An AgencyLogic client is marketing a former Presidents home using our single property Website product but it isn’t the White House. If a Realtor was lucky enough to list 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue what would it sell for? I love this: a Zestimate on the White House

Before you click on this link (or the image below) spend 10 seconds answering this:

Between January 2008 and January 2009 did the White House:

1. Decrease in value by 7%
2. Decrease in value by 14%
3. Increase in value by 7%
4. Increase in value by 14%
5. Stay the same value?

Online mapping options (normally powered by Google Maps) continue to amaze me and I just found another fun example on ubasics.com.

As a child my dad always said that if I dug a hole in our yard I would eventually reach Australia. It seems he was wrong. Take a look at this simple but entertaining use of Google Maps to see the other side of the world from any starting place. It seems the opposite of my home town (Harlow, Essex) is South-East of New Zealand. If I had followed my dad’s advice I would have got very wet! To see the opposite side of the world from any starting place click here or click on the map image above. Enjoy

Written By: Jerry Rossi

Jerry Rossi

And what is more emotional than buying or selling a home. Every day real estate professionals spend time delicately balancing the fight between decision – emotional – and habitual parts of the brain, a fight that occurs whenever a decision is made.

The Brain Is Habitual

Our brain is made to work on habit. Once we repeat the simplest act a number of times, it automatically becomes habit. It does this so we don’t have to think about it. Walking, breathing, driving to or from the office is all locked into the visceral part of our brain where all habits reside. The visceral is the only part of our brain that grows as we age. The older we are, the more things we do habitually.

Where we live now (our residence), as well as our surroundings, has become a habit. When we walk into a home for sale, we start thinking about it. “Hmm”, says the Neo-cortex (frontal lobe where all decisions are made) this is interesting. I wonder if I should move? Then the argument starts. The habit brain says, “No, I’m fine right where I am and I’m not moving.” The decision brain says, “Yes, but look how low interest rates and prices are now.”

Impulse Buy

It would be great if we only had two parts of our brain engaged in the decision to change homes, but there is another – the Paleo-mammalian! What? It’s just a big word to describe the emotional part of our brain that sits between the neo-cortex and the visceral. It is activated when we are in a buying mode. If our emotion is not triggered in the impulse or purchase mode, there is more than an 85% chance we won’t act. Hence, all purchasing is emotional.

We, as real estate professionals, spend our days involved in the customer/client inner battle between the ‘habit’, ‘emotion’, and ‘decision’ parts of the brain. Add to that, appraisers, mortgage lenders, attorneys, and, of course, our family and ourselves?

In 1998, the National Association of Homebuilders announced that, “A New Home purchase is an impulse buy!” No news to me, I personally purchased at least two homes when I wasn’t looking. Once, walking into a home on office tour and getting emotional, I thought it had more to offer than our current home. I called Bishop (my wife). She came over and we got emotional together, which activated the decision making process. We shook off the habitual feeling to stay where we where and figured out how to make it work. Wham, in less than 24 hours, we bought a new home.

Agents all over the country tell me about sitting a house open when someone walked in and said, “No thanks I’m happy where we are…” and 10 minutes later they were creating an offer to purchase. The emotional impulse buy!

Back to Square One – They Want to Sleep on It

On the other hand, someone walks into your open house and you watch the emotional lights glow and whistles toot… “Oh look, a bath for every bedroom. Oh, and it has four bedrooms and a three car garage and look at this big yard!” You ask if they want to buy and they say, “YES! But first we need to sleep on it.” Years ago, Tommy Hopkins taught me to answer this objection with, “The time to think about it, Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, is when I’m here to answer all your questions. I’ll get my sleeping bag out of the car – let’s go get to work…” I trust that all readers are aware by now that if someone wants think it over or sleep on it – YOU LET THEM!

So these excited, emotional prospects go home to ‘think it over’. You call the next morning and they say, “We’re going to raise the roof, enlarge our house, add bathrooms, widen the garage, and see if the neighbor will sell us part of their lot so we can have a bigger yard.”

