The Residential Specialist, May/June 2012

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THE RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST

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Strategies to keep your online presence fresh and effective

Becoming a Local Expert Staging Vacant Homes Helping Gen Y Buy

Erica Ramus, CRS

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residential The

S pecia li s t

May/June 2012 VOL. 11, NO. 3

22

18 features

18 Fresh Take

By Dan Tynan Make your website a destination with strategies for keeping it engaging and up-to-date.

22 Helping Gen Y Buy

By Daniel Rome Levine Reaching young buyers through technology — and their parents.

26 Bare Necessities

By Regina Ludes To stage or not to stage a vacant home?

32 In the Know

By Mary Ellen Collins REALTORSÂŽ who establish a reputation as local experts can set themselves up for long-term success.

w w w . c r s . c o m Cover photo by Bill Cramer/Wonderful Machine

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S pecia li s t

16 departments 4 5 9 10 12 14

PRESIDEN T ’S MESSAGE

By Mark Minchew, CRS

5

Q UICK TAKES Green-home construction; social home shopping; down-payment stats; and more

inside CRS

GREAT FINDS iPad accessories

TECHNOLO GY

By Gwen Moran Using Twitter effectively

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UCI Official Earns Accolades CRS Referral Directory NAR 2012 Conference & Expo Your Home newsletter

TRENDS

By Chloe Thompson Networking strategies

P IP ELINE

By Michael Fenner CRS and REALTOR® University

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UP CLOSE

36

GO OD READ

46 48

Amy Broghamer, CRS Keller Williams Advisors Realty Cincinnati, Ohio

Reviewed by Allan Fallow The Art of the Sale: Learning From the Masters About the Business of Life

By Philip Delves Broughton

36 2 | May/June 2012

NEWS FROM THE COUNCIL

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

residential The

Coming In The Next Issue ...

■

Open Rate

How online ratings can help and hurt agents’ business — and how to become part of the conversation.

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Downturn Lessons

CRSs reflect on how the boomand-bust cycle has changed the way they view the housing market and their success.

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By Design

How have remodeling and design preferences changed?

A look at the latest trends.

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In a Fix

Selling homes as-is can require a different mindset for agents and clients.

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: Web analytics: Improve your site strategy

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 2012 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL Moderator: Colleen McKean, CRS Co-Moderator: John W. Goede, CRS 2012 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL MEMBERS Israel V. Ameijeiras, CRS; Shelly Campbell, CRS; DeDe J. Carney, CRS; Gretchen Conley, CRS; John B. Cotton, CRS; Lois Cox, CRS; Wendy Furth, CRS; Hap Hilbish, CRS; Geri Kenyon, CRS; Rita McNeil, CRS; Nancy Metcalf, CRS; Thomas M. Patterson, CRS; Vince Price, CRS; Rae Roeder, CRS; Cynthia J. Ulsrud, CRS; Beverlee A. Vidoli, CRS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mary Ellen Collins, Daniel Rome Levine, Gwen Moran OFFICERS: 2012 President Mark Minchew, CRS Chief Executive Officer Nina J. Cottrell 2012 President-Elect Mary McCall, CRS 2012 First Vice President Ron Canning, CRS 2012 Immediate Past President Frank Serio, CRS

PUBLICATION MANAGEMENT

Tel: 202.331.7700 Fax: 202.331.2043 Publishing Manager Andrea Gabrick Email: agabrick@tmgcustommedia.com Advertising Manager Andrea Katz Email: akatz@tmgcustommedia.com Tel: 202.721.1482 Project Manager Katie Mason Art Directors Josh Coleman; Chad Townsend 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 2012 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

2012

DENT THE RESI

T BUILDING TRUS in Tough Times

IALI IAL SPEC

FIXING THE RKET: HOUSING MA CRSs Weigh In

ST ■

JANUARY /FEBRUAR Y 20

SURGE

New CRS president Mark Minchew looks to create a new wave of member engagement.

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President’s Message | News from Mark Minchew, CRS

Michael Thad Carter

New Membership Is Expanding

The Surge Campaign to boost membership is becoming a reality.

4 | May/June 2012

After some years of declining membership, I had concerns about our resiliency. After all, you have to go back many decades to see the kind of real estate decline we have experienced recently. And in the midst of such change, it is gratifying to watch our fine team of CRS leaders emerge.

Our chapter presidents and regional vice presidents have been relentless and creative in their leadership. They are sharing ideas with one another, using the latest techniques, and forming lasting friendships, proving that the Surge Campaign to boost membership is becoming a reality. Our chapters have led the charge, helping us increase new CRS membership by 30 percent through the first quarter of 2012. Our instructors enthusiastically report that class attendance is good, and one recent class had 13 new CRS recruits. Here in my hometown of Austin, Texas, we will soon present three CRS courses, and they are being promoted and received quite well.

Internationally, CRS is gaining wider recognition. CRS is now in 13 countries. We are making inroads into Canada, where we expect to gain more members as we expand our outreach efforts there.

Some of our instructors are leading this endeavor and they have been encouraged by the feedback they have received from Canadian real estate professionals.

Our Spanish contingency continues to grow, with 10 new CRSs who will be designated in June, while Taiwan’s Real Estate Broker Association welcomed 17 new Designees at a ceremony in April.

These new Designees are learning the techniques that will make them more productive and successful. It is nice to be a part of helping others succeed.

But these reports reflect just the first quarter of the year, so I am calling on each of you to ask agents you know and respect this simple question — “Are you a CRS?” This conversation can lead them to the Proven Path to Success.

While we have accomplished much so far in 2012, there is more work to do. I look forward to interacting with many of you at the Mid-Year meetings in Washington, D.C., in May. More than 300 committee members are expected to attend, and they will share their successes and improve their referral networks. I look forward to seeing you there.

Until then … see you in the trenches,

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends Getting Real About Selling

Going

Homebuyers and sellers are getting more realistic about the housing market in 2012, according to a Coldwell Banker survey. More than half of real estate professionals surveyed say sellers are more willing to price their homes more competitively this year compared with a year ago, and 45 percent say sellers are more willing to update the appearance of their homes for a quicker sale.

Green

Demand for green-home construction and remodeling is growing fast, despite an uncertain economy, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders. Green homes comprised 17 percent of the overall residential construction market in 2011, and that rate is expected to reach 29 percent to 38 percent by 2016.

Green-home remodeling is in even higher demand than construction: 34 percent of remodelers surveyed say they expect to be doing mostly green work by 2016, a 150 percent increase over 2011 activity levels. Nearly two-thirds of home builders (62 percent) have shifted their focus from green-home construction to remodeling due to the drastic decline in new-home construction.

By 2016, 33 percent of builders anticipate they will be dedicated to green-building work on more than 90 percent of their projects, up from 17 percent in 2011. Remodeling will grow even more dramatically; 22 percent of remodelers anticipate they will be dedicated to green work by 2016, nearly triple the 8 percent who said they were dedicated to green work in 2011.

Of Coldwell Banker professionals surveyed:

• 94 percent say sellers are getting rid of clutter and making cosmetic changes, such as fresh paint and minor repairs; • 78 percent say clients are more willing to depersonalize their home; and • 59 percent say sellers are bringing in new décor and furnishings to help make the home more appealing.

The survey also finds that buyers shopping for a home most often look for new or updated kitchens and baths and open floor plans, while entertainment rooms and finished basements are less important.

social Home shopping While a majority of buyers begin their home search online, many also seek advice from their family and friends about the best places to live. Two neighborhood search tools are taking that activity a step further.

Zillow’s Neighborhood Advice tool helps buyers and renters learn more about neighborhoods from their Facebook friends.

While browsing on Zillow, users are prompted to activate the Map My Friends Facebook app to see where their Facebook friends live and check into most often. As users search for homes in a specific city or neighborhood, Neighborhood Advice will recommend

Facebook friends who are connected to those areas who users may contact for tips and advice.

Neighborhood Suggester, produced by Robot Workshop, is a search widget that features a drag-and-drop interface that helps home shoppers find neighborhoods that best suit their lifestyle.

The tool comes in two versions: a widget that agents can embed into their website and a Facebook app. Users select the six most important qualities of their ideal neighborhood, and Neighborhood Suggester recommends up to 10 neighborhoods and ZIP codes that match their criteria.

www.crs.com | 5

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

Space race

A growing number of homeowners are focusing on using their home space more efficiently and personalizing it to suit their lifestyle, according to a survey by Better Homes and Gardens.

More than one-third of homeowners (38 percent) surveyed say they are spending more time planning design changes for their home, up from 33 percent a year ago, while 42 percent say they shop around for more deals and bargains before committing to a project, up from 40 percent who did so in 2011.

The survey finds that social media sites such as Pinterest play a key role in the planning process for many homeowners who look to such sites for design inspirations, product reviews, creative ideas and solutions for using space. Consumers say they prefer a home with median square footage of 1,791 square feet, down from 1,846 square feet a year ago. Bonus rooms and media rooms are no longer as popular unless they have a multifunctional purpose.

More than half of homeowners (55 percent) are focusing their next home improvement project on style upgrades for countertops, flooring, faucets and fixtures, up from 50 percent in 2010. Projects to expand storage space and remodel the bathroom and kitchen also rank high.

AREAA Net

The Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) has launched an international networking platform called AREAA Net. The platform will allow AREAA members to connect with 400,000 real estate professionals from more than 100 countries around the world. In addition to business networking, AREAA Net will enable members to translate their listings into 19 languages and 30 currencies, and market their properties globally. Learn more at www.areaa.org.

JOB STRENGTH BY SECTOR The Urban Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization, has developed an interactive map to reveal relative employment strength in 16 job sectors for the nation’s top 100 metropolitan areas.

The rankings are based on the percentage change in jobs from the end of June 2009 through October 2011.

Job Sector Education and Health Services Finance Goods Production

#100 Market Greensboro-High Point, N.C.

Dallas-Fort Worth

Las Vegas

Lansing-E. Lansing, Mich.

Las Vegas

Government

Nashville, Tenn.

Stockton, Calif.

Information

New Orleans

New Haven, Conn.

Worcester, Mass.

Lansing-E. Lansing, Mich.

Lansing-E. Lansing, Mich.

Little Rock, Ark.

Private Service Providing

Greenville, S.C.

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.

Professional/Business Services

Greenville, S.C.

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.

Retail Trade

El Paso, Texas

Albany, N.Y.

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas

Sacramento, Calif.

Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.

Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.

El Paso, Texas

Albany, N.Y.

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

Las Vegas

Leisure and Hospitality Manufacturing

Service Providing Total Private Trade, Transportation and Utilities Wholesale Trade

6 | May/June 2012

#1 Market Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.

Lot Locator For buyers who would rather build their own home than purchase an existing one, a new online listing service can help them search for the perfect location as well as a builder to help them turn their dream into a reality.

LotNetwork.com is a nationwide listing service created specifically for the property development and homebuilding industry to market home sites and land for residential development. Buyers can use the service to find residential land and information they need, such as buildable area, infrastructure status, available utilities and takedown schedules. The site also provides industry news, resources and networking opportunities.

Looking Up A recent survey by Prudential Real Estate finds that 60 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the real estate market, up from 52 percent a year ago. A majority of respondents agree or somewhat agree that now is a good time to buy a home, while 63 percent believe real estate is still a good investment despite the recent market volatility. Nearly 70 percent have some degree of confidence that property values will improve over the next two years.

Across all generations, 94 percent believe that finding the right home and community are crucial to their family’s happiness. The recent housing crisis had little impact on older adults’ attitudes; only a small minority said the crisis made homeownership less important to them. Nearly half of Generation Y respondents say the recent housing crisis made homeownership more important. This young generation is especially optimistic about the road ahead, with 72 percent expressing favorable views about the residential real estate market.

