New Listings:
188853 - Details: 7980 TWO MILE RD, IRVINGTON, AL - $79,900 - Brandy Lutz
188892 - Details: 6529 COUNTY ROAD 22, EVERGREEN, AL - $299,000 - Libby Davis

Closings:
2355 Sequoia Trail; ReMax/Brandi Cook; $193,000
5058 Chauntecleer Ct; Julie Martin/Katie Baluyut; $124,900

Accepted Sales
notta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AGENTS NEED TO GET TO WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our change in format on our website should happen within the next 5-7 days. For progress go to http://juliemartin4.point2agent.com.

When talking to sellers it is important to explain to them that we strongely believe that the best marketing is through the internet and MLS. I am explaining to sellers that we have been tracking our sales and our buyers are coming from two sources – other MLS agents and the internet. I don't think it is the best use of our resources to advertise in the paper and magazines, when that is simply not where our sales are coming from. We have had better attendance at our open houses since we started advertising on the internet, instead of in the paper. I have not had a single open house where I have not had at least one person tell me that they came because they saw the property on the MLS. I never got that kind of response from the newspaper.

So, just so everyone is clear. I am re-directing the funds I was investing in magazine and newspaper ads to internet marketing. It isn't free and I do pay the office staff for the input, but I think we will see much better results from it. Through our new site, we will have much better lead management.

Please note: I will not be able to forward you a lead from the site if you have not sent your bio and picture to Kay to add to the site.

So in summary, we are concentrating on doing a fabulous ad on the MLS – from day one. A great write up. Lots of good pictures. All the blanks filled in. We are not putting listings on the MLS until we have all of this, so that when the property goes out to everyone’s prospects automatically the listings looks great.

When the listings are put on the MLS they are also sent to:
MobileRealtor.com
GulfCoastMLS.com
Realtor.com
AlabamaAlive.com
Homes.com
Immobel - a multi-lingual real state site

With the new internet service our properties will go on hundreds of NLS agent’s sites around our area and the listings will also go on:

YahooRealEstate
Point2Homes.com
LiveDeal.com
HotPads.com
CyberHomes.com
SecondSpace.com which includes www.LandWatch.com and www.ResortScape.com
FrontDoor.com – powered by HGTV
Trulia.com
HomeFinder.com
Vast.com
CLRSearch.com
PCSRealty.net – a Virtual Real Estate Company
VideoHomes.com
Home Hippo – which is multilingual
HouseLocator.com
EveryMove.com
Unique Global Estates – for properties over $Million
Reamf.com – Real Estate and Mortgage Finder
Kazork
VivaReal.us
HomesZ.com
BeatYouThere.com
Zillow.com
GoogleBase
Oodle – a search engine for local classified ads
NICHE properties Network – a family of websites centered around lifestyles, like www.fairwayproperties.com for golf course living.

Also agents need to manually add their listings to www.craigslist.com and
to TheRealEstateBook.com, so the properties can also be found on:
LivingChoices.com
RealEstateBook.com
BobVilla.com
Homescape

The 54th Annual Real Estate Salesmanship and Education Conference at The University of Alabama was great. I attended the best RECAD class I have ever attended! The new Risk Management Class was taught by Jim Lawrence, who also wrote the book. The only thing wrong with it was that it was not long enough. Seriously, it could have been a 8 hour class and it would have been interesting the entire eight hours. Oh the things we can do that are risky! I also attended a class where the first part was talking about our economy, how the real estate market looks in Alabama and what national things are affecting our markets. The second half of the class was talking about marketing. The most interesting thing I learned there was that people my age (baby boomers) think they know what is best for everyone and people born after 1/1/78 don't really want to work 24/7! I don't understand that, but it could be useful to know. Meanwhile Becca, (who was born after 1/1/78, and according to the experts wants to stop working when she gets off work) is typing us two new forms tonight from my risk management book that we will be going over during sales meeting.

Sales Meeting - February 10, 2009

Accepted Offers:
6230 Deerfield - Lee/Lee
12781 Main St. - Lee/Remax

Closings:
61 Hallet - Julie/Lori $113,900

Anouncements:

I need everyone's bio and pictures this week for the new website I am working on. Right now it can be found at www.juliemartin4.point2realty.com. All comments/suggestions are welcome.

We need afternoon Duty Agents. Let me know when you can be available. We get lots of great sales call in the afternoon around here.

Everyone needs to try and get their computers networked to the copier in the work room.

