30 Under 30: Where Are You Now?

By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine

REALTOR® Magazine’s “30 Under 30″ feature has been going strong for a decade. We’ve recognized 300 young people – and we’re preparing to recognize another 30 in our June 2010 issue. Over the past 10 years, I’d say we’ve reviewed more than 4,000 applications.

We get more letters about this feature than anything else we regularly do. The question on many people’s minds is: What has become of our past “30 Under 30″ honorees?  Did they have staying power? How many washed out of the business as a result of tough times? While there has been some fallout — a few of the young people we featured later had spectacular falls from grace — most of the “30s” (our shorthand) remain in the business.

In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of of “30 Under 30,” we’re not only following up with them, we’re trying to get as many of them to Chicago as we can. On April 16, they’ll be participating in an anniversary photo shoot at Chicago’s Union Station; from there, they’ll visit the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® offices on Michigan Ave. So far, more than 40 have confirmed their attendance—and they’re making the trip on their own dime.

I have the feeling it’s going to be an impressive group. In the 10 years we’ve run the feature, we’ve been lucky to get to know some of the “30s.” They’ve become friends of the magazine and leaders in our effort to establish a Young Professionals Network. Many have become association leaders at the local, state, or national level. In our June issue, we’ll revisit some of the past honorees.

If you were featured in “30 Under 30″ and didn’t receive an invitation to the April 16 photo shoot but would like to learn more, please contact Rob Reuter at rreuter@realtors.org.

RECoach Cites Best Aggregators

Do you find it takes too long to keep track of all the good real estate/technology information that’s passing through the Internet? Save time by setting up a Tweetdeck and following the industry’s power tweeters. Check out RECoach Eric Bryant’s “Top 10 Human Aggregators.”

(Oh, and don’t forget to add @realtormag.)

Is the New GFE an Improvement?

Happy New Year, everyone!

As usual, we’re ringing in the new year with a lot of unfinished business (health care reform, financial institution reform, and so on). One thing that was finally settled, however – after years of debate — was the federal government’s changes to the Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1.

Not so fast. It’s hard to find people in the real estate business, particularly mortgage brokers, who are happy with the changes. Wes Cordeau of Houston wrote to me in response to an article in REALTOR® Magazine:

“Unfortunately, the new GFE does not address two points of major importance: 1) How much to close and 2) How much is the monthly payment? In fact, the new GFE addresses closing costs in such a way as to confuse the borrower immensely, because it addresses the costs as ‘Total Settlement Charges” and does not include some important offsets, yet makes us include items that are historically paid by the seller. On page 1, it addresses the monthly payment in two sections–one concerning only principle, interest, and mortgage insurance and the other addressing only payment of escrows for taxes and property insurance. This is more confusing to the consumer! Everyone in this business understands that taxes, insurance, and HOA fees can can add hundreds to the monthly payment, yet they’re not addressed clearly in the GFE.

The fact that a three-page document has 42 pages of explanatory handouts and 51 pages of FAQs (four per page) tells me that this is the most ill-designed form I have ever seen!”

Although I haven’t experienced the forms as a consumer, having listened to Phil Schulman’s 90-minute explanation at NAR in San Diego (worth the time; you can access it at REALTOR.org’s RESPA page), I agree with Wes that the “simplified” forms raises as many questions as answers. Yes, the language is generally more clear, but I wish HUD had done some focus groups with consumers and real estate practitioners before they gave the forms the green light.

What do you think? Are the new GFE and HUD-1 an improvement over what we had before? Or are they going to cause new problems and delays at the closing table? What changes would you recommend?

Note: REALTOR® Magazine on Jan. 13 completed a video walk-through of the new GFE and HUD-1. Watch the how-to video to get a better understanding of how the forms are to be filled out.

Last Chance: $4,000 Marketing Makeover

By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine

HP is putting its products and services on the line to prove that print marketing is still essential to your success — and you could be the beneficiary, with a marketing makeover to start your 2010 off right.

In “The Marketing Makeover Challenge” from REALTOR^® Magazine and HP, five REALTORS^® will test their marketing prowess using HP printers, paper, design templates, and coaching. All the finalists will walk away with prizes valued at $1,000 — and one lucky winner will receive a prize package worth $4,000, including equipment and supplies from HP and tuition for NAR’s ePRO certification.

The challenge is for brokers and sales associates who currently use a non-HP printer that serves between one and 19 practitioners and staff. Finalists must be committed to a print marketing campaign and willing to work with REALTOR® Magazine and HP during the first quarter of 2010 to complete challenges and create blog posts about their experiences.

Tomorrow, Dec. 30, is the last day to enter. After that, the judges (including me) will begin the process of selecting our five finalists, so if you’ve been thinking about putting your name in the ring, do it now!

Don’t Miss Short Sale Power Hour

By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine

During our Dec. 10 webinar with Bank of America Senior Vice President Dave Sunlin, there were many questions asked about new short-sale tracking software that BOA has rolled out. Essentially,  BOA has taken the REOTrans platform used for REO sales and adapted it for short sales.

