The Residential Specialist, March/April

M a r ch / Ap r il 2 0 1 1

A Look at Local Real Estate Markets THE RESIDENTIAL SPECIALIST

Motivation Strategies for Tough Times The 411 on Distressed Properties

â–

m arch / april 2 0 1 1

ExitRamp Selling your business requires a clear road map

Dianne Dunn, CRS

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residential The

S pecia li s t

March/April 2011 VOL. 10, NO. 2

20 28 features

20 Exit Signs

By Regina Ludes The key to selling your real estate business is building a solid plan.

24 Beyond the Horizon

By Daniel Rome Levine CRSs offer a close-up view of what’s happening in local real estate markets around the country.

28 Distress Signals

By Gwen Moran Although they’re prevalent, distressed properties present unique challenges and require a different mindset for agents who work with them.

32 Endurance Challenge w w w . c r s . c o m

By Mary Ellen Collins In a tough economic climate, it’s easy to get discouraged. CRSs share their strategies for getting and staying motivated.

Cover photo by Charles Harris

www.crs.com | 1

residential The

S pecia li s t

18 departments 5 President ’s Message 6 Q uick Takes

By Frank Serio, CRS

Foreclosure stats; remodeling cost-value report; population figures; and more

11 Great Finds 12 Technolo gy Panoramic cameras

By Andrea Orr The PC/Mac debate

14 Trends

By Chloe Thompson Broker support for CRS

16 Pi p eline

By Chris Bird Tax tips for 2010 and beyond

18 Up Close

Gerardo “Jerry” Ascencio, CRS Mission Real Estate, San Fernando, Calif.

6 inside CRS FROM 37 NEWS THE COUNCIL Corcoran Coaching Partnership RE-buildUSA Referral Story CRSs of the Year Your Home newsletter

l 46 Referra Marketplace 48 Ask a CRS

Advice from the country’s top agents

35 Good Read

Reviewed by Allan Fallow The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life

By Maribeth Kuzmeski

11 2 | March/April 2011

residential The

Coming In The Next Issue ... n

Green Zone

Eco-smart homes were a growing trend during the boom, but what’s the market like now? n

Balancing Act

At a time when agents find themselves working harder than ever, it’s become more difficult to maintain a work/life balance. n

Past Lives

Nearly every agent had a different career before real estate. What skills best helped them make the transition? n

State of the Market

Did the rural homes market experience the same boomand-bust trajectory as many urban and suburban markets?

Would you like to be considered as a source for a future story in The ­Residential Specialist? Send an e-mail to mfenner@crs.com to be added to our potential source list. To see a list of the topics we’ll be covering, check out the magazine’s 2011 Editorial Calendar online at www.crs.com/File/ PDF/editorial_cal.pdf.

PLUS: Smartphone round-up

Specia li s t

EDITOR Michael Fenner E-mail: mfenner@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4428 Fax: 312.329.8882 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Regina Ludes E-mail: rludes@crs.com Tel: 800.462.8841, ext. 4404 Fax: 312.329.8882 2011 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL Moderator: Lois Cox, CRS Co-Moderator: Mark Shepherd, CRS 2011 COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY PANEL MEMBERS Rebecca Boomsma, CRS; Gretchen Conley, CRS; Jeff Dowler, CRS; Daisy Edwards, CRS; Treasure Faircloth, CRS; John Goede, CRS; Sandy Kaplan, CRS; Geri Kenyon, CRS; Daniel Kijner, CRS; Colleen McKean, CRS; Rita McNeil, CRS; Nancy Metcalf, CRS; Landa Pennington, CRS; Rae Roeder, CRS; Cynthia Ulsrud, CRS; Beverlee Vidoli, CRS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Mary Ellen Collins, Daniel Rome Levine, Gwen Moran OFFICERS: 2011 President Frank Serio, CRS Chief Executive Officer Nina J. Cottrell 2011 President-Elect Mark Minchew, CRS 2011 First Vice President Mary McCall, CRS 2011 Immediate Past President Gregg Fujita, CRS

PUBLICATION MANAGEMENT

Tel: 202.331.7700 Fax: 202.331.2043 Publishing Manager Andrea Gabrick E-mail: agabrick@tmgcustommedia.com Advertising Manager Kathleen Thomas E-mail: kthomas@tmgcustommedia.com Tel: 202.721.1497 Project Manager Katie Mason Art Director Josh Coleman Production Artist Tommy Dingus The Residential Specialist is published for Certified Residential Specialists, General Members and Subscribers by the Council of Residential Specialists.

The magazine’s mission is: To be a superior educational resource for CRS Designees and Members, providing the information and tools they need to be exceptionally successful in selling residential real estate.

The Residential Specialist is published bimonthly by the Council of Residential Specialists, 430 North Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-4092. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL, and additional mailing offices.

Change of address? E-mail requests to crshelp@crs.com, call Customer Service at 800.462.8841 or mail to CRS at the above address.

The Residential Specialist (USPS-0021-699, ISSN 15397572) is d ­ istributed to members of the Council as part of their membership dues. Non-members may purchase subscriptions for $29.95 per year in the U.S., $44.95 in Canada and $89.95 in other international countries. All articles and paid advertising represent the opinions of the authors and advertisers, not the Council.

POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Residential Specialist, c/o Council of Residential Specialists, 430 North Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60611-4092.

COPYRIGHT 2011 by the Council of Residential Specialists.

All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

www.crs.com Ja nua r y/

Feb r ua r y

2011

DENT THE RESI

nts Working With Clieaster Affected by Dis ships Managing Relation With Vendors

IALI IAL SPEC

s Small Brokerage Thrive

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Building

JANUARY

4 | March/April 2011

/FEBRUAR Y 201

NEW COUNCIL NK SERIO PRESIDENT FRA ION FOR THE

President’s Message | News from Frank Serio, CRS

Gary Landsman

The Time Is Right to Grow Your Business

Start a conversation, share good relevant information and become a trusted advisor.

If you’ve read the news lately, you know that many of the latest housing reports are not encouraging.

Membership in most associations is down, home financing is difficult, and the shadow inventory of properties is not shrinking. Sounds like a great time to be in real estate!

While many agents are thinking doom and gloom about the market or hanging around the water cooler complaining, top CRS agents are taking advantage of current market conditions to capture a larger market share. It’s time to start thinking about ways to reinvent your business and innovate — do not imitate.

Study your local market and get involved in your community. Establish yourself as a local market expert who cares about the community. Start a conversation, share good relevant information and become a trusted advisor. A lively blog, website or community page on social media sites such as Facebook can help you get started. Then proudly display the CRS logo on all your marketing materials. Let your community see that you not only care about them, but that you care enough to have attained the very highest level of education to assist them in their real estate needs.

One way to do that on Facebook is by adding the “Why CRS?” tab to your business page. The “Why CRS?” page explains what the CRS Designation is and why buyers and sellers should work with an agent who has earned it. If all CRS members display this information, it will go a long way toward educating the public about the value of working with a trained CRS agent.

To add this tab to your business page, visit the CRS community page on Facebook (http://on.fb. me/f5JK6z) and select the “Why CRS?” tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and follow the instructions to add the tab to your own business page.

My goal for 2011 is to create CRS 2.0, and we are making great strides with our education webinars and online courses. We are improving our means of communication to meet members’ needs, including a new CRS website that will be launched in the coming months. These and other CRS tools can help you grow your business.

www.crs.com | 5

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

Foreclosures Hit Record High in 2010

A total of 3.83 million foreclosure filings were reported on a record high 2.87 million properties in 2010, up 2 percent from 2009 and an increase of 23 percent from 2008, according to a year-end study from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties. The report concludes that 2.33 percent of all housing units in the United States (one in 45) received at least one foreclosure filing last year, up from 2.21 percent in 2009, 1.84 percent in 2008, 1.03 percent in 2007 and .58 percent in 2006. Nevada, Arizona and Florida posted the highest foreclosure rates in 2010, while California, Florida, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan combined to account for half of all foreclosure filings logged in the United States last year.

On a positive note, foreclosure filings declined in the fourth quarter of 2010, falling 14 percent from the previous quarter and 8 percent from the final quarter of 2009. But the RealtyTrac report attributes some of the recent declines in foreclosure totals to the continuing controversy surrounding foreclosure documentation and procedures that have prompted many mortgage lenders to temporarily suspend some foreclosure proceedings.

Nearly three-fourths of current real estate professionals plan to remain active in the industry during the next two years, while 18 percent are somewhat certain and 8 percent aren’t so sure, according to NAR’s 2010 Member Profile. Agents with three years or more of experience in the business were more likely to remain active than those with less than two years, and brokers were more likely than sales agents to remain active.

6 | March/April 2011

A Guide for

Aging in Place As many older Americans choose to remain in their homes as they age, they will become more concerned about issues related to mobility, home safety and caregiving options. To address those concerns, the MetLife Mature Market Institute has published The MetLife Aging in Place Workbook: Your Home as a Care Setting, a free guide to help individuals and families assess potential care needs, determine whether their home should be modified or whether assistive devices are needed, identify potential care sources and understand costs. The workbook also includes a list of organizations and government agencies that can provide additional assistance.

The free publication is available at www. maturemarketinstitute.com.

Zigy Kaluzny/Getty Images

REALTORSÂŽ Remain

Remodeling Cost vs. Value

Homeowners recouped an average of 60 percent of their home remodeling costs at resale in 2010, down from 63.8 percent a year ago, according to Remodeling magazine’s 2010–2011 Cost vs. Value Report. While construction costs dropped 10.4 percent in 2010, returning to pre-2007 levels, resale value dropped even more — by 15.8 percent, the steepest decline since 2003, when Remodeling began tracking these figures.

Eight of the top 10 projects with the highest cost vs. value ratio are exterior replacement projects. These generally perform better because they are among the least expensive projects to complete and are nondiscretionary improvements that contribute to curb appeal, a strong subjective factor among homebuyers. The projects that recouped the most at resale are: entry door replacement, garage door replacement, siding, wood deck addition, minor kitchen remodel, window replacement, attic bedroom remodel, and basement remodel. Home office remodels and sunroom additions recouped the least.

Visitors Can Search

by Agent Reviews Online listing and valuation website Zillow has launched a feature that allows homebuyers and sellers to search for real estate agents based on ratings and reviews from former clients. Zillow visitors have been able to rate and review real estate agents since December 2010. Now those reviews are available in a searchable database, which enables potential homebuyers and sellers to compare real estate professionals and find an agent who’s right for them.

When visitors use the Zillow Directory tool (www. zillow.com/directory) to search for a real estate agent, the results are sorted by local agents with the highest overall ratings and the most reviews. Overall ratings are based on a consumer’s likelihood of recommending the agent on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being “very likely” and 1 being “very unlikely.” Consumers can compare overall ratings as well as ratings for several categories, including process expertise, local knowledge, responsiveness and negotiation skills.

Hiringto Increase in 2011 U.S. companies may be ready to increase payrolls in 2011, according to a recent survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Nearly half of executives surveyed (47 percent) say they plan to hire new workers in 2011, up from 28 percent who expected to increase payrolls a year ago.

Only 6 percent of executives say they expect layoffs this year, down from 9 percent a year ago.

www.crs.com | 7

QuickTakes | Industry headlines, statistics and trends

Pulse/Fuse/Getty Images

Losses Pile Up

U.S. homes were expected to lose more than $1.7 trillion in value in 2010, 63 percent more than the $1 trillion lost in 2009, according to home listing and valuation service Zillow. Since the market peaked in June 2006, U.S. homes have lost $9 trillion. Most of the value lost in 2010 occurred during the second half of the year, Zillow reports.

From January to June, home values lost $680 billion, but Zillow estimates that home value losses may have topped $1 trillion from July to December.

“Despite a strong start to 2010, by the end of the year homes lost more of their value in 2010 than they did in 2009,” says Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries. “Government interventions, like the homebuyer tax credit, helped buoy the market during the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, but we saw a renewed downturn in the last half of this year. It’s a testament to the nearly irresistible force of the overall market correction that government incentives can only temporarily hold back the tide, and that the market will ultimately find its natural equilibrium of supply and demand,” Humphries says.

Housing Recovery

Blues

More than half of Americans don’t expect the housing market to recover until after 2012, while more than one in five believes a recovery won’t occur until after 2015, according to a joint survey conducted by Trulia and RealtyTrac.

Half of U.S. adults say they have less faith in mortgage lenders, banks and the government in the aftermath of the robo-signing controversy.

Another 35 percent believe the robo-signing issue

will delay a housing market recovery, while only 6 percent think the issue will have no effect on the recovery.

Nearly half (48 percent) of homeowners with a mortgage say they would consider walking away from their homes if their mortgage were under water, up from 41 percent in May 2010, and men were more likely than women to consider strategic default (57 percent vs. 40 percent).

U.S. Population Grows

According to the 2010 Census released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. population was more than 308 million as of April 1, 2010, up 9.7 percent from the 2000 resident population of 281 million.

All four regions of the country posted population increases over the past decade. The South gained more than 14 million people and the West gained more than 8.7 million. The Northeast and the Midwest grew by 1.72 million and 2.53 million, respectively.

California was the most populous state with more than 37 million residents, and Wyoming was the least populous with 563,626 people. Texas had the largest population gain numerically (25.14 million, up from 4.29 million) and Nevada had the highest percentage gain, up 35.1 percent to 2.7 million. Michigan was the only state that declined in population.

8 | March/April 2011

Rethinking Urban Living The slow economy is making consumers rethink their housing options, according to the latest American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Home Design Trends survey. Consumer demand is increasing for homes located close to public transit, jobs, retail, entertainment and recreation areas. And smaller infill projects are filling the void as fewer large-scale communities are being built. Also in high demand are homes that feature side or front porches, simpler facades made of durable, low-maintenance materials and single-story homes to accommodate an aging population. Multigenerational housing is also becoming more popular to meet the needs of the growing population of immigrant families.

