Mary Anne 's Blog

THE A LIST OF TOP 10 LEAD GENERATION TIPS FOR GREATER RESULTS!

2008-10-28T09:02:29Z

This is some GREAT Information on Lead Gen I've seen in a while--if you try 3 of these things you will be successful!

Via Liz Ward Small:

TOP 10 LEAD GENERATION TIPS FOR GREATER RESULTS AND GREATER INCOME!

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A WALL OF WORDS BUT WELL WORTH THE READ!

Looking for leads in all the wrong places...Could be a great country and western hit but it sure is not how you wish to spend your day! In an effort to bring forth my heart and soul into my new active rain world I have borrowed the draw of giving you a list in hopes to mingle and meet you! Even better than that - I hope to really give you something of substance and something you take to the bank with a few closing checks! So here goes all of my 15 years experience in real estate from the most simple to most crucial to know to survive...THE A LIST OF TOP 10 LEAD GENERATION TIPS FOR GREATER RESULTS!

1) Get out of your real estate world box and be the coca cola of the real estate market!

This means that there are more people in your community that are just everyday people that are NOT buying and selling than there are buyers and sellers. SO, WAKE UP out there and learn that you have to start working your community and be a visible icon to everyone - everywhere! Sure, sending just listed and sold postcards work and tooting your own horn for any and all accomplishments but let's get real here! Get to the heart of people and you will get leads!

SERVE! GIVE! SERVE!

I almost feel like the a preacher pounding this message but the stats are in (my stats) and the fact is that more people will know you when you reach out and build relationships. TALK the TALK and WALK the WALK everywhere you are and get out of the real estate marketing box and get your ads, your name, your body in places with people that are NOT currently buying or selling!

Because those people talk to to others and it is not always what you know or who you know but WHO knows YOU and KNOWS what you do!

2) KNOW your market Stats and be the GO TO SOURCE for Real Estate!

The best thing I ever did to really understand my market was learning how to break down stats from MLS and really learn my market area. Not just the area but key neighborhoods that I would work! Put your stats in a yearly binder and use it on listing appointments. Of course, show your personal stats compared to local stats and if you are new - get your companies stats and share those! Feel free to R and D my stats layout. *R&D meaning RIP OFF and DUPLICATE! My stats book is nothing fancy but it works great - Posted on my real estate website at www.wardsmall.com ! Make sure to know the average days on the market, list to sale ratio and average price range of homes that are moving etc...HOW and WHY is this going to give you leads?

Making graphs is simple with this 3rd grade math site: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/

SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE! Send the chamber heads and bank leaders of my community a full market report each year - the mailing goes out by January 15th to about 50 BIG executives, attorney and big corporate heads! This puts you in front of them as a SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE!

Leads come if you stay consistent on this. Send quarterly postcards as well to these heads with current stats updates!

By the way - knowing your stats is not just pulling the ready made figures from MLS. It is researching and viewing homes online and REALLY knowing what is happening in your market place. When you go on a listing appointment you know why the Jones house at 123 SOLD CHEAP ST. because it had functional obselence when they made the laundry room the 1/2 bath for guest and kept it as a laundry room as well! DO YOU GET THIS PICTURE YET?

Great market stats ideas and many more great agent tips can be found by being a real estate club member with Rick Deluca: www.rickdelucaseminars.com Email Rick and tell him I sent you and you will get a 2 months FREE TRIAL!

3) REACH OUT IN LOCAL BLOGS WITH YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Once you do step 2 take more of your flowing knowledge to a local blog scene. Not sure if you have any? Check your newspaper and google your local TV stations! There are many local places that would love to know about what is going on and YOU need to be the person giving this information! Do not ever forget to sound off with "If you know anyone in need of my real estate services, please send them my way"!

