A “short sale” is a sale where the bank accepts as full value a price that’s less than what’s owed on the property. The debt is forgiven (although not always without some tax consequences), a foreclosure is avoided, a buyer gets a good deal on a property, the bank saves thousands of dollars in legal fees and the real estate agent makes a commission. Elegant. Practical. Simple. But as we’ll see, not really quite so simple. 

Short sales were never intended to be a mass market solution. Rather, they were relatively rare occurrences that took place when an unfortunate homeowner had a financial catastrophe—a job loss, a divorce, a medical problem—at precisely the same time his or her home lost significant value. When that happened, a loss mitigation manager at a bank would research the market, review the homeowner’s financial documents, carefully consider whether the borrower and loan in question met the criteria to justify a short sale and act accordingly. 

This approach worked well when there was one request a week or every few months. But with over 1.1 million homes in various stages of foreclosure in the RealtyTrac database, the workload for these loss mitigation managers has exploded from several a month to hundreds a week, with no drop-off in the amount of paperwork or research needed. So there are unavoidable delays in simply processing the volume of paperwork. 

But it gets worse. Each lending institution has slightly different versions of short sale forms. Property valuations, even—perhaps especially—appraisals, are in a state of flux, so loss mitigation managers are struggling to determine whether a short sale offer is reasonable or just plain silly. And there are some accounting issues: in many cases, lenders may opt to decline a good short sale offer today so that they can defer the loss (even though it may be a much greater loss) to a subsequent quarter—or even later. 

And there’s more. A second loan on a property makes it much more than twice as difficult to execute the sale. The second loan either needs to be negotiated away completely or satisfied with some nominal payment. In other cases, the holder of the primary mortgage may find it better financially to foreclose, wipe out the second lien, and simply use that amount as a discount to sell the property at a profit. Similarly, if there’s mortgage insurance on the note, the investor may decide it’s better to foreclose, collect the insurance, and let the insurer worry about getting value for the house. 

So why all the hype? Well, with the REO pipeline clogged and choking, and loan modification programs failing to make a dent in foreclosure numbers, short sales represent an opportunity to feed the demand for discounted properties while reducing the number of foreclosures. What can you do to help make this happen? What does the government have in mind? We’ll cover all that and more in next month’s column. 

Rick Sharga is senior vice president at RealtyTrac. 

For more information, visit www.realtytrac.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more latest headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
Want a Cash Machine for Your Real Estate Business? Build a Buyers List
Marketing Strategies: 7 Tips to Creating Success from the Inside Out

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

This year’s faciliators and panelists not to be missed, include:

Facilitators
John Featherston, President & CEO, RISMedia; Chairman & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Gino Blefari, Founder, President & CEO, Intero Real Estate Services
Tami Bonnell, President, U.S. Organization, EXIT Realty Corp.
Jon Cook, President & CEO, Prudential California Realty
Jeff Davi, Real Estate Commissioner, State of California
Lawrence Lobpries, Marketing Director for Specialty Sales, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
Rei Mesa, President & COO, Prudential Florida Real Estate Services
Spencer Rascoff, COO, Zillow
Rick Sharga, SVP, RealtyTrac
Mark Stark, Broker/Owner, Prudential Americana Group
Dennis Walsh, Founder, REbuildUSA™ Membership Network

All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend this important discussion Friday, Nov. 13 from 12:30-2 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR conference.

Why should you attend? Each year, attendees walk away from the Power Broker Forum with tremendous insight into the best practices that have made our panelists the Power Brokers industry leaders they are today. In addition, you will have an opportunity to pose a question or two to these industry power players so make sure you’re prepared.

This year, the Forum will focus on how industry professionals can form strategies and excel in working with distressed properties, such as foreclosures, REOs and short sales.

RISMedia has an additional session on “Staying Up in a Down Market: Short Sales, Expireds & Price Reductions,” on Saturday, November 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR Conference. Once again, all NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend, however, the subject matter is geared toward agents.

