Every year as part of the new edition of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report also looks back at the passing year and the people that made deadlines. We remember and salute them for their contribution during 2009. 

Here are the Newsmakers of 2009:

 

# 10 John Bearden

As one of the most beloved executives of a national franchise, John’s sudden departure this year as President of GMAC Real Estate — shortly after the sale of the company to Canada-based Brookfield Residential Property Services — came somewhat as a surprise. Not because he has cited health reasons, but because his departure was rumored to be unpleasant. This after he had been largely responsible for salvaging the sinking franchise during difficult times when former parent General Motors Acceptance Corporation was less than excited about their subsidiary and much more concerned about their own mortgage woes. John, you did an outstanding job under difficult circumstances and we have no doubt that you will once again serve the industry in another important capacity. We salute you.

 

#9 Marc Davison and Brian Boero

Outside the box — way outside the box. If ever there was an “odd couple” in real estate these two are it. But just like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau these two are top notch in what they do and have created an exciting and dynamic consulting and speaking practice. Marc has an extensive career in advertising with companies like Young and Rubicam while Brian served for many years as President of Inman News. They both worked together at a company they owned called VREO, Inc. before joining forces again to create 1000WattConsulting. Today they are contributing to the re-engineering of the real estate industry through their consulting engagements.

 

#8 Kevin Levent

Metro Brokers was started with one office and a handful of sales associates in 1979 and by 2009 it was the world's largest GMAC Real Estate franchise. Under the leadership of Kevin Levent, who became President and CEO in 1996, the company has grown to nearly 2,000 sales associates. It is, however, its departure as a franchise from GMAC under a legal cloud of disagreement and the move across in December 2009 to the newly re-launched and still relatively small national franchise Better Homes & Gardens, that makes Kevin one of the top 10 Newsmakers of the Year.

 

#7 Harley E. Rouda, Jr.

Many where surprised when we listed Harley and his wife Kaira as top 10 Newsmakers for the year 2007, but it had then and has now again proven to be accurate. Since then this couple has skillfully positioned and branded their regional real estate company — Real Living — to be the ideal acquisition company. In October 2009 that is exactly what happened when Canada-based Brookfield Residential Property Services acquired Real Living, converted its GMAC franchise to the Real Living brand and appointed Harley as the new President of the franchise division, which is estimated to have approximately 10,000 agents in the U.S. as a result of the merger and conversion.

 

#6 Sherry Chris

She may not be CEO of one of the country’s largest real estate franchises (yet), but Sherry is unquestionably the most visible one in the media. She is extremely active in the Social Media world of Facebook and Twitter and in attendance at an astounding number of real estate conventions and events. After skillfully climbing the ladder from Royal LePage to Real Living, to Prudential California and then to Coldwell Banker her accession as CEO of the relatively new re-launched Better Homes & Gardens franchise is nothing short of amazing.

 

#5 David Stevens

In late September 2009 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that it had hired David Stevens, a former executive with Wells Fargo, Freddie Mac and Long & Foster as its first Chief Risk Officer. The FHA has not seen a technology upgrade or any staff increases in a decade and the appointment of a Chief Risk Officer is the first in its 74-year history. David has already taken steps to shore up the agency’s credit position. The future is promising.

 

#4 Dale Ross & Marty

Frame Dale and Marty are the two drivers that, over an 11 month period, cobbled together the highest profile merger of the year, one in which the National Association of Realtors® acquired ownership to a copy of the source code of Cyberhomes. This merger, together with a long-term agreement with LPS to provide extensive tax data, hosting and data aggregation services, makes it possible to form the core of RPR, The Realtor® Property Resource, a key part of the NAR’s Second Century Initiatives.

 

#3 Andy Kaufmann

Andy Kaufman, a Keller Williams agent in Berkeley, California and a regular AgentGenius.com writer, is credited for founding RE BarCamp. Started in August 2008 to coincide with Inman Connect, RE BarCamp events have exploded in popularity. This “un-convention” is an ad-hoc gathering of people (real estate professionals from different facets of the business) to share and learn in an open environment. It is a dynamic and intense event with discussions, demonstrations and interaction between the attendees. In 2009 RE BarCamps were held in 20 major cities across the country with one held in San Diego just before the NAR 2009 Convention, that pulled in over 500 participants.