Do you use Virtual tours? Why not go an do a few on local scenes of interest to share with your community - Maybe a new school building or townhall? Maybe a new complex that you want to feature - Maybe feature the park, mountains, beach or whatever it is that brings buyers to your area! Post these links on these sites and show people WHY they should be working with: YOU! By the way! Hello POST it in localism here at:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/36033/Posting-To-Localism

4) FARMING IS STILL ONE OF THE BEST TOOLS FOR REAPING A CASH CROP

If you are not a huge believer in farming neighborhoods...Think twice about this! Framing is back to the basics but I hope the show the world a different twist on this basic marketing magic! My twist is easy and it works! The methods I teach are based on the concept called RELATIONSHIP MARKETING!

Yes, you still are the person to share what is going on in real estate but focus farming methods more community driven events and work towards more of a GIVE and SERVE method. A few ideas of the farming plans that have worked best in the past for me are: Coat collections for the homeless, food drives for the local food pantry, back to school supplies for needed families, Community yard sales, Pride in Ownership awards, ICE CREAM socials, Driveway flags, community parties! More of this can be found on "LISTING TOOL SUCCESS KIT" - go to www.LiveBBB.com and use the code BBB to get 10.00 OFF! I get leads from people all of the time in the two neighborhoods that are served by these methods. Try this and you will be known and seen as a real go getter and on top of your real estate game!

5) CLOSING PARTIES WORK WONDERS

Do you host closing parties for buyers? Once closed just ask them for a list of 25 people to invite to a closing party! Give them 3 choices on food for to serve depending on the taste of the buyer: Wine and Cheese, Beer and Pizza, Cupcakes with mints and punch! Simple - yes! If budget allows hire someone to cater and serve but you can budget this for less than $100.00 and in return you get 25 leads for your database and you get to socialize with your clients friends and YOU are the hostess with the mostest!

Try a year end GALA event! I have done this since 1994 and of course, the party has gotten much bigger and now includes wine and wine servers, band or piano and a full catered party . This gala is the 1st week of December and everyone is asked to bring a new toy for TOYS for TOTS. Marines stand gaurd at the box of toys and the night is ful of fun and social networking ALL ABOUT YOU! Make sure to tell your guest they are welcome to invite another family - just RSVP - the more the merrier and the more people you meet the more leads that will come the next year! Take pictures and send everyone a thank you newsletter sharing how many toys were collected and how you value them as customers for life!

6) FOLLOW UP BEFORE...DURING...AFTER!

When I list a home my seller gets about 5 greeting cards the 1st month with special thanks for allowing me to serve them! When I meet a buyer at an open house that person will get 3 cards from me over the next 2 weeks!

When I close a client they get a handwritten card from me every month, chocolate at Valentines Day, Candy at Halloween and Cookies at Christmas all for less than 50.00 - they also will get an Home Anniversary card for 4 years for less than $5.00 and my clients are my biggest lead source as well as great repeat business!

I am huge fan in handwritten notes and love the system Sendoutcards.com for this type of high tech yet high touch approach it has brought to follow up! The system allows you to create your own handwritting and up to 4 signatures. I send personalized greeting cards with real lick and stick stamps direct from my computer! It looks like I sat down and wrote a note and mailed it. See for yourself on this tip by sending someone you need to a card today. After you comment on my blog just register at www.sendoutcards.com/The3BMethod for a FREE gift account to see how this works! I have tons of campaigns for follow up that I will GIVE you if you decide to be a user of this system as an entrep. level user...One of the best things about this sytem is you can make commission paid back to yourself for your own marketing material and gifting! Gifts have just been added and as of Sept. the company will have mail sending daily out of Australia! Within 60 days a mail center will be on the EAST coast as well so all USA mail regardless of where you are at will be in your clients hands within 48 hours of the time you preview - pay and press send!

I have a blog just on this program: http://www.activerain.com/blogsview/521450/SEND-OUT-CARDS-MY

7) WEBSITES WORK IF THEY HAVE LEAD FORMS ONLY!

A website that has no lead forms may work for visiblity but you have to have a way to capture the leads! I am a rep for TopProducer Systems and was very clear to them I would not promote the websites until I believed in them. I kept my other sites to compare lead traffic and was amazed at the hits and leads that were automatically stored on my TP7i account! I do not care who you use for your website company just make sure they have a way to get your leads to you in a fast effective manner for follow up!

