The Residential Specialist, July/August 2013

July/Augus t 2013

THE RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST

State of the INVESTMENT PROPERTY MARKET THE CODE OF Ethics Turns 100

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The Effect of REAL ESTATE TV

J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 1 3

RESPONSE

TIME Barbara Harris CRS

Client feedback helps agents turn negative experiences into opportunities.

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July/August 2013 VOL. 12, NO. 4

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18 features

18 Response Time

By Regina Ludes Client feedback helps agents turn negative experiences into opportunities.

22 Betting on Recovery

By Daniel Rome Levine As the housing market picks up, investors are getting competitive and leading the way.

26 Code Call

By Gayle Bennett The REALTOR速 Code of Ethics turns 100.

30 Point of View

By Mary Ellen Collins Could your clients actually be learning something from HGTV? CRSs share the good, the bad and the ugly of real estate TV.

w w w . c r s . c o m Cover photo by John Johnson

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5 departments 4 5 9 10

2 | July/August 2013

PRESIDEN T ’S MESSAGE

inside CRS 36

A Q&A With the New CRS CEO CRSs Named “30 Under 30” Referral Story: Estate Agents Your Home newsletter

By Mary McCall, CRS

Q UICK TAKES Top homeowner regrets; home security matters; effective lead-generation tactics

GREAT FINDS Smartphone apps for REALTORS®

TECHNOLO GY

47 48

By Dan Tynan Using tablets for business

12

TRENDS

14

P IP ELINE

16

UP CLOSE

34

GO OD READ

By Christopher Brandon How to market your content

By Michael Fenner Travel tips from road warriors

Jason O’Neil, CRS Encore Sotheby’s International Realty Indianapolis

Reviewed by Allan Fallow Contagious: Why Things Catch On

By Jonah Berger

NEWS FROM THE COUNCIL

34

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

residential The

Coming In The Next Issue ...

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Baby Boomers

A look at the future of housing for an older population and what CRSs need to know about this large group of buyers and sellers.

EDITOR Michael Fenner Email: mfenner@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4428 Fax: 312.329.8882

In or Out?

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Regina Ludes Email: rludes@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4404 Fax: 312.329.8882

Are smaller, more manageable homes replacing McMansions?

Find out this and more of the trends in consumer home preferences.

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Team Green

It’s easy being green, but is the environmentally friendly trend still emerging, or do buyers now demand it in their homes?

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Specia li s t

Market Watch

The state of the vacation- and second-home market Would you like to be 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 2013 editorial calendar online at www.crs.com.

PLUS: Must-have industry resources

2013 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL Moderator: John W. Goede, CRS Co-Moderator: Clark Niblock, CRS 2013 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL MEMBERS Israel Ameijeiras, CRS; Cathy Armstrong, CRS; Jan Brito, CRS; Alexis Bolin, CRS; Shelly Campbell, CRS; DeDe Carney, CRS; Gretchen Conley, CRS; Bobbi Howe, CRS; Colleen McKean, CRS; Nancy Metcalf, CRS; Vince Price, CRS; John Stark, CRS; Marylea Todd, CRS; Beverlee Vidoli, CRS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mary Ellen Collins, Daniel Rome Levine, Gwen Moran OFFICERS: 2013 President Mary McCall, CRS Chief Executive Officer Lana Vukovljak 2013 President-Elect Ron Canning, CRS 2013 First Vice President Dale Carlton, CRS 2013 Immediate Past President Mark Minchew, CRS

PUBLICATION MANAGEMENT Tel: 202.331.7700 Fax: 202.331.2043 Publishing Manager Andrea Gabrick Email: andrea.gabrick@mcmurrytmg.com Managing Editor Rebecca Scherr Email: rebecca.scherr@mcmurrytmg.com Advertising Manager Andrea Katz Email: andrea.katz@mcmurrytmg.com Tel: 202.721.1482 Project Manager Katie Mason Art Director Chelsey Fredlund 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? Email 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 2013 by the Council of Residential Specialists.

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

www.crs.com Jan uary /Feb

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e for a How to PreparMa rket Recovering

DENT THE RESI

Pros and Cons ofs n Site Listing Aggregatio to Get es Tak It at Wh Fence Clients Off the

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President’s Message | News from Mary McCall, CRS

Heeding the Call to Leadership

The influx of new leaders into the CRS family is always welcome.

They bring a fresh perspective that can energize our organization.

4 | July/August 2013

which will take place Aug. 2 – 3 at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Hotel and Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., prepares incoming chapter presidents and officers for the challenges and demands of their positions so they have the confidence to do their jobs well. Specific sessions will cover strategic planning, leadership development, chapter administration and management.

This annual event gives CRS leaders from across the country an opportunity to network, discuss best business practices and share information about which programs have been best received in their individual market areas — all in preparation for making 2014 the best year ever for our members and Designees.

For CRSs who have already gained some leadership experience within our organization, the CRS Leadership Academy helps them take their abilities to the next level and achieve their maximum potential. This year CRS is hosting its fourth Leadership Academy, which consists of six modules covering topics such as governance, meetings, leadership skills, budgeting and presentation skills.

Fifteen CRSs are slated to graduate from the program in November, and they will be prepared to step into more advanced leadership roles with CRS, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, their state/local associations or within their communities. Look for these graduates’ names in a future issue of The Residential Specialist.

The influx of new leaders into the CRS family is always welcome. They bring a fresh perspective that can energize our organization. I am thrilled with the hiring of the Council’s new CEO, Lana Vukovljak, who brings more than 15 years’ experience as a senior executive in nonprofit organizations. She has led initiatives to improve performance and transform companies into highly effective and productive organizations. Lana has also been successful in implementing new product and service offerings, increasing membership and putting organizations on stronger financial footing. I look forward to working with Lana in the coming months to develop strategies that will help us grow the CRS organization and keep CRS the premier designation within the REALTOR® profession.

With so much happening at the Council, and with a housing recovery underway in many areas of the country, I’m certain you agree with me that it’s a great time to be a CRS!

Jensen Larson Photography

Many of us are not natural-born leaders. When we entered the real estate business, we had to learn most of our leadership skills on the job servicing our clients, by volunteering in civic or community groups or through life experience.

I feel very fortunate to be associated with an organization like the Council of Residential Specialists, where leadership skills are highly valued. The Council is committed to developing future leaders. CRS will soon host its annual Chapter Leadership Retreat for our chapter leaders, regional vice presidents and national officers. The two-day event,

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends REHAB New York

Los Angeles

Austin Houston San Antonio

BOOMTOWNS

COSTS

Whether it’s a simple project like painting or a more complicated one like gutting a bathroom, the price tag for home renovations can be high. According to CouponCabin.com, more than six in 10 homeowners say they are likely to make home improvements over the next 12 months. When it comes to renovation expenses, homeowners expect to pay:

Less than $1,000 (26%) $1,000 – $4,999 (49%) $5,000 – $9,999 (15%) More than $10,000 (11%)

Cities with the largest population increase, July 1, 2011 – July 1, 2012

New York: +67,058 Houston: +34,625 Los Angeles: +34,483 San Antonio: +25,400 Austin, Texas: +25,395 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Population Estimates for Cities and Towns

KITCHEN AND BATH UPDATE As housing markets begin to recover, more homeowners are focusing on improving their kitchens and baths, according to a recent survey by the American Institute of Architects. Kitchens have not increased significantly in size, but more than half of residential architects surveyed say they are reconfiguring the kitchen to accommodate a computer station or a recharging area for tablet computers and smartphones, and more than 40 percent indicated a demand for increased space for recycling or a pantry. Integrating the family room with cooking activities remains popular, as does making kitchens more adaptable with universal design features that allow homeowners to age in place.

One in five respondents say the number of baths in homes has increased, while 22 percent report that bathrooms have gotten larger over the past year. More than half of those surveyed (57 percent) reported that adaptability and universal design features in bathrooms are also increasing in popularity. Many homeowners are designing their baths with only a shower stall and no tub, while doorless/no-threshold showers, hand showers, LED lighting, water-saving toilets and dual-flush toilets are popular options among homeowners.

www.crs.com | 5

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

Housing Landscape 2013 COMPROMISE RULES Nearly one-third of home shoppers have been on the hunt for a new home for more than a year, and a majority of them are willing to negotiate with sellers and compromise on popular amenities, according to a survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Century 21. More than four out of 10 homebuyers say they have made an offer within the past six months, yet only 11 percent have had those offers accepted.

Once homebuyers find the house of their dreams, they’re willing to do whatever it takes to close the deal. More than half (51 percent) would be more flexible with the closing date, 31 percent would compromise by purchasing the house as-is, and 29 percent would compromise by making a larger down payment than they planned.

A majority (88 percent) of buyers say they are willing to compromise on location-related attributes, including length of work commute (42 percent), access to restaurants and shopping (36 percent) and proximity to friends and family (35 percent).

6 | July/August 2013

Nearly one in four working households spends more than half of its income on housing, according to a new report from the Center for Housing Policy, Housing Landscape 2013. The share of working households that carry a severe housing cost burden increased from 21.8 percent in 2008 to 23.6 percent in 2011.

Declining incomes have exacerbated housing affordability problems for working renters. The median housing costs of working renters rose nearly 6 percent between 2008 and 2011, while their median incomes fell more than 3 percent.

Severe housing cost burdens were most prevalent among working households earning less than 30 percent of area median income (AMI). Increases in housing cost burdens occurred primarily among working households with incomes at or below 50 percent of AMI, but even some working households earning between 51 and 120 percent of AMI are faced with severe housing cost burdens, the report finds.

Between 2008 and 2011, the share of working households with a severe housing cost burden increased significantly in 24 states and decreased significantly in only one state: South Dakota. The five states with the highest share of working households that had a severe housing cost burden in 2011 were California, Florida, New Jersey, Hawaii and New York.

Most Effective

Lead-Generation Tactics Business-to-Consumer Email marketing 54%

Paid search or online ads Search engine optimization Content marketing Direct mail or print ads Offline events (trade shows, etc.)

Social media marketing Online events (webinars, etc.)

Mobile marketing

52% 46% 23% 23% 21% 19% 6% 2%

Source: Emarketer.com; Ascend2 and Research Underwriters Lead Generation Strategy Outlook Report, April 2013

New FHFA

Home Security Matters Americans say they feel safe, but many don’t always take the necessary steps to ensure their safety, according to a recent survey by ADT, which explored homeowners’ security behavioral patterns.

• While Americans rated their home safety at an average of 85 out of 100, just 30 percent of those who owned a security system actually have it on at all times, and only six out of 10 own carbon monoxide detectors.

• Two-thirds of Americans (65 percent) say they are more likely to have a paper shredder in their home than a security system, despite the fact that 56 percent of them are concerned about the security of their possessions and 72 percent are concerned about the safety of their children.

• More than two-thirds of homeowners trust their neighbors to keep an eye on their home while they are away.

However, most home burglaries occur during the day (53 percent), when most people are at work or at school, compared with at night (27 percent).

• Door locks aren’t always used. Even though locking windows and doors is an obvious security measure, many homeowners don’t lock their windows and doors when they’re away. Home monitoring systems allow homeowners to check on their residence and remotely lock doors.

Top Homeowner

Regrets

34% I wish I had chosen a larger home.

27% I wish I had done more remodeling when I bought the house.

22% I wish I had more information about the home before I decided to buy.

Director

President Barack Obama has selected Rep. Melvin Watt (D–N.C.) to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees government-controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Watt served for 20 years as a member of the committee that oversees housing policy.

The president said that while there are bright spots in the housing market, there is still work to be done as many homeowners continue to struggle to make their mortgage payments or are underwater on their loans.

“Mel has led efforts to rein in the unscrupulous mortgage lenders,” Obama said. “He’s helped protect consumers from the kind of reckless risktaking that led to the financial crisis in the first place…He knows what it’s going to take to help responsible homeowners fully recover.”

Senate confirmation is required before Watt moves into the FHFA position.

Luxury-Home

Sales Rebound The market for homes priced at $1 million or more has rebounded faster than other segments of the housing market, according to an analysis by Redfin.

From the first quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, luxury-home sales increased 34 percent, compared with an increase of just 5 percent from the remaining sectors of the housing market during the same period.

18% I wish I had put more money down for the down payment.

16% I wish I had been more financially secure before I decided to buy.

