | November/December 2011

with their parents is 8.4 percent, but that rate is calculated based on the income of the entire family. The poverty rate jumps to 45.3 percent when those young adults’ personal income is compared with the poverty threshold.

Foreclosures and Health Foreclosures may be making some people sick, according to recent research published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. In markets hit hard by foreclosures, such as Arizona, California, Florida and New Jersey, the number of reported visits to emergency rooms and doctor’s offices also has risen.

The study finds that an increase of 100 foreclosures corresponded to a 7.2 percent increase in reported cases of hypertension and an 8.2 percent increase in diabetes among people age 20 to 49. A rise of 100 foreclosures was associated with a 12 percent increase in doctor visits for anxiety and a 39 percent increase in visits for suicide attempts, though these figures still represent a small number of patients.

Getting How professionals use LinkedIn, by Job Level July 2011 Activity

Top-level Exec

Middle Management

Entry Level

Industry networking

22%

20%

19%

Promoting my business

20%

13%

6%

Keeping in touch

18%

24%

19%

Co-worker networking

13%

19%

23%

Hiring

12%

9%

4%

Job search

9%

8%

24%

Networking with former employers

6%

7%

5%

Source: Lab42 via eMarketer.com

24-Hour Work Shift?

Mobile employees — those with flexible work schedules that enable them to work wherever and whenever they want — are working longer hours, but are achieving better work/life balance, according to a report by mobile service provider iPass. Three out of four workers surveyed say they are working more hours each week due to their flexible schedule.

More than half (55 percent) work at least 10 or more additional hours each week, and 12 percent work 20 or more additional hours.

The study also finds that mobile employees squeeze in work time outside of normal workday hours: 38 percent work before their commute, 25 percent work during their commute, 37 percent work during lunch, and 37 percent work at night. Despite the longer work hours, nearly 80 percent say the flexible arrangement helped increase their productivity, while 78 percent say it increased their efficiency. In addition, 64 percent of mobile workers report that their work/life balance improved, and 51 percent say they feel more relaxed; 68 percent of mobile workers say they disengage from technology occasionally so they can spend more time with their families. www.crs.com | 9

tools for success Q U A L I T Y

Take your business to the next level with the most powerful tools in the real estate business. Visit www.crsstore.com to access leading-edge software, books, DVDs and marketing tools developed with your business goals in mind.

Whether you want to close a transaction, build your referral business, learn more about the needs of buyers and sellers, hire an assistant, protect

your commission or master listing presentations, the CRS Store can provide the tools you need for success.

You can be confident in our products’ effectiveness because they have passed a rigorous review conducted by the Council’s Product Review Panel, which consists of a group of seasoned Certified Residential Specialists.

T E S T E D

P R O D U C T S

Once the Panel determines that the product and vendor meet our strict criteria for: • relevance to REALTORS®; • user-friendliness; • use of the most current technology; and • exemplary customer service, the product is then awarded the ­Council’s Quality Tested Seal.

All merchandise has been developed with your business goals in mind, has been market-tested and received the CRS Quality Tested Seal.

Keeping Current Matters (KCM)

AnnounceMyMove.com

Keeping Current Matters can help CRS agents stay ahead of the changes in today’s evolving real estate market.

Members receive monthly updates of what’s truly happening in the marketplace as well as powerful presentation materials to help their clients make the best decisions.

AnnounceMyMove offers Web-based announcements for new moves, listings and open houses and allows agents to create one with a message and photo. AnnounceMyMove leverages technology and social media so agents can reach out to their clients’ friends and family to build referrals.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Special Offer: AnnounceMyMove.com will waive the $65 set-up fee. Offer expires Dec. 31.

MarketSnapshot

Point2 Agent

Market Snapshot helps agents attract qualified prospects by offering them the most impressive, live MLS reports available. They’re packed with the exact information buyers are looking for in today’s changing market, such as current real estate trends in their favorite neighborhoods. Market Snapshot helps agents stay effortlessly on top of mind, freeing you up to work with active buyers and sellers.

Take your marketing to the next level with Point2 Agent, an online marketing toolkit that features a powerful leadgenerating website, unlimited listing syndication to more than 50 partners, built-in prospecting tools and much more.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Get two years of Point2 Agent for the price of one. Offer expires Dec. 31. CRS Member Special Price: $199.99 (Original Price: $399.98)

RealBiz360 Interactive Media

e-PropertySites.com

RealBiz360 Interactive Media is an online platform that provides integrated media tools for creating highresolution virtual tours. RealBiz360 also offers marketing tools to promote the tours on YouTube, cable TV outlets, social media sites and real estate listing portals, such as REALTOR.com.

Showcase listings in high-definition with single-property websites and virtual tours from e-PropertySites.com.

The platform also gives agents multiple tools to promote their listings via text message services, QR codes, email drip systems and blogs.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Item must be purchased online through the CRS Store: www.crsstore.com.

Go to www.crsstore.com or call 800.462.8841 to place your order.

10 | November/December 2011

Great Finds | Tools of the trade

lock and key The holiday vacation season always seems to get people thinking about home security. But why not ensure that you and your clients rest easy year round? Consider recommending or equipping your own home with some of the latest home security devices.

shop talk www.nokey.com Home security installation can be a little intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. The Arrow Revolution touchscreen lever lock walks the user through installation and setup with verbal commands so there’s no room for error. The PIN-activated lock can accommodate up to 1,000 users, making it ideal for a small business, and it comes with a deadlock security plunger bolt to prevent jimmying of the lock. There’s also a quick lockout feature in case of a security breach.

379

four eyes www.lorextechnology.com With four high-resolution cameras that turn on only when they detect motion, the Lorex home security system can help you save valuable harddrive space, time spent scrolling through video feeds and your precious assets. Stream live video from the camera onto any computer with an Internet connection — even the nighttime pictures come out clear, thanks to a special night-vision black-and-white mode.

849.99

give paws www.security.honeywell.com Are your four-legged friends constantly tripping your alarm system? Consider the new motion detectors from Honeywell (IS2500 series), which let you choose whether you want the device to be super-sensitive or ignore 40- to 80-lb intruders. Custom lenses capture movement at the corners of the sensor as well as directly in front of it to provide optimal protection. The battery on the tamper-proof unit is guaranteed to last up to five years, and it can be mounted anywhere — on walls, corners and ceilings.

prices start at 20.50

water works www.getfloodstop.com Coming home to find a flooded basement or room is every homeowner’s nightmare.

Keep your fears at bay with an easy-to-install FloodStop device, which automatically shuts off the water supply to water heaters, washing machines, dishwashers and more while sounding an alarm. Once the valve shuts off, it stays off until the system is reset, so it won’t mistakenly turn back on until the problem is solved.

129.99

light bright www.supercircuits.com Floodlights are an easy way to help dissuade would-be intruders, but they’re not always enough. A floodlight that does double duty, however, like the Floodlight With Super Stealth Hidden Camera might just do the trick. The concealed camera is positioned at the base of the lamp to give you a straight view onto the driveway or street, has 420 lines of resolution, and operates separately from the floodlight.

179.99

www.crs.com | 1 1

Technology | Streamlining your business

shooting stars

By Dan Tynan

In 2011, 68.2 percent of U.S. Internet users, or 158.1 million people, will be watching video online at least once a month. By 2015, 76 percent of the Internet audience, or 195.5 million people, will be viewing video regularly online.

Source: eMarketer

12 | November/December 2011

F

rom the red carpet and the movie posters to the smiling director in a tuxedo, it had all the trappings of a star-studded Hollywood movie premiere. But instead of a glitzy movie theater, the May 2010 debut of BurlingameBuzz happened in a public library some 375 miles north of Tinseltown. The filmmaker: Raziel Ungar, CRS. Over the past two years, Ungar has shot more than three dozen documentary-style short videos in and about Burlingame, Calif., the town where he was born, lives and now sells high-end homes. Interviews with teachers and cops, tours of local restaurants and parks, painting exhibitions, bicycle races, pet parades — if it happens in Burlingame, Ungar has probably captured it and put it on BurlingameBuzz.com.

These are not your typical home movies.

Professionally shot and slickly edited, they’re

more like two-minute documentaries. Over the past two months, Ungar has brought those same production values to client testimonial and tutorial videos for his real estate site, BurlingameProperties.com. “From a business perspective, BurlingameBuzz positions me as an expert about my community and allows potential clients to get to know me before they decide to do business with me,” he says.

“But it’s mostly about giving something back to the community.”

As Ungar points out, posting video on a real estate blog is an easy, relatively inexpensive way for agents to position themselves as local experts and put their real estate expertise on display. Some agents choose to pay for professionally produced videos, while others do it themselves on the cheap. Regardless of their approach, REALTORS® who plan to dive into video blogging would be wise to craft a strategy.

Fuse/Getty Images

Video blogging is a great way for CRSs to demonstrate their expertise.

As always, content matters, and by providing content that is especially relevant to their target market, agents can attract attention from clients and potential clients while raising their profile as a local expert.

Content Is King Ungar, who was an aspiring filmmaker before becoming a REALTOR®, says the key to video success is to keep each spot short and lively. “Don’t just sit there talking to the camera; find topics your viewers will find compelling.”

Ungar says he set up a Google Alert for news items related to Burlingame, and he follows several local blogs and school newsletters to find interesting stories. Now that he’s achieved a small measure of fame, people come to him with ideas about what he should shoot next.

Ungar offers some additional practical advice: “I try to make each video no more than two minutes long and limit my onscreen time to 10 or 20 seconds, max,” he says. “The videos aren’t about me; they’re about my subject. People need stimulation.

They want to see activity. Getting quality [footage] and compelling people in your video is important.”

Like Ungar, Michael Delaware, CRS, with Troxel Realty in Battle Creek, Mich., likes to mix videos of community events with walk-throughs and tutorials on his site and YouTube channel. Among his favorite videos: the Battle Creek Cereal Festival, a local hockey game and a blizzard where his hometown was buried under 15 inches of snow.

“I make it a point to look for events on the local visitors’ bureau website or on the Michigan festivals and events website,” he says. “I always take my camera to these events and look for things that tell the story of my community. You need to realize that just because you are familiar with these things doesn’t mean other people know all about it.”

When shooting videos of his properties, Delaware says he tries to “tell the story about the house,” focusing on the most important features, whether it’s the interior of the house or the neighborhood it’s in. The effort usually pays off. “I always get better attendance at an open house after I’ve posted a video about it,” Delaware says. “I can probably connect three to five home sales that are directly related to what I’ve done with video blogging.”

There’s no reason not to get creative, adds James Nellis, CRS, and principal for the Nellis

Take Three Need video ideas for your blog? Here are three quick and easy topics.

1. Everyone loves a parade. Or a baseball game, or a festival. If something’s happening in your area, take your camera and go.

2. Insiders’ guides.

Simple tutorials on hard-to-grasp aspects of real estate can establish you as an expert, as well as save you massive amounts of time explaining the same things to every client.

3. Neighborhood tours.

Out-of-town buyers can’t drive through a neighborhood to check it out, but you can — and record a video tour that gives them the lay of the land.

Group in Northern Virginia. On his blog and YouTube channel, Nellis posts video walkthroughs of listings and client testimonials.

But he’s also recorded a series of Mythbustersstyle videos where he explains common misconceptions about real estate, such as the idea that open houses are necessary for selling homes, as well as brief parodies of popular videos, such as eHarmony ads and the movie The Sixth Sense (“I see dead houses”).

Getting It Done Ungar collaborates with a professional videographer, who shoots the footage using a Canon 7D camera and does the hands-on editing in Final Cut Pro. Ungar says each minute of video requires 7 to 10 hours of pre- and post-production work, from setting up interviews to approving the final cut.

