Real Estate Broker’s Insider Web Extras

Each month, our print newsletter Real Estate Broker’s Insider provides in-depth information and ideas to help readers grow their businesses and increase their profits.

But we often have valuable background material, additional information, or related resources that we just can’t fit in the newsletter. Listed below are a wide range of documents that add further insight and understanding to the articles in Real Estate Broker’s Insider.

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Learn more about Real Estate Broker’s Insider.

February 2010

The inventory of existing homes doesn’t look so daunting — But add in the “shadow” inventory of bank-owned properties expected to flood the market, and the inventory numbers don’t look so cheerful, according to these charts by First American CoreLogic.

RESPA reform brings new good-faith estimates — Mortgage reforms that took effect January 1 will help consumers shop for the best mortgage deal, avoid harmful loan offers, and save the typical borrower $700 at the closing table, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says. Click here to see HUD’s sample Good Faith Estimate form.

January 2010

Top-quality brokerages stress constant improvement — Bob Bowes of Bowes, Pennell & Thompson uses a quality certification program plus customer-service training at weekly meetings to ensure customer satisfaction. Learn how three broker/owners are using quality-certification programs to market their agencies.

Internet buyers are no longer low-maintenance, but they are crucial to your business — Not too long ago, Internet buyers were far more satisfied with their agents than were traditional buyers. Data from the California Association of Realtors now shows that satisfaction rates for Internet and traditional buyers are the same and declining.

December 1, 2009

Keeping swine flu out of your company requires vigilance — and plenty of hand sanitizer — Brokers have responded to the swine-flu scare with a variety of reactions that range from a shrug to a detailed response. Disaster planning experts say most businesses aren’t ready for a severe outbreak. “Probably not a very high percentage of businesses are prepared,” says Bob Boyd, chief executive of Agility Recovery Solutions in Charlotte, NC. Click here for tips on preparing for a swine flu outbreak.

Novel scapegoat for housing bubble: Urban planners and their growth-management rules — Add another culprit to the list of housing bubble suspects: The boom was caused mainly by strict regulation of building in markets such as California and Florida, argues Randal O’Toole, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. Read O’Tool’s fascinating and controversial report here.

GMAC, Atlanta broker in lawsuit — A large Atlanta broker owes GMAC Real Estate $347,147, GMAC says in a federal lawsuit. GMAC filed a breach-of-contract claim against Metro Brokers Inc., Chief Executive Officer Kevin Levent, and Chief Financial Officer Clyde Carver. Here is a copy of GMAC’s suit.

November 1, 2009

Collapse over, but don’t expect a dramatic comeback, NAR says — The worst of the housing market’s collapse is over, and real estate is poised for a long, slow healing process, says Jed Smith, an economist for the National Association of Realtors.

Click here to see NAR’s U.S. Economic Outlook: September 2009.

Simple tips and tricks to help you connect with others — Whether you’re trying to win new clients or recruit and retain agents, the connections you make with others are crucial to your success. In The Connectors: How the World”s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life, marketer Maribeth Kuzmeski offers a wealth of tips for getting others to like you. We summarize her best ideas in the November issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider and provide an insightful article she has written titled, “Nine No-Fail Ways to Boost Referrals for Your Business”.

October 1, 2009

Realtor.com top site, search phrase — Realtor.com not only is the most-visited real estate site on the Internet but also the most-entered search phrase, according to research by Hitwise. Realtor.com remained the No. 1 real estate site in August by a wide margin. Yahoo! Real Estate, Zillow, ZipRealty, and Rent.com rounded out the top five.

Popular search phrases after “realtor.com” included “real estate,” “Zillow” and “remax.”

To see Hitwise’s report for August, just click the link.

Florida broker uses book groups, Friday cookouts to build teamwork — To keep agents and staff motivated and happy, Jim and Sherry Davidson of Davidson Realty in St. Augustine, FL, try to create a family atmosphere. Every Friday at lunchtime, Jim grills burgers in the company’s ornate patio, which includes a stone fireplace. Meanwhile, Sherry has set up a series of study groups that look at useful books.

