above fall 2011

T H E R E / M A X M A G A Z I N E

LE A R N F R O M TH E B E S T : TOP 100 AGENTS SHARE THEIR INSIGHTS

SAYING ITBOLDLYPAGE 30

R E / M A X A S S O C I A T E S H O N O R E D W I T H T W O P R E S T I G I O U S A W A R D S

Serving UpSatisfaction

FP

Bank of America Home Loans is proud of its ongoing relationship with RE/MAX.

Bank of America, N.A., Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender © 2011 Bank of America Corporation. Credit and collateral are subject to approval. Terms and conditions apply. This is not a commitment to lend. Programs, rates, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. All trademarks are the property of Bank of America Corporation or their respective owners. Bank of America and other advertised companies are separate entities; each is independently responsible for its products, services and incentives. 08-2011 ARX5P416

Bank of America would like to congratulate RE/MAX on your recent industry award recognizing highest overall satisfaction for home buyers and sellers.

Your commitment to agent education, industry excellence and distressed property training is reflected by your recent achievement. Bank of America is pleased to partner with you in serving the needs of your clients and agents.

To learn more about working with Bank of America Home Loans, call 800.243.0717 or visit bankofamerica.com/alliances.

Today's key to connecting with your agents!

Web-based system allowing you & your agents

to connect anytime, from anywhere!

1.866.CRY.WOLF (279.9653) • [email protected] • www.thekeytoyouroffice.com

Lead Management & Distribution

Listing Management

Showing Tools & Feedback

Drip Marketing

Online File Cabinet & Documents

eConcierge & Haves + Wants

Event Management/Online Calendar

Full Message Center

Lone Wolf Agent Reports

CRM Tools

A B O V E THERE/MA XMAGAZINE F A L L 2 0 11 3

plan to using the many tools that

come with your RE/MAX affiliation.

Having a flagship print vehicle for

this type of exchange is something

we’ve been missing in recent years,

and ABOVE will fill that void perfectly.

But this is not your father’s maga-

zine, not by a longshot.

ABOVE is also available digitally

via computer, tablet or smartphone,

with a variety of enhanced content,

especially video, taking you deeper

into relevant topics. This aspect of

the project will be especially dynamic

and constantly evolving. There are no

limits, and that’s exciting.

Ultimately, ABOVE is about you.

And you can help us create the

informational mix you want. When

you have a moment, please send

your comments, suggestions and

story ideas for upcoming editions to

[email protected].

In the meantime, enjoy this first

edition and finish 2011 strong. Thanks

for all you do.

Dave Liniger

RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder

THIS PREMIERE EDITION OF

ABOVE reflects a whole new

way of communicating within

the RE/MAX network. Each quarterly

magazine will be a valuable resource,

a connection point and an ongoing

conversation within our organization.

That process will develop over time.

ABOVE will bring you stories and

insights from the world’s most-pro-

ductive real estate agents, along with

expert advice from leading voices

outside our network.

In this issue, you’ll meet super-

stars like Ryan O’Neill (page 26), a

team leader from Minnesota whose

764 transaction sides ranked No. 1

nationally in a recent industry sur-

vey, and Kerri-lyn Holland (page 35) of

Alberta, whose passion and attention

to detail serves the interests of all

her clients – and provides a success-

ful blueprint for others to follow.

You’ll also find dozens of practical

tips, on everything from closing

short sales to building a business

Welcome to ABOVE, the start of something big.

D A V E ’ S D E S K

4 F A L L 2 0 11 A B O V E THERE/MA XMAGAZINE

features

26VALUE DRIVEN Minnesota’s Ryan O’Neill has led his team to the very highest levels of real estate achievement. In addition to being a tireless professional, he’s a really good guy who puts the success of others ahead of his own. He also plays a mean piano.

SAYING IT BOLDLY A new logo leaves no doubt as to where RE/MAX stands in the competitive landscape. Measured by transaction sides, agent productivity and a host of other metrics, RE/MAX is the No. 1 brand in real estate.30

35A PERSONAL APPROACH Canadian star Kerri-lyn Holland’s dedication to her clients stands at the center of her business strategy. A smart team structure and savvy approach to marketing set her apart in a crowded Edmonton market.

C O N T E N T S

33BEST ON

BOTH SIDES J.D. Power and Associates

bestows top honors to RE/MAX in both buyer and seller satisfaction

GO DIGITAL An e-version of ABOVE becomes available on RE/MAX Mainstreet shortly after the publication of each quarterly print edition. It’s a fun, interactive way to experience and share the magazine, with enhanced video content throughout. Between editions, keep up on all things RE/MAX via the RE/MAX Weekly, Facebook and Twitter.

HOW CAN HOOTSUITE HELP YOU?

PAGE 16

PAGE 35

PAGE 26


FP

FULL SPECTRUM

38 SHORTSALESIt’s getting easier to deliver real solutions to distressed homeowners

40 TOUCHESOFCLASSLuxury sales require a different level of care

42 COMMERCIALVICTORIESThree agents share insights on three very different markets

44 ATIMETOTAKEACTIONHow can you help end breast cancer?

45 HEALTHY,HOPEFUL &HAPPY

Cindy Pelletier is dedicated to the cause

46 20YEARSOFMIRACLESRE/MAX is honored for its long-term support of kids

ABOVE & BEYOND

3DAVE’SDESKThe start of something big

8GLOBALPRESENCERE/MAX around the world

48INCLOSINGAsk Margaret

IN EVERY ISSUE

INSIDE STORY

10 SNAPSHOTSR4 2012 - RE/MAX goes viral - Long Drive Championship - Google+

14 DESIGNCENTER5 easy steps to a Craigslist ad

15 RE/MAXUNIVERSITYChoose the right class for you

HOW WILL

YOU SUPPORT

THE CAUSE?

PAGE 44BUILDING BLOCKS

16 DIGITALTOOLBOX10 iPad apps every agent needs

18 TIMETOSHINETom Ferry pumps you up for Q4

20 WHAT’STHEPLAN?Mapping out a successful 2012

22 4X4Four top agents, in four markets, answer four questions

23 THERIGHTMOVETOMAKEWhy Prudential’s leading agent joined the RE/MAX network

24 TURNINGLEADSINTOCLIENTSHow to make LeadStreet work for you

25 TECHTIPS8 ways to build business with social media

6160 S. Syracuse Way, Ste 300 Greenwood Village, CO 80111

T: 303.662.5200 F: 303.397.7619 www.custompublishingco.com

MANAGING EDITOR Brendan Harrington

ART DIRECTOR Lindsay Burke

PROJECT MANAGER Susan Humphrey

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Sandy Haworth

ASSOCIATE DESIGNER Astrid Storey

Copyright © 2011 RE/MAX, LLC. All rights reserved. The material herein may not be duplicated, copied or reproduced – in whole or in part – in any way without written permission. ABOVE magazine is provided to RE/MAX Affiliates as one of many benefits. The opinions of guest contributors and interviewed guests are their own and not necessarily those of RE/MAX, LLC, or its Affiliates, or any of its own-ers, officers, employees or agents.

Legal Notice: RE/MAX, LLC, is not responsible for the content of ad-vertisements and assumes no liability for any claims arising therefrom.

RE/MAX, LLC, is an Equal Opportunity Employer and supports the Fair Housing Act. Each RE/MAX® Office is independently owned and operated.

RE/MAX, LLCCHAIRMAN & CO-FOUNDER Dave Liniger

VICE-CHAIRMAN & CO-FOUNDER Gail Liniger

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Margaret Kelly

PRESIDENT Vinnie Tracey

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, U.S. & INTERNATIONAL REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT William Soteroff

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBALCOMMUNICATIONS AND BRANDING Mike Ryan

ABOVEDIRECTOR, CHIEF NEWS EDITOR George White

CREATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR Collin Meek

EDITOR Amanda Okker

EDITOR Deborah Ball Kearns

AD COORDINATOR Whitney Sample

AD SALES Sarah Blankman, Kelly Tracey, Rich Foristal

To reach ABOVE, call 303.770.5531 or email [email protected]. To order additional copies, call the RE/MAX Order Desk at 303.796.3672 or visit www.remax.net.

ABOVEFALL 2011, VOL. 1, NO. 1

ABOVE, a quarterly publication (January, April, July,

October) is the official magazine of RE/MAX, LLC,

the international real estate franchisor serving the

industry’s most productive Sales Associates.

RE/MAX World Headquarters5075 S. Syracuse St. Denver, CO 80237-2712remax.com®

RE/MAX, LLCP.O. Box 3907Englewood, CO 80155

Just who is Barney Hasbin?

PAGE 13

FP

We are honored to be selected by RE/MAX as an Approved Supplier of 1031 Exchange Services

Q u a n t i t a t i v e E x c e l l e n c eWTP EXCHANGE

For the last 90 years, informed and savvy commercial real estate investors have reduced their tax bill by taking advantage of 1031 exchanges. WTP Exchange is the nation’s trusted provider of all types of Qualified Intermediary services.

At WTP Exchange, we are dedicated to providing your clients with the highest level of 1031 exchange tax expertise. Our firm has received numerous accolades for its burgeoning success, much of which stems from our dedication to client service. Inc. magazine ranked WTP in the top 15 percent of its fifth annual 500/5000 list of America’s fastest growing companies. WTP was also recognized in Fortune magazine for its client retention and avoidance of bureaucracy.

Call today for a free consultation Ron Hodgeman, Tax Attorney and 1031 Exchange Practice Leader [email protected] 1-888-733-1031

AROUND THE WORLD

CONSUMERS IN AFRICA

and Australia know the

RE/MAX Balloon, as do South

Americans and Europeans.

With recent expansions

into Egypt and Barbados,

the RE/ MAX network now

has a presence in more than

80 countries worldwide – a

number that keeps growing as

more entrepreneurs see the

value of aligning themselves

with the world’s No. 1 real

estate brand.

What does global presence

mean for Sales Associates

and Broker/Owners? It means

widespread brand awareness,

a worldwide referral network

and unlimited potential for

international business.

Despite global economic

uncertainties and challeng-

ing housing conditions in

many locations, RE/MAX has

entered more than 20 coun-

tries since 2008. All told, over

36,000 RE/MAX agents live

and work outside the United

States. That marks a real dif-

ference between RE/MAX and

other brands.

“Being part of a worldwide

network of nearly 90,000 sav-

vy businesspeople provides a

huge competitive advantage

for individual agents and

offices,” says Larry Oberly,

RE/MAX Vice President,

International Development.

B Y D E B O R A H B A L L K E A R N S

Opening Up Your World

THE BRAND’S GLOBAL PRESENCE BUILDS CONSUMER

CONFIDENCE AND CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGENTS

THE RE/MAX

NETWORK HAS

EXPANDED

INTO MORE

THAN 80

COUNTRIES

AROUND THE

GLOBE.

CANADA

As part of a partnership with the Western Hockey League, RE/MAX of Western Canada sponsors the RE/MAX Home Team Contest to give game tickets away to fans.

MEXICO

RE/MAX of Mexico scores big with its advertisements at a vari-ety of sporting and charity events.

ARGENTINA

More than 3,000 people attend RE/MAX Argentina’s RE/MAX Kids Tour client-appreciation event. The region, known for community outreach, is a 2011 RE/MAX Region of the Year.

G L O B A L


AROUND THE WORLD

“Whether they are sharing

insights or referrals, RE/MAX

agents benefit from their

connection to colleagues

thousands of miles away.

It’s an amazing resource for

everyone in our system.”

The annual RE/MAX R4

Convention offers the best

way for agents to meet in

person. At this year’s event,

attendees traveled to Las

Vegas from 57 different coun-

tries. The meeting rooms and

hallways were filled with an

array of languages, clothing

styles and cultures, and a

Global Referral Exchange was

one of the convention’s most

dynamic sessions.

When clients want to

relocate to another country or

invest in a faraway vacation

property, RE/MAX Associates

can confidently refer them to

an experienced, capable peer

within the system, Oberly says.

“RE/MAX agents share a

mutual desire to provide the

best service possible and

keep the trust of referring

agents and their clients, so

exchanging global referrals

and tapping destination

markets is a win-win for

everyone,” Oberly says. “It’s

a simple way to generate a

steady stream of income.

The hidden gem in all of this

is that agents learn from

each other and get a better

sense of how real estate

works in different interna-

tional markets.”

SOUTHAFRICA

RE/MAX of Southern Africa hosts the National Long Drive Finals. Winner Erik van der Walt smashes a 407-yard drive to earn the right to represent South Africa at the world finals.

EUROPE

Over 700 RE/MAX Associates attend the 3rd annual RE/MAX European Convention, a sold-out event, in Vienna, Austria.

AUSTRALIA

Agents with RE/MAX Colonial in Annerley and RE/MAX Colonial Riverside in Yeronga (both in Queensland) are inducted into the City South News Gold Hall of Fame for business achievers.

INDIA

In regions throughout the country, entrepreneurs purchase over 45 franchises YTD, the highest na-tional total outside North America.