Source: Trulia, April 2012

www.crs.com | 7

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends Jobs Outlook Still C l o u d y While the U.S. unemployment rate continues to fall, many American workers still feel uneasy about their job prospects, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll. More than half of American workers (54 percent) worry they will lose their current job and benefits. More than three out of four (77 percent) workers worry that their benefits will be reduced, especially their health benefits. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) believe their salaries will decrease or stay the same, and half believe they will be asked to do more work for the same pay.

The survey also finds that 14 percent of employees worry that they will lose their job within the next three months, and one in five say their salary or hours will be reduced during that time. Furthermore, 32 percent of workers believe that if they were going to look for a new job in the next three months, they probably would not find one.

Where Americans Live American renters look for many of the same community amenities as their home-owning neighbors, according to America in 2013, a recent report by the Urban Land Institute. Renters place a high value on neighborhood safety, quality schools and walkable communities. Many also prefer compact developments with easy access to local amenities.

88% QUALITY OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS 83% EASILY WALKABLE 79% PROXIMITY TO WORK/SCHOOL 76% PROXIMITY TO HEALTH CARE 75% PROXIMITY TO ENTERTAINMENT 71% PROXIMITY TO FAMILY/FRIENDS 70% CONVENIENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 67% SPACE BETWEEN NEIGHBORS 66% PROXIMITY TO RECREATION 64% NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY

8 | July/August 2013

HOME PURCHASE PLANS Despite shaky finances, many young Americans say they would like to purchase a home within the next year, according to a Harris Interactive survey on behalf of MortgageMarvel.com. About four out of 10 Americans ages 18 to 34 say they are interested in purchasing a home this year (46 percent of men and 36 percent of women). Of those in this group, 17 percent of men and 6 percent of women say even though their finances are shaky, they believe they can afford a home purchase. Across all age groups, 30 percent of Americans say they are interested in buying a home within the next year.

Taking the

Plunge

It used to be that most couples would wait until after they were married to purchase a home. But that trend may be changing, according to a recent survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

One in four married couples between the ages of 18 and 34 purchased their first home together before their wedding date, compared with 14 percent of those ages 45 and older. More than one-third (35 percent) of married couples purchased their first home together before their second anniversary.

Buying a home together provided a secondary benefit for many couples. About 80 percent say the home search process did more to strengthen their relationship as a couple than any other purchase they made together. More than one-third (35 percent) wished they had taken the plunge into homeownership sooner.

“What we’re seeing is that young couples are switching up the order and purchasing their first home regardless of whether or not they have set a wedding date,” says Robi Ludwig, a psychotherapist and lifestyle correspondent with Coldwell Banker. “This is a huge movement within the American culture. While younger generations may be focusing more on their career, and in turn waiting longer to get married and have children, they are not delaying their dream of homeownership.”

Great Finds | Tools of the trade

app picking For busy REALTORS®, the right smartphone app can mean the difference between closing a deal and losing one. To unearth some of the best apps to help REALTORS® manage their businesses and personal lives, the CRS Product Review Committee hosted an “Appy Hour” on May 18 in conjunction with the Midyear Meetings in Washington, D.C. Committee members and attendees shared their favorites.

school pool greatschools.org/about/mobile.page The next time a buyer asks you about school districts, make sure you have the GreatSchools Finder on hand. A trusted and independent source of school performance information, the GreatSchools app maps more than 125,000 elementary, middle and high schools across the country. It also reports detailed ratings, reviews and test scores. Search lists and filter by categories, such as public or private, grade level, distance and enrollment size. Share your findings with clients or save them to your favorites list. Available for iOS.

free

scan out intsig.com/en/camscanner.html When was the last time you needed a scanner on the road? In this document-heavy industry, it probably wasn’t too long ago. CamScanner turns your smartphone into a scanner. With 200 megabytes of storage space, this app scans contracts, PowerPoint presentations and other documents you use every day. Sync your documents in real time and manage them across multiple devices. It can also merge documents and move them to other locations with a password-secure login. Save the documents to the cloud, fax, email or print the documents on the spot. Available for iOS and Android devices.

4.99

power aid maluuba.com If you thought hiring a personal assistant was out of reach, think again. Maluuba, a voice-activated personal assistant app, is an alternative to Apple’s Siri that helps you stay organized and connected.

It takes keyword searching to the next level and yields more exact and quicker results based on your life. Get directions, check the weather or look up a client question in seconds. It sets alarms, records reminders and adds events to your calendar. It also allows you to keep in touch with your contacts, plan appointments and stay social. Available for Windows and Android devices.

video aim bambuser.com Looking for a new way to get social and engage with clients? Bambuser might hold the solution. The real-time video service allows you to instantly share what’s going on in your community, or with you and your business. Using 3G or Wi-Fi, record video with a smartphone, webcam or broadcast camera, and send clips to your website, blog, Facebook or other social networks. Settings allow users to post video both publicly and privately and to geotag the location where it was shot. The company’s partnership with the Associated Press allows you to share news clips from around the world. Available for Android devices.

free

free

www.crs.com | 9

Technology | Streamlining your business

running a tab

By Dan Tynan

One-third of REALTORS® plan to purchase a tablet (iPad, Android, Surface or Amazon Kindle).

Source: NAR REALTOR® Technology Survey 2012

10 | July/August 2013

T

ed J. Pins, CRS, never goes anywhere without his iPad Mini.

Pins, with Village Real Estate Services in Chattanooga, Tenn., says his tablet has enabled him to go almost entirely paperless, save for the collateral materials he leaves with his clients. The Mini is the third tablet Pins has owned. An iPhone aficionado, Pins bought the first iPad shortly after it came out in January 2010. When iPad 2 appeared 15 months later, he upgraded and gave his old iPad to his dad. When the 7-inch Mini arrived last November, he gave his iPad 2 to his assistant. Now, all four members of his team carry tablets with high-speed wireless data plans.

“The iPad has changed my life significantly,” says Pins. “It’s allowed me to be more responsive in a mobile environment

without having to call in to my assistant to check comps on prices. Or, if I’m driving down the street and a client wants to see more pictures of a property, I can use the iPad to look them up. It essentially lets me run my business anywhere.”

Some CRSs have come to swear by tablets since their debut. Others are still holding out with their desktop or laptop computers, or they simply are writing off tablets as another fad. With one-third of all REALTORS® planning to purchase a tablet, according to NAR research, REALTORS® who use one are setting themselves apart from competitors who still rely primarily on laptops and smartphones.

They say they are saving time, increasing productivity and offering superior service to their clients. Some even report that their clients expect them to have a tablet.

Zoonar GmbH/Alamy

As more agents embrace tablets for business, those who have not might find themselves behind the competition.

On the Go Pat Monahan, CRS, with West USA Realty of Mesa, Ariz., traded in his smartphone for an iPad two years ago. When he’s away from his office, he leaves his laptop behind and just takes the tablet.

“I felt I could do more with a tablet and a dumb phone [a standard mobile phone] than I could with a smartphone, and it turned out to be true,” he says. “When clients call me on my cell, I can answer their questions no matter where I’m at.”

Monahan’s use of his iPad means he’s essentially gone paperless. He no longer prints out fliers or carries reams of contracts for clients to sign. He doesn’t have to drive back to his office to photocopy offers and fax them to sellers’ agents. A few taps on the screen and he’s done.

“I can go from searching the MLS, to contacting the listing agent with questions, to writing an offer on the kitchen table of the house I just showed,” he says. “I can email it to the listing agent before we even leave the home, and she has it in minutes instead of hours. My iPad has paid for itself with the money I don’t spend on gas, paper and ink.”

When Linda Davis, CRS, got her first tablet three years ago as a birthday gift, she wasn’t thinking about using it for business. Davis, a RE/MAX broker/agent in Gales Ferry, Conn., is now using a third-

generation iPad, and she no longer carries a laptop for work.

“The iPad wasn’t even on my radar at the time, despite using technology in every aspect of my business,” she says. “This may sound corny, but incorporating the iPad in my business has been life-changing.”

Tool Time But it’s the apps that make tablets truly useful. Like Pins and Monahan, Davis relies on cloud-connected software to get her work done. She uses Google’s email, calendar and storage products to keep her communications and her schedule synced across every device she uses. She also relies on Evernote to record text and images, as well as Dropbox, which lets users access files from any Web-connected device.

Beyond that, there are thousands of apps that can help REALTORS® do their jobs, from neu.Annotate, which allows agents to write offers, to Zillow’s Mortgage Calculator. DocuSign lets clients append legally binding signatures to electronic documents.

There are so many apps, in fact, that Davis advises REALTORS® to read reviews on iTunes and consult tech-savvy friends before filling up their iPad with apps they don’t really need.

She also advises paying extra for the 64-gigabyte models with more storage, because space can fill up fast.

Easy Does It Though some REALTORS® may encounter a learning curve integrating tablets into their business, it’s not a steep one, says Pins. If you can use a smartphone, you can use a tablet. If you’re still unsure, you can probably find local iPad training classes or hire a company like Paperless Agent to teach you.

While using a tablet doesn’t have to change the way you do everything, Pins now uses his iPad to schedule showings, download documents, sign agreements, deliver presentations, create video tours of properties, and more. When he or his buyer specialists are showing a house, they encourage clients to use their iPad to make notes and take photos or videos of things they want to point out to their spouse or a house inspector, which he later emails to them.

“Take it one step at a time,” he advises. “You don’t have to use a Tablet Agent from front to back. There’s still a place in this world for paper, and many clients still prefer it. Digital tools can be more cumbersome for entering data sometimes. But a tablet is an invaluable tool for managing your clients’ buying experience.”

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

An App a Day Here are some tablet apps that REALTORS® are touting. The best part? Unless otherwise noted, they’re free.

Homesnap Take a photo of any home; the app will reveal the number of bedrooms and baths, lot size, estimated value, and whether it’s on the market. Available for iOS. LightTrac How much sunlight will that house get in the winter? Will the moon shine directly into the kid’s room? This app lets you visualize the position of these heavenly bodies for any time of day or year. $5; available on Android and iOS.

MagicPlan CSI Point your iPad camera at the corner of any room, and it will calculate the square footage and create a floor plan. Available for iOS. Padmapper Quickly search properties on Craigslist and other rental sites, and display them on a map. Available for Android and iOS. Videolicious Capture video, add a voiceover, dress it up with some royalty-free music and add your logo. Voila, instant home tour. Available on iOS. www.crs.com | 1 1

Trends | Today and tomorrow

good catch Want more blog readers? Reel them in with content marketing.

15 percent of agents and 19 percent of brokers have their own blogs.

Source: NAR Technology Survey Report 2012

12 | July/August 2013

A

round town, he’s known as “The 365 Things Guy.” Every day for an entire year, Dale Chumbley, CRS, blogged about things to do in Vancouver, Wash. He hiked trails at Lacamas Lake Park. He went bowling at Big Al’s. And he ate lots and lots of local food.

Positioning himself as an expert in the community where he sells homes was just the beginning. Chumbley began marketing his content on social media, which eventually led to thousands of page views and more than 16,000 followers on Facebook.

“I can say that pretty consistently over the last three years, about half my business each year has been a result of promoting my content online,” he says.

Many savvy CRSs create valuable content on their websites, blogs and YouTube

channels. Some even tackle the daunting “365 Things” project. But simply posting good content may not automatically draw followers, so a marketing content strategy through social networks, search engine optimization and other tools is the key to attracting readers and boosting your business.

Get Social CRSs looking to bring readers to their website or blog should spend as much time marketing their content as they do writing it. That’s the advice of Chris Smith, cofounder of Curaytor, which provides digital marketing services to real estate agents. “If you write an awesome blog post, you need a system for distribution,” he says. “It’s a very common mistake to spend much more time creating the content than promoting it.”

Marek Kosmal/Alamy

By Christopher Brandon

One of the most valuable ways to promote your content is through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Chumbley already had his own personal Facebook page, but when he started the “365 Things to Do in Vancouver” project, he created a separate Facebook business page. Each time he wrote a new entry, he pasted the article’s website address into the status field of the “365 Things” Facebook page. Facebook imports the article’s headline and the first few sentences, and Chumbley added an additional call to action that encourages followers to click the link.

Twitter is another social media tool that REALTORS® can use to market content. Brandi Pearl Thompson, CRS, with Keller Williams Realty in Chattanooga, Tenn., says she has worked with both buyers and sellers who found her content through the microblogging site.