Over the years, REBI has asked readers about their favorite business books. Here are a dozen of their best suggestions.

September 15, 2009

It’s nearly official: Housing market hits bottom — Finally, it appears that the sickening freefall in the housing market is over. “It is real and it looks like a turn,” Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College and co-creator of the S&P/Case- Shiller index, said in an interview. “It’s not going down any more and it’s beginning to come up. That’s very good for the future of this financial problem.”

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, which tracks 20 metropolitan areas, rose for three months in a row from April through June. And the index fell 15.4 percent in June from a year earlier, the smallest dip since April 2008.

Click for a spreadsheet showing the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index for the nation’s 20 largest metro areas. As always, raising numbers indicate rising housing prices, while falling numbers indicate falling prices.

September 1, 2009

In difficult year, customer satisfaction scores fall, reinforce importance of agents — Consumers grew less satisfied with real estate brokers in 2009, according to J.D. Power and Associates’ second annual Home Buyer/Seller Study. The average score in J.D. Power’s buyer survey fell to 791 out of 1,000 in 2009 from 811 last year. The average score in the seller survey remained the same, although two brokers that received below-average scores in last year’s survey weren’t included in this year’s numbers.

In addition to the data provided in the September 1 issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider, J.D. Power and Associates provided the following two charts, which show customer satisfaction ratings for a range of key attributes:

Home buyer data breakdowns

Home seller data breakdowns

August 15, 2009

“Print is dying,” study of real estate ads concludes — Real estate professionals are growing increasingly skeptical of the power of print ads, according to a new survey by Advanced Interactive Media Group.

Even so, its Real Estate Advertising 2009 report finds a number of contradictions in how Realtors feel and how they act.

Click here for the full ranking of the effectiveness of 18 methods of advertising.

July 15, 2009

Worst is over for housing market, says NAR economist — Falling prices and stable incomes mean buyers can afford houses again. A study by IHS Global Insight says that homes in most parts of the country are undervalued. Las Vegas homes, for example, were undervalued by 41 percent in the first quarter, while Houston houses were underpriced by 37 percent.

Click here to read IHS Global Insight’s study on home valuations and check values in your area.

Aiming to attract agents? Try staging your office — Staging is all the rage for sellers these days, but says Adam Lerman, Century 21’s national recruiting director and The Recruiting Network’s Recruiter of the Year for 2009 it may be time to stage your office.

Read Learman’s six tips for staging your office here.

June 15, 2009

Sluggish jumbo-mortgage market hampers recovery — Even as the low end of the market sets a blistering pace for sales, the high end of the housing market is languishing. The National Association of Realtors blames the “ongoing credit crunch in the jumbo-mortgage market.”

Even buyers with stellar credit scores and plenty of cash for a down payment face limited availability and unusually high interest rates for jumbo loans.

Click here to read NARs report on jumbo loans.

June 1, 2009

For aging boomers, 55-plus communities grow more tempting — Most baby boomers want to stay home and “age in place,” but a large and growing number — more than 1.2 million households — are moving to active-adult communities designed to meet their needs, according to a study by the National Association of Home Builders and the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

To see the full report, Housing for the 55+ Market: Trends and Insights on Boomers and Beyond, click here.

May 15, 2009

Broker goes independent, stresses foreclosures, market bottom — Low-priced sales are dominating the market right now, says Roger D. Chaussee, broker-owner of Trademark Realtors in Riverside, CA. “Homes under $200,000 that are well-priced are getting multiple offers.”

To underscore that point, Chaussee wrote up his findings in a one-page article that he distributed to agents and the local newspaper. In it, he argues that there will be no single market bottom but rather a series of bottoms for different price ranges and neighborhoods.

Read Chaussee’s article on the market bottom here.