Although it works for Ungar, going the professional route clearly isn’t the cheapest option. Hiring a videographer can be costly, Nellis says. But, he adds, you don’t necessarily need to hire a pro to get professional results.

“I’ve shot and edited a lot of them myself, hired college students or cut a deal with former clients who have experience with

video,” he says. “I’ve never paid more than $200 for a simple cut-and-edit video.”

Nellis captures most of his video using his iPhone 4 or a Kodak Z18 handheld cam, and uses iMovie to edit it on his Mac. He says he can go from raw video to a final version in as little as 20 minutes, and usually no more than 45. The key to this approach is capturing quality footage from the outset, he says. “If you’re indoors, you need really good lighting, and if you’re shooting outdoors, you’ll want an external jack for a lapel microphone to capture decent audio,” Nellis says. “It’s really costly and time-consuming to edit bad video.”

Delaware shoots most of his video using a Canon PowerShot camera, and he uses Microsoft’s free software to edit the footage.

Depending on how complex the video is — how many transition effects, different types of music, or text notations he adds — editing a single video can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Delaware says he taught himself how to edit. “My advice is to download Windows Movie Maker and experiment, then watch videos on YouTube about how to edit them.”

Easy Does It Lauren Selinsky, CRS, with CA Coastal Estates in Aliso Viejo, Calif., proves it is possible for agents to keep things simple when it comes to capturing video that can be used as blog content. She uses her iPhone to capture video of a community scene she wants to share — whether it’s the town center in Aliso Viejo, the boardwalk at Laguna Beach, even the park where her son’s little league team practices — and instantly uploads the unedited videos to YouTube and her personal blog.

“Since I started video blogging last year, traffic to my blog has increased tenfold,” she says. “I did a video walk-through of a listing in Aliso Viejo, and it sold in less than 30 days.

I’ve even video-blogged rental listings — they leased in two days. The more of a Web presence you have, the more your business grows.”

Although seeking out compelling content and having an overall strategy are essential, ultimately it doesn’t matter whether you’re hiring a videographer for a professional look or simply pointing your smartphone at something interesting — video can enhance your real estate business and help your clients at the same time.

Dan Tynan is a freelance writer based in Wilmington, N.C.

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Trends | Today and tomorrow

table talk

By Chloe Thompson

“If you don’t get what you want, it’s a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price.”

—Rudyard Kipling

14 | November/December 2011

“T

he old adage — and I’ll be the first to admit, we taught this in the ’80s and ’90s — is that the only reason your house didn’t sell is the price,” says Gee Dunsten, CRS, a CRS certified instructor and associate broker with Long and Foster Real Estate in Salisbury, Md. “Well, I don’t think that’s true anymore. I think it’s marketing, and part of marketing is your ability to negotiate.”

While much has changed since Dunsten’s start in the real estate business, the importance of negotiation hasn’t.

In the boom days, negotiation usually meant trading in hard and fast numbers and a lot of back and forth with other agents and lenders. But in today’s economy, good negotiation skills can help agents win over a different group of people: clients. In an environment in which getting to the closing table has become even more difficult, the art of negotiating with clients has never been more important. Understanding this shift and getting back to the basics — setting client expectations up front, keeping emotions in check, and getting a little creative — is imperative for REALTORS® who want to thrive.

Jezper/Veer

The art of negotiation is key to any transaction—and getting it right has never been more important.

Bargain Right Spell It Out Dunsten, who’s been a REALTOR since 1972, says a major trend he’s seen in the past 30 years has been the shift from irrational buying behavior to irrational selling behavior. “There’s this new behavior in sellers where they’ll really take anything,” he says. “[It’s] the attitude of a lot of agents, too, who have only done one or two transactions in the past year as opposed to the 30 they are used to.”

But, Dunsten insists, desperation will get REALTORS® nowhere. Instead, he suggests setting expectations up front with clients to avoid last-minute bargaining. Develop a listing price based on a thorough market analysis and create a timeline for closing costs. Discuss what happens if there’s a delay and explain that clients may have to make concessions and what those might be, such as the amount due at closing or folding repair costs into a final dollar amount. Dealing with the “what-ifs” at the outset can save time — and frustration — down the line. “A good [client] negotiation is making everybody a partner in the experience,” Dunsten says. ®

Staying Neutral Although homebuying is always an emotional process, it’s become even more so in the past several years, given the state of the market and the economy. Keeping an even keel when negotiating with clients and cooperating with agents is more important than ever.

Rita Driver, CRS, with All Stars Realty in Memphis, Tenn., says this is definitely a lesson she’s learned throughout the years.

“It used to be that buyers buy on emotion, sellers sell on reason,” she says. “That is completely untrue now. They’re all buying and selling on emotion today. And you have to change your demeanor and the way you approach your market to meet these demands.”

Driver, who primarily works with buyers and sellers of distressed properties, says she often deals with clients who are emotionally charged. As such, she approaches her clients with what some might call tough love. “My reputation in this market is that

Gee Dunsten, CRS certified instructor, offers five quick tips for navigating negotiations.

1. Keep expectations realistic.

2. C reate urgency by convincing your client their quality of life will improve with this purchase or sale.

3. Know your fair market value inside and out.

4. Keep emotions in check.

5. Make everybody a partner in negotiations.

you either love me or you hate me,” she says. “I tell it like it is, but my clients know I’m telling it like it is, which has brought me a lot of repeat and referral business in my market.”

Driver uses many key words and phrases to alleviate what could be a tense situation among clients and agents. “It’s a lot of ‘I understand,’ ‘I empathize,’ or ‘I feel the same way you do, however…,’ ” Driver says, before continuing with her original request, whether that is to negotiate on listing price, closing costs or a timeline for closing.

“With some [clients], it’s timing,” she says. “It’s not always about the money.

Sometimes there’s a fear factor that it’s happening too fast and the family won’t have anywhere to go [if they’re selling].”

She advises REALTORS® to take a step back when the emotions run high and talk to their clients about concrete goals such as moving by a specific date or netting a certain profit, so they don’t get overwhelmed deciding too many things at once.

Be Creative Nicole Smith, CRS, of RE/MAX Masters in Southlake, Texas, says her view of negotiating has changed dramatically.

She used to focus on the numbers so her clients would gain as much equity as possible. But now, she says, her main goal

is simply getting a deal to close. “Sellers aren’t making any money, buyers are fearful of paying too much,” Smith says. “It’s now unusual for a seller to be excited about the money they’re leaving the table with. The excitement now is, ‘we’re actually at the table — and we can get on with our life.’ ” Smith’s strategy has changed with the market. When negotiating a price with a client, she has one effective tactic that has helped her deal with clients who won’t budge: Blame the market. “It takes the emotion out of the transaction when you portray it as this inanimate object that no one has control over: The Market,” she says.

The biggest issue, she says, is learning to navigate the closing process hand-inhand with your client, whether that means negotiating unusual incentives or making small concessions on closing costs or commissions. “What ultimately is going to dictate my behavior is the motivation of my client, one way or another,” she says.

“I’m going to do the best job possible, but that’s keeping in mind what the market will bear.”

Smith will even negotiate her commission or credit some of it back to the client toward covering closing costs when her clients work with her to sell their house and find another to buy. “Over the last five to seven years, in the conversations I have with people, I don’t even wait to ask; if they are buying and selling, I will give them a discount to make things more palatable for people to be able to take action.”

The art of negotiation has and will always be an important part of the real estate transaction. And agents who are able to adapt their perceptions and perspectives about negotiation — with fellow REALTORS®, mortgage lenders or clients — will put themselves in a better position to thrive. No matter the state of the market or who you’re negotiating with, agents must remember that “it’s not about the sale,” Driver says. “It’s about the people.”

Chloe Thompson is a writer based in Washington, D.C.

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Pipeline | Strategies to grow your business

spreading the word Getting involved in CRS and its chapter program can help REALTORS ® reach the next level. Convince your colleagues they should get on board.

“The fruits of our labors are seen in the successes we see in our CRS members.”

—Jeff Dowler, CRS

16 | November/December 2011

W

hy should I get involved with CRS or a CRS chapter?

That’s a question many CRS Designees and chapter leaders hear often, and while the value of the CRS Designation and the chapter program usually is clear to those involved, it can be difficult to articulate.

CRS chapters are the grassroots organizations that support individual

CRS members and the organization as a whole. Chapters keep CRS members engaged with their peers, give them access to ongoing education, and provide invaluable opportunities to network with like-minded professionals as they work toward building a lucrative referral base. Those benefits help REALTORS® succeed regardless of uncertainty in the housing market and the economy at large.

PM Images/Getty Images

By Michael Fenner

The Elevator Pitch The annual chapter leadership training event, which was held in August, gave attendees an opportunity to share their thoughts and brainstorm new ideas to generate “elevator pitches” that will help other members explain the benefits of CRS and the chapter program to skeptical colleagues. Here are some (edited) examples of their contributions.

CRS has given me the opportunity to join a network of other highly trained professionals across the state and around the country who I can use as sources of information and referrals. The education and networking opportunities allow me to get face-to-face with other professionals to share ideas that can put me ahead of the curve when competing for business in my home market. In short, CRS helps me do a better job for my clients.

CRS is a national professional designation that is earned, not purchased, by less than 4 percent of all REALTORS®. It all begins at home. You will enjoy local and national networking, discounted classes and worldwide support that will increase your business each and every year. The opportunity to meet other agents, have fun, share memories and build business is what CRS is about. It is an elite group, and certainly not everyone is up to the challenge. But for those who are, the journey is endless and filled with

The chapter program’s goal is to build CRS membership, promote learning opportunities and awareness of the CRS Designation and its use, and to build networking and referral benefits for members. Some states, such as Florida and California, have more than one chapter to serve different regions. Other states, such as Vermont and Delaware, fall under the umbrella of another chapter. CRSs can join any (or as many) of the 53 chapters they wish, and anyone — regardless of certification — can attend meetings, participate in network events and attend conferences.

Julie Meier, CRS, of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties in Honolulu, knows firsthand the value CRS and chapter membership has brought to her career.

“Through my involvement in my CRS chapter, I have gained an awareness of my own ability to serve my clients and my community with a humble heart,” says

rewards, business and friendships that will last a lifetime!

I am a CRS because when I became a REALTOR®, I knew I needed to find the fast track to excellence. The courses offered by the Council of Residential Specialists are surpassed by none and, to this day, every time I finish a CRS class I take away the newest information in our field and innovative ideas to propel my business to the next level. As a proud member of the local CRS chapter I have earned a higher level of respect from my peers which leads to more successful closings.

Isn’t that what we’re all looking for?

I decided to achieve the CRS Designation by taking the excellent courses and crossing the threshold for personal success in closing deals after taking my very first course. Then, once I discovered the financial and networking benefits provided by my chapter, I joined, became a member of the board, and then got involved

Meier, the 2011 president of the Hawaii Aloha Chapter.

“As the chapter president, the leadership skills I learned are priceless and have served me in my business and on other community boards,” she continues.

“The two greatest benefits of becoming a chapter member are the opportunities to network with other high-powered CRS agents and [the ability] to take CRS courses, taught by certified CRS instructors, at reduced rates.”

For Jeff Dowler, CRS, president of the Southern California Chapter, some of the most important benefits of chapter involvement come from networking and winning referrals. “A good referral, in-bound or out-bound, should not just be based on a name, a face and database information. It results from the active process of getting to know other CRSs personally,” says Dowler, who is with Solutions Real Estate in Carlsbad, Calif.

in leadership so I could spread the word to other REALTORS® who are hungry for excellence. Becoming a CRS is the best decision I’ve made in my career.