Highest Down Payments According to a recent report by Lending Tree, the average down payment on a home is 12.29 percent. However, buyers in some states are putting down even more money for their home purchases. In New Jersey, buyers made average down payments of 13.71 percent.

Meanwhile, buyers in North Dakota put down an average 11.34 percent, the lowest in the country.

Highest Down Payments

1. New Jersey – 13.71%

2. District of Columbia – 13.50% 3. New York – 13.47% 4. Hawaii – 13.33% 5. California – 13.22%

Lowest Down Payments

1. North Dakota – 11.34%

2. Wyoming – 11.38% 3. Oklahoma – 11.62% 4. Tennessee – 11.70% 5. Iowa – 11.71%

www.crs.com | 7

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends Remodeling Outlook for 2012 Like the residential housing market, the remodeling market is showing signs of improvement, according to two leading industry indexes. The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index remained flat in the first quarter of 2012 after rising five points in the fourth quarter of 2011. Index components measuring current market conditions and future indicators of remodeling business dropped one point and two points, respectively, in the first quarter of 2012 after both increased five points in the fourth quarter.

“The residential remodeling market has been improving gradually, mirroring the trend in other segments of the housing market,” says NAHB chief economist David Crowe. “Stringent lending requirements and economic uncertainty continue to be a drag on demand, but we expect a modest growth in remodeling activity to continue through 2012.”

Meanwhile, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University reports that home remodeling spending is expected to increase later this year after a slow start. If momentum continues to build throughout the year, 2012 could end on a positive note, says Eric Belsky, the Center’s managing director. “We’re beginning to see some hopeful signs in the economy, and the housing market is finally starting its slow recovery. That should prove helpful for home improvement spending as the year progresses.”

Hand-held Home Shopping How home shoppers use their mobile devices: • 78 percent viewed photos and videos of homes • 66 percent requested more information about a listing • 60 percent found listing details, price, description, amenities and contact information • 57 percent used GPS to locate a house listing • 55 percent searched by city • 42 percent downloaded a home-buying search app • 30 percent shared listing information with friends and family Source: The Real Estate Book Home Shoppers survey, March 2012

Turnaround Markets Eight of the nation’s 10 quickest-recovering housing markets are located in Florida, according to fourth-quarter 2011 data compiled by Realtor.com. The other two markets among the top 10 are Phoenix and Boise, Idaho. These top 10 recovery markets all have suffered some of the nation’s highest foreclosure rates since 2006, but strong performance in sales and inventory in the fourth quarter put them in the forefront of a housing recovery, the report says.

The rankings are based on four factors: year-over-year median price appreciation; reduced median age of inventory on an annual basis; inventory reduction levels as observed by Realtor.com; and annual unemployment rates. Miami has the top ranking due to a surge in existing-home sales, which jumped 51 percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared with the previous year, and a reduction of inventory by nearly half compared with a year ago.

8 | May/June 2012

Great Finds | Tools of the trade

launch pad Tablets, especially the iPad, have fast become the go-to device for many REALTORS® — the gadgets sometimes even take the place of laptops. Agents use them for everything from checking email to accessing the Web to typing up contracts. Now agents can choose from a host of tablet accessories that can help them maximize their productivity and get the most out of their new tool.

screen test www.brookstone.com Shield private contracts and closing documents from prying eyes and nosy neighbors during travels with the iPad Privacy Screen Cover from Brookstone. Text and images are obscured unless viewed straight on, making the accessory perfect for reading sensitive emails while on the go. The easy-to-apply adhesive protector doubles as a resilient scratch- and smudgeproof surface for the iPad.

29.99 director’s cut www.apple.com Connect your iPad to any HDMIcompatible device, such as a widescreen TV or video projection screen, with the Apple Digital AV Adapter. Perfect for presentations or showing off video tours to a large open house audience, the adapter also allows for digital audio and functions as a charger for the iPad when plugged into the display.

fine print www.shopping.hp.com Send documents or photos straight from iPad to printer instantly with the wireless HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter. Just email the documents that need to be printed to a special email address for the printer, and it takes care of the rest. Though the printer works with all iPads, it’s also compatible with other wireless devices, such as phones, laptops or PDAs.

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149.99

cover up www.zazzle.com Let your company logo shine no matter where you’re working with a customized iPad case from Zazzle. Turn your company logo or any other photo into a Photoshopready PNG or JPG file and upload to Zazzle.com, which will create a custom case that will put your company logo on display. Add text in custom color, font type and size for further personalization.

key notes www.matias.ca If you’ve traded in your laptop for a tablet, you don’t have to give up the laptop’s perks — like a bigger keyboard — or adjust to touchscreen typing only. The elevated buttons on the Matias Folding Keyboard mimic a real computer. The keyboard, which folds in half for easy packing, comes with a carrying sleeve for protection and uses standard Bluetooth wireless technology to connect to various devices.

99.95

49.95

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A L L I Z e R m o E h T @ T I W T s b r u @ b u s d m @ @ TW IT bird in hand #fin ance

e at st lE

#ShortSales

@tw eetd eck

av ea jm #R @

#F F

Technology | Streamlining your business

Using Twitter effectively can build relationships, not just business.

By Gwen Moran

34 percent of all REALTORS® and 32 percent of all brokers use Twitter.

Source: 2011 REALTOR® Technology Survey

10 | May/June 2012

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hen Chris Griffith, CRS, finds a great new restaurant or attends a Rotary Club meeting, her Twitter followers are likely to know about it. (Her Twitter handle is @Twitterzilla.) Griffith, with Downing-Frye Realty in Bonita Springs, Fla., says Twitter has become an important method of communicating with her clients and showing that she’s actively involved with the community in which she sells real estate.

“I’ve gotten phone calls about properties directly from people who follow me on Twitter,” she says. And while she can’t say Twitter has ever generated a sale, it is an important part of Griffith’s marketing approach, which also includes a Foursquare account that is integrated with Twitter and Facebook.

Griffith has fully embraced the social media space. But social media, and Twitter in particular, might not be for everyone.

And that’s OK. Using any tool well is better than using it for the sake of using it — and doing it badly. For agents who want to connect with a specific demographic — younger, more plugged-in buyers and sellers, for example — it can be a very effective tool.

Social media expert Larry Bailin, founder of Single Throw Internet Marketing in Wall Township, N.J., says a robust Twitter presence demonstrates that REALTORS® are technologically savvy and adept at using new-media tools to facilitate real estate transactions. But if you don’t use it well, you could be sending the wrong message.

Agents who decide to make Twitter an integral part of their marketing efforts

e

s

T

must understand, first and foremost, that it may never have a measurable impact on their bottom line. Still, it can be worthwhile because it builds the relationships that become the foundation of a good business. And by following some basic strategies to streamline their social media efforts, agents can simplify the process and make it more effective in less time.

Be interesting. This starts with a REALTOR’S® Twitter profile. Agents should write a brief description that gets to the heart of why people might want to follow them and links back to their website or blog. It’s also a good idea to replace the generic Twitter profile background image with a photograph or graphic that better reflects who they are and what they do.

Griffith’s bio lets people know she’s from Bonita Springs and links to her website.

Her profile photo shows both Griffith and a glimpse of the scenic beach community in which she works in the background.

Find the right mix. Developing the right mix of content on Twitter is usually one part professional, one part general interest, and one part personal, more or less, Bailin says. If agents tweet only their listings, people aren’t really going to get to know them through their Twitter feed. On the other hand, he says, agents shouldn’t be too personal — no one wants to know what you’re eating for lunch every day — or political, lest you turn off prospective buyers or sellers. However, if agents mix tweets about their listings, interesting information about the area in which they specialize, and a few personal anecdotes or observations that show their interests and give people a reason to engage with them beyond real estate, they’ve likely got a winning combination, Bailin says. Griffith posts links to her blog and listings, as well as retweets of interesting information, links to YouTube videos she uploads, and other information she thinks will interest her followers.

Integrate location-based tools.

Griffith uses location check-in social media platform Foursquare — an application that allows you to indicate where you are and share that with contacts on Twitter and on the app itself — and integrates it with her Twitter account. So, when she “checks in” on Foursquare, her Twitter followers know

where she is, such as a local restaurant or area shop. This reinforces her position as an expert on the community. She also creates locations on Foursquare for the properties she has listed. She checks in whenever she goes to the house, which pushes reminders about the property out onto her Twitter feed.

Search smart. Beyond developing an audience of prospective buyers and sellers, Twitter can also be an important source of information.

Many industry associations, municipalities and experts have Twitter feeds, which agents can read to help stay on top of what is going on in their market, Bailin says. Ken Montville, CRS, associate broker with RE/MAX United Real Estate in College Park, Md. (@mdsuburbs), uses Twitter’s search function to find Twitter users who are posting about the community and to follow other REALTORS® he thinks are interesting.

He says it’s a mistake to “blindly follow” other real estate professionals in the community unless there is a compelling reason to do so. If they’re REALTORS® or other experts who provide good content, he’s interested.

Retweet right. Retweeting, or forwarding another person’s tweet to your own followers, is a good way to build engagement, Bailin says. For example, agents positioning themselves as experts in a particular area should retweet information from municipality and community leaders. Social media dashboards like HootSuite or TweetDeck let users add their own commentary to retweets, so you can start a conversation with those influencers.

Be consistent. While Bailin says there’s no “magic number” when it comes to how often to tweet, the important thing is to be consistent and to have at least a few new tweets each week. If followers check an agent’s Twitter page and see that he hasn’t posted anything in several weeks, they may

unfollow him because it seems he’s not committed to adding value. This is where tools like HootSuite and TweetDeck can be useful; agents can write several tweets at once and schedule them to post at various times and days.

Emphasize quality over quantity.

Agents should be careful not to fall for services that promise to sell them more Twitter followers, Bailin says. It’s better to have a smaller following of people who actually read and respond to your tweets than to have thousands of followers who have no interest in what you say, he points out.

Use hash tags. Hashtags are words or phrases preceded by #. This makes them hyperlinks to tweets by other people that contain the same phrase. For example, if you include in your tweet #RealEstate or #ShortSales, clicking on the resulting hyperlink will pull up all of the tweets that also have those hashtags.

This can be a great way for people to find you — and to find others tweeting about subjects that interest you, Griffith says.

Know the culture. REALTORS® who are new to Twitter should spend some time exploring the site to get to know the culture. For example, Fridays on Twitter are “Follow Fridays” in which Twitter users recommend interesting people in their feeds, suggesting that their followers follow them by tagging the tweet with #FollowFriday or #FF. Thank people for retweeting your tweets and respond to questions you receive either through direct messages or by clicking the @ Connect link on the top of the Twitter screen to see people who have mentioned you directly. This type of online conversation is exactly what agents should try to cultivate, so take some time to participate in it, Bailin says.

“ I ’ v e go tte n pho ne c a l l s a b o ut pr o pe r ti e s di re c tl y fr o m pe o pl e w ho fo l l ow m e o n Tw i tte r.”

— C hr i s G r i ffi th, CRS

Gwen Moran is a writer based in Wall Township, N.J., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

www.crs.com | 1 1

Trends | Today and tomorrow

cast away

By Chloe Thompson

“Informal conversation is probably the oldest mechanism by which opinions on products and brands are developed, expressed and spread.”

—Johan Arndt

12 | May/June 2012

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hen Alyce Dailey, CRS, coowner of The Dailey Group, moved back to Baltimore with her husband, Seth, to start their own company after more than a decade away, the pair knew virtually no one. So, Dailey says, she donned her business-casual clothes and marched into nearly every networking event in the city. She joined the National Association of Women Business Owners, attended Chamber of Commerce events and went to trade-specific happy hours.

“I thought a lot about how many people can I meet, and how quickly,” she says.

“When you know no one, it’s about looking at what’s already in place and getting plugged in.” But Dailey soon found the

networking events — from happy hours to coffee dates to business-to-business gatherings — to be exhausting. “The thing is, you have to define your goal,” Dailey says.