SPAIN

Javier Sierra, President of RE/MAX Spain, receives the 2011 ACEGI award for his work in improving real estate brokerage standards in the Canary Islands.



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IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN THE RE/MAX

World Long Drive Championship takes center

stage, with the finals in November followed

by the annual ESPN telecasts – as well as air-

ings around the world – in December.

The 2011 edition of Long Drive is shaping

up as one of the best ever, with over 13,000

competitors at 180 qualifying events in 16

countries attempting to slam their way to

the finals in Mesquite, Nev.

RE/MAX has sponsored Long Drive since

1995, and in addition to the U.S. national

TV exposure – Christmas Eve on ESPN and

Christmas Day on ESPN2 – coverage of the

finals extends to Canada, Europe, Africa, the

Middle East, the Caribbean and beyond. As

a result, Long Drive puts RE/MAX into the

minds of millions of consumers worldwide.

But Long Drive visibility isn’t limited to

November-December, as a thriving scene

surrounds the art of hitting golf balls farther

than humans should be able to. For instance,

2011 champion Joe Miller of the United

Kingdom, who blasted a 393-yard drive

to win the title last year, has traveled the

world to appear at exhibitions and charity

events. Want to see some amazing stuff? Visit

YouTube and search for Long Drive clips.

LONG DRIVE FINALS AN ESPN SMASH

TOP5VIDEOSBYVIEWERSHIP:“RE/MAX is Wack”

(65,000+)

“The Problem With RE/MAX”

(37,000+)

“Disappearing Agent”

(21,000+)

“Short Sale” (15,000+)

“Downline” (14,000+)

LTHOUGH THE SHORT sale process must be

streamlined even further, it has improved in the past year, Dave Liniger wrote in the September edition of DS News, one of the default servicing industry’s pre-mier publications.

In his Ground Forces column, Liniger said “a key is having three components in place: (1) a servicer with a true interest in short sales and an empowered staff that can handle the work flow, (2) prescreened homeowners who can’t be helped with a loan modification and carry mortgages with no or few encumbrances, and (3) a network of real estate agents with high levels of training, skill and experi-ence. When these elements come together, aided by a spirit of cooperation and a

shared commitment to the goal – a closing – it changes the game.”

Improving short sales and providing foreclosure-avoiding solutions to families who cannot afford their homes has been a RE/MAX priority for several years. Progress is being made, Liniger said, in part because major servicers are recogniz-ing the benefit of working with skilled agents to help families relocate before it’s too late.

“Within the new frame-work, things are bet-ter,” Liniger wrote in DS News. “Not perfect by any stretch, but much better.”

Although not identified in the column, two of the nation’s largest lenders, Bank of America and Citi-Mortgage, have ongoing programs with RE/MAX

that drive potential short sales to highly qualified, experienced RE/MAX agents.

All told, thousands of distressed properties in the programs have been paired with RE/MAX agents since the beginning of the year. Thousands more are processed each month. And additional ini-tiatives are in the pipeline.

To be selected for these efforts, agents must have credentials such as the CDPE, the SFR or the Five Star certification, or a demonstrated expertise in short sales. RE/MAX agents lead the industry, by far, in distressed prop-erty education, and have three times more CDPEs than any competitor.

Proactive Short Sales Provide Distressed Property Solutions

VIRAL VIDEOS SURPASS A QUARTER-MILLION VIEWSThe “Why RE/MAX” viral videos recently topped

the 250,000-view mark on YouTube. The 17 funny,

high-quality clips, available on the RE/MAX YouTube

Brand Channel, have now been watched more than

257,000 times.

Find-Feed-LoveYour 800 Pound Gorilla(and we are here if you need help)

COACHING TRAININGAN

D

Find out more about us at:

www.p3coaching.comP3 Coaching and Training

877-435-5232All Rights Reserved.

by the numbers{ {

22New franchises, YTD

through August, in Florida,

the fastest-growing region

of 2011. Worldwide sales to-

taled 414 in that time frame.

MONTHS SINCE

REMAX.COM

REGISTERED A

LISTING-VIEW

TOTAL THAT

HIGH (MAY 2009),

ILLUSTRATING

THAT TRAFFIC

(AND BUYER

INTEREST) HAS

PICKED UP.

2737,070,722LISTING VIEWS ON REMAX.COM DURING AUGUST 2011.

Languages, other than English, spoken by at

least 1,000 active RE/MAX Associates. The

list ranges from Spanish (7,406) and French (4,340)

to Afrikaans (1,123) and Hindi (1,105).

10

TOTAL NUMBER OF

LANGUAGES SPOKEN IN THE NETWORK, WHICH INCLUDES JUST ONE SPEAKER OF MONGOLIAN.

84

BARENAKED LADIES Check out their song “Five Nights a Week,” from the CBS show “Big Bang Theory” on the band’s YouTube channel.

R4 2012: A Party You Can’t Miss Reignite. Reconnect. Recognize. Rediscover. These themes

wil l dominate the 2012 RE/MAX R4 Convention, March 5-8, 2012 ,

at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The

annual gathering draws thousands of agents and

brokers from around the world for four days of

education, networking, philanthropy and fun.

The early-bird registration rate is $525 per

person. A special RE/MAX hotel rate of $189 per

night is available as well . Visit Mainstreet for more details,

or email [email protected].

A BONUS R: Rockin’ Canada’s Barenaked Ladies wil l perform

such hits as “One Week” and “It’s All Been Done” at the Party

With a Purpose on March 8.


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ugust home sales showed promising signs in major U.S. cities as 18 percent more transactions were closed than in August 2010, according to the monthly RE/MAX National Housing Report.

The report, based on MLS data in 53 metro areas, found that August sales out-paced sales in June, which is traditionally the year’s highest sales month. August

sales also were 3.7 percent higher than in July. The report reveals that housing inven-tory levels dropped for the 14th consecutive month, while total inventory remains al-most 19 percent below August 2010 levels.

Although the median price of homes sold in August dipped fractionally from July, the drop from last year’s higher price level continues to shrink.

-35%

-30%

-25%

-20%

-15%

-10%

-5%

0

+5%

+10%

+15%

+20%

YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE IN MONTHLY SALES

JUN

JUL

AU

G

SEP

OCT

NO

V

DEC

JAN

FEB

MA

R

AP

R

MAY

JUN

JUL

AU

G

2010 2011

RE/MAX HOUSING REPORT: PROMISING SIGNS IN AUGUST

A

Nearly 110 attendees from

the United States, Canada,

Turkey, Costa Rica and

Brazil gathered at RE/MAX World

Headquarters in late September

for the 2011 RE/MAX Commercial

World Symposium.

For RE/MAX

Commercial brokers, the

symposium is an ideal

opportunity to meet

peers and exchange referrals. Richard

Juge of Louisiana, a former national

CCIM president, says this year’s event

was the best yet. “We have the high-

est caliber commercial agents in the

business, and this is the best place to

meet them,” he says.

Highlights included an outing at

the renowned Sanctuary golf course;

a fun and fast networking business-

card swap; and educational sessions

on using RE/MAX Commercial to be

profitable in commercial’s recovering,

stable and distressed markets.

First-time attendee Patricia

Walden of Florida summed up the

gathering perfectly: “There’s so much

value in hearing what other people

are doing, because it inspires you to

tweak your business plan and change

your approach. I’ve made connec-

tions here I couldn’t have made

anywhere else.”

TECH NOTE

Google+ Will Be BIGThis keeps the popular Google Suite

close at hand. Many of the features

of Google+ have been designed to be

more user friendly than other social

media platforms.

Chinello’s best advice if you’re

already a Google+ user: Spend time de-

veloping your communication strategy

and deploy it in stages as your Google+

network grows. Save your best ideas to

use when the majority of your social

media contacts have made the switch.

Expedite the process by inviting your

clients and sphere to join. And if you’re

not there yet, set up your Google+

profile soon and gain access to all the

tools in the Google suite.

YOU’VE PROBABLY HEARD THE buzz about the latest and greatest

social network that just launched in

September: Google+. John Chinello,

RE/MAX Senior Manager, Technology

Training, wants you to know it’s living

up to the hype so far.

Chinello is among the lucky ones

invited to use Google+ early on in the

testing phase, and he sees tremendous

potential for agents to network and

boost their social media exposure.

Users will have a powerful bridge

between their Google+ profile and

Gmail, Picasa, Google Calendar, Goog-

le Docs and other Google accounts,

in a highly customized environment.

Valuable Connections, Profitable Ideas

COMMERCIAL SYMPOSIUM

THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS TO REACH.THREE WAYS TO REACH THEM.

In the mail. Online. On the phone.

VISIT VALPAK.COM ORCALL 800-669-1778 TODAY. SEE RESULTS TOMORROW.Valpak® and Push, Click, Tap™ are trademarks of Valpak® Direct Marketing Systems, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Copyright ©2011 Valpak Direct Marketing Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

PUSH CLICK TAP

• Valpak flagship envelope

• Custom solo mail

• Valpak digital network

• Email campaigns

• SMS texting

TM

All RE/MAX Associates receive the RE/MAX Weekly email on Tuesdays, with Broker/Owners getting a management edition on Thursdays. News contained in the emails is also posted on RE/MAX Mainstreet.

BESTOFTHERE/MAXWEEKLY

5POPULARARTICLESOFPAST60DAYS 10EssentialStepstoCloseShortSales

6TechTips:Bethe‘CompletePackage’

VirtualRoundtable:GenerateNewLeads

TackleExpiredListingsin8EasySteps

5TechMovestoSaveTime,Money

REAL ESTATE

has been tough

in recent years,

and it’s easy to get

discouraged by

the constant barrage of negative

news. Seeing what was happen-

ing in her market, Stacey Alcorn

wrote a book as an antidote for

the real estate blues.

“Tuned In: Eight Lessons to

Sales Success a Great Salesman

Did Not Know He Knew,” is a

fun, easy-to-read story about an

older agent, Barney Hasbin, who

receives an unexpected recharge

by mentoring a young, eager col-

league named Eric. The experi-

ence rejuvenates the veteran and

gets him back on track.

Alcorn, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX

Prestige offices in New Hampshire

and Massachusetts, says her book

is meant to inspire agents who feel

burned out and beat up in today’s

challenging climate.

“People who succeed are those

who find the good in anything

that’s happening,” Alcorn says. “If

you help enough people get what

they want in life, you end up get-

ting what you want, too.”

Feeling Battered?SPEND A FEW HOURS WITH THIS BOOK

“Tuned In” is available on Amazon.com and staceyalcorn.com for $9.99.


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HowtoCreateaWebAdforCraigslistIN THE RE/MAX DESIGN CENTER – where agents can access more than 2,300 customizable

marketing templates – the most popular project in August was a Craigslist web ad. You’ll

find this new and very popular template, along with several others, in the Craigslist Ads

folder within the RE/MAX Library; you’ll also find detailed instructions on posting your ad to Craigslist. It’s a simple

piece to create, and it provides a high-quality, branded look that most ads can’t match. Andbestofall:it’sfree.

That’s it!Your web ad is ready for a final preview and hosting. Simply choose the host option in the Project Overview window to generate HTML cod-ing to copy and paste into your Craigslist posting.

For step-by-step hosting instructions, refer to the guide to hosting also availa-ble in the “Craigslist Ads” folder.

STEP 4Enter any disclaimer text and click “Next.”

STEP 5Upload the property photos using the Image Assistant and click “Next.” Add headlines and descriptions of the fea-tured property in the spaces provided. Spell check and click “Done.”

STEP 1Make sure your Design Center profile is updated with accurate con-tact information and your best agent photo.

STEP 3If your auto-populated pro-file information is correct, click “Next.” If not, make the necessary changes and click “Next.”

STEP 2Select your preferred web ad template from the “Craigslist Ads” folder in the RE/MAX Library. Then name your project and click “Save.”

FOLLOW THESE FIVE EASY STEPS FOR CUSTOMIZATION:

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R E / M A X U N I V E R S I T Y

Access more than 1,000 RU videos on

the go with the free RU app. Visit

remax.onmediafly.com or your iPhone,

iPad, Android or BlackBerry mobile apps

store, and put the future of your educa-

tion in your hands.

TAKE IT WITH YOU: DOWNLOAD THE RE/MAX UNIVERSITY APP

In the new RU Catalog, you'll find details on more than 1,000 training opportunities.

Everyone Has a Favorite.Find Yours.

AGENTS EXPLAIN WHICH RU COURSES THEY RECOMMEND

EARNING PROFESSIONAL DESIGNATIONS – ONLINE OR ON DEMAND – IS ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA. BUT DECIDING WHERE TO

invest your time and money can be difficult, given the wide range of accredited class choices (more than 25 different options!)

available through RE/MAX University. The thoughts below might help you choose which course to take next.

JOHN KENT (ABR, CLHMS, FSS&R)

RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest

Palatine, Ill.

“ Luxury is my niche, and I EARNED THE CLHMS TO HELP ME SHOW MY AFFLUENT CLIENTS THAT I’M COMMITTED. Education doesn’t stop with getting your license, and RE/ MAX University offers a convenient and competitively priced opportunity to learn more.”