Each time she updates her blog, Thompson tweets the new post to her followers, along with a hook that entices readers to click — all in 140 characters. Thompson also uses hashtags, such as #cha for Chattanooga, which group tweets and make her content more accessible.

Search Party Distributing content through social media is one way to reach readers, but CRSs should also optimize content for search engines like Google. Thompson says most of her traffic comes from Google, and it’s easy to see why. The address of her blog, greaterchattanoogarealestate.com, may be a mouthful, but it contains all the keywords that clients in her area search for. Her site typically appears on the first page of Google’s search results. “It’s very easy to rank high in Google because the name of the site is what people are looking for,” Thompson says.

Improving search results for individual blog posts is part of a good strategy, too.

Dave Smith, who provides advice at Real Estate Blog Lab, says headlines of posts matter. “Spend at least as much time on your title as you do on the post itself,”

“It’s a very common mistake to spend much more time creating the content than promoting it.” he says. “Google indexes titles, not content. You can have great content, but put a generic or even cute title on it and it will never show up on a page-one search.” For example, he says, the title “Tucson Residents Band Together to Beat Buffelgrass” will rank high in Google because it’s specific and geographically located.

Thompson offers another search engine trick: Focus on keywords. To rank high in Google, she learned, it helps to begin headlines with keywords that people are searching. One of her most popular blog posts is titled “100

Dale’s Tale Telling a story is one of the features that made Dale Chumbley’s “365 Things to Do in Vancouver” blog (bit.ly/100be8z) such a success.

He took the story a step further and built it into an online brand. He created a logo and stamped it on his blog, his social networks and his business cards. He even established a memorable catchphrase to end all his posts: “Get out, explore and enjoy our community!”

Percent Financing Options in Hamilton County.” She says she’s closed on homes with six buyers who found that blog post through Google.

Dave Smith advises REALTORS® to Google their titles before posting them.

“Keep tweaking and searching for that title until you have something that will rank,” he says.

Quality Control Despite such marketing efforts, a website or blog still might not garner many readers. What gives? Chris Smith says it’s not always about having a lot of readers with neighborhood-focused marketing.

He emphasizes the value of creating highquality content on a regular basis that can build a loyal readership.

He also recommends collecting email addresses of people who read the content.

“Emailing your database with a teaser and a link to the full article can be really powerful,” he says. The MailChimp and Constant Contact email marketing services help many REALTORS® manage and send emails.

Dave Smith agrees that producing strong content is critical. He says many REALTORS® copy content or make it too generic, which won’t attract readers through Google or social media. “Their sites should create a unique voice and style. Tell a story, don’t just regurgitate facts and figures.”

Christopher Brandon is a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C.

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Pipeline | Strategies to grow your business

power trip

By Michael Fenner

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.

I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

14 | July/August 2013

E

veryone, it seems, can share a travel nightmare story.

The time they got bumped from a flight, missed a meeting and thus lost a big business deal.

Or the time turbulence on a flight was so bad that the aircraft was rocking like a paint can in a shaker. Or the time the hotel assigned them a not-so-restful room adjacent to the ice machine and the foreverringing elevators.

Travel — whether it’s for business or pleasure — can be a delight, a frustrating bore or an unmitigated disaster. But smart CRSs know a few tricks that help them find the best deals and avoid some common problems before they crop up.

Bob Imperato, CRS, flies about six times each year for both business and pleasure. For Imperato, of Boston Realty Associates in Boston, it’s the little things

that matter. For example, in some cities you get charged extra to pay a cash fare on the public transit system instead of buying a prepaid card. These little extra expenses add up, especially for people who travel frequently.

When traveling for NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® conferences, Imperato warns that the negotiated rate that the hotel offers might not be the best deal in town. He prefers, especially if he is traveling with family, to stay in a time share, which he arranges using Interval International (intervalworld.com). He owns a time share in West Virginia, so he can trade time in that location for days in other destinations. What’s more, “Most of the time shares will have most of the amenities that a major hotel would have,” including pools, restaurants and more.

Imperato uses Hotwire to book hotels

Jose Luis Stephens/Alamy

Travel should be a joy, not a chore. CRS road warriors know the shortcuts.

teachers’ tips on other occasions. He says there is some uncertainty about the room and hotel you may get via Hotwire, but it does provide some incredible bargains. He always looks for hotels that provide free breakfast, such as the Residence Inn, which adds up to considerable savings on a several-day trip.

And by using an affinity card associated with the hotel chain he stays in, Imperato can rack up more points that he can apply toward future travel.

When he checks in, Imperato makes sure to have his hotel loyalty card handy, and he’s always dressed professionally.

And it pays to remember what your mother always told you: Be nice. “When you check into the room, be nice, and you might get upgraded [to a better room],” he says.

Car rental can be an expensive hassle when traveling. Imperato says there’s a major difference in car prices depending on the day you pick it up. The cheapest days to pick up a car, he says, are Thursdays through Sundays, while Monday through Wednesday pickups prove most expensive.

That’s because “they can’t charge premium prices for leisure travelers,” he says. It’s worth looking at second-tier rental companies, such as Dollar, Thrifty or National, to find the best deal. Many of them have loyalty programs and send out emails alerting customers to sales. Loyalty programs also give travelers a better chance of getting upgrades.

Power Solution Simple travel tips can not only make your life easier, they can also win you business.

Lenny Harris, CRS, of The Harris Team, Keller Williams Realty, in Easton, Mass., says he always packs a power strip because, especially when he travels with his wife, Barbara Harris, CRS, they both have multiple devices they need to charge. When he plugs the power strip into an outlet in a conference room, “you can’t believe

Few CRSs travel as frequently as the Council’s senior instructors. We asked three of them to offer a few tips they’ve learned after spending years on the road.

Jackie Leavenworth, CRS “Get rid of vanity and fly in cargo pants. The zipper or buttoned pockets on the sides of pants make traveling so much easier. I have my phone in one pocket and my driver’s license, credit card and boarding pass in the other. If someone steals my bags or I lose them, I can still function because what is important is in my pockets.

“Sign up for a free account with Tripit.com, which creates an intinerary.

I simply forward email confirmations from airlines, hotels and rental cars to plans@tripit.com. I even have the app on my iPhone. My assistant complained that she felt she was being replaced by a free website.”

Mike Selvaggio, CRS “Never stay in a hotel with the words ‘Motor Lodge’ in the name. Never pick a hotel because it has a cool name, like ‘The New Yorker.’

“I enjoy a Residence Inn format with a full kitchen. Last month in Portland, Ore., I really lucked out. I was able to walk to class, and between my residence and my class was a Trader Joe’s. I was able to purchase groceries after class, and in the evening I cooked and worked on my slides.”

Mark Porter, CRS “Use Expedia to research if you want to shop different airlines, rental car companies and hotels. If you travel enough, get status with one of each airline, rental car company and hotel. It will give you leverage when you have the inevitable travel trouble.

“Never check bags. It’s just not worth it. It’s hard on the luggage, you lose standby flexibility in the event of delays or changes, and you have to wait at a time that you just don’t want to.”

the networking you can do,” Harris says, because people rush up asking to plug in their device. The bonus is that these people “get to know who you are. It’s easy, and it makes a difference.” And that can result in key referrals down the road.

It also pays to be extra careful keeping track of receipts, Harris says, especially if you are traveling for business. He keeps track of all his receipts digitally, and takes pictures of any paper receipts he receives to have them later in case of any discrepancy.

And when the occasionally unavoidable travel snafu crops up, Barbara Harris says it’s important to keep some perspective, especially when it comes to your interactions with hotel and airline staff. They may not have much leeway to accommodate every request, no matter how seemingly simple it may be. “When you run into a situation where there’s a problem, [remember that] these people are just doing their jobs.”

Michael Fenner is editor in chief of The Residential Specialist.

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Up Close | Profiles of people to watch

jason o’neil,

CRS

Encore Sotheby’s International Realty, Indianapolis

REALTOR® since: 2003 CRS since: 2010 Contact: 317.989.0074; jason.oneil@ sothebysrealty. com

How did your corporate background help you in real estate?

There were a few things that set me up for success. First of all, my undergraduate degree is in entrepreneurship.

That’s what I believe we, as real estate agents, do. I think most of us happen to be entrepreneurs who are exceptionally good at selling real estate.

My master’s degree is in technology and communication management. That gave me a head start in the early 2000s as real estate was changing into a tech-driven business. I was fortunate to have had very extensive negotiation and contract training when I was in management at AT&T. That gave me a solid foundation at a young age.

Given that you said real estate is a tech-driven business now, what kind of marketing tools do you use?

My marketing is rooted in a lot of traditional marketing methods. For example, I do a ton of direct mail, but my direct mail will lead people to a website, a blog, an instant online home valuation. I believe that people like to touch and feel something. To me, it’s more impressive to send a really good-looking marketing piece in the mail than to just have a really good-looking Web page, because the impression lasts longer.

Of all the social media sites, I use Facebook predominantly. I have a personal page where I interact with my friends and family. But I also have a business page that I use to interact with clients. My listings are available there, and people can get their home value there as well.

16 | July/August 2013

I also do a good amount of advertising on Facebook.

The key to success is knowing the demographic that will buy the kind of home you’re advertising. If you know that, you can really drill down and effectively use your marketing dollars. As opposed to a newspaper ad, on Facebook you can put it in front of the targeted person. So, if I have a condo for sale, I can advertise it to somebody between the ages of 25 and 35 with a college degree. If I have a golf course home, I can advertise to somebody who lives within 25 miles of that home and at some point has indicated on Facebook they like golfing.

What is the best advice you could give to other agents?

The best piece of advice that I have to offer is not to judge yourself by the outcome. In real estate and in life, we can do all of the right things but we don’t get the outcome that we want. I think that it’s better to judge ourselves by the work that we do and the steps that we take as opposed to the ultimate outcome.

I recently interviewed to be a listing agent with a couple, and the interview went very well. I felt that we established solid rapport and that the right questions were asked and answered. They ended up hiring someone else to sell their home. It turns out that this agent had a personal connection to the couple and there was little chance I could overcome that. Just because I wasn’t hired doesn’t mean that I did a poor job in the interview.

I feel good knowing that I put my best foot forward.

You mentioned that forming community ties is important to you. How have you helped in your areas of service?

I remember reading years ago that REALTORS® are a pretty amazing benefit to the community because they are out in the neighborhoods. I was recently leaving a client’s house and witnessed a car crash into a nearby pond. The car was sinking really fast. I tossed my suit jacket and took off my tie as I was running and dove in. It was cold. I swam out, went immediately to the driver’s side window.

The driver was clearly disoriented, and there was a boy in there, too. I lunged into the car and grabbed the kid by his armpits and pulled him out. At that point, water started to come over the window. When that happened, I knew that car was sinking in a matter of seconds. Both the driver and his son survived. It was total luck in timing that I was there and able to help.

Chris Bucher

How did you get started in real estate?

After graduate school, I was hired by AT&T, and found over time that the corporate world wasn’t the best fit for me. I had 17 bosses and a very gray cube, and really didn’t establish any community ties.

My father has been in real estate since I was a kid and inspired me to consider it as a career. While living in Florida and working at AT&T, I decided to give it a shot. I was working in real estate and at my corporate job full time. While everyone else was going on their lunch breaks, I would go out to my car and make phone calls and follow up on leads. After about a year of doing both, I left the corporate world and went straight into real estate feet first.

“I think that it’s better to judge ourselves by the work that we do and the steps that we take as opposed to the ultimate outcome.”

Jason O’Neil, CRS

18 | July/August 2013

reSPonSe tIMe CLIENT FEEDBACK HELPS AGENTS TURN NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES INTO OPPORTUNITIES.

Corbis Photography/Veer

BY REGINA LUDES

After recently selling a client’s home, Barbara Harris, CRS, followed up with a postcard survey to inquire about the experience with her service. While most of the comments she received were positive, one particular suggestion caught her eye.

“Down at the bottom [of the card], where we ask, ‘How could we have enhanced our business?,’ the client wrote that they would have liked to see a ‘sold’ sign on the property after the sale. I never used to do that, but they wanted their neighbors to know that the property was sold,” recalls Harris with Harris Group Realty in Colorado Springs, Colo. She now places “sold” signs on every property she sells.

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“Whether it’s an email or postcard or even a telephone survey, it’s beneficial to find out what your clients are thinking.