“There are too many people that go to these events and don’t know what they’re looking for. Are you going to meet as many people as you can, or just one or two to build a deep relationship?”

Networking is a crucial part of any REALTOR’S® business. It’s a surefire way to meet new clients, agents and other professionals in the industry and to maintain relationships for a strong referral base. But as with any business strategy, agents can play only to their strengths. For Dailey, capitalizing on her self-proclaimed “people person” personality was a natural choice —

David Sacks/Getty Images

From tried-and-true methods to new approaches, networking remains an everimportant part of building a growing business.

but not all agents are built the same. Some use social media as a networking tool, while others rely on connections with their fellow CRSs.

Party Animals To use the networking events effectively, Dailey focused on meeting just a few people at each event rather than spreading herself thin, thinking it would foster lasting connections that would lead to business deals.

Her strategy paid off. It wasn’t long before Dailey had developed a solid network of potential clients, vendors and lenders — and friends. Now the Daileys host their own targeted events with these friends, and encourage attendees to bring new faces along.

“Being more established with our company now, we’re looking to go deeper into the relationships that we have,” Dailey says.

“It makes more sense for us to surround ourselves with people we would want to network and work with.”

The targeted parties mix clients with frequently used lenders, appraisers and even painters or landscapers. Each party idea is based on the attendee list, which keeps people with similar lifestyles together. For example, for her clients and friends with families, Dailey rented out a movie theater.

For dual-income-no-kids clients or empty nesters, she’s hosted swanky parties with live bands and bartenders. She has also hosted company- or career-specific gatherings, such as a happy hour for clients who are certified public accountants (CPAs).

Dailey also combines business and pleasure by hosting a biweekly book club with a dozen fellow business owners. “By doing something like reading a book together, you get to know that person, and then you want to refer them, and vice versa,” she explains. “Good people know good people. You’re always just trying to create opportunities to meet them.”

Tech Talk The notion of actively “finding” potential clients is out, says Craig Lamar, CRS, associate broker with Crye-Leike in Huntsville, Ala., due in part to the surge of consumers using social media sites, such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Buyers and sellers can access a wealth of information on the Web, he says, and they will find a REALTOR® when they are truly serious about buying or

selling. “The consumer is the one looking now,” he says. “We just have to be there in the right place to connect with them when they’re ready.”

For Lamar, that connection happens on Facebook. He has two Facebook pages: one he uses to engage with past clients and share posts from his personal blog, and another for his business to communicate with anyone searching for REALTORS® in Huntsville. Lamar also maintains a professional presence on LinkedIn with a company page.

Technolog y has become such a huge part of Lamar’s networking style that the business card — the age-old currency of the real estate business — has limited value for him. “People don’t do business cards anymore,” Lamar says. “I really want to be in your mobile phone. If I’m in your phone, then I’m in your community.” He does still use the cards, but strategically. He has two sets of cards: one set without his photo, which he gives to potential clients, and one with the image, which is for agents. His rationale for the photo-less cards is that clients will remember him not for his face, but for the experience from start to finish. But he wants other real estate professionals from around the country to remember his face after he has had an opportunity to meet and interact with them.

Despite his new focus on technology, Lamar has not abandoned in-person networking altogether. He attends CRS conferences to build his referral network with other agents. Lamar makes it a point to meet three people from his market at every conference he goes to, and then he adds them to his database for follow-up with e-marketing material, such as monthly newsletters.

“I did the door-knocking and the open houses and the cold-calling, and I thought to myself, ‘This isn’t really anything to get excited over,’ ” she recalls. After attending a national REALTOR® convention and meeting a few CRSs, Cox decided earning her CRS Designation would be a good way to generate more business.

After Cox became a CRS in the early ’90s, her whole view of networking changed.

“CRS events are my best source of referrals,” she says. “I want to keep my face in the face of other CRS agents so they’ll remember not only my name, but my positive personality.”

Cox says she connects with agents better in person for an initial meeting that inevitably leads to lasting friendships, as well as countless referrals.

“There are agents all over the country that you wind up bonding with and sending email to,” Cox says. “You ask them for help.” Those friendly emails eventually turn into referrals, making the CRS network vital to Cox’s business.

She has a few can’t-miss networking events on her calendar each year, such as the midyear Northern California CRS Chapter meetings, Sell-a-bration® and CRS classes to further her education — and her network. Cox estimates she gets about four calls a week from various agents she has met. “You just have to get in there,” Cox says, and your network will grow.

“People will work with people that they know, like and trust.”

The real key to networking, Cox insists, is no surprise: Don’t be a “secret CRS.” Agents need to vocalize their profession to anyone they meet. This will boost their chances of making valuable and long-term connections. “Get involved with league groups or create one,” Cox says. “Make sure all of your friends, doctors, dentists, CPAs — everyone you know — know you’re involved in real estate, whether you mail them something once a month, drop by for a few minutes or call.”

“A re y o u go i n g to m e e t a s m a ny pe o pl e a s y o u c a n, o r j u s t o n e o r two to b ui l d a de e p re l a ti o n s h i p ? ”

Group Think While Lois Cox, CRS, of Prudential California Realty in Pleasanton, Calif., agrees that digital outreach can help networking, she prefers the tried-and-true method of meeting people and shaking hands — she’s just careful who those people are.

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

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Pipeline | Strategies to grow your business

back to school

By Michael Fenner

REALTORS® have purchased more than 8,300 CRS eLearning courses since the debut of the program’s first course in September 2005.

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W

hen it comes to getting advanced real estate education and instruction, REALTORS® have a lot of options. But the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® has built a convenient place where agents can find many of those educational opportunities in one place: REALTOR® University (www.learninglibrary.com/ realtoruniversity). And the Council of

Residential Specialists’ popular online courses are now available there, along with an extensive library of other knowledge resources.

“By offering online courses via the well-established REALTOR® University’s School of Professional Development and Continuing Education, CRS gives its customers more convenience when it comes to purchasing and tracking courses,” says Mary Beth Ciukaj, the Council’s education

Jupiterimages/Getty

Leading-edge CRS online courses are now available through REALTOR® University.

director. The move should make it easier for CRS members and other REALTORS® to access a wealth of additional educational opportunities in a single one-stop shop.

In addition, it will give valuable exposure to CRS online courses in the greater REALTOR® community and raise awareness of CRS in the marketplace.

REALTOR® University organizes courses conveniently by category, which allows agents to find their preferred topics and programs quickly and easily. The catalog is further enhanced with extensive course author/provider information, detailed course overviews, CE (continuing education) credit information, related courses and products.

Four CRS eLearning courses are being offered through REALTOR® University: Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests; Keeping It Simple With Low-Cost Online Marketing; Putting Technology to Work for Your Clients; and Creating Value for Your Clients.

Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests Working with buyers and sellers of distressed properties can be frustrating and time-consuming, but it can also bring big rewards. The Short Sales and Foreclosures course provides REALTORS® with practical approaches to the pre-foreclosure and foreclosure processes that will result in a successful sale. The course explains the intricacies of the short sale and foreclosure processes, as well as the roles required of lenders, sellers, buyers and cooperating agents. The course also provides dialogues and systems for working with financial institutions and other owners of REO properties.

Agents who take this course will be able to give competent advice and counsel to homeowners in danger of losing their home through foreclosure. They will acquire the skills they need to negotiate successfully with financial institutions and other owners of REO properties. And by learning the intricacies of short sale listing and sales,

T h e eco n o my h a s ch a nged and a n a g en t ’s ma rke t in g st r a t egies n ee d t o ch a n g e as w ell. they will be able to help clients maintain possession of their homes while they move toward a successful sale of the properties.

Completion of this course earns REALTORS® eight credits toward the CRS Designation. It also completes the core course requirement for NAR’s SFR Certification (www.realtorsfr.org).

Keeping It Simple With LowCost Online Marketing The economy has changed and an agent’s marketing strategies need to change as well. There are now more ways than ever to market yourself and your real estate services online at little to no cost. Keeping It Simple With Low-Cost Online Marketing presents successful and proven online marketing strategies for agents who don’t want to spend thousands of dollars.

REALTORS® who take this course will learn strategies for: getting your website noticed; blogging; working with social media; shooting video; and creating an effective online presence. REALTORS® who complete the course earn eight credits toward the CRS Designation.

Putting Technology to Work for Your Clients This course examines the changing role of real estate agents, provides tips on the technology needed to work effectively with online consumers, and offers templates and strategies for using today’s real estate technology to its fullest.

Course topics in Putting Technology to Work for Your Clients include: communicating with today’s Internet consumer; using your personal website to establish your niche and win more business; developing an Internet marketing plan; creating marketing materials from templates; using strategies to upgrade or purchase new technology products and services; and boosting your productivity by outsourcing, using virtual assistants and automation.

REALTORS® who complete the course earn eight credits toward the CRS Designation.

Creating Value for Your Clients In Creating Value for Your Clients agents learn to solve common real estate problems by working through specific scenarios.

You’ll find audio clips focused on how best to conduct listing presentations, scripts for how to negotiate, sample documents from CRS students and members, and video stories from CRS Certified Instructors.

Topics covered include: getting started with annual business planning; preparing for your listing presentation; negotiating the sale of a home; learning how to take effective digital photos; strategies for evaluating potential real estate investments; and creating repeat business by building referrals.

REALTORS® who complete the course earn eight credits toward the CRS Designation.

Sign Up Now To access REALTOR® University, CRS Members should sign up for a free online account by visiting www.crs.com.

After registration, you will be directed to REALTOR® University, where you will not have to create a new account or sign in again. Once logged in, a Learner Home Page on the REALTOR® University site tracks and displays progress on all the classes ordered, in progress and taken.

REALTOR® University offers CRS Members and other agents an unparalleled opportunity to obtain business-critical real estate instruction in a fast, easy and convenient way. By including CRS courses in the REALTOR® University catalog, the Council will continue to serve its members while also making itself more relevant to the larger REALTOR® community.

Michael Fenner is the editor of The Residential Specialist.

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Up Close | Profiles of people to watch

amy broghamer,

CRS

Keller Williams Advisors Realty, Cincinnati, Ohio

REALTOR® since: 2005 Designee since: 2006 Contact: amy@ amybsells.com ; 513.377.3637

What’s the secret to your success?

I think it helps your business when you have empathy and understanding for your client. I know what it’s like to have a weekend with a sick kid and not be able to ready your home to sell or to work around showing times. I think that you need to just treat people — clients especially — like family. Buying a home is such an emotional process, and it really is dealing with families.

Ninety-five percent of my business is repeat business and referrals, and I think that’s a direct reflection of how I treat my clients.

You’ve been building a family as well as a career. How do you balance the two?

It’s not an option for me not to work, so I decided I needed help. The year before I got pregnant, I hired a buyer’s agent, which helped me transition out of the evening and weekend work, and I refocused as a listing specialist. It was my goal that year to fine-tune my schedule so I was doing my listing appointments as much as possible during the day, with no weekend appointments and maybe one evening appointment every week.

As REALTORS®, it’s nearly impossible for us to get on a regular schedule or to say “no.” But I learned how to do that, and I feel very accomplished in doing that because it’s not easy.

When I had my son in January of last year, it became very clear when I could work and when I couldn’t. When daycare got out, I was a full-time mom until bedtime at 7:30 p.m., and then after that, I was exhausted. Being

16 | May/June 2012

a listing agent, it’s totally possible and manageable to concentrate my business in the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours.

This year, we hired a part-time administrative assistant. It’s all about compartmentalizing myself. When you pay people to work with you, it should ultimately increase your bottom line or give you more time. It’s spending money to make money, but I think a lot of people are afraid to make that jump. So many REALTORS® try to be everything to everyone, and I don’t think that’s possible with a young family and a growing business.

Another way that REALTORS® try to be “everything to everyone” is by taking every listing that comes their way. How do you determine when it’s OK to walk away?

