RE/MAX real estate
Office Newsletter - Week of July 1st Edition
Hey Team -
Summer is in full swing as we mark the beginning of July. Like many of you, I plan to spend this week celebrating our nation’s birthday with family and friends. The Fourth of July just doesn’t seem complete without picnics, parades, fireworks and Open Houses ?!?!?
As much as we each enjoy the traditions, Independence Day is, most of all, an opportunity to reflect on the true meaning of our citizenship. The Declaration of Independence makes it clear. To be American is about much more than the place we call home. It’s a deeply felt commitment to higher principles: liberty, equality, opportunity and self-governance.
As professional real estate agents, we serve as ambassadors of our townships, communities and neighborhoods - you are America. It’s work that matters a great deal to those pursuing the American dream of home ownership. Thanks for your professionalism and dedication.
Of course, a very special thanks to those serving in harms way. I wish you all a Happy Fourth of July!
Gods speed,
Dave
All Offices Will Be Closed Thursday, July 4th!
Ninja Mastermind Session
This event is open to members, sponsors, and affiliates of the Greater Lehigh Valley REALTORS®. No need to register! Appetizers and a cash bar will be available. The first 100 members to arrive will receive a free drink ticket, courtesy of the Young Professionals Network (YPN).
A revised Agreement of Sale (Form ASR) will be available for use as of July 1, 2019.
The only substantive change to its content is in Paragraph 8(I), which relates to FHA and VA financing. For an application for 203(k) financing to be approved, the lender must make sure that the contract for the sale of the property contains a statement indicating that the buyer is willing to make any and all repairs to the property that the lender requires. Since that statement was missing, a lender would have to provide an addendum in order to comply with underwriters’ guidelines; now it will be possible for the transaction to proceed without needing an additional form (but that’s not a guarantee). The guidelines for consumers and members have been updated accordingly.
What you will not see is a change to Paragraphs 13 or 14 of the agreement from the additions made in January. The revisions to those paragraphs were not done on a whim and, after a year or so of debate between members at the task force, feedback panel and committee levels, it was decided that adoption of the new language would be in the best interest of our members. Understanding the frustration that comes with a change of practice, in January, the committee promised to revisit the issue at their next meeting. Members and staff actively solicited feedback between meetings, but all indications were that business continued as usual.
Success Habit #3: 2 Personal Notes a day.
You have two choices:
1. Hurry up and get your notes done so you can check them off the list or,
2. Really make a difference with your notes.
This is one of those key skills that you can use to add value, get leads, and enjoy
NOT BUYING STUFF!! (From last week)
FInd someone in your life who rarely gets positive feedback and give it to them in a personal note.
Thought of the week: Simple acts of thoughtful compliments are huge!
3 Ways to Up Your Productivity This Weekend
As a real estate agent, finding ways to boost productivity and take advantage of downtime you have during the week can mean the difference between a hectic and busy, yet well-organized schedule. The weekend provides the perfect time to handle some of the more simple tasks that, if taken care of now, will make the rest of the week more manageable.
From organizing your emails to scheduling out your week, here are three tasks you can handle this weekend that’ll boost your productivity:
Plan Your Week
As with all the tasks on this list, this is something that you can just jump right into. Get out your planner or pull up your Google Calendar and get to organizing your week. Planning out your week should take you no more than an hour and, since it’s the weekend, it’s okay to avoid particularly demanding tasks.
Organize Your Inbox
By organizing your work emails before Monday, you eliminate a job that can eat up a big chunk of your morning that you could be spending following up with leads and closing deals. Go through all your unread emails now and see what you can delete and what is a priority to respond to.
Respond to Lingering Voicemails
By deleting lingering voicemails and responding to those that you still need to attend to, you handle another time-eating task that is usually put off until Monday. If you respond to your voicemails or take care of the other jobs on this list, you’ll help yourself ease into the week and boost productivity, as well.
Agents, how are you utilizing your weekends to handle some real estate-related jobs?
