robertjrussellcompanies

Real Estate Sales

Posted on March 4, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

Real estate was the big newsmaker last week, with existing and new home sales showing middling performance. While real estate was mixed, initial jobless claims took an unexpected bounce upward.

Existing Home Sales

Sales of existing homes for January were a mixed bag. Transactions of existing single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 4.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.82 million in January, according to the National Association of Realtors. This was their lowest pace in nine months, but 3.2 percent higher than the same period a year ago.

“January housing data can be volatile because of seasonal influences, but low housing supply and the ongoing rise in home prices above the pace of inflation appeared to slow sales despite interest rates remaining near historic lows,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Realtors are reporting that low rates are attracting potential buyers, but the lack of new and affordable listings is leading some to delay decisions.”

Existing home inventory did tick up for January, growing 0.5 percent by the end of the month to 1.87 million existing homes available for sale, but was 0.5 percent lower than January 2014’s 1.88 million unit-supply. To Yun’s point, unsold inventory is at a 4.7-month supply at the current sales pace – up from 4.4 months in December.

January’s median price for existing homes of all types grew to $199,600, a 6.2 percent increase over January 2014, marking the 35th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.

“The labor market and economy are markedly improved compared to a year ago, which supports stronger buyer demand,” Yun noted. “The big test for housing will be the impact on affordability once rates rise.”

New Home Sales

New home sales for January saw similar performance. Transactions of new single-family homes fell 0.2 percent from the previous month to a rate of 481,000, according to estimates released last week by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. While down on a monthly basis, January’s sales were 5.3 percent higher than January 2014’s estimated rate of 457,000.

Looking at price, the median sales price of new houses sold in January came in at $294,300, and the average sales price was $348,300. Looking at supply, the estimate of new homes for sale at the end of January totaled 218,000, representing a supply of 5.4 months at January’s sales pace.

Once again, real estate analysts were saying that a true housing recovery depends on other economic factors.

“We are still taking sort of a meandering, bumpy path toward recovery,” IHS Global Insight U.S. Economist Stephanie Karol told the New York Times. “We expect housing will improve later this year due to the improvement in the labor market and credit conditions.”

Posted in Business, real estate | Tagged real estate, sales | Leave a comment

It’s March already!!

Posted on March 3, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

INTERESTING FACTS…

•	“From the Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. It was named after Mars, the Roman god of war who was also regarded as a guardian of agriculture and ancestor to the Roman people.”
•	March is National Professional Social Work Month, Barbecue Month, and Garden Month.
•	The Peace Corps was established by President John F. Kennedy on March 1, 1961.
•	March Birthstone: Aquamarine.
•	March Flower of the month: Daffodil.
•	Zodiac Signs: Pisces, Aries.

ALSO IN MARCH…

•	March 2 —Dr. Seuss Day
•	March 8 — International Women’s Day
•	March 14 — Pi Day
•	March 17 — Saint Patrick’s Day
•	March 19 — Saint Joseph’s Day
•	March 22 — World Water Day
•	First Wednesday — World Math Day

May the sun shine, all day long, everything go right, and nothing wrong.

Posted in Business, Technology | Tagged aquamarine, march, month, zodiac | Leave a comment

Are you stressed ?

Posted on March 2, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

Good morning. Hope this email finds you and your Monday going well. Here are some tips on how to STRESS LESS

STRESS LESS:

1) Dance it out

2) Go for a walk

3) Talk about it

4) Breathe

5) Go to bed earlier

6) Focus on what you can control

7) Reminisce about good times

8) Ask for a hug- and GIVE hugs

9) Look for opportunities in life’s challenges

10) Smile

“You have to do WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO, not get stuck in that comfort zone of a regular job. Life is NOT a dress rehearsal. This is it.”~Lucinda Basset

“Let go of what you can’t control. Channel all that energy into living fully in the NOW.”~Karen Salmansohn

“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”~Hans Selye

May your day and week be filled with LESS Stress, more success and many blessings!

Posted in Business | Tagged focu, hugs, relax, stress, walk | Leave a comment

What you need to know about Life Insurance

Posted on March 1, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

Whether you’re a new parent, a working spouse, or even an empty nester, life insurance might be crucial to your family’s financial well-being.

Let InsurancePricedRight.com help you find affordable life insurance now.

Yet less than half of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 had individual life insurance in 2014, and respondents from most households said they need more coverage, according to LIMRA, a research organization.

