TheREALTYgram Blogger

Going to San Francisco to Real Estate Connect;Special Foreclosure Workshop to Help Homeowners

I am heading to the top real estate conference of the year in July, Real Estate Connect, in San Francisco in July. I will be speaking at a pre-conference Foreclosure Workshop titled, "Relationships 2.0: How to Help Homeowners While Closing Business" on July 23, 2008.

The Real Estate Connect Conference is sponsored by Inman News. The confab assembles real estate industry leaders to share thoughts and ideas in one of the most highly charged and provocative meetings in the industry.

Craig Newmark Weighs In On ObamaAt Inman Real Estate Connect Confab

Craig Newmark is sporting a new Obama lapel pin at the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in New York City. He waxed melancholy about the days when there was a rule of law and Bill of Rights in the United States. Some of us are old enough to remember those days.

Bleeding Edge Journalism:The Wall Street Journal CARES About Vaginas

If you have been harboring the belief that The Wall Street Journal does not care about vaginas, put it to rest. Tara Parker-Pope used to write a health column there before she went to The New York Times. Tara moderated a panel, "Not Your Mother's Menopause," at MORE Magazine's recent Reinvention Convention and told attendees that WSJ editors let the word appear in one of her health columns. The final cut did not have as many "vaginas" as Tara's original copy, but the fact that the word appeared at all is considered a coup.

It's nice to know that mainstream media is advancing with women's issues.

Mary Pope-Handy Wins Project Blogger;Award Caps 14-Week Inman News/ActiveRain Competition

Mary Pope Handy's Live in Los Gatos Blog took top honors in the Project Blogger contest. I had the joy and privilege of working with Mary as Blog Coach. Mary is a wonderful and prolific writer and blogger.

We were happy to collect the winning purse, a $5,000 donation to CARE that was donated by the innovative blog team at ActiveRain.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the contest. Everyone was a winner!

Web Women Giving Circle Gets BloggyFollowing Philanthropic Sojourn to Andes

Peru. The Andes. Triumph of the human spirit. Humanitarian outreach. CARE. More Magazine. Women empowering women.

In my wildest dreams I never imagined that I would get so close to heaven. That in this age of war and terror that there is so much reason to be hopeful and optimistic about the fate of humankind.

I was in Peru last week with the Web Women Giving Circle. We are publishing a chronicle  of events on our blog there ... you are welcome to visit as we share our experiences there in the days ahead.

Maybe If I Can Master An Artful Demi-PliéI Can Call Myself A Real Estate 'Consultant'

I am getting ready to take a class in real estate consultancy. There is growing consumer demand for real estate services that are "unbundled" and consultancy is clearly an option that we need to review and develop as a business model. There's only one small problem. In Pennsylvania it is ILLEGAL for a real estate agent who is not a broker to use the dirty "C" word. Seems the PA State Real Estate Commission says real estate consultancy is an "art", according to attorney Ray J. Michalowski, Esq:

"The Commission recently ruled on whether licensed real estate salespersons may refer to themselves as real estate 'consultants' in an advertisement. Although there is little doubt that salespersons routinely provide services to their clients that constitute 'consulting' as that word is defined in plain English, the Commission has held that 'consultant' is a term of art in real estate and may only be used by licensed real estate brokers.

"The Commission’s view is based on the definition of 'Broker' found in the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (RELRA), which defines a 'Broker' as someone who 'represents himself to be a real estate consultant, counselor, agent or finder.' An important question is raised by this definition; does this also mean that salespersons can no longer refer to themselves as 'agents'?

"Don’t panic, because while the terms 'consultant,' 'counselor' and 'finder' are off limits for salesperson advertising, the term agent is probably still safe to use.

"This is because the definition of 'Broker' is repeated in the Commission’s regulations and contains a minor, but significant difference stating that a 'Broker' is someone who 'represents himself or itself as a real estate consultant, counsellor or finder.' The word “agent” is absent from this version of the definition of “Broker”. In addition, the common use of the term “agent” to identify both brokers and salespersons in the real estate industry, and if fact throughout RELRA itself, make it very unlikely that any salespersons will be prosecuted for calling themselves 'agents'."

Well, it's resassuring to know we're not headed to the hoosegow if we call ourselves agents!