This session will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients. Realtors will also learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings and how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market.

Here is the breakdown of speakers at the Saturday session:

Facilitator
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network

Panelists
Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Valerie Fitzgerald, Realtor, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet

For more information contact Stephanie Andre at Stephanie@rismedia.com or 203-855-1234 ext. 141 or visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate related headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
Jumpstarting Job Creation…Let Housing Lead the Way
Creating Efficiencies Keeps Business Running Smoothly

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Special Session FAQs: 

What Is This Session About?
Staying Up in a Down Market–led by Top 5 in Real Estate President & Co-founder Allan Dalton–will delve into making the most and becoming the most successful in dealing with short sales, expireds and price reductions. 

Who Can Attend?
All NAR full-conference and day-conference attendees are encouraged to attend, however, the subject matter is geared toward agents. 

Why Should I Attend?
For these reasons:
1. This session will help Realtors clearly identify and explain short sales, expireds and price reductions to their clients, while also explaining their own understanding of the subject matter and how they will assist those clients.
2. Realtors will learn how they can use various marketing techniques to acquire more listings.
3. Attendees will learn how to implement a marketing strategy that benefits their own business, while also educating consumers on the nuances of today’s market. 

When/Where Is Staying Up in a Down Market?
This session will be held on Saturday, November 14 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the San Diego Convention Center during the NAR Conference. This session will be held in Room 29 A on the Upper Level. 

Who Is On the Panel?
Here is the breakdown of speakers: 

Facilitator–
Allan Dalton, President & Co-founder, RISMedia’s Top 5 in Real Estate Network 

Panelists–
Becky Boomsma, Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
Valerie Fitzgerald, Realtor, The Valerie Fitzgerald Group, Coldwell Banker Beverly Hills
Julie Vanderblue, President, The Higgins Group
Rosemary West, Team Leader, The Rosemary West Team, RE/MAX of Joliet 

Do I Need to Register?
No, registration is not required. As long as you are an NAR day-conference or full-conference attendee, there is open seating and no additional information is needed. 

What If I Have More Questions?
Contact Stephanie Andre at stephanie@rismedia.com or 203-855-1234 x141. 

For more information on all RISMedia events during NAR, visit http://rismedia.com/events/power-broker-forum-annual/power-broker-forum-whats-it-all-about/

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, don’t miss:
Overcoming Fear of Foreclosure Critical for Many People to Keep Their Homes
Bad Economy Turns Renters into Roommates

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Regardless of the causes, the real estate market is going through some fundamental changes, and the real estate agents who will survive, are the ones most able to adapt to the new paradigm. The credit bubble distorted the market for some time, with so-called “luxury” mansions and condominium developments sprouting like weeds all across the world, making the term “luxury” all but useless to describe a property, spawning new improved, better-than-before superlatives like ultra-luxury. 

Many luxury real estate agents are discovering that they are not luxury real estate agents after all, and it takes more than granite counter tops and gourmet appliances to distinguish a luxury property from any other. This distortion in the marketplace means that amongst the vast array of property for sale, it is necessary to become more focused on a specific niche to be found. Zillow.com claims to have over 3 million homes for sale listed on their website, and rather like being faced with too many choices in a grocery store, this is probably off-putting to many potential buyers. Another aspect of the changing marketplace is the amount of foreclosure and bank properties for sale, with some estimates that around 50% of all sales currently are of financially distressed property. With sales volumes slowly picking up and prices still falling, it becomes necessary to specialize to attract potential buyers. 

The Internet is often the first place many buyers start their search for a property, and getting found for your particular geographic area is becoming more and more difficult. The competition is strong, and another approach is to specialize in small niches, which is proving a successful strategy for some agents. One example that comes to mind is Glenn Plantone at Viewpoint equity, who currently specializes in foreclosed condominiums in Las Vegas after seeing a opportunity and educating himself on this micro-market or niche. 

