Realty One Group now a franchisor

California broker Barbara Baker is first to affiliate with company

BY PAUL HAGEY, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 Inman News®

Real estate brokerage Realty One Group Inc. has entered the franchising business with Temecula, Calif.-based broker Barbara Baker affiliating with the company as Realty One Group Southwest.
Currently, Realty One Group Southwest has between 15 and 20 agents, and expects to grow to between 50 and 75 by year's end, Baker said.
Based in Las Vegas, Realty One Group operates 15 brokerage offices with more than 4,000 agents in Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.
In August, CEO Kuba Jewgieniew announced that the company would develop a franchise system as the next step in the company's plans to expand nationwide and become a publicly traded company.
With Baker on board, Realty One Group's new franchising arm, Irvine, Calif.-based Realty One Group Affiliates Inc., now has its first franchisee.

'Nudge' real estate marketing tool now incorporates photos

Version 2.0 of 1000watt app allows updates directly from Instagram

BY INMAN NEWS, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012.

Inman News®

Nudge, the Web-based app from real estate marketing firm 1000watt Consulting that allows real estate pros to create clear, straightforward ads in a short amount of time, now incorporates photos.
The app was designed to be a streamlined, simple real estate marketing alternative to the sometimes difficult-to-relate-to marketing reports full of text, charts and graphs, said 1000watt partner Marc Davison, who helped design the app.
With the release of Nudge 2.0, users can now update photos directly from Instagram, or from their desktop, and create straightforward ads akin to those from big-brand ads like Groupon, Davison said.
The first iteration of the app, released in April, had 10 clip art-like interactive images that users could modify to indicate broad market conditions such as whether inventory was up or down.
Users would adjust the art in its predetermined settings, give it a title, include some text (450-character max) and then send it out over email, embed it on their website or share it via social media.
Now, while retaining many of the app's former characteristics, Nudge allows real estate pros to add their own images and includes a streamlined design, Davison said. In a nutshell, he said, it's now become a marketing tool that allows users to create a marketing piece with "a nice image, simple text and a call to action."

"Marketing should have a soft touch," Davison said. "A Groupon comes every day for one cool thing," and Nudge makes it easy for real estate pros do to the same thing, he said.

Screen shot of part of a Nudge piece made by Fort Worth, Texas-based Fischer Real Estate Services. See the full version here.
"(N)udge makes digital marketing easier," wrote Jack Miller, the chief technology officer of the Austin, Texas, real estate firm The GoodLife Team, in a Facebook comment posted today. "We did some tests with it in the earlier version, and I'm very excited about the creative possibilities with it now with the photo tools. Cool stuff."
Nikki Beauchamp, an agent with Warburg Realty Partnership Ltd., indicated that she was excited by Nudge's ability to allow her to market differently than she usually does. "I like sharing my photos various places," she said in a Facebook comment today. "But very exciting to be able to use as a more general marketing touch other than 'here's new data.'"
1000watt charges individual agents $149 per year for access to platform. Brokerages, regardless of the number of agents they have, can purchase the service for a flat fee of $1,000 per month.

Counseling keeping homeowners in their homes

Study: Nearly 70 percent who sought counseling before becoming delinquent were current 18 months later

BY STEVE BERGSMAN, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012 Inman News®

Home sweet home image via Shutterstock.

Since the onset of Great Recession and the subsequent housing crisis, hundreds of thousands of homeowners have lost their residences.
However, there were also thousands of other homeowners who were close to the desperate edge but managed to make it through those trying times because they were counseled by professionals who steered them past the economic shoals.
While it looks like the worst is over for homeowners, there's still much trouble in paradise and organizations that do counseling have begun to pick up the pace.
In August, Fannie Mae announced it opened an extension of its Los Angeles Mortgage Help Center in the Inland Empire region to provide free education and counseling services to struggling California homeowners. Fannie Mae now has 12 Mortgage Help Centers around the country.

Meanwhile, earlier in the summer, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) launched a telephone counseling program aimed at helping homeowners in six states who are facing foreclosure.

3 things you should know about mortgage insurance

REThink Real Estate

BY TARA-NICHOLLE NELSON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012 Inman News®

Calculator image via Shutterstock.

Q: I'm trying to get a better understanding of private mortgage insurance (PMI). I understand the fundamentals and that it usually equals 1/2 percent-1 percent of the mortgage, but what I'm not sure about is how it is paid.
Is the PMI paid each year until you reach the 20 percent mortgage-to-value ratio? Can you elect to pay the PMI upfront if you do not want the cost of the policy to be included in your monthly mortgage payments?
If you are allowed to pay PMI upfront, instead of monthly, do you have to pay the full premium at the beginning of each year?
A: When you put less than 20 percent of the purchase price down on a home, your lender will charge you for the costs of placing a private mortgage insurance, or PMI, policy on your home loan. Though the borrower pays for it, the policy actually protects the lender in the event that the borrower defaults on the loan -- a risk that is statistically more likely to damage the lender's interests when there is little equity in the property.

Don't 'date' the real estate ingrate

How to spot would-be clients you should drop like a hot potato

BY ALISHA ALWAY BRAATZ, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012.

Inman News®

Date image via Shutterstock.

I recently heard a radio host reading a piece on the subject, "Who not to date -- ever." It was so funny, and right on, that I tried to Google it for my husband to read.

