Each of the new Real Living brokers had their own reasons for seeking out the award-winning Real Living brand, which is uniquely positioned within the real estate industry, and has earned a reputation for an unsurpassed level of personalized customer service.
"Real Living is a national real estate company known for being innovative and forward thinking," said Pam Rankin, broker/owner of Arizona-based Real Living Premier Partners. "The industry is looking for a company to step up, be unique and be a leader. That's exactly the kind of company we were looking and hoping to join, and we're extremely happy to be a part of Real Living's national growth."
"It is important to be associated with a franchise that is determined to keep you at the top and is constantly looking for new ways to differentiate you from the competition," said Vonda Herding, broker/owner of Real Living Home to Home in Minnesota. "Real Living will do that and also ensure we are staying ahead of what consumers need from their real estate professionals."
"With the Real Living brand, there were a number of things that appealed to us," said Andy Linihan, broker/owner of Real Living at 1st Knight Realty in Florida. "Our office is very technology oriented and we think Real Living has a great technology platform and offers the complete package."
More to come. Look for new news and more information on these conversions on the RealLiving.com site.
Here are what two of the newest Real Living franchisees are saying regarding their decision to re-brand and join Real Living. GMAC Brokers are excited, agents are excited and we who've been Real Living for a while are thrilled by the fast growth.
"When we were deciding to go with Real Living, I was very impressed with the technology offering and the marketing."
"The Real Living brand is new and we believe the concept is something that is really going to stick."
"It is important to be associated with a franchise that keeps you at the top and differentiates you from the competition. Real Living will do that and also ensure we are staying ahead of what consumers need from their real estate professional."
- Vonda Herding - Home to Home
"With the Real Living brand, there were a number of things that appealed to us. Our office is very technology oriented and we think Real Living has a great technology platform and offers the complete package."
"If I were to offer advice to a broker thinking about switching to the Real Living brand it would be this: If you are currently an independent, a switch could help you save money since all of the programs and platforms are already created. If you are a franchisee of another company, Real Living can provide the support you may not be getting right now."
"Our agents are very excited about the brand change and we're off to a fresh start."
Wednesday, January 13, 2010 is a historic date in the Real Living history book. It marks the date where first GMAC franchise converted and re-branded to Real Living! Eddie San Roman, president and CEO of First Service Realty (now Real Living First Service Realty) owns the proud distinction of being this first brokerage to join.
Hundreds of red, round and real yard signs will immediately infiltrate the Miami market as Eddie and his agents paint the town Real Living RED.
This is another interview, done just hours prior to Eddie announcing this news to his agents and the entire Miami/Dade county real estate community. You will see the excitement and passion in Eddie and Harley's tone!
We're proud to have Eddie and his 11 offices and 725+ agents on board. Enjoy the interview footage...
This is a video interview I conducted with Eddie San Roman, President and CEO of Real Living First Service Realty in Miami, Florida. This interview was completed just hours prior to him officially announcing to his 725+ agents and consumers that he'd be re-branding from GMAC to Real Living. As you will see, Eddie has a great amount of passion for the business and, now, the Real Living brand.
On Saturday, January 16, 2010, hundreds of red, round and real yard signs will infiltrate the greater Miami and Dade county area.
Real Living First Service Realty is the first GMAC brokerage to convert and re-brand to the Real Living network. They have 11 offices and 725+ agents and plan to add another 15 offices in the next 5 years.
Exciting news today! Real Living has announced its first GMAC company to convert and re-brand to Real Living! This conversion will add another 725 agents and 12 offices to the Real Living network!
Also, Eddie SanRoman, owner of RL First Service Realty has growth plans - BIG growth plans. In the next 3-5 years, he'll be aggressively adding up to add up to 15 additional offices throughout the greater Miami area! While some are contracting others like Eddie are taking advantage of a new brand, new tools/services and actually growing, despite the economy! For Eddie, now is the time to strike! Hear what Eddie had to say on our interview/podcast!
On behalf of everyone at Real Living, we're excited, thrilled and honored to have an organization like Real Living First Service Realty join the Real Living network. Eddie and his team are a class act and will be excellent stewards of the brand! In fact, they've already began implementing the environmental branding package Real Living provides. Here are pictures from their main office I took yesterday.
Last night was the annoucement celebration with over 400 agents in attendance, celebrating the Real Living brand coming to Miami. On Saturday, hundreds of listings will become Real Living. Red yard will infiltrate the market.
