Does anyone else watch Letterman? I remember when I first saw it in the 80's it had almost a cult-like following. Does anyone else remember the traveling gnome? Where Letterman would kidnap a garden gnome and send him on trips. Pretty genius idea if you ask me, Expedia is still using the concept in its advertising and there is now a movie about garden gnomes called "Gnomeo & Juliet". Just like the gnome, one of Letterman's concepts is now iconic, "The Top Ten List." So here are the top 10 reasons for attending the Spring Conference.
10) We have 37 exhibitors booths - what new information might you miss? I hear they are giving away great prizes again!
9) There will be a massage booth!
8) The luncheon is not sit down but a networking buffet to get some one on one time with our affiliates
7) Melynn Sight's new class, Creating Career Kharma, looks excellent. Watch the video.
6) Dawn Kennedy is NOT giving any speeches!
5) Larry Romito is at the forefront of the newest trend sweeping the country - agent ratings. Watch the video.
4) Janelle Odishoo, Facebook Queen, has all sorts of new things to show you! Connect with her on Facebook.
3) If we have not sold you on Larry yet? Watch the second video.
2) Brian Copeland is the hottest speaker on the real estate circuit and he is here, in OKC! He is just a can't miss. Watch the video.
AND the Number 1 reason to attend the conference.......
1)$1000.00 CASH! Donated by Ideal Homes, the conference premier sponsor. You could walk away $1000 richer but you have to be there to win.
Register Today!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Comments on the New Format?
After hearing complaints from staff that my blog template was boring and the posts did not stand out as much as they should, I changed the format. What do the readers think? I am still working on getting more video on the blog but some things just take time. I am looking forward to the Association Executives Institute (AEI) in Dallas this March. It will be so nice not to have to spend the entire day in an airport. We are driving! It will also be nice to pay reasonable prices for food and hotel. I sure hope NAR looks at using more cities like Dallas (maybe OKC one day for this conference) for the AEI instead of destination cities. I am so spoiled here in OKC where you can still get a decent cup of coffee for under a dollar! Plus I am in classes all day when I go to AEI so the whole tourist thing holds no real value for me.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Best Inaugural Ever
If you missed the OAR inaugural of their President (and OKCMAR member) Hope White, you missed a really wonderful evening! The surprise presenter? NAR Past-President Charles McMillan, one of my personal favorites. President Charles once again eloquently motivated all of us to excel.Hope White was amazing as she described her mission for the Oklahoma State Association. Normally I would write all about it but I challenge you to contact Hope and learn about OAR and her vision for its growth.
I asked OAR to send me some photos which I haven't received yet but will post as soon as I get them. If you weren't there to support our state president I can tell you that you missed some the best line dancing I have ever participated in and the stage debut of my tambourine playing! It was truly a celebration of Hope, in all senses of the word.
I asked OAR to send me some photos which I haven't received yet but will post as soon as I get them. If you weren't there to support our state president I can tell you that you missed some the best line dancing I have ever participated in and the stage debut of my tambourine playing! It was truly a celebration of Hope, in all senses of the word.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wisconsin Public Workers Storm the Madison Capital Building
Whether you agree or disagree with legislation proposed in Wisconsin it is rather inspiring to see democracy in action. Click on the title of this post to view the Associated Press Video.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
A Better Way to Practice Real Estate
A Better Way to Practice Real Estate? Larry Romito is one of the key note presenters at the OKCMAR Spring Conference. Get a sneak peek now!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
GO PACK GO!!!!
OKAY, I can't help it- you all know I am from Wisconsin! What you may not know is that I lived about 40 minutes west of Green Bay (and many of my family live in Green Bay) so the Packers have a special place in my heart. Please excuse a few moments of sentimentality; my beloved "Grandma Pratz" loved the Packers. Every televised game was an event at Grandma's house, where the whole clan spent most Sundays. My grandma was my biggest fan too; I miss her tremendously. Grandma passed in 1994 (this was a woman who as long as I knew her went to 6am mass every single day except Sundays when she went to the 10:30 service with the family) and I take comfort in that I knew she wanted to go. I remember when the Pack went to and won the Superbowl shortly after her passing and all I remember thinking was, I wish Grandma was alive to see this.
Our Pack went the following year too but lost. All of us Wisconsinites waited and wished and waited and wished for their return and this year, 2011, was a magical year. I look to my Packers' win as a very good omen for the year ahead. If the Pack can go from the very pinnacle and bring it back, that bodes for all of us as well. The Pack won at the end of the century, just as the real estate market started its climb to unbelievable highs. We now understand that our market is returning to an economic "normal" but the Pack gives us hope that "normal" does not have to be ordinary. Here in OKC, we are experiencing a real estate correction and stabilization, but our numbers and the outlook of economic development prove, our normal does not have to be ordinary, our normal at OKC is that of continued growth and a vibrant economy.