Buyers know that it is not possible to be an expert in all markets and for all property types, and are now expecting to find an expert in the niche that interests them. But how to create Web traffic to a particular niche is an interesting dilemma. The first step in any Web-based promotional campaign is to begin with the URL, or Web address of a particular property. Bank properties as an example. The term “bank properties” or a derivative using both of these words is searched for on Google approximately 14,000 times a month and is far less competitive than a broader search term which will have hundreds of thousands – perhaps millions of websites competing to be found higher up the search engine results. So, creating a URL such as http://bankproperties.com/listing-crestmoor-park-colorado-reo-81.html will have automatic authority over some thing such as http://joebloggsrealty/bankproperties/listing-crestmoor-park-colorado-reo-81.html because the search term is at the beginning of the URL and matches the term used. 

Thus, the first step in dominating a niche market online is here – using a niche property portal that matches your niche as closely as possible. Obviously, this is just the first step, but using this approach give obvious advantages over using a large “jack of all trades” portal where your property is listed with 3 million other properties. 

Mark Knowles is a long time professional real estate investor and analyst who now concentrates on online real estate. He currently writes the luxury property blog as the executive blogger for niche properties. He can be reached at mknowles@lux.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate tips and topics on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
1.4 Million Families Have Taken Advantage of First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, More Claims Expected
Freddie Mac Takes Its Home Affordable Modification Program to the Streets

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

In my 30 years of coaching people to be successful, I have found that at the core of everything is confidence. Call it a belief in yourself or whatever you want, there is no sense in creating a marketing plan without it. Confidence is not necessarily something you are born with, rather, like a muscle, it is developed over time with practice. This article will give you some key tips on how you can gain more confidence. 

Tip 1: Focus on What You Want - Where do you put your focus most of the time? Here’s a hint: if you feel happy, grateful and hopeful, then you’re probably putting your attention on what you want. If you’re feeling discouraged, depressed or anxious, then you’re focusing on what you don’t want. 

One of my clients recently discussed her increasing feelings of anxiety as she was working with her clients in selling their house. When I asked her what she was focusing on, she admitted that she had been thinking about the possible failure of the transaction. When she changed her perspective and focused on the transaction closing, her feelings immediately changed into hope. 

Here’s a tip: Whenever you find yourself focusing on what you don’t want, simply ask yourself, “what do I want?” Most likely you’ll choose positive thoughts, images and feelings as you focus on your desired outcome. Not only will this brighten your mood and give you more confidence, but also, it will increase your chances of the deal closing. 

Tip 2: Tame your Inner Gremlin - Have you ever noticed that there is a part of you that picks on you, beats you up, expects you to be perfect and is very hard on you if you make a mistake? That voice is called your Inner Gremlin, also known as your Inner Critic, or Inner Judge. We all have one. The question is whether it’s running you or whether you are running it. Does it have power over you? Guess what? It only has the power that you give it. Stop listening to it and over time, it will be tamed. 

How do you take your Inner Gremlin? Here’s a simple technique: When you notice that there is a voice in your head either putting you down, or berating you in any way, use a simple stop technique. First, interrupt the pattern of thoughts by saying to yourself, stop. Next, take a deep breath. Finally, use this opportunity to put in a positive new thought. For example, if your old thought was, “I don’t have what it takes to succeed”, stop it, breathe, and put in your new thought, “I have all the resources I need to succeed.” 

Tip 3: Clear your Inner Conflicts – How do you know if you have an inner conflict? Most of my clients aren’t immediately aware of their inner conflicts, but it becomes revealed through resistance. How many times have you told yourself “I need to get on the phone and call my sphere of influence,” and then you don’t do it? 

That’s a typical example of how an inner conflict would be noticed. You’ll notice resistance to what you told yourself you should do. In this example, one part of you is saying, “Make the calls” and the other part of you is saying, “I don’t want to intrude. I don’t want them to think I am soliciting.” The reasons could go on and on. 

