Real Estate Sifter

RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—John Featherston, CEO and publisher of RISMedia and chairman and co-founder of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, announced today that RISMedia and 1parkplace, under the direction of Allan Dalton, chief marketing officer of RISMedia and president and co-founder of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, along with Steve Hundley, founder and CEO of 1parkplace, have developed what will be branded as the RISMedia Real Estate Social Marketing System(SM). This transformational system will be launched at this year’s RISMedia Leadership Conference—“The Real Estate Social Media Summit,” being held June 9-10, 2010 at the Hilton Rye Town in Westchester County, New York.

For more information on the conference, or to register to attend, click here.

Featherston announced that Dalton and Hundley have spent the past several months, along with the RISMedia and the 1parkplace developmental teams, creating what will be branded as “The Real Estate Social Marketing System(SM).” “This much-needed system,” Featherston stated, “will merge only the more strategic purposeful and real estate-relevant functions of existing social networking and social media resources available to real estate companies, agents and networks.”

“The level of frustration that has been expressed by thousands upon thousands of interviewed real estate professionals regarding the chasm that exists between their time spent engaged in social networking training, education, classes, and in social networking activity itself, compared to any significant and measurable ROI is startling,” said Dalton, a former 20-year president and owner of a 32-office real estate company. “Our research has provided irrefutable evidence that the preponderance of real estate professionals who claim to be significantly involved in the conventional practice of social networking and social media and who have built an enviable aggregation or community of” so-called” or liberally defined friends, fans, followers and users are struggling to attribute much, if any, additional income for what has become a pressing time-management issue to some and almost an addiction to others.”

Dalton, former CEO of Realtor.com, also shares that many real estate professionals report that they are experiencing conflicted feelings, or an approach-avoidance conflict, regarding how some consumers might be viewing their online activity within certain communities as representing a real-estate-related form of trolling. Given how most consumers already enjoy relationships with at least several real estate professionals leads one to wonder if social networking and social media, if not elevated to real estate social marketing, does not, in a sense, represent “chasing a solution to a consumer problem that really doesn’t exist.” Dalton specifically suggested that “mere social networking, meaning connecting friends, fans, communities and even tribes, although a much more efficient way to promulgate oneself and one’s brand, without a strategic purpose or providing valuable content, is like inviting 100 people to your home for dinner and not feeding them.”

“Real estate professionals are far too hardworking, knowledgeable and skillful to miss out on how these great qualities can be best reflected through a more strategic online marketing strategy,” he said.

Therefore, according to RISMedia and 1parkplace, the Real Estate Social Marketing System(SM) needed to be developed in order to properly integrate the best of social networking and social media as a more forthright, clear, consumer-acceptable and strategic use so that real estate professionals can better serve the needs of the real estate marketplace.

1parkplace CEO, Steve Hundley, who is responsible for much of the technological integration of this new, robust solution, suggests that a major paradigm shift is necessary—one where forward-thinking real estate professionals recognize that yesterday’s approach of personal promotion and contact management must give way to what he has coined as “content management.”

“The difference between contact management and content management, when one considers how consumers want content more than being contacted, is similar to how social networking/social media is different from real estate social marketing,” Hundley asserted.

Featherston summarized this major company announcement by offering, “In my 30 years as CEO and publisher of a real-estate-based media company, I am thrilled that what we in publishing refer to as ‘the new age of citizen journalism,’ or the ‘democratization of information’ is now empowering consumer-centric real estate companies and agents to go beyond making superficial networking contacts and elevate these potentially invaluable online relationships with exciting real estate content. That said, information or content alone does not spell success, nor does networking as a stand-alone. Real estate success is achieved when the two converge for the purposes of strategic real estate social marketing.”

Featherston added, “We look forward to enabling all real estate professionals who want to strategically insert themselves through the targeted use of actionable real estate content and who are interested in measuring their online ROI and SEO to join us at our industry-altering social media summit, where they will be most welcome.”

For more information on this year’s Leadership Conference—Real Estate Social Media Summit, click here.

RISMedia welcomes your comments and questions. Email realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—The deadline to be included in RISMedia’s 22nd Annual Power Broker Report & Survey is today, Monday, March 1, 2010. As brokers continue to seek to be included in the preeminent ranking of the country’s leading real estate firms, RISMedia reminds brokers to be sure to secure their rankings among the country’s top brokerage firms today. Please click here to complete the survey.