“Earning the CDPE has helped reassure a lot of my clients

that I’m well-qualified

and know the ins and

outs of the short sale

process. The forms are

probably my favorite resources; they

are not state specific and they help

me establish consistency in my packages for prop-

erties I handle in several states.”

LISA FARMER (CDPE, ePRO, FSS&R, SFR)

RE/MAX On Track

Germantown, Tenn.

“I’m impressed with Tom Ferry’s en-ergy in the Sales Power for RE/MAX course. I finished each section feeling pumped and ready for what’s ahead.

I found the 90-day plan helps me stay focused. And now I include market updates in my

communications; I learned consumers wonder about that more than anything.”

LAURA McCULLOCH RE/MAX Rouge River Realty Toronto, Ontario

KATHY RUSH (ABR)

RE/MAX Jefferson City

Jefferson City, Mo.

I work with buyers, and the ABR Buyer Agency and Marketing for Buyer’s

Agents courses helped me understand what my responsibilities and obligations are – and what they are not. If you work with buyers or want to, you need this information. The RU format is great for busy agents, because I was able to pause and pick up where I left off later.

RE/MAX Associates who watch RU programming on a

Roku or PopBox digital media player can choose from

preprogrammed daily playlists of the best of RE/MAX

University. Be sure to add the RE/MAX University

channel to your Roku or PopBox lineup.

DIGITAL MEDIA PLAYERS MAKE CHOOSING VIDEOS A BREEZE


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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XT E C H N O L O G Y

HOOTSUITE There is no better way to keep up with your social

media marketing efforts than HootSuite. It creates

a dashboard with your feeds from Facebook, Twit-

ter, LinkedIn, Foursquare and others. The ability

to engage with your social sphere regularly is a lot

easier with HootSuite.

PHOTOGENE Photos of homes are

still the number one

request from buyers

shopping for real estate

online. Photogene is an

app that will make your

listing pictures really

stand out. Simple-to-

use filters and effects

can take a picture from

ordinary to stellar.

Photogene also makes

sharing your pictures

socially very easy once

you’ve enhanced them

through a two-click

process.

EVERNOTE Evernote was one of the first-ever iPhone apps and has continued to

be extremely popular on the iPad. Taking your notes in Evernote –

rather than the default Notepad app – syncs the

notes wirelessly across your CPU, mobile device

and tablet. Evernote also allows for categories

and tags to organize your content. This will be-

come your back-up brain.

iMOVIE Video and real estate are a

match made in heaven. The

challenging part of doing video well can be in

the editing process. The iMovie app makes this

a breeze. The screen space available on the iPad

is great for viewing and using the app’s intuitive

controls. Several pre-made themes also make for

a polished final product.

10iPad Apps Every Agent NeedsCONGRATULATIONS! YOU BOUGHT AN

iPAD. NOW LOAD IT WITH THE BEST APPS

FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS. B Y C H R I S S M I T H

PHOTO/VIDEO APPS

CONTENT APPS

PRODUCTIVITY APPS


360PANORAMA The 360 Panorama app creates stunning 360-de-

gree interactive images using the ’s camera. The

images can be shared socially and even embed-

ded as content on your website. Consider adding

a “360 Degree [insert your city name]” tab to your

website and posting shots of your market that

you take while you’re out and about.

ZITE Zite is a free app that becomes more

intelligent as you use it. Read an

article on Zite, and your rating of it

will determine content you see in the future.

Over time, your magazine is personalized for you!

Zite integrates with Evernote for saving articles to

read later. Zite also makes it easy to share your

favorite reads on your social media sites.

DROPBOX Having access to any file any time has become a

lot easier with the advancements in cloud tech-

nology. DropBox has emerged as the leader in

this space. With the Dropbox app, not

only can you access your documents

without taking up any space on your

iPad’s hard drive, you can also quickly

and easily share any of your images,

presentations, PDFs or videos via email

while you’re on the go.

REALTOR.COM There are many real estate apps

that pull in MLS data, but the

Realtor.com app is simply the best.

When an open house visitor comes

through the door, you can use the

app to show other listings in the neighborhood.

You can even have them draw on the map to cre-

ate their own “neighborhood.” It’s sure to wow,

and then you can transition into Open Home Pro.

GOODREADER The GoodReader app

will quickly become

your PDF reader and

editor of choice. Many

real estate contracts

are still in PDF format,

so the ability to open,

edit and sign directly

into the PDF using your

finger really is priceless.

OPENHOMEPRO Getting an accurate email address and phone

number from an open house visitor can be

harder than you think. By having visitors regis-

ter directly into the Open Home Pro app, rather

than using the pen and paper option, your client

conversion rate will go up dramatically. The app

even sends follow-up emails when there is a

price reduction.

C R E A T E D B Y :

Chief Evangelist, Inman News

Contributing Editor, InmanNext

CHRIS SMITH

next.inman.com

facebook.com/inmannext

@InmanNext


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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

I LOVE THE FOURTH QUARTER. THIS IS, BY FAR, MY

favorite time of the year. The summer selling season has

passed and the real gamers in real estate begin to shine.

This is the time of year when the best get better and

the weak plan out their holidays.

The fourth quarter is where the finishers

step up, stand out, list and sell more, and

close out the year. This is your time to shine.

As always, this journey begins with a

choice. You have to decide which agent

you want to be, starting the new year:

The depressed agent: Desperate for a

deal, upset with themselves for not work-

ing in Q4, worried about finances after

overspending without any pending sales;

slithers back into the office around Jan. 15

wondering, “Where do I start?” Or …

The agent who did the work in Q4 and

is experiencing the benefits: They have a strong inventory of sell-

able homes listed, with several listings

secured from December appointments

set to go live in early January. Their scheduled closings from sales

in November and December have them

feeling bullish about 2012. Their lead pipeline of buyers and sell-

ers is huge. They are in communication

and have 10 pre-scheduled appointments

for January. Their teams are feeling informed, involved, well

trained and empowered to conquer the world. Actions in

Q4 have created a culture of success.

As a RE/MAX agent, you’re choosing option two, I’m sure.

So here are eight tips to help you finish the year strong:

1. Mark out your path.The first step in your journey is to pull out your calendar

and schedule all the time off that you want in the fourth

quarter. Thanksgiving. Check. Two weeks in December.

Check. Holiday parties. Check. Now, count up the

number of days you have left to build your business.

Think about what you can do in that time frame. This

exercise is important. By scheduling time off, you can

work in smaller bursts, knowing there are

plenty of fun breaks along the way.

2. Create a B.S.G. That’s right: A Big Sexy Goal. Decide how

many listings taken, listings sold and

buyer sales you want in Q4. Stretch your-

self. Remember, in Q4 your competition is

winding down, so this is the time to step

it up. Once you’ve established your goals,

make them tangible and visual. Hang them

in your office, laminate them and put them

in your shower, give a copy to your man-

ager, your coach and, most importantly, to

the people who love you the most. Create

incentives for completion and painful con-

sequences for falling short.

3. Tersus satus! (Latin for a “clean start.”)Schedule a day to completely clean your

environment. In studying peak perform-

ance, we see that agents who have taken

time to clean up, organize, throw away,

file away and reset their systems always create a break-

through in production. So schedule a day for it.

4. Fish where the fish are.In Q4, focus your marketing and lead generation activi-

ties on the sources that have created the most transac-

tions this year to date. Has it been your database? Open

houses? Expireds? Your farm? Online campaigns? In Q4,

it’s critical that you step it up on what works rather than

trying new campaigns or marketing strategies.

C O A C H I N G

“This is the time of year

when the best get better

and the weak

plan out their

holidays.”

Time to ShineQ: HOW CAN YOU SET YOURSELF UP FOR A GREAT 2012?

A: START NOW! B Y TO M F E R R Y


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Creatingapowerfullistingpresentation

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Learn more at salespower.remaxuniversity.com

5. Anticipate the obvious question:

Why should I list during the holidays?You know the objection is going to come

up, so create a marketing campaign that

answers it in a consumer-centric way.

We all know the world-famous “Top 10

Reasons to List During the Holidays”

flier: No. 10 – Only serious buyers look at

homes during the holidays; No. 9 – Your

house looks more like a home, allowing

prospective buyers to fall in love with

it; and so on. The bottom line is: If you

have a flier, a blog, or a video post about

this, you’ll be poised and ready to han-

dle the objection.

6. Take inspired action. After coaching thousands of people, we

know there are three types of actions. (1)

No action: Stuck in your head, which is

a pretty scary place for a salesperson to

be. (2) In action: Making the calls, show-

ing a house, doing your thing, basically,

going through the motions. (3) Inspired

action: Where you are radiating success,

joy, expertise, professionalism and even

some fun. When you operate in inspired

action, you generate significantly better

results. Prospects are more attracted to

you. You schedule more appointments

and win more business.

7. Accept no drama.If you want a big Q4, I’m going to strongly

encourage you to post a few signs in your

office and home that state, “Drama-Free

Zone.” Now, the drama-free zone begins

with you. Find your solution. It might be

a combination of meditation (or prayer),

exercise (break a sweat!), diet (eating five

or six small healthy meals a day) and

sleep (yes, I recommend seven hours a

night).

8. Consider a program. When we are in a program, we do more,

act more and produce more. Whether

it’s an office sales competition or

participating in a mastermind group,

a coaching program, or a structured

learning program like our new Sales

Power (exclusively) for RE/MAX, we

simply do better when surrounded by

others who are going all out.

I promise you this: Take inspired

action on these eight coaching tips and

when I see you at RE/MAX R4 in March

2012, you’ll be grinning from ear to ear.


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#6 Canada Individuals

#8 Individuals Worldwide

S T R A T E G Y

I’ve developed a sixth sense about how my production is look-ing throughout the year. If you’re

systematic about your business, over time you see when something is not working out before you have to evaluate it on paper. It’s a good place to be; I can calibrate my strategies as needed and focus on service and diligence. I approach my plan a little conservatively, and I don’t get greedy. I give to receive, which I believe has helped me reach a magnitude of sales that made it possible for me to donate $100,000 to build a local arena.

PETERHOGETERP

TOP 100 PRODUCERS AGREE THAT HAVING

A SOLID BUSINESS PLAN IS ESSENTIAL. HERE’S

HOW THEY MAP OUT THEIR YEAR. B Y A M A N DA O K K E R

What’s

JESSICACHAN

I set a new production goal at the beginning of each year. I look back at my goal for the previous year, and I determine a new amount that I think I can achieve without increasing my work hours. Although I base my goal on production, the most important thing to me is balance and time off. I have a new team, and I’m looking forward to developing our systems to free up my time even more. Good time management is a must for achieving our goals.

Every year, I sit down with my agents and team members to go over their business plans, and when their transaction and sales volume goals are set I can build my own. With a volume estimate, I can take out expenses for advertising and other programs, and decide what new tools I can bring in for agents. Travel to international RE/MAX events always fits in my budget.

ASIELGRESSY

RE/MAX Escarpment Realty

Stoney Creek, Ontario

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

#33 Canada Individuals


RE/MAX Real Estate (Mountain View)

Calgary, Alberta


#1 Commercial Individuals Worldwide


RE/MAX City

Haifa, Israel


UST AS IT’S HARD TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B

without a route in mind, reaching your full potential in

real estate becomes infinitely more difficult – or impos-

sible – without a strong, strategic business plan in place.

As 2012 approaches, it’s important to map out a direction

for the year. Where do you want to go? How do you expect

to get there? What sort of detours will you allow yourself

on the way?

Here are some business-plan ideas from seven members of

the 2010 RE/MAX Top 100. Take their advice on goals, budgets

and activities, determine what elements would work in your

situation, and craft your own personal pathway to the top.

the Plan?


#24 U.S. Individuals


I focus on marketing and plan to spend no more

than 10 percent of my gross. If my marketing plan isn’t effective, it’s not how much I’m spending but where I’m spending it. I want to make the low-est investment for the greatest return, and that means tracking the returns on various tools, such as Google AdWords. I’ve decided to allocate more for Internet marketing because I’m following the changing paradigm. If you’re complete-ly comfortable with your strategies and have decided you won’t do more, there could be tough times ahead.

MARTIHAMPTON

Always review the cur-rent year’s plan prior to the new year, and make any necessary tweaks; then pick something new you’re going to try. Top producers are risk-takers, and no great return has come without some element of risk. You have to calculate for yourself how far that will go. And invest in advertising, because advertis-ing doesn’t cost – it pays. Be prepared to track the return on your advertising investments, because you’ll find there are smarter ways than others to spend those valuable dollars.

JOEYSCHLAGER

RE/MAX Commonwealth

Richmond, Va.

HALL OF FAME

RE/MAX Acces

Sainte-Foy, Quebec


Your business plan should be a roadmap only, because things always

get kicked around. When the resale market slowed a few years ago, I shifted my focus to REO. That market is changing dramatically now with the halts on foreclosures. It’s forced me to reinvigorate my resale business, which is working out because I understand it’s important to follow the trends. The key, however, is to never abandon segments of your business that once made you money, because you never know when you’ll need to tap into them again. Your business plan should account for mul-tiple pillars of your business and the ways you’ll prioritize them in the coming year.