“What the heck happened?”

They were emotionally excited about this house when they left yesterday. Well… here it is. They ‘thought’ about buying, they got ‘emotional’, but wait. They went to where they have ‘habitually lived’ for the last 9 years and the habit brain figured out a way to keep them there. Habits have a STRONG pull on the Emotion. Have you ever quit, or attempted to quit, smoking? Enough said.

So therein lays the emotional world of real estate and the battle between what a prospect is doing now, habit, and what they are thinking about doing, change, all within a whirlwind of emotion. In the past, emotions prompted consumers’ actions – walk-ins, ad calls, drive-by’s, sign calls, open houses, escorted showings, brochure box flyer inquiries…

Gone are the Days

No one is walking in, driving by, or calling on the ads (let alone reading the newspaper). REALTOR showings are down, brochure boxes are so 1900’s, flyers are a waste of paper and so un-green. Open houses are lifeless or, if you do get people, they may just be looking for prescription meds or casing the house.

The Way We Were

The world, the market, the way we were ‘ain’t no more’. As I uncovered in my article, The Evolution of the Real Estate Consumer, the consumer has evolved! They are no longer dependent on real estate agents for information. That’s the good news. We’ve taken off the hat of information provider and replaced it with that of advisor – a more exalted profession. The consumer has all the information. Every piece of real estate that’s for sale is now offered to the world on the Internet. In case you missed it, Google, Zillow, and Trulia are the new MLS. Oh, you didn’t know that… GET A GRIP. That’s the way of the connected consumer! That being said, everything has changed – the paradigm has shifted and the entire real estate profession is starting from ground zero.

‘The LOOK’ (“the LOOK, the HOOK, and the COOK” ™)

It starts with ‘The LOOK’. Real Estate is the American Dream – the number one investment in many people’s lives, the hot topic on TV news shows, the subject of over 2,100 current books, and the buzz at the water cooler, the prophecy of economists.

There are billions of hits on real estate sites – most from consumers who are looking at one thing – HOUSES. Houses, prices, pictures of houses, floor plans, room sizes, prices, amenities, neighborhoods, schools, builders, prices, square footage, locations, maps, walking distance, construction, absorption rate, aerial photographs, 360 tours, and, did I say, prices. Don’t think these consumers are up for ‘capture’. No way!

The way YOU buy

Let’s examine your Internet buying practices. You are surfing on the LL Bean site and find a picture of some boots you like. So you click on the photo for more information. Blip, a screen appears that says, “For more info on the LL Beanie Boot, please fill out the request form with your name, address, foot size, e-mail, website, and first male born child.” What do you do? Fill it out? NO, you delete LL Beanie.com and go to Zappos.com and buy the boots. We love the autonomy of the Internet – we won’t be captured until we want to be captured. And, we’re not unusual. It’s the American and World way to shop. Especially now that the economy is tight, we shop more and buy less. When we do buy, we buy for less.

Before we buy, we look. Because surfing for real estate is an acceptable practice, we look when we’re at work. Yes, that’s the time people shop for real estate. Late night they reserve for XX or whatever the gamer wants.

Surf from 12 to 24 Months

People will look at real estate for 12 to 24 months before they ever think of buying. Then, once in the buying mode, they will look for 4 to 8 weeks at houses first and agents second. That’s correct, agents second. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about your production, degrees, designations, certifications, or photo. They want INFORMATION and they want it NOW.

The HOOK (“the LOOK, the HOOK, and the COOK” ™)

I know the HOOK sounds negative like the carnival barker hooking you into the tent of oddities, or but wait… you’ll get a set of Ginsu Steak Knives. I’m not referring to that kind of hook. I’m speaking of the hook that brings the salmon back to the same river every year. What biological intuition brings the salmon back? I’m afraid that’s way beyond my knowledge base. But I do understand what hooks buyers.