Whenever you find yourself in resistance and you just can’t force yourself to do something no matter how hard you try, do a little introspection, and identify the voices in your head that are in conflict. Then assume the role of the mediator. Just as you mediate in your business between two or more people, do the same within yourself and find a solution that pleases both parts. 

Tip 4: Create a Successful Future Self – Often when I work with a client who needs more confidence, I help them create a successful future self. They visualize what they are going to look like in the future, having accomplished their goals. Then they practice feeling what it feels like to be that future self. As they sink deeply into the feelings of accomplishment, contentment and confidence, they are creating a vision that inspires them. 

You can be in business either pushing yourself to succeed, which creates “burn out” or you can allow yourself to be pulled towards success by a vision. Creating your future self is one way to have a vision. Perhaps you can picture your future self on a vacation, lying on the beach. 

Here’s a tip: to reinforce this idea of a successful future self, make a collage. Get several magazines and take out photos that inspire you. Photos that you’d like to see happen in your future. See yourself having outlets for all that money that you’ll be making. 

Tip 5: Only engage in interactions that are win/win - How many times have you gone into a situation with a prospective client while at the same time a voice in your head was saying something like, “Don’t do it. This doesn’t feel right?”

Here’s a tip—trust your hunches. If you have doubts about a client or a situation, most likely you’re right. 

I’ve had dozens of clients who are recovering from burn out because they forgot to ask themselves, one thing, “Is this going to be a win/win?” According to Dr. Steven Covey, it’s either win/win or no deal. Next time your gut feelings are telling you to back out, listen to them. It’s better to back out in the beginning than to get involved in a situation where you can’t back out later. 

Tip 6: Practice extreme self care and self maintenance - Think about it for a moment. What is your most valuable asset? Is it your home or your car? No, it’s your health. Yet I see so many people who try to be successful but then neglect their basic physical needs for rest, for sleep and for healthy foods. 

Remember, you are your business. Your most important asset is you, your health and your personal production capacity. The healthier you are, the more energy you’ll have and the more you’ll produce. What are the areas you need to improve in self maintenance? 

Dr. Steven Covey talks about “sharpening the saw.” He recommends taking an hour a day for making sure that your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs are met. Maybe taking an hour a day is beyond your reach at the moment. What small steps can you take to improve your energy level and vitality? 

Tip 7: Know that what you have to offer is valuable - Effective marketing is based on the idea that you know your services are valuable and you are willing to communicate that in the marketplace on a consistent basis. How valuable are your services? What is your unique selling point? What do people get when they work with you that they can’t get anywhere else? 

When someone asks you what you do, what do you say? Let me demonstrate a “so-so” response compared to a response that will get someone’s attention. Suppose you’re a real estate agent and someone says, “So, what do you do?” A “so-so” answer would be, “I am a real estate agent with _____ company. “ 

Compare that to this. Someone asks you what you do and you say, “Well, you know how people get stressed out when they are buying or selling a home? Well, I take care of all the details and make sure that the process goes smoothly so that my clients can relax. I am a real estate agent with _____ company.” Which real estate agent would you like to work with? Here’s a tip—this kind of answer will only work if you totally believe in yourself and know your services are valuable. 

There are many aspects to becoming more successful. These seven powerful tips are just the beginning. Before you create your next marketing plan, check inside and take a reading of your confidence level. If it needs a boost, be sure to take care of that before you do anything else. When you are overflowing with confidence, that’s the time to get out there and start marketing. 

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of Law of Attraction for Real Estate Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and 12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of Attraction. Get Bailey’s free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days, by visiting www.90DaystoMoreClients.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure not to miss:
‘Teal Is the New Green’: How One Company’s Focus on the Environment Is Creating New Marketing Strategy for Agents
Make the Home Buyer Tax Credit More Easily Available at Closing

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

“We’ve done the keyword technology thing, we’ve done the sponsored links thing, we tried reciprocal linking and we hired a website company to build us a real estate site (because—they said—‘that’s all we do’ and they said they’d market it for us, too). It was nothing but a complete disaster. 

