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 Tony Vicari  Friday, June 26th, 2009 The Monthly Industry update, chaired this year by President-Elect Barbara Harsch, features great information on a variety of topics. Today, the 30 some SAR Members were treated to a legislative update by SAR Government Affairs Director Caylyn Brown and SAR Legislative Advocate Eric Rasmusson. They touched on a number of issues from local, state and federal levels.
The first topic discussed was point of sale. In an effort to reduce the amount of water used by local citizens Continue reading: Industry Update features Legal Update
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 24th, 2009
It’s an exciting time in technology innovation, particularly as it relates to our real estate marketing practices. With cell phones getting smarter, netbook computers, and faster broadband access, Americans are going mobile at a frantic pace. The search engines, especially Google, have been important sources of website and blog traffic for quite some time. Now these engines are also going mobile. What does this mean to the real estate professional, as well as brokerages? There are two seemingly opposing trends developing as regards mapping. Let’s look at what they are and how each will influence our business and marketing practices.
Mobile Technology and Shrinking Office Space – In May, 2009, the National Association of Realtors is holding forums in Washington, DC. One of these is featuring speakers focusing on how brokers can cut their operating costs for office space and overhead by increasing the mobility of their agents. There are already very successful large brokerages that provide little or no office space for most of their agents. They have space for meeting clients and administration, but their agents operate from their homes and remote locations with today’s technology providing the services they need.
Continue reading: Mapping, Google’s Local Business Center & Going Mobile
Chris Ly Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009
 As with any industry, a new year brings new laws. While new laws usually benefit a group of people, they can also bring additional expenses with them. A new law, set to take effect on July 1st, 2009, may require numerous real estate professionals to incur an additional expense; specifically in reguards to business cards.
SB 1461 is a new law passed by the California legislature:
This bill would, on and after July 1, 2009, require a licensee to disclose his or her license identification number on specified solicitation materials, as defined, and on real property purchase agreements when acting as an agent in those transactions. The bill would authorize the Real Estate Commissioner to adopt regulations in that regard.
“Solicitation materials” include: business cards, stationary, advertising fliers, and other materials designed to solicit the creation of a professional relationship between the licensee and a consumer.
Excluded from the above are: an advertisement in print or electronic media, “for sale” signs, and specified classified rental advertisements.
Continue reading: Are Your Business Cards DRE Approved?
Chris Ly Saturday, June 20th, 2009
How would you like to attend classes for a year and not have to worry about whether or not you can afford it? Now you don’t have to! With SAR’s new Broker Tuition Card, your broker (or you) pays a one-time fee of $200 for a full year of educational courses. This covers an [...]
Deborah Grinnell Thursday, June 18th, 2009
CanTree Recipe Cookbook
Recipe Submission Deadline – July 1
As a creative way to raise funds for CanTree, the CanTree Committee is publishing a cookbook, with you as our recipe contributor.
If you are interested in submitting a recipe or two, please send your favorite recipes as soon as possible. To [...]
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Are you doing drip email to buyer and seller prospects? If not, you surely know agents who are. With the free nature of email, it has become a much abused form of communication. And, drip email from many real estate professionals is little more than automated periodic spam. With filters and rules in email systems, it’s easy to have your drip emails trashed on arrival, so you never know that they aren’t being read. One broker used a service that let him know that only about 125 out of 800 of his regular emails were being read.
But, I’m not saying that regular (call them drip if you like) emails are ineffective. They can be one of your most effective lead generators that will bring in commissions on a regular basis. The idea is to first slow down the drips, and second deliver something worthwhile and valuable to the recipient. This is NOT:
Continue reading: Drip Email The Slow Effective Way
Tony Vicari Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
The current market offers a variety of low-priced, move-in-ready homes as well as properties that are in need of significant repairs. One thing they have in common is the people they attract: Investors. As home prices dropped over the last year(s), Sacramento has also seen a steady rise in the percentage of cash sales. Statistics retrieved from the MetroList® MLS database show that 25.1% of sales in May 2009 – 467 units – were purchased with cash. Compared with last month, where April had 503 cash-sales (accounting for nearly 28% of all sales), there is a 7.2% decrease. May’s cash-only sales, however, show a 158% increase from the 181 cash-only sales (10.2%) of May 2008. The charts below, reflecting both single family home and condo sales, offer more information about this occurrence. For more data on cash sales, please contact Tony Vicari @ 916-437-1205.
Continue reading: Sales Volume and Median Sales Price Increase, Cash-only Purchases up 158%
Erin Attardi Monday, June 15th, 2009
When I speak to most REALTORS® and Affiliates about participating in a Young Professionals Council event, most tell me, “Oh, I am too old to attend.” Not true!
While the Young Professionals Council Steering Committee members must be in their 20s and 30s, there really is something for everyone at all of our events – and we do not check your ID at the door. All SAR Members are welcome to attend any of our events. We learn a lot, network with other professionals, and we have FUN, too. Our monthly forums are educational in nature and past topics have included Going Green, Marketing Tools, Social Networking, Today’s Loan Programs and more.
Continue reading: Young Professionals Council – For the Young AND Young at Heart!
Peyman Aleagha Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Google Latitude is a new Google Map service that is proving to be quite popular with Internet enabled cell phone users. Once installed on your phone, you can import your contacts and friends, and invite them to share locations with you. In other words, you can let your selected contacts see where you are on Google Maps. Yes, right down to your picture icon on a street map location. If your contacts accept reciprocal sharing, they can see your location and you can see theirs.
It may sound like the ultimate in fun, but not very useful. However, people are finding it easier to get together for short meetings or a cup of coffee when they find that they happen to be close to each other in their daily travels. Parents are keeping up with their children, and vice versa. Companies can track their sales or mobile service personnel, and you can keep up with your friends anywhere in the world. Let’s talk about some of the features and also privacy concerns.
Continue reading: Google Latitude – How Might It Work for Real Estate?
Daniel Allen Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Sacramento Association of REALTORS® is proud to announce that the May 2009 edition of the Newsletter is available here.
Continue reading: June 2009 Newsletter
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