The REport

Posted on 06. Jul, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

As temperatures reach record highs along the east coast, another record has been broken: Lady Gaga became the first living person to attract 10 million Facebook fans. More than even President Obama, but less than Texas Hold ‘em poker and Family Guy. Consider this, even if your numbers aren’t “Ga Ga” on Twitter, new data [...]

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Week in Review: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 02. Jul, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

As Hurricane Alex swirled around the Gulf producing ten-foot waves and 25 mph winds, 180,000 homebuyers got a lifebuoy that will save them from what could have been a perfect storm of their own.  These homebuyers, who signed a purchase agreement by April 30, were likely going to miss the June 30th deadline to complete [...]

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Practice What You Preach

Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Paulette Costa.

We tell our agents the number one thing they must do to get more business is prospect, prospect, and then prospect some more.

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Tax Credit Extension or Not

Posted on 28. Jun, 2010 by Wendy Forsythe.

We prospect diligently to find qualified buyers. We work with them tireless to find the perfect home. We negotiate expertly on their behalf to get an accepted offer. But then the real work begins these days. As we try to hold it all together and actually get to a successful closing. NAR estimates that as [...]

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Week in Review: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

Even with a whirlwind of news this week – from General McChrystal’s departure to the longest tennis match in the history of Wimbledon – real estate remained a major focus. Sales of new single-family homes were down 32.7 percent to a record low. Sales of previously owned homes, although up 19.2 year over year, fell 2.2 percent. Rounding it out, mortgage applications dropped to their lowest level since 1997. All of these [...]

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Operational and Compensational Implications of Reducing Office Size

Posted on 22. Jun, 2010 by Robert Albanese.

As is true with everything in business, the issue of reducing office size cannot be viewed in a vacuum. If you decide that reducing office size is an important initiative for your company, first consider all operational attributes that are impacted by changes to the physical plant. Keep in mind that both business and culture [...]

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The REport

Posted on 22. Jun, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

What speed!  What dexterity!  And I am not just talking about the continuing spectacle of The World Cup, or excitement of the now-decided NBA Finals (congratulations Lakers).  Last week, Twitter fans posted a record 2,940 posts per second just 30 seconds after Japan scored against Cameroon in The World Cup.  A record which stood for [...]

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Week in Review: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 18. Jun, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

The Stanley Cup ended last week, but the industry is talking about a possible hockey stick recovery for housing if builders can’t “meet pent-up demand once excess inventories are depleted.”  The sentiment is joined by analysts who believe that a housing shortage could be on its way as the job market rebounds and people look to buy homes again. In the meantime, however, housing starts sagged 10 percent in May and building [...]

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What’s in Your Toolbox?

Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Paulette Costa.

Several years ago I was asked to participate in a Habitat for Humanity project. It was a day when only women were to work on a home that was being built for a single mother in Hartford, CT, and I was proud to participate.

I participated with several agents from my office and upon arrival we were met by the local builder who provided each of us with a carpenter’s apron, a hammer, nails, a tape measure and our assignments. Mine was to hammer floor boards. The builder barked out instructions, demonstrated with a few swings of his hammer and left me to my work which I took on with feverish excitement.

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The REport

Posted on 15. Jun, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

If tweets actually chirped the global din would be as pervasive as vuvuzela horns at the World Cup. Twitter just announced there are 65 million tweets sent daily!  In such a crowded field, I truly believe faithful practitioners of elegance and etiquette will be rewarded. Speaking of rewarding, most marketers will tell you that word [...]

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Week in Review: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

On the foreclosure front this week, the pace of prime borrowers succumbing to foreclosure is accelerating with unemployment being the major driver. The good news, though, is that foreclosures in general leveled off in May, with numbers nearly flat from a year ago. This fluctuation and changes in the market lately have accounted for a [...]

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