Recently, I have been selected to serve on 4 NAR committees. Bart Binning, Mike Cassidy, and Hope White have been selected to serve. The US is taking notice, OKC has something very, very special to offer. As proud as I am of our Packers, I am equally proud of all of you. This is our time, OKC. This is our time to shine and excel, as REALTORS® you have a special mission in ensuring the growth and excellence of our community. I urge all of you to embrace what it is to be a REALTOR®, it isn't just being a professional, it isn't just success, its about espousing the values and aspirations of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, its about homeownership for as many as possible, its about building neighborhoods and through that a great economy and great country.
So... GO PACK GO... & GO OKCMAR GO!!!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Listhub Report Reveals Opportunity
As the CEO I get the confidential Listhub report which tells me how many listings each agent has, how many times the public clicked on the listings, and how many people clicked all the way through.It also tells me things like which IP addresses the clicks come from so naturally most of the clicks come from Oklahoma City and Edmond. For the states this month, other than Oklahoma IP addresses the people who are looking to relocate to OKC are predominately from Texas, California, Missouri and Illinois. I suspect unemployment rates are playing a role in all the California and Illinois inquiries. It also tells me how many homeseekers clicked on the request a showing and emailed the agent.
So here is an agent with listings in the 200 range and he/she gets 30 views 10 click throughs and one referral. Then I saw another agent with 67 listings who had close to 300 click throughs and 23 showing requests. How can that be??? It did not take much investigation to see that the agent with all the clicks and showing requests did something very right. More than 12 photos and photos that really played up the home. The agents with 100+ listings and no clickthroughs- guess what no pictures or only one picture in the MLS. If I can impart any wisdom to my members it is this- PICTURES SELL HOMES! Check your listings today- are they full of photos? What about a virtual tour or private website or video? Use the Internet to its full capability and sell, sell, sell while showing your clients that you are working to the best of your ability on their behalf.
So here is an agent with listings in the 200 range and he/she gets 30 views 10 click throughs and one referral. Then I saw another agent with 67 listings who had close to 300 click throughs and 23 showing requests. How can that be??? It did not take much investigation to see that the agent with all the clicks and showing requests did something very right. More than 12 photos and photos that really played up the home. The agents with 100+ listings and no clickthroughs- guess what no pictures or only one picture in the MLS. If I can impart any wisdom to my members it is this- PICTURES SELL HOMES! Check your listings today- are they full of photos? What about a virtual tour or private website or video? Use the Internet to its full capability and sell, sell, sell while showing your clients that you are working to the best of your ability on their behalf.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saying Good Bye to 2010
Merry Christmas to all of OKCMAR and all blog readers. The year's end is always a time for thought and reflection. This year's inaugural celebration, in my mind, can be described with one word "Poignant". This was echoed by comments in the follow up survey. One member spoke of how touched she was that the REALTOR® leadership and award recipients were so proud of this industry and how much OKCMAR has meant to them. The event, held at the Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, was filled to capacity! We apologize to those who attempted to register but missed the opportunity as there were no longer seats available... please register early next year.
2010 was a year of tenacity, housing sales trends were akin to a rollercoaster track. We saw many of our past leaders face health issues, we saw the passing of OKCMAR legends, we saw the youth and promise of our industry rise to leadership positions an embrace the philosophy of OKCMAR with the Green Resource Council, GenNext Network, and LT 7 programs all taking center stage of OKCMAR activity. This was all reflected in the inaugural itself. I personally felt a gratitude for this industry that has served us all so well. To see highlights of the acceptance speeches watch the videos by clicking here and please join us next year.
2010 was a year of tenacity, housing sales trends were akin to a rollercoaster track. We saw many of our past leaders face health issues, we saw the passing of OKCMAR legends, we saw the youth and promise of our industry rise to leadership positions an embrace the philosophy of OKCMAR with the Green Resource Council, GenNext Network, and LT 7 programs all taking center stage of OKCMAR activity. This was all reflected in the inaugural itself. I personally felt a gratitude for this industry that has served us all so well. To see highlights of the acceptance speeches watch the videos by clicking here and please join us next year.
Friday, December 3, 2010
And Here's the Rest of the Story....RPR
I am always a little taken aback when members express shock and awe about a board decision. I think where have you been? The board has been writing articles about this, doing surveys, blogging, hosting informational sessions, having task force review, blasting you weekly and asking for your feedback and then... there it is.... I never heard about this, why is the board being secretive, what did it gain in this decision. FIRST- you the member are the board so if there are any gains they are for you!