For 40 percent of consumers, purchasing life insurance has been prompted by major life events, including getting married, getting divorced, having or adopting a child, buying a home, or experiencing the death of a loved one, LIMRA found.

The vast majority of those surveyed who hadn’t purchased life insurance fear it’s too expensive, but depending on your age and the amount of coverage you need, the insurance could cost you less than $1 a day.

Plenty of life insurance options are available to fit almost every scenario, but one of the most popular is term life insurance, which costs less than whole life. (See “How to buy life insurance.”)

What is term life insurance?

Term life insurance covers you for a set period of time, such as 20 or 30 years, and will pay your loved ones the face value of your policy if you die during that time.

So if you purchase a 20-year term, $250,000 life insurance policy, and you die five years later, your beneficiaries would receive the $250,000 tax-free. If you die after the 20-year term is up, your beneficiaries would receive nothing.

Life insurance is cheaper when you’re younger, so if you purchase it when you’re in your 20s, your premiums will be much lower than if you wait until you’re in your 40s.

That’s one of the reasons it’s important to figure out in advance how long you’ll need the coverage. If buy a 20-year term life insurance policy, and then decide you want to renew it, you’ll end up paying higher rates when you renew because age is one of the key things life insurance companies look at when determining premiums.

If you want to renew your term life insurance policy, you’ll probably have to go for a medical examination or answer questions about your health. If you’re in poor health, your rates will be even higher, or you may find that you no longer qualify for life insurance.

Even if you can purchase group life insurance through your job or through an organization of which you’re a member, it may not be enough to cover your needs, so you’ll need to supplement your policy with individual coverage. And if you leave your job or quit the organization, you’ll lose that group life insurance benefit.

Will you need a medical exam?

A medical exam may be required when applying for a term life insurance policy. The exam will cover your height, weight, medical history, and include a blood and urine test—which are taken to look for specific medical problems. The results of the tests may hinder you from getting approved for the insurance, or increase your rates, depending on the outcome.

If you’re a smoker, you will pay more for insurance. No matter what you smoke, if it’s cigarettes, cigars or marijuana, you must attest to that on your policy application.

Guaranteed issue term life insurance coverage, also known as “quick issue” or “simplified issue,” are ideal if you have difficulty finding life insurance due to a medical condition or illness. You pay a higher premium because no medical exam is required— the insurance company takes a big risk in insuring you. When it comes to guaranteed life insurance coverage, there may be a waiting period before coverage takes effect, and a chance of a yearly fee is possible.

How much term life insurance do you need?

A good starting point if you want to determine how much coverage you’ll need and how much you might pay is the life insurance calculator on Our Website, the website of the nonprofit organization Life Happens, which educates the public on life, disability and long-term care insurance.

One thing to keep in mind when purchasing term life insurance is that companies have “break points,” so you’ll usually get a lower rate if you buy $500,000 worth of coverage, rather than $475,000 worth.

If you don’t like the idea of getting nothing for the premiums you pay into your term life insurance policy, you can pay a higher rate and purchase a return-of-premium term policy. That means once the term is completed, your life insurance company will repay you the amount you paid in for coverage.

Another consideration is convertibility, which allows you to convert your policy to permanent life insurance without having to answer questions about your health. Some term policies allow you to make the switch within the first few years after you’ve obtained coverage. Other policies allow you to make the change at any time during the term.

What kinds of extras and riders should I consider?

Term policies also differ in what they cover. Some term life insurance policies include extra features, while others require you to pay for riders to your policy to get those extra benefits.

For example, your policy may include an accelerated death benefit, which means if you’re terminally ill you can collect a large portion of the payout while you’re still alive.

You also may receive a disability waiver of premium, which grants you a waiver on paying your premiums if you’re disabled for at least six months.

And some policies offer double or triple the payout if the death is an accident.

Regardless of the features you choose, you should try to make sure your insurer will be around for the long haul by checking its financial stability ratings, so if you die 15 years from now, your loved ones will receive the payout to which they’re entitled.

Posted in Insurance | Tagged life insurance, quotes, term insurance | Leave a comment

Job Search Rules to Get Landed

Posted on March 1, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

WASHINGTON, D.C. — First, break the rule that tells you to send a stiff, formal resume that makes you sound like every other banana in the bunch. Forget that! You have your own voice and personality. You won’t come across as a live human being on the page unless you put a human voice in your resume. Second, break the rule that prohibits the use of the word “I” in your resume. That’s an old outdated rule. Your resume is a branding document. Of course you’re going to use the word “I” in it!

