Google Alerts

I passed out a handout on “how to set up Google alerts” the other day in the sales meeting. Well guess what? I found out that one of my Twitter tweets was pulled into another website because I included the phrase “bank-owned.” I would have never known had I not set up the alert. Here it is, found on http://www.bay-area-reo.com/ on Wednesday:

http://www.bay-area-reo.com/twitter-tweets-about-bank-owned-as-of-april-29-2009

“Twitter Tweets about bank owned as of April 29, 2009 Bay Area REOBy admin lisabohlen: 73% of Preview Properties.com’s closed real estate transactions in March were “bank-owned” properties. 2009-04-28 20:33:54

To set up your own Google alerts, go to http://www.google.com/alerts.

Meet Mary Stansiz, our Intern

Mary Stansiz is a senior at Brighton High School. She started helping us out last week and will be here through the month of May. Last week she helped out with a Craigslist ad and the tent cards for the broker open house. She is planning on studying business administration / marketing at Superior State in the fall, so one of her next projects is to conduct a focus group with her peers the week of May 4 regarding home buying interest. Many in this group will be buying a home in the next four years – we need to know where they get their information, how they like to obtain information and what they want to know about buying a home. She will present her findings to Preview Properties.com agents on Thursday, May 14 at 10:00 a.m.

Mary also likes to travel and has had the opportunity to spend time in Arizona and Spain. She likes to camp, so Michigan is a great place for her to live!

Please say hi to her if you pass her in the hall. She’ll be working from 10:00 – noon on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.

Gleaners – Fill the Gazebo

The camera didn’t come out until our broker open house had wound down, but a few of us had fun afterward too…

We generated over $610 the last few months for Gleaners, $238 of that from the broker open house last week. Special thanks to Jennie Gehring for coordinating the raffle and Lois Bota for preparing the mailings.

We still have the penny wars going on, they will finish up later this week. Bring your coin into the office – pennies go in your floor’s jar, larger coin go in the opposing floor’s jar.

Some of us will help on Saturday during the Realtor Fill the Gazebo event. If you are interested, there are still spots available – particularly in Howell.

Here are a few of the outside comments about the open house last week:

“Thanks for the invite last night we enjoyed the mingling and food.” Marianne S. McCreary of Partners Real Estate

“I was not able to make it to the Fundraiser yesterday, but I dropped off my donation today (at the front desk for Lois). Thank you both for inviting me! Have a great weekend!” Barb Sawosko of Lombardo Homes

TitleAmerica – Contact Info

Sherry Hinsperger passed along this list of update-to-date contact points for TitleAmerica staff:

Sherry Hinsperger – Agency Manager – shinsperger@aol.com; ext. 205

Stephanie Whaling – Escrow Officer/Supervisor – swhaling@titleam.com; ext. 217

Judy Baumgartner – Escrow Officer – judy@titleam.com; ext. 207

Jennifer Stafford – Escrow Officer – jstafford@titleam.com; ext. 214

Kristy Brown – Escrow Officer – kbrown@titleam.com; ext. 204

Lori Vecchioni – Recording Department – lvecchioni@titleam.com; ext. 218

8137 Grand River Brighton, MI 48114
810-229-4770 Main Line
810-229-6360 – Fax

Mike Ferry – May 8

On May 8th, in Southgate, the Mike Ferry Organization will hold a “How to Show and Close Buyers program. If you didn’t hear, Preview Properties.com will pay your way if you commit to the spring sales contest by May 1.

Here’s the scoop on the seminar I found on Mike Ferry’s website http://www.mikeferry.com/event/details.php?id=290 :

“We are very excited to provide this one day program, geared toward teaching you just how to show buyers the properties they’re looking for and get a signed contract! You can do all this in one week, and we’ll show you how!

In depth, we’ll be discussing prospecting techniques for Buyers. We can teach you just how to find Buyers and how to pre-qualify those Buyers before spending your time with a Client that isn’t ready to purchase a home. We’ll tell you just what to ask to get the answers you need to proceed. Also, we’ll teach you how to establish standards with Buyers, so that you’re meeting their needs with every property you show. Then, we’ll reveal how to show property effectively, so that you can spend less time with each Client. We know how to generate contracts and get you closing more deals, faster. We can teach you how to develop the right plan to get your Buyers into a house TODAY!

Additionally, we’ll also be discussing Buyer objections and provide you with solutions to the most common purchasing problems, as well as answers for the most asked questions.

This is a One Day Event that can transform your ability to handle Buyers, ultimately generating numerous additional sales each month.

Oakland County Homebuyer Assistance Program

The Oakland County Homebuyer Assistance Program for foreclosed, vacant homes is closed as of 4/10/09 due to “overwhelming response.” When we attended the information session, they did state they thought they would get additional funding in the future, so don’t stop checking on this alternative for buyers who may fit criteria. http://www.oakgov.com/chi/cdbg/homebuyer_Program.html.

Realtor Spring Sales Contest

Goal: To focus on and track face to face appointments with qualified, motivated buyers and sellers. This is the only way to ensure success in the real estate business.

Rewards:

#1 – Anyone who signs up and commits to being accountable during the contest period will receive paid admission to the Mike Ferry buyers seminar on May 8.

#2 – If the agent completes 80 face to face appointments between April 22nd and June 22nd they will receive their choice of either $150 cash or $200 credit against their Preview Properties bill.

Contest Requirements: Turn in to Lisa Bohlen each week starting Friday, May 1st a list of your face to faces completed for the previous week. We will keep track of progress and make sure you are on track to achieve the goal of 80 face to face appointments by June 22nd.

Entry: $100 check to Preview Properties.com that will be returned (and not deposited) to you if you achieve your goal. If you do not turn in your accountability sheets showing your 80 face to face appointments the check will be deposited and applied to your bill.

Keep your credit score safe

An Associated Press article that ran in the Detroit News on Monday, April 20 gave some tips for keeping your credit rating intact. You can read the article by clicking through to http://is.gd/tEpw. Here are some highlights:

1. Don’t stop using your credit card.
2. Your credit score needs to be 740 or above to get the best interest rates in today’s market.
3. Use 30% or less of your credit limit on your credit cards.
4. If you have good credit and you get a notice your limit is being lower, call the card issuer. You are still in demand, can take your business elsewhere and your card holder should know that.

Jennie Gehring led the scripts & dialogues session last Friday. She started by sharing a quote she has hanging on her door…”Our attitude is more powerful than our circumstances” by Roger Crawford. She suggested we celebrate every success, large or small, especially now that every transaction can be more and more challenging. She passed out a recent blog post from Tom Peters – you can access “Dealing with Recessionary Times” at http://is.gd/pf3K. After reading this again I just have to say…wow, we should each read this every morning. She said if you don’t sweat the details, as he lists, you cost your client – or yourself – money. A few of the other things Jennie mentioned:

• Don’t put yourself in harm’s way. Don’t be stupid.
• Communication is key – trials will be a lot less difficult if you keep everyone in the loop.

Here’s a tip – Jennie keeps an organized binder for each transaction she has – with tabs for all documents, and keeps the binder close by at all times. Binder tabs include:

• Listing Contract
• Title Work
• Survey
• Purchase Agreement
• Miscellaneous

Hamburg Township moves forward with wastewater fix

Here’s the link to the Livingston County Press & Argus article: http://is.gd/sKdg