May 1, 2009

Coldwell Banker debuts TV ads — Century 21 has stopped national TV advertising, but Coldwell Banker Real Estate continues to invest in the medium.

Coldwell Banker recently rolled out its 2009 campaign, which will appear on television and in print and online. One spot, “Iconic Homes,” features notable properties such as the White House. At the end of the ad, a tagline directs consumers to www.coldwellbanker.com for information on the $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time home buyers. A second ad is narrated by company founders “Coldwell” and “Banker.” They banter about the firm’s new smart phone listing platform.

To see the commercials, click here.

April 15, 2009

Las Vegas broker’s foreclosure bus tours bring in buyers — Ever since early 2008, RE/MAX Central in Las Vegas has been hosting three tours a week of the city’s best real estate bargains. Usually about 20 bargain hunters board the brokerage’s 40-seat bus. During the three-hour trip, they see half a dozen listings in a variety of price ranges.

Conducting regular bus tours isn’t cheap. RE/MAX Central spent about $100,000 to buy a used coach, refurbish it, and emblazon it with the TourVegashomes.com web address. Then there’s the cost of the bus driver, diesel fuel and insurance for the bus, foreclosure booklets given to buyers, and refreshments served to the bargain hunters. And RE/MAX Central pays for print advertising, Internet marketing, and direct mail to promote the tours.

To see the attractively refurbished coach, click here.

April 1, 2009

Broker offers pricey fee-for-service and full-service — Louis Herrera markets fee-forservice offerings to clients, but don’t call him a discounter. Herrera, head of RT Brokerage Services in Seattle, charges as much as $235 an hour for his time.

To learn more about Herrera’s business model and fee schedule, click here.

Time to bolster marketing — Stephann Cotton, head of Florida real estate marketing firm Cotton & Co., predicts a significant turnaround in the near future.

“When the market changes, I think it’s going to change quickly,” Cotton says. “As soon as the market stabilizes with pricing and inventories, a lot of people who are seeing an opportunity in today’s environment are going to be jumping in.” Cotton & Co. recently surveyed 1,198 potential buyers and finds signs that they’re poised to buy, but only when they’re convinced the bottom has arrived.

Click here to read the entire Cotton & Co. report: A Snapshot of the 2009 Real Estate Market.

March 15, 2009

Affordability soars as prices fall — There’s a silver lining in the cloudy housing market: Housing affordability surged in the fourth quarter of 2008 to its highest level in at least five years.

That’s according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index. To view the trend in housing affordability over the past 16 years, click here.

March 1, 2009

Tell buyers what they should know about $7,500 tax credit — As the March 1 issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider went to press, it was unclear whether Congress and the Obama administration would expand a tax credit for first-time buyers.

The National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) have been pushing to double the proposed tax credit for first-time home buyers and to remove the requirement that the money be repaid.

Learn more about the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

February 15, 2009

From poorly marketed listings to phantom “live chat” features, big broker sites must improve — When he started to study the sites of the 500 largest brokers, Marc Davison, co-founder of 1000watt Consulting, expected to crown the top 50 sites. Then he looked more closely. Davison found only nine sites that he thought deserved to be singled out for excellence. The February 15 issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider looks at Davison’s study and finds some common errors that apply to sites of all sizes.

Read the full report, The Top Ten Real Estate Brokerage Websites in America.

February 1, 2009

Short sale proponent creates new designation for distressed property experts — Short sales are the transactions realtors love to hate — but with the market’s doldrums deepening, many agents might have little choice but to embrace these difficult deals.

That’s certainly the point of view espoused by Alex Charfen, cofounder of The Depressed Property Institute in Boca Raton, FL.

Click here for four reasons Charfen says you must list short sales.

Boost sales by creating client loyalty: Seven commandments — Want to stand out from the crowd? Create loyal customers. “Loyalty is the new business driver,” writes Beverly Koehn, a speaker and marketing expert, in her new book, Loyalty Is Love: How to Hold Clients Close for Life. But how do you create loyalty? in the February 1 issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider Koehn offers her seven commandments.