“We have spent thousands and thousands of dollars that we have basically flushed. We spent all that money and had nothing to show for it. Worse, we had no idea of the huge amount of problems we would have establishing our site again after our Web designer pulled our site down and handed us a disc with our files on it because we cancelled our $400/month ‘keyword technology’ agreement with him that we had pre-paid for 16 months. His ‘technology’ didn’t work, we never sold a home from it, we had prepaid 16 months of it, and–boom! We were on our own.” 

Ready to Dump Online Marketing
It wasn’t always that way for Willard Morris. When he started selling new construction almost 30 years ago, he didn’t even need a license. People delivered, generally, on what they said they would deliver, and vendors tried to provide useful service to clients. When the Internet started to be known for its impact on real estate sales, Willard was quick to try to seize the opportunity to tap into the vast resource it promises to be. 

The only problem was that he needed professional assistance to help him, and for the longest time, he couldn’t seem to find effective solutions that actually would help him sell houses to Internet buyers. He was so disgusted, he said, that he was thinking of just leaving ‘Internet success’ to someone else. (His story sounds like a nightmare thousands of agents have also had). 

But—even a seasoned pro like Willard Smith has a limit of patience and after the debacle with his webmaster; he was ready to give up on the Internet. “When someone asked me if I were receiving leads from my efforts, I replied ‘A website generates leads? Really? (Insert sarcasm here). We thought it was just a business card for people with computers.” To say Willard was fed up doesn’t begin to cover how he felt. “The ‘net is something we have struggled with for 10 years,” Willard continued. “Getting a reliable site built is harder than you think. We have been taken to the cleaners more times than we care to admit. Even when we think we have ourselves covered it turns out we just don’t know enough about how it all works. We finally started to reverse that by having a company that specializes in online marketing services for Realtors evaluate our website through an offer we found on a real estate online newsletter. 

“We were so impressed with the person that called us back and the report that was presented as well as the plain English explanation given to us on what it all meant. We were looking for something new at that time because we knew what we had wasn’t working. We liked the guarantees offered with the product and we liked the price; it turned out that changing from what we were doing then would actually save us money even if it did nothing. We signed up, expecting very little. When our webmaster found out, our website then became a nightmare and everything started to go wrong. Our Web host was also the webmaster and site designer and when we opted out of his keyword marketing program he refused to maintain the site anymore. He was forthright enough to admit the reason: without his ‘special programs’ there was no money to be made for him in simply maintaining the site. He told us that we could keep paying him for a “keywords program” that didn’t work, or we could find another webmaster. We were lost and knew nothing about choosing a website company. We phoned our rep at our new online marketing services company and told them the problem. They referred us to an approved website vendor and introduced us to them. We sold our first home from the website in May of 2009, just 60 days later.” 

10 Times His Money Back in Six Months
“That first sale earned us a $9,600 commission, and before the summer was out, we had closed on two others—one that earned us $5,400 and one that earned us $20,300. We were very pleased that our $3,400 investment brought us $35,300 in commissions we would have never made in just a few months—especially after all we went through for all those years attempting to make the Internet work for us. But, our pleasure at our program comes from more than only making money: it comes from being better at what we do because we are now effective online. 

“For example: We were approached by an out-of-area Realtor because his brother wanted to sell his lakeside home. We convinced the Realtor it would be to his advantage to work with us and not against us. We already agreed on the price for the home but had to convince the city Realtor that even though he lived close (only 90 minutes away) we were the logical choice because Sylvan Lake is our market; after all, we had great marketing, our website was in first page positions on Google and the others, we lived right there to accommodate viewings—plus we had an impressive list of buyers just waiting for the right product. The homeowner agreed to a joint listing. We put the home up on the website on a Friday afternoon and we got the call Friday night from an out-of-town buyer who found us on the ‘net and had created a listing alert for lakeside homes. When he got home from work, he saw the notification in his e-mail, logged in and viewed the details. He called and made an appointment to see the home Saturday. We had the offer in-hand by Monday. This property was exactly what the buyer was looking for. We closed that deal in 12 days, got the seller 98% of his list price ($747,500) and did it all in a nearly dead market place, all because of the power of the Web and our ability to sell homes there because of our ability to be found there.” 