CRS provides the top Designation in residential real estate. It provides an opportunity for a higher level of professionalism, superior education and a veritable gold mine of networking and referral opportunities. Ultimately it gives us the tools to serve our clients at the highest level, and, of course, to make more money and have some fun along the way.

I currently hold 13 designations, but my CRS Designation has given me the most valuable cutting-edge education that has raised my bottom line. Being a proactive CRS and remaining active with the Council has added to my referral base.

CRS gives me the tools I need to provide more value to my clients and share opportunities with those who have chosen the path to success.

What’s more, “The focus on being ‘the best of the best’ and the ability to interact with other REALTORS® in the chapter encourages and inspires members to seek ways to improve personally and professionally, and the chapter’s educational and networking opportunities facilitate that,” he says.

Dowler says his involvement in chapter leadership has strengthened his communication, planning and problem-solving skills, “and has been a constant source of inspiration to improve my knowledge and my business. But perhaps the greatest pleasure has been contributing in some small way to improving our profession as a whole, and chapter members locally, through my involvement on the board and in my current role as president. The fruits of our labors are seen in the successes we see in our CRS members.”

Michael Fenner is the editor of The Residential Specialist.

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Up Close | Profiles of people to watch

jo snyder ritter,

CRS

Ferrari-Lund Real Estate, Reno, Nev.

Designee since: 1983 Contact: missjoreno@ sbcglobal.net; 775.826.9496

More than 30 years later, you’re still excited about the work you do. What do you love about being a REALTOR®?

I think real estate is most exciting because there are so many changes. There’s always something that just happened [in the market], and you have to be educated to keep up with it all. There are two things, I think, that real estate agents need to be: positive — get up every morning and, regardless of what’s happened or what’s going to happen, spread that positivity around the office — and educated. Every time something happens, when there’s 18 | November/December 2011

a shift in the market, we need to know how it happened, and more important, how to get through it. Education is important in this industry.

Your client list must be long and varied after so much time in the business. How do you maintain those relationships?

We are a service industry. You have to love what you’re doing, you have to really like people, and you have to have the knowledge to help these people. My clients become my friends and a part of my family. I have people who live back East whose homes I have sold who still call me when they need real estate advice. One of the reasons I love this business so much is because I make so many good friends.

How do you stay optimistic in this market?

I stay motivated because I want to help people, and I don’t think I can help them by being a downer. I even get irritated with my real estate community because some people in it tend to be negative, and I think you just can’t be. Agents cannot be negative. People are always coming up and asking us, “Well, how’s the market?” Some agents might say, “really bad,” but I like the idea of saying, “Hey, are you interested? This is a really great time to buy.” I think things are going to get better. The listing prices are getting closer with the selling prices. The gap is narrowing, and I think we have big buyers out there who are just waiting. With the stock market and the value of the dollar fluctuating, real estate is the only place investors should jump, and hopefully they are going to start jumping.

Do you think you’ll hang up your REALTOR® hat anytime soon?

I just got my license renewed for another two years. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop. I wasn’t going to do it again this year due to some health concerns, but I did. Every time I close an escrow, it gives me such great satisfaction to have helped my clients start living their new lives. I’m just not ready to give this up at this time. This industry has been a part of me for so long, and I thrive on it. I just previewed 12 homes for a new client.

Joy Strotz

REALTOR® since: 1977

You’ve been in the real estate business a long time.

How did you get started?

Prior to becoming a REALTOR®, I majored in business at the University of Oregon, got married and raised two children. When the children got to junior high, I decided that if I wasn’t going to go back to school, I needed to do something. At the time, my husband and one of my neighbors who owned a TV station suggested it might be a good idea for me to help work on developing a real estate TV show, an idea that one of the station’s producers had been brewing.

In 1968, I developed a format, wrote the script, facilitated the photo shoots and hosted the area’s first real estate show, called TV Homes, which a group of 13 real estate brokers from different companies bought. The program showcased homes for sale and gave updates on interest and lending rates. I stayed with the show for the next two years before realizing that I had gotten the real estate bug.

I trained a couple of local people to continue the program and later, when I had my own office, I reestablished the TV program and used it as one of the greatest listing tools Reno had ever seen. Because of my intense interest in real estate and working with people, I decided to get my real estate license in 1976. A year after that, I opened Keystone Realty, which later became a Better Homes and Gardens franchise, with my business partner Robert Eisan. We started out with nine agents, and when I sold my interest in this business in 1994, we had more than 60 agents. I tried to retire, but the real estate bug was, and still is, there.

“This industry has been a part of me for so long, and I thrive on it.”

Jo Snyder Ritter, CRS

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Open

Questi Ivan Stevanovic/Getty Images

W

hen Mike Kelly, CRS, explains to nervous clients that it is a great time to buy a home in the San Francisco Bay area, he uses his 82-yearold uncle to help drive home the point.

Kelly, of the Kelly & Norman Team at Keller Williams Realty in Santa Rosa, Calif., tells potential buyers that when his uncle bought his first home with the GI Bill after returning from World War II, interest rates were 5.5 percent. Today, more than 60 years later, Kelly points out, it is possible to get a 4.75 percent interest rate on a home loan.

By Daniel Rome Levine

20 | November/December 2011

ion

Selling home affordability is tougher than it seems.

CRSs talk about tactics for getting potential buyers over the hump.

www.crs.com | 2 1

Education Basics Kelly reflects on the way it was as recently as four years ago when the market still was white-hot. “You didn’t have to have a brain to sell a home then,” he says. “Now, because of the economy, you really have to be able to sit down and logically explain to people

$219,000 $198,100 $172,500 $172,900 $168,300

Median ExistingHome Price

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011*

Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® *Data from August 2011

22 | November/December 2011

in a systematic way why real estate today is a good value and what homeownership can do for their bottom lines. If you do your job and educate them, they will buy.”

This is exactly what Kelly did recently with a young couple he had been working with for over a year. The couple, in their late 20s with two young children, was interested in buying their first home, but the husband was on the fence because of concerns about his job security in the ongoing economic downturn.

Instead of immediately trying to convince the couple that it was a good time to buy a home, Kelly focused first on reassuring them that they wouldn’t be making a mistake. He did this by asking the husband several questions about his job to help him see for himself that his fears were unfounded.

Through his own answers, the husband, who had worked in his family’s decorative tile business for more than 10 years, came to realize that he probably wasn’t going to lose his job. “We simply hold a mirror up to their faces and let them talk themselves into it,” Kelly says. “It’s all about reassuring them and holding their hands.”

Then Kelly put on his teacher’s hat and began educating the couple about the favorable state of the Sonoma County real estate market for buyers. He showed the homebuyers local housing affordability index data illustrating that homes have

become much more affordable to the average family since the market’s peak.

He also explained that the median home price in the county was $292,000, down from $592,000 in 2007. Kelly then stressed the tax advantages and security of homeownership to the couple, who were spending more than $2,000 a month in rent. He even referred them to an accountant to help explain in greater detail the tax benefits of owning a home, such as being able to deduct their mortgage interest and property taxes from their income.

Kelly’s patient, comprehensive approach paid off. Early last summer, he helped the couple close on a 1,900-square-foot, fourbedroom, bank-owned home for $340,000, down 50 percent from what it was worth five years ago.

Economic Realities Even when people realize what a great time it is to buy a home right now, many are still reluctant to make a move because they just aren’t willing to part with their existing homes for less than what they thought they would be worth at the height of the market.

Educating clients is also the key to overcoming this hurdle, according to Donna Chase, CRS, of Weichert REALTORS®, in Scituate, Mass. It’s not enough to simply explain to potential sellers who are looking at bigger homes that the 10 percent or 15 percent they may be giving up on the sale of their existing home will be more than offset by the 10 to 15 percent discount they will be getting on the price of their larger, more expensive home. “People really can’t understand this concept sometimes,” Chase says. “Even high-level executives haven’t given this a thought. They are simply trying to hold onto every nickel on their sale.”

To drive home the point, Chase pulls out a pen and paper and spells it out in detail with a simple chart. In a column titled “Buyer” she writes down how much they want to spend on their new home, say, for example, $700,000. In a column titled “Seller” she writes down the value of their current home, say $300,000. If market prices are down, say, 10 percent, she subtracts that from the “Seller” column and writes “less 10 percent=“$30,000” underneath. She also subtracts 10 percent from the buyer column and writes down “less 10 percent=$70,000” beneath in that column. Then, she subtracts $30,000 from

Dmitry Kutlayev/Veer

If that doesn’t do the trick, Kelly pulls out an easy-to-understand analogy. “What kind of sale does it take to get you off the couch on a Sunday afternoon and go to the mall?” he asks clients. “20 percent? 30 percent?” Kelly then explains that there are homes in Sonoma County selling for as much as 60 percent off the 2007 market peak.

There’s been a lot of talk about home affordability in the past few years since the market started declining. Despite rock-bottom interest rates and bargainbasement home prices in some parts of the country, many agents are discovering that it’s not enough to just use the common refrain that “now is the perfect time to buy a home because prices and mortgage rates are at historic lows.” Many REALTORS® now have to contend with the fact that clients can’t sell their existing homes for the price that will enable them to move because they don’t have enough equity. Agents are working harder than ever to drive home the affordability message to jittery clients in a way that really resonates.

Robert Houser

“ No w, b eca u s e of the e c onom y, you really have t o be a b le t o s i t d ow n and logic ally e x plain t o people i n a s ys t ema t ic way w hy re al e state t oday is a good val u e a n d w h a t hom e ow ne rship c a n do for t heir bot t o m lin es . I f you do your job and educat e t hem, the y w ill buy.”

—Mike Kelly, CR S

$70,000, and in the middle of the page, writes “$40,000,” and circles it, to show that is how much they are actually putting in their pocket by selling now.

“Once we explain this phenomenon on paper, sellers who are moving up realize they are actually putting money in their pocket and typically jump into the market or begin a more serious search for their home,” she says.

Chase also has to contend with clients who say they want to sell but are simply going to wait a year or so for prices to come back up. She responds by explaining

that real estate cycles typically last about 10 years and that any price movement in the short term will be insignificant. “You’re willing to wait another five years?” Chase asks them, pointing out that is how long they would probably have to sit tight before seeing any real price difference on the sale of their home.

Bottom Line In Nashville, Tenn., Sher Powers, CRS, of Urbane Residential Specialists, says every buyer she works with these days asks her if they should wait for home prices or interest

rates to go lower before moving forward.

She answers with a series of questions so her clients can come to their own realization that now is a great time to buy, or, for that matter, to sell and move up to a larger home.

Among the questions she asks her fencesitting clients: What are your perceptions of the market? Why are you interested in buying now? What are your biggest concerns about buying now?

Typically, clients say they are fearful of overpaying while the market may still be dropping. To allay their worries, Powers explains that the local real estate market is at one of its lowest points in history and that trying to time the exact bottom of any market, be it real estate or stock, is impossible. Then she hits them with what she thinks should be a bigger issue: If interest rates begin creeping back up, their spending power will be seriously diminished.

Powers spells this out by sketching an example on paper showing the difference in mortgage payments between a 4.5 percent interest payment and a 6 percent interest payment. “It takes less than five minutes,” says Powers, “but reticent buyers quickly become eager to avoid any increase in interest rates and start making smart decisions quickly in order to maximize their buying power.”

Earlier this year, when she walked one of her hesitant buyer clients through this process, and he realized now was the time to act, his only response was an excited, “Sher, you rock!” In September, she helped him close on his first home.