 

#2 Richard A. Smith

Richard is best known as the president and chief executive officer of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services and the parent company for real estate franchise brands such as Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA Real Estate, Sotheby’s International Real Estate and Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate. However, in 2009 it was not well known that Richard tirelessly campaigned and lobbied in Washington to get the first-time homebuyer's tax credit extended to April 2010. It was an extension that also included a $6,500 credit for qualified repeat homebuyers. Well done Richard, the industry thanks you for a job well done.

#1 Dale Stinton

Just three years into office and Dale has pulled the trigger to move forward on more bold and innovative projects than have been initiated in the previous 10 years combined. Many of his Second Century Initiatives were launched in 2009 and several are so large that they could individually have a significant and long-term impact on the entire residential real estate brokerage industry. The Realtors® Federal Credit Union started its first full year in operation and the Realtors® Property Resource, together with HouseLogic, was announced days before the annual National Association of Realtors® Convention in November. These are huge steps for the NAR and the industry.

 

ABOUT THE REPORT
To reserve you advance copy of the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report at the special pre-publication price visit www.RealEstateBooks.org today. This Report is widely regarded as the leading annual Report detailing the most important business, profitability and technology trends impacting the real estate industry. All orders placed before January 15th will be shipped on February 8th.

Every year as part of the new edition of the Swanepoel TRENDS Report the 160 page Report also looks back at the passing year and lists those events that transpired during the year that made headlines and captured the industry’s attention and imagination. The 2010 edition is due for release on February 8, 2010.

Here are the top events that during 2009 made headlines in the residential real estate brokerage industry.

 

 

#10 Houston Becomes #1 REALTOR® Association

In August 2009 the Houston Association of Realtors® (HAR) officially became the largest local Realtor® board in the United States following a recent rise in membership and a decline in membership at the Long Island (New York) Board of Realtors® (LIBOR). HAR, with a membership of 23,354 surpassed its long standing rival for the top slot by 118.These two have long been the largest local associations by far, with the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors® holding the third spot with nearly 10,000 fewer members. Congratulations to Bob Hale and his team.

 

#9 Metro Brokers Switches Franchise Brands

With 2,000 sales associates the brand switch Metro Brokers made in December 2009 from GMAC to Better Homes & Gardens recorded the largest move of one brokerage company from one franchise brand to another. The departure away from the #1 GMAC franchise in the world to become the #1 BH&G franchise in the world was a major move and strongly refutes the high value many franchises have attached to their brands. Many observe this move as the beginning of more swaps to come as franchisees increasingly look for more than just a name. They want visionary leadership, quality training, technology, Internet and social media savvy solutions and, above all, a dependable partner.

 

#8 RE BarCamp Sets Event Benchmark

RE BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering of people (real estate professionals from different facets of the business) that share and learn in an open environment. It is widely referred to as an “unconvention” with no pre-determined programs or invited guest speakers delivering PowerPoint presentations from a stage. Rather the structure follows a round table of open discussion concerning topics sourced from the registrants and as a result of interaction between attendees. It may only have started in August 2008 but in 2009 it exploded to over 20 major cities across the country and is currently one of “the happening” events in real estate.

 

#7 RVM’s & AVM’s Become Strategic

AVM (Automated Valuation Model) is the term widely used to describe providing property valuation by using a mathematical algorithm based on the data. In real estate AVMs calculate the value of a specific property by analyzing the value of comparable properties sold and registered. The newly announced RVM (Realtor® Valuation Model) follows the same mathematical analysis but hopes to aggregate the information available from 700+ MLS' (Multiple Listing Service) across the country. The NAR, the driver behind the RVM, hopes that this model will become the default valuation method for all financial institutions nationwide. If achieved, this will be a major industry game changer.

 

#6 Realtor® Credit Union Celebrates First Year of Operation

Exactly one year ago at the 2008 Realtors® Conference & Expo in Orlando the NAR announced that it had received regulatory approval and a charter for Realtors® Federal Credit Union (RFCU). The Rockville, Maryland-based Credit Union works in partnership with the NAR as a Realtor® Benefits Program Partner, but it operates totally separate from the NAR with its own board of directors and management team. Now, one year later, RFCU has 3,000 members, $25 million in assets, $16 million in deposits and $8 million in loans, making it larger than 60% of all credit unions today; impressive. With a stated goal of being in the top 5% of all credit unions within 5 years the RFCU is definitely a sleeping giant.