Below she provides her Winning Unconditional Trust In Sales worksheet.

January 1, 2009

Ad copy for luxury listings should be long, detailed, and honest — In the January issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider broker Stan Barron provides seven counterintuitive rules he says are guaranteed to produce results even in a challenging market.

Click here for more of Stan Barron’s marketing tips from Real Estate Broker’s Insider.

December 1, 2008

Preparation, creativity, leadership keys to successful sales meetings — In a difficult real estate market, agents crave leadership and help, says broker and speaker John Mayfield of St. Louis. “They want us to help them. They want direction. And the sales meeting is when we do that.” In the December 1 issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider Mayfield provides 20 ways to make meetings more useful.

Here is a sample of his typical meeting agenda and of the type of handout he gives agents to share with their buyers or sellers.

November 1, 2008

Broker: 50-50 splits not luring agents — Last year, we wrote about Palm Beach Realty Advisors’ plans to grow quickly by paying agents 50-50 splits.

Now, Palm Beach is offering agents 75 percent and 100 percent splits, along with recruiting bonuses.

Click to see Palm Beach Realty Advisors’ split schedule and presentation highlights on recruiting bonuses.

HUD charges Georgia firm with racial steering — An Atlanta-area agent steered whites posing as homebuyers to white neighborhoods and even boasted that he had separate sets of listings for white and black buyers, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) says.

Read the related article and advice in Discrimination complaint reminds brokers of importance of color-blind service.

September 15, 2008

HUD settles suit with Realogy and hazard reporting firm, sends warning to industry — Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Corp. and Property I.D. Corp. have agreed to treat hazard disclosure reports as settlement services and not to operate alleged sham companies.

In other words, it’s illegal for brokers to get a $25 cut from each disclosure report required by California law.

Click here to see the settlement agreement.

Another tough quarter for Realogy, which says “sloppy bottom” is in sight — The nation’s largest broker said second-quarter revenue fell, although its losses narrowed as it cut expenses

Read Realogy’s second quarter earnings report here.

September 1, 2008

Don’t waste time overselling — Everybody knows that listing agents’ ads look at the bright side. But sometimes, the ads get a little too optimistic. A survey by the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents finds some egregious examples and suggests the true meanings.

Read the NAEBA 2008 Report on Home Buying Euphemisms and Lingo

Americans happy with industry service but demanding lower prices, Consumer Reports says — There’s good news and bad news for the real estate industry, according to a new customer satisfaction survey by Consumer Reports magazine. The good news: Consumers are happy with their brokers. The bad news: Large numbers of consumers are demanding discounts. And those who pay less are more satisfied.

View data from the Consumer Reports survey.

August 15, 2008

Academic study’s advice: In tough market, chase leads aggressively — Agents hoping to survive a sluggish housing market are wise to pick up the phone and start making calls, according to a new study by researchers at Baylor University.

Click here to read the full report, Lead Generation: What Really Works?

J.D. Power ranks brokers for first time — J.D. Power’s survey of home sellers and buyers ranks Keller Williams tops in buyer satisfaction, while Prudential gets the highest score in seller satisfaction. ERA was last in seller satisfaction and tied for last in buyer satisfaction.

Click here to read the full report, J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study.

August 1, 2008

Silicon Valley rebater eyes national expansion — Carey Sutton says his brokerage has been profitable since it opened in 2004 — in spite of a business model that calls for providing high levels of service while taking commissions of only 1 percent on each side of a transaction.

View a PowerPoint overview of Sutton’s business model.

July 15, 2008

Harvard study: Housing downturn to continue — The downturn in housing starts, new home sales, and existing home sales already rivals the worst real estate slowdowns since World War II, Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies says. And home price declines and mortgage defaults are the worst on records that date to the 1960s and 1970s.