Third, break the rule that tells you not to contact the hiring manager directly. Write to the hiring manager and send them two documents, your cover letter and resume. Fourth, break the rule that tells you to respond to a job ad by writing about the match between your qualifications and the bullet points on the job ad. Read between the lines in the job ad, and talk to the hiring manager about their Business Pain, instead.

Fifth, break the rule that says “Don’t apply for a job unless you have all or most of the qualifications listed in the job ad.” If employers only hired people who had all the fanciful-bordering-on-delusional requirements they list in job ads, they’d never hire anyone at all! If you can see yourself performing the job you’re interested in, go ahead and apply for it!

Posted in Business | Tagged employment, job, job search, resume | Leave a comment

4 Common Workout Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Posted on February 27, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

Designing your own workout? People have the best of intentions when coming up with their own exercise programs but, sadly, often commit one or two design errors that can cost them success.

Before you head into the gym to give that self-designed workout a try, double check that you won’t make the following common mistakes.

Mistake #1: Doing Core Work First

Six-pack abs. If there’s one goal that most people want to achieve, this is it. As such, you head into the gym and the first thing you do is head right toward the ab mat.

Sadly, this is only moving you away from progress. What you need to remember is that your core muscles will be working in each and every standing strength move you do.

Whether it’s squats, lunges, shoulder presses or step-ups, you’ll recruit your core muscles for balance when completing these moves. As such, if your core muscles are in a fatigued state while you perform these other moves, this could mean lower performance on these exercises at best and a significant injury at worst.

By doing your core work last, you’ll maintain a stronger midsection for other exercises and, by the time you get to those core moves, they’ll already be in a partly fatigued state.

Bonus: This means you have to do less core work overall.

Mistake #2: Too Much Steady-State Cardio

When weight loss is your main goal, it’s easy to go into steady-state cardio overload. For five days a week, you go hard for 60 minutes on the bike, elliptical or treadmill. Sound familiar?

You figure you’re on the best fat-loss plan possible—with all that cardio, you’ll be torching fat in no time. Only months have passed and your body hasn’t changed.

All this cardio exercise does very little to enhance fat burning. In fact, it may cause you to gain weight because it makes you ravenous after each session, leading to overeating in the hours that follow.

Instead, once per week, cut back to 30 minutes of cardio, and get into the weight room for the other 30. This will help you yield top-notch results.

This isn’t to say all cardio is bad. In moderation, intense interval sprint training can also be a great way to burn fat.

But setting the treadmill on 5 miles per hour and jogging for 40 minutes straight day after day, week after week, month after month? That’s doing very little to change how your body looks.

Mistake #3: Isolation Exercise Overload

If you do three different types of bicep exercises, three tricep exercises to match and, when leg day comes, you hit the inner and outer thigh machines, you have changes to make.

While some isolation work is fine, the vast majority of your program should be focused on compound exercises. Squats, deadlifts, shoulder presses, bench presses, bent over rows—these are the moves that will deliver the best results possible.

Mistake #4: Insufficient Rest Between Workouts

Finally, the last mistake is being just a little too motivated. If you hit the gym six or seven days a week, too much exercise could become a problem.

Remember, your body needs time to rest and recover every week. This is the time when you will actually grow stronger.

Workouts simply break down muscle tissue. If you don’t allow for enough rest between these sessions, your progress will spiral downwards.

Aim for at least one day completely off each week and 1-2 sessions done at a low intensity level. You’ll not only see better results, but you’ll also come back to each workout feeling fresher as well.

Are you making any of these errors? If you are, make sure you change your strategy so that you don’t get stuck in a progress rut.

Posted in Business | Tagged fitness, health, healthy, workout | Leave a comment

Top 10 Craziest Hotels in the World

Posted on February 26, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

Which one of these is your favorite ?

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Posted in Travel | Tagged crazy, hotels, Travel | Leave a comment

Exchange Investment Property ? (1031 Exchange)

Posted on February 25, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

House built with tax forms - Steve McAlister/Photographer's

1031 Exchanges Defer Taxes

The 1031 Exchange has been cited as the most powerful wealth building tool still available to taxpayers. It has been a major part of the success strategy of countless financial wizards and real estate gurus. Taking its name from Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, a tax-deferred exchange allows a taxpayer to sell income, investment or business property and replace it with a like-kind property.