However - If you want to see what TP offers: click here: http://livebbb.com/top-producer.asp

8) CALL CAPTURE WILL CAPTURE YOUR ATTENTION

If you want to test me on this please do! Go look in any real estate magazine and see what agent is using a call capture company and call that office and I will promise you that the agent is a top producer. I recall in 1995 when pagers were the tech tool to own I would have between 50 and 60 leads per day from my call capture on ads! It still works the same today and is a great source of referral business for me! Compare if you like: archtelecom and FreedomVoice are the 2 I have used - they both have a total different price plan - UPDATE: Go to www.realestatechampions.com and see his call capture system!

9) USE HIGH TECH TOOLS WHEN NEEDED!

There is a need for every client and the best real estate agent will have a tool box of tools to use for each job!

Video email is a great added bonus to have when you have clients that you will never meet face to face. There are many ways to make this happen from using your camera video and posting a note on YOUTUBE to a 10.00 a month application as a customer on www.vmdirect.com/LiveBBB. Activerain even has a video source. Check out Brad Anderson's blog for more information on this! My advice is to determine how much you will use this and pick the best plan to meet your budget!

ECARD Signatures are one of the neatest tools I have seen in 2008. It may look huge here but I can tell you it looks perfect in all of your outgoing emails! The best feature to this card is the links surrounding it will drive up your site traffic and will impress your clients. The card can be FREE with an ad tag beside it or it is a small annual fee to have it removed. The main feature to removing the ad is getting to track your leads and using this as a proven tech tool on a listing presentation! Maybe you feature your new listings as one of the links!

Make your own: www.emailideas.com/LiveBBB - send it to me and I will post it at www.LiveBBB.com

I teach tech webinars each month! Most are free! See the links on the side of my profile page for any future webinars or register for my newsletter club on my site and I will see that you get an invite to any webinar I am teaching!

10) BUILD YOUR EMPIRE BY WORKING YOUR DATABASE: DRIP AND DOMINATE

I could have never closed over 150 units without a system like top producer! Many agents have TP and have no clue what they have available to make money with this! Did you know that every client in the system has a personal website that you can create for them to watch the listing and closing transaction steps and know what you are doing for them! The lead generation in building your empire by working your database is making sure that everyone in your system has some type of ACTION PLAN attached to them - Sharper Agent is another great tool to DRIP and DOMINATE your database! Follow up in any system must be automated to work for a busy agent - so make sure to get the ground work done for this and you will be home free in making sure every client is set up in your system to GENERATE YOU MORE INCOME WITH LEADS!!!

I hope you enjoyed these tips and tools! Elizabeth Ward Small brings 15 years of real estate success to you! A previous National ranking agent for listings sold, Elizabeth is now traveling all over the US presenting The 3 B Method Seminars: Live Life Busy - Balanced - Blessed as well as teaching many real estate topics and CE to help agents make more money - have more fun and by all means work smarter and not harder!

Remember....Elizabeth teaches webinars each month. These classes are found at www.LiveBBB.com as well as on the links list here on ActiveRain! If you are interested in Elizabeth doing a LIVE rally in your area please have your broker/owner or training director contact me. I am now booking for 2009. Some dates are still open in 2008! I would love to come and INSPIRE YOU!

My goodness...Sorry this was so long!

AUGUST 18, 2008: This was a JUNE featured blog and I was asked to REBLOG this for new associates. Thank you to the previous 188 whom commented before...your support is amazing!

Want some GOOD NEWS in Forsyth County??????

2008-10-24T10:32:50Z

Getting stats and numbers from places like Smart Numbers (Steve Palm) and Brokermetrics can sometimes be tricky but digesting it and putting into words is another. My mind can start wondering when too much information or TMI is given so here is some good news from these sources for Forsyth and our market in general.

Quoting Steve Palm's letter from 10/21/08 he states the following:

"Are you ready for some positive trends? Believe it or not I am about to share a few with you. First, after 18 consecutive monthly year-to-year percentage closing declines for all single family we will have an increase. September had a 4.1% decline from September 2007, but after lags are reported, we will be positive.