See the Joint Center’s State of the Nation’s Housing 2008 report.

July 1, 2008

NAR, DOJ settle long-running dispute; Who won? Who knows — The National Association of Realtors and the U.S. Department of Justice have settled their long-running battle over Internet distribution of listings. Depending on whose interpretation you believe, the settlement is a victory for Realtors, a victory for consumers, a victory for discount brokers, or much ado about nothing.

You decide. Click here to read the final judgement filed by the Department of Justice.

Mortgage Bankers: Foreclosures hit record — In a gloomy sign for home prices, more and more homeowners are falling behind on their loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Read the National Deliquency Survey here.

SBA loans offer opportunity for brokers looking to buy rather than rent — Lower rates, lower down payments and longer terms make SBA loans popular with small businesses. But there’s plenty of paperwork.

Click here to see an example of the paperwork required.

June 15, 2008

Realtor pay continued to fall in 2007, NAR says — Plunging sales volumes and falling home prices combined to pinch industry paychecks in 2007, the National Association of Realtors says in its latest member survey.

See a pay chart from NAR’s 2008 Member Profile.

Realogy revenue, profits continue to fall — For Realogy Corp., the nation’s largest real estate broker, the tough times continued in the first quarter of 2008.

See Realogy’s first-quarter earnings report.

June 1, 2008

Soaring gas prices squeeze suburban home values — With oil prices at record highs, suburban homes are becoming less desirable and less valuable, argues economist Joe Cortright.

Read Cortright’s “Driven to the Brink: How the Gas Price Spike Popped the Housing Bubble and Devalued the Suburbs”

May 15, 2008

At Vermont brokerage, cuts start with owners’ salaries — Staige Davis is bullish about the future of his company, Lang McLaughry Spera Real Estate of South Burlington, VT. For the present, though, a difficult market has left him little choice but to begin hacking away at expenses.

Click here to see Staige Davis’ tips on strategic planning and cost cutting.

Established broker uses savvy expansion, training to regain market share — Jim Maloof Realtor is the top company in the Peoria market, with 14 offices and 220 agents, and its success offers a case study in building market share. A good part of that success stems from recruiting the right agents. The company focuses on women in their 30s and 40s with career night ads that show photos of women in that age group. To appeal to Generation X agents, Maloof has begun to adapt its management style to younger workers, who aren’t so keen on traditions such as staff meetings. “Meetings are passe,” Maloof says.

Click here to see the ad that’s working for Jim Maloof Realtor.

High-tech tools for cutting expenses — Sure, times are tough in many parts of the country. But ever improving technology gives brokers numerous new ways to cut their overhead painlessly.

Click here for 50 tips on cost cutting with technology from 1000Watt Consulting.

May 1, 2008

Buyer agent fee of 3% is most effective — Seattle-based discount broker Redfin looked at buyer agent commissions in its market and concluded that precisely 3 percent is the most effective bounty.

Click here to view the report.

April 15, 2008

Creativity, persistence characterize campaigns from marketing award winners — In a slowing market, many brokers and agents are taking chainsaws to their marketing budgets. But the savviest agents aren’t cutting their ad spending altogether. Instead, they’re taking a hard look at what works, and they’re getting creative about delivering their messages to consumers.

The Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) recently announced the winners of its annual marketing awards. Here’s a look at the award-winning campaigns from 2007.

Television commercials from Jeff Scislow, RE/MAX Results

Email postcard from Bruce Larson, Larson Group Real Estate

Print and billboard ads from Drena Hollingsworth, Hollingsworth Realty Group

• Have you done the Deed yet?
• There’s no place like home, billboard
• Today’s Modern Woman chooses Hollingsworth

April 1, 2008

Broker uses eye-catching cars to reel in consumers, low overhead to make money — What’s the first thing consumers notice about Bug! Realty? Its eyecatching Volkswagen Beetles, which are painted to look like red and black ladybugs.