Kevin Kauffmann and Fred Weaver of Phoenix actually have some experience with the system (though no closed sales yet), and they’re cautiously optimistic. So if you want the perspective of practitioners with deep knowledge of short sales, I highly recommend you watch their Dec. 17 video, REOTrans … Let’s Go Deeper!

To play back or download any of our 2009 webinars (free of charge), including the Dec. 10 session, visit our REALTOR® Magazine webinar page.

Two Men I’ll Remember

By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine

Often, we aren’t aware of the people who are positively influencing our life and work. In the past two days, I learned of the death of two such people: Mal Sherman of Baltimore and Thomas J. Graff of Oakland, Calif.

Sherman was a real estate broker, who—in the early 1960s—took the moral high ground and become a vocal supporter of equal housing opportunity. This despite his attorney’s warning that he was committing “business suicide.” The attorney was wrong; Sherman remained a successful broker and was asked to head President John F. Kennedy’s National Committee for Equal Opportunity in Housing. I learned his story thanks to Damian Da Costa, who profiled Sherman for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®’ centennial book.

Read more

Praise for HouseLogic

The small but dedicated staff of HouseLogic, and the Web design and development team at Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Huge Inc., scored a compliment from tech consultant Robert Hahn in a piece for InmanNews. Hahn offered encouraging words for my colleagues, who’ve been working overtime–and then some–to build a site that promises to inspire and inform home owners.

At the REALTORS Conference & Expo last weekend, many NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS members got their first look at HouseLogic. Hahn quite rightly said the site’s launch may have been lost in all the talk about the REALTORS Property Resource. But the beautifully designed HouseLogic — which aims to mobilize home owners on issues that matter to both REALTORS and consumers — deserves attention in its own right.

“The heart and soul of HomeLogic.com is political advocacy,” Hahn said. “If NAR is successful here, HouseLogic will permanently change the landscape for Realtors.”

Our Challenge to You

So we’re launching a new contest — but we’re calling it a challenge.

A group of us at REALTOR® Magazine have joined with a group from HP for “The Marketing Makeover: Stage Your Business for Success.” The REALTOR® who wins will receive a prize package worth $4,000, including that printer on the left. Even though we all communicate electronically now, we’re far from being able to do without our printers. So we were enthused about the ideas of teaming up with HP to demonstrate what effective print marketing looks like.

For this challenge, we’re looking for five REALTORS® who are committed to improving their print marketing. To be considered for the challenge, fill out an official entry form online by Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009. From the eligible entries received, we’ll choose five challenge participants based on composition of their entry, creativity of the entry, and adherence to the essay topic. All five will receive $1,000 prize packages, including the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One Printer, inkjet cartridges, and a credit toward marketing resources through Marketsplash by HP.

During a six-week challenge period that follows, the five participants will use their new equipment and resources and will post weekly updates at a special contest blog. The grand prize winner will be determined in March by the judges and by public voting at the blog. Are you up for the challenge?

Learn more at REALTOR.org/realtormag/marketingmakeover.

Cost vs. Value: Two Ways You Can Make It Better

By Stacey Moncrieff, Editor in Chief, REALTOR® Magazine

We’re on our way to producing the 2009-10 Cost vs. Value Report. So far, 1,544 REALTORS® have completed the Cost vs. Value survey that’s in the field. Another 1,153 have started the survey but not completed it. That’s a great start, but I’d love it if more of you–brokers, salespeople, and particularly appraisers–would take the survey (http://www.Specpan.com/CostValue).

The Cost vs. Value Report is one of the most popular features we run every year. It gives an estimated resale value for various remodeling projects (33 this year). In REALTOR® magazine, we present an overview of the report (typically in December, but because of our reduced publication schedule, watch for this year’s Report in January 2010). Our partner, Remodeling magazine, provides complete metro area reports free (in PDF format) to those who register at costvsvalue.com.

Chances are, if you live in one of the 80 metro areas covered by the report, you’ve already received an e-mail message (or two, or three) from me asking you to complete this year’s survey. I apologize for the redundancy, but the broader the participation, the more reliable our data. So the first way you can make the report better is by completing the survey.

Read more

A Sunday Open Like No Other

Don’t call it an open house. That was the message from the hardworking “M&M Team,” Maria DelBoccio and Michelle DePinto of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, who staged a “lifestyle marketing event” at their $1.7 million new-construction listing in Arlington Heights, Ill., yesterday.

OK, so the listing was 20 miles from my house, and exponentially more than I could afford. Still, I had to check this out.

The first thing I noticed was, although there were other open houses in the neighborhood, none of them had valet parking. Nor did they have a Maserati parked in the driveway, a singer crooning “Fly Me to the Moon” when you walked in the door, bruschetta and caponata (delicious!) served in a backyard tent, and cakes and other confections (also delicious) served in the three-car garage. Read more

Next Page »