This is a question very near and dear to my heart, because I teach other REALTORS® how to price houses. I walk away from listings all the time, and people think I’m crazy. I have learned over time to reassess at the end of the year and say to myself, “These properties didn’t sell — why did they not sell? Did I have a feeling that this was priced too high? Why did I take this listing when I knew it wasn’t going to sell?” I just have to get real with myself every year. Say I take one listing that’s overpriced, and another client saw that; that would ruin my credibility. I have to stick true to what I believe. It’s that whole adage, “I would rather let you down today and not take the listing, than in six months when we fail to sell the listing.”

My track record is solid. I sell my listings in an average of 35 days, and I get my clients 97 percent of their asking price, and I can’t do that if I’m taking overpriced listings. Those numbers and that track record is more important to me than having signs in the yard for things that won’t sell for six months. That’s what I go out there and say when I talk to sellers.

How do you use technology in your business?

Everyone wants to know what the exciting new techy tools are, but at the end of the day you have to say to yourself, ‘What is going to make me money, and what is going to help my client?’ When your clients feel like they have the information they need, it can only benefit you. When technology automates or saves you time, that makes you money. Make sure that there’s a time or cost savings to you and a convenience to the client.

Chris Cone

How did you get started in real estate?

My mom has been a REALTOR® since 1989, and my father has been a commercial lender all my life, so it was a very natural progression for me.

I worked in pharmaceutical sales four years prior to moving into real estate in 2005 and I was doing very well, but I didn’t feel very challenged — and I was hitting a glass ceiling with my company. My mom told me if I worked as hard in real estate as I was in pharmaceutical sales, I would make exponentially more money and be able to take more time off. So I listened to her. I got my first real estate license in Georgia, where I was living at the time, and sold my first house — my house — and moved back to Cincinnati and got my Ohio license. I’m currently licensed in Kentucky and in Ohio.

“So many REALTORS® try to be everything to everyone, and I don’t think that’s possible with a young family and a growing business.”

Amy Broghamer, CRS

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18 | May/June 2012

Make your website a destination with strategies for keeping it engaging and up-to-date.

When Erica Ramus, CRS, entered the real estate business 11 years ago, she never imagined she’d end up turning into a smalltown news reporter — or a concierge. But the broker-owner of the Ramus Realty Group (RRG) in Schuylkill County, Pa., has become a bit of both, thanks to the Web. From restaurant reviews and recipes to news about blood drives, cookie sales and Little League tryouts, if it happens in Schuylkill, it will likely find its way to Erica’s blog on ActiveRain. And that, in turn, drives traffic to the five websites she maintains for each of RRG’s niche real estate businesses.

After five years of steady blogging, Ramus now has more business than she and her team of three agents and one appraiser can handle. She says she’s so busy managing her agency’s Web presence that she spends more time marketing properties than showing homes.

But Ramus’ online visibility can lead to some unusual encounters. After she reviewed a local restaurant, for example, Ramus got a call from someone who wanted to make a reservation for his mother’s birthday party. “He didn’t understand he was on my blog, not the restaurant’s site,” she says. “I told him I couldn’t get him a table, but I could sell him a house. Then I said, ‘Tell me what time and how many.’ I called the restaurant and made the reservations for him. Obviously his mother lives in my area, so maybe he’ll remember me when it comes time to sell her house.”

Establishing an effective online presence today requires more than just slapping up a static, cookie-cutter template Web page featuring little more than a photo, a phone number and a few property listings. Agents who want to remain relevant and establish a useful resource for reaching past and potential clients must create a site that feels fresh and alive. And that requires good, clean design, compelling content and smart strategies for ensuring that people can find the site when it counts. www.crs.com | 1 9

Fruit stand: Baloncici/Veer; laptop: Gregory21/Veer; sticker: nav/Veer

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By D

nan y T n

TAKE

Content is king. Keep it fresh.

The main draw to any website or blog is up-to-date information that serves customers’ needs. “You have to give them good content to keep them coming back,” Ramus says. “Many agents have static Web pages that are all about, ‘I’m a million-dollar producer; look at my fancy hair and clothes.’ Instead of being about the agent and how great you are, your focus should be all about the consumer and the information they need. But it’s a trap a lot of agents fall into.”

Content might be king, but creating that content, making it interesting and relevant, and keeping it fresh — without turning it into a full-time job — is a challenge. “I found the key to generating

content is to find something you love doing and turn that into a way to attract customers,” says Maura Neill, CRS, with the Gebhardt Group at RE/MAX Around Atlanta. “If you’ve got things in common with your readers, they’re more likely to hire you or send business your way.”

But when Neill launched her primary website, 365Atlanta.com, she tried to write every single day about events happening in her area. After a year, she swore she’d never do that again. “It took over my life,” she says. “I’d wake up at 3 a.m. in a blind panic because I realized I hadn’t written anything for the next day.”

Ultimately, Neill learned she didn’t have to post every single day to keep visitors coming back.

Even if you’re not the world’s greatest writer, you can still post something at least two to three times a week, says Linda Davis, CRS, with the RE/MAX Realty Group in Gales Ferry, Conn. Davis has developed a system. “Each weekend I post a market update, on Mondays I try to share a mortgage/finance post from another blog or website with attribution, and on Fridays I usually just post a nice or fun photo of my community,” she says.

“I make up for my lack of writing skills with my creativity.”

Greg Dallaire, CRS, principal of Dallaire Realty in Green Bay, Wis., relies on video to keep his website fresh. He regularly posts brief clips of customer testimonials, real estate tutorials and property tours on his primary real estate site and on his YouTube channel, Green Bay Real Estate, which links to his main site. He also maintains a more informal YouTube channel, Things to Do in Green Bay, featuring video visits to pubs, restaurants and other local attractions.

Dallaire says his videos get more views than his website. The videos on his main YouTube channel have garnered 40,000 views, plus another 11,000 on his secondary YouTube site, versus 7,000 for greenbaygreg.com.

Erica Ramus, CRS

20 | May/June 2012

Fresh content will quickly grow stale if a site is poorly designed and tough to find.

Less is almost always more, Dallaire says.

“Everything comes down to easy navigation,” he says. “You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to search for homes on your site.”

That’s because consumers who visit real estate websites tend to be fickle, and they do not necessarily know what they are looking for or how to find it. Steven A. Lowe, CEO of Innovator, a consulting and custom software development firm, says, “Web visitors don’t read; they skim.”

“They generally come to the site with a specific purpose or question in mind, and if they don’t find what they’re looking for in a few seconds, they leave.”

He adds that people tend to read Web pages in an F-shaped pattern — scanning twice horizontally and once vertically down a page. Sites that feature lots of white space, strong and descriptive headlines and

Bill Cramer/Wonderful Machine

Keep the design simple.

A GROWING WEB PRESENCE According to the 2011 NAR Member Profile: • The typical REALTOR® spent $250 to maintain a website in 2010.

• The typical member brought in three inquiries and 3 percent of their business via their website.

• Brokers tend to spend more on their websites, while sales agents tend to spend the least.

• REALTORS® who spent the most on their websites also received the highest number of inquiries and the largest percentage of their overall business from website traffic.

• 62 percent of REALTORS® have a website.

• 10 percent of REALTORS® have a blog.

subheads, and visual pointers such as bullet points tend to do a better job of keeping readers’ attention.

Make it useful.

Another essential, if obvious, function of a successful real estate site is providing access to an MLS search engine where buyers can plug in criteria to find out what homes are available for sale in a given area. For example, each of the Ramus Group’s niche sites (for commercial real estate, rental markets, appraisal services and HUD sales) points to the primary site where an IDX search service resides.

Beyond that, though, the rules vary.

While it’s key to include information about taxes, inspections and other more traditional real estate topics, successful REALTOR® sites can also serve primarily as community hubs where potential homebuyers can get a feel for both an area and an agent.

Neill serves up Atlanta-area restaurant reviews, gallery openings and previews of upcoming events, among other things, at 365Atlanta.com, where she is better known as a writer than a REALTOR®. With just one click, however, visitors to this site can reach her listings and the IDX database for her brokerage, as well as read her Twitter feed and find her Facebook page.

Because she’s known as a local blogger, Neill receives free invitations to events in the hope she’ll write about them,

providing a nice perk for her and a great way to network with potential clients.

“Twenty-five percent of my business last year came in via the site or from people I met at events I attended because of the site,” she says. “It has paid for itself many times over.”

Seek professional help.

Even for self-described “ultra-geeks” like Dallaire, building and managing a site can be challenging. That’s why he and many other REALTORS® hire professional Web designers and developers. “I understand basic Web tools and techniques, but I needed to get away from website management and focus on selling real estate,” he says. “Most REALTORS® who know less than I do [about Web design] can’t handle it.”

Ramus, on the other hand, recently took back the management of her sites from a real-estate-specific service provider after spending a year mastering Wordpress, the open-source content management and blogging tool. Since then, she says, her Web traffic has increased fivefold, in part because she posts fresh content more easily and uses Google Analytics to figure out which posts resonate with her readers.

Agents who work with an outside firm should make sure the designers understand how to optimize the site so it ranks higher in Google search results, advises Kari DePhillips, owner of The Content

Factory in Pittsburgh, which provides ghost-written content for multiple real estate sites.

“When you hire someone to build your site, you need to make sure they really understand search engine optimization (SEO) — how to create site maps and optimize different elements on each page using the right keywords for your business,” she says. But not all self-styled SEO experts know their stuff. “More than 70 percent of our clients have hired someone to do their SEO who didn’t know what they were doing.”

Her advice: Ask to see examples of sites the designer has built and analyze them using tools such as SEO Site Checkup, which can identify obvious flaws that may lower your search engine rank. “It’ll tell you what’s missing,” she says. “And even if you don’t know what that missing thing is, you’ll know that the designer should have put it in and didn’t.”

Just don’t give them the keys to the kingdom, Lowe warns. “Be wary of letting any third party control all of your Web assets, and insist on having frequent full backups in your possession, in case you need to change providers or recover from a data disaster,” he says. “I never recommend outsourcing total control of marketing to a third party. No one knows and loves your business more than you do, so stay involved.”

Keep the focus on the customer.

Every website could use a little help from its friends. Ramus and Dallaire agree that linking to their sites from popular destinations like ActiveRain, Facebook and YouTube drives traffic and boosts an agent’s visibility online. Active Twitter feeds and postings on Craigslist that link back to agents’ websites can play a key role in attracting eyeballs as well.

Ultimately, however, it all comes back to the value of the information agents provide to clients and potential clients.

REALTORS® who embrace their role as skilled information providers, in addition to their role as real estate experts, will reap the rewards.

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

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22 | May/June 2012

Brand New Images/Getty Images

Y

Helping

Gen Buy Reaching young buyers through technology — and their parents.

By Daniel Rome Levine

If there’s one thing Amy Gamble, CRS, knows about Generation Y, it’s that when these 20-somethings want an answer, they want it now. The words “I’ll have to get that information to you when I get back to the office” don’t pass her lips when working with these buyers. “They don’t want to wait for stuff; they want it right then,” says Gamble, a broker at Leigh Brown and Associates, RE/MAX Executive Realty in Charlotte, N.C. “They want immediate gratification.” www.crs.com | 2 3

Gamble satisfies this generation’s insatiable appetite for instant information with her go-to tool: the iPad. During a showing, she uses the device to display comparisons of the property to other homes in the area and to pull up details on any of them, such as current list prices, recent sales activity, lot measurements and room sizes.

