The Spirit of CHRISTmas

Click picture to read story!

The Seitzler family knows a lot about giving. But now, in their time of need, it’s their turn to receive. John and Kathy Seitzler were on the brink of losing their Terrell home of 17 years when Debbie Brown stepped in. Debbie, an agent with Keller Williams Rockwall who helps families who are facing foreclosure, responded to the Seitzler’s plea for help as Director of the Angel Foundation. “Once I met the Seitzlers, I knew I had to help and do everything in my power to save their home from foreclosure,” Debbie said. “I wanted to be sure the mortgage company could make this home affordable for the Seitzlers so they could stay living in their home.”


The struggles for the Seitzler family began about four years ago when John, who had supported the family of six children with a six-figure income, lost his job as an IT specialist. Although he has searched for work that utilizes his expertise, it’s been very difficult for the 61-year-old to find a suitable job in this job market. To make ends meet, he now works 55 hours a week—40 hours at a local fast food restaurant and 15 hours a week at the local skating rink. “I’m doing everything I can to get the bills paid,” he said. “We’re living day by day,” Kathy said.

The Seitzler family has always given to others. Along with raising their own four children who are still at home, John and Kathy also adopted two special needs children and have round the clock care for them out of their home. They also hold regular prayer and church group meetings at their home for underprivileged and
handicapped children. In fact, the youngest special needs child they adopted-Ashley, who is now 5 years old--came to the Seitzler family from Illinois. As a baby, Ashley was in such bad condition, she couldn’t move, swallow, see or hear. Doctors said she wouldn’t live much longer and Ashley was headed to a nursing home. “That was basically a death sentence,” John said. “Even in our situation, we couldn’t let that happen. We don’t believe any child or baby is a mistake. We decided that regardless of her fate, we would take her into our home and let her know she was loved and important to us.”

The Seitzlers fought to have Ashley come to Texas and then Senator Barack Obama, President George W. Bush and Governor Rick Perry were all involved in getting special permission for Ashley to come to Texas to be with the Seitzler family. She is now doing better than anyone ever expected. “She can see and hear and she touches everyone she meets,” John said. “She has made great progress. Our children have learned to care for her and people that meet them and interact with Ashley are amazed with their love and care for Ashley.”

However, it does take a lot of special equipment to care for the special need children in the household. Therefore, it would be very difficult for the Seitzler family to just move into a smaller house. “We never knew from one month to the next if we’d be able to stay here,” Kathy said. “And we have nowhere to go if we lost our home."

Debbie is assisting the family in every way she can and is in communication with the mortgage company to find a solution for the Seitzler family and for now, they can stay at their home. “The Seitzlers have given so much of their time, money and love to others,” Debbie said, “we feel it is time to help give back to the Seitzler family.”

The house also is in need of many repairs and foundation work. The Seitzler family is thankful to have Debbie working on their behalf. “We’re so thankful,” John said. “We trust Debbie. Our faith has grown so much through all of this and we know God will always provide.” The Seitzler family has six children living at home: Justin, 17, De’Anna, 16, John Wayne, 13, Joseph, 11, Haley, 8, and Ashley, 5.

-From the Kaufman County Enterprise
Story and Photo By Jennifer LaPrade, Managing Editor

Christmas Party

I Admit It-I Have Profit Share Envy

My office in Keller Williams University is right next to Dawn Sroka, our KWU Programs Manager. Which means, on the 21st of each month, I have front-row seating to the envy parade that begins marching past Dawn’s desk. You see, even though Dawn only has two people in the first line of her profit share tree, she has earned an average of $1065.23 per month, over the past three months. The money she earned last month allowed her to plan a last minute trip to North Carolina to meet up with her family, who had decided a surprise birthday party for her little brother was in order. To those people who say profit share isn’t real, I tell them to call Dawn.

What’s amazing is that at Keller Williams Realty, all of our associates have the same opportunity to earn passive income and be treated like stakeholders in their company. There are a lot of myths about how the Keller Williams Profit Share Tree works. But the truth is Keller Williams Realty is a company committed to achieving success—to winning—together. Because of this commitment, our owners have shared over $237.7 million of profit to date — how cool is that? This two-minute video shares how it works…

Any associate can become part of the growth trajectory for any Keller Williams office, and can be rewarded with what we lovingly refer to as “mailbox money.” Here at KWU, we’re committed to helping our associates do just that, which is why we recently developed the Wealth Building Workshop: Profit Share. This new workshop gives each associate an opportunity to strategize their path to sharing in the profits of the company, without any personal risks or investing any capital. Talk to your team leader about attending the next workshop in your office.

Have you tapped in to Keller Williams' social media mania?

Become a fan! Nearly 9,000 associates strong, Keller Williams Realty’s Facebook page is the premier place to get the latest on all things KW. Be sure to become a fan of your favorite books as well. Get timely information through the Millionaire Real Estate Agent, SHIFT, Your First Home and the Millionaire Real Estate Investor Pages.

Go back in time with Gary Keller

THISWEEK: You’ve said before that Keller Williams Realty is in the business of helping people help people.

GK: In the end, why are we in business? To me, the answer would be to help others. Sure, we’re in a business that provides certain products and services. But who will use those products and services? People. So, there’s no escaping the reality that we’re in business to help people. And our job is to help the people who help people.

THISWEEK: Did Keller Williams Realty culture begin with the creation of the WI4C2TS belief system?

GK: Putting it that way gives me too much credit. How our culture evolved happened like this: Back in the late 1980s when we began to license the company, it was literally just me and a small support staff. I would go out and work with our then licensees in San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Houston and Dallas. Almost every day of the week I was in a different city. I’d show up, run a sales meeting or speak at a sales meeting, do a couple of interviews, do a training session and then hit the road to do the same thing in another city. In those days, we had little of our system documented. I had it in my head mostly and personally taught and managed in every office we had in Texas.

I did this for about a year and a half to two years. Eventually, I knew I had to pull back. But when I did, those offices stopped growing. They stumbled. It was then that I realized that I wasn’t developing people as much as I was just showing up to help them by doing a job. I wasn’t truly helping them build businesses; I was simply helping them run businesses.

THISWEEK: So, what did you do?

GK: I took a year off and started defining and documenting our models and systems. I also began to study how businesses succeed, how they fail, what they do right and what do they do wrong. I discovered that culture was a huge foundational piece all great companies were built upon. So, I realized I needed to define ours – the challenge was how to do it.

The solution, I discovered, was actually simple. I invited Sharon Gibbons, our first employee ever, and two of our top associates – Gary Gentry and Althea Osborn – who had been with me since the beginning to help me document our culture. I asked them to think about what made our real estate office successful. What did they like about this company and the way it operated? What were we doing well? What were we doing right?

THISWEEK: Was that meeting successful?

GK: Yes. For me, it was a defining moment – learning how to move from doing things naturally to doing things purposefully. On one side, you had the economics, which we had thoroughly researched, developed and documented. But on the other end, there was culture, and I honestly hadn’t thought about that part of the business until I started to see people behaving differently than what I would have done naturally. I realized that without defining our culture, there was no way to establish a culture that would stand tall over time.

So, in 1989, up in that conference room with Sharon, Gary and Althea, we brainstormed all day. We got out the flipchart and we wrote and we wrote. We taped our thoughts all over the walls. That night, I took those pages home and studied them. The next morning, we all met again to pull it all together. We knocked out everything that was a duplicate statement. And with each remaining statement, we asked ourselves how to express it best. What really matters? What’s the 20 percent? And somewhere toward the end of the second day, we ended up with what is now commonly known as WI4C2TS.

THISWEEK: Once you had the belief system defined, where did you go from there?

GK: Once we could define it, two things happened. First, we now had a methodology that helped us to be more often right than wrong about who we were going into business with. It allowed us to go out and align ourselves with people who naturally wanted to behave in alignment with our culture. Single-handedly, that’s what launched the company to a whole new level.

THISWEEK: In the beginning, how did you communicate or reinforce these ideas?

GK: In the mid-90s with the help of Dave Jenks, I started developing a course called Quantum Leap, which basically documented everything I had learned in those previous years about life. I then went out and started teaching it. Also, we took the front-end of that course, the Perspective section – which talked about being accountable, being learning based, being a black belt, focusing on your 20 percent, etcetera – and put it in front of every course we taught. At the same time, we created the six business disciplines and the six sales disciplines. It all became the initial curriculum for what became Keller Williams University, which addresses life, sales and business management – in that order. We started off with the life discussion, and I think that’s another cultural area that separates us from others.