Real Living friends- please reach out to Eddie San Roman and any RL First Service agents to welcome them to the family!
Read the Real Living blog and see more pictures from the event...
Below is a picture of a postcard that was received by several of our agents in Central Ohio from a Re/Max brokerage. The card is an obvious form type letter whose message should be targeted towards a real estate company who does not enable their agents to "self promote" or provide them to tools to "self-promote," and use new media.
The irony for me in this card is that Real Living provides many more tools to self-promote than the Re/Max. Some of them include...
A broker site that drives leads directly to agents
Agent websites that can be used for self-promotion and lead capture
"Talk to me NOW" and "Text me now" buttons on agent and broker pages
A full suite of postcard templates agents can personalize for self or property promotion
Robust training platform including 101 (tools training), 201 (advanced agent training) and several "new media" trainings including blogging, Facebook, Twiitter and more.
At the end of the day, I could go on and on. However, I encourage brokers, managers or recruiters to know their audience and competition prior to sending post-cards like this one. Otherwise your message will not resonate.
In my role as vice president of marketing I've consistently heard two common phrases, over the past few months with respect to social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, etc.)...
1. I don't have time to participate in social media.
2. <insert social media outlet here> will not find me customers.
I recently compiled a few staggering stats that I wanted to share with respect to this commentary...
Generation Y will outnumber Baby Boomers by the year 2010 and 96% of them are active in social media.
Today's new generation of homebuyers, Gen Y and Gen Z (the next gen behind Y) consider e-mail passé. In fact some universities including Boston College are eliminating e-mail as a form of communication to students.
Social media is the #1 activity on the Internet right now - it has overtaken porn.
If Facebook were a country it'd be 4th in population behind USA which is 3rd behind China and India.
80% of all US companies use Linked-In as their primary source to hire employees.
Time it took the following media outlets to reach 50 million users...
Radio - 38 years
TV - 13 years
Internet - 4 years
iPod - 3 years
Facebook - added 100 million users in the past 9 months
18% of television ad campaigns yield a positive ROI because 90% of people who can fast forward through ads do.
The fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women 55-65 years old.
So in response to the two comments I mentioned earlier, I pose this single question...
With these stats, and keeping Harley Sr.'s (founder of Real Living) infamous "See the People," speech in mind, how can you afford not to create time for social media? Social media is where you'll find and "see the people" of today and tomorrow.
Social media is not a "flash-in-the-pan" fad that will go away. If you are not in the social media game, jump-in! Because of social media we are no longer searching for news, it is finding us. Likewise, Realtors everywhere are connecting with consumers via these venues everyday.
Our very own Real U offers a Social Media 101 class. Sign up online today and get in the game. When, via social media you connect with a past high-school friend or former co-worker and sell them a home, you'll be thankful you did.
I looked into Trendgraphix for a report outlining the top companies selling homes in the upscale ($400k+) Central Ohio market YTD. Here are the results...
This is a 27% market share in the upscale central Ohio market! Our marketing, tools, systems, sites and agents all contribute to this success! If you are interested in joining our professional firm so you too can use statistics like these when going on a $400k+ listing presentation, please connect with me or one of our sales leaders.
Great news! We're extending the Peace of Mind, Job-Loss Mortgage Protection Plan! It will be extended for another month - buyers must go into contract prior to September 30, 2009 and close prior to October 31, 2009. The website PDF's will be updated by tomorrow to reflect these dates. This extension will also afford more time for our refinance initiative to work as well as the buyer/seller initiative. Remember refi customers are eligible too.
It is also noteworthy to mention that we'll be introducing another consumer promotion, simultaneously, in conjunction with the conclusion of Peace of Mind. The next program, while I cannot share the details yet, will be another differentiator for Real Living. It will create positive excitement in the market, help agents attract listings, help managers/owners with recruiting and generate publicity. Like the Peace of Mind Plan, the new promotion will be available network-wide and as an organization we are dedicated to 2-3 of these promotions annually.
Why is the Peace of Mind Plan being extended? Simple, results don't lie. In May, prior to the Peace of Mind Plan, RL HER had a 17.2% market share. In July, RLHER's share improved to 21.8%. This statistic and "bump" is incredible and a direct result of our firm rallying and creating excitement around the promotion! The promotion is helping agents get listings and differentiating RL listings to buyers. I promise you, the next one will be just as great! Stay tuned!
One of our office managers sent this picture to me today. Consumers in rural areas really seem to take it seriously if a "Realitor" lies, cheats or steals.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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