MIKEPATRICK

My team evaluates the business plan on a continual basis. We have weekly meetings and feed off of each others’ reports to set us all in the right direction. I hired the right assistant, too, which creates a unique synergy and efficiency. Every year, I travel to the United States for the RE/MAX R4 Convention and other industry events, where I can monitor international trends and see what’s coming. I follow what customers are looking for and expect, and every year I raise the bar of my service. I figure out what I need to do to stay relevant, because no one is obliged to work with us. They do it because we provide great personal service.

#24 Canada Team Leaders

#54 Teams Worldwide

TOMDONOVAN

#7 U.S. Team Leaders

#18 Teams Worldwide

RE/MAX One Realty

Raleigh, N.C.

CIRCLE OF LEGENDS #18 U.S. Individuals

#58 Teams Worldwide

RE/MAX United Real Estate

Upper Marlboro, Md.



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FROM LEFT: Martine Deschesnes, Trois-Riveres, Quebec (Lifetime Achievement Award); Justin Harrell, Franklin, N.C. (Platinum Club); Paul Kiger, New Albany, Ind. (100 Percent Club); Jean VanOosterwyk, Clinton Township, Mich. (100 Percent Club).

A L L - S T A R P A N E L

WHAT KEY CUSTOMER-SERVICE ESSENTIAL SHOULD ALL AGENTS PRACTICE?

MARTINE: Availability is crucial. Make yourself available at any time. In the competitive markets we are working, customers are not always patient. If you are unreachable, they will look for another agent.

JUSTIN: Call clients back immediately. It doesn’t mat-ter if it’s 8 p.m. or 8 a.m., or whether clients have a dime or $1 million: Treat all of them like they are your first priority.

PAUL: Be your clients’ Google. Do all the legwork for them, like searching for vendors, services and other resources. I have a sphere of home inspectors, insurance agents, contractors and other trusted professionals that I can pass along to clients.

JEAN: Talk to clients the way they talk to you. If they call you, call them back. If they text, text them back. The same goes for email. Communicate in your clients’ comfort zones, not yours.

Q WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO GENERATE NEW LEADS?

MARTINE: Frequency and consistency in advertis-ing. We want “Martine Deschesnes” to be the first name that comes to mind when local residents think about real estate.

JUSTIN: Determine where your leads are coming from, so you can use your adver-tising dollars strategically. Also, build strong networks in your market, which cre-ates omnipotent word-of-mouth advertising.

PAUL: Strengthen your sphere by constantly build-ing and evaluating it.

JEAN: Listings have always been the best way to obtain leads. I do tours on all my listings, send postcards to neighbors, and put QR codes on my yard signs. Neighbors tend to save the postcards if they’re thinking of moving in the next year or so.

Q

WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SALE?

MARTINE: All of them are memorable in their own way.

JUSTIN: I had a past client pay for a newspaper ad and write about my performance. He had tried working with a bunch of Realtors with no results. He was ready to let the house go into foreclos-ure, but I was able to help him out and avoid it. It was gratifying to be recognized and appreciated.

PAUL: A past client of mine (a LeadStreet lead) wanted to buy a house for her son. He had no idea. We closed on it and I brought the son to the property under the premise that he was scouting it for his mom. When I told him the place was his, he was very happy.

JEAN: My first short sale was a few years ago. I remember seeing the look of sheer relief on my sellers’ faces at the closing table. They thanked me for lifting a weight off their shoulders. Also, I recently helped a 75-year-old woman buy her first home. It was fun to be a part of her new experience.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE RE/MAX?

MARTINE: Brand recog-nition, for sure. When consumers think about real estate in Quebec, they think about the red-over-white-over-blue RE/MAX Balloon.

JUSTIN: The networking and referrals are huge. So far this year, I’ve received about seven referrals from other RE/MAX agents. Our agents are the most edu-cated and best prepared.

PAUL: RE/MAX provides a corporate structure and the essential tools to own your own business. Even though I’m not a managing broker or a principal, I have my own team and I can run it how I see fit. There’s no reason why you can’t look at your real estate business as truly being your own.

JEAN: I love having the professional support of an international company. It scares me to see other agents cut expenses, espe-cially marketing, and pay as they go. RE/MAX keeps expanding in advertising, education and business-generating tools like Lead-Street.

Q QWhat’s the best way to become more successful?

Ask RE/MAX top producers about their business

strategies. Then take action, adjusting their ideas

to fit your situation. Try it; it works.

4x4FOUR QUESTIONS FOR FOUR TOP AGENTS

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STELLA PRICE BEGAN HER REAL ESTATE

career at Prudential in Burnaby, British

Columbia, after a successful career build-

ing houses. Within a year, she was one of

the top agents in her office and soon became Prudential’s top

producer in North America (for 2008 and 2009). Price goes

after it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, selling hundreds of

mid-to-high-end homes and condos each year. Everything is an

opportunity to her: When she had her appendix removed, she

sold a house to the nurse taking care of her at the hospital.

As a top agent, Price was very much in demand and was

constantly being wooed by the competition, including RE/MAX.

She knew RE/MAX had the No. 1 market share in Canada and

people were constantly asking her why she wasn’t with the

leading company.

Enter Scott McDonald, the Broker/Manager of RE/MAX Sabre

Realty in Port Coquitlam, who immediately made a positive

impression on Price – a woman

not easily impressed.

Price liked that the RE/MAX Sabre office was always

open, staffed by knowledgeable people, and able to quickly

provide her with any answer she needed. She also felt

RE/MAX afforded her many more opportunities, including

the chance to work with more developers and the ability

to sell to a wider range of customers. That was important,

because Price’s team speaks several languages, including

Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Indonesian, and works

with many Asian customers looking for real estate in the

Greater Vancouver area.

Finally, in October 2010, after carefully vetting RE/MAX,

Price joined the network. And she couldn’t be happier. “If

you’re going to make a move, you should go with the best –

and RE/MAX is the best,” she says. “Everyone knows the

RE/MAX brand, so top producers really ought to be here.”

THE RIGHT MOVE TO MAKEWHY PRUDENTIAL’S NO. 1 AGENT JOINED RE/MAX


1. USE DRIP EMAIL, WITH ONE CAVEATOne of Cooley’s favorite features of LeadStreet is drip email. She can schedule mailings to her contacts and establish regular touch points. “But be sure to blind copy yourself on anything you send out, because you don’t want someone to call you about an email they just received and not know which one they’re referring to because you set up the mailing a month ago.”

2. DON’T THROW AWAY RENTAL LEADSSome agents are too picky, claiming rental leads don’t pay, Cooley says. “I’ve helped peo-ple find a rental, and then they come back and buy from me later. A rental lead can turn into a sale; if not with those tenants, then maybe with somebody they know.”

3. NEVER STOP FOLLOWING UPCooley received a LeadStreet lead more than a year ago that she doubted would go anywhere; she kept sending drip messages to the individual anyway. Recently, he called. His wife had become ill and passed away since the lead, and now Cooley is helping the man sell his home. “You never know what someone’s circumstances are,” Cooley says. “The best thing I did was keep in touch.”

3 LEADSTREET TIPSQUICK

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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XD E V E L O P M E N T

VENITA COOLEY JUST CLOSED HER

12th LeadStreet transaction in

two years.

She first contacted the buyers, Vic-

tor and Wanda Johnson, after receiv-

ing the lead through her LeadStreet

account. She set them up with a lender

right away, and after four months ex-

changing emails and phone calls, she

finally met them face-to-face.

“The delay is not uncom-

mon with buyers and sellers

I meet through remax.com,”

Cooley says. “Although most

people start their property

search online, they’re not

necessarily ready to pull the

trigger. It’s my job to make

that instant contact, let them

know I’m here to help and be

ready when they are.”

The Broker Associate with

RE/MAX Warner Robins in Warner

Robins, Ga., says there’s nothing

more critical to closing LeadStreet

leads than instant follow-up, be-

cause she knows she has one chance

to make a first impression.

QUICKANDDILIGENTCooley made quite an impression

on Gregory Garcia, who hadn’t bought

a home in 37 years before he began

searching for properties on remax.com.

“Venita contacted me within a

half-hour, and we started communi-

cating regularly,” says Garcia, who was

unsatisfied with another agent he’d

been referred to. Garcia felt

obligated to give the referred

agent a chance, but while

that agent was invisible,

Cooley was attentive.

Over the next month,

although they never met,

Cooley answered Garcia’s

questions and sent him

property reports she gener-

ated in LeadStreet. Garcia was

impressed by her service and

decided to make a change.

“I finally told her ‘You’re my agent

now,’ and 10 minutes later she emailed

me information about 10 properties we

might like to see,” says Garcia, who closed

on his 3.8-acre country home in August.

“She was the right one for me all along.”

REGAINEDCONFIDENCECooley says she owes much more

than closed transactions to Lead-

Street. Before joining RE/MAX in 2009,

she was primarily a broker with her

previous company and was out of the

selling arena for a number of years.

“LeadStreet helped me get back on my

feet, rebuild my sphere and regain confi-

dence I thought I had lost,” Cooley says.

“I make friends when I sell a

home,” she says, reflecting on how

touched she was to receive a dozen

roses and a card from the Johnsons

after their September closing. “Buy-

ing a home is the largest purchase

most people will ever make; I take it

quite seriously, no matter where the

lead comes from.”

MILLIONS OF POTENTIAL BUYERS AND SELLERS VISIT REMAX.COM EACH

MONTH, AND LEADSTREET CONNECTS THEM TO AGENTS WHO CAN HELP

B Y A M A N DA O K K E R

More than 10 million remax.com leads

have been delivered to RE/MAX Associates through LeadStreet.

It’s closing day for Venita Cooley (center) and her clients Victor and Wanda Johnson, who she met through remax.com.

Turning Leads Into Clients


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8 WAYS TO MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA A BUSINESS BUILDER

If you approach social

media correctly, you will

meet new clients and earn

referrals, says Kimberly

Cameron.

A technology coach at RE/MAX Properties

West in Wildwood, Mo., and for her local

real estate board, Cameron guides agents

in effective uses of social media; plus she

successfully connects with her own sphere

there, too.

The Platinum Club member offers these

eight tips for making social media the best

platform for staying in touch:

Start looking for people in your sphere on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other top networks to determine where you need to be.

Continue to build a social media database by reconnecting with people you otherwise wouldn’t connect with.

Organize contacts into groups (such as “high school” or “church”) on Facebook to streamline interaction and make it easier to manage.

Make sure you have an effective smartphone so that you can monitor your social networks on the go.

Be relatable by sharing your passion for family, pets, hobbies and anything else that’s important to you so your online friends and followers learn who you are – not just what you do.

Maintain a professional demeanor by sharing only the photos and de-tails that portray you in the best light.

Provide real estate insight and information if asked, without requesting anything in return, because it’s about service and not sales.

Share good news about your business (such as open houses and success-ful sales) in ways that simply remind people you’re a real estate agent who can help. Let them see that you love what you do for a living.

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B Y J AY G A B L E R A N D G E O R G E W H I T E

P H OTO G R A P H Y B Y S A R A J O R D E

Ryan O’Neill’s tireless work ethic is based on a genuine

desire to help others succeed and have fun doing it

VALUEDRIVEN

FORTUNATELY FOR RYAN

O’Neill, the drive, passion and

creativity it takes to succeed as

a working musician translates well to the

world of real estate. As half of a piano-

playing duo with his brother, Tim, he has

sold more than 2 million CDs in the past

15 years. And as the leader of a growing,

50-member sales team in Minnesota, he

ranked No. 1 nationally in “The Thousand”

survey released in September by REAL Trends

and the Wall Street Journal.

It takes a certain kind of person to build,

organize and manage a team that closed 764

transaction sides for $139 million in sales

volume last year. It takes a certain kind of

energy, a certain kind of extra gear.

“I go nonstop, and that’s exactly how I like

it,” says O’Neill, 36, a Broker Associate with

RE/MAX Advantage Plus in Lakeville, Minn.,

on the southern end of the Minneapolis-St.

Paul metro area. “But I don’t force that style

on anyone else. Our team has a fun, fair

environment where agents have incentive

to do their very best. They’re making money

and leading balanced lives.”


ALL IN, ALL THE TIMEGiving his all to whatever he’s doing comes naturally

to O’Neill, one of those rare individuals able to create a

name for himself in two completely different arenas.

From 1997 to 2002, O’Neill worked tirelessly to perfect

and promote his piano duo, the O’Neill Brothers (see

page 28). When he shifted to real estate full time, joining

the regional chain Edina Realty, he applied the same ap-

proach to building his new career.

“Being young, and looking young, was a challenge at

first,” O’Neill recalls. “I realized quickly that this was a

tough business, but I had no plans to quit.”