Comfort Zone

You see, there are some websites that real estate surfers and suspect buyers return to on a consistent basis. This is different than Sites where they can have autonomy and ALL the information without having to ask – where they, in a zone of comfort, can peruse all the properties – a website they might even, are you ready for this, “Book Mark”. Technology guru’s call this the Return Visitor.

It’s Obvious what they DON’T want

What can you do to keep visitors returning? Let’s start with all of the items I previously mentioned; no hoops, no ‘fill this out before you can e-mail me’, no ‘ME, ME, ME ego sites’, no selling, no big splash pages with sound effects, and, for gosh sakes, no – “Cozy Country Charmer, this lovely 3 and den is bright and cheery, Mrs. Clean lives here, decorators dream, delightful neighborhood, seller desperate….” Yeeea gads, it’s enough to make you puke. No wonder Stephen Dubner in his book FREAKONOMICS thinks we have a code. Yes, he says all that verbiage in real estate ads is code and we REALTORS have a decoder book; i.e., Delightful Neighborhood, means nice neighborhood but this house sucks. Cozy means; not enough room for a lady and her cat. He makes a point – no one wants that STUFF anymore!

The Evolved Consumer Wants

What does the consumer want? INFORMATION! When do they want it? NOW! If they land on your site and don’t get ‘information now’… well, let’s just say your business success is just someone’s delete key away.

Here is a list of other items that will keep them coming back:

Quality Content
Full of useful information
Contact information on every page
An easy to recall URL
Updated often (at least twice a month)
Keep it fresh – keep it unique
Online newsletter
Blog/Discussion Forum
Remind people to bookmark
Monthly give-a-way contest
Local Area Quizzes

To be continued…

RE/MAX Ranks #1 in Listings Sold for 13-County Twin Cities Area

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Feb. 8 (PRNewswire) — RE/MAX achieved a great accomplishment in 2009, regardless of the static housing economy, and earned number one Market Share status in the Twin Cities 13-county metro for number of listings sold between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. RE/MAX earned this achievement over second place Edina Realty and the remaining top five brands: Coldwell Banker Burnet, Keller Williams and Counselor Realty. This achievement is figured by combining the sold listings of all office locations and independent offices of each multi-office or franchise organization, in which listings were sold, according to data maintained by the Local Board or Regional Multiple Listing Service for the 13-county Twin Cities metro. (A graph representing this data can be found by following this link: http://tiny.cc/marketshare)

Earning number one Market Share for listings sold for all of 2009 is a RE/MAX achievement that has been years in the making. In a Market Share Trends report for listings sold from year-end 1995 through December 31, 2009, RE/MAX increased in market share for 11 of those 15 years; slumping only when the real estate industry dipped, but having an overall increase of 90.06% market share. Meanwhile, Coldwell Banker Burnet and Edina saw 15 years of decline, decreasing in market share by 56.42% and 26.09% respectively. This information was compiled from data supplied by the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota and its member associations of REALTORS. (Follow these links to see visual representations of these statistics: http://tiny.cc/market_trends, http://tiny.cc/pct_change)

Director of Franchise Development for RE/MAX North Central, Greg Cecchettini, says achieving the number one market share status in the Twin Cities 13-county metro is an accomplishment. “It shows that RE/MAX agents and brokers have been able to adapt to the changes in the market faster and more effectively than our competition. For example, RE/MAX agents make up over 60% of all the Certified Distressed Properties Experts (CDPE) in the U.S., which are focused on helping homeowners who are having challenges in making their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure, sell their homes.”

In addition to earning the number one market share in the Twin Cities 13-county metro, RE/MAX agents proved to be the most productive agents in the metro for 2009; the Sales Associate Productivity report shows the average active RE/MAX agent closed 14.83 transactions between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. This is compared to Edina’s agents’ 10.04 closed transactions and Coldwell Banker Burnett’s 8.73 closed transactions. This is based on data from the Regional Multiple Listing Service on active agents of companies with 100 or more agents. (Follow the link to see the Sales Associate Productivity chart: http://tiny.cc/productivity112)

RE/MAX currently has more than 1,300 active associates and 91 operating offices in Minnesota with number one market share status in 144 cities; an increase of 30 markets since 2008. RE/MAX North Central is affiliated with RE/MAX International. Since its inception in 1985, RE/MAX North Central has grown to nearly 200 offices and more than 2,100 sales associates throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, providing residential and commercial real estate as well as relocation and referral services.