“There has been a resurgence in urban living in general, but economic realities like high foreclosure rates, increased commuting time and costs, and a renewed interest in affordability are key drivers in altering the residential real estate landscape,” says AIA chief economist Kermit Baker.

Homeownership Goals Remain Important

What is the ideal home size?

12%

Less than 1,000 square feet

2%

48%

1,000 to 1,999 square feet

5,000 square feet or more

10%

29%

2,000 to 2,999 square feet

3,000 to 4,999 square feet

Source: Relocation.com consumer lifestyle survey, October 2010

While more than half of Americans say the housing crisis has not affected their willingness to buy a home, many still have doubts about the housing market for the near term, according to the Fannie Mae 2010 Own-Rent Analysis report released in December. A substantial majority of homeowners (89 percent) and 44 percent of renters believe they would be better off owning a home, given their current financial situation.

The housing crisis has had the biggest impact on younger Americans. Homeownership rates have declined 11 percent from their peak for those 25 to 29 years old, while they have fallen 5 percent for homeowners 35 to 44 and even less for those 45 and older.

The report also finds that changes in demographics and consumer lifestyle trends are shifting consumers’ housing decisions, which could have long-term implications for the housing market. For example, married couples historically have been the most reliable pool of homebuyers, but this segment of the overall population has declined steadily from 56 percent in 1990 to 50 percent in 2010. www.crs.com | 9

tools for success Q U A L I T Y

Take your business to the next level with the most powerful tools in the real estate business. Visit www.crsstore.com to access leading-edge software, books, DVDs and marketing tools developed with your business goals in mind.

Whether you want to close a transaction, build your referral business, learn more about the needs of buyers and sellers, hire an assistant, protect

your commission or master listing presentations, the CRS Store can provide the tools you need for success.

You can be confident in our products’ effectiveness because they have passed a rigorous review conducted by the Council’s Product Review Panel, which consists of a group of seasoned Certified Residential Specialists.

T E S T E D

P R O D U C T S

Once the Panel determines that the product and vendor meet our strict criteria for: • relevance to REALTORS®; • user-friendliness; • use of the most current technology; and • exemplary customer service, the product is then awarded the ­Council’s Quality Tested Seal.

All merchandise has been developed with your business goals in mind, has been market-tested and received the CRS Quality Tested Seal.

Selling Luxury Homes

MyRealEstateTools.com

In Selling Luxury Homes, luxury real estate expert Jack Cotton shares his proven methods for finding and cultivating high-end buyers and sellers in your area and provides practical, step-bystep guidelines to help you master negotiating techniques that can help you succeed in this market. Book purchase comes with a free 20-minute telephone consultation with Jack Cotton.

MyRealEstateTools.com is a Web-based business management solution with features for automating your business, including lead generation and follow-up, transaction management and closing. MyRealEstateTools.com also integrates your database with HTML e-mail and print solutions for marketing, as well as prospecting and transaction management tools so you can conduct your daily business quickly and easily.

CRS Members receive a 10 percent discount; enter promotional code CRS2011.

Members: $26.95 Nonmembers: $29.95

CRS Members receive a 30 percent discount; enter promotional code CRSPromo.

Members: $34.95 Nonmembers: $49.95

Finding Home DVD

Real Estate Office Management

Today’s buyers need more information than ever to guide them through the home-buying process. The Finding Home DVD can help your buyers balance their financial and lifestyle goals to make better decisions. Topics include defining lifestyle needs, choosing an agent early in the process and understanding the benefits of being preapproved. Plus, the creative house-hunting tips and checklist can help you and your buyer save time and money.

Real Estate Office Management offers practical, experiencebased strategies and techniques for managing every aspect of a real estate office. This comprehensive book contains timetested management techniques and authoritative guidance, making it an indispensable resource for real estate brokers, owners, managers and consultants.

Sale price (March 1 – April 30): $29.95 (Original price: $39.95)

Members: $33 Nonmembers: $50

Realty Juggler Desktop

Ninja Selling

Get your business life more organized. Realty Juggler Desktop is a real estate software solution that helps you stay on top of your business activities. The software lets you track your prospects, listings and sales, keep an eye on your commissions and expenses, prepare CMA reports, coordinate mailings, update your contact list, upload documents, coordinate e-mail and newsletter mailings and much more.

This five-disc audio set features renowned real estate expert Larry Kendall as he presents his popular Ninja Selling course.

Ninja Selling is based on the philosophy that building relationships, listening to customers and helping them achieve their goals are the keys to success in the real estate business.

Price: $159

Take advantage of the FREE 90-day no-obligation trial offer.

Visit www.crsstore.com or call 800.462.8841 to place your order.

10 | March/April 2011

Great Finds | Tools of the trade

new angles In a tech-savvy world, no listing is complete without high-quality images or video to show it off. If you’re thinking about upgrading to a new panoramic video or still camera, there are a host of options that make capturing eye-catching views easier than ever. Whether you’re looking for a 360-degree camera or a regular camera with better-than-average panoramic features, here are a few options to get you started. clean sweep www.sonystyle.com If you want to invest in a multipurpose camera with a quality panoramic function, consider the 9.1 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1. Its “sweep panorama” mode lets you pan the camera horizontally or vertically to capture up to a 224-degree field of view. It automatically stitches the individual shots together for a perfect panorama — no need for additional software. A 16:9 high-resolution mode allows you to record images that will be compatible with HDTVs, which is especially useful for displaying photos on the big screen.

329.99

one and done www.vrstation.net Agents who are short on tech-savvy (or time) will want to check out the fully automatic, 360-degree VRstation virtual tour camera, designed to make taking perfect panoramic shots simple. Just place the 16-megapixel camera in the room you want to photograph and push the button, and the camera will take high-resolution panoramic images or video.

Optional packages can wirelessly sync the images with smartphones and websites, so it’s easy to distribute images and video while on the go.

1,495

stitch in time www.usa.canon.com The 10-megapixel Canon PowerShot G12 is another good option if you’re looking for an all-around camera to help you create quality virtual tours.

Using the camera’s high dynamic range scene mode and PhotoStitch, a free download available for both Macs and PCs, you can create seamless panoramas using up to 26 different shots. The wide-angle zoom lens adds more context to photos by capturing the entire scene, and the HD-video capabilities makes the transition from still shots to video easy.

499.99

total package www.girocam.com If you’re looking for a panoramic-only standalone camera that packs a punch, the GIROCAM Panorama System has an impressive 30-megapixel resolution. The camera itself is only about 3 inches high, but it’s packed with extra features. Self-timers make it easy to set up your best shot, and video capabilities allow you to seamlessly transition from still to moving images. Additional software helps you create accurate 2-D or 3-D floor plans from still photos; you can also use software to view precise measurements from anything in the camera’s field of view.

1,700

www.crs.com | 1 1

Technology | Streamlining your business

mac attack?

By Andrea Orr

Approximately 7 percent of REALTORS® surveyed used the Mac platform as their primary operating system in 2009.

Source: NAR 2010 Technology Survey

12 | March/April 2011

A

ndrew Norton, CRS, associate broker with RE/MAX Distinctive in McLean, Va., has converted. Not faiths, but computer platforms. For years, Norton happily conducted his business on Windows-based PCs, but as he grew more interested in designing brochures and websites himself, he became curious about the supposedly superior design functions of the Mac. Norton found a refurbished Mac for sale, signed up for a series of Apple training courses and quickly became proficient enough to build his own website, www.DCHomes.com, which features a blog, video and links to podcasts.

“I still have a PC, and I will probably continue to use it for bread-and-butter

work like answering e-mails until it dies,” he says. “But it is the last thing I would use for anything creative. And I would not buy another PC, even if it were for sale at a deep discount on Black Friday.”

The almost religious fervor with which Norton weighs in on the Macversus-PC debate is not unusual. Ask a group of REALTORS® (or any group of people, really) which platform they prefer, and most responses will be anything but wishy-washy. Some Mac users don’t just prefer Apple, but have often sworn off PCs for life. PC loyalists, meanwhile, sometimes describe the Mac following as something of a cult they are wary of joining.

Westend61/Masterfile

Stats show that PCs still dominate the real estate industry, but many agents swear by their Macs. Is it just a matter of choice?

Regardless of personal preferences, the hard data is indisputable: PCs dominate the real estate industry. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® 2010 Technology Survey found that just 7 percent of REALTORS® surveyed were using the Mac platform as their primary operating system in 2009. Although that rate had nearly doubled from 4 percent the year before, it was still dwarfed by the share of REALTORS® using Windows-based operating systems such as Vista and XP. But the vocal Mac loyalists who insist the Apple platform is best for a whole host of tasks, not only for its ease of use, may be persuading a growing number of REALTORS® to make the switch. While some agents have sworn off PCs entirely and others remain staunch PC loyalists, a growing number seems to be embracing both platforms so they can use whichever is best suited to the task at hand.

The Mac Pack Many of the most fervent loyalists in the Mac camp did not start out that way.

Rather, they often worked happily for years on a PC and ran successful businesses. But REALTORS® like Phil Chiles, CRS, with the Real Estate Group in Springfield, Ill., decided to experiment with a Mac after hearing good reviews and were happy with the Apple platform’s greater ease of use.

Chiles, who notes that he is not especially tech-savvy, has become so well-versed in Apple equipment and software in just two years that he runs his entire business from a Mac. He switched to a Mac after nine years of using a PC and says the biggest benefit is that the Mac crashes less often and is far less prone to viruses. “There are no operating system issues like crashing or slowing down. And you don’t have to worry about antivirus software,” he says.

He has also found the Mac makes it easy to set up intra-office networks for sharing transaction documents and for other materials ongoing projects.

Norton notes that although PCs are generally cheaper than Macs, Apple’s easyto-use tools for designing websites, building virtual tours and editing videos might save agents a significant amount of money.

Norton says he ultimately made the transition to Mac because he grew “tired of being nickeled-and-dimed” by vendors selling the templates he needed to do his own

design work. By contrast, the Apple iWeb software he used to build a site on his Mac was free, and a $79 Apple software product helped him produce what he describes as “beautiful flier templates that sellers always ooh and ahh about.”

While Chiles, like most Mac users, agrees that designing anything from a slideshow to a brochure is much easier on a Mac, he believes the benefits of the Apple platform today extend far beyond design.

“For a long time, the Mac had the reputation of being a good graphics machine, but if you wanted to do spreadsheets and things like that, you were better off with a PC. But Mac has changed throughout the years.”

In the two years that Chiles has used a Mac, he says many of the compatibility problems he first encountered have been solved. For example, the transaction management software that Giles used did not initially run on a Mac and he had to purchase Parallels Desktop for Mac software in order to access it. “But since then, they have made it compatible on a Mac.” That said, Norton admits that the vast majority of software products for REALTORS® are built for PCs. “Practically all [real estate] vendors are non-Mac,” he says, noting that many local multiple listing services won’t run on a Mac: “I would say that the vast majority of REALTOR® websites are non-Mac sites.”

Playing Both Sides PC loyalist Steve Epstein, CRS, with Coldwell Banker in Santa Barbara, Calif., says he would urge any REALTOR® who could buy just one computer to go with a PC. First, PCs are cheaper than Macs.

But more than that, he has found that PCs have fewer compatibility problems with other business websites or business software programs, including the MLS, and that Apple’s Safari browser “can be problematic” when trying to display business websites or open certain videos.

In Epstein’s view, “Mac is like a cult.” And although he has vowed not to “drink the Kool-Aid” when it comes to Macs, he has gradually incorporated Apple products into his PC-dominated business, largely because they help him complete certain tasks. In addition to the four PCs on which he runs his business, he carries an iPhone and an iPad, which he has found indispensible for

checking e-mails and otherwise conducting business on the go. He also maintains one Mac desktop to help support his other Mac devices.

Epstein is pretty atypical. But in his willingness to use both PCs and Mac products, he offers objective insight. While he says Macs are generally better for design, he has found, increasingly, that similar design software is available on Windows-based PCs. And while he encounters fewer compatibility problems on his Windows-based PCs, he has also found software products that render Macs nearly as versatile. He uses Apple’s MobileMe software to synchronize PC-based data on Mac products, as well as Citrix Systems’ GoToMyPC software to access data stored on his PC from his iPhone and iMac. But he plans to remain a fundamentally PC-based business. As he sees it, most of the advantages the Mac offers are incremental rather than game-changing, and not really worth the extra cost.

No Contest Indeed, part of the debate over the best computer platform for real estate stems from the changing nature of the business.

At one time, it was rare for REALTORS® to create their own marketing materials or websites or correspond with clients from their cars. They focused on selling real estate and turned to other experts to provide the tools to support them in this core business. But today, more REALTORS® are doing it all, partly because today’s technology can guide them through tasks that once seemed daunting, and partly because they recognize they can save money.

As these CRSs demonstrate, it is possible to run a successful business on either platform. What matters most is that agents are comfortable with whichever technology they use. As the industry evolves, the Mac vs. PC competition will continue, as software and hardware vendors scramble to develop the best technology to support the fast-paced and highly competitive real estate business. And REALTORS® would be wise to keep an open mind as new solutions and technologies emerge — no matter which side of the Mac vs. PC debate they argue today.

Andrea Orr is a writer based in Washington, D.C.

www.crs.com | 1 3

Trends | Today and tomorrow

forces of nurture

By Chloe Thompson

As of January 2011, just 3.3 percent of all REALTORS® were CRS Designees.

Source: NAR and CRS Membership Statistics

14 | March/April 2011

D

onna Sheppard, CRS, of RE/MAX Signature Properties in Concord, N.C., worked in the real estate business for more than 25 years without her CRS Designation. She might have gone even longer had it not been for her broker, Leigh Brown, CRS, whose continued encouragement provoked Sheppard to finally, as she puts it, “just go for it.” “[Leigh] knew that I had been wanting to complete my education and she reminded me on a weekly basis, ‘Donna,

you really need to get it,’ ” Sheppard recalls.