Convincing reluctant clients that the time is right to buy or sell a home requires ample patience and a willingness to partner with them as a teacher would with a pupil. “I never want to push any of my clients,” Powers says. “My role is to work with them to think through the situation and help them reach a smart decision based on all the available information. I want a prepared and informed buyer who is fully set up for success.”

This is every REALTOR’S® goal, and in these uncertain economic times, when many people’s fears are blinding them to one of the most affordable housing markets in decades, the key to getting them to act can be summed up in one word: education.

Daniel Rome Levine is a freelance writer based in Wilmette, Ill., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

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By Regina Ludes

G

erry Bourgeois, CRS, with Towne &

Has social media made privacy a thing of the past?

Not necessarily.

You can keep your online connections private.

Country REALTORS® in Leominster, Mass., has more than 1,600 friends on Facebook, including agents from

his office, friends, family members, clients and a few hundred REALTORS® from across the country. But in

early 2011, Bourgeois decided to “unfriend” nearly 100 of those connections.

“I made it my personal policy not to connect with agents who are my local competition,” Bourgeois explains. “Sometimes a potential client will post a real estate question on my wall or will respond to something I’ve posted. I don’t need my competition, who may also know this individual, to know that they are considering buying or selling.”

THE PRIVACY 24 | November/December 2011

Imagesource/Glow Images

Instead, Bourgeois connects to these local agents through two Facebook groups and the local REALTOR® association business page, “so I can communicate with them on Facebook without sharing my life with them,” he says.

Bourgeois, who is also active on Linked In, Twitter and Foursquare, realizes there are limits to how much information he should reveal online — and to whom — and that transparency comes with a price.

“If you are going to participate in social networks, you are giving up a fair amount of privacy. It’s a trade-off,” he says. But that’s one trade-off he doesn’t mind making. “I find that sharing, connecting and being a ‘real person’ online is a valuable way to attract new clients and keep in touch with old ones, but that same behavior may be too much information to give to my local competition,” Bourgeois says.

Many real estate agents face a similar dilemma. While social media has allowed agents to be more personal and transparent in their online relationships, some agents wonder if they are sacrificing too much of their privacy in the process.

Agents like Bourgeois say they are willing to accept the potential drawbacks because social media has helped them grow their business. The key to their success is having a strategy for using social media, regularly using privacy settings and controls, and exercising restraint and common sense when posting messages. By taking these

Paradox www.crs.com | 2 5

steps, many real estate agents have learned that they can enjoy a thriving business presence on social networking sites while still maintaining some privacy in their online relationships.

Control and Transparency Using social media for business is worth the extra effort, says Mike Lyon, social media trainer and author of The Social Media Guide for Real Estate (www. doyouconvert.com). “If there are 600 million people using Facebook, and it’s where your friends and family are and they are part of your sphere of influence, then why wouldn’t you do it? Because they [agents] are either afraid of it, or they don’t know how to use it,” Lyon says. But once agents become familiar with various sites’ systems and settings, privacy will be less of an issue, he adds.

(See sidebar.)

“Agents have more control over their messages than they realize. You can always unfriend someone, delete a post and remove it from the online world. People think the information is more permanent than it actually is,” Lyon says.

For example, agents can maintain a platform on Facebook without providing frequent status updates or worrying about who will see them. “You don’t have to talk.

Just listen to friends’ conversations, ‘like’ their posts and give feedback,” Lyon says.

Bourgeois says having a strategy for using social media can keep agents focused on their goal and prevent them from straying off course. “What are you trying to achieve? Who is your target audience? If you keep focused on that, you have a better idea of what you are doing, and that can help shape your privacy policy,” Bourgeois says.

For example, he uses Twitter to converse with agents in other markets across the country, while he uses Facebook to build and maintain relationships with current and potential clients. He also sets ground rules, such as allowing “friends only” to view his Facebook profile, conducting most of his real estate business on his Facebook business page, and never 26 | November/December 2011

Learn More About Privacy Policies and Settings A Guide to Facebook Security: For Young Adults, Parents and Educators www.facebook.com/safety/ attachment/Guide%20to%20 Facebook%20Security.pdf Facebook and Privacy business page on Facebook www.facebook.com/fbprivacy Facebook’s Data Use Policy www.facebook.com/about/privacy/#!/ about/privacy LinkedIn Privacy Policy Highlights www.linkedin.com/static?key=privacy_ policy&trk=hb_ft_priv Twitter Privacy Policy twitter.com/privacy YouTube: Protecting Your Privacy www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/ answer.py?hl=en&answer=126263 Foursquare Privacy 101 foursquare.com/privacy

checking in at his house on the locationbased site Foursquare. “I don’t need people to know that I’m at home,” he says.

“Geolocation is a gray area for many agents,” says Brian Block, CRS, an attorney and broker with RE/MAX Allegiance in McLean, Va. “Do you really want people to know where you are every minute of the day? That can lead to stalking concerns,” says Block, who teaches social media to local agents and is active on Facebook, LinkedIn,Twitter and ActiveRain.

Selective Service For agents who are concerned about how transparent they should be online, Block offers a few simple guidelines: avoid discussing religion, sex and politics; don’t criticize other agents or companies; don’t vent online about a client or listing; and

don’t discuss a transaction that isn’t finalized. Block says these actions violate the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, which governs both online and offline activities.

Block experienced the last scenario firsthand when an agent in his office shared details on Facebook about a transaction that was still being negotiated.

Block immediately brought the matter to the agent’s attention and cautioned him not to discuss counteroffers on any social networking sites. The agent quickly removed the post. While the situation doesn’t happen very often, Block says agents need to be mindful of what they share online. “REALTORS® are in the public eye, so we are used to having less privacy than most other people, but we still have to keep clients’ personal information private,” he says.

Block suggests that agents should review and update their settings every few months and weed out contacts they don’t interact with frequently. “When people first got involved in social networks, people collected all these online friends. It’s not necessary to keep them all. In terms of marketing, it’s better to have 200 people you know well than 5,000 who you don’t know well and don’t engage with often,” Block says.

Handle With Care Gee Dunsten, a CRS certified instructor who teaches the CRS elective course Real Estate Social Marketing: Strategies for Success Both On and Offline, says privacy is also a safety issue. “It’s a different world today.

We can do background checks on people [using Google], and they can do the same to us,” Dunsten says.

“We all must be aware of threats against us as we become more transparent. We need to become overly guarded with information that we share about ourselves, as well as our customers and clients and their property. Any sensitive information, even something like an address, photos, quotes or any personal or financial data, can have a detrimental effect on an agent’s circumstances or business,” Dunsten says.

While most agents are well-behaved online, they tend to drop their guard

when they get excited about something, says Dunsten. “Sometimes that excitement comes off in a fun, euphoric way and other times, it comes off as ranting in anger. These are trigger points for agents. Most agents think a social site is two-way communication, and they don’t realize that when they post something, their friends can see it and their friends’ friends can see it.”

Dunsten cites an example of two Dallas agents who sparred back and forth for several days on one of the social networking sites before one of their brokers stepped in to stop it. “They thought they were having an argument in a small group, but they did not realize that several thousand people witnessed it on the sidelines,” says Dunsten.

“If you are going to participate in social networks, you are giving up a fair amount of privacy. It’s a trade-off.”

—Gerry Bourgeois, CRS If an agent has a conflict with another agent, it’s best to bring it to the broker’s attention, suggests Block. “Those types of situations need to be contained. It’s better to talk to your broker about it than vent online, which is a violation of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics,” Block says.

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts Mike Lyon, social media trainer and author of The Social Media Guide for Real Estate, offers the following tips for getting the most out of the social media experience without worrying about the loss of privacy.

DO

• Pretend everything you post is public, but realize it is not. Postings are not permanent in the online world, and you can control them.

• Be smart and think about what you want to say online before you post it.

• Learn how to use privacy settings.

• Set up lists to separate friends into different groups, such as one for family and another for real estate colleagues, so you can post messages exclusively for each group.

• Learn about each social media site you use and find out what works for other REALTORS®.

DON’T

• Post messages that could offend others (e.g., politics, religion).

Remember you are on these sites to build relationships.

• Spend time worrying about events that may never happen, such as identity theft. “It is far more likely that ID theft will occur outside of Facebook than on it,” Lyon says.

• Post pictures that could be offensive to others.

• Excessively tag people in photos. They may not want to be tagged.

• Discuss transactions and other business matters on your personal page, which could have legal repercussions.

Just as agents exercise care when posting information on the Multiple Listing Service or in their traditional marketing, they need to apply the same sensitivity to online activities, says Dunsten. When posting listing information, he advises agents to get the client’s approval before showing pictures of their child playing in a room in their house or the address of the home.

“Before you hit enter, hit the pause button. Ask yourself, ‘Could this be taken in the wrong context than what I intended?

Should I get permission from my client?

Is it correct? Should I get another opinion?’ These are common-sense things to ask yourself,” Dunsten says.

While privacy settings can help to some extent, Dunsten says he prefers the Lists function on Facebook to divide his contacts into subgroups. “When I divide people into circles, my family has access to different kinds of information than my college buddies. You don’t have to share everything with everyone,” Dunsten says. “Being transparent doesn’t mean you have to be naked. It means sharing what you think is appropriate.”

For agents who are still apprehensive about revealing too much of themselves online, Bourgeois offers some simple advice.

“If you are concerned about privacy, then don’t participate.”

With a little common sense and a keen knowledge of privacy tools and policies, it is possible for agents to create a professional social media presence for their business without sacrificing privacy in their online connections.

Regina Ludes is the associate editor of The Residential Specialist.

www.crs.com | 2 7

28 | November/December 2011

Past Tense

By Caroline E. Mayer

Stigmatized homes can be a tough sell, and with a glut of foreclosures on the market, selling them has proved even more challenging.

Gary S Chapman/Getty Images

T

here are some houses you can never forget, says Joy Carter, CRS, of Prudential Florida Realty in Coral Springs. There was the hoarder’s house where potential buyers had to step over piles of trash just to move from room to room. “I was the buyer’s agent, and I had to keep telling my client to get past the messiness and visualize what the house will look like once the junk is removed.” It took considerable persuasion — and three commercial dumpsters to haul everything away — but the sale went through. www.crs.com | 2 9

Then there was the house that gave her the “heebie jeebies.” From the outside, she recalls, “the property looked very unassuming and fit in perfectly with the neighborhood. But inside, it was nasty and scary and ugly. It had been painted a deep blood red, the toilets had been ripped out of the floor and ceiling fans torn from the ceilings.”

Carter’s team priced the property about 20 percent below market value (even after factoring in repair costs) and promoted it as a handyman special. “It sold in three days.” Of course, that was in the mid-90s, when the real estate market was booming.

And then there was the house in which the tenant killed himself in the garage.

The sellers wanted to disclose the event, although their state laws didn’t require them to do so. When that prompted the first buyer to back out, the sellers decided against disclosure — but reduced the asking price by 5 percent. The next prospective buyers still found out about the suicide from neighbors, but “they closed anyway,” says Carter. “It was in a good location.”

Recently, her team represented buyers during a short sale of a farm property.

While awaiting bank approval, someone stole all three air-conditioning units and well pumps, the hurricane shutters and appliances. “Of course, the buyers went ballistic,” Carter says. This time, closing the deal meant “staying on top of the bank with our requests for credits. It took a lot of tenacity” before the bank relented and settlement was completed.

Indeed, in the current economic climate, it may take more creativity and coddling — of buyers and banks — to seal a deal, Carter says. That’s especially true if agents are dealing with a property that has gained a bad rap, whether it was the scene of a tragedy, home to a drug lab, or a foreclosure that’s been sitting vacant for months with damage or mold issues.