Unless you walk in their shoes, you won’t know. This is the closest I get to walking in their shoes,” Harris says.

In any service-oriented business, customer feedback can be a valuable tool to help determine what aspects of the business are working and what needs to be improved.

REALTORS® who have implemented a feedback system say the key to success is to ask the right questions and to be open to the suggestions they receive. While the channels used to obtain feedback can vary — personal conversations, phone surveys, postcards, online surveys, email, social media — the information they provide helps agents make educated decisions about their business so they can serve their clients better.

Checks and Balances Harris believes her postcard surveys help her stand out from the competition. “I don’t know of too many REALTORS® in my market who do a survey. Either no one wants to take the time [to do them], or they’re afraid of what they’ll hear,” she says. “I’m not afraid of negative comments. I see it as a way to improve my service.”

Harris implemented her postcard survey about five years ago after the email surveys she had been using did not garner many responses. Her staff creates the postcards using Microsoft Publisher, prints them on a color laser printer and mails them with a self-addressed stamped envelope. Clients get the surveys after they have moved into their new home rather than at the closing, Harris says,

because clients are more focused on closing the deal and need a chance to evaluate the whole transaction process.

Completed postcards are returned to a P.O. box to give clients the impression they’re going to a third-party firm, Harris adds. “We found that people spoke more freely if they thought the postcards are being sent somewhere else other than our office,” she explains. She reviews every response and forwards them to team members, “so they can see the outcome of their relationship with the client.”

With only five questions, the survey does not pose a big time commitment.

Clients are asked to rate several aspects of the team’s performance. “We want to know if we helped them, how they heard about us, and if there’s something we can do better. Communication is important to me. Even though we have systems in place for communication, I want to make sure they still work effectively,” she says. Harris reviews the survey questions every couple of years to make sure they are still in line with her business goals.

Barbara Harris, CRS

20 | July/August 2013

Leigh Brown, CRS, with RE/MAX Executive Realty in Concord, N.C., says, “If you want to get better, you have to know where you are failing. It’s the unhappy consumers that teach us what we can do better.”

Brown started using an automated feedback program that was built by her website designer last spring. She got the idea for it from her car dealership, which used a similar automated program to get her comments after they serviced her vehicle.

On the day of closing, clients receive a system-generated email that contains a link to a simple, three-question survey. For the second question, “Were you pleased with the way we handled the transaction?”, if respondents answer no, they are taken to the end of the survey, where they exit the program. If they respond yes, clients are sent to the last question, which asks them to share their experience on review sites, including Yelp, Facebook, Trulia, Angie’s List, Zillow and Google Plus. “People with negative comments will reach the dead end, because while we want to know what they

John Johnson

Learning Curve

Testimonial Matters

“If you want to get better, you have to know where you are failing.”

think, we don’t want their comments to appear on the review sites,” Brown explains.

The survey also allows for anonymous responses. “If they know they don’t have to sign their name, they’re more likely to fill it out. We’ve had a much higher response rate as a result,” Brown says.

In addition, agents should probe for feedback not just at the end of the deal, but throughout the transaction. “When you get to a problem quickly, you may not be able to fix it, but you can acknowledge it and that can diffuse the fire,” Brown says.

Social Influence When Stephen “Buzz” Mackintosh, CRS, with Mackintosh Inc. REALTORS®, entered the real estate business in 1985, one of his first deals involved a couple going through a divorce. After helping the couple settle the sale of their home, Mackintosh was surprised to learn from a follow-up survey that the husband thought Mackintosh had communicated more with the wife than with him. “It brought to my attention that the next time I deal with a divorce, I need to make double copies and communicate with both parties equally,” he recalls. Today with email, it’s much easier to communicate and exchange documents so these situations don’t happen as much as they used to, he adds.

These days, social media sites like LinkedIn and ActiveRain are his go-to places to get client testimonials. “I found these sites to be useful because they help build my online presence. I have my email

signature linked to my profiles so people can click on the signature to view the endorsements,” he says.

“On LinkedIn, you have to approve everything that goes on your profile. So when someone posts an endorsement, LinkedIn sends me an email to confirm it before it’s posted to my profile,” Mackintosh explains.

While some clients are more than happy to post testimonials on Mackintosh’s behalf, others prefer completing the surveys that his family-owned firm has used for several decades, which helps track the performance of 100 agents in two offices, Mackintosh says. Clients receive the survey at the closing table along with their closing documents and return it in the pre-addressed stamped envelope provided.

The survey asks clients to rate several aspects of Mackintosh’s business on a scale of one to five, including timeliness of communications, how problems were solved, the team’s knowledge of real estate, how well agents explained the buying and selling process and the overall impression of their business. Once the completed surveys are returned, the company’s office manager distributes them to the broker and agents who served those clients. Some agents include the responses in their listing presentations. “The best thing you can have is an endorsement from another client, especially if they live in the neighborhood that a prospective buyer is shopping. It’s like a slam dunk for the agents,” Mackintosh says.

Fredy Rodriguez, CRS, with Windermere Real Estate in Cathedral City, Calif., obtains client testimonials using a combination of social media and recommendation letters. Several days after the closing, he sends clients an email with links to his pages on Trulia and Zillow and invites them to share their experiences about his services there. “Normally around the closing date, they get too busy to respond, so sometimes you can lose that connection with them. Most are willing to participate because they feel proud after they just bought a house and they want to pay it back,” Rodriguez says.

The testimonials have been beneficial for his business. Rodriguez says he attributes two to four listings per year to the testimonials on his social media profiles.

“When I meet with clients, I direct them to my profiles so they can see what others have written about me,” he says.

If clients are uncomfortable with social media, Rodriguez asks them to write a recommendation letter. “Some people don’t like to go through social media channels, so I ask them to write a lengthy letter that I keep on file and use in my listing presentations.

They work much like a testimonial,” he says While it’s important to ask for feedback when the deal is done, agents should seek feedback throughout the lifespan of the transaction. “Sometimes you think the client is happy with the way things are going, but they may have questions that they’re afraid to ask, or we don’t give them a chance to talk,” Rodriguez says. When he meets with clients, he encourages them to ask questions or let him know if there is something they don’t feel comfortable with about the sales process. “I say, ‘I may not be able to do things the way you want, but I will do my best to help you.’ They are OK with that because they know that I’m honest and upfront with them,” Rodriguez says.

While it can be humbling to receive negative comments from clients, savvy agents know that such feedback can help them unearth opportunities to serve their clients better in the future.

Regina Ludes is the associate editor of The Residential Specialist.

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22 | July/August 2013

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istressed properties dot the Greenville, N.C., market, and investors are snapping them up, says Dede Carney, CRS, with Keller Williams Realty. She recently helped two investor clients each purchase three-bedroom, single-family homes in foreclosure for $30,000 apiece. “These are $70,000 homes when the market comes back,” she says.

Investment home sales jumped 61 percent to 1.21 million last year from 2010, during the depths of the housing crash, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) 2013 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey. “Investors have been very active in the market over the past two years, attracted mostly by discounted foreclosures that could be quickly turned into profitable rentals,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

With the housing market recovering across much of the country, a key factor driving the rebound appears to be investment property purchases. To find out what’s happening in different regions of the United States, The Residential Specialist talked to CRSs in Minnesota, North Carolina and Tennessee about what their investment markets look like, why some people have chosen to become investors, and how that group of buyers is unique. www.crs.com | 2 3

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what they are going through.”

Market Watch Investors have been helping lead the real estate recovery in the Twin Cities, says Jeff Scislow, CRS, with RE/MAX Results in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but one of the biggest challenges has been finding attractive investment properties.

That’s because there are fewer distressed properties on the market. These homes are typically a favorite target of investors because of the opportunity to buy them cheap, fix them up and sell them later at a profit.

Plenty of distressed properties were available during the downturn, but with home prices having bounced back as much as 15 percent from the January 2012 Twin Cities market bottom, says

24 | July/August 2013

Scislow, things have changed. Now, homeowners in financial trouble, who at one time had no qualms about walking out on their mortgages, are doing everything they can to hang onto their homes in hopes of achieving gains down the road.

“When the market was bad, underwater homeowners and banks that were holding foreclosed properties just wanted to get rid of these homes as quickly as they could,” Scislow says. “Now, more people are holding on to their homes, and banks are actually putting money into the houses they own and fixing them up to sell later. That means more investors chasing fewer homes, which means prices are going up and margins are getting squeezed. Bottom line: Investors are making less.”

To the south, in Nashville, Tenn., investment properties are available, but investors are finding they must tweak their strategies to succeed in a changed market. Sher Powers, CRS, with Urbane Residential Specialists, says when t he local housing ma rket tanked in 20 08, investors seemed to

Inside Look In such a competitive environment, Scislow tries to set himself apart by not only touting his own investment experience — he has bought and sold more than 250 investment properties over the past 34 years — but by providing his investor clients with an inside track on potential properties to buy.

In late 2012, Scislow came up with a marketing strategy to help his clients by creating a website called MySaleFellThrough.com. He reached out to area short-sale specialists, such as real estate agents, negotiators and attorneys, and let them know that if their short sales ever collapsed, as they often did, that he could present the properties to his roster of investor clients and let the specialists know within 24 hours if one of his clients was interested in taking over the sale.

“With the market as hot as it is, this is an effective marketing tool to let my investor clients know we can give them an inside edge in finding properties at a great deal,” he says.

Like Scislow, Carney says the best way for REALTORS® to make themselves valuable to investor clients is to be involved in real estate investing. “By being

Fotosearch/Getty Images

“The best way to help a client

be the only ones buying. “They were snapping up properties at discounts of between 20 percent and 40 percent,” she says. “They had cash or private money and didn’t have to worry about lenders being tight.”

But many of them did find that they had to make some adjustments to adapt to the changed market. Those investors who typically bought properties, fixed them up and then tried to sell them quickly decided instead to hold on, spend more on renovations and only thought about selling when prices started to turn around, she says. With the Nashville market now in recovery mode, many of these homes are being listed for sale. “What had been an affordable rental for an investor is now an absolutely wonderful renovation for resale,” Powers says.

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an investor, I know the questions and concerns investor buyers have even before they even express them,” she says. “The best way to help a client is to go through yourself what they are going through.”

Carney and her husband purchased their first investment property in 1984, an old pharmacy with attached office space, that they paid $40,000 for soon after she entered the real estate profession. Today, the property is valued at $199,000. Three years later, they bought their first residential investment property, a small, single-family house she describes as being “disgustingly nasty” at the time. They paid $16,000 for it, fixed it up and started renting it out.

They still own it today — and it’s worth nearly $60,000 — and is the “beauty of the block,” she says.

In addition to that home, Carney and her husband own some 40 properties, ranging from commercial buildings to single-family homes to trailers. Being both an investor and a REALTOR®, Carney sets limits so she never finds herself competing against one of her clients for a property. She only pursues investment opportunities she finds first. “If a client brings me to a property that I

haven’t seen first, I just stay away from it and focus on helping them get the best deal possible,” she says.

Street Smarts REALTORS® who are investors themselves recognize that there’s a difference between working with traditional homebuyers and with investors. Emotion is rarely involved with investors, Carney says. “It’s wonderful because it’s purely a numbers thing, a business equation,” she says.

However, working with investors doesn’t come without its challenges. Powers says there’s constant pressure to cut her commission. “Investors always want a deal, and every single [investor] asks me to do it,” she says. Her answer: no.

In addition to her 14 years in the business and experience handling some 400 investment transactions, both for herself and for clients, she explains to them that she offers value-added services such as staging, hands-on coaching and listings that are more complete and detailed than her competitors.

For REALTORS® interested in learning more about the investment market, Powers says the first step is joining a real

estate investing club, just like she did.

“Almost every big city has one, and those run by nonprofits, which are more focused on education than wheeling and dealing, are the best,” she says.

CRS First Vice President Dale Carlton, owner of Carlton Realty in Fayetteville, Ark., also touts the importance of learning more about the market. What you learn will enable you to effectively represent investor clients and will likely have personal benefits as well, says Carlton, who has been teaching CRS 204, a course on buying and selling investment properties, since 2005 and has been a real estate investor for 15 years.

“For real estate agents, understanding how to invest in real estate will not only enable them to increase their wealth and opportunities for retirement,” he says, “but because they are dealing intimately with people’s finances and future dreams, it will create clients who will be extremely loyal and trusting and who will open the door to an even bigger referral base.”

