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

Posted on 08. Jan, 2010 by Sherry Chris.

The new year is already starting out with a bang, with a plethora of news buzzing about in the real estate industry. As positive and negative reports and articles surface about what’s to come in 2010, we have learned that—in the words of The Wall Street Journal—“the outlook for 2010 is uncertain, at best.”
There is [...]

Continue Reading

Sherry Chris Interviews Jim Rodgers

Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by Sherry Chris.

Sherry interviews Jim, coming to REBarCamp to learn more about how to make social media tools work for his business in real estate.

Continue Reading

Next Gen Lead Generation

Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by Wendy Forsythe.

As the business continues to change and consumers demand a different type of interaction between themselves and the real estate professional the techniques and responsibilities of lead generation will also continue to evolve.

Continue Reading

The Status Quo is Not an Option

Posted on 14. Aug, 2009 by Nicolai Kolding.

In the coming weeks, you will be reading a lot about our specific ideas on the Next Generation Brokerage.  It’s important to explain why we believe this is necessary.  In our view, this comes down to a matter of necessity.  Simply put, the status quo is not an option.  The numbers won’t fly.
Every brokerage has four [...]

Continue Reading

What Happens when Your Identity is Confused with Others?

Posted on 11. May, 2009 by Wendy Forsythe.

Unless you have a very unusual name, chances are there are several other people in the world that share your first and last name. This is kinda neat, but what if your name twin doesn’t do the honor justice?

Before the Internet, you may have never known. Now a simple Google search can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings. What if a client runs a Google search and instead of you turning up, your name twin does?

Continue Reading

Don’t Say These Things If You Want to Attract Gen Y Women

Posted on 20. Apr, 2009 by Wendy Forsythe.

I was at the gym last weekend reciting the no pain no gain mantra while trying to block out the noise around me, when my thoughts got interrupted by two words “real estate” — spoken by the ladies chatting next to me. Enough with my personal pep talk, this peeked my interest.

I gently nudged myself into their conversation. As it turns out, one of the women is in medical sales but also happens to be taking her real estate course. I asked her if she had spoken with any brokers yet regarding work and she explained that she had one interview with a local office.

“Tell me more,” I asked.

She said it was a good meeting. The broker seemed knowledgeable and very eager to help her. The company had training programs and a good reputation in the community. She was speaking so positively that I assumed she was ready to join the office. I congratulated her, but she stopped me and said that she didn’t think it was the office for her. I asked her why.

She explained that upon leaving, the broker’s farewell included the following statement:

“Kiddo, we’d love to have you join the team.”

Continue Reading

Friday Blog Scan: Things We Liked from the Week That Was

Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by Jason Steele.

We know how well the big sites in real estate (Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia) rank in the search engines. And we are clear about the vast amount of traffic they receive. We also know that consumers are drawn to these sites first before drilling down to the local broker and agent sites. What we inside real estate know that most consumers may not is how many local listings are actually missing from these search sites. Jay Thompson digs a little deeper into this discussion in his post this week titled Where to search for homes online.

Continue Reading

Friday Blog Scan: Things we liked from the week that was

Posted on 03. Apr, 2009 by Jason Steele.

RIS Media cracked the week open with a post that takes a positively hopeful, yet pragmatic view of our economic status and how certain indicators suggest the worst may be behind us. But is it really? As this article suggests, it may still be too early to tell.

Inman also offered a sign of increased market activity. It published a reader survey that found most readers have seen signs of improvement in the past 60 days. We’ll see.

Michael Wurzer, prolific blogger and CEO of FBS Data Systems, a MLS software provider in Fargo, North Dakota, reports on the flooding in the area last week in his entry titled Still Fighting. Our prayers, well wishes and thoughts go out to everyone affected.

Continue Reading

Why is Change So Difficult & What to Do About It

Posted on 02. Apr, 2009 by Robert Albanese.

Through all of the turbulence of the past three years, it is interesting to look back on it all and ask, why is change so difficult for most of us to negotiate? More changes are likely to occur as we move toward the real estate industry of the future, so it would be helpful to deal with the concept of change-resistance and to better understand the reasons behind our change-averse culture.

Continue Reading

Sleepless in Seattle

Posted on 31. Mar, 2009 by Sherry Chris.

It always unfolds in the same fashion. Once a broker owner makes that gut wrenching and courageous decision that it is time to take their company to the next level, things happen very quickly. There is often only about 30 days to complete the hundreds of transition related tasks to ensure a flawless execution and successful announcement. During that time our transition team works exclusively with the broker owner and a few trusted and loyal employees to ensure details such as business cards, marketing materials, building signage, and the website will all be ready for announcement day. The adrenaline flows constantly.

It’s all in the details. We make sure that no stone is left unturned. No sign is left unordered. The presentation is rehearsed, role-played, and every question from the audience anticipated in advance. The ultimate goal is to leave such a positive impression that each and every agent receives the news with excitement and enthusiasm.

A very lofty goal, some would say!

Continue Reading

Revisiting the Question of Diversity in Real Estate

Posted on 20. Feb, 2009 by Nicolai Kolding.

As I think about Black History Month and the remarkable events of the last year, I find myself simultaneously thinking about two very different kinds of questions.  On the one hand, I read the statistics from the 2008 National Association of REALTORS® Members Profile and wonder why the population of real estate agents in America continues to [...]

Continue Reading