Stigmatized homes can prove difficult to sell, but savvy agents know that with the right strategies, it’s not impossible.

The New Stigma When it comes to completing a sale in today’s market, foreclosed and vacant homes often present the greatest challenges.

30 | November/December 2011

“Foreclosed properties typically are in poor condition,” Carter notes. “There are usually holes in the walls, broken windows, removed appliances. They are rarely in good condition.”

Other problems that arise in homes that are not well cared for include broken or insecure railings and steps, improper do-ityourself wiring that could pose a fire risk, leaky roofs that may have damaged beams and support trusses and/or vandalized heating, plumbing and electrical systems.

“That means our job is to paint a picture of what this house could look like [for buyers],” she says. “We have to tell clients how they can polish up the floors, pressureclean the grout, change the light fixtures and cabinets. Not every person buys into it.” But for those who do, “we definitely have to be repetitive, pointing out all the changes that can be made, because buyers sometimes just don’t see it.”

Agents may also need to become more creative — and forceful — when working with sellers and banks on a ‘problem property’ transaction, Carter says. “You have to keep pressure on the banks and sellers for credits if problems arise.”

She encourages buyers and lenders to consider nontraditional financing for problem homes, especially the FHA-insured 203(k) rehab loan. This loan is designed to address a common catch-22 of foreclosed homes (or any handyman special, for that matter), which often require buyers to find financing for the sometimes-extensive repair work required. As the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) explains it, Carter says, the problem is that “the bank won’t lend the money to buy the house until the repairs are complete, and the repairs can’t be done until the house has been purchased.”

The 203(k) loan covers the home price plus the cost of repairs and improvements, usually requiring the same down payment (3.5 percent) as a traditional FHA loan, although perhaps at a slightly higher interest rate. Agents say many buyers and mortgage brokers are reluctant to go this route because it is more

time intensive, and it requires finding a contractor and getting estimates for repairs. “[203(k)’s can be] a nightmare to get through,” says Debi Holcomb, CRS, with Butler Real Estate in Langley, Okla. “But it’s one way to get a property back in livable order.” At the same time, Holcomb notes, buyers willing to take a little risk on a problem property may jump-start the revitalization of a declining neighborhood.

Inspection Station “In Texas, we are not required to disclose if there has been a murder or anything of that nature, except if there was a meth lab or that something in the house itself caused a death,” says Stephanie Hansson, CRS, ABR with RE/MAX BryanCollege Station, Texas. “But I feel that we are not representing our buyers if we have such knowledge and don’t disclose it. It’s the right thing to do. As a listing agent, I would also recommend to the seller that it be disclosed in a discreet way, and not to try and hide it.”

That said, Hansson says she’s never sold a stigmatized property. But one

transaction came back to haunt her and taught her about the importance of encouraging buyer and seller clients to get their homes inspected.

A few months after a sale in which she was the listing agent, Hansson learned that the seller had made a number of illegal hookups to the electrical system and “by the dark of night, had linked his septic drain hose into the public creek.”

Hansson says she had no idea of the unlawful connections until the new owner received citations for illegal dumping. “I was furious,” she says and for months worried she would be a litigation target. “Fortunately, the other shoe never dropped.” The buyer fixed the problems and never sued. “But I learned a valuable lesson: I now encourage sellers to have an inspection before they put their homes on the market.” A prior inspection, she said, would have alerted her at least to the illegal electrical hookup.

Having the seller pay for a premarket inspection serves as more than just legal protection for the agent, Hansson says. It also may help facilitate the home sale. “It reduces some of the buyer’s power because the seller already knows what’s wrong with the house, so it’s harder for buyers to come in and nitpick, demanding price reductions to get this and that fixed. The seller may have to spend $300 for an inspection beforehand, but it could save a whole lot of time and trouble — and a couple thousand dollars in negotiation.”

Home inspections are particularly critical for buyers of foreclosed homes, notes Dan Steward, president and CEO of Pillar to Post, the largest home-inspection company in the United States. One reason: “Typically the bank doesn’t have any history on the home, so it can legitimately, legally and morally say, ‘I don’t know anything about the home.’ ” That puts the onus on the buyers and their agent to “do due diligence and not be seduced simply because of a low price,” Steward says.

Houses that have been sitting empty for a long time, “create a petri dish for mold in some parts of the country,” explains Steward. “Sometimes it’s really obvious — you can smell it and see it once you open the

Home Vacancy Rate* 2005

11.6%

2006

11.8% 12.1%

2007

12.8%

2008 2009

13.1%

2010

13.1% 11.7%

2011 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

*Annual Q2 data includes both homeowner and rental vacancies.

door. But sometimes it’s hidden behind the drywall, underneath basement carpets.”

Steward recommends taking air samples both outside the home (as a baseline) and inside where mold is suspected to determine if mold is present.

It’s also not uncommon to find drug evidence in vacant or foreclosed homes — or even in occupied rental homes, he adds.

In some cases, the homes have been turned into grow houses for marijuana. “That’s relatively easy to spot because the electrical and ventilation system will have been messed with” to install grow lights and augment the heating system to accelerate plant growth.

Harder to see is the presence of methamphetamines. But, Steward says, “in some areas of the country, particularly the Southwest, one of 10 homes test positive for meth.” People may be smoking it in the house or cooking it on the stove, and the ingredients leave a poisonous residue that is absorbed by everything porous in the house: drywall, carpets and draperies. It’s odorless and colorless and can’t be detected

by any of the five senses. And you’ve got a problem if a family moves in and the kids, by crawling on the floor, ingest it. We can test for that by wiping vents and surfaces and sending to a lab. It may cost $10,000 to $20,000 to fix, depending on the problem, but it is fixable.”

Foreclosed and vacant homes “can be great deals for buyers,” Steward says. “But you have to be diligent and not be naïve.”

For agents, that may mean using a little bit of creativity to seal the deal — as well as some old-fashioned elbow grease. As Carter recalls, there have been several houses, where “my brother — who’s also my business partner — and I have had to go in and clean houses ourselves, make arrangements to move things out, call to get junk and trash removed.”

The goal, Carter says, “is to be the solution to the deal: to fill the empty homes with homeowners — and ultimately help communities rebuild themselves.”

Caroline Mayer is a freelance writer based in Arlington, Va.

www.crs.com | 3 1

CHARTING A NEW 32 | November/December 2011

Business planning can be tricky in an uncertain market.

CRSs share their strategies for success.

F

lying by the seat of your pants might be an exhilarating way to go through life, but it isn’t an effective business strategy — especially in difficult economic times. Although real estate

agents should have a business plan to help them focus on their goals and gauge their progress, a surprising number do not. Too many REALTORS® fail to treat their occupa-

tion like a business, according to Chuck Bode,

COURSE

CRS, GRI, associate broker with NP Dodge Real Estate in Omaha, Neb., and a certified instructor with the Council of Residential Specialists. And that mindset often leaves many agents ill prepared to cope with a turbulent market.

www.crs.com | 3 3

Norebbo/Veer

By Mary Ellen Collins

“When I ask a class, ‘How many of you have a written business plan you can share with me?’ ” Bode says, “less than 10 percent say they do. When the market was good, many agents just became ordertakers. When the market changed, they didn’t know how to react. Several years ago I was teaching a class, and a woman was crying. She said, ‘I’ve made $300,000 a year for the last eight or nine years, and I haven’t made any money for the past six months. I don’t know what to do.’ And she wasn’t an isolated case.”

CRSs who rely on a written business plan are a step ahead of the competition.

But most say the current economic climate requires them to monitor their goals, strategies and finances much more closely and more frequently to put resources where they do the most good, and to cut their losses when necessary.

34 | November/December 2011

Numbers Game When it comes to business planning, the most important thing is to know your numbers — and that doesn’t just mean saying to yourself, “I want to close on 25 homes” or “I want to make $5 million.” It means really putting those goals in context.

“The volume of business you do and the number of houses you sell don’t necessarily dictate profit,” Bode says. “Someone may say they’re ‘making a lot of money,’ but they don’t have any money at the end of the year. Different people make $100,000, but their profit depends on how they budget and invest, and what their lifestyle is. Good businesspeople should be able to look at their numbers and know where they are money-wise — where they are compared to their budget and compared to last year at the same time.”

Outreach Diversification One reality of a down market is that it’s harder to get and retain clients — and even more important to be flexible, proactive and creative to seize new opportunities, develop new income streams, and change direction if a strategy isn’t working.

After White recognized that foreclosures and short sales were becoming a growing portion of all home sales, he took courses to learn how to better work with distressed properties. He created a new website and did some target marketing about short sales to specific neighborhoods when his other business slowed. White says his office does five to 10 short sales a year, but because they are harder to close, his agents backed off growing the short sale business when their regular business picked up.

Norebbo/Veer

Your business plan is your road map for the year.

Shane White, CRS, ABR, brokerowner of RE/MAX Town & Country in Liberty Hill, Texas agrees. “Your business plan is your road map for the year. If you’re not tracking where you’re spending your money and whether there’s a return on your dollars, you’re set up to fail.” For the past several years, White has increased the frequency with which he checks his profit and loss statement against his annual budget. He does it at least once a month, which has led to significant cuts in expenses, eliminating “fluff ” that he and his team realized they didn’t need.

“We cut our newsletter down from nine issues to six the next year to four the next year. We didn’t think we would see a decrease in effectiveness, and we haven’t.

This year we needed to cut the budget, and we made the tough decision to cut our billboard, which we’ve had for 14 years.

We hold a very strong market share, so we did not see that our business would be affected by getting rid of it at this time.

I’ve not had one person comment that the billboard is gone. I couldn’t directly track any closed business to it, and I certainly don’t miss paying $700 a month for 12 months.”

“I think you have to look for additional opportunities for income that you might not otherwise look at. [Moving into the short sale business] was not a waste of time at all. Without the training, we would miss out on those additional deals. … I think that if I decide to target short sales again, I will need to hire a new full-time person to handle them. They are quite time consuming, and for my small team, they can put a drain on our business. We may look at going after that business again in the next year.”

Jan Ellingson, CRS, CIPS, of Keller Williams Western Realty in Burlington, Wash., refers to her business plan monthly to check her progress and has made a number of “deliberate course corrections” in her marketing strategy over the past year. “I’m in the process of changing my website.

Google Analytics will track where your hits are coming from, and mine weren’t coming from the places I thought they would.

There was no new traffic — it was people who already knew me. That was an eyeopener. I need a new website so I can reach a new audience. I’ve had the same one for 13 years, and it didn’t have the functionality I needed in order to catch new leads.”

“I’ve been more assertive in marketing than I’ve ever been,” she says. “I’m also doing more with social media.” She just started Facebook pages for two nearby neighborhoods in order to tap into new audiences. “They’re places for people to post information about garage sales and neighborhood news and events. I manage the sites and I hope they will get leads for me. When I see someone mention that they’re selling a home, I’ll contact them and say ‘I saw your information on the Smith Community Facebook page.’” Although she hasn’t yet gotten any leads, she has included this 2011 strategy in her 2012 business plan.

A Different Beat Rob Henderson, CRS, GRI, with ERA Shields Real Estate in Colorado Springs,

Planning Toolkit Looking to revisit or revamp your business plan? Here are some solid resources to keep at the ready.