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

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Code 26 | July/August 2013

Call The REALTOR® Code of Ethics turns 100.

By Gayle Bennett

Radius/Glow Images

H

enry Ford’s Model T had been on the market for five years and, not coincidentally, the suburbs across the United States were popping up. The year was 1913, and the real estate market was booming.

The founders of the then five-yearold National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, the original name of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), talked from

the beginning about creating a code of ethics. In fact, it was one of the main reasons the group formed. But members only met — and otherwise communicated with each other — once a year. By 1913, they’d had enough time to hash through what they wanted a code of ethics to cover.

A professional code of ethics is now standard for most industries, but this wasn’t the case in 1913. Along with an association of printers, the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges was the only business group to have one outside of medicine, the law and engineering. One hundred years later, the Code of Ethics remains vital to the industry. Time and progress brought amendments to the code, but at its heart, it’s the same.

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Curbstoners and horseback advice. That’s what the Code of Ethics was initially created to stop. Curbstoners were unscrupulous men who set up shop as real estate dealers on the sidewalk or curbstone to swindle anyone they could. Similarly, horseback advice referred to the misinformation that was rampant in the early 1900s. “Somebody would wake up in the morning and decide to be a real estate dealer, and they could go about telling people values on properties even though they might not be accurate or true,” says Doreen Roberts, CRS, with MasterKey Real Estate Mission in Fremont, Calif.

There were no state regulations yet; those would come years later, modeled on the Code of Ethics.

The original code had two sections: “The Duty of Real Estate Men Toward Their Clients” and “The Duty of a Real Estate Man to Other Real Estate Men,” for a total of 23 short paragraphs. In 1923, every member board was required to adopt the code and create an

28 | July/August 2013

enforcement system for its members. In 1924, the preamble, based on the Golden Rule, which states that one should treat others as one wants to be treated, was added and each paragraph was called an article, as it is today.

“The first paragraph of the original code talked about our primary responsibility to our clients,” says Roberts, who created a video about the origins of the code (realtor.org/videos/video-earlyorigins-of-the-code-of-ethics) and serves on NAR’s Professional Standards Committee. “We still have that as our first article.”

It’s Alive Like the U.S. Constitution, the Code of Ethics was created to be a living document, to change with the issues of the day.

The first revisions came just one year after its creation, and it has been amended about 40 times since then — multiple times just since 2008 to reflect the role of the Internet and technology.

Advertising is one example of something that was covered in the original code and has been amended radically for the times. The original code concisely said, “Advertise nothing but the facts and be caref u l not to criticize by any method any competitor’s proposition.”

Today, Article 12, also known as the “true picture” article, includes 13 standards of practice that cover the myriad ways a property can and can’t be advertised in today’s online, Photoshop, viral marketing world.

Similarly, the original code stated if an agent cannot efficiently handle a proposition, he should refer the matter to a competitor who

“If you find people who are violating the code, your job is to report them.” can. “We still have that under our Article 11, which some people have referred to as the don’t-be-stupid article,” says Roberts.

“It basically says, don’t purport that you have an expertise in some area that you don’t.” But it’s a little more verbose now with its four standards of practice.

And some original language has gone away. The 10th paragraph in the original code stated that an agent should exact the regular real estate commission of the association of which he’s a member.

Antitrust laws passed by Congress after the code was enacted made this practice illegal.

Present Tense Talk to a group of CRSs today about ethics and professionalism, and everyone has a horror story. “We are 100 years down the road, and some things haven’t changed.

We are still trying to separate ourselves from the riffraff,” Roberts says.

Marcel ter Bekke/Getty Images

Back in the Day

What Would You Do? The Code of Ethics is robust, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t gray areas. For example, in a multiple-offer situation where you are the listing agent, what do you do when a buyer you are also representing submits an offer? The Code is clear: You help the seller get the best and highest offer. But if the seller chooses your buyer’s offer, often the perception is that you manipulated the situation. Here’s what these CRSs had to say:

Hot market or slow market: It doesn’t seem to affect the number of ethical lapses.

Wendy Furth, CRS, at Rodeo Realty Inc. in Calabasas, Calif., says she saw agents jumping listings (soliciting a seller while a listing is still active with another agent) in a slow market, and now she’s seeing agents hoarding listings (illegally keeping them out of the MLS) in a better market.

“If people want to be bad, they can be bad any old time,” she says.

The key is to report bad behavior. Marcie Roggow, CRS, with Real Estate Investment Co. in Sioux Falls, S.D., teaches

“I always do a net sheet on each offer: what the bottom line is, what the terms are, how long is escrow, how much money is down, the price, what kind of credit scores the buyers have. That way it’s easy to compare the different offers. I wouldn’t even talk too much about which was mine unless the seller picked mine. I would then disclose and say, ‘Are you sure? This is my own client.’ In California, there is a place [on each offer] where sellers can acknowledge that it was presented. They would acknowledge on every single offer whether it was accepted or rejected with the date and time. It’s critical to have that signed.” —Wendy Furth, CRS

“I present all offers to the seller. Article 1.15 handles the situation for us in one way: It says that only the seller can determine whether or not those agents and buyers in a multiple-offer situation will be notified if there are multiple offers. As an ethical person, I don’t call my buyer up and say, ‘Hey, you better up that because there are more coming in.’ I can’t let my buyer know unless my seller says, ‘I want you to call everybody and let them know there are multiple offers.’ As a professional, I know exactly what needs to be done. And that’s what the seller has asked me to do — to represent them the right way — and I need to prove to them that I can.” —Marcie Roggow, CRS

new-member ethics at her local association and conducts ethics training for professional standards committees across the nation. “If you find people who are violating the code, your job is to report them,” she says. When she fields a call from one agent about an ethical lapse of another, “I ask them, ‘Are you going to report this?’” In other words, it’s up to individual agents to stand up and report to their local association when they see another agent violating the code.

Roberts agrees: “You can’t be squeamish about it: If somebody is doing something they aren’t supposed to, the Code of Ethics

says we have an obligation to do something.”

However, Roberts believes that the visibility of the code through this centennial celebration can help positively influence behavior. “I hope that we can have a revival of that ethical spirit that says we live by the code and we don’t tolerate in our industry those who don’t.”

For more information on the Code of Ethics centennial, visit realtor.org/topics/ code-of-ethics-centennial.

Gayle Bennett is a writer and editor based in Washington, D.C.

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30 | July/August 2013 Top left to right: Ralf Hettler/Getty Images; Ocean Photography/Veer; Grafissimo/Getty Images; Maximillian/Veer; vichie81/Veer; Bottom: Stocksnapper/Veer

coUld YoUr clients actUallY Be learning something from hgtV? crsS share the good, the Bad and the UglY of real estate tV. By mary ellen collins “I often have clients who see REALTORS® on the real estate shows highfive their clients when they announce, ‘We’re going to open escrow!’ ” says Alex Milshteyn, CRS, with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“Then my clients ask when we’re going to open escrow and I have to explain, ‘We don’t do that here. Michigan is not an attorney state — it doesn’t have escrow.’ ” Despite the fact that real estate television scenarios don’t reflect real life across the country, increasing numbers of viewers rely on those shows as a source of information about buying and selling homes. According to Scripps Networks Interactive, the company that owns HGTV, that network experienced a record-breaking start in 2013 with more than 49.6 million adult viewers tuning in to its more than 800 hours of home-centric programming. In April 2012 to April 2013 ratings comparisons, HGTV was up 10 percent, with average prime-time viewership at 1.24 million.

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Many CRSs agree that real estate programming can be a double-edged sword.

Some shows do provide valuable education about the real estate transaction process, but they can also lead to unrealistic expectations. As the programs ride their wave of popularity, agents must be patient as they work to dispel certain myths for clients who think they know everything from doing nothing more than watching TV on their couches.

Buyer Beliefs Some of the biggest misconceptions among real estate TV watchers relate to the ease with which they think they can find and purchase the ideal home in their own market.

“Buyers set their expectations based on what they see on TV, and real estate TV doesn’t give a good taste of what it’s like to be a buyer in this market,” says Milshteyn, who says about half of his clients, mostly buyers, mention in conversation one or more of the real estate shows.

“A client might see that in Nevada, you can get a cool house in a particular style for $500,000, but that doesn’t mean that style goes for that price in our market. … There’s also a misconception that the home-buying process is really quick. Anyone who watches a lot of HGTV has the expectation that they will find the perfect house … today. And the shows don’t give the background of the emotional roller coaster the process can be — they just show happy endings.”

32 | July/August 2013

Tuned In K

oki Adasi, CRS, with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., appeared on House Hunters, a show in which an agent guides a buyer through the viewing of three houses. Although each episode shows a client making a selection and sealing the deal, the producers select buyers who already have or are close to having a contract on a house, and then they film them walking through two other houses as if they are under consideration.

“The producers absolutely wouldn’t film until my buyer was under contract with a property,” says Adasi. “Filming ended up being delayed by a big snowstorm, and by the time they filmed, my client had already moved into their house. They moved the furniture to the back corner of the basement so we could film an ‘empty home.’”

Although Adasi didn’t receive any financial payment, he says the experience did pay off in new business.

“The first time the show aired, I got an email from a guy who said, ‘I saw you on TV. I knew your brother in college, and I have a condo to sell.’” Adasi sold the condo and received several referrals from that seller. He also got several clients who called because they’d seen him on the show.

“I believe being on TV gives a certain level of competence, and the consumer gets a direct look at your personality. At the end of the day, consumers want to work with people that they can vibe with or relate to.”

REALTORS® nip misconceptions in the bud by being up front about the market and laying out reasonable expectations early in the process while working with a client.

“The general public has no clue about the market,” says Alexis Bolin, CRS, with

ERA Legacy Realty in Pensacola, Fla. “I don’t care if it’s a first-time buyer or a buyer who’s bought 100 houses — I always start by saying, ‘Let me educate you about real estate in this area.’ I explain inventory, days on the market, and the list price/sell ratio. I say, ‘Here’s the market

you’re entering right now.’ Even if they’re local and think they know the market, they don’t.”

The Upside Koki Adasi, CRS, with Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. in Silver Spring, Md., says about 50 percent of his clients reference a real estate show during their first meeting.

He finds that some of the programs do a particularly good job of helping sellers understand what may be preventing them from getting an offer.

“On Real Estate Intervention, two experts come to a property and help a seller whose home hasn’t sold. It’s always a combination of pricing and condition in terms of staging. I’ve found that sellers who watch are pretty on point with what they have to do in order to get the house to sell.”

Bolin, who says she hasn’t had one client mention real estate TV, agrees that the shows can help validate the advice she gives her sellers. She even references the shows.

“They cause sellers to have a more realistic viewpoint of what a house has to look like in order to sell. You see agents [on TV] telling people that they have to change their countertops or remove wallpaper … and that lends more credibility when I have to go in and tell my clients the same thing,” Bolin says.

REALTOR® Realities Real estate TV gives a glimpse into what it’s like to be a REALTOR® or to work

with one. But that isn’t always a good thing, Adasi says.

“Clients may devalue the service we provide because it looks so easy. When you watch a show like [Bravo’s] Million Dollar Listing, you see $400,000 commissions, and I think that can get some sellers thinking that we all get these windfalls of money without doing much work,” he says.

One of Adasi’s sellers, who watched all the shows, wanted to renegotiate the commission after the property received a contract very quickly. The seller thought “thousands of dollars” must have been saved in marketing because it happened so quickly, says Adasi. “The bottom line is we go over all costs in detail before the seller signs the listing agreement. You never know how a transaction is going to turn out … If the home takes six months to sell, we don’t charge a higher fee because we had to spend more time marketing the home.” The seller accepted Adasi’s explanation of why he couldn’t renegotiate the commission, and they managed to get another contract within 30 days.

On the f lip side, Bolin says, “The shows can help the REALTOR® image.

You know, sometimes people think of us as sharks. But when you see REALTORS® being knowledgeable and compassionate, I think that can help.”

Real estate TV has definitely captured — and had an impact on — the public’s growing interest in buying and selling homes, and that’s a win for everyone. “I’ve seen a rise in the numbers of consumers who are looking to invest in

“real estate TV engages people, gives them a decent idea of how the process works, and gets them more interested in real estate.” real estate, and I believe that has some correlation to the shows they are watching,” says Adasi. “Overall, real estate TV engages people, gives them a decent idea of how the process works, and gets them more interested in real estate. I think that’s a good thing because it’s good for the economy.”