“So finally one day, I said, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ ” Sheppard is just one of the agents that Brown has persuaded to obtain her CRS Designation — Brown’s office has more CRSs than any other real estate office in the Cabarrus County, she says. Of the company’s 17 agents, eight already have their CRS Designation, while two are on track to earn it this year. The weekly meetings Brown holds in her office cover a variety of topics, but the benefits of the CRS Designation are one subject that’s always on the agenda.

I Dream Stock/Masterfile

Brokers share strategies they use to encourage agents to pursue the CRS Designation.

“My agents will ask me, ‘What should we take? What’s worth the money?’ ” Brown says, “and it’s so easy to tell them that CRS is where you go for the real education” that will help increase their earning potential. “CRS is about quality education and real-world applicability of the information.”

In a tough economy, brokers are always searching for ways to keep their businesses going strong. One easy way to do that is to encourage agents to further their professional development, specifically by pursuing the CRS Designation, which can boost REALTORS’® confidence, professionalism and performance. And some brokers have come up with innovative ways to support their agents as they work to make the designation a cornerstone of their professional development strategies.

Walk the Walk Jim Paulson, CRS, broker with Progressive Realty Corp., in Boise, Idaho, knew he needed more than a convincing argument to persuade his employees to pursue the CRS Designation. “Most of the brokers I worked for always said, ‘we want the best, most educated agents we can get,’ but they didn’t back it up with anything,” says Paulson, who has been in real estate nearly 20 years.

To “deliver more than lip service,” Paulson designed a commission-based incentive plan in which agents receive a 2 percent increase in their commission after they complete any NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR)-approved designation or certification, including CRS. This builds on other commission-based incentives Paulson provides, such as commission increases for community service and for each year of experience in the real estate field (including areas such as contracting and construction) prior to being hired at his company.

Paulson, who calls the incentive a “selfinsurance policy,” says getting the CRS Designation is a win-win situation for both the agent and the broker. Agents gain the benefit of increased education and confidence, which can ultimately lead to more

CRS Designation Pays Off The Council’s 2009 Membership Survey finds that CRS Designees earn a median income of $85,000 annually, nearly three times the $29,400 median income of REALTORS® serving as sales associates, as reported in the 2009 NAR Member Profile. CRS Designees average a total of 21 transactions per year with gross sales of $3.2 million.

transactions; brokers benefit from the knowledge that agents gain when they get their CRS Designation, which can increase revenue and help decrease liability.

“CRS agents have proven that they are willing to go the extra mile to get educated about our industry,” Paulson says. “The better they know how to price properties, meet client expectations, communicate with their clients, and stay abreast of the changes in our industry, the less likely they will be a liability to me as their broker.”

But more than that, Paulson says, the CRS Designation lends “credibility to my agents and my company. To me, it’s like hiring an accountant who has his CPA as opposed to someone who just has knowledge of accounting.”

The bottom line, he says, is fairly simple. “If you show them the paths to make more money, they’re going to work harder to get along those paths.”

A Full Ride Given the slowly recovering economy and a still-volatile real estate market, agents are keen to make sure every dollar they decide to spend is worth their while. And while some agents might be tempted to devote most of their precious funds to marketing rather than professional development, brokers can go a long way toward encouraging their agents to make the right choice.

For example, Gary Frimann, CRS, a broker with Signature Homes and Estates in Gilroy, Calif., reimburses his agents for the cost of the classes they take toward obtaining any NAR-certified

designations. The reimbursement amount is divided among an agent’s next four commission payouts.

The system, which he began offering three years ago, seems to be working: Two of Frimann’s agents have earned or are earning their CRS Designation, and he’s noticed a marked improvement in their performance. They’ve become noticeably more confident handling transactions and daily business, he says, noting that one agent saw a 40 percent increase in her transactions because of the added CRS referrals she received. “CRS has just become a part of them,” he says.

But perhaps what’s most noticeable is CRS Designees’ level of professionalism.

Frimann says that having more CRSs in his brokerage lends credibility to his business, and the Council’s marketing materials help his agents sell their expertise. His agents place their listing presentations in CRS-branded folders to use as a handout when meeting clients to bring CRS into the conversation.

Frimann says, “We’re a rather small, independent brokerage and we don’t have brand recognition like the franchised brokers. The CRS folders are used for listing presentations, which puts emphasis on the agent’s abilities, versus a perceived brokerage’s size or competency, which can sometimes be an obstacle.”

Frimann is so confident in the CRS Designation program that he encourages his agents to send referrals only to other CRS agents. He explains that when agents work with a CRS, “they know they’re getting someone who is dedicated to the profession versus someone who’s on their second day of the job and they happen to pick up the phone.”

By encouraging their REALTORS® to work toward earning the CRS Designation, brokers are investing in the future of their businesses. After all, agents who complete a rigorous training program have a much better chance to succeed than those who do not. And that is an investment in success that’s easily worth paying for.

Chloe Thompson is a writer based in Washington, D.C.

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Pipeline | Strategies to grow your business

tax time Here’s a last-minute checkup for your 2010 tax return and a road map for 2011.

The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax. —Albert Einstein

16 | March/April 2011

A

s most of you are aware, 2010 featured some significant tax legislation, starting in March and wrapping up as late as Dec. 17. Some of this legislation impacts 2010, which will affect your current tax filing requirement, and much of the new law impacts 2011 and later years, which will affect your planning for the future. My standard disclaimer applies, as it does every year: I urge all readers to seek the input of a trained tax professional to prepare your tax returns.

Issues for 2010 Returns

1. Deduction of self-employed health insurance to reduce self-employment tax (SECA) for one year in 2010 This deduction has been around for many years, and some taxpayers (but not all) are allowed this deduction on the front page of the 1040, line 29. The change in 2010 is that this deduction is also claimed on line 3 of Schedule SE, which will result in a reduction of selfemployment taxes.

Pascal Pret/Getty Images

By Chris Bird

2. Reinstatement of the federal estate tax back to Jan. 1, 2010 While the federal estate tax expired on Jan. 1, 2010, Congress reinstated this tax back to Jan. 1, 2010, with a $5 million individual exclusion, effectively eliminating the federal estate tax for 99.9 percent of decedents’ estates. However, in order to stave off lawsuits from the executors of decedents like New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and others, the new law gives executors the choice between the $5 million individual exclusion and no estate tax at all. This is a very complicated issue, as those executors who choose the “no estate tax” rule have to deal with basis of asset issues to the heirs.

3. Extension of alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief for 2010 and 2011 Most tax professionals expected this extension, because if it were not granted, the 4 million individual taxpayers who currently pay AMT would have jumped to more than 21 million by IRS estimates.

The extension provides a higher AMT exemption for two years.

4. Extension of many items that expired in 2009 for two more years The following items expired at the end of 2009, but were extended through at least 2010 and possibly later years as well: • Educator expense deduction of $250 • State and local sales tax deduction • Higher education (tuition and fees) deduction • Direct transfer of an IRA to the charity of your choice • Mortgage insurance premiums deduction (already allowed through 2010 but extended through 2011) • 15-year write-off of qualified leasehold improvements, qualified retail improvements and qualified restaurant property 5. Extension of bonus depreciation; temporary 100 percent expensing for certain business assets Self-employed taxpayers and business owners will continue to be able to write off significant amounts invested in their business such as equipment, automobiles,

SUVs, trucks, etc. However, the big news is that any of these types of items purchased after Sept. 8, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2012, will qualify for a 100 percent deduction, with no limitation on the amount of the deduction. This new deduction also includes qualified leasehold improvements placed in service between these dates, although the 100 percent deduction does not apply to qualified retail property or qualified restaurant property.

Issues for Future Returns

1. Credit for non-business energy property The 30 percent tax credit with a maximum amount of $1,500 for energy improvements to one’s principal residence expired on Dec. 31, 2010, and was replaced by a tax credit of only 10 percent with a maximum amount of $500 for one year, 2011. This new credit is very cumbersome to compute, and the major limiting factor is that all energy tax credits claimed on the principal residence since 2006 reduce the $500 available in 2011. For example, my wife and I claimed a $500 energy tax credit on our 2007 1040, so we have no credit available to us in 2011.

2. Form 1099 miscellaneous reporting for rental property owners effective for payments Jan. 1, 2011, and later This issue has received a lot of coverage since its passage in late September 2010.

Effective for payments made on Jan. 1, 2011, and after, rental property owners who manage their properties themselves must keep records for payments made to individuals who provide services to the rental property operation. (This has always been a requirement for professional property managers). Specifically, form 1099 Miscellaneous must be issued in early 2012 for payments made to non-incorporated service providers totaling $600 or more in 2011 and later years. Personally, my wife and I have owned rental property for more than 30 years, and we have never had to issue Form 1099 Misc. At the same time, I have always wondered who has reported that income and who did not. It is pretty clear that Big Brother wants to get a handle on

this. Also, the penalties for not filing the Form 1099 have doubled, so please take this seriously. My advice: Have your service providers complete form W-9 before they work for you during the year. If they won’t complete the W-9, don’t use them.

3. Extension of marginal tax rates, capital gains tax rate and qualified dividend tax rate for two more years As I am sure you are aware by now, on Dec. 17, 2010, Congress passed and the president signed into law the extension of the tax rate structure that has been in place since 2003. So any thought about selling now versus selling later has been put off until mid-2012, as any changes to this structure would be effective Jan. 1, 2013.

4. Business standard mileage and other rates increase for 2011 In a new revenue procedure, IRS has announced that the optional mileage allowance for owned or leased autos (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) is 51 cents per mile for business travel after 2010. That’s 1 cent more than the 50-cent allowance for business mileage during 2010. Further, the 2011 rate for using a car to get medical care or in connection with a move that qualifies for the moving expense deduction is 19 cents per mile, 2.5 cents more per mile than the 16.5 cents for 2010.

5. Temporary payroll tax cut A provision in the December 2010 tax bill reduces the Social Security taxes that both employees and the self-employed pay for one year in 2011. The reduction is 2 percent, which means that an employee’s withholdings will go down by 2 percent of their pay, in most cases, with the resulting higher take-home pay. Selfemployed individuals will see this reduction through lower estimated tax payments paid throughout the year.

Chris Bird is a CRS certified instructor who served as an IRS agent for 16 years before launching his company, Chris Bird Seminars, Inc., in 1986.

www.crs.com | 1 7

Up Close | Profiles of people to watch

gerardo “jerry” ascencio,

CRS

Mission Real Estate, San Fernando, Calif.

REALTOR® since: 1989 Designee since: 2006 Contact: Gerardo@ ascencio.com; 818.408.2121

How has your personal experience shaped your business?

I can connect with my community. I feel their pain, and I understand their challenges, but I can also grasp their dreams. I know that given the opportunity, they’ll make excellent homeowners and will make their payments on time, responsibly and over a long period. For the Hispanic family, achieving the American Dream is more than a motto. It’s a lifestyle; it’s a sense of having arrived and of finally belonging to the community by putting down roots. You’re no longer someone who’s just passing by or passing through. Because of my upbringing, I’m empathetic to that and very much in tune with the cultural nuances that are particular to the Hispanic family.

And what are those nuances?

One is the language. All people, but particularly Hispanic families, want to do business with someone they can trust. I remember one of the first experiences my dad told me about before I got into real estate was that he was having trouble communicating with the practitioners and REALTORS® at that time because there were only a handful of people who were able to communicate in Spanish. [My agents] have broken that barrier by being fully bilingual — fluent in English and Spanish. I — and my agents — also understand how housing relates to the family, particularly elders, in-laws and the fact that some of them cohabitate to make the possibility of homeownership come true. We

18 | March/April 2011

understand those nuances and those cultural differences because that’s how we grew up: respecting our elders, not thinking about sending them away to a hospital, but keeping them at home. Your home becomes the extended family’s home also.

How has this cultural perspective played out in your relationships with clients?

I have a lifelong connection with and commitment to my clients. They see me as a consultant, as a friend and as an advocate. People I sold properties to almost 20 years ago still bring me their tax bill and ask me to help explain it to them. Often clients come to me with a bag full of house-related documentation they got in the mail and say, “Jerry, can you help me work through all of this paperwork?” And in about five minutes I start marking things up, identifying what is and isn’t important. Clients always need us. They need us in times of prosperity and growth, and they need us in times of difficulty, when they’re going through financial despair.

My clients also represent a very strong referral base.

I call them systematically throughout the year and send regular mailings. I make them aware of market trends and how to avoid certain housing schemes. I don’t do business just to be done with it; I close a transaction and we build a relationship that can last for decades.

You’re vice chair of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. What do you hope to accomplish in this role?

We’re going to advocate for policy and business practices that are sensitive to those cultural nuances and the differences of the Hispanic community. When I say this, I’m referring to credit limitations and the difficulties in language and translation, understanding documents.

Our mission statement is to promote sustainable Hispanic homeownership. Our vision is to bring families into homeownership and keep them there. In the Hispanic community, there’s not really a “let’s appreciate and cash out on our investment” type of mentality; most families have a more sustainable plan to stay in a home for 10 or 15 years or until they pay the house off. Once they buy, they’re probably going to be there for a while, since there’s been such a battle and such a journey to get to that position.

Thomas Alleman

What motivated you to get into the real estate business, and how has that shaped your philosophy?

People are motivated by one of two things: pain or pleasure. In my case, it was pain. I’m a Mexican immigrant, and in the 1980s my family didn’t own a home. We had lived in the San Fernando Valley for almost two decades and bounced from place to place — renting an apartment here, a house there. I got licensed in the late ’80s and my very first goal was to buy my family a home. In less than a year, we purchased the house next door to where we’d been living at the time. It changed the quality of life for us and created a sense of pride, of belonging and ownership.

From that point forward, I made a commitment and a promise to myself to reach out to as many families — particularly the underserved Hispanic community — and to make homeownership a reality for them.

“I can connect with my community. I feel their pain, and I understand their challenges, but I can also grasp their dreams.”

Gerardo “Jerry” Ascencio, CRS www.crs.com | 19

The key to selling your real estate business is building a solid plan.