5 Keys for Building a Successful Real Estate Business
The Bishop Real Estate Group, which is associated with RE/MAX Gold has been one of the top-producing teams in California’s Sacramento Valley for more than a decade. Read Kendra Bishop’s top tips and build your own thriving business.
1. Find what about real estate inspires you
and create your lane – it could be a certain region, relocation, luxury, bank-owned, investors, over-55 communities, buyers, sellers, whatever. Find your niche and grow your business from there. If you have passion for what you do, you will be wildly successful.
2. Treat your business like a business
You need a strategy for six major areas:
– Financial: sales goals, marketing goals, P&L, operating expenses, etc.
– Marketing/Advertising: budget, image advertising vs. client advertising, print media strategy, online strategy, etc.
– Client Database Management: What is your tracking mechanism? What are your processes for keeping your clients organized?
– Client Communication: When, how, how often?
– Agent Database: In your market, in feeder markets, what is your reputation?
– Marketing Collateral: What do you have for listing presentations, buyer presentations, preferred vendor list, relocation presentations, etc.?
3. Treat clients how you want to be treated
Most real estate is bought or sold during highly emotional times (marriage, divorce, job loss, relocation, loss of family member, etc). Take the time to know your client’s story. Become a part of it in a positive way.
4. Re-invest and re-invent
Stay educated. Real estate is changing daily. Always, always stay in the know. And don’t be afraid to re-invent yourself. Your market is changing, so change with it. Stay relevant.
Repeat
5. Every story, every transaction, every day is different, but if you keep repeating the core, critical principles while staying open to change as the market changes, you will create a thriving, successful business!
Read more about the Bishop Real Estate Group’s approach to closing more transactions.
The Better Choice
Life is all about choices. The fact is, regardless of the circumstances you were born into better choices result in a better life.
While success is a relative term the most successful people simply made better choices to get there. Your own level of success is clearly impacted by your starting point in life. If you’ve added on to whatever you started with then you’ve experienced at least some measure of success in your life. That is most likely due in part to the choices you’ve made in life.
But here’s a choice many people don’t too often consider…it’s the choice to be better everyday. It’s the conscious choice that says today I will do something to be better than I was yesterday.
What did you do today to better yourself? What are you planning to do tomorrow? What about yesterday? How about the day before that or the day before that? How many days has it been since you could specifically say what action you took, intentionally, to improve one area of your life?
Even if it’s reading one page from a book it can help. Even a 5 minute walk is better than no walk. Skipping that coffee stop on the way to work a couple of days a week could have a significant impact on your overall financial well-being.
Choices that look little can turn out to be huge.
One choice, even a small choice, to take action each day to improve yourself could add up to a gigantically better life and ultimately huge success.
So start making that choice this very day. It’s the choice I call the better choice because it’s all about being better, even just a little better, today than you were yesterday. When you make that choice today then tomorrow will be better because of it.
Hey Team -
But, as one door closes, another opens. For those who utilized her services or if in need of utility transfer assistance, for the interim please direct all requests to:
Jackie Karmilowicz
Business Development Manager
NRG NE Realtor Channel
Office: 267-295-5836
Personal mobile: 717-875-7690
Jackie.karmilowicz@nrg.com
https://www.nrghomepower.com/energy-choice/energy-solutions/concierge/
We will have more information at the next Team Collaboration. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
June 2019 Team Collaboration
Tasks and Task Plans in the booj Platform
Staying organized is about to become a lot easier.
Tasks and Task Plans, a highly anticipated component of the booj CRM, will provide brokers and agents with a systemized approach for staying on top of transactions and day-to-day action items – and help ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Here are a few Tasks and Task Plan features to look forward to when the booj platform launches later this summer.
Three different types of Tasks are available: Contact/Lead, Deal and Personal. Tasks Plans, which consist of multiple tasks, can be assigned to a Contact/Lead or a Deal.
Contact/Lead Tasks – You can assign individual Tasks or a Task Plan for contacting and connecting with potential buyers and sellers, such as through email drip campaigns or follow-up phone calls.