For agents, the price of having an interested and self-educated group of consumers is the patience it takes to keep saying, “Remember: It’s TV. Don’t believe everything you see.”

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

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Good Read | Resources in print

viral path A new science — social transmission — tries to tease out the reasons some things get talked about, and shared, more than others.

Reviewed by Allan Fallow

O

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

by Jonah Berger Simon & Schuster 256 pages, $26

34 | July/August 2013

ne of my favorite YouTube videos is called “Performance.”

It has nothing to do with sex.

Instead it’s a funny dramatization, set to deliberately bad rap, of the rivalry between cyclists known as “roadies,” who ride racing bikes in full cycling gear, and “hipsters,” who ride fixed-gear bikes in street clothes without helmets.

I’ve emailed the “Performance” link to countless friends, every one of whom found it as satirically delightful as I do. Or at least that’s what they told me. Now, thanks to Jonah Berger and his zippy new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On, I know why that video is so infectious, and the secret ways I’ve benefited by sharing it with others.

Each time I forwarded that link, you see, I was boosting my social currency: “Most people would rather look smart than dumb, rich than poor, and cool than geeky,” writes Berger, a marketing professor who

has taught a course called — you guessed it — “Contagious” at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business since 2008. “Just like the clothes we wear and the cars we drive, what we talk about influences how others see us…Knowing about cool things…makes people seem sharp and in the know.”

So does reading Contagious. I don’t believe I’ve felt this savvy about people’s motivations, nor as culturally up to speed, since I read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point back in 2000.

And that’s entirely appropriate, for Berger cites Gladwell’s social-science epic three times. Around the time he was switching from environmental engineering to studying “social influence and interpersonal communication,” Berger tells us, his grandmother happened to send him a review of The Tipping Point. “I loved the book and read everything related I could find,” he recalls. “But I kept being frustrated by a singular issue. The ideas in that book were amazingly powerful, but they were mainly descriptive. Sure, some things catch on, but why?”

Rumor Has It Berger has come up with six “specific, actionable techniques” that he believes can be used by “people who want their products, ideas and behaviors to spread.”

He has even packaged them in a handydandy acronym, STEPPS (for Social currency, Triggers, Emotion, Public visibility, Practical value, and Stories), to help us remember why rumors spread — and why certain online content goes viral.

I want to reassure those weary of social media (I’m one) that good old-fashioned word-of-mouth does still matter. According to research by the Keller Fay Group, only 7 percent of all word-of-mouth occurs on the Internet.

Those informal exchanges do matter, because according to Berger, “every day the average American engages in more than 16 word-of-mouth episodes, separate conversations where they say something positive or negative about an organization, brand, product, or service.” All told, according to Contagious, “American consumers mention specific brands more than 3 billion times a day.”

Those head-spinning statistics show up in Berger’s discussion of triggers. Berger’s takeaway is that engineering a strong, everyday trigger for your product — getting people to associate Kit Kat chocolate bars with coffee, for example — is often a more effective marketing tactic than coming up with a catchy slogan for it.

In his look at emotion, Berger reports on his quest to ferret out a consistent pattern to viral success. He has spent years studying why, for example, some online articles get shared more often than others.

You’d expect sports or fashion news to make the “Most E-Mailed” list of The New York Times, right? Not quite: Science articles are shared most widely because they’re the ones likeliest to inspire awe in readers. (Berger singles out a 2008 piece by Denise Grady that went viral because it featured a nowfamous — and apparently awe-inspiring — image of a human cough caught on film.)

Good old-fashioned word-of-mouth does still matter. Only 7 percent of all word-of-mouth occurs on the Internet.

It’s not enough that you and I would be astonished, separately and individually, by that shot. Articles catch on when they allow us to share a positive emotion, a dynamic that Berger refers to as “social glue”: “Even if we’re not in the same place, the fact that we both feel the same way bonds us together.”

Public Eye Visibility is a big part of contagion, too, as Berger makes clear when he describes Steve Jobs’ decision to position Apple’s logo upside down on every laptop the company sold. ( Jobs wanted onlookers to see it right side up whenever someone opened a Mac laptop in public.)

The trick, writes Berger, is to get products to advertise themselves. Consider the clever thinking that brought us the “I Voted” sticker, the yellow Livestrong wristband and the distinctive white headphone cords for the iPod. Every time people use the product or service, they also transmit social proof or passive approval, because usage is observable. Many companies apply

this idea through prominent branding.

Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike and Burberry all garnish their products with brand names or distinctive logos and patterns. “For Sale” signs broadcast which REALTOR® the seller is working with.

In the fifth stage of his six-STEPPS program, Berger points out why contagion often hinges on items of practical value. This explains, for instance, how that rumor about infant vaccines causing autism proved to be so virulent: People passed it along out of a genuine belief that they were furnishing young parents with useful, actionable information — “news others can use.”

Well, “news others can abuse,” in this case, for there’s zero evidence linking inoculations and autism, and the author of the 1998 paper that triggered the canard ultimately lost his license to practice medicine. Yet so powerful is our urge to share seemingly helpful things that “it can make false ideas succeed. Sometimes the drive to help takes a wrong turn.”

Berger wraps up his lively tour of the contagion landscape with a look at how stories make ideal vessels for messages.

He takes particular delight in telling (and retelling) the tale of the Trojan Horse, and even the story of the Three Little Pigs.

Salespeople and marketers will benefit from Berger’s points in this last section, notably his contention that “people don’t think in terms of information. They think in terms of narratives. But while people focus on the story itself, information comes along for the ride.”

That’s precisely the formula Berger follows to make Contagious such a sprightly read. His narrative canters along at a heady clip, and only when you start telling someone else “this cool fact I just read” will you realize it’s packed with valuable life lessons. In other words, beware of geeks bearing gifts.

Follow magazine writer and editor Allan Fallow on Twitter, @TheFallow.

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CRS Leadership Academy

CRSs Named "30 Under 30"

Course Listings

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inside CRS N E W S

F R O M

T H E

C O U N C I L

CRS Welcomes

a New CEO

36 | July/August 2013

M

eet Lana Vukovljak, a veteran nonprofit executive, change agent, world traveler and the new CEO of the Council of Residential Specialists. In her 15 years of executivelevel management at three nonprofit associations, Vukovljak has turned around underperforming organizations by creating positive change, introducing and implementing more efficient processes, and driving staff engagement and performance improvements. By strategically building partnerships between nonprofit, for-profit and government sectors, she has developed and implemented new product and service offerings, increased membership and put organizations on a sound financial footing.

The Residential Specialist spoke with Lana to discuss her experience in the nonprofit sector and her goals for the Council of Residential Specialists.

Jenson Larson Photography

Lana Vukovljak

What has your experience working at other associations taught you about leadership and managing people?

As a leader, you need to be passionate about the vision and mission of your organization and be able to share that passion in a way that enables others to feel passionate, too. You need to enable others to feel that their work has purpose and meaning beyond the tasks they perform each day. As a leader you have to allow your staff to share their ideas to help form the big picture — the goals and action plans. People need to feel connected to the actions and process that lead to the accomplishment of goals. They need to feel included.

My experience has taught me that you can accomplish much more if you are able to jointly set the direction and rely on talent and skills of your team members to execute it. Someone once said that “A good leader inspires others with confidence in him, but a great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.”

What are your goals for the CRS organization?

My goal is to create a more nimble organization that stands out from others in residential real estate, to create an organization that is highly relevant to its members and reflects modern trends in nonprofit association management.

What do you envision the CRS organization to look like a year from now?

I envision CRS to be positioned to offer new and exciting educational opportunities that will attract REALTORS® to seek the CRS Designation and will help CRS Designees improve their current skills and knowledge.

What career accomplishments are you most proud of?

I am proud of the accomplishments of the organizations, departments and individuals I have worked with and had the opportunity to influence who continue to thrive and grow.

What inspires you?

I enjoy working with nonprofit boards and staff, serving as a change agent by leading initiatives in organization transformation, performance improvement and high-level business and partnership development. I am motivated by achieving results through creative problem-solving.

Lana Vukovljak At a Glance Education »» Bachelor of Arts in English language and literature, University of Belgrade »» Master of Science in language and adult education, University of Belgrade »» Master of Science in technical communication and information design, Illinois Institute of Technology »» Current Ph.D. candidate in educational leadership, University of Nebraska Experience »» EVP/CEO, American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Washington, D.C. »» CEO, American Association of Diabetes Educators, Chicago »» Vice president, American Health Information Management Association, Chicago

REALTORS® Prepare for San Francisco

W

ith the iconic Golden Gate Bridge as a picturesque backdrop, thousands of real estate professionals from all over the world will flock to San Francisco for the 2013 REALTORS® Conference and Expo, Nov. 8 – 11, 2013. With the housing market rebounding in many areas of the country, agents are meeting the challenge to rise to new heights in their real estate careers. The conference offers agents numerous networking opportunities and education sessions to help them find practical solutions for their business. CRS Designees who attend the conference will walk away with practical tips and strategies to help them close more deals and become inspired to achieve more in their personal and professional lives.

In his industry address, NAR 2013 President Gary Thomas will recognize the accomplishments of the

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CRS Education

YOU want it

WHERE WHEN HOW

CRS offers many different educational offerings and delivery options to help you improve your business, fulfill Designation requirements, earn continuing education credit to maintain your real estate license and help gain referrals while networking with other agents.

IN-CLASS

ONLINE/SELF STUDY

WEBINARS

Face-to-Face One- and Two-Day Classroom Courses

Self Study and eLearning Courses

Live and recorded webinars on timely topics

CRS provides solutions for a changing marketplace and will help you achieve greater success, faster. Visit www.crs.com today because for ambitious, hardworking residential real estate professionals, the journey never ends.

Learn more about CRS events, classroom/online courses, self study materials, and live/recorded webinars today by visiting www.crs.com

inside CRS

2013 REALTORS® of the Year and Good Neighbor Award winners on Saturday, Nov. 9. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will present the keynote address.

The REALTORS® Celebrity Concert features the ’70s and ’80s rock band Foreigner on Sunday, Nov. 10. Back by popular demand, the pre-concert REALTORS® Got Talent show will showcase the abilities of several REALTORS® from across the country.

With more than 100 contentdriven education sessions, agents can find solutions to their toughest business challenges. The Entrepreneurial Excellence Series features top entrepreneurs and

business leaders sharing their life lessons and perspectives. Chris Anderson, former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine and author of Makers, will discuss how emerging technologies could impact people’s future needs for residential and commercial real estate. Luke Williams, professor of innovation at NYU’s Stern School of Business and author of Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business, will discuss how to implement change within your organization.

More than 400 exhibitors will showcase their products and services at the REALTORS® Expo. Back by popular demand are the technology

camps, which will feature updated presentations about some of today’s top technology tools and software.

Explore global opportunities at the International 2nd Home and Resort Pavilion, featuring worldwide properties, and develop referrals and find business opportunities at the International Networking Center.

When you register for a full conference pass, you’ll have complete access to more than 100 hours of recorded education sessions after the event. Register before Aug. 15, and save $30 off the full conference price.

For details about the complete conference schedule, go to realtor.org/ conference. CRS members can register at bit.ly/1a8vNp3.

Academy Builds CRS Leaders

A

s the Council looks to build a stronger future, it is working hard to find and train the next generation of its leaders. Fifteen CRSs are participating in the 2013 CRS Leadership Academy:

»» »» »» »» »» »» »» »»

Cathy Armstrong, CRS Michael Burkhard, CRS Candis Dorsch, CRS Mike Duncan, CRS Daniel Kijner, CRS Deborah Kniss, CRS Rose La Pira, CRS Shirley Matlock, CRS

»» »» »» »» »» »» »»

Maura Neill, CRS Landa Pennington, CRS Michelle Rojas, CRS Radhey Singhal, CRS John Stark, CRS Stephen Stewart, CRS BIL Willis, CRS

The academy curriculum includes a series of modules that cover key skills that will help participants become better leaders, whether they serve their local chapters, the national Council or their own communities.

In May, participants attended two module sessions in Washington, D.C. The Multipliers workshop, presented by Rob DeLange of the Wiseman Group and based on the best-selling book Multipliers: How the Best

Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, by Liz Wiseman, provided insights into how to get more done with fewer resources, be the catalyst to encourage talent, and cultivate new ideas to drive change and innovation. A second session covering parliamentary procedure gave participants the tools to run more effective meetings and develop their leadership skills.