 

#5 Keller Williams Climbs to Third Largest Real Estate Franchise

In March Keller Williams Realty Inc. announced at its 2009 annual convention that it had moved ahead of RE/MAX International to now claim the third-largest real estate franchise in the U.S with 72,794 associates at the end of 2008. This was according to a study by Steve Murray of REAL Trends. According to Keller Williams the growth gained momentum during the last three years of the down turn where it outpaced most other real estate franchises that had lost agents. During the period from 2006 to 2008 KW increased its associate count by an astonishing 52%. Watch out Century 21 and Coldwell Banker. You have someone coming up fast in your rear view mirror.

 

#4 Short Sales & Foreclosures Maintain High Visibility

After increasing more than 30% per year for the last four years, some estimate that foreclosures will drop to about 1.75 million in 2010/11. The Treasury Department continues to place pressure on mortgage lenders to make trial loan modifications permanent. Furthermore in December the Treasury set long-awaited guidelines designed to simplify and speed up the short sale process through its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program. Until now the short sale process has been cumbersome for all involved; taking as long as eight to ten months to get a transaction to close. The program goes into effect April 5, 2010.

 

#3 Brookfield RPS Acquires a Great Solution

Announcing their second largest acquisition in November 2009 Brookfield RPS became the owner of Real Living Network Services. Combining all the residential real estate brokerage companies Brookfield now owns in Canada and the U.S., they are one of North America’s Top 10 leading residential real estate franchises with more than $20 billion in annual home sales and an estimated 30,000 agents. The reason the Ohio-based Real Living acquisition is such a great solution for Brookfield is that the GMAC franchise they acquired last year was lacking momentum, a CEO and contractually had to replace the name. This acquisition provided them a solution for all three challenges with very little duplication.

 

#2 RPR Becomes the NAR Convention Buzz

Squeezing in a botched (who was invited and who wasn’t) and a confusing (intermingling a B2B and B2C initiative) talking head video press announcement a week before the NAR convention was surprising. However, the timing was great as the buzz propelled the Realtors® Property Resource (RPR) into the most discussed and debated topic at the convention. Billed as the largest single source of real estate information in the world and the “ultimate” member benefit it is also ridiculed as a threat to MLS' across the country. One thing is certain, it is the most significant project undertaken by the NAR in years.

 

#1 Extended Tax Credit Helps Boost Housing Market

In the hopes of sustaining the real estate market's recent momentum, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 in November, extending the FTHBC until April 2010. The legislation includes language that significantly expands the popular first-time homebuyer tax credit to more than two-thirds of current homeowners and nearly all first-time buyers. This, in its own, will not save the housing market but it sparked a rush to buy homes before the extension was approved in November. This resulted in an increase of 7.4% over October for a record 545,000 housing units sold. With rising unemployment and a sluggish economic recovery, let's hope that the incentive created by the Tax Credit carries the housing market through to the summer of 2010.

 

To reserve you advance copy of the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report at the special pre-publication price visit www.RealEstateBooks.org today. This Report is widely regarded as the leading annual Report detailing the most important business, profitability and technology trends impacting the real estate industry.

Detailed results have been posted at http://bit.ly/REarticles

Six months ago I wrote a blog post about The Changing Face of Real Estate Franchise Brands that garnished a lot of attention because I dared to compare and even more list in order the top 10 franchise brands in my opinion.

Then last month my blog post Merge Creates One of the Largest Real Estate Franchises in Northern America exploded with over 155 comments as the debate continued about brands when a significant number of agents had never even heard of the brands mentioned.

Well now I have created an opportunity to see what the industry really thinks.

Starting today and until midnight on Friday, December 11th, everyone has the opportunity to grade the top 35 real estate franchise brands on a scale on 0 – 5; starting from “Never heard of the brand” all the way up to “Excellent brand.”

Base your vote on your experience of the brands visibility, awareness and impact in your local market.