O’Neill had purchased a few investment properties, so

he decided to target that part of the market.

“As an investor, I had encountered a few pushy, high-pres-

sure agents, and that’s just not how I operate,” he says. “I saw

a need and I understood the process, so I went after that busi-

ness and tried to provide something better. I placed a couple

of little ads in the Minneapolis newspaper, built a website and

would meet with anyone and everyone who was interested in

investment property. It was a real grassroots approach.”

In the red-hot market of the mid-2000s, Minneapolis-

St. Paul was thriving and home sales were soaring.

“Investing in properties was cool,” O’Neill says, and there

was no shortage of clients.

Moreover, he discovered that if he took great care of his

investor clients, he could create an endless stream of repeats

and referrals. So he helped them find properties. He helped

them find tenants. He helped them find contractors. And he

soon found himself too busy to handle the workload.

THE BEGINNINGS OF A TEAMIn some respects, O’Neill’s early experience with in-

vestors laid the groundwork for everything that followed,

because he realized that others – with the right direction,

coaching and support – could fill in for him quite well.

“I built terrific relationships with the investors I worked

with, but they didn’t really care whether or not they

were dealing directly with me,” O’Neill says. “What they

expected was a certain level of service, and as long as that

was being provided by people I trusted, they were happy.”

O’Neill brought a few friends on board as team mem-

bers. And his operation flourished.

At about that same time, he began to look at his bro-

kerage options. He had several conversations with Eric

Malmberg, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Advantage Plus, and

he liked what he heard.

“I’m a numbers guy, and the numbers at RE/MAX worked

for me. Also, RE/MAX attracts the sort of business-minded

agents I wanted to associate with,” O’Neill says. “I knew

I could fashion a team that combined the best aspects of

RE/ MAX affiliation with the unique things I was bringing to

the table. It seemed like a natural step forward in my career.”

A WINNING CONCEPTO’Neill and Malmberg talked about O’Neill’s plans for

the future.

“We set up some models and dissected what it would

take to do what he wanted to accomplish,” Malmberg re-

calls. “Ryan is a visionary: He had the ability to see how

the industry would be using technology.”

Notably, O’Neill had recognized the growing impor-

tance of online search engines in generating business

for real estate agents. By strategically marketing his

Minnesota Real Estate Team, he hoped

to reach the first page of Google results

whenever a buyer or seller sought prop-

erty information in his state.

“At its core, real estate is a lead busi-

ness; you need to have ways to make

the phone ring,” O’Neill says. “We did all

sorts of things to promote the team and

connect us to people who could benefit

from our services. And the phone rang.”

Bringing on solid team members was

another key. From the start, O’Neill kept

the focus off himself. Kevin Curtis, a 100

Percent Club member who joined the

team in 2005, says O’Neill’s approach

has always combined strong leadership

with valuable independence.

“People ask me, ‘Why would you want to be on a

team?’” Curtis says. “What they need to understand is

that this isn’t set up as the Ryan O’Neill show. I’m able

to promote Kevin Curtis, member of the Minnesota Real

STEADY CLIMBINGRyan O’Neill’s Min-

nesota Real Estate

Team has moved

quickly up the

rankings of the top

RE/MAX teams.

YEAR U.S. WORLDWIDE

2007 42 86

2008 14 24

2009 3 8

2010 2 6


FP

Estate Team. Ryan allows you, as an agent, to grow your

business however you want. If you only want to work

with buyers, that’s great. If you want to do listings, that’s

great too. He provides training if you need it, and he has

a fantastic support system in place.”

Tim O’Neill wasn’t surprised at his brother’s ability to

attract strong team members.

“Ryan is really good at reading people,” Tim says. “He

finds out what they need and then helps them get it,

instead of trying to sell them something they might not

want. His emotional IQ is very high.”

For Ryan, it was all about quality.

“My job is finding the right people and retaining them,

and a large part of that is giving them control over their

own careers,” he says.

Growth and success came swiftly. By 2007, the Min-

nesota Real Estate Team – now up to about 10 members

– had taken O’Neill into the RE/MAX Top 100 rankings

of the network’s best producers. Just two years later, he

reached the Top 10.

ALWAYS WILLING TO SHAREWithin the group structure, members of the Minne-

sota Real Estate Team are able to market themselves in

their own way. With such a large force in place, O’Neill

spends most of his time managing and mentoring team

members. He tries to create an environment in which

everyone succeeds.

On Saturday mornings, he hosts a weekly real estate

show on the radio. He likes knowing that many Twin Cities

agents listen in.

“I think the radio show has created good mojo for us,”

O’Neill says. “We don’t beat anyone over the head with who

we are, or how great we are. We just provide some informa-

tion that we hope people find relevant. It’s a lot of fun.”

Giving away information has never been a problem

for O’Neill.

“In this business, everyone has the same opportuni-

ties, but some people make more of them than others,”

Malmberg says. “I’ve chastised Ryan because he’ll share

his entire business plan with everyone. I’ll say, ‘Aren’t

you worried about doing that?’ And he says, ‘I’ve had

people take 50 percent of what I do, or 75 percent, but

no one does 100 percent.’ Ryan is competitive, but at the

same time he’s very willing to help others.”

Ryan’s wife, Kathy, agrees. “People just want to be around

Ryan, so he’s always had a million friends. He always tries

to inspire people to do their best, and I think that’s why he’s

grown the team as quickly and successfully as he has. He’s

got business sense, he’s got people sense, and he’s got heart.”

Even when O’Neill is relaxing, he’s all in: He’s a dedi-

cated runner (“very amateur,” he says), a die-hard fan

of the Minnesota Vikings (and his two fantasy football

teams) and still very much a part of the O’Neill Brothers

(they will be doing a holiday concert tour in December).

Ultimately, his life reflects the lessons learned in

childhood, not too far from where he still lives today

with Kathy and their Cockapoo, Poky.

“I’m a reflection of how my parents raised me,” O’Neill

says. “I’m motivated by seeing the potential in others – a

tree that’s always growing. When you treat people fairly

– whether it’s a team member, a client or anyone else –

good things generally happen. That’s the foundation of

everything I’ve accomplished.”

RYAN O’NEILL GREW UP IN

the small town of New Prague,

Minn., as the youngest of five

children. His mother, a musically

talented grade school teacher,

and father, an attorney, made

sure all five kids took piano les-

sons. Ryan’s talent was evident.

In 1997, after graduating from

Notre Dame, Ryan joined his older

brother Tim in forming the O’Neill

Brothers – an easy listening piano

duo – and a recording company.

They began producing CDs.

Through several innovative

marketing ideas – including

one that resulted in their music

being stocked in JCPenney

stores nationwide – the O’Neill

Brothers grew in popularity.

Live performances added to

the momentum.

They’ve released more than

30 CDs, covering a wide variety

of styles, from lullabies to

showtunes to holiday favorites

and more.

For several years, it was a

tough, demanding schedule.

“On any given day, I might fly

somewhere, say D.C., and go

from store to store, playing and

checking on the displays,” Ryan

recalls. “We’d also do arts-

and-crafts shows, where you

sit and play piano all weekend

long. For CD sales, it was like

a feeding frenzy. We’d perform

holiday concert tours, and we

started bringing along guests

– Deborah Gibson one year, and

Katie McMahon another.”

The brothers eventually ap-

peared on QVC for a Christmas-

in-July promotion and sold

more than 30,000 three-packs

of holiday music “in about eight

minutes,” Ryan recalls. They even

hit the Billboard album charts.

With Tim managing the

business, the O’Neill Broth-

ers remain a well-known act

among fans of relaxing piano

music. Their recordings still

sell well, and are often used in

movies, TV shows, videos and

other projects.

creative S A L E S M A N S H I P

FP

Real EstateErrors and OmissionsLiability Insurance ProgramFor your RE/MAX office

QualityProtectionDesignedwith Youin MindSince 1993!

7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 1500E Bethesda, MD 20814www.cpim.com/rpp • [email protected]


Saying it BOLDLY

WHEN YOU’RE THE NO. 1 BRAND IN YOUR INDUSTRY, IT’S GOOD TO LET PEOPLE KNOW

B Y G E O R G E W H I T E

“THIS IS A UNIQUE COMPETITIVE

advantage enjoyed by every RE/MAX

Sales Associate,” says RE/MAX

Chairman and Co-Founder Dave

Liniger. “Our agents sell more real

estate than anyone in the world,

and have for a long time. We’re the

No. 1 brand, in many different ways,

and that serves the interests of our

agents as well as their customers

and clients. People want to know

where to find the best, most produc-

tive agents, and this logo helps them

with that.”

RE/MAX has held No. 1 market

share in the U.S. for nearly two

decades and in Canada for almost 25

years – a position that solidified the

“Nobody in the World Sells More Real

Estate Than RE/MAX” slogan several

years ago. That fact alone is enough

to validate the new No. 1 label.

But there’s much more to it than that.

PUBLIC IMAGE AND PERFORMANCE

One factor in moving to the

bolder approach is the consumer

feedback embedded in the find-

ings of two key consumer studies.

Both of the reports illustrate how

the public feels about the RE/ MAX

brand and the professionals

aligned with it.

In the 2011 J.D. Power and Associ-

ates Home Buyer/Seller study, both

buyers and sellers ranked RE/MAX

highest for customer service among

the national full-service brands. It

was a major victory on the world’s

most visible customer service stage.

As if that weren’t enough, the

results of a second national survey

of U.S. buyers and sellers, commis-

sioned by RE/MAX but conducted

by a leading research company,

go even further. The results of the

survey, which are not for use in

any consumer marketing, provide

some interesting insights (exam-

ples at right).

A NEW LOGO that debuted in August leaves no doubt as to where RE/MAX stands in the competitive landscape. Measured by market share, transaction sides, agent productivity, web presence, consumer awareness, customer feedback and a host of other metrics, RE/MAX is the No. 1 brand in real estate.


Buyers were asked, “What one company would you be most

likely to consider if buying a home in the next two years?”

RE/MAX stood at 28 percent, well ahead of Coldwell Banker

(20 percent), Century 21 (16 percent), Prudential

(7 percent) and Keller Williams (6 percent).

When sellers were asked about choosing a company to

help them sell a house, the results were similar, with RE/MAX

at 28 percent and no competitor reaching even 20.

In top-of-mind awareness, RE/MAX came out ahead again.

When asked to name a national real estate company, 34 percent

of the respondents said RE/MAX. That figure nearly eclipsed

the combined total of Century 21 (25 percent) and Coldwell

Banker (11 percent). It was 11 times greater than Keller Williams

(3 percent).

Overall, 95 percent of the respondents were aware of both

RE/MAX and Century 21, with Coldwell Banker and Prudential

following. Less than half of the participants had heard of the

Keller Williams brand, and ERA, GMAC, Sotheby’s and Realty

Executives trailed far behind.

RE/MAX is also the national brand consumers are

most apt to recommend. RE/MAX ranked highest as

the “most likely” choice (at 25 percent, with Century

21 trailing at 16 percent) as well as the overall choice,

when “most likely” and “next most likely” were com-

bined (41 percent, over Century 21’s 34 percent and

Coldwell Banker’s 26).

RE/MAX also ranks highest in top-of-mind advertis-

ing awareness. Some 30 percent of the respondents

mentioned RE/MAX when asked to recall any ads

they had seen or heard lately. That was nearly triple

the Century 21 figure (12 percent), six times more

than Coldwell Banker, 15 times more than Prudential

and 30 times more than Keller Williams.

30% RE/MAX

12% CENTURY 21

5% COLDWELL BANKER2% PRUDENTIAL1% KELLER WILLIAMS0% SOTHEBY’S 0% GMAC 0% ERA 0% REALTY EXECUTIVES

BUY

SELL

RE/MAX 28%

ColdwellBanker 14%

Century 2116%

Prudential 7%

KellerWilliams 6%

RE/MAX 28%

ColdwellBanker 20%

Century 2119%

Prudential 7%

KellerWilliams 8%

RealtyExecutives 2%

RealtyExecutives 1%

ERA 1%

ERA 2%

Sotheby’s 1%

Sotheby’s 1%

GMAC 1%

OtherNationals 2%

OtherNationals 3%

MOST LIKELY TO CONSIDER AMONG NATIONAL BRANDS

ADVERTISING AWARENESS AMONG NATIONAL BRANDS

Not for use in consumer marketing.

TOP-OF-MIND AWARENESS AMONGNATIONAL BRANDS

RE/MAX ..............34%

CENTURY 21......25%

COLDWELLBANKER .............11%

PRUDENTIAL ....4%

KELLERWILLIAMS ..........3%

ERA .....................1%

GMAC..................0%

SOTHEBY’S ........0%

REALTYEXECUTIVES ......0%

TOP-OF-MIND AWARENESS AMONG NATIONAL BRANDS

MOST LIKELY TO RECOMMEND AMONGNATIONAL BRANDS

PRUDENTIAL7%

COLDWELLBANKER 13%

1% REALTYEXECUTIVES

GMAC

1%

KELLERWILLIAMS

7%

CENTURY 21 16%

RE/MAX 25%

SOTHEBY’S

1%

ERA

1%

MOST LIKELY TO RECOMMEND AMONG NATIONAL BRANDS


Results this positive, Liniger says, have a tangible impact

in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace.