Several modules pertaining to governance, budgeting, leadership and time management are planned for later this summer. The academy will conclude in November when the final module will be a presentation by all 15 participants on the value and benefit of attending the leadership academy. Each participant will receive a certificate of completion when they complete all modules.

“I am pleased the Council is able to provide a program rich with insight into the mechanics of how the Council functions,” says Toni Sherman, CRS, who has developed and coordinated all four Leadership Academy programs. “Coupled with the Multiplier Workshop, this year’s program is one of the best!”

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CRS eLEARNING

YOUR COURSES ON YOUR TERMS

Upon completion of any CRS eLearning course, you will earn 2 to 8 credits of CRS Education toward the CRS Designation. You may also use CRS eLearning courses to earn continuing education credit in some states. Please check the CRS website at www.crs.com for up-to-date CE credit availability per state and course.

SIX COURSES TO CHOOSE FROM 2 credits

NEW VIDEO MARKETING TO ENHANCE YOUR BUSINESS

8 credits SHORT SALES AND FORECLOSURES: PROTECTING YOUR CLIENTS` INTERESTS (CRS 111)*

Plan and implement successful video marketing by identifying uses, determining desired project outcomes, differentiating self-produced vs. professionally produced, distinguishing home-tour levels, and adding on optimizing descriptions, tags and titles.

Learn how to work with buyers and sellers of distressed properties in the online version of the popular classroom course. *This course also completes the core course requirement for NAR’s SFR Certification.

2 credits CLIENT NEGOTIATIONS: UNLOCKING HEARTS VS. LOCKING HORNS

8 credits PUTTING TECHNOLOGY TO WORK FOR YOUR CLIENTS

Discover how to work more effectively by identifying and addressing your clients' underlying interests beginning with the first client contact, continuing through the transaction process, and extending into the post-transaction follow-up.

Expand your knowledge of today’s real estate technology to be better prepared to work effectively with online consumers.

8 credits KEEP IT SIMPLE WITH LOW-COST ONLINE MARKETING

eLearning Course Pricing: 2 credits CRS Designees $30 CRS General Members $40 Everyone else $50

The economy has changed and an agent’s marketing strategies need to change as well. Discover the world of online marketing.

8 credits $125 $150 $175

8 credits CREATING VALUE FOR YOUR CLIENTS Learn how to be more valuable to your clients and maximize your income.

Register for a CRS eLearning course by visiting www.crs.com/education today.

For information on the Council of Residential Specialists and the CRS Designation, please contact Customer Service at 800.462.8841, or visit www.crs.com.

inside CRS

CRSs Named to “30 Under 30” List

F

our CRS Designees are among REALTOR® magazine’s “30 Under 30” honorees for 2013.

The winners were formally introduced during the NAR Mid-Year Meetings in Washington, D.C., and were featured in the May/June issue of REALTOR®.

Congratulations to the following winners:

Bradley Allen, CRS Prudential Midlands Columbia, S.C. “A couple of years ago, my team and I decided we were all going to get our CRS Designations. We love to learn, and we especially love to learn from people who sell homes and from those outside our markets.

Through the CRS classes, we have learned techniques and systems that help us run our business more effectively and efficiently. If every REALTOR® in my area had their CRS Designation, they would make my life easier because I would know I had competent agents on the other side of the table.

Education is the key to being successful.”

Luke Bouman, CRS CB Woodland Schmidt Holland, Mich.

“One of the keys to my success is that I’m a continuous learner. I read several real estate and sales books and attend several online seminars every year. I work with a professional real estate coach and work toward achieving designations like CRS. Other keys to my success include goal setting, daily prospecting time, building a referral business and being ethical. The CRS Designation has set me apart from other agents in the industry. I’m able to explain to my clients how my CRS Designation will benefit them, which leads to more buyers, sellers and referrals.”

Mary Whitworth, CRS broker-owner, Keller Williams Realty B/V, Bryan, Texas “The key to my success is hard work, dedication and consistency. I started in this business in 2006 with no experience and had an incredibly tough first year. I worked long hours and late nights, I prospected nonstop and just knew if I stayed consistent and worked hard every day, business would come my way. My business plan has changed slightly since my first few years in real estate, but sticking to the basics has proven to be a game-changer for me. One of the things I have enjoyed most about having the CRS Designation is the difference in my approach during listing appointments. I have beaten out many great agents while competing for listings simply by explaining the CRS Designation and how it sets me apart from the competition.”

Kristi Tanner Mock, CRS Keller Williams Realty Alaska Group Wasilla, Alaska “I feel extremely honored and proud to be part of such an amazing group of individuals. The key to my success is leverage, working with and through others. Delegating to other specialists on my team allows me to focus on what I do best, lead generation and converting listing appointments to listings. I am a constant learner. I had the opportunity to attend Sell-a-bration® in January and learn from some of the best in the business. The CRS Designation itself identifies to others that I have learned the models and systems from other CRSs, such that it gives them confidence to refer their clients and customers to me, knowing they will get the great customer service they expect for their clients.”

www.crs.com | 4 1

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

Edit

Referral Story: Estate Agents

B

eing involved with CRS brings many rewards, especially in the form of referrals from fellow CRS Designees.

That’s been the experience of Joanne Fraser, CRS, with Coldwell Banker in Los Altos, Calif., who is also a regional vice president for the Council.

In April 2012, Fraser received a referral from Debbie Tupper, Joanne Fraser, CRS CRS, with Realty Executives in Phoenix for a client in Minnesota who was a trustee of her aunt’s estate, which comprised several single-family rental homes in Phoenix and four in the Sunnyvale, Calif., area.

Debbie Tupper, CRS “The niece had worked with an attorney in California, but didn’t have a REALTOR® there. So I asked if I could refer her to an agent in the

area. As I have done several other times, I looked for agents on the CRS website and emailed two of them. Joanne got back to me right away,” recalls Tupper.

Three of the four homes had been used as rentals for more than 30 years. The fourth home belonged to a distant relative and had not been lived in for some time. All needed serious renovations. Fraser says the hard part was notifying the renters, including one who was a hoarder, that the homes they were living in were being sold. “I was a project manager for several months,” Fraser says. “We had to remodel bathrooms, replace windows and replace a new roof on one of the houses. Once we got them on the market, they all sold quickly. The last property closed in December.”

“Joanne more than earned her commissions from having to prepare a house for sale that had hoarders living in it to negotiating 50+ offers on another house!” says Tupper.

“I have vetted CRS agents on four previous transactions for my clients and all have been professional, knowledgeable and wonderful communicators…just what a CRS agent is!”

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

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

Reproduce

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

Distribute

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

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

42 | July/August 2013

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 ,

Show Time

T

he “For Sale” sign is out front and the open house is scheduled, but have you done everything inside and out to make potential buyers bite? Showing your home at its very best requires more than a little dusting and organizing.

You’ll need to help possible buyers imagine themselves living in your home, which means removing photos and some personal items. Find out how to prep your house for a successful showing with some tips from REALTOR.com.

First, get a head start on your packing and clear the clutter.

Clear the sidewalk, lawn and curb, as well as windowsills and countertops. Don’t just stuff items into your cabinets and closets. Store, donate or throw away items you’ve accumulated.

Moving large bookcases or other furniture into storage can also help buyers see the potential of each room. Organizing hidden spaces, such as kitchen shelves and closets, will also appeal to potential buyers.

Do you have leaky faucets or holes in the wall? It’s worth fixing those and other items such as cracked tiles and fussy drawers. Also, consider repainting rooms in neutral colors, such as beige or eggshell white. Let’s face it: That bright orange bathroom isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. And, most important, clean your house from top to bottom, inside and out.

B U Y E R S

A N D

2013 JU LY

S E L L E R S

LOCK STEPS A

s Americans hit the road this summer for vacation, would-be burglars are scoping out their next victim. Don’t let it be you. Make sure your home is securely protected by the latest and greatest in locks. Some tips from This Old House hold the key.

Exterior doors: Thirty-four percent of break-ins happen at the front door, so make sure it has a dead bolt. Ranging from $25 to $300, they come in separate pieces (a dead bolt and a lock set) or as a handle set that has both features.

Two important parts to look for: a dead-locking latch bolt, which prevents entry by jimmying with a credit card, and hardened pins that can’t be sawed. The best option in case of an emergency? A handle set that allows you to open the dead bolt and latch from inside in one motion.

Interior doors: You’ll probably want a lock with a latch kickoff that keeps the door from closing behind you and with an emergency release that lets you open with a paperclip from the outside. Most range from $8 to $16.

Going keyless: Try locks for the digital age, which don’t require a key but instead use a numeric code that slides open the bolt. But if the batteries fail, you may need that key after all.

fast fact »

»»»»»»»»»»»

On average, two out of five fires reported on the Fourth of July occur because of fireworks.

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

Cool Runnings

A

s last summer’s record high temperatures proved, summer can be sticky and uncomfortable — and dangerous. It’s prime time for heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. But take heart: There are ways to chill out. At the pool, on the street or inside your home, stay smart with these tips from MedicineNet.com.

Plan your outdoor workout routine for early mornings or late evenings, when the temperatures are cooler. If you must exercise during the heat of the day, walk instead of run and decrease the duration. Wearing loose clothing in a light color (cotton instead of synthetics) will also help keep you cool.

Say Yes to CRS

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 3 percent in the nation. Contact a CRS today.

REFERR VE

*

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

Stave off dehydration with frequent sips of water or electrolyte-filled sports drinks, and avoid caffeine and alcohol.

Speaking of cold beverages, consider putting some unconventional items in your fridge. A spray bottle filled with water can offer a cooling spritz to your face.

Chilled lotions and cosmetic toners can rescue tired feet. Also, put some plastic bottles of water in the freezer to grab before you go back outdoors.

Fans, even when the air conditioning is on full-blast, can also help. No A/C? Head to a public place such as a shopping mall, public library or movie theater to stay cool.

President Ronald Reagan labeled July as National Ice Cream Month in 1984.

Please mention my name.

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

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

*

inside CRS » » » » » » »

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

CRS Classroom Courses CRS classroom courses earn either eight credits (for 100-level, one-day courses) or 16 credits (for 200-level, two-day courses) toward the CRS Designation.

CRS courses listed below are from July 15 to Oct. 31, 2013. For more up-to-date listings, visit www.crs.com.

CRS 103 — Mastering Positive Change in Today’s World AUG. 14 SCOTTSBLUFF, NEB. Nebraska CRS Chapter 800.777.5231 Instructor: Chuck Bode, CRS

SEPT. 4 WICHITA, KAN. Wichita Area Association of REALTORS® 316.263.3167 Instructor: Chandra Hall, CRS

CRS 201 — Listings

CRS 204 — Income Properties

JULY 18 – 19 MALVERN, PA.

AUG. 27 – 28 EL PASO, TEXAS

Suburban West REALTORS® Association 866.495.7972 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS® 915.783.6072 Instructor: Chris Bird

AUG. 22 – 23 BILLINGS, MONT.

SEPT. 23 – 24 IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO

Montana CRS Chapter 406.441.4863 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

South East Idaho WCR 208.524.2121 Instructor: Doug Richards, CRS, CCIM

SEPT. 11 – 12 PALM DESERT, CALIF.

OCT. 3 – 4 ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Southern California CRS Chapter 760.831.0484 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

Alaska CRS Chapter 907.561.2338 Instructor: Doug Richards, CRS, CCIM

SEPT. 18 – 19 VANCOUVER, WASH.

OCT. 15 – 16 FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA.

Washington CRS Chapter 866.556.5277 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

Greater Ft. Lauderdale REALTORS® 954.563.7261 Instructor: Frank Kowalski, CRS

OCT. 14 – 15 WILLISTON, VT.

OCT. 17 – 18 GILLETTE, WYO.