She also routinely uses Around Me, an iPad app that generates a map to display the exact distance from a home to grocery stores, bars, restaurants and other nearby points of interest. Sometimes, she uses her iPad’s mortgage calculator app to show clients the tax savings they can enjoy by living in nearby South Carolina, and she once even used her iPad to persuade clients not to buy a home. The couple loved a property they were considering buying, but Gamble was convinced its proximity to a local landfill would reduce its resale value and perhaps present other problems down the road. The couple was not heeding her warnings about how close the landfill was to the home so she showed them a Google Earth satellite photo on her iPad to drive the point home. That did the trick. “Showing is so much more powerful than telling,” Gamble says. Using an iPad “definitely helps me connect with them and allows me to gain their trust and confidence.”

By understanding the unique dynamics of this younger generation and working to meet their needs and expectations, REALTORS® can establish themselves as trusted advisers. But agents must remember that young homebuyers’ parents often play a role in the home-buying process.

24 | May/June 2012

Key Gen Y Characteristics • Born between 1977 and 1995. Ages range from 17 to 35.

• Tend to prefer urban or gentrified neighborhoods and are realistic and pragmatic when making home-buying decisions.

• Technology-savvy. Prefer instant communication technologies such as email, texting, instant messaging and communicating through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

• Expect instant access to information.

• Have a strong bond with parents and place high value on their opinions.

Sources: Travis Robertson, Gen Y expert, author, business strategist and lecturer, Newport Beach, Calif., www.travisrobertson.com. Nellie Arrington, Long & Foster Real Estate, Columbia, Md.

REALTORS® who use the latest technology and social media tools to their fullest, while handling parents effectively, are likely to win young clients who will remain with them for a lifetime.

The Reasons Y With more than 80 million members, Gen Y (those born between approximately 1977 and 1995) is the largest generation in world history, and it represents a vast pool of potential first-time homebuyers that REALTORS® cannot afford to ignore. More and more of these young people, also known as Millennials, are giving up their rental apartments and moving out of mom and dad’s house to take advantage of depressed housing prices and low interest rates to buy a place of their own, Gamble says.

A 2011 Trulia survey of more than 2,000 people confirms this desire: It found that 88 percent of 18- to 34-yearolds aspire to be homeowners. “This new generation of buyers will likely

play a crucial role in stabilizing today’s uncertain real estate market,” the survey concludes.

For its 2010 report, “Generation Y: America’s Next Housing Wave,” the Urban Land Institute surveyed more than 1,200 Gen Yers and found that more than 80 percent said they expected to own a single-family home by 2015.

Concluded the report: “Gen Y generates — and will continue to generate — enormous consumer demand. Even if only 2 percent choose to live in manufactured housing, for example, that amounts to 1.5 million residents. For years to come, Gen Yers will generate market potential for every residential product except housing for seniors.”

As Gamble has figured out, when working with Gen Y clients, it’s important to establish your understanding of technology, as well as social media. You don’t have to know as much as your 25-year-old client, or have thousands of Twitter followers or be an avid Facebook

user, but you do have to understand this world and be at ease in it, says Travis Robertson, a California-based business strategist and author who for more than a decade has been advising REALTORS® and businesses on how to connect with this key demographic group. “More than anything, what Gen Y wants from a REALTOR® is someone who is comfortable with technology and really understands the need for instant access to information,” Robertson says. “That is one of the most fundamental characteristics of this generation.”

Parental Bonds A survey of 3,000 members of Gen Y conducted by marketing firm Euro RSCG Worldwide last year found that parents ranked as this generation’s most trusted source of information, above friends, the Internet and traditional media. The survey further found that 60 percent relied on their parents for advice and information and that 90 percent desired their parents’ trust.

“That bond is huge,” says Robertson, who, at 34, is a Gen Yer himself who has bought two houses and each time relied heavily on the advice of his parents. “When [Gen Yers] go looking for a house, their parents will have the largest influence on that decision. This generation does not make decisions in a vacuum.”

Having parents play such a prominent role in the home-buying process can present challenges for REALTORS®, says Nellie Arrington, CRS, of Long & Foster

Real Estate in Columbia, Md. Arrington, who has two Gen Y daughters in their 20s, understands parents’ temptation to try to take over and control the homebuying process, especially when so many of them may be financially backing the purchase. “It’s a tightrope walk,” she says of trying to work directly with Gen Y buyers and treat them like responsible adults while also managing their parents’ concerns.

Arrington avoids problems with parents by setting clear expectations at the beginning of the home-buying process.

Before anything else, she schedules a 90-minute pre-purchase counseling session for Gen Y buyers and their parents to establish that the buyer’s wishes come first. “It’s important to set up the dynamic up front,” she says.

At this meeting, she builds trust with both parties by telling them that not only has she worked with many young first-time buyers, but she bought her first house when she was 26 and she helped one of her daughters buy her first home two years ago.

Then, always directly addressing the buyer to clearly establish them as the primary decision maker, she stresses that they are buying their first home for themselves, not for their parents or for her, and that while she and their parents are both going to give suggestions, it is important that the final choice be theirs. They must feel comfortable with the decision. “This sets the tone without having to directly address the parents,” Arrington says.

Janine R. Seibert, CRS, with Iowa Realty in Des Moines, takes a different approach and focuses on the parents. She finds that most Gen Y buyers have done extensive Internet research on a home, and they are usually “75 percent sold before they even walk in the door,” she says. The key to getting to a 100 percent sure sale is convincing the parents that the home is right, she says.

Seibert gets Gen Y buyers’ parents on her side by taking advantage of the fact that they are often her age and by talking about similar life and child-raising experiences they may have had. Like Arrington, she always mentions that she has a Gen Y child who she recently helped through a home purchase, and she tries to build a personal relationship with them by telling family stories and asking about such things as where they are from and how they met.

“You gain trust by sharing back and forth as adult parents,” she says. “Bonding with them is very often the key to getting the ball rolling and, ultimately, closing a deal.”

And that is every agent’s ultimate objective, whether their clients are in their 20s or their 60s. Knowing the unique dynamics of working with this younger generation and understanding their needs and expectations can establish agents as trusted advisers who can guide inexperienced buyers through their first transaction — and help them with additional transactions in the future.

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

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To stage or not to stage a vacant home?

E R A B S E I T I S S E C E N s e d u L a n i g

By Re

26 | May/June 2012

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Max Krasnov/Veer

S

“Some people might say that staging distressed properties is a waste of time because the bank will [eventually] control the sale,” says Patricia Lozano, CRS, with Windermere Real Estate in Post Falls, Idaho, and a certified stager since 2008. “That’s true to a point, but just because a home is a short sale doesn’t mean the seller doesn’t need help presenting it in the best light,” she says. Decluttering, cleaning and repainting costs very little to owners and shows pride of ownership, Lozano adds.

According to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, distressed sales — short sales and foreclosures — accounted for 34 percent of all real estate transactions in February 2012. Nearly 1.78 million vacant U.S. homes were for sale at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

While a majority of these vacant homes are distressed, many are not, including vacation and rental properties. Many agents believe vacant homes, distressed or not, require the same effort when preparing them for the market as occupied homes. While some agents believe minimal staging can present a vacant home in a better light, others say basic cleaning and repainting will work just fine. One thing agents agree on is that homes that are prepared for the market will appeal to more buyers and will list at a higher sale price than homes that are not market-ready.

Playing Dress Up According to the Real Estate Staging Association, staging is the process of preparing a property for sale by setting the scene throughout the house to create immediate buyer interest. Proponents say it’s a proven way to increase the chances of the property selling in a timely manner.

But some agents believe staging goes beyond just decluttering, cleaning and repainting. “Staging is more about the use of props,” says Julie Beall, CRS, with Irongate REALTORS® in Springboro, Ohio, near Dayton. “When buyers see a staged home, it’s not necessarily the way they would live there, but it’s the way buyers need to see it.”

And that can be hard to do in an empty home with no furnishings. Whether distressed or non-distressed, “vacant homes are dismal and lifeless, especially in the winter months,” Lozano says. To spruce them up, she adds artwork and accent pieces, kitchen and bath accessories, and a few pieces of furniture throughout the home. Near the front door, she places a

DIY

ROI

DIY Home Improvements

“St a g in g wo n ’ t ma t t er if t h e h o me is o ve rp rice d t o b eg in w it h . ” —Pa t ricia L ozan o, CRS new welcome mat and puts live potted plants on the front porch, “anything to bring more life to the home,” she says.

Since there are no furniture rental retailers in her area and she owns few pieces of furniture, Lozano encourages sellers to leave behind any furniture they plan to donate so she can repurpose for staging.

When working with short sales, time is not on sellers’ side, says Lozano. With only a two- to four-month window before the bank begins the foreclosure process, Lozano knows she must work quickly to get the property staged, on the market and sold. “Once the home goes into foreclosure, it does not compete as well with other properties on the market.” By comparison, Lozano says Fannie Mae foreclosures in her market sell faster even though they are only cleaned and repainted, but not staged.

As short sales become more commonplace, Lozano thinks sellers will expect real estate agents to offer expert staging advice and services. But she cautions that staging is not an end-all solution. “Staging won’t matter if the home is overpriced to begin with,” Lozano says.

Stand Out “It used to be that there was a stigma attached to a vacant home,” says Amy Broghamer, CRS, with Keller Williams Advisors Realty in Cincinnati and co-

Cost

Benefit

ROI

Clean and Declutter

$402

$2,024

403%

Lighten & Brighten

$424

$1,690

299%

Electrical & Plumbing

$807

$3,175

293%

Landscaping

$564

$1,777

215%

Staging

$724

$2,144

196%

Carpet

$671

$1,746

160%

Floors

$902

$1,897

110%

Paint Interior

$967

$2,001

107%

Kitchen & Bathroom

$1,957

$3,254

66%

Paint Exterior

$1,406

$2,176

55%

Source: HomeGain survey of real estate agents 2012

28 | May/June 2012

Quick Fixes Looking for quick fixes to prepare a vacant home for sale?

Amy Broghamer, CRS, suggests the following first steps to get a home ready for the market.

1. Hire a professional cleaning crew to clean the house, inside and out.

2. If you don’t plan to stage the home, have the carpet deep-cleaned or replaced.

Creative Crop/Getty Images

facilitator of the recent CRS webinar, Staging, Selling, Sold! “But staging can help differentiate a [non-distressed] vacant home from a short sale or foreclosure.”

A short sale property might have lighting and carpeting, but sometimes it doesn’t, Broghamer explains. “If a property is vacant, most people assume it’s a distressed sale. But I don’t want people to think that my listing is distressed just because there is nothing in it. By placing a few items in the home, I can distinguish it from distressed properties,” she says.

Broghamer believes vacant homes can benefit from minimal staging in several ways. For one thing, staging distracts buyers from a home’s imperfections. By strategically placing greenery, furniture and accent pieces, Broghamer says buyers are less likely to notice the cracks in the walls or the scuff marks on the floor.

Staging creates an emotional connection with buyers. For example, buyers who have formed a bond with the home will sit on the furniture, Broghamer says, while an unfurnished home will not create that emotional connection. Also, many stagers use popular items from mainstream retailers to furnish properties, so when buyers recognize an item that is similar to something they own, they think ‘these people must be like me,’ Broghamer says.

Staging also exhibits creative uses of space, especially for small or oddly shaped rooms. For example, if a bedroom seems too small to hold a complete bedroom set, Broghamer stages the room to show that it can.

But not all REALTORS® believe staging vacant homes is necessary. In Dayton, Ohio, where 30 percent of homes for sale are vacant, Beall says agents shouldn’t shy away from showing vacant listings. “Because there are so many vacant homes on the market, buyers aren’t as startled when they see them. Vacant homes are easier to walk into, easier to show and easier to see what the buyers can create. They also appear bigger,” says Beall, who co-presented the CRS webinar, Staging, Selling, Sold! Preparing vacant homes for the market is more important

3. Give all the rooms a fresh coat of paint.

4. Put a lamp in every room with timers so lights can turn on and off at different times. That way, buyers won’t need to search for light switches in dark rooms.

5. In a non-distressed property, keep the rooms at a comfortable temperature.

than staging them, so sellers should make sure the property is in pristine condition, down to dusting light bulbs and fixtures, she says.