THISWEEK: Why prioritize things that way?

GK: What I noticed as a sales manager when I was just getting started in my 20s was that, many times people had trouble on the field because of things happening off the field. On one side, you’re trying to provide a service to people, but, on the other side, you’re also trying to have a great life – and those two agendas would cross lines. If things are not going well at home or in our personal lives, it crosses over into our ability to focus and build our careers. As a business coach, you’re dealing with those subjects whether you like to or not. So, if you’re in a long-term business relationship, you need to be willing to consider the whole person – not just the salesperson.

So, Quantum Leap and the Perspective section became the foundational methodology for us to communicate these beliefs. We made it very clear what we wanted to accomplish and how we wanted to treat each other. Every time we did a two-day class, the first two hours were nothing but the Perspective section. And what do you think happened? We had this core group of people who were ready to hear this, so they adopted it and it became a natural evolution. People embraced it, put their own unique spin on it and made it their own. The culture became the company and the company became the culture.

THISWEEK: How do you sustain a sense of culture in the third-largest, realestate franchise operation in North America?

GK: Simple: You don’t change it and you protect and defend it at all costs. There’s an old saying that the way you run a great big company is you run a great small company – and you let it get big naturally. You don’t put chains on it. That’s Keller Williams Realty. Our goal is to run a great small company built around an unchangeable culture and then see how far it can evolve.

THISWEEK: But getting big can complicate matters when it comes to sustaining culture, right?

GK: It really has to do with communication and relationships. What getting big can do is remove you from communicating directly with your peers and establishing solid relationships. Back when there were only a few thousand people, it was easier for us to touch everyone. If four of us got on a plane and went to a different city, you could maybe touch 70 percent of the company.
Today, we can’t do that. And it’s one of the reasons why we have put a lot of emphasis on The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor seminars, Family Reunion, Mega Camp, Masterminds, KWU and now KWConnect. It was Dave Jenks who came up with the name KWConnect, because it’s all about staying connected and trying to figure out ways to bypass any filters that may misconstrue our original intent or message.
In the end, a company’s size is not the issue. It’s keeping our commitment to communication in the relationship and keeping our commitment to the culture.

THISWEEK: Why should associates care about communicating and educating new associates on the Keller Williams Realty culture?

GK: If the original intent is not communicated or heard, then some people might view a company’s belief system or culture as a sword. In other words, it is the WI4C2TS sword, and if you don’t live up to it, off with your head.

A cultural belief system is not something to judge people against. It’s something to aspire to – that we all should aspire to and hold each other accountable to. The belief system enables us to say to one another, "You have the right to expect me to behave this way. And if you see that I’m not, I’m asking you to help me. Don’t point it out in a judgmental way, but in an accountable and helpful way, so I can grow."

You know, people aren't successful at Keller Williams Realty because they adhere to our belief system. They are successful because they do the right things to build their careers and businesses. Our belief system and culture simply help make our work-life experience the very, very best possible.

BOLDly going where no agent has gone before!

21,000. That’s the number of transactions projected for round two of BOLD, MAPS Coaching’s latest breakthrough program! And with 22 new locations added to the lineup for 2009, living your life by design, not by default is within reach. Here are several more stats that are driving the success of agents and their market centers!

What a difference BOLD can make! In 2008, the Lake Travis market center listed 73 homes. After associates took BOLD the market center’s total listed homes jumped to 283 – a 25 percent increase!

Over the course of the eight-week BOLD program, Tim Heyl, associate with the Austin Southwest market center, took 10 listings and closed three contracts. His most recent listing was for a $2.99 million property. "If it hadn’t been for BOLD, there’s no way I would have gone after such an expensive property," he says.

Enrolling in the BOLD Program changed everything for Gary Budek. During the eight weeks that he was in BOLD, he took 14 listings and closed 21 buyer transactions, quadrupling his production from the first part of the year. "I was letting the market get to me and getting entrenched in the negative talk," he says. Getting into BOLD "was like a new lease on life for my business."

Getting into BOLD is one great way to improve your business. Christian Seemuller took it one step further. Read why he joined Keller Williams Realty after becoming a BOLD student.

"I was very comfortable in my real estate career, but that all changed when I started reading the MREA book. Almost at once I realized that the "comfortable" feeling I had was the byproduct of never being challenged. Soon I attended a BOLD seminar, and WOW! What I saw in BOLD was an opportunity to grow my career by challenging myself. I realized that the BOLD sessions were just what I needed! Like a clear sunny day I could now envision my true potential. It wasn't long before I made a BOLD move and chose KW!"

To learn more about BOLD email maps@kw.com or call (512)-327-3070. You can also visit the Coaching page on myKW.

Make E-Mailing Easier

By Saul Klein New technologies and best practices can help you use e-mail more effectively.
More businesses that rely on e-mail communication are finding that their messages are being blocked, bounced, or filtered as spam.

As more and more real estate businesses try to eliminate paper communications and move important functions such as voting, education, and meetings to an online environment, the problem with blocked e-mails is causing great concern. After all, how can REALTORS® and consumers make the move toward online transactions when they can't even ensure that e-mail is being delivered? Read the rest of this article.

How to Double Your Business

By Dana Lerner
Want an easy way to immediately double your business AND be of service at the same time? It is the beginning of the fourth quarter - once again it is that time of the year to contact your buyers and sellers to finish your year with strength, and set yourself up for a phenomenal first quarter! Give your 2009 buyers and sellers two key pieces of information they will need regarding their real estate transaction: 1) reminder for buyers to file for their homestead exemption from property taxes; 2) copy of HUD-1 Settlement Statement for buyers and sellers for their income tax preparation. Many times when people move, they put their important documents in a “very safe place” and we all know what happens then, right!? So once your clients are a bit more settled in their new home, a copy of the closing documents will be received as a welcomed service from you.
Read the rest of this article.

Customer Service Doesn't Equal Accessibility

By Dirk Zeller For 30 years we have been taught, as REALTORS®, we must “be there” for our clients. I hear it all the time from Agents across North America: “I want to be there for my clients.” What does “be there” mean? Does “be there” mean we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for our clients? Does it mean that we miss soccer games, tee ball games, and piano recitals? For many Agents that is exactly what it means! Many of us equate access with service. We have been trained for years that access is the primary vehicle of customer service. We feel we need to be there at all times for our clients. We grant them access to our lives whenever they want it. They can, and will, take over our business, if we let them.

I want to share with you a new concept. Access has nothing to do with customer service. There are many professionals we do business with on a regular basis who are less than accessible. Read the rest of this article.

Seven easy steps to build your Twitter-sphere

1. Tweet often and interesting content. If it looks like you’re never on, or all your tweets seem to be mini sales pitches, you will not gain Twitter followers.

2. Follow more people. There are a lot of tools to help you find people who have common interests such as Twitter Search and Find People.

3. Make your Tweets interesting. Tweet neat facts or link to interesting blogs, articles and Websites you come across.

4. Let more people know that you are on Twitter. Add a link to your feed on your email signature or link to your Website and blog.

5. Upload a profile photo or logo. There are many people who will not follow or allow followers who do not have a photo. Having a picture or logo makes you look more legitimate.

6. Contribute to your feed as a personality, not just as a business.

7. Engage in conversations on Twitter. Direct Message (D) people, @ reply people, re-tweet (RT) interesting tweets, and participate in hashtag (#) topics.

Follow Keller Williams Realty on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kwri.

Gary talks Leverage!

In The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, we declared you could be just three exceptional hires away from having the organization of a Millionaire Real Estate Agent. That’s still absolutely true. However, our ongoing research for both MREA and SHIFT has given us new insight into how these key positions evolve. Some of you got a sneak peak at Mega Camp 2009. For the rest, here’s a quick look at hiring and compensating a Showing Assistant.

Leverage is ultimately about focus. You hire talent to keep you focused on your most dollar-productive activities and they focus on everything else. After entrusting your admin and marketing chores to another person, you look for help on the buyer sales side of the business. Successfully showing homes can be extremely time intensive and help here should keep you focused on leads and listings. So who do you hire?

