October Top 10 Sales Producers (GCI)

Scott Bohlen announced the top 10 producers for October 2008 at the sales meeting two weeks ago. I taped it using my new Flip camera. The camera works great…it’s the operator who needs some help. Watch for more videos on this blog as we continue to find new ways to communicate with you.

11/28/08 – News of the Day

Scott Bohlen shares this MSN article with us which has a nice summary of recent real estate data releases:
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomebuyingGuide/HomePriceReport.aspx?page=1

More on social networking from the 11/10/08 Realtor Daily News: “You can use social media to maintain a presence with people you already know because it allows you to have a constant presence in their lives,” said Jeff Turner of Realestateshows.com. Your overall business goal of social networking should be to expand your sphere and move conversations offline, panelists said. “There’s always going to be need for face-to-face communication in real estate,” Turner said. “Find a way to marry the two worlds.”

• LinkedIn (linkedin.com): This site is geared to professionals seeking to expand their circle of contacts. Once you’re connected to someone on LinkedIn, you can link with who that person is connected to. Only make “connections” with people you know or you’ve just met, said panelist Rudy Bachraty of Trulia.com.
• Facebook (facebook.com): Facebook is a place to for just about everyone—family, friends, past clients, and colleagues of all age groups. It’s OK to say you’re a real estate professional in your profile, but leave it at that. To connect with other real estate junkies, join a specialized real estate group, but “don’t force it,” says Bachraty.
• Twitter (twitter.com): Twitter is often called “micro-blogging.” You can send short (140 character) messages to people who choose to “follow” you. You can “tweet” from you PDA or the Web.

11/26/08 – News of the Day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING – enjoy food, family, football and parades. Our Brighton office is closed on Thursday but will open back up on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.

Welcome back Deanna Schneider. Deanna will be assisting Rich Kownacki.

Thank you all for contributing to our LACASA fundraiser by enjoying the CITO breakfast on Tuesday. We raised over $100 on Tuesday and appreciate all who donated their goodies and/or donations.

Preview Properties.com agents – are you posting your listings to Zillow? Here are some stats reported by www.zillow.com on November 3, 2008:

• For Sale Listings: 3,261,450
• Make Me Move Listings: 132,418
• Traffic– 5.5 million unique users came to Zillow in October. This is a 38% increase year-over-year.
• Engagement– Over 40,000 contributions are made by the Zillow community every day. This includes photos, Zillow Discussion posts and Home Q&A. In addition, 1.3 million homeowners have claimed their homes and edited home facts.
• Proliferation– 46 million U.S. homes have been viewed on Zillow – that’s half of all homes in the country. In some cities, more than 90% of all homes that exist have been viewed on Zillow– San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle.
• Users– 90% of Zillow users own a home, and two-thirds are either actively buying or selling, or plan to within 12-24 months
• Zillow Mortgage Marketplace loan requests – 88,661; loan quotes – 557,389 and participating lenders – 3,801.

Realcomp Tip

Sandy Kretzschmar sends along this tip to other Preview Properties.com Realtors: Use the complete URL (http://www.realcomponline.com) to Access Realcomp Online®. Due to a system modification that was installed earlier today, MLS subscribers must enter the complete URL for the Realcomp Online® system in order to access it via your Internet browser. Omitting the “www” from the URL will cause a blank login page and a JS error to display. We are currently working to resolve this issue. However, entering the complete URL (http://www.realcomponline.com) for the system will allow you to access it without any issues.

11/25/08 – News of the Day

CITO Breakfast – staff & agents – don’t miss Tuesday’s CITO lunch, with your donations to benefit our LACASA holiday effort. This week an assortment of agents and staff are providing the breakfast, so be sure to pay a visit.

JoAn Hauber’s mother passed away on Monday after an extended illness. Wanda has a card at the front desk if you would like to send your condolences.

NAR Conference – here are my top takeaways from the NAR Conference, held in Orlando recently:

1. We have to be the trusted real estate advisor – the knowledge resource – in our community (whatever that community is – church, coffee shop, bowling league, etc.)
2. We should be buying real estate ourselves in the next 12 to 24 months. Heard “if one house is good, three houses are better” and “for every person getting hurt in this market, someone else is going to get rich.”
3. Stay away from overpriced listings. Tell the sellers “please don’t add to the misery in this market.”
4. Lose control of your communications online – social networking.
5. Asians, African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos will account for over half of the nation’s population growth over the next five years, and an even larger percentage of first time homebuyers.

Livingston County Foreclosures – this week was the first week since I started tracking foreclosures that Livingston County active foreclosure listings exceeded 250.