Northwestern Vermont Board of REALTORS® 802.862.6407 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

Campbell County Board of REALTORS® 307.682.2789 Instructor: Doug Richards, CRS, CCIM

OCT. 17 DICKINSON, N.D. North Dakota Association of REALTORS® 701.355.1010 Instructor: Chandra Hall, CRS

CRS 111 — Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests

CRS 202 — Buyer Sales AUG. 29 – 30 BOISE, IDAHO Idaho CRS Chapter 208.239.0355 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

SEPT. 5 – 6 CORALVILLE, IOWA

OCT. 2 EVANSVILLE, IND. Indiana Association of REALTORS 800.284.0084 Instructor: Chandra Hall, CRS

®

CRS 200 — Business Planning and Marketing AUG. 15 – 16 HONOLULU Hawaii Aloha Chapter of CRS 808.733.7060, ext. 105 Instructor: James Nellis, CRS

OCT. 14 – 15 MALVERN, PA. Suburban West REALTORS® Association 866.495.7972 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

OCT. 17 – 18 NASHVILLE, IND. Indiana CRS Chapter 309.579.2947 Instructor: LeRoy Houser, CRS

OCT. 22 – 23 KNOXVILLE, TENN. Knoxville Area Association of REALTORS 865.584.8647 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

Iowa City Area Association of REALTORS® 319.338.6460 Instructor: Rich Sands, CRS

OCT. 23 – 24 TUCSON, ARIZ. Arizona CRS Chapter 520.382.8848 Instructor: Doug Richards, CRS, CCIM

OCT. 24 – 25 WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. New York State Association of REALTORS® 800.239.4432 Instructor: Frank Kowalski, CRS

CRS 205 — Financing Solutions

SEPT. 16 – 17 HERNDON, VA.

SEPT. 11 – 12 O’FALLON, ILL.

Virginia CRS Chapter 800.755.8271 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

Illinois CRS Chapter 309.579.2947 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

OCT. 1 – 2 FARGO, N.D. Fargo-Moorhead Association of REALTORS® 701.235.6679 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

OCT. 24 – 25 HUNTSVILLE, ALA. North Alabama CRS Chapter 256.656.4741 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

OCT. 29 – 30 MEMPHIS, TENN. Memphis Area Association of Realtors 901.685.2100 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

CRS 206 — Technology AUG. 26 – 27 TULSA, OKLA. Greater Tulsa Association of REALTORS® 918.663.7500 Instructor: Rich Sands, CRS

CRS 210 — Referrals SEPT. 9 – 10 HESPERIA, CALIF. Victor Valley Association of REALTORS® 760.244.8841 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

SEPT. 25 – 26 TALLAHASSEE, FLA. Tallahassee Board of REALTORS® 850.224.7713 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

www.crs.com | 4 5

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

Rich Buyer, Rich Seller, Part 1: Positioning and Branding Yourself as a Luxury Market Expert

OCT. 2 – 3 REHOBOTH Beach, DEL. New Jersey/Delaware CRS Chapter 855.696.5277 Instructor: Chuck Bode, CRS

Women’s Council of REALTORS 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

®

Lancaster County Association of REALTORS® 717.569.4625 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

AUG. 22 DANIA BEACH, FLA.

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

Attracting Today’s Internet Buyer

AUG. 12 DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS Mark Porter Live 972.395.9814 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS It’s a Price War to the Door

SEPT. 23 WHEELING, W. VA. West Virginia Association of REALTORS® 304.342.7600 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS Ninja Selling

SEPT. 23 LOUISVILLE, KY. Kentucky Real Estate Education Foundation 800.264.2185 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

Social Fusion

JULY 17 LARGO, MD.

OCT 21 – 22 LANCASTER, PA.

505.712.1340 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

AUG. 14 KAHULUI, HAWAII Hawaii Aloha Chapter of CRS 808.733.7060, ext. 105 Instructor: James Nellis, CRS

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

The New Negotiating Edge: A 5-Step Behavioral Model

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

Virginia CRS Chapter 800.755.8271 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

JULY 18 LARGO, MD. Women’s Council of REALTORS® 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

AUG. 23 DANIA BEACH, FLA. Miami Association of REALTORS 305.468.7050 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

®

Negotiations: The Games People Play

JULY 24 WALTHAM, MASS. Massachusetts CRS Chapter 800.725.6272 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS Silver Bullet Solutions

OCT. 3 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. New Mexico CRS Chapter

OCT. 10 FREDERICKSBURG, VA.

Turn It on Automatic: Serving Repeat and Referral Customers

SEPT. 27 TALLAHASSEE, FLA. Tallahassee Board of REALTORS® 850.224.7713 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS Video Internet Marketing

AUG. 19 GRAPEVINE, TEXAS Mark Porter Live 972.395.9814 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

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

RESOURCES • July/August 2013

residential The

Specia li s t

Response Time

Betting on Recovery

Code Call

Point of View

Barbara Harris, CRS, Harris Group Realty, barbara@barbaraharristeam. com

Dede Carney, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, dede@kwgreenville.com

Doreen Roberts, CRS, MasterKey Real Estate Mission, DoreenRoberts@ masterkeyrealestate.com

Alex Milshteyn, CRS, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, alex@alexmi. com

Leigh Brown, CRS, RE/MAX Executive Realty, leigh@leighsells. com Stephen “Buzz” Mackintosh, CRS, Mackintosh Inc. REALTORS®, buzzmac@prodigy.net Fredy Rodriguez, CRS, Windermere Real Estate, frodriguez@ windermeresocal.com 46 | July/August 2013

Jeff Scislow, CRS, RE/MAX Results, jeff@scislow.com Sher Powers, CRS, Urbane Residential Specialists, spowers@ realtracs.com Dale Carlton, CRS, Carlton Realty, Dale@CarltonRealtyInc.com

Wendy Furth, CRS, Rodeo Realty Inc., wendyf@rodeore.com Marcie Roggow, CRS, Real Estate Investment Co., marcie@ marcieroggow.com

Alexis Bolin, CRS, ERA Legacy Realty, AlexisERA@aol.com Koki Adasi, CRS, Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., koki@kokiisthekey. com

Your referral source for the greater

Pittsburgh

ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CDPE

Debra Pitell –Hauge

area

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

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

Serving Northern Virginia and the Dulles Tech corridor

Michael Saunders & Company Licensed Real Estate Broker

Offices in Ashburn and Sterling

SARASOTA FLORIDA

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

941.356.0437 dpestates@aol.com SarasotaHomes4Sale.com

Re/Max Select Properties, Inc.

30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE Broker/REALTOR , CRS, SRES , GRI, e-Pro R

R

R

Boca Raton, Florida

Lance Jason CRS, GRI, e-Pro, SRES Phone: 561-290-9866 lance@lancejason.com Serving the real estate needs of the baby boomer community

WEST COAST

H AWA I I

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 www.crs.com | 4 7

CRS REFERRAL MARKETPLACE

SOUTH

EAST COAST

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

after hours Q U ESTIO N : How do you respond when another agent calls you late at night to schedule a showing the next day?

IN OUR EXPERIEN C E . . .

“Requiring some advance notice, like 18 to 24 hours, helps keep the late requests down. The only time I take calls after 9 p.m. is when I am negotiating an offer. Agents who try to set up appointments for the morning by trying to contact the listing agent late the night before are just not thinking. I also believe that just because the phone rings doesn’t mean we have to answer it.”

“For years I answered the phone and email at all hours. Now I do not answer the phone after 8 p.m. unless I see it is something important. Real estate has a built-in artificial urgency.

Once you stop answering at a certain time, the calls will drop off at night and you will have more calls during the day.”

Jeff Burgman, CRS Tierra Antigua Realty Tuscon, Ariz.

James Daniel, CRS

burgmanj@aol.com

“My voicemail message states, ‘If you are calling after regular business hours, I will return your call the next morning.’ Agents that I work with know that I am not on my phone late at night. In time they get trained to my business hours and are more respectful to me and my sellers/clients. I think the whole real estate world and our clients need to step back a little and realize we do not work 24/7.”

RE/MAX Destiny

Sarah Hemker, CRS

Cambridge, Mass.

Century 21 Affiliated

jamesdaniel@remax.net

La Crosse, Wis.

sarah@sarahhemker.com

»»»»»

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

48 | July/August 2013

CRS LEGENDS SERIES PRESENTS:

LISTING LEGENDS

VIDEO B UNDLE

BUYER LEGENDS

What You Get with the Listing Legends Videos

What You Get with the Buyer Legends Videos

Access to online video recordings of all sessions from the live event.

Access to online video recordings of all sessions from the live event.

• • • • • •

• • • •

Getting the Lead Preparation for the Appointment Killer Listing Presentations Marketing Strategies to Get the Listing Sold Getting the Deal Closed Improving Client Relationships During and After the Sale

Oh Buyer, Where Art Thou?

Converting Leads Into Prospects and Prospects Into Clients Negotiating Magic Trouble Free Closings and Final Q & A

Purchase the Listing Legends and Buyer Legends videos today at the special video bundle rate and receive a 20% discount*.

SPECIAL VIDEO BUNDLE PRICE $176 FOR CRS MEMBERS $216 FOR NON-MEMBERS * The Listing Legends and Buyer Legends videos each cost $110 for members and $135 for non-members, making the combined cost for purchasing both sets separately $220 for members and $270 for non-members. Prices are automatically calculated after you sign into CRS.com.

Watching the CRS Legends videos from both sets can earn you 12 CRS Education credits toward the CRS Designation.

LEARN MORE BY VISITING WWW.CRS.COM.

CRS WEBINARS REAL ESTATE BUSINESS

MARKETING SOCIAL MEDIA

Missed any of these webinars in 2012?

Purchase the recording today.

Staging, Selling, Sold! with Julie Beall, CRS and Amy Broghamer, CRS recorded February 15 Increase Your Business by Working with Seniors with Debbie Rodgers recorded March 27 Reducing Liability and Risk When Referring Service Providers with Dale Carlton, CRS recorded April 5 The Global Financial Crisis: What does the future hold? with Dale Carlton, CRS recorded July 17 How to Price a Listing and Sell it Every Time with Amy Broghamer, CRS recorded July 24 Open Houses that Rock with David Burke recorded August 1 Break into and Succeed in the Luxury Real Estate Market with Jack Cotton, CRS recorded August 7 Luxury Real Estate Buyers: Who Are They and 12 Ways to Find Them with Jack Cotton, CRS recorded October 16 What to Say and When to Say It: Winning Scripts and Dialouges for Real Estate Agents with Leigh Brown, CRS recorded October 24 The Dangers of an Improving Real Estate Market: How a rising market can lower an agent’s income with Denny Grimes, CRS recorded October 31 The Art of Real Estate Negotiating: Create More Sales, Close Them More Gracefully and Live With Less Stress with Tim Burrell, CRS recorded November 15 Become a Referral Generating Machine in 2013 with Michael Maher, CRS recorded December 12 How to Dominate Your Local Market with Linda Davis, CRS recorded May 30 7 Ways to Stand Out and Build Your Brand with John Michael Morgan recorded September 12 Marketing and Growth Strategies of the World’s Top Agents with Travis Robertson recorded September 27 T ansform Your Tr Y Business Using a Facebook Business Page with Maura Neill, CRS recorded January 25 Transform Boost Your Business with Pinterest with Julie Beall, CRS recorded April 11 Twitter: From Start-Up to Superstar--Why Twitter Works and How with Maya Paveza recorded April 19 Selling Homes with Facebook Ads with Jason O’Neil, CRS recorded May 23

TECHNOLOGY

Must-Have Apps and How to Maneuver the Android Marketplace with Tara Jordan Tallon recorded January 12 What Makes a Great Blog Post: Tips for Creating a Real Estate Blog with Maura Neill, CRS recorded June 14 Master the iPad for Your Real Estate Business with Greg Gorman, CRS recorded June 13 Generate Fresh Leads Every Day Using Craigslist with Josh Schoenly recorded August 21 Bridging the Gap: Combining yesterday’s principles with today’s mobile world with Jared James recorded September 20

FREE WEBINARS

Maximize Your CRS Membership to Generate Referrals* with Lois Cox, CRS, Waylon Chavez, CRS, and Bill Kuhlman, CRS recorded February 28 How to Build Your Marketing Program* with Chris Brogan recorded August 14

*FREE FOR EVERYONE **FREE FOR MEMEBERS-ONLY

Reach for the Cloud! 7 Steps to Move Your Business to the Cloud** with John Morley, CRS and Seth Dailey, CRS recorded May 2 Tax Talk 2013** with Chris Bird recorded October 2 Thrive Mastery** with James Nellis, CRS recorded November 14

RECORDED WEBINAR PRICING: • CRS Designees: $10 • CRS General Members and all other registrants: $15

Webinars are scheduled throughout the year.

View upcoming live webinars and recorded webinars at www.crs.com/education.