In the past, research pointed us to a licensed buyer specialist paid on a 50/50 commission split. Today, some successful agents are first hiring an unlicensed Showing Assistant to keep their costs of sale low and their productivity high.

A Showing Assistant can literally jump into the driver’s seat with your buyers while keeping you in the driver’s seat when it comes to converting buyer leads, getting signed agreements, identifying wants and needs and eventually writing and negotiating contracts. A good one should be able to successfully show homes to around three to four buyers a month while earning bonuses based on 25 percent of each deal. Based on a $5,000 average commission, a good Showing Assistant could earn $60,000 a year. This is a terrific opportunity for someone. Better yet, you get to stay focused and 75 percent of the buy-side income stays on your side of the ledger.

You are still looking for someone who has the ability to grow into your Lead Buyer Specialist. So when you have someone with the ambition and proven ability to succeed with a high volume of buyers over time, your Showing Assistant earns the right to be promoted to a licensed Buyer Specialist. Your Buyer Specialist would then handle buyers from the appointment to closing and now earn 50 percent of the commissions. Again, a good one should be able to handle three to four buyer sales a month without burning out.

Burnout is a key word. Once you have identified a great Buyer Specialist, you don’t want to lose them! When they burn out and walk out, guess who gets their job? You do. And you’ve already got a job.

When your business is generating enough leads on a consistent basis to push a great Buyer Specialist past their ability to successful manage them all, the Showing Assistant concept reenters the picture. Now your Buyer Specialist has the opportunity to hire a Showing Assistant of their own. The Showing Assistant is still paid on a 25 percent bonus; however, that money comes out of the Lead Buyer Specialist’s half of each commission. Effectively, you continue to earn 50 percent of each buyer transaction, while the Buyer Specialist earns 25 percent and the Showing Assistant earns the final 25 percent as a bonus. Any buyer transactions your Buyer Specialist closes without the help of a Showing Assistant would still be on a 50/50 split.
Now your Buyer Specialist might successfully help four buyers on their own and another four with the help of a Showing Assistant. That’s now eight closed buy-side transactions each month. And with an average commission of $5,000, your Buyer Specialist has the ability to gross as much as $180,000 a year while just personally showing three or four buyers a month!

Showing Assistants may come and go—each auditioning for a shot at being your Lead Buyer Specialist. But once you find one, hiring and managing Showing Assistants moves from your plate to theirs. You have found your leader for working with buyers. Any additional help needed to keep your buyer transactions on track becomes their issue and opportunity.

Showing Assistants can save you money on the frontend, reduce turnover on the backend, all the while providing the best possible service to your buyers.

Click here for a video highlighting The Organizational Model and MREA.
(with Jay Papasan)

TEXAS METROS AMONG BEST TO LIVE, WORK

NEW YORK (Forbes.com) – Dallas, Houston and Austin are among the top four U.S. cities in which to earn a living, according to Forbes Magazine.

The magazine found Dallas to be the most desirable city in the nation to live and work, while Houston was second and Austin came in fourth.

Among the best reasons to take up residence in Houston or Dallas, according to Forbes, is the number of top-ranked companies headquartered in each city: 38 and 15, respectively.
The rankings were determined by median income, cost of living, job growth and the quality of the business environment.

Grow Your Business with Social Media...

Are you looking to grow your business by using social media?

Facebook is one of the sites that is powerful in the social media world. In fact, it is the number 3 most visited site in the world right now.

Agents ask me how to maximize lead generation through Social Media. The video below is the basics on how to get started with facebook.

Are you someone who doesn't know what social media is or how to use it? Do you understand social media but you are unclear on how to maximize it's potential to grow your real estate business? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, please email me at amberboyd@kw.com or call me at 972-772-7000 for a list of FREE social media classes or a one on one consultation.

Click below to take the Facebook 101:Getting Started.

Be looking for Part Two soon. Go and try it and let me know if you have any questions.

Do you have a great story of how you got business from a social networking site? I would love for you to share with the group. Please click on the comment button below to share.

Focus on Leverage – the Buyer Side

In The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, we declared you could be just three exceptional hires away from having the organization of a Millionaire Real Estate Agent. That’s still absolutely true. However, our ongoing research for both MREA and SHIFT has given us new insight into how these key positions evolve. Some of you got a sneak peak at Mega Camp 2009. For the rest, here’s a quick look at hiring and compensating a Showing Assistant.

Leverage is ultimately about focus. You hire talent to keep you focused on your most dollar-productive activities and they focus on everything else. After entrusting your admin and marketing chores to another person, you look for help on the buyer sales side of the business. Successfully showing homes can be extremely time intensive and help here should keep you focused on leads and listings. So who do you hire?

In the past, research pointed us to a licensed buyer specialist paid on a 50/50 commission split. Today, some successful agents are first hiring an unlicensed Showing Assistant to keep their costs of sale low and their productivity high.

A Showing Assistant can literally jump into the driver’s seat with your buyers while keeping you in the driver’s seat when it comes to converting buyer leads, getting signed agreements, identifying wants and needs and eventually writing and negotiating contracts. A good one should be able to successfully show homes to around three to four buyers a month while earning bonuses based on 25 percent of each deal. Based on a $5,000 average commission, a good Showing Assistant could earn $60,000 a year. This is a terrific opportunity for someone. Better yet, you get to stay focused and 75 percent of the buy-side income stays on your side of the ledger.

You are still looking for someone who has the ability to grow into your Lead Buyer Specialist. So when you have someone with the ambition and proven ability to succeed with a high volume of buyers over time, your Showing Assistant earns the right to be promoted to a licensed Buyer Specialist. Your Buyer Specialist would then handle buyers from the appointment to closing and now earn 50 percent of the commissions. Again, a good one should be able to handle three to four buyer sales a month without burning out.

Burnout is a key word. Once you have identified a great Buyer Specialist, you don’t want to lose them! When they burn out and walk out, guess who gets their job? You do. And you’ve already got a job.

When your business is generating enough leads on a consistent basis to push a great Buyer Specialist past their ability to successful manage them all, the Showing Assistant concept reenters the picture. Now your Buyer Specialist has the opportunity to hire a Showing Assistant of their own. The Showing Assistant is still paid on a 25 percent bonus; however, that money comes out of the Lead Buyer Specialist’s half of each commission. Effectively, you continue to earn 50 percent of each buyer transaction, while the Buyer Specialist earns 25 percent and the Showing Assistant earns the final 25 percent as a bonus. Any buyer transactions your Buyer Specialist closes without the help of a Showing Assistant would still be on a 50/50 split.
Now your Buyer Specialist might successfully help four buyers on their own and another four with the help of a Showing Assistant. That’s now eight closed buy-side transactions each month. And with an average commission of $5,000, your Buyer Specialist has the ability to gross as much as $180,000 a year while just personally showing three or four buyers a month!
Showing Assistants may come and go—each auditioning for a shot at being your Lead Buyer Specialist. But once you find one, hiring and managing Showing Assistants moves from your plate to theirs. You have found your leader for working with buyers. Any additional help needed to keep your buyer transactions on track becomes their issue and opportunity.

Showing Assistants can save you money on the frontend, reduce turnover on the backend, all the while providing the best possible service to your buyers.
Click here for a video highlighting The Organizational Model and MREA.
(with Jay Papasan) BY: GARY KELLER

On The Rise

Pending Home Sales ROSE by 6.4% in August to 103.8, its highest level since March 2007. According to Mr. Wood, "Pending home sales increased in August for the seventh consecutive month, suggesting that a bottom has been reached in existing home sales and a moderate recovery is underway. However, the level of home re-sales is still extremely low and any rebound is likely to be modest, especially in the near term. Some of the recent strength is due to first-time homebuyers attempting to close transactions before the federal government's tax incentives expire at the end of November."

TEXAS TOPS U.S. IN HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas beats the rest of the country when it comes to housing affordability, according to first quarter 2009 Texas Housing Affordability Index (HAI) numbers compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
The numbers reflect the ability of a median-income family to purchase a median-priced existing home in their area. Texas had a ratio of 1.95 in first quarter 2009 compared with the nation's 1.55.

"The slowdown in the housing market nationally and within Texas has led to significantly increased housing affordability everywhere, and Texas continues to maintain its place as the most affordable high-growth state in the country," said Dr. Jim Gaines, research economist with the Center.

The index is posted on the Center's website.