For distressed properties that may still be occupied, Beall follows the “first two sets of 30 seconds” rule. “Buyers will form an opinion of a home while walking up to the front door, then again once inside the home,” explains Beall. These are the best opportunities for agents and sellers to impress would-be buyers. Make sure to mow the lawn, edge and trim along the sidewalk, and repaint the front door, Beall advises. Inside the home, remove pictures and knickknacks so buyers can view the interior more clearly. “Prices are still falling in our market, so I tell sellers that whatever they put into the home, they may not get back, but at least the home will sell faster,” Beall says.

Get Real Jack Cotton, CRS, with Sotheby’s International Realty in Osterville, Mass.,

doesn’t like to use the word staging — he believes the staging process is too contrived. “In the market we are in now, which is already very challenging, buyers are cynical, and resistant to being played and manipulated,” Cotton says. “Agents try too hard to create an atmosphere, but you don’t have to build a fire for an open house just to show off the fireplace.”

While it’s important to make a home showing-ready, some agents and stagers can go too far by overstaging a property, which raises red flags for some buyers, says Cotton. When he escorted a young buyer couple to a beautiful $2 million home in a new development a year ago, the home was staged with freshly baked apple pie, a fire blazing in the fireplace and classical music softly playing. When Cotton’s buyers returned several days later to the same setup, warning bells went off in their heads. “The buyers were distracted by the staging and felt the builder was trying to hide something. The couple eventually bought the home, but it took extra work www.crs.com | 2 9

13.9% of all housing units in the United States were vacant at the end of the fourth quarter of 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

for me to prove to them that the builder wasn’t hiding anything.”

Cotton gives every seller a copy of his 27-page handbook, The Black Book for Market Preparation, which outlines all the tasks they must complete to get their home show-ready. The handbook includes space for sellers to write notes about specific tasks and how they will be completed. Even for homes that need minimal work, Cotton says the checklist reveals areas that need addressing. “For a home that’s worth $1 million, the checklist means an extra $30,000 to $40,000 price increase,” Cotton says.

30 | May/June 2012

In Cotton’s opinion, a home doesn’t need all the bells and whistles in order to sell; it just needs to “look loved.” To demonstrate his point, Cotton tells the story of two homes that came on the market at the same time at the same price point. Both homes overlooked the same river and both needed a lot of work. One home sold in two weeks, the other sold in 18 months.

The difference, Cotton says, is that the house that sold looked loved, while the other looked neglected.

“The house that sold showed well. It was clean, there was no peeling paint and

nothing was broken. It still needed new air conditioning and a new furnace, but people visiting the home could tell it was loved because it was cared for. If sellers don’t love their house, how will other people learn to love it?” he says.

Staging a vacant home may not be necessary in some circumstances, but a thorough cleaning and fresh paint job can show potential buyers how they can love it as their own.

Regina Ludes is the associate editor of The Residential Specialist.

Ojo Images/Glow Images

A home doesn ’ t n e ed all t h e b e lls and whistles in ord er t o sell. It ju st need s t o loo k loved .

IN THE

KNOW REALTORS速 who establish a reputation as local experts can set themselves up for long-term success.

Good REALTORS速 can offer the comps for any property, recommend lenders without reaching for a Rolodex and quote market statistics all day long. But is that really enough?

Not for agents like Sharon Simms, CRS, with ALVA International in St. Petersburg, Fla. She believes that serving her clients includes being a local expert who knows, appreciates and promotes everything a community has to offer.

32 | May/June 2012

Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty Images

B Y M A RY E L L E N C O L L I N S

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Sharon Simms, CRS, mixes St. Petersburg, Fla., real estate information with news about restaurant openings and charity events.

Simms writes an eclectic blog, florida.ssimms.com, that mixes real estate information with news about restaurant openings and charity events, along with posts that tout honors and accomplishments. For example, she has written about St. Petersburg being named a top 10 U.S. city for cycling and about a local private school becoming the first Cousteau Diving School in the country.

A St. Petersburg-based REALTOR® since 1986, Simms sees her blog content as a natural extension of her personal interactions with potential clients.

“I think it’s the same as when you are face to face. I have to sell potential buyers the area and the lifestyle. We think we live in paradise and there are so many things about the area that we want to share. …

It’s not just about sharing a bunch of properties. People can go to Realtor.com for that.”

To some agents, focusing their efforts on anything but winning listings and marketing properties might seem like a waste of energy, resources and time. But for others, establishing and positioning themselves as knowledgeable local experts is the very foundation of a successful business and a natural extension of their brand. To make that strategy work, however, takes diligence and a commitment to becoming the agent everyone calls when they’re looking for a good contractor, loan officer, dry cleaner or restaurant.

REALTORS® who achieve such top-of-mind awareness will have a leg up on the competition.

Get Out “Where can you find a better place to have a relationship-building business than in your own community?” asks Richard Waystack, CRS, SRES, with Team Waystack Realty in Harwich, Mass. “I love my community, and being hyperlocal allows you to establish lifelong 34 | May/June 2012

relationships that let you establish lifelong clients,” says Waystack, who has lived and focused his business in Harwich, one of 13 Cape Cod communities, for 24 years.

The first step to being hyperlocal is getting off the sidelines. Becoming active in a mix of real estate and non-real-estate organizations — leadership roles in the Chamber of Commerce and networking organizations such as the BNI referral network, which puts agents in the loop with local decision makers, successful business owners, and others who are privy to news in the making — is a logical first step.

Waystack also suggests developing relationships with bankers, bank attorneys, and employees of city hall and the fire and police departments. In other words, it pays to know people who might be able to help a future client who asks: “I’m thinking of moving here. Who should I talk to?” He also recommends staying abreast of community issues by participating in groups that address them, as he does through his memberships on his local Board of Assessors, the Real Estate and Open Space Committee, the Middle School Re-Purpose Committee, the Asset Management Committee, and the Community Development Committee.

Be a Good Neighbor Nonprofit organizations are often a point of pride for a community, and getting involved in promoting the good work they do as a volunteer is another great way for agents to establish themselves as local experts.

“When you volunteer, people see you in a different way because you’re not always looking for business — you’re giving back,” says Nancy Venuti, CRS, with Keller Williams Realty in Grants Pass, Ore. In addition to being an active member of the local Rotary Club, she says, “I’ve had a moving truck for 10 years, which we donate to our clients as well as local nonprofits. I’m the only REALTOR® in the area who has one. Really being part of your community is not only good for

your soul, but people will get to know you and trust you.”

Linda Rehwalt, CRS, with RE/MAX Professionals in Anthem, Ariz., is particularly passionate about participating in Hands Across Anthem, a charity that assists local residents who have experienced catastrophic life-threatening illness or the sudden loss of a child or spouse.

“Real estate is my bread and butter, but it’s not just about houses,” she says. “The community isn’t just about stucco, wood frames and rooftops. It’s about people’s lives, dreams and futures. It’s about all of us caring. It gives me satisfaction to know that I’m not just pushing houses. I’m showing that my community is important to me.”

Make It Known Like most real estate websites, Rehwalt’s site includes links to her local Chamber of Commerce and lists of schools, hospitals, churches and entertainment venues. But she goes the extra mile with an extensive interactive site, www.85086news.com. It includes local job listings, classified ads, an Anthem message board and a community calendar on which local residents can post information about upcoming events.

“People who are buying a house have a lot of questions, and they want to work with a local expert,” she says. “I get 5,000 hits a month. People call me to talk about selling their home, and they’ll say they’ve been watching that website for years, and that’s why they called.”

Rehwalt also sought high-visibility advertising space on the back cover of Images AZ, a monthly local lifestyle magazine distributed to offices, coffee shops and 35,000 homes in North Phoenix. “I’ve been on the back cover since they started 10 years ago. When I heard that this lady was going to start this magazine, I called and said I wanted exclusivity on the back cover.

And then I drove to her house with my checkbook because I didn’t want anyone to get it before I did. … When the market went south and a lot of REALTORS® took

their ads out of the magazine, there was a time when I was the only REALTOR® on it — on the back cover. My dentist once said to me, ‘I’d love to have that back cover,’ and I said, ‘You’re gonna have to wait for me to die.’ ”

Always Have the Answer Agents who manage to get established as local experts will know they’ve arrived when they find themselves answering questions that are well out of the realm of their experience.

“We had one client in the buying process who needed to find a dog psychologist,” says Simms.

“It took a little research, but we found one. We sold a home to a couple last fall, and the wife called a couple of weeks ago and said, ‘There’s a snake outside on the patio! What should I do?’

We called the city and figured out who was going to go and remove the snake. This all goes back to the fact that real estate is all about life, community, and everything you experience.

“We tell our clients, whenever you want to know anything, call us,” Simms says. “That’s part of what builds an ongoing relationship. You don’t sell a person’s home that often, but this keeps the relationship alive.”

Becoming a local expert isn’t difficult, and it offers multiple rewards in terms of business, relationships and personal satisfaction. For Waystack, who knows almost everyone in his town of 12,000, the only downside to being well known is, “You’re always on. When my wife and I want to go out to dinner, we usually go to the next town over. Either that, or you get the table in the corner, not the one by the door.”

Linda Rehwalt, CRS, in Anthem, Ariz., keeps North Phoenix residents — and buyers and sellers — plugged in to what’s happening.

Mary Ellen Collins is a 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

the artful flogger A Harvard MBA explores the “moral complexities and emotional challenges” of an overlooked art form: selling something to a fellow human being.

Reviewed by Allan Fallow

The Art of the Sale: Learning From the Masters About the Business of Life

by Philip Delves Broughton Penguin Press 288 pages, $27.95

36 | May/June 2012

It’s painful to recall my first and last attempt to work in sales. It was the summer of 1971, and my mother was “actively encouraging” her 16-year-old son to get a job that would help pay for college. The only one I could find was hawking newspaper subscriptions by phone from a Glengarry Glen Ross-style boiler room, where scripted conversations papered the walls above cramped carrels and massive, menacing desk phones.

Adopting a sales pitch best characterized as apologetic, I managed to sell three subscriptions in four hours, earning a total of $2.40 in commissions. I quit at the end of that first shift.

Philip Broughton had a likewise traumatic encounter with the calling, he reveals in The Art of the Sale. A former foreign correspondent who relayed his experiences at Harvard Business School in Ahead of the Curve (2008), Broughton was so bad at sales that he grew obsessed with discovering how salespeople handle the rejection endemic to their work: “On the few occasions in my life when I have had to sell,” he admits, “I have hated it.” Just how hopeless was the author? “Tell me to ask for money,” he confesses, “and most likely I’ll disappear to the bathroom, lock the door, and not reappear until you’ve gone.”

The levity serves a larger purpose, for few civilians grasp how vital — how intricate — is the salesperson’s calling. The subject has been scandalously ignored by, among others, business academics, who rarely require classes in it to earn an MBA. (When the author asked his Harvard

professor to explain sales, the instructor suggested he could learn all he needed in a two-week night course.) Yet as The Art of the Sale makes clear, there’s no more crucial function in business: Sales jobs outnumber those in manufacturing, marketing and finance combined. Thus Broughton gets understandably agitated when he considers that most popular treatments of “this most fascinating of professions” tend to reduce it to blithely packaged tips, tricks and 10 “simple” steps.

Resilience Observed If all this makes Broughton sound like the savior of a disrespected art, he’d probably relish the label. More lies are told about selling than any other facet of business life, he claims. To observe the salesperson in his or her natural habitat, he therefore “went in search of some truths,” roaming far and wide in a bid to apprehend selling “as a human practice, common across peoples and businesses. The traits required to sell (resilience, conviction, persistence, and likability) are needed not just in business, but in life.”