Buyers and Sellers from Anywhere
Since being able to be found online, Willard has sold homes to people from England and sold one for people in Thailand. Willard’s marketplace is a town called Sylvan Lake in the province of Alberta, which is situated in close proximity to two of Alberta’s largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary. It’s a small town with a cosmopolitan atmosphere. You can feel the energy coursing through this town. Sylvan Lake has become a residential hub for people working in the oil and gas industries, commuters working in the City of Red Deer, people who work and service the town itself and recreational users who inhabit the town and summer villages year round or on a seasonal basis. In the past, Willard would sell between 80 and 85 units annually. Despite the economic slowdown worldwide, he continues to sell properties at a rate that assures that he won’t be hurting anytime soon. 

From a Complete Skeptic to a Believer
“You have no idea how skeptical we were when we made the decision to give online marketing one more try. Now, we feel like it should be our best kept secret,” Willard continued. “We are so pleased by all the levels of service and the fact that this vendor did everything they said they were going to do. Not only that, anytime I had a question or a problem the support team has been able to answer it or solve it. Their IT guys are amazing, our CSR and our lead generation specialist tells it like it is. If he thinks an idea won’t work or won’t benefit us he says so- and we appreciate that. Some companies just say, ‘sure, if you want to do that it’ll cost you this’ and they don’t care if it works or not. All they care about is their revenue. Our online marketing services company not only cares about our success, no one in service or IT ever tries to sell you anything because there’s nothing else to buy. There are no “extras” or “upgrades.” Our subscription has one cost and we can’t buy anything else—everything is included.” 

“My subscription brought me 10 times my annual investment in the first six months I subscribed. We are very pleased and we are hoping it continues to do that and better for a very long time. Other than my great assistant, Patti, my online marketing service is the most valuable tool I possess and I now have the confidence that we will become even better Internet Realtors as time goes on. That’s a pretty huge turnaround and believe me, it’s a pleasure to feel that way in these times.” 

Mike Parker has written more than 200 published articles about online marketing services for Realtors. For help in making your Internet marketing successful even if you’ve had experiences like Willard Morris or to request a free review of your website to determine if it can be found by internet buyers and if it is set up to be effective for you, click here and we’ll review it for you at no cost or obligation. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

For more real estate related headlines on RISMedia.com, be sure to see:
A Fix-Up Strategy Works in Long Run: If You Have Time on Your Side, Improve and Enjoy Your Home
More Than an Agent—Today’s Real Estate Advisor

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Joyce Bytoff
Owner
Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group, Inc.
Appleton, Wisconsin 

Region served: Northern Wisconsin
Years in real estate: Since 1964
Number of offices: 16. We also have a number of satellite offices in various small towns throughout Northern Wisconsin.
Number of agents: 450
Average listing: $137,000
Average time on market: about 90 days
The best way to stay in touch with agents…We have several ways in which we stay in touch with our agents. Our internal, Web-based communication system is updated every three hours and provides our agents with new listings in addition to when a home has been sold or is in the closing stages. In addition, our voicemail system allows me to stay in close communication with my agents and keeps the community feel of the company intact.
Key to staying profitable…Stay in front of the market. We have decreased our print advertising considerably and turned to the Internet and have embraced social marketing so that we are always in front of our clients.
Best strategy for dealing with difficult customers? We have a reputation in our community of always doing the right thing for our customers and this has enabled us to gain over 50% market share within our primary market. Not only do we honor what we say, but we are heavily involved in the community. 