I will be in Tuscaloosa Wednesday-Friday for the 54th Annual Real Estate Conference. Wednesday I will be in a RECAD classes where Dual Agency vs. Transaction Brokerage is the major focus. Thursday morning is the Keynote Address - Demographic Change and The Future of the Real Estate Business. Thursday afternoon is will be a part of the Top Producers Panel. Friday morning after the new Risk Management class I will be heading home with 6 hours of CE and interesting legal information to share with everyone next week.

February 22-28 is the 2009 National Real Estate Cyber Convention & Exposition. Everyone should sign up at www.CyberConventions.com/RealEstate. It's FREE!! There are over 40 speakers including some of my favorites, Roger Butcher, Mollie Wasserman, Allen Hainge, Matthew Ferrara, & Michael Russer. Here's the 2009 Speaker Lineup

Click Name for Bio / Click Title for Presentation Summary

Bill Barrett
"Increase Your Business–Decrease Your Stress!"
Roger Butcher
"Pocket Tall Profits from Short Sales!"
Karen Deis
"Finding Home Buyer Gold in Apartment Complexes"
Gary David Hall
"Choosing Real Estate Specific Contact Management or CRM Solution"
Jerry Rossi
"Grow Up in a Down Market!"
Mollie Wasserman
"Stop Working for FREE! The New Real Estate Consulting Model"
Chad Weber
"How to Generate a Flood of Buyers (Even in a Down Market) "
Margot Weinstein
"Top Ten Agent Marketing Mistakes"
Dirk Zeller
"10 Tips for Working With Buyers!"
Sherry Chris
"Networking On-Line and Off-Line!"
Mike Cutlip
"Build Your Income with Social Networking!"
Randy Eagar
"Need For Feeds"
Bill French
"Easy Blogging Techniques For a Torrent of Commissions"
Allen Hainge
"Soar with the Cyber Stars!"
Rob Levy
"In-the-Trenches Agent Tips!"
Alex Mandossian
"Harnessing the Power of Easy Web Meetings "
Justin McCarthy
"Using Google to Boost Your Real Estate Sales"
Maggie McCullough
"All the Free Demographic and Neighborhood Data You Need"
Judy McCutchin
"Power Broker E-Secrets!"
Dan Gooder Richard
"Rainmaker Mar-Ka-Ching!"
Susan Sweeney
"Your E-Formula for Real Estate Success!"
Jack Teems
"Exciting, Neat Net Tricks!"
Jennifer Allan
"Selling to Your Sphere of Influence: No Sales Pitch Required!"
Dave Beson
"Three Big Myths of Real Estate Marketing"
Rich Chadwick
"How To Turn Video Into Commission Gold!"
Howie Jacobson
"Drive'em Home with AdWords!"
Stefan Lubinski
"Explode Real Estate Sales with Video Marketing"
Nancy Michaels
"How to Boost Your Business with an E-Zine! "
Raleigh R. Pinskey
"Get ‘Em With Your 8-Second Media Hook!"
Bernice Ross
"Web & Video Tips to Attract Buyers and Sellers "
Dustin Gellman
"Tech Tips to Boost Your Commercial Sales!"
Jim Gillespie
"How to Make Big Money in a Difficult Commercial Market"
Dr. Mark Levine
"Real Estate Faux Pas—Killing your Business with Cultural Boo Boos"
John M. Peckham III
"How Anyone Can Sell Income Property On-line"
Robert Ringer
"Winning Through Intimidation"
Colleen Sheridan
"How to Turn Small Deals into Big Commissions!"
Edward S. Smith
"Real Estate Investment Basics – All About Numbers"
Rochelle Stone
"Real Estate Investing; Optimizing Today's Real Estate Market"

Sales Meeting - February 3, 2009

New Listings:
188171 - Details: 510 VALLEY RD, CHICKASAW, AL - $121,000 Lori Phelps
188186 - Details: 9170 BRYANT ST, BAYOU LA BATRE, AL - $99,000 - Joe Winans

Accepted Sales:
1018 Woodside Ct; Mary/Weichert
9288 McFarland Way; Norman RE/Becca-Hailey

Closings:
115 Lafayette Street; Brandy/Bay Area Properties

Tip for the week:

Taking pictures of homes with lots of glass and all of the lights turned on at night from the outside can give you a dramatic presentation.
In the summer 5pm is known as the golden hour. That is when the sun is low and colors are more vibrant than at noon where colors are often washed out. - by Downtown Portland Real Estate Broker~Herb Hamilton (RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors)

This was a reply to this blog: Click here for the entire article and comments on ActiveRain.