Inclusion in this listing of the real estate industry’s “who’s who” has long served as an important competitive tool and carries even more weight in today’s difficult marketplace where many real estate firms have been forced to close their doors. In today’s troubled real estate market, inclusion in the Power Broker ranking offers firms a chance to regain consumer confidence in their respective markets.

“Being among the firms ranked in the Power Broker Survey highlights your firm as a strong, stable leader in a still-troubled real estate market, and puts you at the forefront as our industry begins to stabilize and rise again,” said RISMedia President & CEO John Featherston. “Making this list of leaders proves your firm’s commitment to real estate consumers and positions you as the place to turn to for all their real estate needs.”

The Power Broker Report is read by more than 500,000 real estate professionals and thousands of leading corporate relocation decision makers. The report is also accessible online to millions of interested consumers.

To complete the survey, firms must have completed a minimum of 500 transactions in 2009. Brokerages participating in this year’s survey should note that to avoid duplication and potential confusion, the Power Broker Survey should be completed by an individual, shareholder or entity with a minimum 50.1% ownership interest inclusive of subsidiaries. All sales and transaction volume comes directly from brokerages and is verified and substantiated by external sources, in most cases accounting firms, prior to publication. There is no cost or any obligation to participate in this report.

The deadline for our receipt of your completed survey is today, Monday, March 1, 2010. To take the survey, click here.

Why participate?

ELITE STATUS – You will join the industry’s leading real estate companies when you are published in the largest circulated annual report of its kind in the real estate industry.

PROMOTION – Your firm will be promoted to more than 600 local and national media outlets as one of America’s largest real estate companies.

READERSHIP - The Annual RISMedia Power Broker Report is read by more than 300,000 real estate professionals, thousands of leading corporate relocation decision makers and is accessible online to millions of interested consumers.

RECRUITMENT – Appearing in the RISMedia Power Broker ranking is a great agent recruitment and retention tool.

INVITATION - You will be invited to the 15th Annual RISMedia Power Broker Reception & Dinner at the NAR Conference & Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana this November—an exclusive networking event with the industry’s most successful brokers.

Results of the RISMedia POWER BROKER Survey will be accessible online at www.rismedia.com and in the April 20010 issue of RISMedia’s Real Estate magazine.

For questions regarding RISMedia’s 22nd Annual Power Broker Report & Survey, please contact Executive Editor Maria Patterson (maria@rismedia.com) or IT Manager James Jones (jim@rismedia.com).

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

RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—President Obama recently announced an additional $1.5 billion in homeowner aid for the areas of the country hardest-hit by declining home values. Florida, Michigan, Arizona, California and Nevada are the five states that will receive funds.

Speaking from Henderson, Nev., Obama spoke about the nation’s fiscal difficulties, and the many homeowners who have been hit by unemployment and foreclosure. According to the White House, the $1.5 billion will be doled out to state housing finance agencies who will in turn take the lead in developing programs that will be most helpful to homeowners in their states. Possible programs will assist homeowners currently in negative equity, help unemployed homeowners or address issues with second mortgages.

There aren’t a lot of details about the additional aid yet. The Department of the Treasury will announce the rules of the program and how much each state will receive in the next two weeks.

What’s certain is that homeowners in cities like Henderson certainly face challenges. Henderson is the second-largest city in Nevada and is part of the Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area. According to Zillow’s Real Estate Market Reports, home values in Henderson have fallen 52.5% since the market peaked in May 2006. The median home value then was $353,000. At the end of 2009, it was $167,800. This graph of Henderson’s Zillow Home Value Index gives you an idea of how home values within the area have changed over time.

As is typical in cities and towns where home values decline rapidly, many of the homeowners in and around Henderson also owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. In the greater Las Vegas metropolitan statistical area, Zillow data shows 81.3% of all owners of single-family homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of 2009.

The people of Henderson and Las Vegas are hardly alone in this. Here is a chart of the 20 metropolitan statistical areas tracked by Zillow where the Zillow Home Value Index has fallen the most since the individual markets peaked.

More details on these programs are sure to emerge in the coming weeks, and we’ll be sure to stay on top of them. To see how cities and towns near you have fared, check out local home values in Zillow’s Real Estate Market Reports.

For more information, visit www.Zillow.com.