About RE/MAX

Based in Denver, CO, RE/MAX International is a global real estate system of franchisee owned and operated offices and their network of nearly 96,000 independent sales professionals. The RE/MAX network is made up of more than 70 regions, varying in size from a metropolitan area to an entire country. RE/MAX values community involvement at all levels of the organization, from individual Associates to corporate headquarters. Children’s Miracle Network and Susan G. Komen for the Cure are two prime beneficiaries.

For more information, visit www.remax.com and www.soldsignblog.com.

Last month Realtor.com announced the release of an iPhone App. I am totally convinced that mobile phones will be the primary way we get information in the future. With cloud based technology (which in short removes the need for any local hard drive), quick internet access and wireless peripherals (we have mouse, keyboard and printers, we just need to add easier monitor access) everything can go through your phone. Companies like Mobile Card Cast are beginning to do some amazing things with phone based solutions that are mobile phone agnostic. Which leads me to a question.

Why buy software (or an app) that is peripheral specific? By that I mean why buy an app for an iPhone, why not buy one that works on all mobile phones? That way you can change your phone and still use the same program. Selling hardware specific apps thousands, or if you are lucky millions, of times for a paltry $0.99c makes great fiscal sense for app developers but not for user’s. It’s not widely available right now but I would put a lot of money on Google making it happen.

Some good news for Realtors is that the Realtor.com app is free. Here’s more information which is useful assuming you don’t change your phone anytime soon:

How to Capitalize in a Hostile Market

DALLAS, Feb. 4 (PRNewswire) — The current global real estate market is challenging for most. But there are “Winners” in this tough economy, and real estate expert Sonny Moyers is a good example of how some will prosper and reach lofty goals in hard times.

Sonny writes, “Every economy and every situation creates winners and losers. Entrepreneurs and executives who can decipher the market and find opportunities to win will win big. In my experience, more fortunes are made in tough times than in good times. We looked for the opportunities to win in 2009 and while many real estate agents were throwing in the towel, we found a way to have our most profitable year ever. This means our clients also benefited greatly.

“We saw opportunities for tenants to modify or extend their commercial real estate leases at lower rates. In some cases, where landlords refused to work with our tenants, we moved them to better locations or facilities at lower costs because other landlords were willing to be more aggressive.

Sonny Moyers

“Since many of our clients have a significant commitment to real estate, a small change to the positive can result in major changes to their profitability. In our case, a greater emphasis on our commercial tenant clients resulted in higher profitability for all of us. And in 2009, we all won big!”

Sonny and his real estate group, The O’Dea Moyers Group, utilize a unique and diverse real estate model that includes residential and commercial real estate brokerage services as well as consulting and advisory services. This business model has produced amazing results for the past 10 years. Sonny’s success, however, is not surprising. He has been a real estate professional for more than 37 years, and has been named as one of the best real estate agents in Dallas by D Magazine. He is the Real Estate Expert for Examiner.com, a national newspaper, and has significant experience in social media and Internet marketing.

Sonny and his group have earned the Top-Ten Honor Roll for agents at Ebby Halliday, REALTORS for 10 straight years. Ebby Halliday, REALTORS has more than 1,600 sales associates and staff in 30 offices that cover more than 12,000 square miles. It is the largest privately owned residential real estate firm in Texas and 10th in the United States, with over $3.5 billion in sales in 2009.

Sonny writes a real estate blog at http://theodeamoyersgroup.blogspot.com, providing insightful real estate advice. He is a powerful and highly motivating speaker and trainer, and has provided sales training in 20 countries around the world. Sonny is an expert in Shared Office and Executive Suite environments in large buildings.