Read REALTOR® Magazine’s “5 Critical Steps for Your Business Plan”: bit.ly/qkrNkF Visit Often www.bx.businessweek.com/recessionbusiness-planning Consult www.bplans.com Study www.google.com/analytics/ Put on Your Bookshelf Successful Business Plans: Secrets & Strategies by Rhonda Abrams The Real Estate Agent’s Business Planner: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Your Success by Bridget McCrea The Upside of the Downturn: Ten Management Strategies to Prevail in the Recession and Thrive in the Aftermath by Geoff Colvin

Colo., has developed a nontraditional business plan that he reviews daily. Inspired by the Ninja Selling program’s humanistic focus, he combines business, family and personal goals with inspirational reminders about the way he wants to live his life.

Rather than outlining detailed strategies, he creates bulleted lists of goals and actions such as do $9,000,000 in sales volume; stay in touch with past clients; work out four times a week; and invest in my daughter’s college fund.

“I’m a believer that you tell your mind what to do and it does it,” he says. “My business plan is like my daily affirmations.

In this form, it’s designed to remind me that I have a job to do, and these are the things that are critical to my success.”

He keeps his marketing plans general, and although he does track his numbers, he says, “I’ve learned that I don’t have to put the pressure of numbers on myself. The business comes if I do all of those other things. Last year was the second best year I’ve had in 25 years, and I’m now having the best year I’ve ever had, and I attribute that to sticking with the plan. I think this works in any circumstance and any economy.”

In 2010, the only adjustment he had to make in his business plan was to increase his revenue goal. “I wanted to close $7 million worth of business last year and I realized in May that I was going to hit that without a problem. So I raised the bar to $9 million, and I made that.”

Although Henderson’s plan looks different from those of his colleagues, he agrees that a written document is a critical tool for keeping you on track in the real estate game — in good times and bad. Starting the year with a plan is like starting a journey with a roadmap. Even when the trip is filled with obstacles and detours, you’re much more likely to reach your destination.

Mary Ellen Collins is a freelance writer based in St. Petersburg, Fla., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

www.crs.com | 3 5

Good Read | Resources in print

data overdose When do marketing stats and sales numbers become a case of information overload?

Reviewed by Allan Fallow

Drinking From the Fire Hose: Making Smarter Decisions Without Drowning in Information

by Christopher J. Frank and Paul Magnone Portfolio/Penguin 222 pages, $26.95

36 | November/December 2011

One of the first popular books to diagnose the personal impact of information overload was David Shenk’s Data Smog.

Distractibility, “analysis paralysis,” a certain coarsening of the public discourse — many a newborn social ailment, Shenk wrote, could be blamed on the avalanche of information unleashed by the Internet (and already threatening to bury us alive way back in 1997, when he wrote the book). In Drinking From the Fire Hose, two corporate veterans attempt something similar but confine their exploration of data saturation to the business arena.

“The new cliché, it seems,” write Fire Hose co-authors Christopher J. Frank and Paul Magnone, “is that you can’t be too thin, be too rich, or have too much information. … [I]n today’s data-driven, digital world it seems that everything is quantified, tracked, and recorded.” No need to look far to spot the culprit behind this outpouring, however: Most of the irrelevant information washing across your desk and digital devices, they write, is generated every day by the very company you work for.

The net effect of this trend is to make you feel like you’re trying to take a sip of water from a fire hose at full nozzle.

If that’s been your experience, Frank and Magnone believe they’ve come up with just the right tools — Fire Hose questions, they call them — to help you break the habit of collecting and presenting too much information.

You can feel comfortable putting these questions to your peers or to senior

management, the authors assure us, because each one is designed to do everyone in the room a favor: The Fire Hose questions work by “refocusing the analysis, re-evaluating the information it yields, and using it as a catalyst for action.” Whether you find their queries insightful or insipid may hinge on your tolerance for that guy who seems to pipe up with hollow purpose at the end of every business meeting, “So what are our next steps?”

What is the essential business question?

There’s no denying that this question will help crystallize the issues of whatever business case is currently being debated in your particular line of work (residential real estate sales included). As such, it meets the authors’ definition of a Fire Hose question: one “that can’t be ignored, by virtue of [its] obvious, thoughtful relevance.” Once you have figured out the one Essential Question for your business, the authors advise us, you can start to use it “as a valve, or a filter, on the data hose.” Not only will the Essential Question put you in control, they claim, but it will arm you against data overload.

Try this tactic, write Frank and Magnone, the next time you’re the victim of a “spray and pray” presentation (one where the speaker sprays factoids and prays his audience finds connections in them): Without being confrontational, simply ask what is the single essential piece of information that will move the project forward.

Where is your customer’s North Star?

Putting the client first seems obvious, the authors admit, but the customer-centric approach has grown lamentably rare in today’s data-driven business world. Just look at the recent antics of such service providers as airlines and banks: The former has made “customer satisfaction the exception” by hitting flyers with fees for everything from checked baggage to in-flight pillows, while the latter has levied endless surcharges for “the privilege of putting your money in your bank’s hands.”

Rather than that model — which tends to move the customer “further and further away from the center of the business universe” — what if you put your customer’s needs and wants front and center? Such a move may give you a simple and powerful means to strain data that informs from the incoming tidal wave of data that merely measures. In the bargain, you might even see an uptick in your firm’s reputation for customer service: “We’re data guys,” write Frank and Magnone, “but we continually remind ourselves that the kind of data we’re looking for tells us what our customer wants. … It takes guts to put the customer’s desires first, and constant vigilance to see those desires satisfied.”

Should you believe the Squiggly Line?

As soon as I understood this Fire Hose question — it means “ignore short-term data when making long-range plans” — I realized it constituted a deadly editorial sin: the Self-Evident Generalization. Still, it’s instructive to be reminded that “the numbers are almost always less volatile over the long term,” and the “Squiggly Line” discussion contains an extended meditation on home sales: If you’re in the real-estate business, the [insignificance of short-term results] is usually true of monthly new-home sales — especially if they’re compared with the previous year’s numbers (when prices just happened to drop faster than they did for wrapping paper the day after Christmas). In other words, if

last year’s prices fell 30 percent below the 10-year average, and this month’s numbers are up 10 percent (compared with the same month one year ago), then new-house sales are still well below their long-term average. … So while looking at the housing market that way might make things look better in the short term, it generally leads to significant re-evaluations later.

What surprised you?

Being alert to surprises in the numbers is a sure-fire way to sidestep a common trap: Most of us use the reports we receive as confirmation of what we already know, not as clues to trends we don’t suspect.

Here, too, data glut often plays an outsize role, its sheer volume masking potentially earth-shaking surprises: “If you can’t keep up with the stream of information blasting out of the Fire Hose every day,” the authors wonder, “how can you zero in on the deviations from the norm that might be real game changers?”

If nothing else, asking the question “Were there any data points you can’t explain?” is a proven way to wring maximum value from a presentation. Surprises are “bias killers,” according to Drinking From the Fire Hose; for that reason, “[a]sking ‘What surprised you?’ will spur new discussion, uncover fresh learning, and lead to new insights.” This deceptively simple query, designed to expose the “outliers” in a data set, can forge links between apparently dissimilar conclusions.

Most crucial of all, “What surprised you?” can blaze new avenues of discussion and debate among colleagues.

What does the lighthouse reveal?

The Frank-Magnone discussion of this particular Fire Hose question burbles over with seemingly apt imagery. There are beacons. There is triangulation. There are “rocks near the shore” (insufficiently illuminated facts) that allow us to “sail into danger without knowing it.” But it wasn’t just these tortured nautical metaphors that made me feel seasick when the authors conceded that their 18-page discussion of

using “Lighthouse data” to “set a course and stay on it” could be boiled down to this 10-word dictum: “Information overload can prevent us from recognizing critically important data.”

Who are your swing voters?

The authors exhort readers to tap the “silent majority” of their customers. (By that they mean previous buyers who are familiar with, but not necessarily committed to, a company’s products or services.)

In so doing, they counsel, you may be able to “generate an additional dollar of revenue without incurring a corresponding dollar of marketing cost.”

This is easily the most technical passage in the book. Much is said about segmenting your customer base, converting “somewhat favorables” into “very favorables,” and so on. But once again it all comes down to the critical exercise of separating the chaff of data from kernels of actionable information. Indeed, in their discussion of optimizing your existing data — “one of the core principles of this book” — Frank and Magnone even wax a trifle Zen: “More often than not, you won’t need to collect more data; you’ll just need to pay attention to less of the data you’ve already got at hand.”

Speaking of which, could the authors’ painfully attenuated noodlings on the art of data filtering have been captured via the “concentrated subset” of a magazine article? Undeniably, yes. But their temptation to inflate half a dozen valid business points into this airy soufflé of a book is understandable: As the authors themselves point out, “Our ability to come up with [answers to the Essential Questions] is blunted by our addiction to data. In fact, in today’s overmeasured, overtracked, overreported business world, data is the morphine that numbs the senses of almost every private or public entity. But we can’t seem to do without it.”

Allan Fallow is a writer and book editor in Alexandria, Va. You can follow him on Twitter @TheFallow.

www.crs.com | 3 7

New CRS Partner

Chapter Leadership Training

Course Listings

p. 39

p. 40

p. 43

inside CRS N E W S

F R O M

T H E

C O U N C I L

Phoenix Rising: Sell-a-bration® 2012

pmphoto/Veer

K

ick off the New Year on a high note with an education-filled midwinter getaway to Phoenix to attend the Council of Residential Specialists’ Sell-a-bration® 2012 at the Arizona Grand Resort, Jan. 19 – 21, 2012. The annual educational event draws hundreds of top real estate professionals of all levels of experience from across the country and around the world who gather to learn strategies and techniques from industry leaders and each other.

The skills they discover and the relationships they build will help attendees improve their productivity, grow their referral business and

38 | November/December 2011

increase their chances for success.

And once again, agents can earn eight credits toward the CRS Designation by attending Sell-a-bration® 2012.

Most important, the three-day event gives agents the knowledge and skills they need to resolve the difficult home-buying and selling issues that face their clients every day.

The Council worked with Brian Copeland, CRS, to develop the program for Sell-a-bration®.

Copeland, who will also emcee the event, says it will deliver “new faces, new ideas and an overall new atmosphere. While you can still bet on the classic Sell-a-bration® voices

to be in the lineup, you can also expect some of the brightest new minds in real estate to share their twist on the current market.”

Sell-a-bration® 2012 kicks off Jan. 19 with a series of interactive, topic-driven and solution-focused workshops about some of today’s hottest topics, including: Mobile Marketing: It’s All or Nothing; Facebook Advertising and Pay-Per-Click Strategies; Twitter Jumpstart; Google+; Gadgets and Gizmos; Maximize YOUR CRS Membership to Generate Referrals; Spin It: Putting the R in PR; Geo Location/Search Engine Optimization; iPad Revolution; and Blogging: Making It Fun, Making It Work for You. For details about these workshops, visit www.sellabration.com.

Keynote sessions will be presented by renowned experts in technology, marketing, and real estate sales that are sure to motivate and inspire attendees. Copeland will lead the opening keynote session Phoenix Rising: Rising from the Ashes Into a Healthy Business. Jeff Turner, president of Web development and consulting company Zeek Interactive, will deliver a presentation titled Own The Conversation, Own The Market, while luxury marketing expert Laurie Moore-Moore will tackle Lifestyle Marketing, and Travis Robertson will address The Millennial Revolution.

Denny Grimes, CRS, and Jackie Leavenworth, CRS, wrap up the keynote sessions with TV Guide to Real Estate, Channel Your Success.

Breakout panel sessions this year cover a wide range of topics that deliver something for everyone.

Sessions include: List to Live; Get Your Head in the Cloud! Google Apps, Dropbox and Other Cloud Systems; FSBO/Expired Opportunities: Cost Effective Income; Buyers: Creating a Buyer Masterpiece; Basics: What Are They and How Do I Get Back; Negotiating; Face to Face(book): Offline Referral Strategies; Finding Riches in Real Estate Niches; and Maximizing Social Security Benefits and Other Insurance Considerations.