One of the author’s first stops was at the medina, or bazaar, in Tangier, Morocco, where a rug and jewelry merchant named Abdel Majid Rais El Fenni has risen far above his competitors. With Elizabeth Taylor and Catherine Deneuve among his satisfied customers, Majid “has sold to rock stars and ritzy hoteliers the world over. If you’re rich and you want a North African feel to your home, you come to Majid.”

Broughton credits this sterling sales record to Majid’s uncanny ability to “read” a customer and his unspoken desires before deciding how to approach that particular buyer. As Broughton watches Majid interact with often rude or dismissive customers in his shop — a boorish American derides rare amber from Mauritania as plastic — he marvels at the carapace to rejection the merchant has evolved. Such resilience is “an essential trait for salespeople,” says Broughton: The ability to maintain one’s poise in the face of bad news is crucial for “anyone who survives each day hearing ‘no’ more often than ‘yes.’ ” REALTORS® may also find validation in Broughton’s look at the work of Columbia University psychologist George Bonnano and others, who are proving that humans are far more resilient than once believed: “Among great salespeople, this acceptance of rejection and failure [is] essential to building the muscles necessary for eventual success. They do not avoid rejection, but see it as a vaccine that strengthens their ability to resist the personal battering inevitable in a life in sales.”

Other stops on Broughton’s world tour included: • London and New York, where he tries to divine the sales secrets of contemporary art dealer Larry Gagosian.

• Hartford, Conn., where he and 600 fellow acolytes attend a sermon by sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer, who faults REALTORS® for “qualifying sales leads” when they should be simply making friends: “ ‘Make a sale, earn a commission,’ goes one of his Git Bits. ‘Make a friend, earn a fortune.’ ” • Baltimore, where he shadows a savvy housing contractor and Mexican immigrant named Guillermo “Memo” Ramirez in a bid to determine how sales can be The Great Social Leveler. “I am the punching bag,” Ramirez matter-of-factly informs the author.

“To be a good salesman, you have to be good at taking the blows, dealing with other people’s problems.”

Real Estate Redux In Tampa, Fla., Broughton pauses just long enough to profile British-born infomercial host Tony “Sully” Sullivan, star of the

“A m o n g g r ea t sale sp e o p le , t h is ac c e p t a n c e o f r eje c t ion a n d fa ilu r e [ is] e sse n t ia l t o b u ild in g t h e m u scles n e c essa r y f o r ev en t u a l su c c ess. ” reality TV show PitchMen and inheritor of the mantle of Billy Mays, who died in 2009. (Lest you rush to judge Sullivan a huckster, bear in mind that he also teaches “entrepreneurial engineering” at Princeton.) The author’s take on this particular species of salespeople — “an exotic collection of carnival barkers and soapbox seducers, the night owls of cable television” — abounds with insights.

There’s French corporate psychologist Clotaire Rapaille, for example, who dubs successful salespeople “happy losers,” greeting each new rejection as a stepping stone on their way to an inevitable win.

Whether you rely on real estate for your living or not, the standout story in Broughton’s dissection of the sales pitch has to be the tale of how Sullivan — the son of a father who rented one-armed bandits to pub owners in Devon, England — made his first sale by (wait for it) selling his parents’ house at the tender age of 9: “The estate agent came round with these prospective buyers, but my parents weren’t in, so I showed them around.” There was a narrow flight of stairs up to the playroom, which [the young Tony Sullivan] urged his visitors to climb. He took them out to see the tree house. It turned out they had young children too. “I took them all around the yard and showed them everything I loved about the house. I remember telling them I didn’t want to move because it was such a great house, but my parents had to move.”

The couple bought the house and the real estate agent told Sullivan’s parents, “ Your son sold your house for you.”

Residential specialists behave nowhere near that nobly in the rest of the book, I’m afraid. Topping the author’s short list of

“salespeople I have loathed” is “the REALTOR® who sold me my house.” This individual’s “evasions, distortions, and delays,” fumes Broughton, “befuddled the already torturous process of home buying to such a degree that as I crossed the finish line of closing, I wanted to leave him smeared with honey in bear-infested woods.”

But The Art of the Sale is a balanced book and Broughton a fair-minded reporter, so we also get a positive portrait of the top real-estate agent in horsey Litchfield County, Conn. Since starting her real-estate career in 1979, Carolyn Klemm has sold nearly $2 billion worth of houses in this market. Broughton captures the dynamo in action — “in her late 60s, recently widowed, wearing a bright pink jacket, puffing on a Benson & Hedges cigarette, throwing her arm around shoulders far higher than her own, and talking nonstop” — making it easy to accept his judgment that “selling real estate is an extension of [Klemm’s] voracious social appetite and professional ambition.”

Like the other sales tales Broughton collected for the book, this story advances his deeper aim: to understand the heart and mind of the successful salesperson.

And that’s no mean feat for an occupation “awash in feelings of fear and insecurity,” where even the top dogs struggle to explain how they ply their trade. Exalting sales as “a concentrated version of life itself,” Broughton comes away from his study of the craft convinced that to succeed in sales, you must believe that “what you do is consistent with who you are. … [Y]ou must manage [internal and external conflicts] to the point where you feel … that your life and your business are intertwined.”

Don’t call The Art of the Sale a mere business book, then. Call it a wonderfully written, richly anecdotal journey into the very soul of the salesperson. Philip Broughton may have set out to examine a breed of exotic creatures who embrace failure as a motivational trigger, but he winds up like an admiring anthropologist throwing objectivity to the winds: “It’s a miracle anyone can do this job.”

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

www.crs.com | 3 7

NAR 2012 in Orlando

Referral Story

Course Listings

p. 39

p. 40

p. 44

inside CRS N E W S

F R O M

T H E

C O U N C I L

UCI Official Receives International Honor

F

ernando Garcia Erviti, CRS, of Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios (UCI) has received recognition from ACEGI (Asociación Canaria de Gestores Inmobiliarios), an association of real estate professionals in the Canary Islands, for his contributions to the development and modernization of real estate in Spain and its territories.

Garcia Erviti, who co-authored the book Sold, which documents the real estate profession in the United States, traveled throughout Spain and the Canary Islands to present ideas from the book and discuss the current state of the real estate business. He also promoted the development of a more unified, modern and professional industry.

ACEGI was formed in 2008 after one of Garcia Erviti’s sessions, and it is now the largest local real estate association in Spain with more than 100 member companies and more than 500 brokers and agents. Garcia Erviti, a CRS-certified REAP (Real Estate Advanced Practices) trainer, has presented the course in the Canary Islands twice since the organization’s inception.

“It was a great honor to receive this award. It is a testimonial of the great impact that CRS is giving in the real estate industry in Spain, bringing the best practices and highest standards to agents,” says Garcia Erviti.

38 | May/June 2012

contacts and influences in Europe and He says that despite significant vice versa. differences in the real estate practices ACEGI is established in the three in the United States compared to main Canary Islands — Gran Canaria, other nations, “we always share other Tenerife and Lanzarote. Much of the key factors, such as centering on the real estate business conducted on the clients and the service, accountability, Canary Islands is international, with strategies and so many other practices buyers and sellers hailing from Central that can be quickly put into place.”

Europe, Britain and Russia. Many That desire to improve as real estate of its agents and brokers are from professionals is one big reason CRS Germany, the United Kingdom, the education has been so valuable to Netherlands and Russia. agents affiliated with ACEGI and UCI. UCI is a jointventure mortgage banking institution with branches in Spain, Portugal and Greece. The Council of Residential Specialists first entered into an alliance with Spainbased UCI in 2006 in an effort to help the Council expand its role and influence as a force for real estate education beyond U.S. borders. The alliance also sought to raise the bar of real estate education worldwide, while giving U.S.-based CRS members access to UCI’s Fernando Garcia Erviti, CRS

CRS Referral Directory Update

S

Courtesy of Disney

pring is in the air, and that means the Council will be updating member data for the print edition of the CRS Membership Referral Directory soon. In late May, CRS Designees can expect to receive a large envelope in the mail, requesting their updated contact information.

To take advantage of this popular networking opportunity, please complete and return the forms by June 15, 2012.

CRS encourages Designees to update their information online. Key

items to check and update include: mailing address; phone numbers; email addresses; website and blog addresses; and social media pages. Log in to www.crs.com with your email address and password to complete the electronic form. This is the easiest and quickest way to ensure the Council has your correct and up-to-date information.

The directory listings are always available online at www.crs.com.

CRS Designees who do not want to receive the print edition of the 2013

CRS Membership Referral Directory in the mail should log in to the CRS website with your email and password and follow the opt-out instructions on the electronic form. If you have any questions about the directory update process, please call CRS Customer Service at 800.462.8841.

Discover Magic — in Orlando

S

ave the date: The 2012 REALTORS® Conference & Expo returns to Orlando, Fla., Nov. 9–12, 2012, with CRS meetings Nov. 7–10.

The sessions and networking opportunities at the event could help you unlock the secrets to success in

your local market. Attendees can expect to find: • More than 100 expert speakers leading education sessions about today’s hot topics • More than 400 exhibitors all under one roof • 20,000 REALTORS® and guests from

around the country and the world • Special events, networking meetups, and more Don’t miss the biggest REALTOR® event of the year.

Registration opened May 3. Go to http://registration.experient-inc.com/ shownar122?affil=CRS for details.

www.crs.com | 3 9

inside CRS Personalize, Reproduce and Mail This Newsletter to Your Clients

Referral Story: Taking Care of Family

I

n 2006, when Debbie Brand’s daughter, Kristina, relocated from Portland, Ore., to Northern California for a new job near Walnut Creek, two CRSs helped her make the transition — one to sell her home in Portland and another to find a home in California. “She didn’t have a lot of time for the move,” recalls Debbie Brand, CRS, with Coldwell Banker Valley Brokers in Corvallis, Ore. “We pored over the online CRS directory together, looking at agents in the Walnut Creek area, their bios and websites.

Kristina was looking to see who she thought would best fit her style,” Brand says.

The Brands called on Linda Van Drent, CRS, with Coldwell Banker in Orinda, Calif. One of the first questions Van Drent asked Kristina was Debbie Brand, CRS “Do you have a place to stay?” It turns out Van Drent had a townhome where she lived part time, and she invited Kristina to stay there temporarily until she bought a home. “The fact that Linda opened her house to someone she did not know was amazing,” Brand says.

Brand’s daughter bought a little bungalow in Concord, Calif., only a 10-minute commute from her new job. She specifically wanted a yard for her dog to be able to run and play. “She was adamant she did not want to live in a small, converted apartment,” recalls Brand.

To sell Kristina’s home in Portland, Brand called on a CRS colleague, Eva Sanders, CRS, with The Meadows Group REALTORS®, whom Brand knew through her involvement with the Oregon CRS chapter. “Eva told Kristina everything she needed to do to get her home ready for sale. Kristina got three offers the first weekend it was listed, and there were several other homes for sale in the same neighborhood at that time,” Brand says.

Brand credits her involvement with the Oregon CRS chapter for helping her build valuable connections to a network of professionals who came through for her — and her daughter — when they were needed most.

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.

The Council of Residential Specialists’ annual educational conference, Sell-a-bration®, will be held Jan. 31 – Feb. 2, 2013, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Check www.crs.com for more details about the program and registration as the event approaches.

40 | May/June 2012

Nicholas Pitt/Getty

Save the Date: Sell-a-bration® 2013

* 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

MAY

2012

S E L L E R S

Kitchen Aid

P

antries come in all shapes and sizes, from walk-in pantries to slide-out drawers under your counters.

Some homes feature a built-in pantry, but for those that don’t, creating one can be easier than you think.

For a makeshift pantry, consider converting a kitchen closet or cabinet into a pantry by adding shelves throughout the space. If you have an empty wall in or just outside the kitchen, consider hiring professionals to break through the wall and install shelves and a door.