There are two fundamental reasons that explain the increase. The first year-to-year significant percentage decline was September 05-06 and the largest year-to-year percentage decline during our downturn was September 06-07. As you can see, we are working against a very weak September 2007 result.

Second, the average price for September 2008 for all single family was the lowest since November 2001 and also the greatest percentage year-to-year decline for an average sale price on record, 16.9%. A very clear indication of capitulation, but also a sign that even under very adverse economic conditions, if the price is right buyers will buy."

THEY ARE OUT THERE FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!!Just gotta get those prices down and condition up to reel 'em in!

In September 2008 Forsyth had a total amount of sales (closings) of 183 homes with an average of 100 days on market and a sales price to list price percentage of 94.6% (this is calculated at the final list price, not the starting list price). TOTAL single family detached homes months supply in the metro area is at 14.7 months, down from a high of 15.1 months this past August.

Mr. Palm thinks we are at the bottom, do I??? Yep, I think this is it--we will see an uptick after the election and there is pent up energy out there--people still need houses to live in, Americans will adjust to our new economic reality, suck it up and perservere as we have in the past.

I for one have turned to reality programming and not the news feeds, they make my head ache and raise my blood pressure. And hey--gas is under $2.50 a gallon, I am already saving over $50 a month over last month so I think I am going shopping.............

New Realty Executives Office Opens in North Atlanta

2008-10-13T11:27:54Z

Our new Realty Executives office has OPENED in the Avenue Forsyth in Cumming, GA at exit 13 on 400 north!

Check out our office space HERE!!

We have moved into the upstairs office space above the retail facing the AMC Theatres and our 5000 square foot luxury space houses in-office agents, a HUGE bullpen for out of office agents, 2 conference rooms, an in house lender-Executive Financial and in house attorney--Perrie and Little. We also have a training room that seats 50 that we have already had one CE class in and will be holding more.

Are we crazy??? Opening in this environment???? Well, in the last 10 days alone, from FMLS statistics, 78 homes have gone pending in Forsyth County so someone is doing business!!!!

Realty Execuitves of Atlanta is home of the full time professional and is working to be a paperless real estate office by the end of the year! We are looking for professional agents who want to keep more of their income and work in a great environment so call me today at 678-845-7700.

Fall Happenings in Forsyth County!

2008-10-06T15:53:05Z

The air is (??) getting a little chillier and it's time for the Cumming Country Fair at the fairgrounds on Castleberry Road! Great old time fun with rides, below is the schedule:

Cumming Country Fair & Festival

Fair hours:
Today, Oct. 3, 4 p.m.-midnight
Saturday, Oct. 4, 10 a.m.-midnight
Sunday, Oct. 5, 12:30-7 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 6, through Wednesday, Oct. 8, 4-10 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 9, 4-10 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 10, 4 p.m.-midnight
Saturday, Oct. 11, 10 a.m.-midnight
Sunday, Oct. 12, 12:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

Ticket info:
Adults: $7 at the gate
Students ages 5-18: $3 at the gate
Children under age 4: free
Parking is $3.

Directions:
To get to the Fairgrounds, take Ga. 400 to Exit 15 (Bald Ridge Marina Road) and turn left.
Continue straight through four traffic lights.
Turn left at fifth light on Hwy. 20 East.
At the first light, turn right onto Castleberry Road.
The Fairgrounds will be on the right.

Contact: (770) 781-3491 or www.cummingfair.net

TOP TEN THINGS You Should Never Do Yourself

2008-10-02T10:48:05Z

Here is one of the funniest and creative things I have seen in a long time that an agent put on a direct mail piece to their sphere and farm--I would use this in a heartbeat especially NOW to send out and get some attention--

TOP TEN THINGS You Should NEVER Do Yourself:

10. Heart Transplant

9. Build your own swimming pool

8. Defend yourself in court

7. Asbestos removal

6. Hair Plugs

5. Clean your own septic tank

4. Root canal

3. Lasik surgery

2. Cremation

AND..................

The #1 thing you should NEVER do yourself:

1. Buy or Sell your home without (insert your name here) ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to Dick Dillingham from KWRI for giving me this postcard a few years ago--my farm and sphere are still talking about it--enjoy your week!