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

For more real estate related headlines on RISMedia.com, don’t miss:
18.5 Billion Reasons to Make the Home Buyer Tax Credit Work
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RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—Being realistic about today’s market realities is one of the best ways for real estate professionals to face the market head-on. Whether it be presenting accurate information to sellers, staying cost-conscious in today’s tough economy or communicating with clients the way they want to be connected with, Jim Napier, President, Napier Realtors in Midlothian, Virginia discusses how his company has taken a heads-on approach to real estate.

Jim Napier
President
Napier Realtors
Midlothian, Virginia

Years in real estate: 34
Number of offices: 4
Number of sales associates: 150
Average sales price: $270,000
The Central Virginia market began to change: About four years ago
Sage advice: If you pay close attention to the nickels and dimes, the dollars will take care of themselves.
Communicating with sellers: The best thing you can do is be realistic with your sellers regarding the challenges in today’s market and about the value of accurate pricing. Then, based on their needs, they need to decide whether it’s really the best time for them to be selling their home.

How have you altered your business to be more cost-conscious?
We’ve been working very diligently on our expense footprint and trying to adjust to what the market will accommodate. For example, we consolidated from six offices to four.

What are you telling sellers about this market?
Inventory management is key. We are optimistic, but realistic with our sellers. When the market is up, that conversation is easy. But when the market is as it’s been, unfortunately, that’s when you have to have a sobering conversation with them. We present accurate information and sometimes the answer might be that now is not the time to sell. However, if they still need to proceed with listing their home, they need to be very realistic about pricing. Ours is a marketplace that continues last year’s pricing war, but it’s also a beauty contest. To sell, you have to stage your home and take care of the things that need to be taken care of—painting, landscaping, etc. The home has to be as presentable and move-in ready as possible. It’s all about positioning. When you have more homes on the market, buyers are looking for that. They want the best price and condition…that comes when you have more choices.

Your company recently merged with Tetteron & Associates Realty, LLC. This activity seems like a strong signal to your sales associates.
Absolutely. Obviously, we, as a company, are looking to recruit sales associates who want to produce. This type of merger is really mass recruiting. When you see that you have an opportunity to bring a group of like-minded professionals into an existing location, you take it. Overnight, we have almost doubled our sales associates and listings in that location. Additionally, it creates a positive energy and buzz.

Can you explain your company’s social media efforts?
We have started the initiative at the company level. We have a company fan page on Facebook and encourage all sales associates to create their own profiles. We offer training sessions on how to set up Facebook, Twitter, etc. There’s more activity these days on social networking sites than there is on e-mail. The big thing everyone hates is junk mail; this is permission-based so you eliminate that. We see enough importance in social networking to have signed an agreement with a local marketing firm—in addition to what ERA Real Estate provides—to help with our social networking efforts.

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:
Cultivating Advocates for Your Brand
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RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—As home buyers move into the market to take advantage of the extension and expansion of the federal homebuyer tax credit, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC has unveiled its 2010 marketing campaign, intended to highlight the accessibility of real estate information for buyers and sellers across the country and the expertise of its real estate agents, the company announced.

Building on the momentum of the successful 2009 “Portraits” campaign with company founders Colbert Coldwell and Arthur Banker, the new spots continue to emphasize the trust and heritage of the Coldwell Banker brand, and also reference the strength of its network of local real estate professionals.They also bring attention to the innovative Coldwell Banker tools now available to consumers who want to learn more about the housing market.

According to the company, the first television spot, “Overheard,” features a woman who has homeownership on her mind, and imagines everyone she encounters in the course of her day sharing information about available real estate properties – from a waitress to her son at a baseball game. The television spot reinforces the variety of ways that people can potentially absorb relevant information, including coldwellbanker.com, Coldwell Banker On Location™, the brand’s YouTube channel, and the Coldwell Banker smartphone application, all of which deliver local real estate information to consumers on the go.

The second television spot emphasizes the sense of pride that Coldwell and Banker feel as a result of the hard work their agents have accomplished serving buyers and sellers across the country. It begins with Coldwell and Banker debating the best way to protect the brand’s 2009 award in seller satisfaction among national full-service real estate companies from J.D. Power and Associates. To stress their pride and protectiveness over this sought-after award, Banker establishes a “Mission Impossible”-like laser security system in the company headquarters.