There have been various studies reporting who is the largest, has the most agents, does the most transactions, etc. Now we will determine the Top 10 real estate franchises as voted by the industry itself.

GO TO THE VOTING PAGE ON RETRENDS HERE

Please help get the word out to as many agents as we can so that we can have a fair and representative vote. Many thanks. Results will be announced on December 15th and full details published in the 2010 Swanepoel TRENDS Report due February 2010.

 

Feel free to leave a comment below on who you think is the #1 franchise brand in your area after you have voted.

Barely a year ago the real estate industry was stunned when Canadian-based Brookfield Residential Property Services (Brookfield RPS), a division of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (Brookfield), and owner of Royal LePage, the largest Canadian residential real estate company, acquired GMAC Real Estate. With the departure of CEO John Bearden and a pending name change imminent, many labeled the GMAC franchise as yesterday’s news.

What a difference a year has made.

Announcing their second large acquisition today, Brookfield RPS has now also the owner of Real Living Network Services, a subsidiary of Real Living Inc. Combining the two companies creates one of America’s leading residential real estate franchises with more than $20 billion in annual home sales and an estimated 30,000 agents.

Although that in its own is huge news (and the largest real estate brokerage acquisition of the year) it is the merging of the two and the rebranding of the whole as Real Living that is electrifying. The reason is that Ohio-based Real Living is a national award-winning real estate brand known for its innovation, customer service and a culture of partnership and collaboration within its network. Last year I even named Real Living as the “Most Promising New National Brand” in my Swanepoel TRENDS Report while Entrepreneur Magazine listed them as one of the Top 50 New Franchises.

Exciting times for newly appointed President Harley E. Rouda, Jr.

What are your thoughts about this "new " move. Has yesterday’s news turned into tomorrow’s future?

Communicating and marketing with your customers or potential customers used to be simple. You had a few options such as TV, radio, print, etc. The advent of the Internet and the recent growth of Social Media have in some respect made this process easier, but at the same time considerably more complex as the number of technology, web and online tools has exploded.

Managing the diverse and expanding facets of Social Media can be compared to managing all the components of an orchestra. In the same way that an orchestra consists of different parts — percussion instruments, keyboard, strings, brass, etc. — so Social Media consists of different parts; Blogging, Microblogging, Networks, Wikis etc.

In both cases the musical instruments or the different components of Social Media can all work autonomously; and successfully so. However, the full sound, power and impact of an orchestra only occurs when the conductor enables all the members of the orchestra to play together in harmony. The same principle applies to Social Media.

Tying it All Together

To coordinate all the members to each play their instrument at the right time requires a conductor that uses a music score (a plan) to show him when each instrument should be played.

In that same way view yourself as the conductor of your own Social Media Orchestra. It’s not vital that you activate or participate in every section and there is no reason that you can’t start one section at a time. There is no right or wrong here, neither is there a deadline or time frame. This example of a Social Media Orchestra is to illustrate the fact that you are in control of your own participation and that it can be done piecemeal and on your own timeline.

However, similar to the music conductor you must use your Social Media sites (think instruments) harmoniously and with a specific plan (think song/tune) in mind. If you don’t, your result will create a less attractive result (think noise).

To help understand the Social Media Orchestra the new Swanepoel Social Media Report (2010) published last week week divides social media activities into three primary sections and nine secondary components. For more details on managing your own Social Media Orchestra review chapter six in the 2010 edition of the Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report.

Just as it’s important to know the rules of the road and driving etiquette before driving on the open highways, so it is equally important that you have an understanding of the customs of Social Media. Although no hard legal rules exist, there are many good manners to follow if you want the vast crowds of the Social Media world to follow you.

Here are a few “Rules of Engagement” that will help you navigate more efficiently:

Give More Than You Take

The more you contribute to conversations and discussions, the more people will recognize your name and what you stand for. Over time you will establish credibility and build value. Remember the well-known adage; the more you care, the more you share.

Respect

Be respectful of the community, the members, the group’s overall goals, etc. Social Media is a participatory sport and that means that you are one of many. People can chose to communicate with you or they can chose to ignore you. Treat others as you want to be treated.

Listen

Listening and receiving comments and feedback are two of the greatest strengths of Social Media. They represent first-hand interaction with your customer. By listening to them you gain unfiltered feedback about your products and market.