Once you’ve figured out where the new pantry will go, organization is the key to making it useful and efficient. Start by thinking about your cooking habits, and place frequently used items on an eye-level shelf for easy access. Always making cookies? Put flour, sugar and mixing equipment on this shelf. If you entertain often, consider installing a wine rack on a side of the pantry with party necessities, such as a corkscrew, bottle stopper and rows of wine glasses.

Store dry items, such as rice, noodles or cereal, in labeled glass jars to keep them dry and easily visible. Other goods, such as flour or sugar, can go into large tubs with lids that can be stored either on the floor or on a shelf. For snacks, such as chips or popcorn, consider hanging a shoe rack on the outside of the pantry door and putting the bags in the holders. Keep food from spoiling and avoid having to throw food away by keeping new items in the back of the pantry and moving older items to the front so they get used quickly. To keep your pantry well stocked, start a running grocery list to update when family members grab the last of its kind from the pantry.

F

Inside Out

our walls and a roof don’t necessarily make a home.

The new trend is for homeowners to take advantage of the great outdoors — building an outdoor living space was No. 4 among the top remodeling trends last year, according to the National Association of the Remodeling Industry. Extensive work might be best left to the professionals, but you can create a scenic outdoor setting in your own backyard with a do-it-yourself mentality and tips from Better Homes and Gardens.

First, identify what function you want the new outdoor space to serve. Do you want a kitchen, a living room or an extra dining room? Once the room has a label, narrow down the necessary features the room needs. For instance, if you’re looking for an outdoor living room, weather-resistant couches, coffee tables and perhaps a fire pit are good starting points.

Need a tranquil place to get away from the hustle and bustle?

Serene add-ons such as a fountain or hanging plants that offer seclusion from the street might be on your short list.

Don’t forget about roofing options for your outdoor space.

Weather-resistant fabric canopies or composite roof structures provide shade and shelter from the elements while maintaining an outdoorsy feel.

After completing a basic structure of the “room,” add decorative touches, just like you would indoors. Experts suggest potted plants that are easy to maintain, framed artwork and coffee table books.

fast fact »

»»»»»»»»»»»

California is the primary source for more than half of all fresh cut flowers grown in the United States.

Source: California Cut Flowers Commission

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

The Price Is Right

A

lthough a REALTOR® will work with you to determine a listing price when you decide to put your home on the market, it helps to understand the process agents use to reach that figure. Although methods vary, there

are a few common steps.

First, REALTORS® complete a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis), which compares your home to similar homes in your area that recently sold, homes that are currently on the market, and homes that didn’t sell. Generally, an agent will formulate a base price from this data and factor in additional positives or negatives (for instance, if your home has a deck or a finished garage, the base price — your home’s initial value — would rise).

Say Yes to CRS

C

DID YOU KNOW?

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 marketplace.

To earn 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 in the top 4 percent in the nation. Contact a CRS today.

REFERR VE

*

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

Next, the REALTOR® considers the market conditions. In a buyer’s market, your price might need to be a little lower than the base CMA price in order to reduce its time on the market and have a higher probability of selling. In a seller’s market, the listing price can be a little higher.

Another strategy is to consider how sales of comparable homes are faring — for instance, if the prices in your area are dropping X percent each month, consider settling on a lower asking price to boost your chances of selling quickly.

Be sure to ask your REALTOR® how he or she has arrived at the recommended listing price. A good agent will be able to walk you through the numbers and explain the strategy behind settling on a given listing price.

M

Homeowners pay most attention to windows (72 percent) and blinds or curtains (67 percent) during annual spring cleaning, according to the American Cleaning Institute.

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.

*

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

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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 May 15, 2012, to August 31, 2012. For more up-to-date listings, visit www.crs.com.

CRS 103 — Mastering Positive Change in Today’s World JUNE 5 RICHMOND, VA. Central Virginia CRS Chapter 804.422.5000 Instructor: Mark Given, CRS

CRS 204 — Income Properties Course JULY 16 – 17 FORT PIERRE, S.D. Dakota CRS Chapter 701.355.1010.

Instructor: Chris Bird

MAY 18 BARRINGTON, ILL.

CRS 206 — Technology Course

JUNE 12 NATICK, MASS.

MAY 24 – 25 SAN DIEGO

RE/MAX of New England 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Southern California CRS Chapter 760.831.0484 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 13 – 14 CLIVE, IOWA Iowa Association of REALTORS® 800.532.1515, ext. 1 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

JUNE 26 – 27 JACKSONVILLE, FLA.

CRS 111 — Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests MAY 24 KNOXVILLE, TENN. Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS® 865.584.8647 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS® 904.394-9494, ext. 1650 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

CRS 210 — Referral Course JUNE 6 – 7 NORMAN, OKLA. Norman Board of REALTORS® 405.364.8724 Instructor: Chuck Bode, CRS

JUNE 14 MEMPHIS, TENN. Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® 901.685.2100 Instructor: LeRoy Houser, CRS

CRS 112 — Guiding the Buyer in the Distressed Property Market AUG. 7 ORLANDO, FLA. Florida CRS Chapter 800.669.4327 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

Rich Buyer, Rich Seller – Part 1: Positioning and Branding Yourself as a Luxury Market Expert Keller Williams Success 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

MAY 22 – 23 BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Birmingham Association of REALTORS 205.871.1911 Instructor: Richard Sands, CRS

®

MAY 22 – 23 VAN NUYS, CALIF. Southern California CRS Chapter 760.831.0484 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

44 | May/June 2012

CRS Elective Courses Elective courses vary in length and credits earned toward the CRS Designation. Please visit the CRS website for details.

MAY 17 BARRINGTON, ILL.

CRS 202 — Sales Course

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

JUNE 11 NATICK, MASS. RE/MAX of New England 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

JUNE 27 OVERLAND PARK, KAN. Keller Williams Realty Partner 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Keller Williams Success 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

JUNE 28 OVERLAND PARK, KAN. Keller Williams Realty Partner 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore Outlook E-Marketing Strategies

JUNE 11 MANHATTAN, KAN. Kansas Association of REALTORS® 800.366.0069, ext. 2129 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS Real Estate Social Marketing – Strategies for Success

JUNE 12 FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. Greater Fort Lauderdale REALTORS® 954.563.7261 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS Turn It on Automatic – Serving Repeat and Referral Clients

MAY 29 FERNANDINA BEACH, FLA. Amelia Island Nassau County Board of REALTORS® 904.261.8133 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 4 BOCA RATON, FLA. Florida CRS Chapter 561.997.8266 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 5 PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA. Florida CRS Chapter 772.465.6080 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 6 ORLANDO, FLA. Florida CRS Chapter 407.644.7277 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 8 MERRITT ISLAND, FLA.

JUNE 12 SARASOTA, FLA.

JUNE 14 NAVARRE, FLA.

Florida CRS Chapter 321.452.9490 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

Florida CRS Chapter 941.923.2315 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

Florida CRS Chapter 850.939.3870 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

JUNE 11 NAPLES, FLA.

JUNE 13 APALACHICOLA, FLA.

JUNE 15 tampa, FLA.

Florida CRS Chapter 239.597.1666 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

Florida CRS Chapter 850.653.3322 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

Florida CRS Chapter Greater Tampa Association of REALTOR 813.879.7010 x113

SAB-2013_TRS_04262012.pdf

1

4/26/2012

3:05:05 PM

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

www.crs.com | 4 5

CRS REFERRAL MARKETPLACE

EAST COAST

Manuel Vargas Licensed Broker Associate

Bachelor of Science in Real Estate, NYU, Magna Cum Laude

C

Serving Manhattan and Queens for over 17 years

Cell: 917-559-2002

E m a i l : M a n u e l @ i s e l l ny. c o m

Your referral source for the greater

Pittsburgh

Claire Bisignano Chesnoff

New York’s Tech Valley & Capital Region

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

Albany, Saratoga & Schenectady Counties

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

David M. Phaff, ABR, CRS, e-Pro, GRI, CSP O: 518 464-1600 C/T: 518 469-8984 David@DavidPhaff.com www.DavidPhaff.com

SOUTH

ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CDPE

area

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

Serving Northern Virginia and the Dulles Tech corridor

Offices in Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling

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

Re/Max Select Properties, Inc.

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

NAPLES, BONITA SPRINGS, ESTERO, FT MYERS—FLORIDA

Marie Pimm,

P.A.

Realtor—CRS, CIPS, e-PRO, GRI

(239) 770-3383

Marie@MariePimm.com www.MariePimm.com

www.NaplesBonitaEsteroHomefinder.com

SOUTH FLORIDA Serving Fort Lauderdale & the Palm Beaches

Debra Pitell –Hauge Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

SARASOTA FLORIDA 29 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE Broker/REALTOR , CRS, SRES , GRI, e-Pro R

R

R

941.356.0437 dpestates@aol.com SarasotaHomes4Sale.com

46 | May/June 2012

“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

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 Andrea Katz at 202.721.1482

H AWA I I

WEST COAST

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEMECULA – MURRIETA RIVERSIDE & ORANGE COUNTIES “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

Real Estate

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 Andrea Katz at 202.721.1482 RESOURCES • May/June 2012

residential The

Specia li s t

Fresh Take Greg Dallaire, CRS, Dallaire Realty, greg@greenbaygreg.com Linda Davis, CRS, RE/MAX Realty Group, LindaCDavis@gmail.com

Amy Gamble, CRS, RE/MAX Executive Realty, amy@leighsells.com Janine Seibert, CRS, Iowa Realty, janines@iowarealty.com

In the Know Linda Rehwalt, CRS, RE/MAX Professionals, lindarehwalt @azrealty.com Sharon Simms, CRS, ALVA International, stpetefl@gmail.com

Maura Neill, CRS, the Gebhardt Group at RE/MAX Around Atlanta, mauraneill1@gmail.com

Bare Necessities Julie Beall, CRS, Irongate REALTORS®, Julie@juliebeall.com

Nancy Venuti, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, nancy@grantspasshomes.com

Erica Ramus, CRS, Ramus Realty Group, ericaramus@gmail.com

Amy Broghamer, CRS, Keller Williams Advisors Realty, amy@amybsells.com

Helping Gen Y Buy

Jack Cotton, CRS, Sotheby’s International Realty, jack@jackcotton. com

Richard Waystack, CRS, SRES, Team Waystack Realty, rwaystack@ waystack.com

Nellie Arrington, CRS, Long & Foster Real Estate, Nellie.arrington@ longandfoster.com

Patricia Lozano, CRS, Windermere Real Estate, PLozano1@aol.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

market place Q U ESTIO N : How is the market doing where you do business?

IN OUR EXPERIEN C E . . .

“SARASOTA, Fla., feels like 2005, except with low prices.

Our market is hot right now. Investors are buying up anything under $200,000 quickly, so it’s hard to find anything in that price range that doesn’t get multiple offers. Last month our prices inched up about 1 percent.

There is competition in the market now to get to the homes before someone else does.”

“IN KATY, Texas (a suburb of Houston), when the bubble popped, our market barely felt it because we were not part of that bubble.

Prices have been stable here with a slight increase in the mid- to high-end homes, and a slight decrease in some of the mid- to low-end homes. Our inventory has declined, too. I’m expecting good things this season (and hopefully longer).”

Barbara Rozier, CRS

“IN NORTHern Virginia, near Washington, D.C., we have a very competitive lower-end market under $400,000, and we have an extreme shortage of available homes on the market under $200,000, with lots of competition and multiple offers within the first or second day on the market.

Our prices are rebounding, although I don’t think we’ll see prices from seven or eight years ago anytime soon.”

Nicki Conway, CRS

Keller Williams Realty

RE/MAX Alliance Group

Katy, Texas

Gay Ashley, CRS

Sarasota, Fla.

Barbara@RozierTeam.com

Ashley Realty Group

nickiconway@gmail.com

Fairfax, Va.

GayAshley@AshleyRealtyGroup.com

»»»»»

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

48 | May/June 2012