How Top Producers Get Price Reductions

By Dirk Zeller

Getting clients to reduce the asking price for their home is not a mystical occurrence. It must be done methodically, and top-gun Agents have a set system to get price reductions. It is followed to the letter no matter the price of the property, economic conditions of the marketplace, or the client. There are five steps to setting up a good price reduction system.
Step one: Get it priced right when you list the property. Tell the seller the truth about the price, and be compelling and convincing in your conviction. Make the seller understand that the other Agents want the listing and will beat them up on price later. They merely want their sign in the ground. You want a sale and a satisfied client and you are willing to tell them the truth up front to get that.

Step two: If you decide to take the home overpriced initially, get the commitment from the seller that if the home hasn't sold in 30 days, they will drop the price. Push to get a price reduction signed for a future reduced price and date. This commitment will avoid discussion later. If you do discuss this but don't get a signature, you will have at least laid the foundation for a price reduction discussion at a later date.

Step three: Get the seller to agree to meet with you at your office every 45 days to discuss the price of their property and showings. This meeting will give you an opportunity, in your environment, to get the price needed to sell the home. By getting them to your office, you have control and invest less time, which is your most precious resource. When they come to your office the meeting will be shorter and you will save at least 30 minutes in drive time.
Step four: Create a specific price reduction campaign of letters and phone calls. This campaign should start no later than 30 days after the listing is taken. The clients should receive information and guidance about the dangers of over-pricing their home. They need to know the importance of price in the sales process, even if you clearly explained this during the listing appointment. Remember, we are judged on the result of getting the home sold. If the price is hindering your success, your client needs to lower the price.

Step five: This is the final step. The clients have not been cooperative with getting the price down. They have met with you and received a few pieces of your price reduction campaign. Send them the final letter. The letter should state that you have included a price reduction form with your recommended price and a form to cancel the listing, and ask them to please sign one of the forms and send it back.

When I was an Agent, about 65% of my clients signed the price reduction, and about 35% wanted to cancel their listing. The 65% then sold at the reduced price when they would not have sold before. The other 35% we saw on the expired list months later. Clearly, our over-priced listings had no value. Yours will only cost you money and, more importantly, time and emotional energy. Don't allow clients to dictate the conditions and success of your business by refusing to look at the facts objectively. Reduce your expired listings by reducing the price. Price will always dictate all the other factors in the sale. Control the price today.

Become a Facebook-posting pro

How do you keep your business and social connections engaged with your posts? Read these tips to find out what you should be posting and how you should be managing your online content.

Before you post your listings or write about what you ate for lunch today, remember that while social networking and online interactions have the potential to turn into business opportunities, Facebook is best used as a way to connect with people on a social level.

Use the following tips to turn yourself into a Facebook posting pro.

Mix personal and business posts. Share great articles and content that your friends would find interesting. Whether it’s a new article from The New York Times on the $8,000 tax credit, or a link to a recipe to the potato salad you are making at a Labor Day party, mix it up. You can also post local events, a photo from your open house or links to videos on YouTube, for example, KW's This Month in Real Estate videos.

Keep your content fresh. Try to post at least once a day, but two or more times a day is best. This gives your friends an incentive to stay connected with you and to visit your page. Not only will your page offer great content, your contacts will continue to come back or even suggest new friends. An easy way to stay connected while on the go is by updating Facebook through your mobile or smart phone.

Join in the conversation. Engage in communication as much as possible. Comment on people’s photos, posts, notes, status updates and look for new friends regularly. Remember, whenever you comment on something it populates your home feed and your friend’s see what you’ve commented on. But, only comment if you have something worthwhile to say, not to just post your blog name or contact information.

If your content is quality, your time spent on social networking will be quality as well. Keep these tips in mind when posting and you will see increased success through your social media efforts.

Be sure to visit the Facebook Pages for KW: www.facebook.com/kellerwilliamsrealty; www.facebook.com/yourfirsthome; www.facebook.com/realestateshift; http://www.facebook.com/millionaireinvestor;and http://www.facebook.com/millionaireagent.

You can bank on the budget model

Although market conditions change, the fundamental models and systems set forth in The Millionaire Real Estate Agent don’t. “Hold your money accountable, Play ‘red light, green light.’” You hear those words a lot when talking about the Budget Model, but the real questions is: are you adhering to it?

Watch “An MREA Moment” featuring Gary Keller and Jay Papasan to find out how to direct your dollars wisely.

Send the right news at the right time

Do your clients know?

• Mortgage rates for Aug. 2009 are at 5.25 percent, down from 6.5 percent the same time last year.
• Affordability remains favorable with the median mortgage payments requiring just 16 percent of the average income.
• Home sales are up 17 percent from July 2009, boosting the median home price for June up 3.6 percent to $181,000.
• Get more stats plus tips for making the most out of the buyers market from mortgage industry expert, Tommy Nelms in August’s This Month in Real Estate.
  
  Watch it now and then send it out to your database!

Find success in a distressed market

Finding business in this real estate market doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Listen to an interview between Gary Keller and Peter Middleton, associate with the La Jolla, Calif. market center, to find out what Middleton means when he says he’s getting back-to-basics.
Gary and Peter also discuss:

Ground Campaigns
Pay-per-click lead generation tactics
Search Engine Optimization
Advertising expenditures

Click here to listen to this 20-minute call. Click here to see what else is new on Agent Mountain.

eAgentC IDX enhancements

The Keller Williams Realty Service Center and WolfNet Technologies have been hard at work to sharpen your Website's home search capabilities.

Here's what's new:
Grid Layout. Consumers will now have a better view of their search results as our new grid layout allows for more listings to be displayed.
Open Price Range. Consumers can now enter their own custom price range instead of using the default drop-down selection, allowing for a more precise property search.
Quick Refine of Property Search. By using the new quick refine option directly next to their search results, consumers can change search criteria without starting over.
Instant Property Count. When searching for property, the number of matching results will display and update as criteria is changed, allowing consumers to narrow or broaden in their search from the very beginning.

Calling all social media mavens!

Between Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, the opportunity to find and cultivate business online has increased dramatically. So tell us: have you seen an increase in your bottom line as a result of all your tweets, posts and general online networking?

Click here to tell us!

Got Questions? Ask Gary!

Get the answers to your most challenging real estate questions. Straight from Keller Williams Realty, co-founder and chairman, Gary Keller, this is your chance to tackle the timeliest topics impacting your business today.

Read Gary’s answers to the most recent questions:

- What if a buyer who is concerned about the market says "isn't my home an investment?"
- What do you find helps people through their fear of failure?
- If I love to do marketing but don’t like to pick up the phone, shouldn't I focus on marketing?

Click here to submit your questions! Check out Gary’s resources on all things real estate on the new Agent Mountain!

How is a Facebook Profile different from a Page or Group?

Facebook Profiles are for personal use and are where you get “friends.” Friends can be colleagues or relatives, as well as past classmates or neighbors. For example: Mo Anderson has a Facebook Profile.

Facebook Pages are for your business and are for a long-term relationships with your customers. With a Page, anyone can opt in to be your ‘fan.’ Keller Williams Realty has a Facebook Page.
Facebook Groups are a great way to participate in discussions centered around a shared interest or activity. Most often Groups are created by experts or fans of a brand or subject, or even just for fun. For example: Keller Williams Realty is the largest real estate company of Facebook is a group.

Media spotlights Chattanooga market center’s compassionate charge

In the business of helping to make dreams of home ownership come true, the Chattanooga-East Brainerd market center expanded that mission last year to include helping a terminally ill child to have a dream come true. Working through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, associates decided to grant a full wish for a child, says Robben Mathews, team leader.



Collectively they raised funds for Nash Norris, who has been afflicted with a terminal form of spinal cancer, to visit Disney World and Sea World with his family. The under-water themed sendoff party that they held for Nash and his family tugged at the heartstrings of associates and catapulted the market center into the media spotlight. Read More.

Top 10 Cities to Earn a Living

The best cities to earn a living are those that have plenty of companies doing business in high-paying, growth industries.

Combine that with a high-quality business environment, job growth, and a low cost of living and you get a select-few locations where the pay check is generous and the cost of necessities like food and housing is modest.