With his background in residential and commercial real estate, being diversified has allowed Sonny to be successful, even in these difficult economic times. No wonder he excels in tough times!

See his websites at:

http://www.EbbyHomesDFW.com
http://www.EbbyCommercial.com
http://www.sonnymoyers.com

If you would like more information regarding this topic or to interview Sonny Moyers, please contact the OMG Public Relations office at (972) 464-4100.

Additional topics Sonny Moyers is an expert to speak on are Commercial Real Estate, Executive Suite industry, and Lease Negotiations.

Contact:

Sonny Moyers
Sonny@SonnyMoyers.com
The O’Dea Moyers Group
Managing Partner
Telephone: (972) 464-4110

Written By: Matthew Ferrara

Matthew Ferrara

Thank goodness, then, for Hagerty’s Quarterly Housing Report.

Real estate professionals love to say that “all real estate is local.” Yet most real estate analysis contains very little local data. The traditional real estate “comparative market analysis” (CMA) is economically useless: Not only does it rely upon incredibly inaccurate and unverified data entered by agents barely conversant with their MLS software, such reports suffer from the biggest defect possible:

Lack of context.

Real estate agents can tell you how many homes are on the market. They can tell you the trends in new listing volume, sales units and homes that failed to sell on a given day. They can tell you how much a property sold for – even as a percentage of its asking price. And then they can’t tell you almost anything else that would be useful to purchasing and owning a commodity like a home.

Which is why they start talking about nonsense like school systems, parks, subways and other mundania.

Never have you seen a broker’s market report that contains a trend-line for local tax rates – a very important piece of information for owning a commodity that carries an annual “fee” attached to it. Nor do such reports show current rates and trends for other supporting costs, like local cable television, electricity, trash removal or any other “ownership load” related to the future requirements to service (ie., pay for) the home. In fact, it’s amazing that any decisions whatsoever can be drawn from the local real estate agent’s report, when so much contextual decision-making data is left unaccounted for.

Almost any other commodity purchase with an “ownership duration” requires contexts. Take the simplest of such purchases: a new car. Consumers don’t simply evaluate features or prices when comparing models. They examine “ownership” costs – like fuel efficiency, average repair costs, and even projected resales value. Their decision to purchase a model is based upon data points within a broader context.

Try to ask your REALTOR for your home’s projected resale value the next time you meet with her. Yeah, right.

Such lack of context and content is no longer acceptable to today’s housing consumer. Generation X is used to seeing the “full story” when it comes to purchasing anything of lasting value – whether it’s a laptop, automobile or home. They want to see the behind-the-scenes costs to construct, acquire, service, maintain and own the commodity. They understand that large purchase decisions don’t exist in a vacuum but a constellation of conditions.

They know how much it costs to run the television, not just purchase it.

Click for bigger image:

Yet when it comes to buying or selling houses, so much contextual data is left unverified, or simply unmentioned, by the advisors to the consumer. That’s why new reports – such as Hagerty’s Quarterly Housing Report by James Hagerty at the Wall Street Journal is such a refreshing improvement. Certainly, it’s just a start. There are many factors left out – such as tax rates, energy costs and local tax impact. But the mere fact that it presents home prices and inventory in the context of unemployment and foreclosure rates – in one simple table – is a step forward in consumer education.

And makes Case-Schiller seem downright silly.

Ironically, real estate agents generally operate from the premise that people buy homes for “other reasons” than price. Countless stories (and industry cliches) claim that buyers choose homes for emotional reasons, like location or how it “feels.” Yet the modern consumer isn’t so fickle, or vacuous, as to simply fall in love with a home, regardless of price. Most certainly not during a recession. Consumers have been schooled to ask for “operating costs” – energy, taxes, water, repairs – and they understand the concept of “trade in” value for the future. They have lots of experience buying expensive items based upon the monthly fee – whether it’s data plans for expensive smartphones or fuel economy for expensive hybrid automobiles. It is senseless to think such issues do not matter when it comes to purchasing a home, a commodity of far longer lasting value and higher cost.