Deal Tasks – This is where you assign Tasks or a Task Plan for your active deals; you can also assign a specific series of tasks for individual stages of a deal. This functionality works in conjunction with the CRM Deal Pipeline.
Personal Tasks – Stay on top of your personal to-do list. Assign tasks or reminders for items such as ordering business cards, updating your website or organizing your day outside of the office.
Task List View
Conveniently, within the list view, you can access all your open tasks and apply filters and add/edit columns to sort out the information you want. So, for example, if you have a half-hour between showings to make some phone calls, you can separate out all your “phone call” tasks – to easily view them as a group.
Auto Task Plans
Auto Task Plans enable you to streamline the process of setting up Task Plans. By assigning “if/then” rules, you can automatically designate a Task Plan to certain situations. For example, if a house goes under “pending status” you can automatically assign the Task Plan for for setting up an inspection, appraisal and taking the deal to close.
For more information about Tasks and Task Lists, RE/MAX Affiliates can log in to RE/MAX University to watch an overview video.
July Content Ideas for Your Blog, Social Channel, and your database
Nothing can make an impact and help grow your business like fresh, unique, local content. However, it can be hard to come up with new content ideas each month. Instead of spending hours trying to come up with new topics for your social channels and blog, check back each month for a list of ideas you can expand upon. Find July’s topics below to get started!
*Tip: Don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s better to use two or three social sites really well than nine or ten poorly.
Holidays and Occasions
Some of the many month-long observances happening in July include Anti-Boredom Month, Hot Dog Month, Ice Cream Month, and Picnic Month. Here are some other things happening this July and some content ideas you can create around them.
- Backyard BBQ guide
- Firework safety tips or local firework displays
- Choosing a watermelon tips
- Lunch venues with quick service
- Ask your followers what the best part of their job is
- Signs you might be a workaholic list
The Council designates July as National Hot Dog Month; National Hot Dog Day varies year to year – in 2019 it falls on Wednesday, July 17 – based on when the North American Meat Institute hosts its annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill.
National Ice Cream Month – July 21st
As the summer reaches peak temperatures in July, Americans celebrate National Ice Cream Month as a way to cool off and enjoy the nation’s favorite frozen treat with friends and family. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. National Ice Cream Day will be Sunday, July 21.
National Picnic Month – July 21st
July is National Picnic month and summer picnics are a great way to enjoy the outdoors and each other's company.
General Topics
Holiday content is great, but be sure to mix in plenty of general-interest topics to keep your content well rounded and to appeal to anyone in your audience who isn’t actively engaged in real estate at the moment.
- Activities for local retirees
- Smart home systems
- How to install a doorbell
- List of places offering birthday freebies
- DIY mosquito treatment
- Your thoughts on a summer blockbuster
- Emergency preparedness checklist
- Businesses with “lock-in” events for kids
Real Estate
Real estate topics shouldn’t be your entire content strategy, but they do play an important part in your blog and social networks. Some topics that may appeal to your audience include:
- Common pre-close roadblocks
- The affordability of buying over renting
- Home buyer checklist
- Buying a house with a HOA pros and cons
- Millennial housing stats
- DIY summer staging tips
We hope some of these ideas help you reach your content-creation and social media goals. If you need more help or just don’t have the time to build your online presence, feel free to contact the Marketing Department
Wanda Hoffman
Sherrie Brunetti
Joe Ruane
Kevin Teller
Amber Minotti
Phil Edmiston
Andrew Dilg
Years with RE/MAX real estate: 8
Years in Real Estate: 8
Trese Merkel
7/19/2019
Years with RE/MAX real estate: 3
Years in Real Estate: 3
Tyla Jackson
7/23/2019
Years with RE/MAX real estate: 1
Years in Real Estate: 16
RE/MAX real estate
Let us know about your open house TODAY!
Email: joel@LehighValleyHomes.com
Website: www.LehighValleyHome.com
Location: 3120 Hamilton Boulevard, Allentown, PA, United States
Phone: 610-770-9000
Facebook: Facebook.com/LehighValleyHome
Twitter: @jdiaz01