How are you reaching out to first-time home buyers?
The $8,000 Federal Tax Credit has been a huge marketing point for our company. I have TV spots that are shown twice a day within the area that talk about the credit and its advantage for first-time buyers. In addition, we have a countdown to when the tax credit ends within our local newspaper as well as on our website. We are doing everything we can to get the word out to potential buyers about the tax credit and to show that now is the time to buy a home. 

What’s your best strategy to get buyers to see a listed home?
Last year we partnered with the Green Bay Packers and ran a promotion in which we held a drawing and gave away tickets to a game. With a wait list of 78,000 people to buy a ticket, whoever came to our open house had the opportunity to be entered into a drawing to win a ticket. 

How are you keeping consumers in your marketplace educated about the buying opportunities available today?
We work hard to keep our consumers informed and reach out to them through various mediums. Not only do we take advantage of radio, TV, word of mouth and our website, we also include teaser ads in the newspaper. This way, we can grab their attention and then lead them back to our website where they can find additional information about the property as well as our mapping tool, which allows consumers to be able to look at the area surrounding the property. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

Don’t miss these headlines on RISMedia.com:
First-Time Homebuyers Have Unique Advantage in Mortgage Market
Taking Advantage of Negotiation – U.S. Homebuyers Paid $7,039 Less Than Listing Price in July

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Here are seven tips you can use to actively create your own success: 

Tip 1: Build a strong foundation. What do I mean by a strong foundation? Would you consider putting a roof on a house unless it had a strong foundation? Of course not. Yet you would be surprised at how many people try to market their services without believing in themselves. 

Tip 2: Identify and reprogram your self-limiting beliefs. Here are some typical examples of actual self-limiting beliefs I have heard over the years: 

-“Life is a struggle”
-“It’s selfish to want more money”
-“It’s not safe to toot my own horn” 

Can you see why any of these beliefs would stop a person from succeeding? What are your own self-limiting beliefs? 

Tip 3: Reverse your self-sabotaging strategies. Did you know that we all have a saboteur? We all have our dreams and we all have a part that tries to sabotage them, for our “own good”. For example, I was working with a client recently who realized that even though she had a good business plan, she was never able to work her plan because of the resistance form her self saboteur. What are your self sabotaging patterns? How do they show up in your life? 

Tip 4: Use your mind and emotions to create your empire. How many times do you find yourself focusing on what you don’t want? There is something called The Law of Attraction which teaches that like energy attracts like energy and you get what you focus on. Do you usually focus on the lack of clients, the lack of income or the lack of time? Focusing on the things you lack will bring in more of the same. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, step back and ask yourself, “what do I want?” 

Tip 5: Learn ways to release your fears. Fear is not real. It is False Evidence Appearing Real (F.E.A.R.). To create success from the inside out, use a powerful tool like the STOP Technique. Once you have noticed that your mind has gone into a fear thought, take a deep breath and replace your fear thought with an Empowering Thought such as: ”I have all I need to succeed.” What positive new thoughts are you needing to hear? Keep a journal and note how many times a day you use the STOP Technique. Congratulate yourself for your vigilance. 

Tip 6: Know the value you offer. This may seem hard to believe, but in my coaching of coaches, real estate agents and other professionals, I have seen time after time how people fumble with this concept. Instead, identify your value, i.e. your unique selling point. What are you really good at? Write a list of what makes you stand out among the competition. 

Tip 7: View marketing as “giving” not “taking”. I suspect a lot of us are giving and generous and because of that we don’t want to impose on anyone. However, you will experience a big shift when you realize that what you have to offer is a gift. Spreading the word about yourself is not “selfish” or “taking”. It would actually be selfish to deprive humanity of your gift. So what are you here to give humanity? 