Here are the top 10 cities where Forbes magazine says this is the economic reality now and the conditions are likely to get even better as health care, technology, and energy draw more employees into their ranks:

1. Dallas
2. Houston
3. Minneapolis
4. Austin, Texas
5. Washington, D.C.
6. St. Louis
7. Seattle
8. Atlanta
9. Kansas City, Mo.
10. Denver

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (09/03/2009)

EVEN JOB GROWTH BIGGER IN TEXAS

Six Texas counties have made CNNMoney.com's list of the nation's top 25 best counties for job growth from 2000 to 2008. At number two, Rockwall County led Texas with 84.9 percent job growth for the eight-year period.

2. Rockwall at 84.9%
6. Fort Bend at 61.3%
14. Williamson at 53.2%
15. Collin at 52.7%
22. Hidalgo at 50.6%
24. Webb at 49.2%

Arizona's Pinal County posted the nation's highest job growth rate at 95.9 percent.

Top players signing on with KW Commercial

The tide is turning to Keller Williams Realty. Read why new members, Charles Brown, Jr. and Alex Johnson made the move to KW Commercial and what they are doing to continue their success!

Are you the local economist of choice?

SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times points out that during an uncertain market consumers look for answers. What statistics do you use to inform your clients and fuel your business?

Click here to share your strategies in a brief three-minute survey.

Get the best distressed training in the industry

Are your short sales dragging on? Is the challenge of listing REO properties confounding you? Keller Williams University is excited to announce the release of three new self-study guides to hit bookshelves at Mega Camp:

SHIFT: Distressed Properties

• Working with Buyers,
• Listing Short Sales and,
• Listing REO Properties.

These courses provide you with the market insights, business systems, tools and techniques on succeeding in the realm of short sales and REOs. Straight from the most experienced agents, learn how to make distressed property offers that are accepted and write contracts that close. Study on your own, or hold a market center or regional event.

DFW Home Price Flat in 2Q

By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
If you're looking for a glimmer of hope in the Dallas-Fort Worth home market, the latest industry survey provides one. D-FW home sales prices were basically flat in the second quarter after a long string of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors' closely watched nationwide survey.

The median price of homes sold in North Texas was down just 0.2 percent from a year earlier in the Realtors' secondquarter survey released Wednesday. Nationwide, home prices fell by a record 15.6 percent during the same period. "The sharpest price declines continue to be concentrated in metros with high levels of foreclosures, including areas in California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada, where distressed homes comprise many of the transactions," Realtor economist Lawrence Yun said in the report.

The D-FW price drop, the smallest in more than a year, follows a drop of close to 5 percent in the first-quarter Realtors' report. Texas cities fared better than many others, with median home sale prices up 2.6 percent in Houston and up 11 percent in Beaumont-Port Arthur.The Realtors' report reaffirms other recent housing industry data that suggest the North Texas home market is flattening.

"We are beginning to see some more positive trends in the housing market, which is great news," said David Brown, who heads the Dallas office of housing analyst Metrostudy Inc."Although it is a short trend, both the new home and resale closings during the last quarter suggest the market is bottoming out in sales volume.

"If the current sales trend holds and inventory continues to fall through the remainder of this year, it will become clearer that we are at the bottom in the market." Other reportsEarlier this week, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc. reported that median home sales prices in North Texas were up 3 percent in July from a year ago. And through the first seven months of 2009, median single-family home sale prices through the Realtors' local Multiple Listing Service were down 1 percent from the same period of 2008.

Prices were down 3 percent for all of 2008. The D-FW area has had one of the smallest overall home price declines of any major U.S. market during the last two years. Analysts attribute the better home price performance here to the fact that North Texas didn't have a big run-up in residential values a few years ago like most other cities.

Economists anticipate that the D-FW market will be one of the first in the country to rebound."Yes, it appears to me that we are at the bottom of the housing market in most Texas cities at this point," said Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.The slowdown in homebuilding and very low mortgage rates have both helped the local housing market, Dotzour said. "I feel that now is the time to buy a house in most all Texas cities," he said. "Housing affordability has never been higher than it is right now.
"When the economy starts to rebound nationally, mortgage rates will surely move higher."

EXISTING-HOME PRICE CHANGES
Home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area were down 0.2 percent in the second quarter of 2009 compared with a record 15.6 percent nationwide decline. Median home price for each city for second quarter of 2009 and the percentage change from the same quarter of previous year.

BIGGEST INCREASES
Davenport, Iowa $113,200 30.6%
Cumberland, Md. $123,500 21.7%
Elmira, N.Y. $85,000 11.3%

LARGEST DECLINES
Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. $84,000 -52.8%
Las Vegas $141,800 -39.7%Riverside, Calif. $161,500 -39.1%
U.S. Median $174,100 -15.6%

TEXAS CITIES
Amarillo $127,300 2.2%
Austin $194,000 -0.1%
Beaumont-Port Arthur $138,600 11.0%
Corpus Christi $133,400 -7.6%
Dallas-Fort Worth $150,700 -0.2%
El Paso $131,800 -4.3%
Houston $157,400 2.6%
San Antonio $153,100 -3.2%

SOURCE: National Association of Realtors

Seven easy steps to build your Twitter-sphere

Use these tips to help you gain genuine Twitter followers, increase your popularity and in return, your business.


1. Tweet often and interesting content. If it looks like you’re never on, or all your tweets seem to be mini sales pitches, you will not gain Twitter followers.
2. Follow more people. There are a lot of tools to help you find people who have common interests such as Twitter Search and Find People.
3. Make your Tweets interesting. Tweet neat facts or link to interesting blogs, articles and Websites you come across.
4. Let more people know that you are on Twitter. Add a link to your feed on your email signature or link to your Website and blog.
5. Upload a profile photo or logo. There are many people who will not follow or allow followers who do not have a photo. Having a picture or logo makes you look more legitimate.
6. Contribute to your feed as a personality, not just as a business.
7. Engage in conversations on Twitter. Direct Message (D) people, @ reply people, re-tweet (RT) interesting tweets, and participate in hashtag (#) topics.

Follow Keller Williams Realty on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kwri.

Keeping the transaction in tact...

New research pinpoints appraisal problems
Recent upheavals in the appraisals arena and the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) are contributing to too many sales falling through the cracks.

According to National Association of REALTOR's® (NAR) Appraisal Survey in June 2009, 37 percent of home buyers and sellers have experienced at least one lost sale as a result of the new HVCC. The report also pointed to:

• Higher Fees
• Lower Quality
• Longer Wait

Click here for the full report from NAR.

If you encounter these problems and find your contract’s viability hinging on a low appraisal, don’t hesitate to bring additional comps to the appraiser. Also, read Tactic 12: Bulletproof the Transaction in SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agent Tackle Tough Times for more solid strategies on protecting your transactions.

For more on the HVCC, visit www.realtor.org/hvcc.

New numbers on the real estate front...

Although experts predict it will take time for the economy to fully recover, there has been a lot of encouraging news recently.

Here are a few points to share with your clients:

• 
  The percentage of first-time buyers dipped to 29 percent as a result of more repeat buyers entering the market, suggesting signs of a return to a more balanced market.
• Americans have shifted into savings and are now putting away a larger portion of their income – so much that the U.S. savings rate has now surpassed that of Canada!
• Home prices edged up almost 4 percent between May and June of 2009, due to repeat buyers purchasing at higher price points, and distressed properties accounting for a smaller percentage of sales (33 percent of sales, compared to 45 percent the month before).
  

Get all this information and more in the free This Month in Real Estate PowerPoint Reports. You can make the report more relevant to your clients by customizing it with your market’s information.

The editable version is available for download on KW Connect (KW login required). The non-editable version is available for download on KW.com (Does not require KW login)

Home Sales Tick Up

Last week, The National Association of REALTORS® reported that existing home sales – which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 3.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June.

This is third consecutive month that NAR has reported an increase in existing home sales. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, added that “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax-credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions.”

*Source: http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009072301?OpenDocument

Who wants to be a millionaire?

While there are many top producing real estate agents making millions in overall production, there are some who are doing it simply through Profit Share! In fact, an incredible 14 associates have earned a cool $1 million dollars in profit share alone!

You have the opportunity to build your wealth – even after you retire from real estate – through the profit share program.

Click here to learn how you can begin growing your profit share tree.

Keller Williams comes out on top

Congratulations!
The Wall Street Journal / LORE Top 400* survey results were just released and once again Keller Williams Realty illustrated why we are continuing to outpace the industry. The report breaks down categories and rankings by individual agents and teams.