LACASA Holiday Family – at the sales meeting last week, it was shared that our holiday family is a single mother with two children, a 14-year old girl and a 12-year old boy.

For Agents & Staff in Brighton: Now through the holidays enjoy flavored coffee or tea compliments of Preview Properties.com. See Wanda or Barb at the reception area and they can show you how to work the machines. We have available the following flavors of coffee: Hazelnut, Breakfast, Italian, Sidamo Gold, French Vanilla, House and Columbia. Tea choices include Herb Red, English Tead and Earl Gray.

In December’s Self magazine, Detroit was selected as the unhealthiest metropolitan area in the United States – Detroit was singled out as the metro with the most hypertension as well.

Spotted in the Wall Street Journal on November 19 – per Forrester Research the average time people ages 18 to 27 spent per week with selected media in 2007:

1. Use the Internet – 12.7 hours
2. Watch tv – 10.4 hours
3. Use a cellphone – 8.9 hours
4. Listen to the radio – 7.1 hours
5. Watch DVDs or VHS tapes – 6.0 hours
6. Play video games – 4.4 hours
7. Read magazines – 1.7 hours

11/24/08 – News of the Day

Social Networking – For those sales agents & staff who have participated in our training sessions the last few weeks, you might be interested in the following article posted on MSNBC “When you don’t want to be Facebook friends.” It says “Facebook is now the No. 1 social networking site, with more than 120 million active users, and its fastest growing demographic is those 25 and older.” The article addresses some social networking etiquette that might be useful. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27775484/

Speaking of social networking, here is a video posted on NAR’s site encouraging us to spread good news about the housing market on Friday, November 28 which has been designated as National Social Media Day. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1785312249/bclid1796130814/bctid2945634001

Brighton Area Historical Society – If you have photos or artifacts, or know of someone who does, of historical significance concerning the Brighton area – please contact Jim Vichich, president of the organization at 810-227-4840 (home), 517-304-7722 (cell) or jvichich@comcast.net. The society’s website is http://www.brightonareahistorical.com/.

11/21/08 – News of the Day

This message from Regina Benson to sales agents: If you have any REO Properties please be sure they have all been winterized. Even when you have the heat on low, if the power goes out on a property the potential for frozen pipes in this weather could be devastating. If you would like a list of individuals or companies who provide this service, e-mail lbohlen@previewproperties.com. We will also be posting a link to this list soon so you can reference it at any time.

Here are some links to today’s news articles you may be interested in:

• “Fannie, Freddie to Suspend Foreclosures, Evictions During Holiday Season” – WSJ 11/21/08 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122721715521945487.html
• “Only One Person Knows a Home’s Value: Its Buyer” – WSJ 11/21/08 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122722235538745845.html

In my mailbox this morning from http://www.mikelipkins.com/: “How to Make Every Conversation Count:”

1. Be Excited By The Prize
2. Be Inspired By Your Purpose
3. Be Masterful Through Your Preparation
4. Be Connected Through Your Caring
5. Be Focused By Your Listening
6. Be Magnetic In Your Language
7. Be Inviting Through Your Openness
8. Be Responsive Through Your Improvisation
9. Be Deliberate In Your Practice
10. Be Consistent Through Your Conditioning

Upcoming Preview Properties.com Events to Benefit Community

Tuesday, December 2 @ 8:30 a.m. – CITO breakfast – the gifts we buy for our LACASA family will be displayed (open to Preview Properties.com employees, sales agents and other invited guests).

Wednesday, December 10 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. – Office happy hour with donations going to LACASA for their general fund. Potluck appetizers. Will include a “Re-Gift Raffle” – bring something you have been given that you’ve never used. You can bring your items in any time and give them to Jennie to secure (open to Preview Properties.com employees, sales agents and other invited guests).

Tuesday, December 16 @ 12 noon – CITO lunch – with donations to go to LACASA general fund (open to Preview Properties.com employees, sales agents and other invited guests).

11/20/08 – News of the Day

We have added a new e-mail for Brighton office building service issues – such as light bulbs that need to be replaced, cleaning issues, etc. Please e-mail: building@previewproperties.com

Have something to share? Post a comment here.

Hey Ladies, What Did You Do with Santa’s Suit?

On November 12, 2008, Robin Love, Theresa Runyan and Sharon Mascola attended the Holiday Extravaganza at Bordine’s. Proceeds from this event went to LACASA. They visited with many local vendors and enjoyed great food and prizes. The photo shows the group sharing their wish list with Santa…