Hagerty’s Quarterly Housing Report makes a start of positioning homes within contexts – beyond emotional data such as greenery or convenience to shopping. Even after the housing recession, local data on unemployment, tax trends, energy costs and other operating factors will be required reading for Gen X and Gen Y consumers. In a future of windmills and solar panels, maybe even weather patterns may become valuable context for the housing market.

It’s time for better reports for home consumers on what makes for a good decision in housing purchases. Case-Shiller’s focus on volume and price is outdated: It treats homes as if they were pork bellies or cell phone minutes without any other influencing factors. And traditional real estate market analyses must evolve as well. Buyers of the future won’t let their emotions carry them away – at least not so far, any more – especially when the market requires them to put real money down.

But that’s a report for another day.

As Joseph Ferrara says “Everything can be improved” and that is never truer than with technology, especially hardware. I’ve covered Microsoft Surface before including a fun parody and the revolutionary MacBook Wheel

I can add another video to the mix that gives more examples of this amazing technology. What specifically interested me was Microsoft’s Tom Gibbons answer to “When can you get one for your home?” He responded with “We are shooting for around three, four years.” This news segment is from mid 2007 so are we there yet? The Microsoft Surface Website does have a “How To Buy” button and details commercial and developer units but I haven’t seen anything in Best Buy.

I’ve seen similar technology at higher end hotels in Las Vegas and the Surface Website mentions you can play with the technology at the new Microsoft stores. Please let me know if you have seen it. Even Kim Kardashian say’s “Oh my God! This is so cool!” What better endorsement is that? (I really don’t mean that…) It has yet to meet the mainstream but it’s coming. I love technology

Realtors say homes need home staging now more than ever

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Last year home staging skyrocketed to the top of the list of the fastest growing careers in America. In the decade ahead it is promising to be a rapidly evolving industry and looks to be one of the key solutions to solving the housing crisis.

Showhomes, a nationally franchised home staging company with offices in 60 markets, polled 500 Realtors and brokers from all over the country at the National Association of Realtors Expo recently in San Diego. The survey uncovered some startling Realtor feedback about the value of home staging in today’s market:

96% believed buyers react better to fully staged homes than vacant ones.
94% believed vacant homes take longer to sell than fully staged homes
94% believed vacant homes sell for less money than fully staged homes
The majority of Realtors surveyed agreed that vacant homes take twice as long to sell
and sell for at least 15% less than a fully staged home.

“Home staging has become a necessity,” said Thomas Scott, VP of operations for Showhomes. “These numbers say it loud and clear. The home staging industry is at a tipping point. If you want sell a home quickly and for top dollar, there’s no other reasonable choice. In today’s market, if a home is not staged, it does not sell.”

Shell Brodnax, president and CEO of Real Estate Staging Association, said she’s not surprised by Showhomes’ findings.

“Home staging provides economic stability to real estate by leveraging a property’s appeal to buyers,” Brodnax said. “Sellers get the most they can for their property and buyers benefit from a move-in ready property.”

“Home stagers are doing a great job at getting the word out about the effectiveness of staging,” Brodnax added. “The home staging industry will continue to add to the recovery of the real estate industry.”

Statistics provided by RESA show staged properties consistently spend 78 percent less time on the market.

“The decade ahead is a new era for home staging,” Scott said. “If your Realtor doesn’t educate you on how much you stand to lose by not staging your house, then they are doing you a disservice.”

About Showhomes

Showhomes is a home staging business with a twist: the company uses live-in caretakers to stage and manage vacant homes while they are on the market for sale and offset a home owner’s expense to stage a home. This innovative marketing strategy has been producing results since 1986 and the company has helped over 25,000 home owners sell vacant houses valued at over $8 billion. For franchise opportunities and more information, please visit www.showhomes.com and www.showhomesfranchise.com.