Sign 20 | March/April 2011

By Regina Ludes

ns

After 34 years in real estate, Dianne Dunn, CRS, a broker/owner with Keller Williams Realty in New Bern, N.C., was ready to leave behind the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a team. She wanted more time to finish writing a real estate book she started in 2003 and to coach agents at two local Keller Williams offices. “I still loved real estate, but I didn’t feel the passion for working in the trenches,” she says.

Knowing how and when to sell a real estate business is one of the most difficult and emotional decisions many REALTORS® will ever make. After spending years building relationships with clients, agents may be reluctant to hand them off to someone who may not serve them with the same level of commitment. Even when agents are confident in their decision to sell, the task of putting a value on an established real estate business, taking it to market and negotiating purchase terms with a buyer can seem overwhelming. But by planning ahead and developing a sound exit strategy, REALTORS® can sell their business on their own terms, knowing they’ll be compensated fairly and that their clients will be in good hands for many years to come.

Drawing a Road Map Far too many REALTORS® fail to plan an exit strategy, says Domenic Rinaldi, managing partner for Sunbelt Chicago, a business brokerage firm. “Most agents underestimate the value of their brand and their database, and they just walk away.

They never monetize the years of hard work they put into it,” he says. “An exit plan is a road map for leaving the business on the owner’s timeline, and it looks at all the fundamentals of a business, such as the value drivers, financials, legal aspects,

wealth-management plans for retirement, insurance and a go-to market strategy.”

Rinaldi advises agents to create an exit strategy long before they need to implement it. “Illness and unforeseen events can prompt agents to leave the business on short notice. You need to plan your exit before you get to that point, and review and update it every year. If you get ill, then you have a plan you can put into place right away,” he says.

In planning ahead, agents should keep in mind that market conditions play a big role in the amount a given business may be worth — its value is highest when business and economic conditions are good. “If the business slows, it’s not as valuable and will bring in less money,” Rinaldi says. It usually takes six to 12 months for a business to sell, typically to a buyer from within the industry.

The first step toward placing a value on any company is to evaluate its business infrastructure, such as the brand, marketing, technology, database, staffing, systems and processes. All these factors add value to the business, Rinaldi says, which makes it more marketable to potential buyers. “It really does not take a lot of work to create an infrastructure that has good value,” he says. Businesses that have a solid foundation will be more attractive to buyers and will command top dollar.

When Dunn assessed her business in January 2010, she made sure her client database was current and all the accounting and marketing processes were organized and well documented. Next she identified a potential partner to take over her business — an agent in her office whom Dunn had known for 13 years. Dunn chose the associate because her work style, systems

www.crs.com | 2 1

Dianne Dunn, CRS

and action plans were similar to her own, and she had a team in place that would service her clients. “A solo agent would not have been able to handle the business,” Dunn says.

After several discussions, Dunn and the associate prepared a written agreement, including a timeline detailing when all accounts and systems would transfer to the new partner. Under the three-year plan that started in the spring of 2010, Dunn receives 15 percent from all listings and sales generated from her own client base and 25 percent for new leads she refers to her partner. “Placing a value on your business is more difficult in today’s market, so a one-time lump sum payment may not be the way to go,” Dunn advises.

Dunn also agreed to stay on as a consultant for several months to oversee the transition, and Dunn’s team members merged with the partner’s. They even included both of their photos on their respective websites.

“We wanted it to seem like a partnership and not be a shock to our clients,” Dunn explains.

But not everything went smoothly. The partners had used two different contact management systems, so their client lists had to be reconciled under one system. “If you have good systems and the other party doesn’t, you need to work with them to get them up to speed and prevent things from falling through the cracks,” Dunn advises.

Want to Know More?

Here are a few resources about buying and selling a business.

BizBuySell (bizbuysell.com) Biz Broker Journal, Domenic Rinaldi’s blog about buying and selling a business (bizbrokerjournal.com) International Business Brokers Association (ibba.org) U.S. Small Business Administration (sba.gov) Entrepreneur magazine (entrepreneur.com) SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business (score.org)

22 | March/April 2011

After buying three “books of business” from other agents in recent years, Gary Rogers, CRS, with RE/MAX First Realty in Waltham, Mass., has experienced both the positive and negative aspects of transferring a business. The first deal he was involved in was “a waste of time,” Rogers says. “The selling agent changed his mind about selling after taking some of my marketing ideas and promoting himself as a solo business,” he says. In another deal, he says, the selling broker was lax about keeping in touch with clients, and when other agents in the area learned he was planning to leave the business, they promoted heavily

Charles Harris

The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

to his client base. “He was vulnerable to a takeover,” he says.

Rogers’ most successful deal involved a partnership with a 35-year real estate veteran who planned to retire. The two discussed strategy for a full year before putting the details in writing. During the first year of the agreement starting in 2006, Rogers earned 25 percent for each sale from the partner’s clients. Once the partner left the business, Rogers paid him 40 percent for each sale for the first two years, then 35 percent in the third year and 30 percent thereafter.

Rogers says the arrangement was successful because the partner kept his database current, regularly contacted clients and presented a clear, consistent message about the new partnership. They launched a joint promotional campaign to announce the transition, and the partner sent a separate letter explaining the new team structure. The partner left his cell phone active for one year to field client inquiries, which he forwarded to Rogers. While many of the partner’s clients continued to call their agent, other clients welcomed the opportunity to work with Rogers because the partner prepared them well for the transition.

The key to a successful transfer of business, Rogers says, “is to stay in touch with the client base often and increase their trust, which is easier to transfer to a new partner.”

Jack Flash/Getty Images

Expect the Unexpected Barb Avery, CRS, broker-associate with RE/MAX Eastside Brokers in Bellevue, Wash., believed she had formed a sound business relationship with a well-respected colleague in 2005, but it quickly turned sour. “She had talked for years about moving to Arizona,” Avery says. When the associate’s husband decided to retire early from his job at a major company, the woman approached Avery about taking over her business in preparation for the move out of state. But as Avery later discovered, the associate was not as ready to retire as her husband was.

After reviewing several possible arrangements with an attorney, they opted to set

Seven out of 10 new employer firms survive at least two years; half at least five years. One-fourth of new businesses stay in business 15 years or more.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Business Dynamics Statistics; U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics

up a sliding payment scale that paid her partner a 25 percent referral fee during the first year, 15 percent the second year, 10 percent the third year and 5 percent the fourth and fifth year, ending in 2009. They put the plan in writing and spent one full year learning each other’s business inside and out.

When the associate and her husband moved to Arizona, Avery says, she suggested that her partner keep her cell phone on to handle client calls. In the first year, Avery handled 11 referrals from her partner and five the second year. In the third year, however, Avery says, she received only two inquiries because the partner shut down her phone. “Everything stopped,” Avery recalls. “People trusted her, not me.”

With no more referrals coming in, Avery contacted the remaining clients on the partner’s contact list. When she called them, however, she learned that many of the partner’s clients did not know that their agent had retired. “When any of the clients called her, she convinced them that she was on a month-long vacation. I think she was afraid that if people knew she was

retired, she would lose them. They were her lifeline, her source of income,” Avery says.

Looking back, Avery says she would bring in a partner four or five years before the business transfers so both parties can become familiar with each other’s clients, and she would get her partner’s commitment in writing to keep her cell phone on for as long as possible. Despite the mishaps, the experience has been valuable for Avery, who, at age 66, is thinking about her own steps to retirement.

She plans to give herself lots of time for the transition, and never turn off her phone. “You can’t retire in one day,” Avery says.

Selling a real estate business can be a challenging process, but agents who take the time to plan their exit will leave a profitable legacy for themselves, the new team and their clients. Selling agents can learn from Dunn’s words of advice: “Keep accurate checklists and your database updated.

Make sure you have someone you trust take over, and have it all in writing. That makes for a happy transition.”

Regina Ludes is associate editor of The Residential Specialist.

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A close-up view of what’s happening in real estate markets across the country

Beyond the

Horiz 24 | March/April 2011

By Daniel Rome Levine

Macduff Everton/CORBIS

on

Despite historically low interest rates and government attempts to spark buying, the housing market remained stuck in a rut in 2010 as the U.S. economy tried to dig out of the deepest economic hole it has faced since the Great Depression.

Keeping in mind the adage that all real estate is local, The Residential Specialist reached out to a handful of CRSs around the country to hear about their experiences in 2010 and get a sense of what they see ahead.

Summit, New Jersey

Sitting just 20 miles west of Manhattan, the real estate markets in the affluent suburbs of Summit, Chatham and Short Hills, N.J., are inexorably linked to the economic health of the Big Apple. In 2010, these picturesque communities benefited as New York City continued to enjoy one of the strongest economic performances in the nation, with a growing workforce and stable real estate values.

That meant that more people were moving to the area looking for homes, as city dwellers were able to sell their properties and buy in the quieter suburbs. “This entire area is trending up,” says Patrizia “Trish” Giassa, CRS, with Keller Williams Realty Premier Properties in Summit. “Everything is pretty much on the positive side, and I feel very optimistic about the future.”

While the real estate market in each of the three suburbs is improving, Summit is the clear star, Giassa says. In 2010, Summit home sales increased 19 percent from the previous year, with median prices jumping to $749,000 from $700,000, a 7 percent increase. The average days-on-market dropped from 77 to 60, and sellers were getting 97 percent of their asking price, compared with 96 percent in 2009.

Despite this upbeat scenario, Giassa says she still faces challenges, the biggest of which is getting sellers to price their homes realistically. Even though prices are just 4 percent below where they were five years ago at the height of the market, “people are not comprehending what homes are selling for now,” she says. “They’re still looking back to 2005 and 2006 prices.”

Chicago, Illinois

Not so in the Windy City, says Elizabeth Ballis, CRS, with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Chicago. “Toward the end of last year, and certainly so far this year, sellers are finally getting with the program and pricing their homes more 26 | March/April 2011

realistically,” she says. “I no longer have to beg them to understand that they can’t expect to get what they paid if they bought in the last six years.”

Ballis feels the pain of her clients who realize they may have to sell their homes at a loss. Eleven years ago, she bought a downtown condo for $362,000, and then was hit with special assessments over the years totaling $80,000. Now she’s trying to sell the unit and is seeing offers come in nearly $100,000 below her total investment. “To sell in this market, you have to be willing to take a haircut,” she says.

Across the city of Chicago, median condo prices fell 4.3 percent in 2010 to $267,900 compared with the prior year, while condo sales dropped 2.5 percent over the same period. Single-family homes fared slightly better. In 2010, just over 8,000 homes sold in the city, about the same number as in the prior year. The median price for a single-family home sold within the city in 2010 was $145,500, just about what it was the year before.

Despite 2010 seeing the lowest number of Chicago home sales in a decade, Ballis is upbeat about the future. She says interest from buyers has been picking up since the beginning of the year, and that is a good sign. “We’re very busy right now and running around like crazy,” she says.

“That certainly wasn’t the case at this time last year.” In addition to properties being priced more realistically, she attributes the pick-up in business to buyers finally being drawn out of hibernation by the realization that interest rates won’t always be this low, and a general feeling that the housing market has already reached bottom. “I am optimistic about the direction we’re heading,” she says.

Flower Mound, Texas

Talk about irony. The Dallas/Fort Worth region is one of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas in large part because

of its affordable housing. But many of the people moving to the area aren’t buying these affordable homes, because they can’t secure the financing.

For Kevin Lewis, CRS, with Kevin Lewis Properties in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, it is a major challenge and frustration. “A lot of people are coming to our area but they are sitting on the sidelines because they are tied to the house back in Michigan or Florida that just won’t sell, or they owe twice as much as they can sell it for in the current market,” he says.

“They are ready and willing to buy, and they want to take advantage of these low interest rates, but they can’t.” Most banks, he adds, are no longer willing to negotiate creative financing packages to find a way around such situations.

While overall home sales in Flower Mound continue to be as flat as the Texas prairie for the third straight year, two segments of the market are moving, Lewis says. One is the segment of homes that are move-in ready and are priced realistically; the other is the segment of homes in foreclosure that are being snapped up by investors. “Everything else is sitting for a lot longer, and in many cases not even selling,” he says.

In 2010, 931 homes were sold in Flower Mound, down 8 percent from the previous year. The average sale price was up just over 4 percent to $303,311 last year, and homes for sale sat on the market an average of 81 days, which is nearly unchanged from 2009. The prices sellers were getting for their homes compared with what they were asking also remained unchanged in 2010, remaining at approximately 97 percent of the listing price.

While being stuck in the midst of a flat market might be enough to get some REALTORS® down, Lewis prefers to see the glass as half full. “Sure, our market has slowed down,” he says, “but we’re still a lot better off than the rest of the country.”

U.S. Existing-Home Sales

Las Vegas, Nevada

From 2006 to early 2009, Las Vegas home prices were dropping faster than thrill seekers at the Strip’s popular skyjump attraction. And just as those thrill seekers breathe a big sigh of relief when the harrowing

4.908 2010*

5.516 2009

4.913 2008

6.478

5.652 2007

San Ramon and the four other towns and communities in this part of the San Francisco Bay Area known as the Diablo Valley are having a devil of a time recovering from the crash of the local housing market two years ago. In the master-planned community of Blackhawk, for instance, 32 percent of properties for sale in 2010 were considered distressed (short sales or REOs), while just down the road in Danville nearly a quarter of the homes for sale fit that description. In nearby San Ramon, the figure was 40 percent, and in Walnut Creek, it was 31 percent.

The hardest hit towns have one thing in common: They’re replete with new homes that were built between 2004 and 2008 when prices were at their highest.

Many of the people who bought these homes ended up underwater when the economy tanked and prices came back to earth. “Many of these homes are now worth half of what they were at the peak,” says Michael Tessaro, CRS, of Intero Real Estate Services in San Ramon.

In San Ramon, where Tessaro is based, the median sale price for a home in July 2007 was $844,000. In January, it sat at $650,000. In Danville, the median sale price in early 2009 was $660,000, nearly 60 percent lower than it was just three and a half years earlier. As of January, median prices had crawled their way back to $775,450.

