There was a very encouraging article in the Omaha World-Herald today regarding the local Omaha economy. Omaha definately has not had the highs and lows that the rest of the country has seen and may be one of the first markets to rebound.

http://omaha.com/article/20100915/NEWS01/709159950#metro-jobs-housing-rebounding 

The article states that Omaha had the 13th best job growth figure among the top 100 cities in the US.  The article also states that the housing prices are likely to rebound in the Omaha area.

While there is alot of negative press out there regarding the state of the Real Estate market I appreciate seeing some positive news!

 I ran across this article in the Omaha World-Herald that does a good job of explaining the current status of the local real estate market. Although the stimulus program was good for our market in the spring it has actually hurt our summer market. It seems that we took most of our summer buyers and changed them to spring buyers. Now we are left with a "hangover effect". I'm starting to believe that the stimulus program actually had a negative effect on our overall market. I also think that many buyers are now waiting for another "program" before they will enter the market.

http://omaha.com/article/20100710/MONEY/307109985

I know this article may be a little negative about our market but I think it is important to be realistic with our sellers about the current conditions. At keller Williams we have a system that provides monthly local market statistics from the MLS. These numbers help us understand what is going on in the current market and allow us to become a more knowledgable real estate professional.

Knowing the local market statistics (and using them) helps your sellers to have realistic expectations. It is up to us as real estate professionals to know the numbers.

Big Announcement!!!

Premier One Real Estate has joined Keller Williams Greater Omaha. Premier One has 2 offices (One in Fremont, NE and one in Omaha) and 40+ quality agents. This merger brings Keller Williams Greater Omaha to 130+ agents.....Now one of the largest Real Estate companies in the Omaha area.

The merging of Premier One Real Estate into Keller Williams Realty started on July 1. When complete we will have 3 offices in the Omaha area: 97th & Giles (Sarpy County), 168th & Dodge (Douglas County) and Fremont, NE.

Keller Williams Realty is the fastest growing real estate company in Omaha and also the fastest growing in North America. 77,000 Agents, 650+ Offices.

Why are so many of the highest quality Realtors in the business joining KW? 5 Reasons: Education, Technology, Culture, Commission structure and Profit Sharing.

Are you ready to make the move to Keller Williams? Contact me for more information.

John Lorkovic, Keller Williams Greater Omaha. JLork@kw.com. 402-598-4287

I  proud to be a part of the Keller Williams Family and especially when we are able to give back to the Omaha metropolitan community that has been so good to us.

On May 13th Keller Williams Realty offices nationwide came together to help out in their communities. At Keller Williams Greater Omaha we spent the afternoon at Hanscom Park, one of Omaha's historic parks. 25+ Realtors came together to provide a much needed facelift to the park. After an afternoon of hard work we had a picnic and social networking event at the pavillion.

See the video here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9CDjaPv9w

On May 11th we had our first Keller Williams Greater Omaha fundraiser golf outing. We had an awesome time but more importantly we raised $5000+ for our charity....KW Cares.

I am so proud of my fellow associates at Keller Williams Omaha. We are building a great group of team oriented agents that love what we do.

By the way, if you are thinking of buying or selling real estate I'd love to assist.

A big thank you to Gary Carpenter for bringing the Floyd Wickman program to Omaha! We had agents from almost every major real estate company in the area attend the seminar including Keller Williams Realty, NP Dodge Real Estate, CBSHome Real Estate, Alliance Real Estate, and Premier One Real Estate.

Check out the youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM9x9N37zwE

We all pledged to always:

• Live by the "get by giving" philosophy
• Make my clients #1 goal my #1 goal
• Live up to my standards, despite temptations to lower them
• Be willing to work toward a common good.
• Do what I say I will do, sometimes more, just never less.

If you know of anyone moving to or from the Omaha, Nebraska area I'd love to assist them.

John Lorkovic, Keller Williams Greater Omaha, 402-598-4287, JLork@kw.com

Thank you to all who made the grand opening at our new West Omaha office a huge success.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73tghoSJi8

13924 Gold Circle (near Oakview Mall)

Thank you Jay Papasan (co-author of the book "SHIFT") for coming to Omaha, NE this past week for a day-long presentation of the principles outlined in the book. It was a huge success with over 180 real estate professionals in attendance from the local market and other regional markets such as Kansas City, Wichita, Des Moines, Council Bluffs and Lincoln.

Thank you also to all of the terrific learning-based agents who attended and to our main sponsor, Top Producer.

Keller Williams University offers a huge array of educational opportunities for our agents. This education is available through the classes in our market center (office), through regional training events, and through the 24-hour availability of the internet.

Its great to be part of a company that is interested in helping its clients (agents) succeed!

Keller Williams Greater Omaha is very happy to announce the opening of a second office (business center) in the West Omaha/Millard area. Through our steady growth and profitability we've decided to open this office to better serve our quality agents that serve the West Omaha market.

The address of our new "Business Center" is 13924 Gold Coast Circle, Omaha, NE 68144. ( Near Oakview Mall at 140th & Center). This new location is scheduled to be open for business on August 14, 2009.

If you are an agent that has been thinking about exploring the options available to you, I'd love to show you how Keller Williams Realty is revolutionizing the real estate industry. With the opening of our new office we have the space, resources, and location to make your move an easy one.

In this ever changing real estate market that currently exists it is more important than ever for agents to equip themselves with the most education ever to properly represent buyers and sellers in a competent, professional manner. I've had hundreds of discussions with agents who are complaining about the difficulties they are currently experiencing. My questions to them are these:

What are you doing to make yourself a better agent?

What training/education have you taken lately that will help you thrive in our shifting market?

Are you still doing business the same way you did 3 years ago?

Are you a real estate professional or just a real estate agent?

Is your broker doing anything to help you become a more knowledgeable, well-rounded agent who can better assist your clients in the current market?

Do you have a system for lead generation or are you just waiting for your broker or another middle-man to hand you a referral (at a 25%-35% fee)?

Having been on the "other side" I can tell you that the educational opportunities offered by Keller Williams Realty are unbelievable. Many of the real estate brokers claim to have the best training in town but in reality most of their education is based around new agents. Topics such as "how to fill out a contract" and "measuring a house" just don't excite an experienced agent. Many good, experienced agents quit going to sales meetings or broker-offered training because they simply dont get anything out of it.

Keller Williams reputation across the counrty is that of having the most experienced, educated, well-rounded agents in the business. Much of that reputation stems from the unequalled education that is offered at a local level, regional level, national level, and over the internet. The Keller Williams model is designed to best fit the learning-based agent that has a desire to be a real estate professional, not just a real estate agent.

When it comes right down to it...our clients are paying us for our knowledge. Knowing what to do when our listings are not selling, knowing what to do to attract more showings, knowing how to negotiate unreasonable offers, knowing how to help buyers make an informed decision, and much more.

Do you have the knowledge to survive in today's market? Are you a learning-based agent? Are you a real estate professional? If not, you may be losing clients to the agents that can say yes to these questions.

John Lorkovic, Keller Williams Greater Omaha