“This feedback from consumers is tremendously powerful

for our agents,” Liniger says. “The brand’s reputation, built on

the performance of our agents over many years, drives business

back to our agents. And when our people deliver, the brand gets

even stronger. No one in the industry can match us on this.”

The consumer data reinforces and complements pre-exist-

ing No. 1 areas such as per-agent productivity, TV advertising,

professional education and corporate online presence. Even the

network’s most fundamental element, the RE/MAX Hot Air Bal-

loon, enjoys No. 1 status as the world’s largest corporate fleet.

An advertising campaign and a variety of marketing

materials are being developed to help RE/MAX Associ-

ates make full use of their No. 1 advantage. In fact, many

resources are already available on RE/MAX Mainstreet and

through the RE/MAX Design Center.

“This isn’t about bragging, but about maximizing our

competitive position,” Liniger says. “It’s an exciting time to be

with RE/MAX.”

Respondents were asked to choose attributes that apply

to four companies (RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Century

21 and Keller Williams), and RE/MAX ranked highest in all

seven statements:

• Agents are familiar with the area I’m interested in.

• Agents show properties in my price range.

• Agents are responsive to me.

• Agents are helpful in determining fair listing price.

• Agents are knowledgeable about marketing my home.

• Agents know how to optimize the Internet to market.

• Agents are excellent.

The RE/MAX brand itself ranked highest among those

same four franchises in these 12 key statements:

• Is a leader in the real estate industry.

• Has a strong local presence.

• Has the most listings on the website.

• Has a website with all the information I am looking for.

• Helps people who are relocating from outside the area.

• Lists properties at the right price.

• Is a trustworthy national real estate company.

• Has a wide range of listings.

• Provides online/Internet marketing of my home.

• Produces the best online search tools.

• Sells more real estate than anyone else.

• Stands out from other real estate companies.

1. remax.com 4,575,316

2. Century 21 2,851,769

3. Coldwell Banker 2,174,159

4. Keller Williams 1,640,086

5. Prudential 717,509

6. ERA 289,999

7. Real Living 262,977

8. Sotheby’s 198,073

9. Better Homes & Gardens

113,032

Total Visits for Month of July 2011

WEBSITE TRAFFIC

1. remax.com

2. Coldwell Banker

3. Century 21

4. Keller Williams

5. Prudential

6. Sotheby’s

7. ERA

8. Real Living

9. Better Homes & Gardens

Page Views for Month of July 2011

PAGE VIEWS

42,168,349

19,566,257

16,124,672

4,525,690

3,341,160

2,427,160

2,101,603

1,268,285

231,192

Not for use in consumer marketing.

FAMILIAR WITH THE AREAI’M INTERESTED IN

SHOW PROPERTIES INMY PRICE RANGE

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUTMARKETING MY HOME

RESPONSIVE TO ME

HELPFUL IN DETERMININGFAIR LISTING PRICE

KNOW HOW TO OPTIMIZETHE INTERNET TO MARKET

ARE EXCELLENT

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

CB

KELLER WILLIAMS

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

RE/MAX

CENTURY 21

COLDWELL BANKER

KELLER WILLIAMS

IMPRESSION OF AGENT ATTRIBUTES AMONG FOUR NATIONAL BRANDS


USE IT TO YOUR ADVANTAGE“ The results tell the story: Our home sold a day and a half after it hit the market, for above our asking price, and our rental property sold a few weeks later for close to what we were asking.” (Calgary, Alberta)

“ Paul helped me calmly navigate a complicated bidding war. I never had a problem reaching him, never had to ask him twice for something, and he was usually two steps ahead of everyone. He never made me feel like I was anything less than his most important client.”(Boston)

“ What set Marilyn apart is the sensitivity and respect she showed my parents. She helped them with things that had nothing to do with selling their house; she even volunteered to take them to the airport.” (Fort Collins, Colo.)

RE/MAX Associates can connect themselves to

the J.D. Power and Associates trophies through

a variety of approved resources on Mainstreet .

The tools include ads, images, email signatures

and more. They can even customize much of

the material through the RE/MAX Design Center.

Best onBoth Sides

IN DAVE LINIGER’S

eyes, the two mas-

sive J.D. Power and

Associates trophies

displayed at RE/MAX World Head-

quarters in Denver are there for one reason: Because

RE/MAX has the best agents.

“From the very start, RE/MAX was designed as the

home of the industry’s top producers,” the RE/MAX

Chairman and Co-Founder says. “Our system appeals

to people who view real estate as a profession, not a

part-time job. And that’s why we have the most experi-

enced, most productive sales force in history.”

That sales force now includes nearly 90,000 agents

in over 80 countries, and its U.S. contingent pulled

off an impressive double victory in the J.D. Power and

Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM. Among

national full-service real estate firms, RE/MAX ranked

highest in Overall Customer Satisfaction for BOTH

groups of consumers.

“On both sides of the transaction, consumers today

need an agent who is trustworthy, dependable and an

absolute expert on local market conditions. And RE/MAX

agents fit that bill,” says RE/MAX CEO Margaret Kelly.

“We’ve always focused on being the best, not the big-

gest, and I think the recognition from J.D. Power and

Associates reflects the soundness of that decision.”

The J.D. Power and Associates methodology measures

a variety of aspects within the consumer experience.

Some of them relate directly to the agent (negotiation

skills, timeliness in responding, helpfulness on price,

follow-up, etc.) while others focus on the brokerage and

additional services.

In Overall Satisfaction among sellers, RE/MAX was

the lone brand to score five out of five. RE/MAX was five

for five among buyers as well.

“These awards confirm what we’ve always known

– that education, experience and professional com-

mitment lead to outstanding results for consumers,”

Liniger says. “Our Sales Associates do an incredible job.

These awards belong to them.”

RE/MA X RECEIVES

PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL

AWARDS FOR BOTH BUYER AND SELLER

SATISFACTION

}

IN THEIR OWN WORDS...HappyclientsoftenraveabouttheirRE/MAXagents.Afewemailexcerpts:

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BY C

AITL

IN C

RAW

SHAW

//

PHOT

OGRAPHY BY J IMM Y J EO N G

a personalapproach Kerri-lyn Holland’s

commitment to her clients has her riding high

in one of Edmonton’s

most prestigious neighbourhoods, a new 3,000

square-foot home is nothing out of the ordinary.

Crestwood is one of the city’s most coveted

neighbourhoods, but remained a well-kept se-

cret until the late 1980s. These days, high-end

new builds and dramatically renovated homes

are typical of the area.

And yet even here, Kerri-lyn Holland’s house

stands out. With its ultramodern stone work and

dramatic entry, the home, which Holland and

her husband, a professional hockey player, built

from the ground up, has a certain sparkle.

And in that sense, it’s reminiscent of

Holland herself: A sparkling suc-

cess in a crowded market.

ONAQUIETSTREET

}


inspired into a careerSince joining RE/MAX River City in 2006, the former

marketer has worked hard to build her business. Already

a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, Holland has a

database of contacts and former clients that constantly

generates new opportunities. And she has the skills and

systems in place to take advantage.

In some respects, Holland’s upward climb in real

estate began with an unremarkable commercial building

on the other side of the country.

Raised in St. Albert, Alberta, Holland moved to Mon-

treal in the early 2000s to study marketing. On her walk

to campus each morning, she’d pass a burned-out, va-

cant brick building and wonder whether someone would

ever fix it up. With a facelift, Holland mused, this build-

ing could become a stylish condo complex. And eventu-

ally it happened. “By the time I left Montreal, someone

had purchased that building and turned it into condos. It

was exciting that they took this older, dilapidated place

and turned it into something fabulous,” she says. “That

really piqued my interest in real estate.”

After moving back to the Edmonton area after univer-

sity, Holland took a marketing job but retained her curi-

osity about pursuing a real estate career. She earned her

license and quickly realized that her marketing savvy,

social skills and business mind would serve her well.

detailed preparationHolland joined RE/MAX River City at the start of the

housing boom in Edmonton, where RE/MAX brokerages

hold more than 40 percent market share in listings sold

and outsell the next four competitors combined.

“Many buyers who move to Edmonton because of the

area’s oil industry already know the RE/MAX name in

other parts of the world,” Holland says. “The brand-

name recognition helps generate calls from prospective

buyers and sellers.”

Her first year in real estate was demanding, especially

since she was doing everything herself. She attended as

many networking events as possible, helped fellow Real-

tors constantly and effectively worked open houses. As

more and more transactions closed successfully and her

database expanded, her stream of referrals grew as well.

Eventually, when she reached the point where she

was referring would-be clients to her colleagues, Holland

brought a licensed assistant/office manager, Catherine

Evasiuk, on board. The position entails running the

operation, organizing the flow of buyers and sellers, and

helping coordinate daily activities.

“Catherine is licensed, and has the knowledge, education

and experience to meet with clients and assist with open

houses,” Holland says. “She also works on creating and

executing my marketing activities. Essentially, she acts as

a representative of my business whenever necessary and

frees me up to spend face-to-face time with clients.”

Her group also includes a home stager and profes-

sional photographer.

“Everyone’s busy with their own life, so we need to

make it easy for buyers to picture themselves in a proper-

ty,” says Holland, who often works from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“With good staging and photos, they love it online first,

book a showing, and are excited to come and look at it.”

Of course, the real thing must live up to the promise.

“I won’t list a property until it’s ready, because we have


one chance to make a first impression,” she

says. “If we don’t do the hard work before-

hand, it won’t sell. I know how particular

buyers are. Whether they’re spending

$200,000 or $2 million, they expect a lot.

And they should.”

At this point in her career, Holland has

strong relationships with every major bank

in the community and with other business-

es related to real estate, including builders,

land developers, and condo developers.

More importantly, her systems include

constant communication with buyers and

sellers to help ensure their satisfaction.

“Satisfied clients turn into referrals,” she

says. “If you make one person happy, you

can make 10 more people happy.”

above and beyondFor repeat client Karen Breakey, Holland’s accessibility and

willingness to guide her purchasing decisions have been invalu-

able. After renovating and selling her own home last year, the

Edmontonian is now rehabbing a second home and has relied

on Holland’s advice throughout the process. “She’s helped me

find cleaners and contractors. She’ll go and

get the Real Property Report done or surveys.

Both times I’ve worked with her, she’s had

additional appraisals done so we had our

own ballpark figure going in,” Breakey says.

Adds Shami Sandhu, Broker/Owner of

RE/MAX River City: “I highly encourage my

agents to conduct business in a manner that

can’t be replaced by a website. A website

can’t serve a client the way a skilled profes-

sional, especially a skilled RE/MAX profes-

sional, can.” Holland exemplifies this, says

Sandhu: “She excels in her ability to go the

extra mile for her clients.”

That extra mile is sometimes a world away.

When Holland is visiting her husband in

Europe, where he plays in the German Elite

League (DEL), she continues to work on transactions – even though

she’s often up at 3 a.m. to chat with clients and agents back home.

Fortunately, this juggling act will end when her husband

winds down his hockey season – and career – and returns to

Edmonton. But rather than enjoy some time off, he’ll be jump-

ing right into Holland’s real estate practice alongside her. “He

loves real estate almost as much as I do,” she says.

Holland uses new technolo-

gies to market her business,

including social media and

ConnectCode Media QR

codes on her marketing

materials. “This is a very use-

ful and increasingly popular

marketing tool,” says assist-

ant Catherine Evasiuk.

Find out how Holland

leverages social media on

Facebook (Kerri-lyn Holland

& Associates); on Twitter

(@KerrilynHolland); or on

LinkedIn (Kerri-lyn Holland).

HOLLAND’S “TECH”NIQUE

Solu

tions

for B

roke

rsSo

lutio

ns fo

r Age

nts

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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XD I S T R E S S E D P R O P E R T I E S

FOR SIX YEARS, WENDY DUNKIN WAS em-

battled in a bitter divorce. The ordeal not only

left her scarred emotionally, but financially

too. Suddenly, she was a single working mom

underwater on her mortgage.

With one less household earner and

nearly 50 percent of her income going into

her doomed home, Dunkin found herself

struggling to make payments. Desperate for

a solution, she went to her bank for help and

was told to contact a real estate agent.

A friend referred her to Frank Helderle with

RE/MAX Best Choice Realty in St. Louis, and

he suggested trying a short sale. Dunkin’s

initial reaction? Skepticism. But she gave it

a shot, willing to do whatever she could to

avoid foreclosure.

Dunkin’s short sale closed on July 13. At

last, she’s moving on.

“Frank gave me the chance to wipe my slate

clean,” Dunkin says. “The minute he suggested

a short sale, I was skittish because I had heard

how difficult they were. He walked me through

every step. Whether it was through text, email

or by phone, I could get a hold of Frank 24/7,

and he made the process so much easier.”