A pre-conference presentation will also be offered on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

For details, visit the Sell-a-bration® website.

Agents will have plenty of opportunities to network with their peers at the welcome reception on Thursday, Jan. 19, and the luncheon on Friday, Jan. 20. Luncheons on Thursday, Jan. 19, and Saturday, Jan. 21, will require separate tickets.

“Sell-a-bration® is the one chance for agents today to gather with survivors and those who thrive,” Copeland says. “The paradigm has shifted, and so have the vast majority of folks who make Sell-a-bration® a priority. Not only will agents receive quality content, they can expect an unparalleled opportunity for networking and making connections.”

To learn more about Sell-abration® 2012 and to register, visit www.sellabration.com or call customer service at 800.462.8841.

Buddy Up and Save Sign up for Sell-a-bration® 2012 with a friend before Dec. 8, 2011, and you and your friend each pay $545 — a savings of $75. Register with a buddy before the event on Jan. 19, and save $30 per person. Go to www.sellabration.com for details.

CRS Promotes Education Through Coldwell Banker

T

he Council of Residential Specialists has partnered with Coldwell Banker Real Estate to promote real estate education and training to professionals within their respective organizations. Under the agreement, the Council will accept certain Coldwell Banker company courses for elective credit toward the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation. In return, Coldwell Banker will promote the CRS Designation, membership benefits and Council events, including the annual educational conference Sella-bration®, to professionals within its organization.

It made sense for CRS and Coldwell Banker to work together in this pilot program because the two organizations share a common commitment to bringing quality education to real estate professionals, says Mary Beth Ciukaj, the Council’s education director. “Coldwell Banker had expressed an interest in working with CRS for many years. They value the CRS Designation and the benefits it offers,” she says.

Through this program, agents will have better access to education in a convenient and familiar setting and at an affordable rate, adds Toni Sherman, CRS director of business relations.

“By allowing agents the opportunity to use company courses as elective credit, they will have an on-ramp to future CRS courses, especially for those unfamiliar with CRS. For some agents, the company elective course may be the last credit they need to fulfill the requirements to become designated.

The Council benefits with increased membership and interest in other CRS offerings, such as eLearning courses, Sell-a-bration® and chapter involvement,” Sherman says.

The two Coldwell Banker courses accepted for elective credit are BOO$T and Previews International and the Luxury Market. Both courses are delivered via live webinars and selfstudy materials and are facilitated by Coldwell Banker’s instructors.

For details about these CRSapproved elective courses, go to the Coldwell Banker website at www. coldwellbanker.com/join.

CRS Webinar Success If you have not yet taken advantage of the popular CRS webinar series, you can check out recordings of previous webinars by downloading them from the CRS website.

The one-hour webinars cover a broad range of topics, including short sales and foreclosures, listings, working with buyers, taxes, social media, marketing and business planning.

Recordings of two popular recent webinars are now available: Using the iPhone and iPad in Your Real Estate Business, hosted by Jason Fox, and Tax Talk 2012, with Chris Bird.

You can download webinar recordings on any computer or mobile device. For more information about CRS webinars, to register for an upcoming session or to purchase a recording of a previous one, visit www.crs.com/Education/1781.

www.crs.com | 3 9

inside CRS

Chapter Leaders Prepare for 2012

M

ore than 100 CRS chapter leaders, regional vice presidents and national officers participated in the annual CRS Chapter Leadership Training Program in Scottsdale, Ariz., Aug. 26 – 27, 2011. CRS Designees who attended the two-day event took part in sessions that covered strategic planning, providing chapter value and benefits, working with diverse personalities and building team performance, as well as in-depth training on many aspects of chapter administration and management.

The Chapter Leadership Training Program prepares incoming chapter presidents and officers for the challenges and demands of their leadership positions, while giving them the confidence they need to do the job well. Brian Copeland, CRS, of Village Real Estate Services in Nashville, Tenn., facilitated part of the event.

His sessions focused on helping participants use social media to enhance their marketing plans and

40 | November/December 2011

create new strategies while providing increased value to members and creating a larger online community for the Council, both locally and nationally.

The annual event is a great opportunity for incoming CRS leaders to prepare for the responsibilities and roles they will assume as chapter executives. “This event does a tremendous job of building and strengthening the group, which will become very close during their term as 2012 chapter presidents and regional vice presidents, sharing ideas and partnering in local events and CRS courses,” said Rachel Tristano, the Council’s director of chapter and regional programs. “This event helps participants build key relationships that will serve them well as they work together next year as a cohesive leadership team.”

Participants also met and shared ideas with other CRS chapter leaders from around the country. Many of them returned to their respective chapters with greater confidence and a solid foundation on which to build their chapters for the coming year.

Steve Stewart, CRS, with Edina Realty in Minneapolis, says the fastpaced event provided a wealth of practical information that will help him work with his chapter during his leadership term. “A program like this gives you the confidence to move into a position of leadership with your chapter.

It gives you the tools and resources to serve your chapter and the CRS community,” Stewart says.

Ray Singhal, CRS, with Wieder Realty in Pompano Beach, Fla., says the leadership training is essential for incoming chapter leaders. “This is the single most important event in preparing our chapter leadership.

It provided an opportunity not only for intense learning, but also for interacting with Council leadership.

Without this chapter leadership training, the incoming leadership at the chapter and regional level would be totally lost,” Singhal says.

Personalize, Reproduce and Mail This Newsletter to Your Clients

Edit

Leave YOUR HOME as is, or personalize the newsletter by adding your photo, logo, address and phone number to the mailing panel.* You can also substitute any article in the newsletter with one of your own. Edit the newsletter ­electronically by downloading the Microsoft Word version at www.crs.com/ magazine/your_home_newsletter.shtml.

PLEASE NOTE: The images featured in the YOUR HOME newsletter may only be used within the PDF version of the newsletter. These images may not be reproduced or republished elsewhere outside of this newsletter format. CRS members are free to re-use the text of the articles contained in the newsletter, however.

Reproduce

Do it yourself with your office copier, or take the newsletter or electronic file (in addition to your photograph and any information you want inserted) to a printer who can prepare and reproduce the newsletter for you.

Distribute

Mail. If you photocopy YOUR HOME or use it “as is,” please note that it is designed to be folded in a Z fold with the words YOUR HOME facing out on one side and the mailing panel facing out on the other side. Postal regulations require that Z folds have three closures (tabs or tape) — one on top in the center and two on the bottom. For your convenience, we have placed asterisks (*) where the closures should be. Be sure to check with your local mailer or post office to make sure you have prepared your mailings properly.

Electronic File. Attach the customized newsletter file to an email to your clients or create a Web link to the file on your website. Consult your webmaster or technician to make sure the file is prepared correctly for these purposes, since these basic instructions will vary by person and system. * This newsletter is for the exclusive use of CRS members.

For a complete step-by-step guide to personalizing and ­reproducing the YOUR HOME newsletter, visit www.crs.com/ magazine/your_home_newsletter.shtml.

HOME *

YOUR T I P S

A N D

T R E N D S

F O R

H O M E O W N E R S ,

B U Y E R S

A N D

N OV E MBE R

2011

S E L L E R S

PRYING EYES

Holiday Hints

pen houses are a great way to show off a home, but they also can open you and your home to privacy concerns. Potential buyers will look through nearly every inch of your home, opening closets and storage areas, to get a sense of the space and where they might store their things.

Consider ways to protect your belongings — and your confidential information — with these ideas from About.com.

Go through your drawers and cabinets before others do.

Potential buyers have reason to open and pull on them to determine how stable fixtures are, and it’s easy to glimpse personal letters and bills tucked innocuously away in drawers. Remove prescription medication from bathroom cabinets, too.

Your home should read like a clean slate, one that anyone could live in, so be sure to remove diplomas, wedding photos and other personal items from walls and tables. This protects your identity by keeping your name, college or church affiliation undisclosed, and gives buyers a blank canvas.

Shut down your computer. Professional hackers can gain a massive amount of personal information in a short period of time if left alone with a computer, so be proactive. If you still have an answering machine, consider turning it off so that buyers don’t hear personal messages or companies calling the home.

The idea of having strangers in your home is unsettling, so be sure your REALTOR® is always present and alert during open houses. Also consider talking to your agent about the benefits and drawbacks of you being there during the open house.

elling your home during the holidays is tricky for a host of reasons. It’s not a popular home-buying time; homeowners often host out-of-town guests, which makes it difficult to schedule showings; and agents and would-be buyers are busier than usual.

But it is possible to make a sale during the yuletide months. Consider these tips from HGTV. Keep decorations to a minimum. No matter your religious affiliation, it’s best not to show it off to potential buyers, who may not share the same views.

If you have wrapped presents, consider putting them in a corner, away from view. If you must deck the halls, give in to your decorating urges with more neutral wintry pieces. Consider pinecones or snowflakes instead of garlands and colored lights.

Try not to plan open houses on or around Hanukah, Christmas or New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. When you do host an open house, make your home feel warm and inviting: Consider placing cookies and holiday-neutral drinks, such as hot chocolate or apple cider, out on a table for guests to take.

And finally, be sure your agent will be available during the holidays. Discuss up front whether he or she will be in town, on call or will have limited hours.

O

S

fast fact »

»»»»

The gift wrap industry now accounts for $2.6 billion in annual sales (as of June 2010).

B R O U G H T T O Y O U B Y Y O U R A G E N T, A M E M B E R O F T H E C O U N C I L O F R E S I D E N T I A L S P E C I A L I S T S

A Penny Saved

C

oming up with the cash for a down payment on a new home can seem daunting, but according to CBS Money Watch, saving money for such a major investment can be easier than anticipated. Here are a few easy strategies that can add up fast.

Make it automatic. Create a savings account specifically for the down payment and commit to devoting a comfortable amount out of your paycheck to it every pay period. Whether it’s $20 or $50 on a regular basis, every bit helps. Talk to your employer about setting up an automatic payment that goes directly to that separate account.

Sell things you don’t need online.

Whether it’s antiques, furniture or designer bags, chances are someone else

is looking for it. Do some research to price things accordingly and post photos at an online shopping site, such as eBay. It’s an easy way to declutter while earning money that can go toward putting you in a new home.

Skip the morning latte. It’s true: Those $4 coffees add up to thousands per year. See what other indulgences you

can cut from your routine. For example, consider cheaper haircuts, early-bird pricings on dinners and movies, and biking or taking public transportation to work to cut down on costs. Sign up for free reward credit cards that offer money back on your purchases, and set up a separate email dedicated to coupons to help you keep track of them. Check that account before each shopping trip to save more money.

Get rid of your landline. Use your cell phone as your primary means of communication, and check with the cell phone company to see if cheaper plans are available.

For instance, if the provider offers free nights and weekends, limit your calls to those hours and cut the extra minutes allotted. Also consider computer video-chatting, which is often free, instead of relying on costly long-distance phone calls.

Say Yes to CRS

referr ve

s! al

I Lo

Buying or selling a home can seem like an overwhelming task. But the right REALTOR® can make the process easier — and more profitable.

A Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), with years of experience and success, will help you make smart decisions in a fast-paced, complex and competitive market.

To receive the CRS Designation, REALTORS® must demonstrate outstanding professional achievements — including high-volume sales — and pursue advanced training in areas such as finance, marketing and technology. They must also maintain membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and abide by its Code of Ethics.

Work with a REALTOR® who belongs among the top 4 percent in the nation. Contact a CRS today.