“While the economy has forced some companies to reduce or eliminate their emphasis on innovation and even consumer marketing, Coldwell Banker has not done so,” said Michael Fischer, senior vice president of marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “We want to be out in front of consumers ahead of the spring buying season. Our innovative services allow people to access real estate information anytime and anywhere, and our network of real estate agents is there to offer their expertise at any point of the home buying and selling process.”

The Coldwell Banker commercials are currently airing on HGTV and cable telecasts of the Olympics on CNBC, USA & MSNBC. As of March 1, they will appear on high-profile original cable programs like “Damages” on FX and “Burn Notice” on USA as well as home related shows like “Sell This House” on A&E and “My First Home” on TLC.

The spots will also run online as part of a digital video buy on Hulu and on the Google Video Network.

The television spots were conceived by Coldwell Banker Real Estate strategic and creative agency of record, McKinney of Durham, N.C. and directed by Brent Harris.

To view the new Coldwell Banker Real Estate commercials, please visit the Coldwell Banker YouTube channel On Location: http://www.youtube.com/coldwellbanker

RISMEDIA, March 1, 2010—Rei L. Mesa, President & C.E.O. of Prudential Florida Realty, Florida Real Estate Services was the Special Guest Speaker at the Broward County’s Board of Trustees Business Meeting on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 for the Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County (RAMDC) with over 15,000 REALTOR(r) members at the Jacaranda County Club in Plantation, Florida, the company announced.

Martha Bullman, C.E.O, Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County, began the well-attended breakfast meeting by expressing “that by working together, we will make 2010 our best year ever.” Martha introduced Rei Mesa, “Our speaker is extremely well respected throughout our industry.”

“He is someone who has a great perspective on our business locally, statewide and nationally,” she said. Rei was recently appointed by Florida Realtors President to serve for an unprecedented second term as Chairman of the Florida Large Firm Brokers Top 50. Rei brings tremendous credibility and passion for our industry and the state of Florida.

Rei Mesa had the honor and the opportunity to discuss with the sold out audience of real estate business executives including South Florida broker/owners, managers, and sales associates, the Florida real estate industry from “Where we’ve been, Our Challenges & Opportunities and Where do we go from here?”

Rei emphatically stated that every Realtor, mortgage, title, insurance and related real estate professionals that they need to “refrain from using the words, ‘price decreases’ in our great state of Florida; we have experienced, ‘affordability increases.’ Affordability is currently the highest it’s been in 40 years in Florida. And that is great news as consumers will be able to return to purchasing the ‘American Dream of Homeownership’ and a piece of paradise in Florida again.”

“The 2010 trends seem to be the new normal,” commented Rei. “The good news is that according to the experts, Florida is currently undervalued. The listing inventory that is currently selling at a fast pace is all about price and financing.”

2009 was a growth year for Florida real estate, he said. Closed transactions for single family homes were up 31% and affordability was up 24% and condominium closed transactions were up by 47% with affordability increases of 34% compared to 2008, he added.

During Rei’s presentation, the engaged audience continued to take copious notes and ask follow-up questions. As requested, a copy of Rei’s presentation was made available to all attendees.

“One of the biggest challenges we are facing is lack of financing for the luxury and move up markets. Banks have to become more competitive in their lending policies to the high-end or move-up buyer’s,” continued Rei. “Opportunistic long term investors are back in the market buying the well-priced entry level REO (real estate owned) properties, thus driving demand and a thriving rental market.”

Rei concluded the meeting with answering the question: Where do we go from here? “We must continue to focus on conveying a balanced message about the local real estate values & markets to the consumers. Those messages include Florida’s affordability being the highest in 40 years, historically low interest rates, and first time homebuyer’s sense of urgency with the tax credit incentives expiring April 30th, 2010. The need and opportunity for all of us in the industry to work together towards a common goal ‘increase homeownership in Florida.’ For the industry leaders, now is the time to shed the egocentric attitudes of the boom cycle and replace them with a ‘humble and hungry’ inclusive servant leadership attitude approach. There is an abundance of opportunities for Florida REALTORS(r) and consumers in Florida. We need to take advantage of this paradigm shift and move forward with positive exuberance.”

“We are very fortunate to have Rei, the passionate, insightful, and inspiring leader of Prudential Florida Realty, as our speaker this morning” said Martha Bullman C.E.O, Realtor Association of Miami-Dade County.

For more information, visit www.prudentialfloridarealty.com.

RISMedia welcomes your comments and questions. Email realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.