It’s estimated that 4.4 million households

are more than 30 days past due on their mort-

gage payments, while 1.89 million are more

than 90 days behind, according to Lender

Processing Services, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based

technology data and analytics provider.

These homeowners, now more than ever,

need the help of a trained, experienced real

estate professional.

And that’s where RE/MAX agents can make

a difference.

“When Dave Liniger said that short sales and

REOs were going to be a big deal and he pushed

the education, I was one of the first in line for

the CDPE and the SFR,” Helderle says. “When I

look at my short sale clients, I’m conscientious

that sickness, job loss or other unexpected is-

sues could very easily put me in their shoes.

“This isn’t your typical transaction where

you sign paperwork, go to closing and move on

to the next one. You really get involved with

these people and become part of their lives.”

ITTAKESTOTALFOCUSShort sales are complex transactions, but

agents with the right training, attention to

detail and commitment can help change the

game in their markets. They require meticu-

lous paperwork, constant communication,

and reassuring anxious sellers and over-

whelmed loss-mitigation departments.

Success in this niche takes total focus;


With Skill and Resolve, You Can

Get Them Done

S H O R T S A L E S :

LENDERS ARE

COMING ON

BOARD, SO MORE

AGENTS ARE

ABLE TO HELP

DISTRESSED

SELLERS


there’s no faking it, says Rebecca McKenna, a

top producer with RE/MAX Advantage in Las

Vegas. When her market was hit by a wave of

defaults in 2008, McKenna, like Helderle, wast-

ed no time getting the CDPE. When she first

started out, she was barely getting a 7 percent

approval rate from banks on short sale offers.

Now, three years later, that rate has im-

proved to 75 percent. Ultimately, though, McK-

enna’s goal is to keep her clients in their homes.

“Vegas is ground zero for distressed proper-

ties – 85 percent of the homeowners here are

upside down on their mortgages,” McKenna

says. “It’s truly mortifying what families are go-

ing through. I recommend that my clients take

advantage of mediation. We can use it as a tool

to prolong the process; it gives us time to negoti-

ate with banks and avoid foreclosure.”

Having a strong system and a team is key to

McKenna’s success. She has a short sale coor-

dinator who processes and tracks transactions

on Equator, an online distressed property

portal. Sometimes, banks take months to re-

spond but give agents only a day or two to turn

around documents or comps. Agents spend a

lot of time on the phone and in the office, and

that doesn’t appeal to everyone, she says.

“It takes tenacity to move things along;

you’re constantly fighting for your client,”

McKenna says. “When you work with banks,

develop a good relationship with the point per-

son in the escalation department. If you don’t

get prompt responses to emails and phone

calls, take your requests to a supervisor. Don’t

be afraid to pick up the phone and push the

contract through.”

NOWISTHETIMETOJUMPINThe number of short sales in the market is

growing. CoreLogic, a national data provider

for property and ownership information,

estimates that there will be 25 percent more

short sales in the United States this year.

Banks, which were initially slow to respond

to short sales, are now eager to close them, so

the time frame has shortened significantly,

says Robert Orr. The Sales Associate with

RE/ MAX Anchor Realty in North Port, Fla., be-

gan working the transactions in 2010 because

he saw banks getting more aggressive about

moving the files along.

“Now that lenders have a grasp on the situa-

tion and more manpower in place to deal with

the files, short sales are moving more quickly,”

says Orr, who earned his CDPE two days after

joining RE/MAX.

A big part of the puzzle is education, and

that extends particularly to buyers, Orr says.

As a listing agent, he makes it a point to inter-

view buyer’s agents to gauge their awareness

of how a short sale works and how well they

educate their own clients. If buyers don’t un-

derstand that short sales come with extended

time frames – it can take months to get an

approval – they’ll get impatient and walk.

“It’s so important to educate everyone on both

ends of the transaction,” Orr says. “Buyers don’t

understand that most short sales are sold as-is;

your marketing needs to be clear about that.”

Some agents are reluctant to work short

sales because of the long waiting periods and

complex issues and paperwork, but Orr has

embraced them and earned the trust of many

homeowners in his market.

“I think now is a great time to jump in,” Orr

says. “After I closed my first short sale and

helped a family out, I realized that it goes far be-

yond earning a commission check. We’re trying

to help as many people out there as we can.”

TIPS FOR

WORKING SHORT SALES

GET EDUCATEDRE/MAX Univer-sity offers several distressed property courses such as CDPE, SFR, Five Star and others.

PARTNER WITHSPECIALISTS A lawyer, a title coordinator and a certified public ac-countant are good resources to have.

SUBMIT COMPLETE PACKAGESPackages should be complete with all required documen-tation and the best offer possible.

BUILD RAPPORT WITH BANKS Communicate constantly, respond quickly and create a strong reputation among the people handling the file.

BE PREPARED AND ORGANIZEDAlthough the proc-ess has improved, short sales are still complex transac-tions. Have systems in place to track, manage and docu-ment every step.

SCHEDULE PRICE ADJUSTMENTSAgree with sell-ers up front on scheduled price reductions if they become necessary and/or practical. Be mindful of how much time you have before the property slips into foreclosure.

CLOCKWISE, FROM LEFT: Robert Orr, Rebecca McKenna and Frank Helderle’s team recognize the unique challenges and opportunities that short sales offer.


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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XL U X U R Y

7 Ways to Impress Luxury Clients

T O U C H E S O F C L A S S

Selling luxury homes takes a certain kind of panache and

dedication. So how do you become a sought-after real es-

tate adviser to your market’s wealthiest movers-and-shakers?

It comes down to superior customer service and market

knowledge, says Shannon Ferguson.

“This is a great time to go after the luxury market, but you

have to be aware of the size of your commitment; this is a

hands-on niche,” says the Broker Associate with RE/MAX

Select One in Dana Point, Calif. “On a $14 million transaction I

closed recently, I met with the buyers every time a document

needed to be signed because they didn’t like doing business by

phone or fax. I gladly did it because that’s what they preferred

and their interests came first; it’s never about me.”

If you want to impress high-end buyers and sellers and earn

future referrals, here are seven of Ferguson’s tips to exceed

their customer service expectations:

“ This is a great time to go after the luxury market, but you have to be aware of the size of your commitment; this is a hands-on niche.” – SHANNON FERGUSON

1

FOCUSONQUALITY,NOTQUANTITY.Ferguson never carries more

than a handful of listings at

a time because she wants

to give the best service she

possibly can to each client.

Don’t take on more listings

than you can handle, other-

wise details will fall through

the cracks, she advises. Con-

sider hiring an assistant to

tackle administrative tasks

so you have more face time

with clients.

2

USETHERE/MAXCOLLECTION®.Multimillion-dollar proper-

ties need sophisticated,

high-quality marketing to

help them stand out. The

RE/MAX Collection gives

Ferguson and other luxury

agents these resources, such

as access to coveted adver-

tising spots in publications

like duPont Registry, Unique

Homes and The Wall Street

Journal. In addition to print

advertising, Ferguson also

uses presentation binders,

business cards and yard signs

from the program.

3

INVESTINYOURLISTINGS.Ascribing to the adage,

“Spend money to make mon-

ey,” Ferguson budgets $20,000

per listing for marketing

expenses. She suggests

hosting broker previews for

agents in your market, as

well as building an online

database of luxury agents in

high-end markets around the

world. “I email listing fliers

to 80,000 contacts, especially

when I do price reductions,”

she says. “Wording is the key

to generating interest, so use

an eye-catching phrase like

‘Million-Dollar Price Reduc-

tion’ as your subject line.”

4

BEDIRECTABOUTPRICING.Speaking of price reductions,

there’s no way around it: It’s

a sticky topic for sellers. But

agents should be prepared

to make their case if one is

needed. Go in armed with

comparables and market

reports to justify a reduction

to a seller. “When a high-end

home is in a great location and

it’s staged right but there’s no

buyer traffic, pricing is the is-

sue,” Ferguson says. “Be direct

about why a price reduction

is needed, and make sure you

have the numbers and facts

to back your assertion up.

Remind clients that properties

have to be priced competi-

tively to create interest.”


5

WORKONLISTINGS.This is a challenge if

you’re just getting started.

Ferguson suggests going

on broker previews of

luxury properties in your

market, then offering

to host open houses for

those agents to assist their

marketing efforts. It’s a

great way to get in front

of buyers and learn the

niche, but make sure you

do research about the area

ahead of time, she adds.

“Getting that first luxury

listing is hard, and some-

times it comes down to

selling yourself and your

market knowledge.”

6

SHOWTHEMYOURFULLATTENTION.Luxury clients tend to be

well-read, savvy business

people who expect prompt

responses to phone calls

and emails. They also want

a responsive agent who isn’t

taking other clients’ calls in

front of them. “They will call

you often and expect your

undivided attention; if they

have questions, you need

to have answers because

they’re not used to wait-

ing,” Ferguson says. Having

strong communication skills

and anticipating problems

as well as solutions must be

crucial components of your

customer service.

7

JUSTBEYOU.Enjoying what you do

and the people you’re

working with makes it

all worthwhile, Fergu-

son says. Avoid being

someone you’re not, and

leave your ego at the

door. “If you treat luxury

clients right, they’ll be

loyal to you for many

years,” Ferguson says.

“Keep the relationship

goal-oriented and cas-

ual, and don’t be stuffy.

Add some laughter and

humor to the mix, and

have fun!”

THE RE /M A X COLLECTION

gives luxury listings a sophisticat-

ed marketing advantage in today’s

competitive high-end arena.

With an elegant look and a

name that commands atten-

tion, The RE/MAX Collection

creates a strong impression

among buyers and sellers in

the luxury market.

The program offers special-

ized tools and resources for

RE/MAX agents who work

with high-end properties. The

materials reflect the excep-

tional service and treatment

that luxury-home buyers and

sellers expect from their real

estate professional.

There are no fees or course

requirements to participate in

the program, which includes:

Specialized marketing

materials and promotional

items with The RE/MAX

Collection logo and tagline

A featured area for

The RE/MAX Collection

listings on the RE/MAX

consumer website –

www.theremaxcollection.com

The RE/MAX Collection

distinctive signage

Advertising programs in

The Wall Street Journal,

duPont Registry and

Unique Homes

Partnership with the Institute

for Luxury Home Marketing,

which offers the Certified

Luxury Home Marketing Spe-

cialist (CLHMS) designation

ABOUT THE RE/MAX COLLECTION

Fine Homes & Luxury Properties

Shannon Ferguson recently closed on this $6 million waterfront estate in Newport Beach, Calif., with the help of The RE/MAX Collection marketing materials.


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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XC O M M E R C I A L

CommercialVICTORIES

BY BEING QUICKER, SMARTER AND

MORE ATTENTIVE THAN THEIR

COMPETITORS, RE/MAX COMMERCIAL

STARS BUILD MOMENTUM

B Y M A R Y E L L E N B I E R Y

billion in investment sales and leasing

transactions closed by RE/MAX agents

in 2010. And they’ve helped make

RE/MAX Commerical, with 380 offices

or divisions and 3,000 practitioners

in 42 countries, a growing, thriving

aspect of the overall network.

STRONGBRANDRECOGNITIONThe three say the RE/MAX name

lends instant credibility to their intro-

ductions. For instance, even though

the network’s recent J.D. Power and

Associates awards were based on the

responses of home buyers and home

sellers, the recognition impacts the

commercial side as well. “When we

go into a room to meet clients, they all

know RE/MAX, and they know RE/MAX

delivers,” Bragg says.

Shalabi actually sells both residential

and commercial properties, which helps

his bottom line. “I’ve never known an

investor who owns commercial prop-

erty who doesn’t also own a house,” he

says. Because he sells houses, provides

NATHAN BRAGG, DAVE SHALABI

and Neil Warshafsky come

from different backgrounds and sell

commercial real estate in three very

different cities, but some common

traits and insights have helped them

all become successful.

Bragg, a former Marine, works with

RE/MAX Time Realty – Commercial

Division in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.,

where industrial properties are mixed

with office and retail spaces. It’s a

market that’s beginning to stabilize

after several tough years.

Shalabi is with the Commercial Divi-

sion of RE/MAX Synergy in the Chicago

suburb of Orland Park, where high

county taxes contribute to major vacan-

cies in industrial, retail and office space.

And before Warshafsky set up his

RE/MAX Commercial Advisors broker-

age in Toronto, where the office leasing

market remains strong but competitive,

he studied urban planning and helped a

developer appeal taxes.

Each of them is a standout performer

who contributed to the more than $5.1


property management and sells commercial real estate

too, Shalabi can advise his clients on all fronts.

Adding value to each transaction is another strategy

the three share.

Warshafsky’s office concentrates on

investment sales and office leasing, but he

also has built a strong multifamily resi-

dential business. Aligning with the right

specialists, with different strengths, allows

him to meet a client’s needs in whichever

arena. He doesn’t want a client to ever have

reason to approach another firm for help.

Warshafsky tells of a prospective client who

emailed from Las Vegas on a Saturday, saying

he was looking for office space in Toronto.