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of Law of Attraction for Real Estate Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and 12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of Attraction. Get Bailey’s free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days, by visiting www.90DaystoMoreClients.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

Reviewing some of the literature and resources on the subject reveals information such as the following:

-Generation X, also referred to as the Baby Busters, number 48 million in the United States population. They are the original “Latchkey” kids—independent, skeptical and techno-literate individuals. They are the MTV generation.

-Generation Y, the Echo Boomers, numbers 80 million and is larger than the Baby Boom in size. It’s the Generation Me, confident, collaborative and bathed in bits crowd.

Knowing about and understanding the desires and preferences of these generations will better arm those looking to be of service to them.

These population groups:

-Own computers

-Use a cell phone

-Use instant messaging and social networking sites—and they log on regularly

-Use websites as their primary source of news

-Author and read blogs

-Download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing

-Own some type of portable music and/or video device, such as an iPod

These folks are also the young and future real estate professionals. MLS 5.0 is built to fulfill the expectations of the Realtor and consumer of today, as well as the Realtor and consumer of tomorrow.

Being at the Center of the Conversation

This is a key component to success in real estate sales in the future. It is no longer sufficient to be at the “center of the transaction.” If a Realtor waits until the transaction, it is too late. To be at the center of the transaction, the Realtor must be at the center of the conversation about real property, participating with consumers far in advance of the actual listing or sale. This has always been the case, and is now more and more taking place through visibility and participation on the Internet, through social networking and social influence marketing. MLS 5.0 on its public-facing side will give consumers and Realtors the ability to engage and discuss.

Web 2.0 concepts and philosophies, sharing and collaborating, must be built into the MLS structure and mindset. Transparency will become more important and if the industry is not ready to give the consumer what they want, the consumer will get what they want from someone else.

Tell us what you think or request the full article series to date at: thefutureofmls@point2.com.

Saul Klein is CEO of InternetCrusade and Point2 Technologies Inc.

For more information, please visit www.point2agent.com.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

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With the highest number of Top 5 Members of any statewide real estate company in the nation, Prudential Florida Realty agents took advantage of this unique opportunity to meet with Dalton who further emphasized the need for real estate agents to commit themselves to consumer-excellence and become the ambassadors of residential real estate. 

Hear what new and current Top 5 Prudential Florida Realty sales associates have to say about the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®: 

“Since I had never heard Allan speak, I took advantage of the opportunity and experienced a full day of learning and encouragement. How to use our Top 5 short sale and expired listing literature, great techniques and dialogue to use at a listing “marketing” appointment as well as new ways to use Top 5 in marketing myself. I am already listening to my first tape in the car– so glad to have Allan as my new educational tool. The Top 5’s concept of educating the consumer through e-mail was brilliant and sold me on the membership in Top 5.”
-Jeanette Alexander, Delray Beach Office Prudential Florida Realty. 

“That Allan Dalton is truly amazing and had my full attention for 4 hours! He’s a true salesman in every sense of the word, but there’s an underlying sincerity, belief, commitment or whatever you want to call it in his riveting delivery. I’ll talk about value for the Top5 investment all day long.”
-Sandy Partlow, Jupiter Office Prudential Florida Realty. 

“To say that Allan Dalton’s message was transformative and effective would be an understatement. My Top 5 team went to the meeting with a healthy dose of apprehension about the program and came out ready to put the program to use in a big way. Each member renewed their commitment by focusing on retraining themselves to becoming the best and most effective “marketing agents” our market has ever seen.”
-Carlos Villanueva, Prudential Florida WCI Realty 

“Allan provided us with great tips and strategies on how to stand out from the rest of the zillion Realtors we have in Miami. He focused on listings and since that has been my goal this past year, I was especially interested. I came out of the meeting with much more clarity of what Top 5 provides for us and our customers. I think that the Top 5 Network will be well worth the time and energy we put into it.”
-Elisa Wagner, Prudential Florida Realty, Wagner Miami Team 

For more information about Top 5, visit www.top5inrealestate.com. 

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com. 

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