Contacts:

Showhomes Franchise Corporation
Thomas Scott – (615) 483-4923
VP Operations
tscott@showhomes.com

The battle between Facebook and Google for your attention has taken another step forward with the release of Google ‘Social Search’. Facebook’s internal search is (and always has been) abysmal so Google doesn’t really have much competition but don’t count out Microsoft’s involvement. With their investment in Facebook and push to make Bing.com the search engine of choice I wonder if their relatively new relationship will move from first to second base. Social search was initially announced last October; this informational video provides a quick overview:

This is interesting but is missing real details. The following video provides them:

Google’s objective is to provide search results that are as near as possible to what you are actually looking for. If their search results don’t do that they know you are likely to look elsewhere (bing?) for the information. I value the recommendation of a friend over a stranger (or a search engine) and Google Social Search is the first attempt to combine both.

I think the need for a Gmail account and Google profile is a hurdle – it fails my ‘mum’ (mom) test; if a technology can’t be used by my mum then the chance of it’s success is reduced. Personally however I think this is a step in the right direction and is an interesting move towards a more social world and useful search results.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Realty Executives California Signed Thirteen New Franchises

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Realty Executives International, Inc. announces thirteen new franchises throughout California since June 2009 from prominent real estate companies, independent brokerages, startups and existing brokerage expansions.

“California real estate in many markets has already hit bottom,” says Mark Vost, Realty Executives regional developer for Calif. “In some areas, we are seeing 50 to 60 offers on a given property with some $60,000 over the listing price.”

Former Keller Williams branch office, Realty Executives Pacific Gold, joined the company because they were looking for a brand that had all of the systems and support that would allow them to recruit the top productive agents in their market according to its Broker/Owner Carolyn Cohen.

Broker/Owners Gary Howard and Rich Lopez of Realty Executives Select, former Re/Max Select, joined Realty Executives in September for the tools and the overall “family feel” of the company that steers away from bureaucratic processes.

“The majority of our California Broker/Owners are experiencing increased sales volume and agent recruitment,” adds Vost. Some have even expanded their operations by purchasing new territories like Broker/Owner John Lewis of Realty Executives Temecula Valley. Lewis comments, “What sets Realty Executives apart from other real estate franchisors is that they offer true protected territories so I can grow without competition from within our network.”

Realty Executives California credits the state’s rebounding market, brand reputation, tools and support for their increased franchise growth in the following cities from June 2009 to January 2010: Burbank, Cerritos, Cypress, Fair Oaks, Perris, Richmond, Turlock, West Covina, Rancho Cucamonga, Solana Beach, Woodland Hills, Simi Valley, Chino Hills and Temecula. For more information on Realty Executives California, visit www.RealtyExecutivesCalifornia.com.

About Realty Executives International, Inc.

Realty Executives International, Inc. is one of the fastest growing real estate franchises in the United States, with nearly 11,000 sales associates and approximately 700 franchises. The Phoenix-based, privately held company has offices in the United States, Africa, Australia, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Honduras, Israel, Mexico, Panama, Poland, Romania, Nicaragua, Spain and Turkey. For additional company information visit www.RealtyExecutives.com.

Contacts:

On Behalf of Realty Executives International, LLC
Partner, Public Relations
Alchemy PR
Andrea Kalmanovitz – (602) 980-2040
andrea@alchemyaz.com

Google Docs allows you to create and share documents online versus local or network based file storage and I love it! With staff on both coasts we’ve been using the service since last year to share spreadsheets, word processor documents and PDF’s.

Benefits include:

1. No longer having to email files between staff
2. Access files from anywhere you have Internet connectivity
3. The files are secure
4. There is no need to backup files
5. You can see the files in real time
6. The files can be simultaneously viewed by more than one person

There was always one issue however: the files were converted to the Google Docs format. This was never a huge issue but Google have solved it anyway. You can now upload any format file and use Google Docs as a central storage solution.

Simply click on the ‘Upload’ button:

or the ‘New! Upload any file’ link:

and you can use Google docs to store your files online making them accessible anywhere you have Internet access. This removes the need for a USB storage key and is a free and convenient solution.