Turns out there are millions of results for that search term. I never did find the right one. But after reading through the first 10 or so entries, I concluded that trillions of people the world over hate a nag, a know-it-all, and a money-grubber.

The stereotypes were spot-on, and it got me thinking about our real estate clientele. Because, you have to admit, courting a client is a lot like dating -- minus the butterflies, romance and tequila shots.

We dedicate weekends to these people, buy them steak dinners and have their number on speed dial. We practice making small talk in the rearview mirror on the way to pick them up. We dress to impress. We wash the car. And we never pass gas or burp in front of them (I hope!).

5 ways to achieve top producer's mindset

The SLAM model for real estate success

BY BERNICE ROSS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2012 Inman News®

Vince Lombardi painting by Daniel A. Moore via Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

Editor's note: This is the last in a five-part series. See Part 1,Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Top performers in virtually all industries share one common trait: a positive mindset. You can have the best systems, and understand how to apply leverage and attraction, but it is your mindset that will ultimately make or break your success.

How to attract higher-quality buyer, seller clients

The SLAM model for real estate success

BY BERNICE ROSS, MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2012 Inman News®

Contemplation image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is Part 4 in a five-part series. See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Would you like to double your income without doubling your work? Once you have mastered systems and leverage in the SLAM (systems, leverage, attraction, mindset) model, increasing your income shifts to being more heavily influenced by factors outside real estate.

Have you ever noticed that when you plan an extended vacation your business suddenly picks up? The principles of attraction explain why this is the case. Rather than allowing this system to work haphazardly in your business, being intentional about its use can produce amazing results. The six steps described below are the foundation for attracting the real estate business that you have always dreamed of having.

Real estate should embrace 'the visual Web'

Websites should be responsive, but not at the expense of design

BY TOM FLANAGAN, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012.

Inman News®

Screen shot of ERA.com home page.

Responsive design and the visual Web are two trends gaining traction on the Web. They are vastly different approaches, but both of these styles are having an effect on our desktop and mobile strategies.

The visual Web is characterized by big, beautiful imagery that features a contemporary layout. Platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram have been a catalyst for the movement. "Images and video are becoming an increasingly important part of what we consume online," says Richard MacManus, founder and editor in chief of ReadWriteWeb, writing about "The Rise of Beautiful Apps."

Although not always executed properly, photography has always been a staple of real estate marketing. The visual Web is a trend that the industry can leverage. Photography -- or better yet, amazing photography -- is a wonderful way to showcase communities, neighborhoods and homes.

Look beyond real estate for new ideas

An Air Force colonel's strategy for dealing with rapidly changing environments

BY GAHLORD DEWALD, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2012 Inman News®

Col. John Boyd image via Wikimedia Commons

Those of you who have seen me speak more than once have probably heard me make reference to the OODA Loop. OODA is an acronym of observe, orient, decide and act. As the name implies, the process is a loop. Once you have done something (act), you see what the results are (observe) and continue on through the loop again. Practiced well, it's a self-correcting system.

OODA helps us deal with rapidly changing environments, and everyone who is in business today is working in a rapidly changing environment.

The OODA Loop was developed by John Boyd, an Air Force colonel whose ideas were adopted by the Marines. OODA was made to help overcome the challenges of a constantly changing environment in which errors are far more costly than the errors any of us make in digital marketing.

This past week I was honored to have the opportunity to present at the Boyd and Beyond Conference at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. This was two straight days of theory related to Boyd's work, sharing of stories from his life (given that he was an Air Force guy working most closely with the Marines, I'm sure you can appreciate that there were some very interesting stories) and examples in a variety of fields.

By all accounts, Boyd had an expansive appetite for ideas beyond his immediate discipline. This was confirmed by a review of his papers and books at the Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections during the conference.

6 ways agents can boost productivity

The SLAM model for real estate success

BY BERNICE ROSS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2012  Inman News®

Smokestacks image via Shutterstock.

Editor's note: This is the first of a four-part series.

What does it take to succeed in real estate? Whether you are a 40-year veteran or a brand-new agent, your success or failure in the real estate industry essentially boils down to four critical elements: systems, leverage, attraction and mindset -- also known as SLAM.

Systems

Regardless of how experienced an agent is, strong systems form the foundation upon which successful real estate careers are built. Agents who have strong systems have more time to spend with buyers and sellers, which normally translates into more deals. The key areas where agents need systems include:

MRIS going it alone in NeighborCity copyright suit

MLS won't take money it requested from NAR to help pay for legal battle

BY ANDREA V. BRAMBILA, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2012 Inman News®

Lone rider image via Shutterstock.

Mid-Atlantic multiple listing service Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. (MRIS) has decided not to accept financial support it requested from the National Association of Realtors for its copyright infringement suit against the operator of real estate search portal and referral site NeighborCity.com.

In a complaint filed March 28, MRIS alleged NeighborCity's owner and operator, American Home Realty Network Inc., reproduced, displayed and distributed copyrighted listing content, including photographs, without authorization and violated copyright laws through "the creation of unauthorized derivative works incorporating the MRIS database."

St. Paul, Minn.-based Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota Inc. (NorthstarMLS) made similar allegations against San Francisco-based American Home Realty Network in a complaint filed April 18.

The lawsuits were filed not long after American Home Realty Network, which is licensed as a brokerage in California, updated profile pages for 850,000 agents on NeighborCity.com that feature agent scores and performance metrics based on their transaction history.