No greater care or length was taken than in the RPR decision; in fact this was before the board for over a year. We started with blogs, articles on the web and facebook. In March at the Spring Conference we had an objective leader in analyzing REALTOR® technologies, Brian Boero of 1000 watt consulting, do a 90 minute session on RPR- I believe they were over 100 members in attendance. We asked for feedback on the conference and started facebooking and tweeting about RPR in hopes to get more member input. Then in June we hosted another session at the Management Conference- we asked members to attend, blogged and blasted about it a lot, Board of Directors urged their associates to attend- this session was led by Ohan Antebien of RPR- we collected opinions through a survey that we asked everyone to fill out before they left. Again the overwhelming response was no. Again the board did not make a decision wanting more member input. We blogged about it some more and featured the session and links to RPR in over 20 separate eblasts throughout the year. We got virtually no feedback from the members through our online efforts. So the board put the issue before the large R&D advisory group who recommended not going forward with RPR.
There were several key issues- why do we need this our MLS offers all this already, I don't want to learn a new system, we are fearful NAR will charge us for our own data in the future as they did with REALTOR® .com, and why all the NAR secrecy about how it will be run? Although RPR says their product is free (which it is) MLS's would have to bear the development and integration costs from the MLS vendor (ours is core logic). Corelogic told the board they did not even yet have any technical requirements yet from RPR and could not even quote us in how much it would cost to develop and API for RPR.
We signed a different agreement with Corelogic which doesn't offer members a product but does use our data, no chance of reselling to our members because there is no product/service. Perhaps because we waited so long Corelogic gave us many incentives to sign with them and also because we indicated we would not sign unless we received member incentives. Corelogic has a similar dashboard that will be available for free as an upgrade to Tempo 5. They also significantly reduced the price of our public sided website http://www.centraloklahomaproperties.com/ which allowed the MLS to keep running it next year with no increase in fees to the member. They also kept out Tempo 5 software at the same price for the next three years so that we would not have to increase MLS fees. There is potential that MLSOK could receive revenue from Corelogic in years to come, meaning that as the cost of doing business goes up there should be revenue from Corelogic to offset those increases which in turn would allow us to keep our MLS fees the low $40.50 monthly and Lockbox Keys the low $20.50 per month (assumes pre-pay discount).
Always remember that the key offering of RPR is integrated tax data- something both Tulsa and OKCMAR members already receive through their MLS vendor. Many did not see the value of spending money to integrate with RPR and maintain their system with support staff for a tool we already enjoy. I look forward to your questions on this blog. And always remember, you the member are the board, so if the "board" realizes any gains through contract negotiation those gains are for you!
No greater care or length was taken than in the RPR decision; in fact this was before the board for over a year. We started with blogs, articles on the web and facebook. In March at the Spring Conference we had an objective leader in analyzing REALTOR® technologies, Brian Boero of 1000 watt consulting, do a 90 minute session on RPR- I believe they were over 100 members in attendance. We asked for feedback on the conference and started facebooking and tweeting about RPR in hopes to get more member input. Then in June we hosted another session at the Management Conference- we asked members to attend, blogged and blasted about it a lot, Board of Directors urged their associates to attend- this session was led by Ohan Antebien of RPR- we collected opinions through a survey that we asked everyone to fill out before they left. Again the overwhelming response was no. Again the board did not make a decision wanting more member input. We blogged about it some more and featured the session and links to RPR in over 20 separate eblasts throughout the year. We got virtually no feedback from the members through our online efforts. So the board put the issue before the large R&D advisory group who recommended not going forward with RPR.
There were several key issues- why do we need this our MLS offers all this already, I don't want to learn a new system, we are fearful NAR will charge us for our own data in the future as they did with REALTOR® .com, and why all the NAR secrecy about how it will be run? Although RPR says their product is free (which it is) MLS's would have to bear the development and integration costs from the MLS vendor (ours is core logic). Corelogic told the board they did not even yet have any technical requirements yet from RPR and could not even quote us in how much it would cost to develop and API for RPR.
We signed a different agreement with Corelogic which doesn't offer members a product but does use our data, no chance of reselling to our members because there is no product/service. Perhaps because we waited so long Corelogic gave us many incentives to sign with them and also because we indicated we would not sign unless we received member incentives. Corelogic has a similar dashboard that will be available for free as an upgrade to Tempo 5. They also significantly reduced the price of our public sided website http://www.centraloklahomaproperties.com/ which allowed the MLS to keep running it next year with no increase in fees to the member. They also kept out Tempo 5 software at the same price for the next three years so that we would not have to increase MLS fees. There is potential that MLSOK could receive revenue from Corelogic in years to come, meaning that as the cost of doing business goes up there should be revenue from Corelogic to offset those increases which in turn would allow us to keep our MLS fees the low $40.50 monthly and Lockbox Keys the low $20.50 per month (assumes pre-pay discount).
Always remember that the key offering of RPR is integrated tax data- something both Tulsa and OKCMAR members already receive through their MLS vendor. Many did not see the value of spending money to integrate with RPR and maintain their system with support staff for a tool we already enjoy. I look forward to your questions on this blog. And always remember, you the member are the board, so if the "board" realizes any gains through contract negotiation those gains are for you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)