In 2009, Keller Williams Realty had:
Six additional associates ranked among the top 50 agents by transaction sides.
1,048 percent more transactions from the year before compared to an average increase of 31 percent for Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Prudential and REMAX combined.

Among the top 50 teams for total sides:
Keller Williams ranked second with 11 teams.
Those 11 teams had an impressive increase of 25 percent in transaction sides from the year before.

Keller Williams was the only company that posted an increase for two years in a row.

*The list is based on a survey of independently verified submissions to determine the top real estate professionals in the United States. REAL Trends states that it is the only independent study of its kind.

How to get tough in a tight market

During an interview with Michael Krisa host of ThatInterviewGuy.com, Eric Thomas of the Mid-Upper Cape Cod market center, shared his insights on what to do when the market gets tough.

His first piece of advice: Read SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times; then he says, “Get back to the basics.”

Watch the short video clip on ThatInterviewGuy.com

Does Your Company Have This Secret Sauce?

The headline on CNBC.com read, “New-Home Sales Slip in May, Another Sign of Slow Recovery.”
The news is bad - even grimmer for those hoping to actually sell their home.
In today’s market home sellers know they just can’t slap on a new coat of paint or rearrange the furniture to attract buyers: they’ve got to come up with something new, something smarter, than the competition if they want to sell their homes.

Today’s businesses are a lot like today’s home sellers: You can’t survive by doing what worked in the past – you need to shift.

Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan, have written SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times and they say, when life shifts, you must shift to be a success. In their book "shifting" is the secret sauce of the world's greatest leaders and businesses.
Keller Williams Realty, Inc., the third largest real estate franchise in the US, recently launched SHIFT, a tell-all of how the company outpaced the market in 2008, all while remaining completely financially solvent and giving back more than $30 million in profits to its agents.
Below is a guest blog by one of the authors of Shift, Mr. Papasan.

Markets shift. So can you.

In The Traveler’s Gift, Andy Andrews passes on the wisdom that “our lives are fashioned by choice. First we make the choices. Then our choices make us.”

What choices are you making today to ensure your business is successful?

Most people lead a “flow with the tides” life. Their careers and their fortunes seem to rise and fall with the tides of the market. When things are going well anything and everything works—their boats float. What they fail to realize is that literally all boats float at high tide and no captain gets credit for that! When times get tough and the tide goes out, all of the sudden not everything works. Their boats don’t float.

Those quick to adjust will have a floating boat.

On the rocks or out at sea—the choice is yours. Be a low-tider—always be prepared for low tides.
To help keep you afloat, our research shows that the two actions any business owner must take personal ownership of are lead generation and lead conversion—how you attract customers and convert them to closed sales.

First, by getting personally involved, you get an immediate and ongoing sense of the issues of the market—the customer objections that need to be overcome. Second, you will get an honest understanding of the conversion rates that are possible. It’s what I call “management by wandering around.” Think of Sam Walton who started Wal-Mart who spent many a day visiting his stores, working cash registers for hours at a time, and talking to customers to stay in touch with the market.

As business analysts have often pointed out, “the seeds of failure are usually sown during times of success.” The most humbling lesson of a shift is this—we succeed in good times not only because of what we do right, but also in spite of what we do wrong. Now that the market has changed, what worked yesterday probably won’t work today. So when you’re making critical business decisions in today’s market, the margin for error is thin and you will most likely have to ask, “Who should be doing this? Me or someone else?”

The way to resolve this is by asking one more question: “Who will do this the best?”
Once you have shifted your mindset and gotten clear about your priorities, the first and fastest thing to do to get you back to profitability is to cut costs. The number one determinant of thriving is attracting customers, but the number one determinant of surviving is expense management. When markets shift, the first change a business must make is “re-expense” itself. “Revenuing” your way out of a shift is iffy at best. Generating more income may be impossible in the short run and take too much time in the long run. This approach is always just too little too late. Now is the required speed when a shift occurs. Get your expenses lower now!

I cannot overemphasize the importance of always working from a position of profitability. To generate revenue you generate leads. To make a profit you manage expenses.

Interestingly one might think that the goal of profit would provide the motivation necessary to do this, but research and personal experience have proven otherwise. Fear of financial loss is a more powerful motivator than the opportunity for financial gain.

If a market shift causes your income to drop but your expenses don’t immediately drop in lockstep with it, then your profit margin is gone. And along with it your competitiveness. If this lasts long enough you will go out of business because no profit and no competitiveness means no business.

In up markets we tend to acquire habits and patterns of doing things that don’t stop us in good times, but grind us to a halt in bad times. Good times seem to reward all that we do and profit seems to give permission to be permissive. Do you spend based on your average, your last year, your best year or your goals? No matter the market you should always follow the philosophy of “lead with revenue.” This means either always working from a position of profitability or, if just getting started, working from a position of having enough revenue already on the books so you know exactly when profitability will start.

Next you must protect your margin and reduce expenses to match your income—plus an acceptable profit margin. Be brutal. Cut! Cut! Cut! Attack both variable and fixed expenses. Fixed expenses are always agreements that usually fall into the categories of car payment, rent, leases, advertising, phones or salaries. Here you are best served by thinking of ways to turn fixed into variable. Re-budgeting is your first issue and if you don’t get it right it just may be your last one too.

Warren Buffett teaches “the first step to financial recovery is to stop doing the wrong things. It’s an old principle. You don’t have to make it back the way you lost it.” Define a benchmark dollar result you should expect from every dollar you spend and until you get that result don’t spend any more. This is the most important business discipline you’ll ever need. The key to re-margining and changing your budget is changing the way you think. If money matters then managing that money matters.

Warren Buffett to CNBC: U.S. Economy In "Shambles" .. No Signs of Recovery Yet

The top business minds have become the best by mastering the fundamentals of attracting customers, closing sales and managing money effectively over the long haul. It’s business 101. Maybe the reason the basics are so often abandoned is the fact that they aren’t special, unique or new. But when business gets tight, they reveal themselves as the timeless factors that determine the difference between success or failure. School is never out for the motivated. The basics are never outdated.

12 Things Top Agents Do Daily that You Probably Don't

By Sean Carpenter

Newly licensed agents and 20 year veterans in real estate need to stay focused on “business development” activities instead of spending their time focused on “business support” activities. While it might be easier to focus on the activities that will “never tell you no,” getting in front of customers and clients will not only keep you in the business, it will make you a star.

Have you been looking for some activities and/or tasks to build into your daily, weekly and monthly plans? See how many of these activities you are currently doing and then think about how many of them you could add.

1. Clear Voice Mails and Emails - Sure, we do this all day long, but that is where we get into trouble quickly.
Read the rest of this article.

Are You Following Your Own Advice?

By Saul Klein

There is no question that more REALTORS® should be investing in real estate. Few do and it is too bad because owning real estate is the key to financial freedom and REALTORS® are in the best position to make wise real estate investments.

Besides that, it is your product. You believe in it and that is one of the reasons you help others buy it...you will be even more excited about real estate if you own a few good pieces of investment property. If you can't do it on your own, do it with a friend or family member, but do it. Read the rest of this article.

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.” --Unknown

How to Attract Buyers Even if You Don't Have a Listing

By Craig Proctor

An agent approached me the other day with a problem. He wanted to work with buyers who were looking for homes in a highly desirable area of his marketplace. Most of us have such an area where the homes are worth more, and thus the commission earned is higher. In my marketplace, the areas are called Glenway, Stonehaven and College Manor. In this particular agent's marketplace, the high demand area was called Ruby Hills. Read the rest of this article.

Which listing agreement do I use?

I have a seller who wants to sell an unimproved residential lot. What listing agreement should I use?

The choice of listing agreement depends upon the likely buyer’s intended use. Since a buyer will probably use the lot for residential purposes (e.g., to build a home), the residential listing agreement (TAR form 1101) would appear to be the best choice. The listing broker could delete those matters that would apply to improvements or add a statement indicating that the property is an unimproved lot in the Special Provisions paragraph. Either of these alternatives would tend to eliminate confusion by the seller.

It should be noted that these same considerations would apply to the choice of a listing agreement if the likely intended use of a buyer of an unimproved property would be for commercial or farm and ranch purposes.