With ample inventory and home prices down to levels not seen since 1999, Tessaro laughs when asked if he can find any silver lining in his market. “It’s a great time to buy,” he says.

2005

San Ramon, California

2006

7.076

(in millions)

Source: NAR; * Estimate

experience is over, local REALTORS® are equally relieved that the housing market appears to have stabilized.

In December of last year, single-family home sales increased to 3,117, a jump of more than 12 percent from the prior month, according to the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS®. Sales of condominiums and townhomes fared even better, rocketing up more than 21 percent from the month before. This followed an increase in sales from October to November, the first such increase since 2004. While month-to-month statistics for 2010 are encouraging, comparisons to earlier years show just how far the local real estate market has fallen. The median price for a single-family home sold in December 2010 was $132,000, which nearly matches the median price of 10 years ago.

Joe Stewart, CRS, of Realty Executives of Nevada, in Las Vegas, says citywide median price statistics can be misleading because they are skewed downward by the large numbers of small, lower-end homes that have fallen into disrepair since their owners lost them in the wake of the economic meltdown. He prefers to look at

median prices in a place like Summerlin, a planned community of about 200,000 on the city’s west side, which contains a mix of newer townhomes, condos and single-family homes. In one established section of Summerlin, for instance, the median home price in November 2010 was $178,500, about the same price it had been for most of the year.

Like many of his fellow REALTORS® in other hard-hit parts of the country, Stewart is handling more and more short sales. He says these transactions are especially challenging because most people, from agents to clients, don’t understand the complexities of how they work. “There are so many facets to short sales that can present problems,” Stewart says. He and his wife and business partner, Linda, have both completed specialized short-sale training and feel that makes them especially qualified to provide a high level of service in these types of transactions. “After all, this is somebody’s home we’re talking about,” he says. “It’s not just a deal.”

Daniel Rome Levine is a writer based in Wilmette, Ill., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

www.crs.com | 2 7

Distress

28 | March/April 2011

Signals

By Gwen Moran

Kelvin Murray/Getty Images

Although they’re prevalent, distressed properties present unique challenges and require a different mindset for agents who work with them.

For C. Michael Royce, CRS, it was the last straw. For months he had been handling short sales through his brokerage, Royce & Associates, in Dayton, Ohio, chasing down unresponsive lenders, resubmitting lost paperwork and listening to heartbreaking stories of financial hardship from sellers. Ultimately, he found himself handling one short sale that took six months to close, primarily because the lender took its time approving the sale with no explanation. When the sale finally closed, he felt a bit cheated.

“There was no reason [for the delay].

The seller ended up happy, the buyer ended up happy, but gosh, it wasn’t worth the aggravation for six months,” he recalls.

That was nearly two years ago. Royce stayed away from such deals for several www.crs.com | 2 9

Financing and Legal Issues When Cathy Valdiviez Baumbusch, CRS, a broker with RE/MAX Allegiance in Washington, D.C., starts working with buyers interested in short sales, her first inquiry is about their timeframe. Purchasing bank-owned properties can sometimes be accomplished within 30 days, but short sales can take 90 days or longer, she says.

“Some banks are claiming they can approve a short sale in 30 days, but that’s really from the time it reaches the negotiator, which is a couple of months into the process,” she says. If a buyer is on a strict timeline because of a pending sale on his or her own home or the end of a lease, then a distressed property might not be the best option.

Ann Connelly, CRS, of the Berkshire Group REALTORS® in Denver, says short sales make up 14 percent of her market, but they accounted for at least 30 | March/April 2011

three-quarters of her business last year.

Connelly says her success is largely a result of studying the transaction processes by reading materials from lenders and taking note of her experiences. Every lender has a package that must be completed, including financial information from the seller and the reason the short sale is being requested.

She is meticulous about meeting lender requirements for paperwork and persistent in following through to make sure materials were received and to periodically check on progress.

Connelly says she’s dealt with difficult negotiators at banks who won’t return her calls or who make unreasonable demands, so patience is essential. In one case, a lender’s negotiator said he would accept the offer if her client could close the deal in three days. She worked with her clients and their mortgage company to finalize the necessary paperwork and got the deal done.

And she says it’s not unusual to have to submit short-sale packages or offers more than once to lenders who misplace documents, often because they’re overwhelmed with short sale and loan modification requests. She advises other REALTORS® to keep copies of everything and tell clients to do so as well.

Another short-sale challenge occurs when a home has a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit, Baumbusch says. “I’ve had situations where lenders like Wells Fargo, as a first [mortgage holder], would not negotiate at all until the second trust is approved,” she says. That could extend the negotiation period by weeks or even months, she says. Baumbusch also tries to insert language in her contracts that allows buyers to withdraw an offer on a short sale if they are able to reach an agreement on another home before the short sale is approved.

“With one client I was working with last year, at one time, we had six offers out on different [short sale] properties. One by one, they came back that another offer had been accepted or with a counteroffer that was too high. It can get frustrating to wait and then have these deals not work out, so that language gives them more control over the process,” she says.

Managing Expectations Mark Ozman, CRS, a broker associate with Keller Williams Realty in Carmel, Ind.,

says it’s also important to manage client expectations to keep the deal alive. He reminds buyers that a short sale does not mean the banks will take just any offer.

“You don’t want to go in writing ridiculous offers, because the banks already have a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and they’ve already done their homework.

If you come in too low, it’s not going to get accepted. At that point, the banks would rather let them just go on to foreclosure, because they figure they can do better,” he says. He advises agents to do their own assessment of the market value and encourage buyers to make an offer slightly below that amount to allow room for negotiation.

Rose Falocco, CRS, with RealtyOne Group in Las Vegas, agrees it’s important to have a frank discussion with buyers regarding pricing expectations and the negotiation process before they even set out to look at properties. She reviews a detailed broker price opinion with her clients, which considers the condition of the home as well as prices of other similar homes on the market, including other short sales.

In some cases, she says, buyers ask for incentives like seller-paid closing costs, but she reminds her clients that such concessions must be considered as part of the overall cost of the deal. If the price is already significantly below market rates, she says it’s unlikely that the bank will pay closing costs, too. In the hard-hit Las Vegas market where she works, buyers “think the sky is falling, so they figure if a home is listed at $125,000, which is already 70 percent below what it sold for originally, they want to drop the price even more.

They’re coming in with these ridiculous offers, and, most of the time, the banks are rejecting them,” she says.

Financial Fallout Homeowners who allow their homes to fall into foreclosure face some obvious financial consequences, but short sales may have implications for sellers as well, depending on where they live, says Falocco. In some cases, forgiven debt may trigger a tax liability, depending on the amount and whether the home is the seller’s primary residence or an investment property. It’s not unusual for a seller to issue an IRS form 1099-MISC for forgiven debt if the seller cannot prove that the home is a primary residence, she says.

I. Burgum/P. Boorman/Getty Images

months, but decided to get some additional training as short sales became more prevalent in his Dayton, Ohio-area market. He obtained his education through the Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) program, and 32 of the 44 deals he closed in 2010 were short sales.

Distressed properties — which include homes in some stage of foreclosure, as well as short sales and REOs — make up a growing portion of all home transactions.

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR) reports that distressed homes accounted for 34 percent of all existing home sales in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 32 percent a year earlier. Real estate research firm CoreLogic finds that the number of short sales on the market has more than tripled since 2008 to an estimated annual volume of 400,000 in 2010. And foreclosure property marketer RealtyTrac reports that foreclosure filings were reported on a record high 2.87 million properties in 2010, up 2 percent from 2009 and an increase of 23 percent from 2008.

Agents who choose to deal in distressed properties face a steep learning curve.

These transactions often require more persistence and different skills and knowledge than typical real estate deals. But the sheer numbers of distressed properties in the marketplace — paired with increased buyer interest in these homes — presents an opportunity to REALTORS® who accept the challenge.

In addition, if a seller has other assets besides his or her home and the home sells for less than the amount of the mortgage, the lender may sue the seller to recover the balance, she says. Laws and restrictions on this practice vary greatly depending on the state, but Alaska, Arizona, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin are non-recourse states, which do not allow lenders to sue for any shortfall between the sale price of the home and the amount the lender owes.

Depending on the state, sellers may only be protected for the original purchase amount of the property, and they may be liable to repay any equity that was subsequently extracted through a refinance. If sellers learn they will be liable for taxes or repayment of the difference between the loan and the sale price, they may withdraw from the deal, Falocco says. Baumbusch spends at least an hour or two with her sellers before listing the property to go over possible financial ramifications, including the impact of a short sale on credit scores and possible liabilities.

“Of course, we’re not allowed to give tax or financial advice, so I always direct them to the IRS website and suggest that they consult their tax adviser or a CPA about their own situation,” she says.

Because the issues are so complex, several training programs and certifications have been developed to help

REALTORS® better manage distressed property transactions. Ozman developed a seminar that he teaches to other REALTORS® periodically. More formal programs include the CRS Course Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests, NAR’s Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource (SFR) Designation and the CDPE program through the Distressed Property Institute. These programs cover lender requirements, buyer considerations, seller issues and liability, and other elements of the shortsale process in depth.

Atypical Situations Working with bank-owned properties may require buyers’ agents to manage some logistics that aren’t common in other transactions. For example, Ozman says, some banks may keep the utilities on during the listing period, especially heat in the winter, but few keep the water on.

Most bank-owned homes are winterized, so if a pipe breaks, even in summer, the home won’t flood. But Ozman advises his colleagues to consult with the listing agent to determine who is responsible for activating utilities and what the bank will or won’t do if there is a leaking pipe or other problem. He also suggests that his clients have a home inspection done or, at least, walk through the house with someone familiar with home repairs to help spot any issues. If the property is bank-owned, the

A Good Place to Start CRS offers its popular course, Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests (CRS 111), both in the classroom and online. The course covers topics including: giving counsel to homeowners at risk of foreclosure; negotiating with owners of REO properties; listing and selling REO and shortsale properties; and more. The course counts for eight core credits toward the CRS Designation, and REALTORS® who complete the course can also apply it for credit toward NAR’s Short Sales and Foreclosure (SFR) certification.

And keep an eye out for the Council’s new classroom course, Guiding the Buyer in the Distressed Property Market (CRS 112), which will debut this spring. For more information and to register, go to www.crs.com/Education/173, or call customer service at 800.462.8841.

institution or listing agent may not know about problems with it, while someone who is struggling to pay his or her mortgage usually won’t be able to invest in necessary repairs or upkeep.

“If you’re walking through a house and you see asbestos wrap is coming off, you’re not going to need a professional inspector to tell you that that’s going to be an issue and that the bank is probably not going to address it,” he says. “But new issues arise all the time. I just got a new addendum today from one of my banks about the problems with Chinese drywall, and that never has come up before. Most agents would never think to even ask about that.

So now agents will need to find someone who is an expert in Chinese drywall and who can identify it and what the issues really are for their clients.”

If the property’s MLS listing reads something like, “Home sold strictly as-is; inspections are for informational purposes only,” then it is usually assumed that the seller will do no repairs. “But, if language similar to that is not in the listing, ask the listing agent what happens if a major defect, such as a broken gas furnace heat exchanger, faulty wiring or wood-boring insects, is found after the purchase agreement is accepted. Will the seller do repairs or negotiate a new price? If not, does the buyer get their earnest money refunded?”

Ozman says. These are questions that REALTORS® need to answer before an offer is made.

The complexities of dealing in distressed properties are real, but these listings represent a sizable sector of many markets. Perhaps the best way for agents to determine whether the distressed properties market is a good fit is to rely on trusted colleagues who have already taken the plunge. “Find a short sale [or REO] expert who does a lot of them and has gone through the training and education,” Ozman says. “Buy them a cup of coffee, take them out to lunch, walk through properties with them. Become a friend to these listing specialists and see what their world is like. That will give you a great idea of how to handle these transactions and counsel your buyers.”

Gwen Moran is a writer based in Wall Township, N.J., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

www.crs.com | 3 1

Endurance

Challen Jonathan Kirn/Getty Images

In a tough economic climate, it’s easy to get discouraged.

CRSs share their strategies for getting and staying motivated.

32 | March/April 2011

ge

By Mary Ellen Collins Starting each day with enthusiasm comes easily to most agents when the housing market is booming. But when times are tough, even the most experienced CRSs can struggle to maintain their drive.

“It’s hard to get motivated when you’ve been hitting the wall, but those who get frustrated and slack off or quit are simply creating opportunities for those who don’t,” says Fawn Germer, a global speaker on leadership and performance and the best-selling author of Finding the Up in the Downturn. “Just remember that the window is wide open to succeed when others are giving up. Motivation is a personal thing. You can find it in books, meditation, athletics, affirmations, friends, God, nature — just about anywhere. Know what inspires you and tap into that.”

While some agents have a sound motivational strategy in place that works for them, many others may feel like they’ve tried everything to no avail. But experts and highly motivated professionals agree that presistence is the key. Whether their motivation comes from positive thinking, mentoring others or seizing obvious opportunities, successful CRSs know that good motivation can lead directly to success in any market.

Accentuate the Positive The power of positive thinking — as described in scores of self-help and business books — serves as a common touchstone for many professionals. For example, the popular book and movie The Secret touts “the law of attraction,” which contends that positive thinking can bring positive outcomes, including wealth, health and happiness. And although skeptics may dismiss this line of thinking as New Age malarkey, Germer says positive thinking most certainly can work.

“The science of the brain is that it believes what it is told — whether it is

true or not. If you wake up and say, ‘This market [is terrible], and I’m going under,’ you’ll be going under in a market that [is terrible]. But you’ll get an entirely different result if you repeat affirmations like ‘I have what it takes to be successful in any climate, and I am proving that now.’”

Germer suggests that agents come up with a routine to help them remember to stay on a positive course. “Come up with 10 positive statements and repeat them at least 10 times every day,” she says. “Soon, your brain will believe what you have told it and will create exactly what you have told it you are creating.”