*

Do you know someone who is thinking about buying or selling a home?

DID YOU KNOW?

Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires.

Please mention my name.

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be substituted for legal or financial advice.

If you are currently working with another real estate agent or broker, it is not a solicitation for business.

*

inside CRS » » » » » » »

S E A R C H C O U R S E O F F E R I N G S B Y C I T Y A N D S TAT E AT W W W. C R S . C O M

CRS Classroom Courses CRS classroom courses earn either eight credits (for 100-level, one-day courses) or 16 credits (for 200-level, two-day courses) toward the CRS Designation. CRS Courses listed below are from Nov. 15, 2011 to Feb. 29, 2012. For more up-to-date listings, visit www.crs.com/education/173.

CRS 202 — Sales Course

CRS 210 — Referral Course

FEB. 23 – 24 WICHITA, KAN.

NOV. 16 – 17 NASSAU, BAHAMAS

Wichita Area Association of REALTORS® 316.263.3167 Instructor: Rich Sands, CRS

Bahamas CRS Chapter 242.356.4578 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

CRS 201 — Listing Course

DEC. 5 – 6 ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

DEC. 7 – 8 LITTLETON, COLO. South Metro Denver Association of REALTORS® 303.797.3700 Instructor: Rich Sands, CRS

FEB. 8 – 9 ORLANDO, FLA. Florida CRS Chapter 407.513.7268 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

FEB. 9 – 10 MERRILLVILLE, IND. Indiana CRS Chapter 309.579.2947 Instructor: Rich Sands, CRS

CRS 204 — Wealth Building Course Triple Play REALTOR® Convention 888.818.4922 Instructor: Dale Carlton, CRS

FEB. 8 – 9 BELLEVUE, WAsh. Washington CRS Chapter 425.974.1011 Instructor: Tina Daniel, CRS

Elective Courses

CRS 206 — Technology Course

Each elective course is one day and earns eight units of elective credit toward the CRS Designation.

NOV. 28 – 29 NEWPORT, R.I.

Ninja Selling

Newport County Board of REALTORS® 401.849.5936 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

NOV. 17 PALM DESERT, CALIF. Southern California CRS Chapter

949.766.2901 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

www.crs.com | 4 3

inside CRS Outlook E-marketing Strategies

FEB. 8 MIAMI

FEB. 9 MIAMI

DEC. 2 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Miami Association of REALTORS® 305.468.7050 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Miami Association of REALTORS® 305.468.7050 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

210.912.8115 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

FEB.28 SARASOTA, FLA. Rich Buyer, Rich Seller – Part 1: Positioning and Branding Yourself as a Luxury Marketing Expert

JAN.12 CHICAGO @ Properties 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

JAN. 25 HOUSTON Hub Personal Ins. 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Sarasota Association of REALTORS® 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

FEB. 29 SARASOTA, FLA.

Rich Buyer, Rich Seller – Part 2: A Luxury Marketing Idea Blitz

JAN.13 CHICAGO @ Properties 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Sarasota Association of REALTORS® 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore Silver Bullet Solutions

DEC. 5 BOWLING GREEN, KY. Kentucky Real Estate Education Foundation 800.264.2185 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

JAN. 26 HOUSTON Hub Personal Ins. 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

NOTE: Instructors listed on all courses are subject to change.

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation The Residential Specialist (USPS# 021-699, ISSN# 1539-7572) is published (bi-monthly) six times a year by the Council of Residential Specialists. The annual subscription price is $29.95. The mailing address of both the publication and the publisher is Council of Residential Specialists, 430 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-4092. The publisher is the Council of Residential Specialists, and the Editor is Michael Fenner. The owner of the publication is the Council of Residential Specialists.

There were 34,600 copies of The Residential Specialist published in September/October 2011; the average for the preceding 12 months was 37,858. The paid/requested outside-county mail subscriptions for the September/October issue were 32,924; the average for the preceding 12 months was 35,574. 515 free copies were distributed by mail in September/October, and the average number of free copies distributed during the preceding 12 months was 487. 861 copies of the September/October issue were distributed outside the mail (to classes, membership kits, etc.), and the average number of free copies distributed outside the mail for the preceding 12 months was 1,497. 300 copies of the magazine were not distributed in September/October (office use, leftovers), and an average of 300 copies were not distributed from issues in the preceding 12 months. The percent paid/requested circulation in September/October 2011 was 95.2 percent, and for the preceding 12 months it was 94.7 percent.

44 | November/December 2011

CRS REFERRAL MARKETPLACE

C EAST COAST

Claire Bisignano Chesnoff

N.Y.S. Licensed Real Estate Broker, ABR, AHWD, ASP, BCREP, CHLMS, CRS, GREEN, GRI, SRES

Board Certified Real Estate Professional DIRECT: 917-974-2239 OFFICE: 718-524-4424 FAX: 718-524-8538

EMAIL: claire@claireproperties.com

Serving the Real Estate needs of Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York www.claireproperties.com

Your referral source for the greater

ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CDPE

Pittsburgh

area

Serving Northern Virginia and the Dulles Tech corridor

Offices in Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling Re/Max Select Properties, Inc.

703-999-6535 lisacromwell@remax.net www.LisaCromwell.com

I help clients make the Wright move Nancy Wright, ABR, CRS, GRI

RE/MAX Realty Brokers 5608 Wilkins Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15217 OFS: 412-521-1000 x170 CELL: 412-508-0040 nancywright@remax.net

SOUTH

SOUTH FLORIDA Serving Fort Lauderdale & the Palm Beaches “Dr. Short Sale”

Ray Singhal, Ph.D Past President of MN CRS

(954) 770-8083 SinghalFlorida.com Ray@SinghalFlorida.com Wieder Realty, Inc. CRS, GRI, CDPE, ABR, SRES, SFR, CSSP, E-Pro

TAMPA SANDY ERNST, CRS, GRI When only the best will do for your personal referrals 873-404-5723 RE/MAX Bay to Bay 813-259-0000

813-259-0030 fax

Bradenton • Sarasota • Florida

Kenyon Real Estate

Lance Jason Boca Expert Realty, LLC Broker Associate CRS, GRI, e-Pro, SRES Phone: 561-290-9866 Lance@LanceJason.com www.LanceJason.com Specializing in Boca Raton, FL and surrounding areas.

SOUTHWEST

AUSTIN, TEXAS Kent Redding BROKER, GRI, CRS, ABR

The Kent Redding Group Prudential Texas Realty 512.306.1001 800.647.4711 kent@callkent.com www.CallKent.com “Unmatched REPRESENTATION and NEGOTIATION”

WEST COAST Covering Palm Springs Area of California Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, La Quinta, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Spring, Indio, Coachella, Bermuda Dunes and Thermal

Mike Duncan CRS, CRB, FSP, CDPE, GRI, CEO / Broker California License #01276361 51370 Avenida Bermudas Suite 6 La Quinta, Ca 92253 760-564-5678 760-831-0484 Cell mike@DuncanGroupRE.com www.DuncanGroupRE.com www.PalmSpringsReoForeclosures.com Over 400 closed properties

46 | November/December 2011

Rich Kenyon CRB ABR

Rich@KenyonRealEstate.net

(941) 720-0075

Geri Kenyon

CIPS CRS GRI PMN SFR SRES TRC

Geri@GeriKenyon.com

(941) 725-4374

Office 941-753-7228 “Trust, Values, Commitment to Excellence, Friendship and Living Life Abundantly”

H AWA I I

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEMECULA – MURRIETA RIVERSIDE & ORANGE COUNTIES

HAWAII

Duke Kimhan

(Principal Broker) (R) CRS, ABR, CRB, GRI, SRES, CDPE

“Everyone Likes Sara Lee!” SARA LEE PAULL CRS, SRES,e-PRO

Broker Associate (#00547900) Cell: 951-970-5211 Direct: 951-461-4611 saralee@saraleepaull.com saraleepaull@verizon.net www.saraleepaull.com

Condo.Com 808-277-4677-Cell 808-447-5816-Office 808-675-5916-Fax 1888 Kalakaua Ave, Ste. #312 Honolulu, HI 96815

Real Estate

Making Business a Pleasure!

Please visit my Website @

www.dukekimhan.com

CANADA

BUILD REFERRALS

to your region from more than

36,000 CRS Designees and members with an ad in the Referral Marketplace.

Limited Space Available First Come, First Served Ask us about multi-issue discounts

Just call Kirsten Nagel at 202.721.1489 RESOURCES • November/December 2011

residential The

Specia li s t

Open Question Donna Chase, CRS, of Weichert REALTORS®, donna@chaseteam.com Mike Kelly, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, Mike@mikekelly.com Sher Powers, CRS, Urbane Residential Specialists, spowers@realtracs.com

The Privacy Paradox Brian Block, CRS, RE/MAX Allegiance, brian@brianblock.com Gerry Bourgeois, CRS, Towne & Country REALTORS®, Gerry@ realtyman.com

Gee Dunsten, CRS, Long and Foster Real Estate, Gee@gee-dunsten.com

Charting a New Course

Past Tense

Jan Ellingson, CRS, Keller Williams Western Realty, jan@janellingson.com

Joy Carter, CRS, Prudential Florida Realty, joy@greatfloridahomes.com Stephanie Hansson, CRS, RE/MAX Bryan-College Station, Stephanie. hansson@gmail.com

Chuck Bode, CRS, NP Dodge Real Estate, cbode@npdodge.com

Rob Henderson, CRS, ERA Shields Real Estate, robh@erashields.com Shane White, CRS, RE/MAX Town & Country, shanetwhite@remax.net

Debi Holcomb, CRS, Butler Real Estate, debi@grandlakehomes4sale. com

w w w. c r s . c o m

www.crs.com | 4 7

Ask a CRS | Advice from the country’s top Certified Residential Specialists

climate change Q U ESTIO N : What significant changes have you made to your listing presentation over the past year?

IN OUR EXPERIEN C E . . .

“I EXPLAIN to clients that people first shop price, then shop value within the price range. It is critical to have a well-presented home. Staging is even more important when buyers have so many choices out there. Also, be aware of market changes and be ready to drop their price, if necessary.”

Joyce Mitchell, CRS Mitchell & Associates Bigfork, Mont.

Joyce@Bigforkbroker.com

“WE HAVE our sellers sign a form at the time of listing their home that lays out a plan. It’s a list that details expectations we have of them (i.e., having their home prepared for showings, making price adjustments to move with the market, etc.).

In addition, there is a written commitment of what they can expect from my team during their time working with us.

It gets sellers thinking about selling, not about what I will do for them when there are no showings.”

“I ADDED more graphs of our company market share and [information showing] that buyers find homes on the Internet, not through open houses and newspapers.”

Norma Hawkins Flaskerud, CRS RE/MAX CC Connection Walnut Creek, Calif.

Donandnorma@gmail.com

Kimberly Cameron, CRS RE/MAX Properties West St. Louis, Mo.

Kimberly@stlagent.com

»»»»»

Please submit real estate questions for “Ask a CRS” to Mike Fenner at mfenner@crs.com.

48 | November/December 2011

your resource 4 real estate education

More education = More opportunity Education pays. According to data from the 2010 NAR Member Profile, the median income of REALTORS速 with at least one designation was nearly $22,000 more than the income of those with no designation.

At training4RE.com you will find all the CRS courses, as well as information on other certifications and designations designed to help you advance your career in real estate. And with courses offered both in the classroom and online, gaining valuable training and education has never been easier.

Register for CRS courses at training4RE.com today!

ABR速 AHWD BPOR CIPS CRB CRS e-PRO速 GREEN PMN RSPS SFR SRES速

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