It wasn’t going to be a big transaction – 4,000

square feet. But Warshafsky responded quickly

to line up a suitable lease. The client and his

business partner later moved to Toronto, where

they began buying large tracts of land. “They’re

now buying through me exclusively,” Warshaf-

sky says. “I’ve sold them 400 acres and have

four other properties under contract.”

Similarly, Bragg uses his construction

experience to help clients in a way other agents cannot. A

former licensed general contractor, Bragg can give clients

with distressed properties a full report on what’s needed

to secure the property and fix it up enough to get the most

from a sale. Distressed properties generally draw buyer

interest, Bragg says. “If we can present a nice one that’s

distressed, we’ll get a better price for the client.”

Shalabi strengthens his relationships with his com-

mercial investor clients by managing many of their

properties. “When I manage somebody’s property for

a year or more on a weekly basis, I’m their adviser,” he

says. As a result, when it comes time to sell, those cli-

ents don’t look to other commercial real estate compa-

nies, even if they’re larger. “They want someone who’s

going to tell them the real deal.”

That approach has paid off. One of Shalabi’s larger deals

recently was with a nationally recognized bank that was

also a satisfied property management client of his. The bank

has now approached Shalabi’s firm to sell 160 housing units,

including apartment buildings and single-family homes.

TECHNOLOGYPROVIDESANEDGETechnology is another theme that connects these three

commercial agents. Each believes in investing in technology

that provides a competitive edge – whether it’s an informa-

tion system, marketing or communications.

Warshafsky’s firm spends about $30,000 (CAN) a year

on data feeds to access comps from anywhere. As a

result, he’s able to get proprietary information on market

leasing activity and comps for clients even

on weekends when he’s away from the

office. That’s a key part of his ability to be

responsive, he notes.

Shalabi is working to make his firm nearly

paperless this fall, and he’s launching a

website where property management clients

can make payments. Bragg gets the jump

on competitors by calling tenants when

their leases are set to expire, thanks to data

he gets as a subscriber to CoStar ’s listing

service. A big believer in leveraging time and

resources, he also makes use of email mar-

keting to generate leads efficiently.

Shalabi, Bragg and Warshafsky constantly

look for ways to run their businesses better

so they can spend time with their families,

something all three stars consider key to

their happiness. Their RE/MAX affiliation

provides them with brand power, support

and a great deal of independence.

“I decide who I want to do business with, when I want

to do business, and how,” Warshafsky says. “I’m in con-

trol. And that’s important to me.”

“When we go into a room to meet clients, they all know

RE/MAX, and they

know RE/MAX delivers.”

NREI magazine ranks RE/MAX Commercial among ‘Top 25’RE/MAX Commercial has gained a spot on National Real Estate Investor magazine’s list of the Top 25 Commercial

Brokerage Networks, positioning the brand alongside commercial heavyweights such as CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield. Be-ing included on the list gives RE/MAX Commercial – which outranked commercial-only firms Sperry Van Ness, Transwestern and Lee & As-sociates – a significant competitive advantage in the marketplace.

RE/MAX Commercial educationREGISTER FOR ACCREDITED COMMERCIAL PROFESSIONAL COURSE

There’s a new commercial real estate designation offered only to RE/MAX agents via RE/MAX University. Register today for the Accredited Commer-cial Professional course, created by Dan Andrews, President of Commer-cial Real Estate Advisors. Sign up on Mainstreet for the discounted rate of $399, which includes 24/7 access to the online course, as well as a user-friendly, 250-page training and resource guide.


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EVERY 69 SECONDS, A WOMAN DIES OF BREAST

CANCER. DON’T WAIT ANOTHER 69 SECONDS TO

START MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

WAYS TO HELP END

BREAST CANCER

1 GOTHEDISTANCERE/MAX is a national sponsor of the Race for the Cure®, and you can reflect the networkwide commitment by registering a race team or manning the RE/MAX booth at your local event. Contact your RE/MAX region for details.

2 KEEPTHEMOMENTUMSign up for the exclusive Home for the Cure® program for RE/MAX agents who want to help fight breast cancer through their business. Susan G. Komen for the Cure® paid for nearly 500,000 screenings last year and funded research aimed at preventing breast cancer with the help of dedicated donors. For more information, visit komen.org/homeforthecure.

3 FLAUNTYOURPINKPink is the color of a global community united to end breast cancer. Throw on something pink today, and wear it proudly. You’ll find co-branded options through the RE/MAX Approved Supplier Program via the RE/MAX Mainstreet Shop tab.

4 SPREADTHEWORDShow your support on your social networks with videos, images, photos and updates, and join the Susan G. Komen for the Cure global community on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

5 BEAVOICEFORCHANGESign a petition at komenadvocacy.org to make women’s cancers a global priority.

Top: In St. Louis, Greg Koch brings a small helium balloon to the race. Bottom: In Bloom-ington, Minn., representatives of the RE/MAX North Central region make a statement.

Whether cameras are there to capture them or not, these types of images of RE/MAX Associates in action are visible at Race for the Cure events in hundreds of cities each year.

SCENES OF COMMITMENT

RE/MAX ASSOCIATES STEP UP (AND OUT!) TO SUPPORT THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

A Time to Take Action


WHEN CINDY PELLETIER WAS undergoing chemotherapy for

breast cancer, she did a lot of thinking

about her future.

“I told my husband, ‘If I get through

this, I want to sell real estate again,’”

says Pelletier, who started her career in

1991 in California and relocated to Min-

nesota in 1997.

Now marking the five-year anniver-

sary of her diagnosis on Oct. 3, 2006,

Pelletier finds herself healthy, hopeful

and happily selling real estate again,

now with RE/MAX Results in Eden Prai-

rie, Minn. She’s a passionate supporter

of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in her

personal life and through her business.

After traveling the long road to being

cancer-free and overcoming the crippling

fear of what other health problems could be

ahead, Pelletier says she found a new focus

by joining the fight against breast cancer as a

donor, volunteer and survivor. She was even

inspired to host a fundraiser at her home

that raised $7,000.

As her spirits continued lifting, Pelletier’s

husband reminded her about the goal she set to

get her Minnesota real estate license. She met

her goal and interviewed with five companies,

and she says RE/MAX was the clear choice.

“I was sitting in the office for an initial

meeting when I spotted a brochure about

the RE/MAX partnership with Komen for the

Cure,” Pelletier says. “I went home after the

meeting and told my husband that I saw the

sign I was looking for.”

Wearing her RE/MAX pink-ribbon pin and

showing her support on her business cards,

Pelletier is not shy about

sharing her passion for the

cause. Clients are honored

by her frequent donations

in their names, and Pelletier

even received a referral from a California

agent whose decision to contact her was

based on her support of Komen for the Cure.

Pelletier is actively involved in the cause

in so many ways, from volunteering at a local

cancer center to recently taking part in the

60-mile Komen 3-Day for the Cure. One of the

most fulfilling ways to give back, she says, is

making surprise donations to young walkers

who are having trouble reaching their dona-

tion goals for the three-day events. She has

donated nearly $3,000 this year.

“I know there are times when people don’t

always have money to give, but just spread-

ing the word about what Komen for the Cure

does – wearing the pin and the T-shirts –

helps build awareness. And that can be just

as powerful.”

RE/MAX HAS BEEN A proud supporter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure since 2002. Through sponsor-ship of the race series, the Home for the Cure fund-raising program for agents, and general donations, RE/ MAX and its Associates have contributed over $5 million to the fight against breast cancer.

working together to find the cures

B Y A M A N DA O K K E R

Healthy,Hopeful &Happy

Cindy Pelletier receives a well-deserved high-five as she completes the 60-mile Komen 3-Day for the Cure


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DAVE AND GAIL LINIGER ARE THE

distinguished recipients of the 2011

Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

Founder’s Award.

The RE/MAX Co-Founders join

an elite group of honorees (only five

individuals have received the award)

for their support and leadership

that inspired RE/MAX

agents to raise more

than $100 million for

children’s hospitals.

The award

recognizes North

America’s greatest

leaders, from board members to hospi-

tal CEOs to fundraising experts, who’ve

seen the power of Children’s Miracle

Network Hospitals and embraced it.

“Nearly 20 years ago, we decided

to align with a charity that cares about

families as much as RE/MAX agents do,”

says Gail Liniger. “Children’s Miracle Net-

work was doing amazing things for sick

children and their families, and we just

had to be part of it. We’re very proud of

the way RE/MAX people have worked so

hard for kids in their communities.”

What $100 Million Can DoRE/MAX Associates have raised more

than $100 million for Children’s Miracle

Network Hospitals since 1992, making

RE/MAX one of the top three donors of

all time. Here are just some of the impor-

tant purchases possible with $100 million:

200,000,000 preemie-sized diapers

25,000,000 baby blankets

20,000 pediatric wheelchairs

1,786 Giraffe OmniBed incubators

1,370 yearlong rounds of cancer treatment

432 bone marrow transplants

20 YEARS of Miracles RE/MAX Co-Founders Receive Elite Honor

Associates from RE/MAX Time Realty in Rancho

Cucamonga, Calif., visit Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

The Miracle Home pro-gram is an exclusive

program for RE/MAX Associates who want to support Children’s Mira-cle Network Hospitals. Agents who participate can make a difference in several impactful ways:

Making regular pledges on behalf of buyers and sellers

Sponsoring client-appreciation parties, golf tournaments and other fun events to raise funds

Raising awareness of the important work happening at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals

OnehundredpercentofalldonationsreceivedthroughtheMiracleHomeprogrambenefitRE/MAXagents’localChildren’sMiracleNetworkHospital.

THE MIRACLE

HOME® PROGRAM

RE/MAX Associates helping local kids


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X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XI N C L O S I N G

Q: Why should agents be optimistic

about housing?

A: The global economic crisis is affecting us all.

And while we don’t create the market, we can con-

trol how we guide people through it. Be confident

in your skills and knowledge, and wherever you

are in the world be sure to look at all the economic

signs there. In the U.S., there are some indicators

of a turnaround. Looking at mortgage resets, we’re

through the worst of it. On top of that, we’re seeing

Gen-Y and immigrant buyers coming into the mar-

ket more and more. Family formation that dropped

so low is now going back up to 1.25 million families

being formed every year. Going back to 1973, home

sales went up after every recession; it will happen

again. We have to be ready.

Q: What role do you see

investors playing?

A: Investors are going to be a key

to recovery, because they’re the

ones who are buying and renting

out properties. And we’re not

talking about the institutional

investors who buy properties in

bulk; we’re talking about the

individual investors like

you and me who are using

their 401(k)s and IRAs to

buy homes they intend to

rent. They ride the price

of the property back

up, and in the future

all that profit goes

back into their IRA for

retirement. It’s going to

become a more com-

mon practice in the

next couple of years.

Q: What do you enjoy most about RE/MAX R4?

A: My husband always encourages me to do things that

keep my personal “energy gas tank” full. R4 is one of

those things. The energy amazes me, and interacting

with agents from all over the world is the best. When I at-

tend the Global Referral Exchange, where representatives

from dozens of countries network and share informa-

tion, I imagine it’s probably a lot like the beginning of

RE/MAX in the U.S. People didn’t know what RE/MAX

was, but the pioneers were determined to make it work.

It’s thrilling to see excited, passionate leaders show-

ing the same resolve in countries all over the world.

Q: What’s the secret to success?

A: I get this question a lot, and I immediately think

of my dad, who always told me: Don’t get discour-

aged by what may lie ahead; think instead about all

the great things you accomplish along the way. I love

to hear about agents celebrating the victories in their

markets. Whether they finally sold that tough listing

or they earned a new designation to better serve

their clients or they’re making a splash by embrac-

ing technology and social media. The attribute all of

these agents have in common is persistence. When

you stop setting goals and taking risks, that’s when

success is going to be hard to come by.

Q: What is your Breast Cancer Awareness

Month message for agents?

A: Think locally. Most likely, there’s a Komen for the

Cure Affiliate right near you, and they need volun-

teers, supporters, RE/MAX representation at the local

Race for the Cure and so much more. As a breast

cancer survivor, I know awareness is the real key to

saving lives. So wear your RE/MAX pink-ribbon pin,

tie a pink ribbon around a tree in your yard each

October, tell a friend to do her breast self-exam, put

the Home for the Cure sign rider on your listings. And

remember: All the little things add up to a big impact.

YOU’VE GOT HER UNDIVIDED ATTENTION! SEND YOUR QUES-

TIONS TO [email protected], AND RE/MAX CEO MARGARET

KELLY WILL ANSWER THEM IN FUTURE ISSUES. A FEW STARTERS:

HAVE QUESTIONS?CEO Margaret Kelly has answers.

?

Ask Margaret!

March 5 - 8, 2012

Reignite your career at RE/MAX R4, March 5 - 8, 2012, at the Mandalay BayHotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. World-class education, limitlessnetworking opportunities and the potential for agent-to-agent referrals await real estate’s #1 agents who deliver #1 results. Visit Mainstreet for details.

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