Learn how a Legal Defense Fund victory upholds Texans' property rights

Listen to the latest Texas REALTOR® Update podcast and hear how the Legal Defense Fund helped a Richardson REALTOR® uphold property rights for all Texans. No matter your comfort level with technology, it’s easy to listen to Texas REALTOR® Update:
Click here to listen to Texas REALTOR® Update on your computer. If you have problems listening to Texas REALTOR® Update on your computer, check out these troubleshooting tips.

Or subscribe to Texas REALTOR® Update, so it automatically downloads to your iTunes or other audio file-management program.

Read about the topics discussed on this episode, or visit the podcast archives to listen to past episodes.

New "green" standard adopted

The International Code Council, which develops the building safety codes used to construct most residential and commercial buildings, approved a National Green Building Standard. The new standard provides guidance for safe and sustainable building practices for all residential construction. The standard's rating system allows builders, designers, and communities to choose the levels of high-performance green buildings that best suit their needs. Key provisions include: land conservation, rainwater collection, construction of smaller homes to conserve resources, improved indoor air quality, and homeowner education on proper maintenance and operation to maintain a home's green status.

Obama announces Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan

President Obama this week announced his plan to help 7-9 million families avoid foreclosure by restructuring or refinancing their mortgages. The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan contains three main elements:

1. Government-sponsored enterprise refinancing for responsible homeowners suffering from falling home prices
2. Three-year $75 billion initiative to reduce monthly payments for 3-4 million at-risk homeowners
3. Supporting low mortgage rates by strengthening confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
   

Review the details of each element in this NAR Governmental Affairs Update.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act becomes law, contains important real estate provisions

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains important housing provisions, which were lobbied for by the leadership of the Texas Association of REALTORS® during a recent visit to Washington, D.C. Some of these provisions include:

• Homebuyer tax credit: The bill provides for an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers who purchase a principal residence between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 1, 2009. The credit does not require repayment.
• FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loan limits: The bill reinstates last year's 2008 loan limits for FHA, Freddie Mac, and Fannie Mae loans.
• Neighborhood stabilization: The bill provides $2 billion in additional funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which provides grants to states and localities to address problems that can be created when whole neighborhoods are decimated by foreclosures.
• Commercial real estate: Commercial real estate is affected primarily through provisions of the bill focused on green building and energy efficiency as well as business tax incentives. HR 1 provides significant funds for state energy programs, which could be used to support commercial property owners' investment in energy-efficiency upgrades.

Visit Realtor.org for more details about what this act means to real estate

Buyers, Sellers Rank Home Sales Companies

11:30 AM CDT on Thursday, July 30, 2009
By STEVE BROWN
The Dallas Morning Newsstevebrown@dallasnews.com

A new consumer poll asked sellers and buyers to rank national residential sales companies, and Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams were the sellers’ top choices.

J.D. Power and Associates surveyed home sellers about customer satisfaction.
Buyers ranked Keller Williams higher, the report issued Thursday said.
Both Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams have a big sales presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

J.D. Power measured customer satisfaction by asking about experience with the individual agent, the company’s office and additional services provided.

“For both buyers and sellers, the agent is still the most important driver of overall satisfaction,” the researchers found. “However, the importance of agents has declined substantially from 2008, while the importance of additional services has increased considerably.”

J.D. Power’s research also found that more than half of homebuyers are now first-timers. Government tax incentives and falling prices have lured many of these people into the market.

"The presence of more first-time buyers is encouraging, as it indicates that the real estate market is returning to more normal activity, with fewer speculators," said Jim Howland, senior director of the real estate and construction practice at J.D. Power and Associates.

The study showed that 64 percent of sellers used the Internet to market their homes. And the number of open houses at properties is down from an average of 4.5 showings in 2008 to 3.2 this year.

The rankings did not include large local or regional real estate companies which dominate the market in some cities.

How real estate sales firms stack up
Based on interviews this year with home sellers who were asked to rate satisfaction with nationwide firms. Based on a 1,000-point scale.
Coldwell Banker: 815
Keller Williams: 801
Re/Max: 784
Century 21: 770
Prudential: 753

SOURCE: J.C. Power and Associates

Make that Call!!

So I got an email from the Texas A&M Real Estate Center...as I was reading the newsletter, I noticed an article titled, " ON THE ROAD AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN . . . AND AGAIN." The article stated that, "Drivers in Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington were stuck in traffic 140.7 million hours in 2007, ranking it fifth in the United States when it comes to time lost because of travel delays." Can you believe that?! 140.7 MILLION HOURS. With so much time spent in gridlock, this is a great time for you to be scrolling through your cell phone & calling past clients. Yup, do your FORD calls & stay in contact with your sphere. This practice is not something that will take up your time...instead, it is a way to make use of the useless time we spend in traffic. So instead of cutting off that car, make that call!

Please visit the link below for the full article.
http://recenter.tamu.edu/

Happy Birthday Earl!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Family Circle magazine labels Rockwall a family-friendly city

10:35 PM CDT on Wednesday, July 1, 2009
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
rabshire@dallasnews.com

Rockwall is the best family town in Texas, one of the 10 best in America. Or so says the upcoming issue of Family Circle magazine.

In editions that will hit newsstands Tuesday, the magazine lists Rockwall and nine other U.S. cities as perfect places to call home, combining affordable housing, good neighbors, green spaces and exceptional public school systems.

The list isn't exactly scientific – it was compiled by magazine staffers and two outside firms using data in a handful of demographics categories. And the 10 cities aren't actually ranked, although Rockwall is listed first in the list.

None of that matters to Rockwall officials, who see the honor as a chance to spread word about the town to the magazine's 21 million readers.

"I'm thrilled," said Rockwall City Manager Julie Couch. "We actually knew we were in the running, so I'm thrilled that they kept us in there."

Couch said that the magazine focused heavily on schools and that she believed the Rockwall school district played a big role in winning the award.

Family Circle senior editor Paula Chin said the survey, in its third year, is one of the magazine's most popular features. She said the focus was on schools this year and only the highest-rated were considered.

"We're all about family-friendly towns," she said.

Mega Camp 2009

NAR's response to problems with appraisals

To: All REALTORS®
From: Charles McMillan, 2009 NAR President
Re: AppraisalsDear Fellow REALTOR®

During the past two months, we have heard from many of you regarding problems with appraisals that are causing deals to be delayed or canceled altogether. I assure you that we on the NAR Leadership Team are experiencing the same problems in our businesses. In fact, VP & Liaison to Committees Steve Brown recently shared his experiences in Ohio on the Voices of Real Estate

blog.http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/president/2009/06/all_is_not_quiet_on_the_midwes.html

Let me update you on what NAR is doing to resolve these problems quickly.

On Monday, June 29th, I will be in New York to meet with the Deputy Attorney General and his staff who worked directly on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. I plan to share our concerns, as well as your stories, and ask for their assistance in resolving any problems related to the HVCC.

On Tuesday, June 30th, I will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to discuss ways we can work with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and lenders to ensure that appraisals are accurate.

We will keep you posted on the outcome of these meetings. In the meantime, I encourage you to check out the following resources on Realtor.org for more information on the HVCC and how appraisal problems are impacting the real estate market:

Economists Podcasthttp://www.realtor.org/research/research/research_podcast062309?LID=RONav0021
HVCChttp://www.realtor.org/government_affairs/gapublic/gses_hvcc_announced

Appraisal Bloghttp://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/appraisalinsight/

On behalf of the entire Leadership Team and staff, I thank all of you who have shared your experiences and concerns with us. With your continued participation, I believe we will overcome this challenge in much the same way as we have conquered others – "United Toward Tomorrow."

TEXAS RANKS FIRST FOR BUSINESS

TEXAS (Austin Business Journal) – Texas stands out as the top state for business, according to Directorship magazine.

Texas "has a pro-business tax climate that ranks third, a low cost of living, a relatively solid economy and a litigation environment that ranks tenth on our list," the magazine reported. "Texas also ranks first in the number of Fortune 500 companies located there."

Major corporate relocations and expansions such as Comerica's move to Dallas and Caterpillar's new plant in Seguin were highlighted as reasons for Texas' ranking.

Directorship evaluated states' overall economies, tax climates, cost of living and education to determine rankings.

TEXAS STILL BUYER'S MARKET

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, The Herald-Zeitung) – Despite rising foreclosure rates in the United States (now nearly 32 percent), the rate in Texas is down 14 percent since last year.

Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the Texas housing market is doing very well compared with the rest of the nation.

"We're being compared to large, high-growth states like Florida, New York, California and Illinois, and our housing market is in much better shape. This is partly because about four or five years ago, we didn't have the big run-up in prices that many of those states had," Gaines said.

Texas also benefits from a lack of overbuilding, which often creates an excess of inventory to drive down home prices.

Affordable homes, low mortgage and interest rates, and first-time homebuyer tax credits also make this an ideal time to buy a home, according to Gaines.

TEXAS QUICK TO BOUNCE BACK FROM RECESSION, FORBES SAYS

WASHINGTON (Forbes) – Several Texas cities are poised for a quick recovery from the national recession, according to Forbes.

Austin–Round Rock ranked first on the magazine’s recent list of ten cities most likely to bounce back quickly.

Meanwhile, San Antonio ranked fifth, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington seventh and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ninth.

To compile its list, Forbes looked at estimates from Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the United States, as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.

Forbes also put together a list of ten worst cities for recession recovery. No Texas cities made that list.

THIS ECONOMY WANTS TO RECOVER

In his recent Croesus Chronicles for Forbes, Robert Lenzner outlined several economic points:
- "The bear market ended March 9, and the end of the worst recession since the 1930s, or is it the mid 1970s, is plainly in sight."



- "About $120 billion has been pulled out of global market funds since mid-March;"



- 'Yet money market assets are still equal to 50% of the S&P 500 market cap...Since 1990, money market assets have averaged about 20% of the S&P 500 market cap. This is a huge potential buying power.


While no one is certain that a new bull market has begun, we can point to some telling signs:


"Stocks broke higher on June 1 even though the yield on 30-yeard Treasuries climbed back above 4.5%...This is what the long bond yielded in August of 2008. Just before the meltdown in credit markets during the fall of 2008."



"Credit markets are healing, as spreads have fallen considerably."



"Corporations are able to raise tens of billions in the short-term debt market."



"The yield curve, the difference in yield between short-term and long-term securities, usually widens in advance of an economic recovery, and it has done so."



"Stocks also rose spectacularly despite the bankruptcy of General Motors and the continuing loss of jobs in the automobile industry. Bad news doesn't seem to be rocking the market like it did a few months ago."



"Earnings yields on equities still remain comfortably above the yield on 10-year Treasuries and should have the ability to absorb higher interest rates driven by economic recovery."



'The US manufacturing institute for Supply Management index rose to 42.8 in May, which usually signals that gross domestic is expanding rather the faltering."



'Housing, the genesis of the crisis, is showing signs of stabilization and even amelioration. Pending sales were up 6.7% in April, even if prices are still in the tank.'



'Even automobile sales improved in May to an annualized 10 million vehicle level.'



'There has also been a mini-bull market going on in commodities that has been mightier than the one for stocks. This outperformance by commodities is another leading indicator of an economy about to turn the corner.'



And lastly, "Another factor that helps the Dow is the replacement of two stocks with no earning--General Motors and Citigroup--with Travelers and Cisco."


"Looks to Croesus that this market wants to rise, deflation or inflation both be damned!"

Forecasting the Floor

While experts run the gamut in their outlook for real estate, sound business
practices supercede futile attempts to time the market.

Are we there yet?
With the summer vacation season in full swing, most of us in real estate are
asking our own version of this signature refrain of the family road trip.
In our case, it’s a question of, ‘Have we hit the floor?’
When can we start looking forward to shrinking inventories, stable prices and an
upward trend in the number of transactions?

While much of the media is still charging ahead with dire forecasts for real estate,
a recent spate of experts are claiming that a housing-market recovery is imminent.
Even though this is the news that we’ve been waiting to hear, we need to take it
with a grain of salt. As always, the real story is much more complicated and lies
somewhere within the spectrum of the doom and gloom and the upbeat projections.
Many of you have recently asked me for my thoughts on a recent Wall Street
Journal commentary entitled, “The Housing Crisis is Over” by Cyril Moulle-Berteaux,
managing partner of Traxis Partners LP, a hedge fund firm based in New York. When I
read the claim in the article that, “It is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of
the U.S. housing market. Yes, the housing market is bottoming right now,” I suspected
that there might be a need to look beneath the surface of his claims.

Noting that new home sales are down 63 percent and housing starts have fallen by
more than 50 percent from their July 2005 peak; and that housing starts in 2008 will hit
their lowest level ever, Moulle-Berteaux emphasized that the same factor that sparked the
housing decline is soon to reverse it: affordability.

He explained that “by 2005 and 2006, the average monthly income required to
service a conforming mortgage on the average home purchased had reached 25 percent.
For first-time homebuyers that figure had climbed to 37 percent.”

But since then, according to Moulle-Berteaux, “home prices have fallen 10
percent to 15 percent, while incomes have kept growing (albeit more slowly recently) and
interest rates have come down 70 basis points from their highs.” Moulle-Berteaux’s
conclusion: “… homes on average are back to being as affordable as during the best of
times in the 1990s – down to 19 percent of income for the average home buyer and 31
percent of income for the first-time home buyer.”


Affordability in March 2008, is actually at 19 percent, back to where it was in
early 2004, but one of the key factors affecting affordability in the current market is low
interest rates. If inflation increases, in the near future, interest rates could likely go up,
which could counter the current direction in affordability.

Another factor that Moulle-Berteaux points to as a sign of recovery is the recent
decline in new home inventories – from a high of 598,000 in July 2006, to 482,000 at the
end of March 2008. Conceding that the current new- home inventory is still at a 25-year
high, and equivalent to an 11- month supply, he argues that current levels are similar to
those seen at the end of previous housing market downturns in 1974, 1982 and 1991,
which in all three instances were followed by a slowing in home-price declines within the
next six months. As new home construction begins to undershoot new home sales, which
Moulle-Berteaux anticipates is soon to occur at a rate of 50,000 to 100,000 annually, he
contends that inventories will drop to 400,000 – or a seven month’s supply – by the end
of 2008.

While he makes a seemingly compelling argument, we should be careful not to
accept such analyses at face value. Moulle-Berteaux does not always paint the entire
picture and omits critical informa tion, such as the fact that existing home inventories –
which account for a far greater portion of the housing market – are at their highest levels
since September 1981.

That being said, Moulle-Berteaux is clearly not alone in his assertions that the
housing market is showing signs of a rebound. Among those noting positive trends is
Professor Karl Case of Wellesley College in Wellesley, Mass. Case looked at the past
three housing downturns in 1991, 1982 and 1975, and noticed that the market started to
clear when housing starts dropped below the 1 million mark – as they did in March of
2008.

At the same time, the National Association of REALTORS® sees signs of
recovery for reasons that include:
· Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced plans to increase funds available
for home loans.
· The use of FHA loans is on the rise.
· Pending home sales are on the rise in areas where affordability has increased.
In a further effort to stimulate the housing market, Fannie Mae announced that
starting June 1, 2008, it will accept down payments as low as 3 percent for single-family,
primary residences on loans it purchases.

But despite its initiatives to jumpstart real estate, Fannie Mae is not anticipating a
housing recovery to take hold until 2010. Addressing business journalists this Spring,
Daniel Mudd, president and chief executive of Fannie May said, “Forecasting the bottom
of the housing slump is a tricky business, with the many conflicting predictions by
economists as proof.” We couldn’t agree more.

Clearly, the housing market is a complicated business that does not rise and fall
based on one or two factors. And even though real estate is cyclical, we need to avoid the
expectation that prescribed patterns or trends are necessarily at play. The current
downturn is quite different from the housing recessions of 1991, 1982 and 1975 – due
primarily to the tightening of the credit markets following the fallout of the sub-prime
loan market, as well as the historically high rates of foreclosures. A striking similarity,
however, between the current housing market and previous downturns in the housing
cycle is the dramatic increase in oil prices.

It’s perfectly understandable to want to find the definitive forecast for residential
real estate and to seek a return to the heydays of housing, but we have little to gain in
latching on to any particular forecast or trying to time the market. We have everything to
gain, however, by managing expenses in order to survive, doing whatever it takes to
generate the leads that we need to thrive, seizing opportunities to build our share of the
current market, and emphasizing to clients who are trying to sort through many
conflicting messages that real estate is essentially a local business.

What’s happening within your local markets is all that’s relevant. You are our
local market’s real estate expert.