For Beth Jaworski, CRS, GREEN, with Shorewest Realtors in the Milwaukee area, some simple daily strategies help her maintain a positive attitude and outlook on her work and life. She begins every day by reading the motivational and inspirational e-mails she receives each morning — one from Motivation in a Minute and another from an animal shelter charity, which provides inspirational stories of animal rescues.

“It’s a positive way to start the day,” she says. “It doesn’t have to have anything to do with real estate … it’s like exercise, it just brings your attitude up.”

Jaworski limits the amount of negative news she watches and spends minimal time in her office’s computer room, where she says everyone goes to complain. She also takes time throughout the day to stop and think how lucky she is.

“I choose to believe it’s a great time and opportunity for real estate,” Jaworski says.

“Staying positive is a choice you have to make every minute, every hour, every day.

There are REALTORS® who tell clients, ‘I haven’t had a check in five months.’

That won’t inspire them to want to work with you. [Clients] want someone who is upbeat, but informed and realistic.” Her approach seems to be working. Jaworski www.crs.com | 3 3

says she usually averages about 40 property sales a year; last year she sold 49 and achieved her best year ever.

Lend a Hand Sherri Teepen, CRS, ABR, with Keller Williams Realty WCMC in Austin, Texas, experienced a slump in business when a family illness occupied her time at the beginning of 2010. She credits the skills and strategies she learned at a motivational course she took last summer for getting her back on track.

For example, the course inspired her to form a mastermind group — essentially a supportive group of colleagues who give each other feedback, brainstorm new ideas and keep each other focused and accountable — with nine young agents in her office. The group meets monthly to discuss the progress of their transactions, their successes and their challenges. She also invites mortgage, insurance and title professionals to speak to the group, and then they discuss how that information can be used in their business.

Teepen says it’s especially important for real estate professionals to have a support system and a process for accountability to help them stay motivated to succeed.

While most real estate offices are ultracompetitive, she says the mastermind group provides a more collaborative space for professionals to share their insights and learn from one another.

“For me, it’s more of a ministry to help the young ones be successful. That keeps me motivated,” she says. “There’s nothing better or more energizing than helping someone else. When they have overcome adversity, it’s a huge adrenaline high for them and for me. I can’t imagine not getting excited about someone else’s success.”

Teepen also belongs to another mastermind group of more experienced agents from other offices. “These people have been through the ups and downs — we challenge each other by asking, ‘Are you making your calls? Are you asking for the business? Are you joining organizations?’

That little nudge of accountability spurs

“Staying motivated during such a deep recession and challenging real estate market requires constant focus on who I am serving. It is all about the needs of my clients and staying in touch with them.”

Terry La Scola, CRS, ABR 34 | March/April 2011

you on. You don’t want to go to a meeting without doing your homework!”

Eyes on the Prize Terry La Scola, CRS, ABR, an associate broker with Real Estate Teams LLC in Frederick, Md., admits it can be challenging to stay on track, especially since the real estate market downturn has lasted longer than many experts had forecast. But she says it’s been easy for her to stay motivated because she has a drive to search for opportunities to succeed.

La Scola recognized early on that the market downturn presented not only a challenge, but also an opportunity. “I saw where others were cutting back and melting, and I thought, ‘I’ll work harder, I’ll work longer, and I’ll figure out how to work smarter.’ I wanted to grow my team and take more market share.” To do that, La Scola knew she needed to make some changes in the way she motivated herself and her team.

For example, La Scola drafted a clear set of specific goals — everything from broad annual targets to monthly and weekly goals and daily lists. She required her staff to present their own goals at the weekly staff meetings. “Day by day, week by week, I love seeing our progress,” she says. “There is nothing more exciting than looking at the bulletin board and seeing you have accomplished most of your goals.”

A clear vision and high standards keep La Scola on track. “My sales have increased every year since 2004, and I don’t think this year will be an exception to that. My motivation is, ‘Am I doing it better today than at this time last year?’ And that’s what really jazzes me.

You stay motivated because you constantly remind yourself where you want to be.”

But motivation isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. If you know what inspires you, use it. If you don’t know, don’t be afraid to be open-minded and borrow a strategy from a colleague. Forward motion starts with a single step in the right direction. And it can’t hurt to smile and stay positive along the way.

Mary Ellen Collins is a writer based in St. Petersburg, Fla., and is a frequent contributor to The Residential Specialist.

Good Read | Resources in print

bond street Can learning to forge meaningful connections boost your bottom line?

Reviewed by Allan Fallow

The Connectors: How the World’s Most Successful Businesspeople Build Relationships and Win Clients for Life

by Maribeth Kuzmeski John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 258 pages, $22.95

As founder of the consulting firm Red Zone Marketing, Maribeth Kuzmeski believes she has identified the secret ingredient of business success. It is the ability to connect with others, she argues in The Connectors, an essential skill that enables you to establish stronger and more meaningful relationships with both customers and colleagues. “Connecting at a deeper level can be achieved without spending money on consultants, courses, marketing strategies, psychologists, or spiritual consultants,” she believes. “It simply requires that you focus on others and have a plan to serve them, pay attention to them, listen to them, and care about them.”

Her book has flaws, and Kuzmeski allows her vaunted “connecting” to sound both fuzzy and self-evident. Still, for REALTORS® eager to make their own connection networks more systematic, some concrete action steps can be gleaned amid the platitudes.

Building Relationships Business success is always a laudable goal, but Kuzmeski aims even higher than that here. She is intrigued by those who attain greatness in their chosen field, and she spotlights one trait common to them all: giving credit to others. That selfless quality was employed, with legendary results,

by FedEx founder Fred Smith, Southwest

Airlines pioneer Herb Kelleher, and Bank of America visionary Amadeo Giannini.

But what surprises Kuzmeski about business and leadership books is their lack of emphasis on the urgency of relationship building: “One must search long and hard to find reference to the key role [that] relationships invariably play along the journey to success and greatness,” she writes.

Yet greatness, she’s convinced, can best be gauged by “the impact we’ve made on others, by the way we’ve connected with them, touched them personally, brought them along with us, and perhaps inspired their best contributions.”

So does this mean that only a naturalborn “people person” can find business success by using Kuzmeski’s connection strategy? Not at all. Even if you’re the sort of “situational extrovert” that business networking leader and BNI founder Ivan Misner recently discovered himself to be through an online test — this after writing 11 books on networking! — you can still maximize your relationships with clients.

The key is not to create relationships with everyone you meet, but rather to devise a plan for connecting with certain key targets. “If you look at the future of your career and/or business,” notes a commonsensical Kuzmeski, “you’ll immediately be able to identify people with whom it is important that you become well acquainted.” www.crs.com | 3 5

The Right Questions Becoming an effective connector demands a high level of social intelligence — which, good to know, turns out to be a learnable skill: “We can improve and translate our social intelligence into becoming a better connector in our business relationships,” the author assures us, “and ultimately find dramatically more success.”

So much for the generalized business advice that fills the bulk of the book. The benefits of honing (or perhaps simply becoming more intentional about) your connection skills in residential real estate are addressed by Kuzmeski in two short but instructive episodes. The first comes in her chapter on the primacy of asking the right questions in certain settings; master this one faculty, she contends, and you will create lasting connections and build stronger relationships.

To prove her point, the author recounts a house hunt that led to a surprising result: She and her husband “wound up spending more than we had planned to buy our new home, which was in a town where we had decided we didn’t want to live.” Kuzmeski lays out a chain of events in which their agent deftly applied her talent for curious and active listening to get the sale to “close itself ”: “The REALTOR® we had chosen, Wendi, never tried to sell us anything.

Instead, she asked us question after question about what we were looking for, about the specific features each of us wanted in our new home, and [about] why these were important to us. She asked us questions for almost two hours.”

Nor does Wendi get rattled when her questions reveal that Kuzmeski wants a lavish kitchen — “a big room with lots of cabinets, a long island in the middle, a double oven, and counters everywhere” — even though she rarely cooks. Instead, Wendi’s intelligent queries elicit a crucial detail: The Kuzmeskis entertain “all the time,” and Maribeth has 36 | March/April 2011

You’re far likelier to succeed in your own endeavors when you commit to the success of others. her heart set on a kitchen large enough to accommodate the guests who invariably congregate there. Had Wendi not led the couple through this Socratic exercise, the author points out, she might naturally have assumed that a smaller kitchen would have fit the needs of these non-top chefs.

The right question in this case, Kuzmeski muses, wasn’t “Do you like to cook?”

Instead it was, “Tell me what happens in your kitchen now.”

The conclusion of this interchange captures a rewarding moment of REALTOR®client satisfaction — as well as the gist of the connector approach: When Wendi called to tell us she found our house, she was telling the truth. We took only a few steps into the house and knew it was just the place we were looking for.

That’s why … Wendi was the top real estate agent in the area in sales. I didn’t know that at the time, because she didn’t tell me; she didn’t have to. She spent her time asking us questions and not talking about herself and her qualifications. She was successful because of her patience and diligence for questioning. When you use that approach and pay attention to the answers you’re getting, you don’t have to establish your credibility; the work that you do for your clients does so for you.

Sharing Experiences A second illustrative vignette unfolds in The Connectors’ chapter on creating memorable experiences. After defining an experience as “something that engages people in a personal way unexpectedly,” Kuzmeski remarks that if you can create a memorable experience, “people will line up

to do business with you.” She then sketches out the strategy of one local REALTOR® who, despite competing against hundreds of fellow agents in the area “with access to the same inventory and whose fees are identical to his,” sets himself apart by regularly making the “gift of a connection” with area residents: Each spring, every homeowner in the area gets a tiny tree from him to replant in his or her yard, and in October, a pumpkin with a note from him appears on each front porch. … His investment in his exposure and his brand is one that pays rich dividends year after year. He’s become the top REALTOR® in his area because he does what his competitors don’t do — he creates experiences!

Both stories are variations on The Connectors’ main theme: You’re far likelier to succeed in your own endeavors when you commit to the success of others. In her chapter on “contrarian” networking strategies — those that create effective networking without striving to network per se — she reminds us of some wise words from author Frederick L. Collins: “There are two types of people in the world: those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am,’ and those who come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.’ ” Behave like that second type, Kuzmeski feels certain, and you will find yourself building new friendships — and forging new business relationships — “without even trying.”

Allan Fallow is a magazine writer and book editor in Alexandria, Va.

Referral Story

CRSs of the Year

Course Listings

p. 39

p. 40

p. 43

inside CRS N E W S

F R O M

T H E

C O U N C I L

CRS-Corcoran Partnership Offers Coaching Services

T

he Council of Residential Specialists (CRS) has entered into a partnership with Corcoran Consulting and Coaching that will give CRS members access to business planning tips and coaching services. Corcoran will also promote CRS membership and education to its clients.

Founded by real estate consultant and coaching expert Bob Corcoran, Corcoran Consulting and Coaching provides performance coaching and training to real estate brokers and agents to help them work more efficiently, achieve their business goals and create more balance in their lives.

As part of the agreement, Corcoran will help CRS members by providing business planning tips that will be published on the Council's Member Connect website (www.crs. com/Community) and weekly update e-mail. Later this spring, Corcoran will host a webinar for CRS members, and it will also promote CRS membership and education programs to its existing clients via its website, www.CorcoranCoaching. com. CRS members can find more information about Corcoran's consulting and coaching services at www.crsstore.com.

CRS began researching coaching programs in 2010 after receiving numerous requests from its members for coaching services, says Stephanie

Crain, the Council’s director of products. “Since CRS does not provide coaching services, we looked to external sources. We wanted to partner with an established entity that offered turnkey solutions as well as positive name recognition, a positive reflection of the CRS brand, an excellent product and customer service and the willingness to market and promote CRS to their database,” Crain says.

After interviewing several potential coaching partners, CRS chose Corcoran. “Corcoran Consulting and Coaching met all of our requirements for a coaching partner and exceeded our expectations for putting this program together. They have been an approved vendor for years and have been an exhibitor at Sell-a-bration®.

They have been a longtime supporter

of CRS and they regularly promote CRS to their existing clients,” she says.

CRSs who have worked with Corcoran Consulting and Coaching say the experience has helped their business grow. “We were just starting our team when I was introduced to Bob [Corcoran],” says Valerie Hunter-Kelly, CRS, with the Air Assault Team of Keller Williams Realty in Clarksville, Tenn. “He and his team helped us develop our team the correct way. We doubled our production in one year. We have been coached by Bob and his team for over eight years, and every year we change our business plan to help take our production and team to a new level,” she says.

The Corcoran team doesn’t just help agents and brokers focus on bottom-line results, but also helps

www.crs.com | 3 7

inside CRS

early 4 million foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 2.87 million U.S. properties in 2010, according to RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties.

That’s a 2 percent increase in total properties from 2009 and a 23 percent

excellent position to take advantage of this lucrative market niche.

Prominent real estate trainers Dennis and Teresa Walsh have developed the RE-buildUSA program to teach agents how to help homebuyers use the HUD/FHA 203(k) home purchase and renovation loan program.

The 203(k) is a HUD/FHA guaranteed loan that provides funds to help buyers both purchase and renovate a home. These loans may be particularly attractive to buyers looking to purchase homes in areas hit hard by the foreclosure crisis. A 203(k) loan requires a 3.5 percent down payment and follows standard FHA guidelines and loan limits, which range from $271,000 to $729,750 for 15- or 30-year mortgages.

The RE-buildUSA program includes a five-hour online 203(k) Specialist course that boils down the steps and details agents must know to help their clients take advantage of the program.

The membership program helps agents use their 203(k) expertise to market themselves, attract and assist buyers and expand their businesses. It provides support and resources, including consumer-directed marketing materials, to help agents promote 203(k) loans.

Home-improvement retail giant Lowe’s

increase from 2008. Most of these foreclosed properties eventually end up on the market, often at substantial discounts that might attract buyers looking for a bargain.

Still, some homebuyers are reluctant to invest in a “distressed property” (either a foreclosure or a short sale), especially if the home has fallen into disrepair.