7 Forsyth County Schools Honored By State

2008-09-12T10:55:17Z

From the Forsyth County News Website 9/11/08:

"Seven Forsyth County schools were among 20 Georgia school chief Kathy Cox honored Wednesday for student test performance.

The local recipients of the inaugural Superintendent's Distinguished Achievement Awards included: Big Creek, Johns Creek and Sharon elementary schools; Riverwatch, South Forsyth and Vickery Creek middle schools; and South Forsyth High.

The awards are based on student performance on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, the Georgia High School Graduation Tests and the End of Course Tests.

The honors went to schools with the highest achievement and greatest improvement on the tests."

So that's 7 of 20 schools in the STATE of GA my friends and I think that is awesome! Here is my take on this: My daughter was in a private school from the 4th grade to the 6th grade and in her transition to Riverwatch Middle School I have been so pleased with the curriculum she is in. I have asked her if she is ahead or behind in any of her subjects and I have come to find out that she feels she is behind in Spanish (Riverwatch teaches high school Spanish 1 to 7th graders). Surprising because she was in a private school that had the International Baccalaureate Curriculum and you would think that language there would be ahead of the public school curve. She also feels that she is even and on grade level in her other subjects.

Congratulations to the hard work of our school system in Forsyth County!

Forsyth County Home Prices Slip in August 08

2008-09-10T15:14:41Z

After all, it IS August, a month that traditionally is not high on the sales month for real estate as most folks are settled in and in Forsyth County the early school start gets people more apt to settle in in July.

After reviewing the solds in the Brokermetrics (tm) program (which, by the way ONLY pulls from MLS transactions so anything outside of the MLS doesn't count) it is showing our average sales price or homes in Forsyth County at $256,870 down from an average of $280,000 last month. With the foreclosure rate as high as it is becoming, I expect this to be the trend for the next couple of months. Luckily, Forsyth county is not as high on the foreclosure list as Fulton and Gwinnett are (there is a reason we live in this county!!!!).

Currently there are 4277 homes for sale in the county with 233 under contract and 186 closed in August 08. That doesnt thrill me a whole lot, that also is a number that agents need to show their sellers. That you have a 4.3% chance of finding a buyer for your property right now.......OK ,so that's an overall number but it is reflective of what is going on right now.

With the government's support of Freddie and Fannie, rates have plummeted, and the election is right around the corner, there has never been a better opportunity to buy in our area. Check out the article written by Seth Wiseman, a respected real estate attorney on why it is time to buy now at the following link:

http://atlantalifemag.epubxpress.com

Football season is HERE---GO GATORS (I'm gonna get flack from that one......)

Forsyth County Home Prices Stay Level

2008-08-11T09:41:49Z

When looking at pricing trends out there available to us as agents and brokers, there is so much information to take in and interpret. I have the luxury of using a program called Brokermetrics (tm) that charts trends and statistics, pulling information from the local MLS system and then putting it into charts and graphs I can understand! And Forsyth County is doing just fine, thank you.

In July 2007 the median home price was $280,000 and it is the same in July 2008, down from a high of $298,220 in July 2006--one of the banner years in recent real estate history. This actually means that affordable homes are available here in Forsyth and that is where the buyer is right now.

Supply and Demand (or Econ 101)

Forsyth is up, but so is the nation so that is no surprise! The Chart below will help

JULY 2006 JULY 2008

For Sale 4054 4276

Under Contract 343 270

Sold 412 203

More inventory, fewer buyers equals months of inventory that is around 13 months but that is down from a high of 19 months in November 2007. So, if you put your house on the market today, this 'could' mean you will be on the market over a year, and this will play out if your home is priced even a teeny bit high, in fair condition, and is not being marketed aggressively.

Fannie Mae is tightening up their lending restrictions come September, and for the forseeable future the song remains the same. Homes in 'like new' condition and priced aggressively are still selling, and for close to their asking price I might add. The consumer today is very savvy and has incredible tools at their disposal for making decisions on what to offer and how to buy a home these days. Don't put your head in the sand about it, the information age has given buyers and sellers alike great useful information on real estate!