Capital gains on the sale of this property are deferred or postponed as long as the IRS rules are meticulously followed. This is a wise tax and investment strategy as well as an estate planning tool. In theory, an investor could continue deferring capital gains on investment property until death, potentially avoiding them all together.

1984 Legislation Changed Some Aspects of 1031 Exchanges

In the early days of “like-kind exchanges,” the term was taken quite literally and often posed difficulties. For instance, if you owned a three-story brick apartment building that you wanted to sell through a 1031 exchange, you would have to find another three-story brick apartment building whose owner wanted to swap. Then the two of you would meet and the exchange would take place.

In the past, there were no time constraints on the exchange. The IRS demanded stricter controls on the process, which resulted in Congress passing in 1984 Section 1031(a). This legislation limited deferred exchanges, further defined “like-kind” property and established a time table for completing the exchange.

Qualifying for a 1031 Exchange

Real estate property held for business use or investment qualifies for a 1031 Exchange. A personal residence does not qualify and, generally, a fix-and-flip property also doesn’t qualify because it fits in the category of property being held for sale. Vacation or second homes, which are not held as rentals do not qualify for 1031 treatment; however, there is a usage test under Paragraph 280 of the tax code that may apply to those properties. A tax expert should be consulted in this case.

Land, which is under development, and property purchased for resale do not qualify for tax-deferred treatment. Stocks, bonds, notes, inventory property, and a beneficial interest in a partnership are not considered “like-kind” property for exchange purposes.

To qualify as a 1031 exchange today, the transaction must take the form of an “exchange” rather than just a sale of one property with the subsequent purchase of another. First, the property being sold and the new replacement property must both be held for investment purposes or for productive use in a trade or a business. They must be “like-kind” properties.

The following types of real estate swaps fit the requirement for a qualified exchange of “like-kind” property:

An office in exchange for a shopping center
A shopping center in exchange for land
Land in exchange for an industrial building
An apartment building in exchange for an industrial building
A single family rental in exchange for a tenants in common (TIC) property

Today, you could exchange that brick apartment building for raw land, a warehouse, or a small office building. However, there are strict time constraints which must be met or the 1031 Exchange will not be allowed and tax consequences will be imposed.

Prior to 1984, virtually all exchanges were done simultaneously with the closing and transfer of the sold property,(Relinquished Property), and the purchase of the new real estate, (Replacement Property). In addition to the problems encountered when trying to finding a suitable property, there were difficulties with the simultaneous transfer of titles as well as funds.

Posted in Business | Tagged exchange, like property, real estate | Leave a comment

MLS, Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com

Posted on February 24, 2015 by robertjrussellcompanies

5:17 am – Tuesday 2-24-2015

Recently there has been a lot of hype about the merging of Zillow and Trulia and integrating the MLS into some very popular websites. Here is the reaction of some Realtors from different cities all over the world (Taken from Inman.com)

Joshua Hunt · Denver, Colorado

This industry is about to go through major disruption!! AND I MEAN MAJOR

Everyone has been running around getting crazy over Trulia, Zillow, realtor.com and the competition for search…. I have news for everyone, search is now a commodity.
The change that is coming is not going to be another new fangled app the you can download or a new service for agents to help them “lead generate”. The last thing this industry needs is someone selling another whatchamawhozit to agents simply to fragment this mess even further and stick another hand in the ridiculously large pot of cash

What you will see over the next 3-5 years is a true focus on service provided to the consumer in a very “new” way….

Mark my words… This will be the fastest tipping industry in history!

Reply · Like · 8 · Follow Post · 12 hours ago
James Stanczak · Top Commenter · Texas Agency at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene The Woodlands

I agree, that goes with industries across the board. Everywhere.

Reply · Like · 11 hours ago

Brian Talley · Top Commenter · Austin, Texas

What is the major disruption?

Reply · Like · 11 hours ago

James Stanczak · Top Commenter · Texas Agency at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene The Woodlands

Brian Talley financial. Just for 2200 views on Zillow, in a small market it will cost me $290 mo. The costs are so expansive for agents, it seems never ending. This goes for all forms of small business. Small businesses are under attack financially across the board by big multi million dollar businesses. Realtors are no exception…

Reply · Like · 10 hours ago
Demon Of Marketing

A thought on BRANDS, and correct me if I am wrong. I believe it was the 2013 NAR survey asking buyers what the important qualifications of their broker was for determining whether to hire them or not. Only 3% stated an affiliation with any particular company. Therefore, if the buyers don’t care about brand, then sellers do not need to concern themselves with brand. If the house is great and in a hot area, the seller (or broker) could write “for sale” on a paper-plate and post it in the ground with a popsicle stick, and the buyers would still buy it.