Look, Ma, No Speaker Fees, No Air Fare!!Real Estate Celeb Books Virtual Tour for CARE

Web Women Giving Circle Founder Joeann Fossland has launched a virtual tour for CARE to promote the Real Estate Premiums Package and the Shopping Alliance and Book Club for CARE. "

"We could use a few more bloggers to participate. In a nutshell, we set a date, I post it on my website as an event with links and love and hugs to you. Then, on the set date, you post an interview (we'll conduct it via email, to keep it easy on everyone) that we call  a stop on the CARE tour and everyone clicks through that day to read and love your blog," she says. Book a date here! 

And just think, all this and NO speaker fees, NO travel expenses, NO fees for hot stone massages, NO reimbursements for room service oysters! A meeting planner's dream come true!

'REALTORS Don't Even Clean Your HouseFor Showings!' Say FSBO Entrepreneurs

More Magazine has published an article about FSBO entrepreneurs. I love the following quotation:

"Their business rationale goes like this: NAR agents typically earn about 6 percent commission on each sale, 'creating fees that add up to tens of thousands for the seller ... They don't even clean your house for showings -- you have to do it.' For just $150, FSBOMadison (pronounced fizz-boh) will list a house, manage the online traffic, and throw in a teal yard sign. Judging by the success of the site -- which now lists almost 15 percent of all houses on the market in and around Madison, and gets more Internet traffic than the multiple-listing service operated by area agents -- it's clear that they've tapped into a revolutionary new way to sell real estate."

Peggy Northrop, editor of More Magazine, is shown in photo at left with Master Coach and FSBO Queen Joeann Fossland at a gathering in Tucson on Saturday. FSBOs were not on the agenda last weekend. Perhaps Joeann will offer to write a counterpoint article or conduct a consciousness raising seminar for our friends in women's publishing. All this in the week Joeann launches a new web site for REALTORS. Hmmmmmmm.....

US and Aussie Coaches Make Love ConnectionWith New Web Site Launched Today

Wynne Achatz of Michigan proudly displays her I Love My Agent t-shirt. The new web site launched today in the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand with loving intent from Master Coach Joeann Fossland and Coach Karin Hanna in the Gold Coast of Australia.

"I am very passionate about real estate and transforming the public perception of real estate agents from one of mistrust generally to respected, loved professionals who provide a valuable and professional service. Having worked as a real estate agent myself and managed offices, consulted in 32 offices in South East Queensland and now as a real estate coach, I have seen and personally experienced the good, the average and the ugly," says Hanna.

"I truly believe that the professional agents in this business want the exact same thing the public wants and that is to be able to find a great REALTOR they will love doing business with every time," she continues. "It is my belief that this comes from developing outstanding skills and knowledge but also from delivering an excellent customer experience every time."

"Karin and I share a passion for wanting to give agents a way to be acknowledged by those clients who love them, while at the same time giving  consumers a way to discover great agents!",  says Fossland. "We want to raise awareneness of the really wonderful agents that make this industry great."

I LOVE My Agent is designed to build great agents' reputations through public recommendations, as well as to transform the perception of the industry as a whole.

Silver memberships are free and there is a limited offer for reduced price GOLD memberships. Contact Joeann Fossland for details about the special offer.

Greg Thomas Sweeps NAREE Awards;Writer Will Chronicle Life After Katrina

NEW ORLEANS -- Greg Thomas, real estate writer for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, receives the National Assn. of Real Estate Editors' President's Citation from NAREE president Al Heavens (The Philadelphia Inquirer) at the group's annual summit in New Orleans. Thomas was also the winner of the fifth Annual NAREE Bivins Fellowship.  (Thomas is shown at right in photo.)

Thomas will use the $5,000 Fellowship to study the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the real estate market.

The NAREE Bivins Fellowship entries are judged by George Harmon, head of the Business Writing Program at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

"This writer is in the midst of covering the biggest housing story ever to hit this country," Harmon said. "To decipher the destroyed market for single-family homes in New Orleans, he will work for a week alongside a real estate consultant and then visit manufacturers. The objective is to inform consumers about new codes and about prices in areas where rebuilding is partial."

Thomas, a past president of NAREE, created the clearest and most detailed Fellowship proposal among several outstanding entries, Harmon said. The award is named for NAREE past president Ralph Bivins to honor his decades of leadership to the NAREE group (shown with Thomas in photo at right; Columnist Ken Harney is seated).  Bivins, an award-winning, Houston-based journalist, is editor of The Realty News Report and a NAREE honorary life member.

Greg Thomas is the hope that is the City of New Orleans.

... and the heart that is NAREE.

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