The UPside of a DOWN Market--Part 4 -- Save a Tree!

2008-06-18T18:57:12Z

You know the saying -- Save water, shower with a friend..........I am seeing agents with listings figuring out that constantly churning out flyers on home printers or office printers is not cost efficient.

Soooo, at a class I taught today to some internet newbies, the AHA's were great as they found out that emailing flyers to their databases ( thru Sharper Agent, Top Producer, etc) and pushing their websites or even their web pages and listing pages thru the net is easier and for the most part, FREE!

In my 16 years selling real estate I can officially say that I NEVER produced a flyer that was responsible for selling a home. I used as much pufferey as I could for those dog listings that smelled, had refugee carpet, wood rot, etc and all the effusing on a piece of paper never sold the home. Killed alot of trees in my time......

Price and Condition folks.

I found out about a cool product called QAlias that puts your name at the top of Google for $9.95 a month. It's essentially a mini site but the cool part about it is that it is extremely cost efficient and when people refer you, do they refer your company? your website? NO, they usually say, my buddy Bob White is a great agent, I'll try to find him for you. Telling your clients and friends to Google your name is easy--a big Remax Agent I know here has on his flyer box--If there are no flyers, just Google my name for info on my listings-- www.Qalias.com is the site. (I get no bump or anything for the referral, its just cool)

So, SAVE a TREE and use the INTERNET-- and Google ME!!!! (Mary Anne Payne) and check it out!

The UPside of a DOWN Market--Part 3--It IS easy being GREEN!

2008-05-13T08:10:49Z

Kermit is my hero. The frog, that is. "it's not easy being green.." is the mantra of the uber famous Kermit the frog. Kermit would be proud of the folks I have encountered in this market who, by nature or by accident or by common sense, are saving gas by PRE QUALIFYING buyers, thru sign calls, referrals, or what ever way they get them.

You mean they are actually ASKING questions now??? 2 years ago this is the scene at my office:

(treo rings) Hello, this is Betty with Buyer/Seller Realty, can I help you?

(prospect)Yeah, we saw your sign on 123 Cedar street and was wondering..........

(Betty, interrupting prospect)OH my gosh, that house is SOOOOOOO great, it has SOOO many features and upgrades, the sellers are REALLLLLLLYYYYY motivated, I can meet you out there in 20 minutes!!!!!!!!!!

End of this story, prospect doesn't show up, or prospect wants a home for $150K and this one is $300K!

Well, at $2 a gallon of gas, lesson learned for about $4 dollars.

NOW, we are thinking twice about learning any lessons at $8 dollars--that's a full meal for 2 at Taco Bell these days!

This market is producing agents who know the value of their time, and their gas and who are asking questions and drilling down to find out a prospects' real needs--eliminating the tire kickers.

Green agents are using recycled paper in flyer boxes, using the internet more and more to market their properties, green companies (like mine) are moving towards a paperless system for turning in agent paperwork.

I am seeing more agents in hybrid cars like the Prius, Lexus Hybrid, etc. Heck, I traded my gas sucking Mercedes SUV last summer for what I think is the coolest car on the road-the Honda CRV--white, leather, xm radio, heated seats and 28 on the highway for $26,000. My clients LOVE it-it also seats 5!

As Kermit would now say--it IS easy being green!

The UPside of a DOWN Market--Part 2--Better Eats!

2008-04-29T13:41:36Z

Why do I love this DOWN market--CARAVANS!--the Lunch offerings are getting MUCH better.

OK-not so great for the waistline, but in today's high inventory highly competitive market, Caravan Tuesday in my area is offering better food, better prizes for agents. On any given Tuesday in my area, an agent should NOT go hungry!

Back in the heady days of bigtime real estate, caravans were either non-existent or feedback related for the loser listing to get folks in the door and fed. More often than not, caravan food was average at best-bag salads with store bought chicken fingers, subs from the local fast food, chicken nugget trays......ugh....

