Real Estate Brokerage of the Future

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH---THE TOUGH TAKE VACATIONS

Julie Jones — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:27:07 -0700

South Florida tourism is taking a pro-active approach to attracting visitors to our tropical paradise. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airports, entertainment arenas and cruise lines have all taken steps to make the idea of vacationing here even sweeter. more...

The Real Estate Agent of the Future

Buyers Beware of Buying the Deal and not the Residence . . .

Julie Jones — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:32:43 -0700

At the recent Luxury Real Estate conference I attended in Las Vegas many of the top brokers mentioned their concern that some buyers are so motivated by the deal that they are missing purchasing their first choice residence in the pursuit of the best price! more...

The Real Estate Agent of the Future

FORT LAUDERDALE: THE LEAN, GREEN SUNSHINE MACHINE

Julie Jones — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:35:21 -0700

A previous blog of mine cited the U.S. Department of Energy in saying that Floridians spend about 20% less per person on energy than any other state in the country. One reader wondered why.

I offered an immediate response, but the question got me thinking. Why is Florida so energy conscious? I conducted some research on my sunny city of Fort Lauderdale and found the simple answer in the local Sunday paper: People actually care.
There was an entire section dedicated to actively going Green in our city. Here are a few points I found. more...

Professional Real Estate Investors

ARE YOUR BUYERS THANKING YOU?

Julie Jones — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:31:46 -0700

I was most interested to catch up with one of my previous buyers this week, and was pleasantly surprised to hear they were grateful for the purchase they made in 2007. When this delightful couple acquired their beautiful deepwater residence two years ago, they negotiated hard for the purchase price. This particular buyer is a venture capitalist, extremely thorough in his approach to real estate investing and accurately predicted the market downturn. more...

Real Estate Marketing

THE HIGHEST PAID EMPLOYEE

Julie Jones — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:44:38 -0700

In this market where both buyers and sellers are challenged by uncertainty and frustration levels rise rapidly to the surface, I think it is critical to remember one very important fact in terms of buyer and seller perceptions: As real estate professionals, we are their highest paid employee.

Buyers and sellers share the desire to exchange real estate. In my estimation, with a potential $30,000 pay-check for every million transacted, the buyer or seller deserves a white-gloved service. more...

Real Estate Marketing

DO UNUSUAL TIMES CALL FOR EXTRAORDINARY ENERGY?

Julie Jones — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:32:20 -0800

Absolutely. A potential seller I met with last week commented, “I want a broker who is going to bring energy to marketing my house and not just collect another listing.”

This struck me as profoundly thought-provoking, especially in light of the President’s recent speech. Bringing a high level of personal energy to business is challenging at the moment, especially since every American must draw on personal, extraordinary energy to help rebuild their corner of America. more...

Real Estate Marketing

RETURN OF THE "BACK-UP" CONTRACT

Julie Jones — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:44:25 -0800

After a week full of showings, emails, telephone conversations and meetings on my luxury inventory I found a whole new attitude surfacing. The re-emergence of a back-up contract is an activity I am actively encouraging among the sellers and buyers with whom I work on a daily basis! more...

Real Estate Marketing

THE POWER OF YES

Julie Jones — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 13:09:48 -0800

Yes.

Such a little word, but oh so powerful.

During the course of the day our spoken and written dialogues contain so many yes and no expressions. I was thinking the other day how much more energy and negativity is attached to, “No” when sometimes, “Yes, let me look into that”, would open so many more doors and influence attitudes positively. more...

Real Estate Marketing

REAL ESTATE AND PUBLIC AWARENESS: A VERY GOOD THING

Julie Jones — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 14:22:37 -0800

Sometimes we need a boost in our real estate marketing endeavors. The National Association of Realtors offers an excellent avenue for re-charging your information batteries or directing potential buyers to a site to cement their commitment to the real estate process. The resource? NAR’s public awareness website, HousingMarketFacts.com. more...

Real Estate Marketing

LIFE, CONFIDENCE AND THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

Julie Jones — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 10:31:53 -0800

My London colleague, Nick Churton, with Mayfair International, has posted another optimistic discussion on his blog, London Calling. With permission, I have re-blogged it here for your enjoyment.

LIFE, CONFIDENCE AND THE REAL ESTATE MARKET

The start of this fresh year is a good time to reflect on the turbulent months behind us in the real estate market, and to look ahead. It is surprising how similar the US real estate market is to that of many European countries right now. But perhaps this year we ought to think twice about trying to second-guess the future. more...

Real Estate Brokerage of the Future

AGENTS and CAPITAL...where's the value? A website just isn't enough!!!!

GTOMILLION — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:36:38 -0800

Well, these are the best of times.....and then there's NOW! I recently joined a group of our agents in a “Building Social Capital” workshop that we hosted at our training center. Our agents were literally drawing pictures that depicted the inter-connections between their spheres of influence and learning how to grow the inter-connections between people they know who don’t know each other. If it’s a “small world after all”, agents of the future need to learn how to make these connections and more. more...

The Real Estate Agent of the Future

An Apple store for real estate?

RealEstateZebra — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:00:37 -0800

Innman reader Sean O'Toole left a very interesting comment on a recent Inman article that lays out his vision for what a bricks and mortar real estate office could be. more...

Real Estate Brokerage of the Future

Broker/Owner Relevance in the New Real Estate Economy

REALonomics — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:23:32 -0800

Owners are in the economic vice. They personally guarantee most of the economics behind local real estate companies that service consumers and provide services for agents.

In the current climate and with the changes taking place in the industry, can traditional Broker/Owners maintain their relevance in the New Real Estate Economy or, will they be squeezed out in favor of electronic supervision of agents and their transactions?

Can Broker/Owners create the necessary margins to sustain the ROI and long term profit that is necessary to re-engineer their models? more...