That’s exactly what San Diego broker Kevin Seney had in mind when he launched Bug! Realty back in 2004. Seney’s business model hinges in large part on his ability to create a funky, fresh brand that will appeal to buyers and sellers from Generations X and Y.

Click here to view the Bug! Realty bug.

March 15, 2008

In a down market, savvy online strategies are a must — In his 10 tips for improved online marketing, Andrew Wetzler president of Internet marketing firm MoreVisibility recommends using search engine marketing. “Your only limits are how aggressive you want to be — and how big your budget is,” he says.

Click here to learn how Gabel Real Estate achieved a ten-fold increase in traffic to its website with search engine marketing.

Real Living calls itself the first national brand focused on women — From a logo designed to appeal to women to a friendly font on the marketing materials to a store-like feel at its offices, Real Living keeps women in mind.

Click here to see a typical reception area.

Click here to see a typical seating area.

March 1, 2008

With franchise agreement expiring, broker polls agents — who vote for independence — For 12 years, Bill Aboumrad had run RE/MAX Executive of Fremont, CA. With his five-year arrangement coming up for renewal recently, Aboumrad faced a cost-benefit analysis that’s familiar to any broker who has weighed the pros and cons of franchise affiliation.

Aboumrad decided to go independent. To help answer recruits questions about the change, the agency prepared a detailed document, which answers questions such as: How do I benefit being with an independent broker? What about losing brand recognition? How will clients and consumers benefit?

Click here to view the agency’s FAQs for recruits.

February 15, 2008

Broker offers flexible commissions and finds fees dip rather than plummet — To compete with the ‘big guys’ Mohawk Valley 1st Choice positions its downtown office as a welcome center where visitors can get free maps and free coffee.

Click here to see where home shoppers hang out.

January 15, 2008

“Real estate scientists” offer seven ways to sell more quickly and for more money — Online broker Redfin analyzed its own site along with 17 broker databases and academic studies to determine how to sell homes more quickly and for more money.

Click here to read the white paper Seven Tactics for Selling a Home A Data-Driven Approach for Home-Sellers.

January 1, 2008

Web-savvy agent attracts site visitors by the hundreds of thousands — As agents and brokers struggle to lure consumers to their websites, one agent seems to have figured out exactly how to generate leads online. Keith Byrd, a Century 21 agent in San Luis Obispo, CA, employs a sophisticated Internet strategy that’s attracting visitors by the thousands.

Click here to view a chart showing Byrd’s “Seven Pieces of an Internet Strategy.”

December 15, 2007

Home prices rising or falling? Still depends on who you ask and where you look — While the National Association of Realtors is accentuating the positive, Zillow.com, the S&P/Case-Shiller index and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight take a more pessimistic view.

Click below to view reports from the National Association of Realtors and S&P/Case-Shiller:

Median Sales Price of Existing Single-Family Homes for Metropolitan Areas

National Home Price Index

 

December 1, 2007

Looking for Listings? Follow these tips for farming FSBOs — With a little patience and a lot of persistence, you can turn FSBOs into a profit center says John Maloof, an agent at Century 21 Grande. In this issue of Real Estate Broker’s Insider, he offers 10 tips for success including creating a FSBO Journal. He recommends creating this document in Microsoft Excel and giving yourself places to record details about the property and seller, along with a record of the dates you’ve contacted the seller.

Click below to see two sample FSBO journals:

Standard FSBO Journal

Illustrated FSBO Journal

 

November 15, 2007

Discounters continue to take hits, leaving traditional brokers stronger — For years, the discount threat dominated discussions at industry conferences. Now, though, the discounters are hemorrhaging cash, and no longer do they loom so large. Amid a slowing market and counter-moves from traditional brokers, big holes in the discounters’ business models are becoming apparent.

Click below to view this month’s web extras:

The Foxtons’ bankruptcy filing

Realogy’s annual report