But a key government program, the 203(k) loan, has the potential to make foreclosed properties much more attractive to potential buyers. And REALTORS® who know the specifics of the program can put themselves in an

has partnered with RE-buildUSA to provide the convenience of one-stop shopping and contractor assistance throughout the home renovation process.

As an added bonus, the REbuildUSA Certification counts as one elective credit toward the CRS Designation. “The mission of REbuildUSA,” explains Teresa Walsh, “is to help more Americans achieve the dream of homeownership through the power of the FHA 203(k) program.”

Dennis Walsh agrees. “RE-buildUSA is about all of us working together to

them create a stronger work-life balance, says Lisa Burridge, CRS, with Lisa Burridge & Associates Real Estate in Casper, Wyo. “Bob Corcoran has been instrumental in helping me grow my business to awesome levels while showing me how to keep a focused eye on life balance. Additionally, he has helped me understand how to run my real estate practice like a real CEO! This has allowed me to increase my business over 423 percent and, at the same time, reduce the hours I work,” Burridge says.

For more information about Corcoran Consulting and Coaching, visit their website, www.corcorancoaching.com, or call 800.957.8353.

FHA 203(k) Specialist Course

N

38 | March/April 2011

solve today’s problems and making a long-term investment in the stability of America’s housing industry and our economy.”

For more information, visit www. crs.com/RE-buildUSA.

NAR Selects Eight CRSs for Leadership Academy

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RS is well-represented in NAR’s Leadership Academy class of 2011. Of the 27 REALTORS® chosen to participate in this year’s class, eight are active CRS Designees. The Academy Advisory Board chose applicants who have demonstrated personal and professional success in their respective local markets.

The Leadership Academy seeks to expand participants’ leadership skills and abilities, while giving them an opportunity to learn about NAR in the process.

Academy participants will undergo a challenging series of team-building exercises and workshops scheduled over the course of the nine-month program. The 80 previous graduates of the NAR Leadership Academy, which was formed in 2008, have gone on to serve in volunteer leadership positions within their respective state and local associations, as well as within NAR and its affiliates.

Congratulations to the following CRS Designees who were chosen to participate: Deb Greene, CRS; Linda Lee, CRS; Reinaldo Mesa, CRS; Patricia Ohmberger, CRS; Sherri Souza, CRS; Hagan Stone, CRS; Christopher Tenggren, CRS; and Leigh York, CRS. The 2011 NAR Leadership Academy Advisory Board also features seven members who hold the CRS Designation, including Ingrid Glancy, CRS, 2005 CRS President, and Mary McCall,CRS, 2011 CRS First Vice President.

Referral Story

Just Under the Wire

A

t about 9 p.m. on April 29, 2010, the day before the first-time homebuyer tax credit expired, Elizabeth Elizabeth Goodchild, CRS Goodchild, CRS, with Weichert REALTORS® Goodchild Homes in Rolling Meadows, Ill., got a call from her niece, Nicole Villanueva, in Iowa City, Iowa. “Can you tell me how I can get that $8,000 credit again?”

Goodchild responded, “Well, you need to buy a house by midnight tomorrow and close by June 30. Do

you want to do it?” When Villanueva said yes, Goodchild got the details about the type of home she and her fiancé wanted to buy — a townhome for less than $100,000 — then called a lender Goodchild knew to get her niece pre-approved for a mortgage loan. “I have a great loan consultant who is available for me 24/7. He approved them by 9:30 p.m.,” says Goodchild. Next she found the names of 10 CRSs serving the Iowa City area in the CRS Membership Referral Directory and e-mailed each of them for help.

Carole Benson, CRS, and her son, Dana, with Ruhl and Ruhl REALTORS®, were the first to call Goodchild at 8 the following morning.

They cleared their schedule so they could meet with Villanueva and her fiancé. After visiting eight condos that fit their criteria that day, the couple made an offer on a unit they liked. “But

the seller rejected the offer, so we regrouped and decided to write an offer on their second choice,” says Benson.

“In the meantime, the first seller reconsidered, so we came up with another offer Carole Benson, CRS, and and it was accepted. Dana Benson The seller was traveling, so his agent had to submit our purchase contract to him for signatures so we could meet the deadline before the tax credit expired. We finished at 11:15 that evening,” she recalls.

“They signed a contract at the eleventh hour — literally,” Goodchild adds. “Only a REALTOR® with a CRS Designation could pull off something like this!”

www.crs.com | 3 9

inside CRS CRS of the Year Winners Congratulations to all the CRS of the Year winners. These individuals show exceptional dedication to their respective chapters, contribute to their communities and run successful real estate businesses. Winners also must have been members of their local boards or state associations for more than five years. Below are this year’s honorees that were named as of press time. Winners who were notified later will be posted at www.crs.com.

Winner Cheri Marston, CRS Lisa Atkinson, CRS Michael Burkhard, CRS Yolanda Lowe, CRS Carol Lawhun, CRS Nancy Macaluso, CRS Cathie Chasman, CRS Lorraine Fukumae, CRS Gina Call, CRS Chris Tenggren, CRS Joy Sharp, CRS Jennifer Burkamper, CRS Helen Fardo, CRS Jo Landreneau, CRS JoAnne Poole, CRS Bill Kuhlman, CRS Furhad Waquad, CRS Ray Singhal, CRS Lucinda “Cindy” Willis, CRS Janet Nelson, CRS Sally Allison, CRS Michelle Rosenkoff, CRS Linda Coy, CRS Bobbi Kagle, CRS Landa Pennington, CRS Bruce Williams, CRS Dena Lawrence, CRS Christine Frazier, CRS Joyce Goldsmith, CRS Gaye Brown, CRS Michael Aid, CRS Mary W. White, CRS Vicki Puterbaugh, CRS Donna Clark, CRS LeRoy V. “Buck” Schaeffel, CRS Amanda Stone, CRS Scott Caballero, CRS Mary Lou Clendenin, CRS Shirley Jacobson, CRS Keith Fuller, CRS Tom Hormel, CRS Patricia Dollins, CRS

40 | March/April 2011

Company, Location Prudential Vista Real Estate, Anchorage, Alaska RE/MAX Commonwealth, Mechanicsville, Va. RE/MAX 4000, Grand Junction, Colo.

Prudential/CT Realty, Old Saybrook, Conn.

The Real Estate Group, Rapid City, S.D. Portside Properties, Inc., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty, Athens, Ga. Marcus and Associates, Honolulu Gate City Real Estate, Pocatello, Idaho RE/MAX Great American North, St. Charles, Ill. Real Living Homes and Beyond, LaGrange, Ind. RE/MAX Real Estate Center, Ames, Iowa CB DeSloover Realty, Richmond, Ky. CJ Brown Perkins, Baton Rouge, La. Poole Realty, Glen Burnie, Md. Kuhlman Residential, Needham, Mass.

Real Estate One, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Coldwell Banker Burnet, Minneapolis Real Estate Buyers Solutions, Polson, Mont.

CBS Home Real Estate, Omaha, Neb. Coldwell Banker, Sonora, Calif.

RE/MAX Real Estate LTD, Lavallette, N.J. Keller Williams Realty, Albuquerque, N.M. MJ Peterson Real Estate, Orchard Park, N.Y. Rise Real Estate, Huntsville, Ala. Triad Select Real Estate Group, Greensboro, N.C. Keller Williams Realty, Pensacola, Fla. ERA Old South Properties, Pensacola, Fla. Howard Hanna Real Estate, Chagrin Falls, Ohio Coldwell Banker, Tulsa, Okla.

Steve Scott REALTORS®, Bend, Ore. Prudential Homesale Services, Lancaster, Pa. Rancon Real Estate, Temecula, Calif.

Dickson Realty, Reno, Nev. Bowler Realty, Mesquite, Nev. Realty III Inc., Maryville, Tenn.

Caballero and Associates Realty, San Antonio RE/MAX First Choice, Longview, Texas Windermere Real Estate, Salt Lake City Windermere Real Estate, Shelton, Wash.

Century 21 Beutler and Assoc., Liberty Lake, Wash.

RE/MAX Realty Center, Oconomowoc, Wis.

Chapter Alaska Central Virginia Colorado Connecticut Dakotas Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maryland/DC Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska Northern California New Jersey New Mexico New York North Alabama North Carolina North Florida North Florida Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Southern California Sierra Nevada Southern Nevada Tennessee Texas Texas Lone Star Utah Washington Washington Wisconsin

Personalize, Reproduce and Mail This Newsletter to Your Clients

Edit

Leave YOUR HOME as is, or personalize the newsletter by adding your photo, logo, address and phone number to the mailing panel.* You can also substitute any article in the newsletter with one of your own. Edit the newsletter ­electronically by downloading it at www.crs.com/magazine/your_home_ newsletter.shtml.

Reproduce

Do it yourself with your office copier, or take the newsletter or electronic file (in addition to your photograph and any information you want inserted) to a printer who can prepare and reproduce the newsletter for you.

Distribute

Mail. If you photocopy YOUR HOME or use it largely “as is,” please note that it is designed to be folded in a Z fold with the words YOUR HOME facing out on one side and the mailing panel facing out on the other side. Postal regulations require that Z folds have three closures (tabs or tape) — one on top in the center and two on the bottom. For your convenience, we have placed asterisks (*) where the closures should be. Be sure to check with your local mailer or post office to make sure you have prepared your mailings properly.

Electronic File. Attach the customized newsletter file to an e-mail to your clients or create a Web link to the file on your website. Consult your webmaster or technician to make sure the file is prepared correctly for these purposes, since these basic instructions will vary by person and system. * This newsletter is for the exclusive use of CRS members.

For a complete step-by-step guide to personalizing and ­reproducing the YOUR HOME newsletter, visit www.crs.com/ magazine/your_home_newsletter.shtml.

HOME

YOUR T i p s

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T r e n d s

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h o m e

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2011 s e l l i n g

The Numbers Game

W Smart Security

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nstalling a home security system can ease a lot of homeowner worries, and many systems now offer even greater peace of mind with smartphone-ready features. With your mobile device, you can stay connected to your home and monitor it whether you’re near or far.

ADT’s (www.adt.com) Pulse, an add-on to its standard security system, allows homeowners to arm or disarm the alarm system, control lights and thermostats and obtain realtime video of security cameras from anywhere they have an Internet connection. The system, which is available as an app for the Android and iPhone, also provides a list of secure or unsecure areas, alerting users which doors or windows have been opened.

The Total Connect system from Honeywell Security (www. mytotalconnect.com), which is available as a remote keypad or a free application for the BlackBerry, iPhone or iPod Touch, contains many of the same features as other systems, including the ability to check the status of your security system, control the lights and review video feeds. It also allows users to bypass alarm systems remotely for a specified entrance for unscheduled maintenance, and its support for multiple accounts lets you keep an eye on vacation homes or investment properties.

GotoCamera’s (www.gotocamera.com) system, which includes a residential webcam, allows users to access a mobilefriendly website for an instant feed of their home at any time.

For an additional fee, users can set up mobile alerts that send an image or a 10-second video clip of disruptions in motion detection straight to their phone.

ebsites like Zillow.com claim to provide estimates of what your home is worth, and while this estimate might be somewhat accurate, the only way to get a true assessment of the value of your home is to have an appraisal done by a certified third-party professional. There are a few situations where an appraisal is mandated, such as when you’re buying and selling a home, refinancing or applying for a loan using real estate as security.

The appraiser’s report can help determine a selling price, and it can provide owners with information about problems that are devaluing the home’s worth and give insight about worthwhile fixes. Appraisals are usually conducted after an offer has been made or to determine the initial value of a home as part of the selling process. Keep in mind that to approve a loan, banks typically require an appraisal using their preferred appraisers to ensure the most accurate assessment, even if you’ve already had one done by another party.

The appraisal offers side-by-side comparisons of the home, along with three similar properties and an evaluation of the overall real estate market in the area.

The appraisal will also note flaws in the property, such as a crumbling foundation, and offer specific dimensions pertaining to the home, such as the square footage and the size/number of rooms.

The appraiser will also research the area’s costs of labor and local building costs to determine how much it would cost to erect a similar property in the present economic climate. Things such as the home’s location and nearby amenities are taken into account to increase or decrease the value of the home — for instance, proximity to a school zone or within a neighborhood might be an increase, while being situated near a busy highway or isolated from the community could be a decrease. These factors, among others, will be used to estimate an approximate time frame for selling the home, which is also included in the appraisal.

fast fact »

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According to the American Cleaning Institute’s recent survey, 60 percent of Americans will engage in spring cleaning. Among their top reasons to clean: decluttering and eliminating allergy triggers.

B R O U G H T T O Y O U B Y Y O U R A G E N T, A M E M B E R O F T H E C O U N C I L O F R E S I D E N T I A L S P E C I A L I S T S

Curb Control

W

hether or not you’re getting ready to list your home for sale, maintaining your home’s curb appeal is important. To make your home’s exterior shine, think

about following the same decluttering and staging principles you would use to spruce up the interior.

Get an outsider’s view. Take a walk across the street to get an overall first impression of your property. Is the lawn unkempt? Are the hedges unruly? Rev up the lawn mower and trimmer; if you’re short on time, consider hiring a gardening service to do an overall clean-up and be sure to keep up with regular maintenance. Assess the windows — are they cracked or dingy? Repair any cracks or dings on the panes and sills and make them shine with a thorough cleaning.

Color coordinate. Consider planting or adding to a garden with bright florals and, at maximum, one or two decorative pieces (iron statues, gazing balls, etc.), depending on garden size. If it’s in the

budget, rejuvenate your home with a new paint color — perhaps one to match the season, with a cool pale blue for winter or pale yellow for a warm, spring look.

If you can’t revamp your entire exterior, consider repainting the front door to make it stand out, and replace existing hardware such as doorknobs or locks for a new feel.

Consider all angles. Prospective homebuyers are going to check out your house from all sides, including the backyard. Make sure any outdoor elements — the patio, pool, pond, deck and shrubbery — look just as inviting as the front porch. If you have a patio or lounging area, be sure furniture is up to date with clean cushions and no scratches or hasty repair jobs, and make sure the look matches the rest of the décor.