Reply · Like · 6 · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
Marc Davison · Follow · Top Commenter · Partner at 1000watt Consulting · 1,311 followers

Demon,

That’s often occurred to me and not to debate you but more to lend context, survey results are all guided by the questions and can easily produce completely different responses based on what is being asked and how the questions are phrased.

My findings (based on how I scripted the questions) is that brand can and does matter.

Examples:

Luxury.
The Sotheby’s brand has huge mind share and is often contacted by sellers who are not otherwise represented. In many markets where Sotheby’s does not have a presence there are a host of independent brokerages who are immediately associated with luxury – Michael Saunders in Sarasota, Turpin in Central Jersey, etc., who regularly receive consumer requests for services. In these places, brand matters.

Corporate relocation:
Given my work with many of the brokerages associat… See More

Reply · Like · 2 · 12 hours ago

Demon Of Marketing

Mr. Davidson No debate? Feels more like a duel and I’m staring down both barrels 🙂

Good points. I guess my concern was the typical yearly posturing by the franchises with images (not to be confused with identities as you demonstrated above) of stuff with no benefit to the sellers and buyers–you know the “we’re bigger, faster, better” slogans… And let’s face it, there’s a lot of that presented by franchises in the marketplace–mostly on TV it seems.

The first franchise to kick ZG or R.com in the teeth by offering a vastly superior AVM or search tools not based on bedroom count and puts some fear in the portals will gain my full respect. With 43% of buyers finding the home they actually purchase all by themselves on the internet, either the franchises will step it up, dare I say innovate, or their relevance in the market will melt away.

Oh, yea, I know what you mean on bias and error in surveys, particularly NARs. I scrape for stuff having some kind of non-skewed potential as best I can. Thanks for your response.

Reply · Like · 10 hours ago

James Stanczak · Top Commenter · Texas Agency at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene The Woodlands

Big multi million/billion dollar corporations destroying Small businesses. Realtors are not exception. Same thing happened to Mom and pop music stores restaurants etc…

Reply · Like · 10 hours ago
Paul Johnston · University of Oregon

These companies are not in the real estate business. They are in the real estate AGENT business. Keller understands this. Do the rest?

Reply · Like · 3 · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
Teresa Fisher Boardman · Follow · Top Commenter · Realtor Saint Paul Home Realty at Self-Employed · 157 followers

The company with the most agents wins the brand war and when they do the rest of us will just keep selling real estate which is what we are doing now. We do care who wins but not enough to give up our independence and join them.

Reply · Like · 2 · Follow Post · 11 hours ago
Tom Horvath · Top Commenter · Skyline Senior High

I’m not sure if this is up to date but last I heard 81% of agents work for independent offices. While large brands have buying power and distinct cultures that can help agents on their path to success, an experienced agent in an indie office need not fear the giants. Why? Because even at the big firms agents are independent contractors competing against each other. The indie agent who builds and maintains working relationships with other agents is at no disadvantage by being an indie, AND, the MLS is the great equalizer for brokerages large and small…its a business where every agent is part of a huge team of agents cooperating to do deals, irrespective of brand. I think experience, track record, success and proven sales ability can all overcome brand in a selling pitch. It’s never been about what a company can do for a buyer or seller, its always been about what the agent can do. Btw, technology will be integral to future success and small and nimble indies can adapt faster than the bigger platforms. With resources like RPR (which is pretty amazing) Realtors get great tools as part of their NAR dues which allows indies to compete with the big budget brands. As more and more lower cost tools are introduced it will allow smaller firms to compete more and better with the big firms.

Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · Edited · 13 hours ago
Bob Miglioratti · Broker/Partner at RE/MAX Plus

Brands matter to agents…more than ever in my opinion. If a broker cannot deliver the latest, best software and equipment situated in a good looking environment managed by competent, experienced leaders, they will feel that they are not getting a bang for the 20-30-40% that is the broker’s share of a fee. One can no longer expect that the MLS is enough to get and retain business. The public wants the agents who can deliver from a wide array of services…..many of which they cannot afford on their own. Agents want fair commission splits to insure the ability to acquire leads. Clients wants agent who are connected. Connected to a network that accepts and delivers quality leads, connected to efficient communications systems, connected to a brand that has a wide range of acceptance, etc
Of course the public chooses agents but agents need tools and the ability to use them to deliver! And agents are demanding higher splits for higher production. Name brands deliver support services. The day of the boutique office is about to be end.

Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
Maine Home Connection

So, small companies cannot provide these services…..really?

Reply · Like · 11 hours ago

Lance R King · CEO & Founder at King Realty Group

As the owner of a boutique firm in San Francisco, I couldn’t disagree more. What matters is what services you offer, what your connections are to off market properties are, and your reputation in the agent community. We routinely get offers accepted just because it’s coming from our company because other agents know we do things the right way, and often those offers aren’t even the highest priced. Additionally, smaller firms frequently offer a higher level of service because they get more attention, and at our firm since we work as a team they are never going to miss out on a property or getting an offer because their agent was out of town.

Reply · Like · 1 · 11 hours ago

Maine Home Connection

Lance R King you are so right! The large agencies are filled with agents who hardly do any business – how is that a benefit to the client? I believe that “brand” can mean many things – and just being “small” does not mean that your brand cannot compete. In local markets many small companies carry much more weight than large franchise organizations, when it comes to agent skills and experience.

Reply · Like · 1 · 10 hours ago
Kenneth Jenny · Top Commenter

Remember this important point. Homes for sale all come with a brand (Indy or other), a broker (franchised or not), an office (somewhere) and an agent. In search the only product that is being searched is the property and NOTHING else. So we’re all consumers. Would you as a consumer search homes by brand or any other of the other categories of industry branding noted above? Who would type in “show me all the Coldwell Banker listings”? Answer. No one of course. So as it relates to the value of brands today in real estate, I rest my case.

Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · 12 hours ago
Matt Templeton · Follow · Real Estate Broker at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

Great article, Brad. Brands matter because of what they provide to the broker not necessarily what the consumer thinks about it. There are consumers that care though.

Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
John J Arquette · Owner at Broker/Owner of John Arquette Properties

The main goal of any franchise is to sell more franchises which they do by leveraging their own agents personal brand and SOI. The most powerful brand in real estate is the agents name.

Reply · Like · 1 · Follow Post · 13 hours ago
James Stanczak · Top Commenter · Texas Agency at Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene The Woodlands

Uggg I actually like Zillow. Trulia not so much. Existing-home sales slow to 9-month low in January…..Still, Brand wars, well ….yeah…so we have all the corporate and currency wars going on too, might as well have broker and brand wars. Sesh. Loop.net, Realtor.org, .. its all going to make things more complicated for us realtors in the long run. I honestly hope for the best though. The current business cycle is 67-month-old, prompting worries that it is soon to expire and lead to a recession or depression. But given that the U.S. economy is still performing at below potential and the typical signs of imbalances… Who knows what will happen in the markets, they make absolutely no sense to me economically what-so-ever, at this point predictions are about as good as $3 dollar bills.

Reply · Like · Follow Post · Edited · 11 hours ago
Sue Christoph Thiel · Top Commenter

The brand no longer matters to a consumer, they just want to be able to search for homes, view them and buy it quickly or list their home and get it sold as fast as possible. The agent who finds out how to do this quickly for their clients will be the winner , and it won’t matter the brokerage. BUT agents may become extinct once there is another way to buy and sell homes without using and having to pay for an agent, which may come at some point in the future. I’ve already read many blogs where consumers say they are tired of paying the 6% on the sellers side and the buyer’s agent is becoming irrelevant to the process as they can find a home online and don’t need someone running them around-they just need someone to let them into the door, which could be replaced with video technology…

Reply · Like · Follow Post · 14 hours ago
Linda DeVlieg · Top Commenter · Associate Broker at Coldwell Banker Legacy

In my market, the real estate wars are much like West Side Story….and the customer repeatedly could care less – with the small number who have a brand recognition in their memory. The brokers run around waiving their flags and acting like fraternity/sorority members….as if that is what makes an individual broker succeed. Meanwhile somehow we end up selling a house or two.

Reply · Like · Follow Post · 8 hours ago
Cindy Knight · Follow · Owner/Realtor at Realty TECS

Glad to change the subject because I put enough money in the jar today. In the 80’s and 90’s your brand made a difference but today the consumer whats to know WIIFM not how great thou art or how big you are. As long as they’re getting great local service they’ll work with you. In late 2013 we dropped our franchise and didn’t miss a beat coming out of 2014 with our beat year ever.

Reply · Like · Follow Post ·