Respond

When people comment or leave messages for you it’s only polite to respond in a timely fashion. By responding you are validating to the online community that you are an individual that values and acknowledges others. This adds to your credibility as an individual.

Build Relationships

It’s called social networking for a reason. Make sure you build relationships with everyone that communicates with you; establish conversations, ask questions, respond to questions, etc. Discussions and relationships encourage people to return to your page, thereby building a meaningful community.

Be Authentic and Transparent

Be sincere and honest; be yourself. With Social Media displaying your profile, message and comments it is critical to your success that you are genuine and dependable.

Do Not Become a Nuisance

It’s generally agreed that spamming is bad, but it’s also important to avoid becoming a Keyboard Gangster, Envelope Pusher or a Social Saboteur. More about these different type in my new Social Media Report.

Collaborate

Social Media is a collective medium. This means that it uses the knowledge or wisdom of the whole group; not just a single individual. For that reason, information obtained in Social Media on Wikis or reviews is seldom entirely wrong. On the other hand, it’s often not 100% right. As a result, there is a strong need to work together, updating and constantly adding value to improve the quality of the content.

Add Value

Every member of a community must contribute his or her fair share. What is your contribution? Remember that contributions come in many different shapes and actions: providing information, being a resource, answering questions and redistributing information.

Consider Opportunities in the Long Tail

In Social Media, every service offering has some degree of value. It’s not always wise to just focus on the few services that command a high frequency of interest among a few niche groups and the requisite competition that introduces other service providers. As technology continues to erode communication barriers, value will also come from the many niche groups in “the tail” that demonstrate interest in services that conventional (competing) service providers would otherwise consider having little value.

These are extracts from the new Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report 2010 written by Stefan Swanepoel (author of 15 books including the annual Swanepoel TRENDS Report) and Mel Aclaro founder of MindBridj.com, a company servicing web video solutions for speakers, trainers and coaches. This Report is due for publication on October 12th and can be ordered at the RealSure Online Bookstore.

Many agents often ask me at seminars where do they start with Twitter?

How do they make contact with great people on real estate?

Who can they learn from? Etc. etc.

Well to make it easy I have compiled a list of 200 Interesting and Influential People on Twitter. I have made it so easy that you can view all their profiles on two pages and with two clicks follow all of them.

 

 

I am following all of them, I suggest you do to:

List #1

List #2

 

SOCIAL MEDIA SNIPPET:

Guess who the Top 10 Government Agencies on Twitter are?

See answer here.

I only got 4 right? How did you do?

 

What do you mean you didn’t know that they were talking about you, your company, your brand and your service?

Of course they are, every day.

And not even behind you back. No, the discussion is in the open. Right there on the web, in the chat room, in the forum and on one of the many social media networks spanning the globe.



Time you got in touch with a rapidly growing information base. With each passing the information is growing exponentially and it’s vital that you get in on the dialogue.

Here are some of the online media you should be monitoring regularly:

• Search Engine Results
• Press Releases
• News Services/Group
• Blogs
• Social Media Networks
• Video Releases
• Podcasts
• Resource sites such as Wikipedia
• Q & A sites such as Yahoo Answers

What? You don’t have time. No problem. Set up automated listening posts that serve as monitors and then report back to you with the information of where, who and what was said.
Google Alerts is simple example of such as online tool that allows you to set up alerts around keywords. When these words then appear in websites, press releases, blogs, discussion forums, etc. Google will send you an email with a link to the exact spot.
Cool, right?

So what should you be tracking?

Well for starters how about items such as: • Your personal name
• Your trademarks
• Your company name
• Your competitor
• Your franchise brand
• Your products and services
• Your existing key customers
• Potential customers you are courting
• Key markets you operate in or wish to operate in
• Etc, etc,

The list is really almost endless. But be careful because you may be flooded with too much information. The internet connected us all together and now social media is making the conversation evolve into the most important feature since email.

So, are you in on the discussion?

This is an extract from the new soon to be published 120page Swanepoel SOCIAL MEDIA Report 2010 especially for Real Estate Professionals. Copies ordered now at RealSure Online Bookstore will be shipped on October 5th.