Say Yes to CRS

referr ve

s! al

I Lo

Buying or selling a home can seem like an overwhelming task. But the right REALTOR® can make the process easier — and more profitable.

A Certified Residential Specialist (CRS), with years of experience and success, will help you make smart decisions in a fast-paced, complex and competitive market.

To receive the CRS Designation, REALTORS® must demonstrate outstanding professional achievements — including high-volume sales — and pursue advanced training in areas such as finance, marketing and technology. They must also maintain membership in the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and abide by its Code of Ethics.

Work with a REALTOR® who belongs among the top 4 percent in the nation. Contact a CRS today.

*

Do you know someone who is thinking about buying or selling a home?

DID YOU KNOW?

If you’re thinking of growing your own vegetable garden, remember that not all vegetables are perennial. If you’re looking to plant veggies that will come back every year, consider asparagus, artichokes, kale and rhubarb.

Please mention my name.

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be substituted for legal or financial advice.

If you are currently working with another real estate agent or broker, it is not a solicitation for business.

*

inside CRS » » » » » » »

S E A R C H C O U R S E O F F E R I N G S B Y C I T Y A N D S TAT E AT W W W. C R S . C O M

CRS Classroom Courses CRS classroom courses earn either eight credits (for 100-level, one-day courses) or 16 credits (for 200-level, two-day courses) toward the CRS Designation. CRS courses listed below are from March 15, 2011, to June 15, 2011. For more up-to-date listings, visit www.crs.com/education/173.

CRS 103 — Maximize Your Potential …

Personally and Professionally MARCH 17 SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. Scottsdale Association of REALTORS® 520.382.8848 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

MARCH 23 ELLICOTT CITY, MD. Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575.5053 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

CRS 201 — Listing Course

CRS 204 — Wealth Building Course

MARCH 23 – 24 TUCSON, ARIZ.

MARCH 29 – 30 PLEASANTON, CALIF.

Arizona CRS Chapter 520.382.8848 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

Northern California CRS Chapter 800.277.6003 Instructor: Chris Bird

MARCH 30 – 31 RICHMOND, VA.

APRIL 25 – 26 NORTH HAVEN, CONN.

Central Virginia CRS Chapter 804.422.5000 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

Connecticut CRS Chapter 860.344.3411, ext. 140 Instructor: Chris Bird

APRIL 6 – 7 LUTHERVILLE, MD. Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575.5053 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

APRIL 11 – 12 MARS, PA. Pennsylvania REALTORS® Institute 717.561.1303 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

APRIL 13 – 14 LOUISVILLE, KY. Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS® 502.894.9860 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

CRS 206 — Technology Course APRIL 7 – 8 PORTLAND, ORE. Oregon CRS Chapter 503.228.9560 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

APRIL 27 – 28 DALLAS Metro Texas Association of REALTORS® 214.540.2751 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

MAY 2 – 3 EVANSVILLE, IND.

CRS 111 — Short Sales and Foreclosures: Protecting Your Clients’ Interests

CRS 202 — Sales Course

Indiana CRS Chapter 800.681.8056 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

MARCH 24 ELLICOTT CITY, MD.

MARCH 15 – 16 BEL AIR, MD.

MAY 4 – 5 CLIVE, IOWA

Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575.5053 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

Iowa Association of REALTORS® 800.532.1515 Instructor: Pat Zaby, CRS, CCIM

Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575.5053 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

APRIL 7 SAN JOSE, CALIF. Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS® 408.445.5085 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

CRS 200 — Business Planning and Marketing MARCH 31 – April 1 OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA. Oklahoma CRS Chapter 405.213.2992 Instructor: Robert Morris, CRS, CRB

APRIL 4 – 5 ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. North Carolina Association of REALTORS® 336.808.4231 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

APRIL 7 – 8 GILLETTE, WYO. Campbell County Board of REALTORS®, Inc. 307.682.2789 Instructor: Chuck Bode, CRS

MARCH 30 – 31 RENO, NEV. Sierra Nevada CRS Chapter 775.817.7627 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

APRIL 5 – 6 MEMPHIS, TENN. Memphis Area Association of REALTORS® 901.685.2100 Instructor: Jackie Leavenworth, CRS

APRIL 11 – 12 SANTA ANA, CALIF. Southern California CRS Chapter 949.766.2901 Instructor: Michael Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

APRIL 13 – 14 ALHAMBRA, CALIF. Southern California CRS Chapter 949.766.2901 Instructor: Mike Selvaggio, CRS, CCIM

APRIL 27 – 28 CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. Charlottesville Area Association of REALTORS® 434.817.2227 Instructor: Gee Dunsten, CRS

CRS 210 — Referral Course APRIL 26 – 27 WALTHAM, MASS. Massachusetts CRS Chapter 800.725.6272 Instructor: Frank Serio, CRS, CRB

APRIL 27 – 28 SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS Texas CRS Chapter 210.602.2488 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS

Elective Courses Each elective course is one day and earns eight units of credit toward the CRS Designation.

Ninja Selling Life Planning

APRIL 7 HONOLULU Abe Lee Realty 808.942.4472 Instructor: Walt Frey, CRS

www.crs.com | 4 3

inside CRS MAY 3 RAWLINS, WYO. Carbon County Board of REALTORS® 307.328.4663 Instructor: Walt Frey, CRS The New Negotiating Edge … A 5-Step Behavioral Strategy

MAY 2 ANNAPOLIS, MD. Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575-5053 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

Rich Buyer, Rich Seller – Part 1: Positioning and Branding Yourself as a Luxury Home Expert

MARCH 17 BALTIMORE Keller Williams - Baltimore 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

MAY 18 MIAMI

MAY 4 COLUMBUS, OHIO

REALTORS® Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches 305.468.7050 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Coldwell Banker King Thompson 614.526.5657 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

Rich Buyer, Rich Seller – Part 2: A Luxury Marketing Idea Blitz

MAY 5 CINCINNATI

MARCH 18 BALTIMORE

Coldwell Banker King Thompson 614.526.5657 Instructor: Ed Hatch, CRS, CRB

Keller Williams - Baltimore 214.485.3000 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

MAY 19 MIAMI REALTORS® Association of Greater Miami and the Beaches 305.468.7050 Instructor: Laurie Moore-Moore

Ninja Selling Business Systems

MARCH 15 HUGHESVILLE, MD. Southern Maryland Association of REALTORS® 301.274.4406 Instructor: Zan Monroe, CRS

MARCH 22 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. Fayetteville Regional Association of REALTORS® 910.323.1421 Instructor: Zan Monroe, CRS

MAY 12 HONOLULU Abe Lee Realty 808.492.4472 Instructor: Walt Frey, CRS Outlook E-marketing Strategies

MAY 16 ANNAPOLIS, MD. Maryland/DC CRS Chapter 410.575.5053 Instructor: Mark Porter, CRS

NOTE: Instructors listed on all courses are subject to change.

March/April 2011 Guide to Advertisers Best Image 39 www.number1expert.com/crs Carbonite Pro cover 4 www.carbonite.com/realestate Exit Realty www.exitrealty.com

cover 3

Pillar to Post www.pillartopost.com

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Terroir Worldwide www.kennethcameron.com

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CRS REFERRAL MARKETPLACE

C East Coast

Claire Bisignano Chesnoff

N.Y.S. Licensed Real Estate Broker, ABR, AHWD, ASP, BCREP, CHLMS, CRS, GREEN, GRI, SRES

Board Certified Real Estate Professional DIRECT: 917-974-2239 OFFICE: 718-524-4424 FAX: 718-524-8538

EMAIL: clairechesnoff@gmail.com

Serving the Real Estate needs of Staten Island and Brooklyn, New York www.claireproperties.com

Your referral source for the greater

ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CDPE

Pittsburgh

area

Serving Northern Virginia and the Dulles Tech corridor

Offices in Ashburn, Leesburg and Sterling Re/Max Select Properties, Inc.

703-999-6535 lisacromwell@remax.net www.LisaCromwell.com

I help clients make the Wright move Nancy Wright, ABR, CRS, GRI

RE/MAX Realty Brokers 5608 Wilkins Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15217 OFS: 412-521-1000 x170 CELL: 412-508-0040 nancywright@remax.net

SO U T H





    

    



 



SOUTH FLORIDA Greater Ft Lauderdale & the Palm Beaches

Ray Singhal

2010 CRS Agent of the Year

(954) 770-8083 SinghalFlorida.com Ray@SinghalFlorida.com Wieder Realty, Inc. Pompano Beach, FL

CRS, GRI, CDPE, ABR, SRES, SFR, CSSP, E-Pro, PhD

SO U T H W E ST

Fort Lauderdale, FL Your dedicated and professional Realtor serving all of South Florida.

Gary Lanham Broker Associate, CRS, CIPS

954.695.6518

www.GaryLanham.com

AUSTIN, TEXAS Kent Redding BROKER, GRI, CRS, ABR

The Kent Redding Group Prudential Texas Realty 512.306.1001 800.647.4711 kent@callkent.com www.CallKent.com “Unmatched REPRESENTATION and NEGOTIATION”

DALLAS N A T I V E

Specializing in Dallas areas’ finest neighborhoods since 1992

Maribel Hill Realty

Highland Park • Frisco • Plano Richardson • Downtown • Southlake

Maribel Hill

CRS, GRI, e-PRO

c: 214.727.5754 800.358.9093 mh@maribelhill.com www.maribelhill.com

Visit website for testimonials!

we s t c o a s t

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TEMECULA – MURRIETA RIVERSIDE & ORANGE COUNTIES “Everyone Likes Sara Lee!” SARA LEE PAULL CRS, SRES,e-PRO

Broker Associate (#00547900) Cell: 951-970-5211 Direct: 951-461-4611 saralee@saraleepaull.com saraleepaull@verizon.net www.saraleepaull.com

46 | Mar ch/ Apr il 2 0 1 1

Real Estate

we s t c o a s t

H AWA I I

HAWAII Duke Kimhan

Principle Broker (R), CRS, ABR

c: 808.277.4677 w: 808.487.0777 www.dukekimhan.com dukekimhan@yahoo.com

Canada

BUILD REFERRALS

to your region from more than

36,000 CRS Designees and members with an ad in the Referral Marketplace.

Limited Space Available First Come, First Served Ask us about multi-issue discounts

Just call Kathleen Thomas at 202.721.1497

RESOURCES • March/April 2011

residential The

Specia li s t

Exit Signs Barb Avery, CRS, RE/MAX Eastside Brokers, seattlesuburbs@yahoo.com Dianne Dunn, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, DDunn@DDunn.com Gary Rogers, CRS, RE/MAX First Realty, Garydwl@msn.com

Kevin Lewis, CRS, Kevin Lewis Properties, kevin@klewis.com Joe Stewart, CRS, Realty Executives of Nevada, joe@joeandlinda.com Michael Tessaro, CRS, Intero Real Estate Services, myeastbayhouses@gmail.com

Cathy Valdiviez Baumbusch, CRS, RE/MAX Allegiance, cathy@cathyb.net

Endurance Challenge

Beyond the Horizon

Distress Signals

Elizabeth Ballis, CRS, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Elizabeth@ elizabethballis.com

Ann Connelly, CRS, Berkshire Group REALTORS®, ann@tbgdenver.com

Patrizia “Trish” Giassa, CRS, Keller Williams Realty Premier Properties, trishgiassa@ gmail.com

C. Michael Royce, CRS, Royce & Associates Realty, MichaelRoyce@woh. rr.com

Rose Falocco, CRS, Realty ONE Group, rose@rose4realestate.com Mark Ozman, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, mark@markozman.com

Beth Jaworski, CRS, Shorewest Realtors, bjaworski@shorewest.com Terry La Scola, CRS, Welcome Home Team/Real Estate Teams LLC, terry@ terrylascola.com Sherri Teepen, CRS, Keller Williams Realty, steepen@kw.com

w w w. c r s . c o m

Call Kathleen Thomas at 202.721.1497 to advertise

www.crs.com | 4 7

Ask a CRS | Advice from the country’s top Certified Residential Specialists

call of duty Q U ESTIO N : What do you do when an agent doesn’t return your call(s) for days?

IN OUR EXPERIEN C E . . .

“I contact the other agent and document that. Then I approach their broker and document that. I give both the agent and broker time to respond. If neither of them respond, I contact their client and tell them that I can’t discuss anything confidential without their agent present, so they need to contact their agent and tell them to return my calls so we can proceed.”

Jim Paulson, CRS Progressive Realty Corporation

“I have heard of agents who have had their clients include a letter to the agent, submitted with the offer, that reads: ‘As a condition of the contract, inquiries initiated by my agent regarding this transaction must be responded to by your agent within 12 hours. If there is no response, then at the buyer’s sole discretion, the transaction may be canceled with money, etc.’ The seller has to sign the letter and the agent is put on notice.”

Carol Pyfrom, CRS

Boise, Idaho

IdahoNewHomes@hotmail.com

“The best thing we have going for us is a central calling center [service] where we list all of our listings. When an agent needs to make an appointment to show, it is the responsibility of [the service] to track down the seller to make the appointment. If all companies used this type of service, or started their own, it buffers the interaction with some agents’ lack of responsibility to the seller to call you back.”

David L. Grossblat, CRS

Carol Pyfrom Realty

Paragon Real Estate Group

Greenville, S.C.

San Francisco

carol@carolpyfrom.com

David@DavidGrossblat.com

»»»»»

Please submit real estate questions for “Ask a CRS” to Mike Fenner at mfenner@crs.com.

48 | March/April 2011

Targeted For:

$200 Million Now Paid Out in Single-Level ReSiduaLS! FOR FRanchise saLes OppORtunities caLL, TAMI BONNELL, president - u.s.

1.877.253.3948

w w w. e x i t r e a l t y. c o m

Running a real estate office is demanding.

Run

Call F. Davet abou ction inspe

. e v A d n Hylan House Openday at Su on no Charlieet'bsall bask 7 PM game

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My com puter crashe d! Lost property photos.

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