Well, today, I was treated to lettuce wraps and shrimp and melon something from PF Changs, then we cruised over for wrap sandwiches and salads from Jasons Deli-rumor has it there will be more Changs next week.

New home communities are back to dropping off great promo baskets of food, prizes, birdhouses and all those fun chotchkes they used to deliver. Boy, when they were pumping out the homes, they largely ignored us...not anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh, how I love a down market..............................

The UPside of a DOWN Market--Part 1

2008-04-21T20:52:58Z

Mega Mike, a top agent in my area spends 7 days on a Carribean Cruise. Superduper Debbie takes a few weeks off for a "Procedure". DealinDiane takes her teenager to NYC for a girls weekend. Listing Queen Linda suddenly sheds 20 pounds....... WHAT's HAPPENING to today's agents--GASP??????????

Could they ACTUALLY be enjoying a guilt free vacation with their family?

Could they ACTUALLY be taking time to take care of THEMSELVES?

Are they ACTUALLY having a LIFE outside of real estate?

DO NOT TELL THE GENERAL PUBLIC--this is a warning. It will blow our cover and we do not want to let them know that we are actually enjoying this 'slower time' in the market.

If you were smart in the past few years, you squirreled money away for these rainy days. Working agents are still making money in all areas. But the best part of this market is the fact that we have the chance to re-evaluate our priorities and find out what our business really means to us.

I didn't get into real estate to work 60 hour weeks and ignore my family, but it happened.

I didn't get into real estate to have other people run my life (sellers), but it happened.

I didn't get into real estate to get into office politics and drama, but it happened.

My re-evaluation time over the last 6 months has been eye-opening to me. I am not as important as I think I am and I am more important to my daughter, my husband and myself than to anyone else. I chose real estate for the promise of FREEDOM in determining my career path and I intend to manage it myself and not let others manage me.

So the UP side of this DOWN market is to get a tan, hug your kids, go on a vacation with your spouse NOW rather than later and get your boundaries and priorities straight in your career so that when the market comes back, you can ROCK your business and ROLL with your life to the fullest.

No Mention of Convention -- Share Your Notes, Ideas and Aha's

2008-03-25T18:40:05Z

I just returned from sunny San Diego last weekend after a great week at the RE Convention--AWESOME!

This is my first convention after being with a large 100% 'recruiting' company and I was really impressed with the level of speakers, breakouts and executives I met. One of my biggest aha's was how long so many of these folks have been with RE! What a testament to the quality of leadership you all have. It was also refreshing to hear a company promoting hiring QUALITY and not QUANTITY and not being afraid to talk about that!

You folks in Las Vegas are so lucky to have Fafie and Jeff Moore as your leadership team and meeting the movers and shakers was great. Did you all know that ONLY 6% of all current mortgages--of which there are over 76 million of--are in some state of foreclosure (According to analyst Anne Randolph of LORE Magazine)--that is really not that bad.......

I am starting an office in the northern suburbs of Atlanta--I already have 20 top agents and we don't even open the doors till mid-May--HotLanta is ready for a new company--send your referrals to my office!

Avenues of Forsyth County-Our New Office

2008-02-23T09:45:31Z

WOW WOW WOW

We had the pleasure of walking around the new Avenues of Forsyth property on 141 at 400 north the other day, or shall we say HIKING around the property-it has wide sidewalks and lots of open space to run around in!

Realty Executives of Atlanta's newest office WILL open September 1 in this location with a state of the art real estate facility not seen in Forsyth County as of yet. Welcome to a new era in real estate--lower fees for agents, professional high tech environment and no distractions so you can FOCUS on selling real estate. Our Location is on the upper south west corner of the facility across from the 30 PLEX theatre--holy moly--and above Ann Taylor, Chico's, Ted's Montana Grill and way too much tempting retail to spend our commission checks in.

With all that is going on around and in that location, agents will have a great place to meet clients, eat and shop all in one place. We have finalized our build out plans and Cousins Properties lives up to its dates so watch for fun grand opening activities from the center and from us! To find out about stores, site info and more, click on this link for more info!

To find out about how you can join us (experienced agents only, please...) please email me at maryannepayne@realtyexecutives.com.