Moving with Children

September 8, 2010
Posted by david_marine in General
0 Comments

There’s nothing quite like the chaos of getting ready to move. Boxes, newspaper, bubble wrap, packing tape, etc. Now throw kids into the mix and you’ve got yourselves a recipe for a potentially stressful experience. With two young boys at home and one more expected in November, I can’t imagine what it would be like if my wife and me were planning to move right now.

So I was extremely curious when I saw an article from Laura McHolm, Founder of  NorthStar Moving Corporation, put together her list of tips for moving with children. This is a really comprehensive list. The great part is  it isn’t just 3 or 4 obvious ideas, but Laura provides some great details and suggestion for how to make moving with children a smoother process. She even makes movie recommendations that may help kids get an idea of what to expect on moving day.

Click here to read the full article and you can also browse through the slideshow below for quick tips on moving.

Moving with kids

View more presentations from MovingPro.

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Great Summer Reading While It’s Still Summer

September 3, 2010
Posted by jim_gillespie in General
0 Comments

Courtesy Flickr user kwerfeldein

 

Where did the summer go?  Hopefully yours was more relaxing than mine.  Most of my time was spent on the road in congested airports and packed planes as I visited many, many great Coldwell Banker companies.  I can attest that if you looked only at airport useage our economy must be well on its way to improving.

I know many of those travelers brought along books that were listed on those summer “must” reads lists.  And since we have one more weekend to “unofficially” enjoy summer, I wanted to add another “must” read for those interested in home ownership.  It’s a recent New York Times op-ed by Karl Case, a professor emeritus of  economics at Wellesley and co-creator of Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller housing index.

He explains in simple-to-understand language what happened in housing and why the American Dream of Homeownership is not dead and is poised for nice, steady long-term growth.

Enjoy the article as you sit back and hopefully relax this weekend.  Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

 

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What Makes a House a Home? Family

September 2, 2010
Posted by Diann Patton in General
3 Comments

Everything changes when you become a parent. As a mother of two beautiful daughters, I can speak with first-hand experience. You begin looking through the world with a new lens on life, which affects many major decisions.  I remember looking for a home when I was pregnant with my first child, and I’ll never forget how different my perspective was – I had an entirely new set of criteria than had ever even crossed my mind before having a family. “Where are my kids’ bedrooms in relation to mine?” “How far is the house away from the street?” “How close will I be to my parents and my sister?”

As a real estate professional, I know that home buying is often timed around life’s major milestones. To dig deeper into what matters most to families when purchasing a home, Coldwell Banker Real Estate conducted a survey among homeowners with children under the age of 18. The results show that by living near my in-laws, I’m not in the minority. Instead, 72 percent of the respondents said they live within 30 minutes of their extended family, and 42 percent live within just 10 minutes of their relatives.  These findings showcase what I certainly know to be true – having a strong support system nearby is invaluable when raising a family. I feel so lucky that my children’s grandparents play a strong role in their lives, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The data also uncovered that most parents purchased their first home either before getting pregnant or within one year of their child’s birth (65%): 43% purchased their first home before getting pregnant with their first child, 7% made the big move while pregnant, and 15% bought a home before their first child turned one.

This survey is a simple reminder of what makes a house a home: your family. Being a homeowner goes beyond numbers and mortgages. For many of us, it’s also about having a great place where your kids will grow up, a kitchen where you’ll make meals and memories, and a community of loved ones who will be there at every step of the way.

As always, we’d love to hear what you think.  How important is proximity to relatives to you, or your customers?

Click here for the full details on the Coldwell Banker survey.

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Power of Brand…Too Much Time on My Hands

August 31, 2010
Posted by mike_fischer in Uncategorized
4 Comments

So, I went o see Styx at the Morristown Community Theater last Friday night.  I have to confess…was never a big Styx  fan and I am clearly a Tommy Shaw Styx guy and not Dennis DeYoung.  Renegade vs. Babe.  No contest.

So I was pleasantly surprised that they looked and sounded great.  Small venue, Tommy Shaw looked just like he did in 1985 and his voice was spot on!  The lead guitarist, James Young, also looked and sounded great.  The original bassist from the 70’s and 80’s, Chuck Panazzo, doesn’t tour with this version of Styx but  I guess lives in NJ and he showed up to play on a few songs.  But no original drummer and no Dennis DeYoung.  So this brings up an interesting dilemma …Do they play only Tommy Shaw hits or do they also play the Dennis DeYoung songs that arguably are the most well known (Come Sail Away, Lady, and the worst song of all time, Mr. Roboto).

A few years back I worked for an auto maker that had Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh play at a dealer show in Vegas.  I remember some guy in the audience screaming “Hey Glenn, play Hotel California”…and I cracked up laughing because that was Don Henley’s song.   They were NEVER going to play that… but they also weren’t billing themselves as the Eagles.

So the Styx show goes on and they play mostly Tommy Shaw and James Young songs.  They play Lady and the much younger keyboardist has the Dennis DeYoung voice and sounds pretty good (reference previous blog on Journey for sound alike lead vocalists) and is just as campy as Mr. DeYoung was on Kilroy Was Here.  Ugh.

So the show is ending and they start playing the final song…Come Sail Away, with that iconic piano intro so everyone knows what’s coming.  Just the keyboardist in the lights.   The Styx logo is on the back wall in 20’ letters, right out of the Grand Illusion album.  And the place goes NUTS.  Women are screaming,  Guys are fist bumping their pals and nodding their heads, saying “awlllllright dude!”.  And I find myself laughing  to myself again, just like at the car show.  These folks  are basically going nuts and cheering  for a guy who wasn’t in the band when the band sold out arenas and churned out platinum albums and he didn’t sing that song that we all grew up with.  On this song, the boys in Styx are basically a cover band.

Then I kept smiling because I realized it’s the power of the brand.  The Styx brand.  The audience  knew that the original guys sounded great and had proven themselves to still be a surprisingly good live band, and that if Tommy Shaw  and James Young were ok with this campy guy representing their band and their legacy, it was more than ok for the 2,000 people in the audience.  They bought in because they trusted that 20’ logo on the back wall and all it represents.  And it sounded great.

At Coldwell Banker ®, we realize the strength of our 104 year old legacy and the responsibility that comes with it to continue to earn your trust.  Rock on Tommy Shaw, but please, no more Dennis DeYoung stuff.

BTW, REO Speedwagon is coming in late Sept with Kevin Cronin…

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.com page for Styx (the band)

Hot Dog – Coldwell Banker Turns 104!

August 27, 2010
Posted by jim_gillespie in General
2 Comments

I have been with Coldwell Banker for a long time. In fact, I have “bled blue” for all but one year of my 35-year real estate career. I just computed that I’ve been with our great brand for almost 34% of its existence. Wow!

I write this because our great brand is celebrating its 104th birthday today. We are proud to be the nation’s oldest real estate brand.

Coldwell Banker was founded on August 27, 1906, in San Francisco out of the ashes of that year’s horrific earthquake. Colbert Coldwell, and later Arthur Banker, were young men who wanted to bring ethics and integrity to real estate at a time when there was a lot of unscrupulous behavior occurring.

A lot has changed since 1906. The term “hot dog” was coined that year, based on a cartoon of a dachshund posing inside a frankfurter bun. The average American worker earned under $1,000 annually. A gallon of gasoline cost just 28 cents. The median home price was $4,500.

I take great pride in knowing that Coldwell Banker agents continue to embody the brand’s heritage of excellence, providing trustworthy and knowledgeable service during the home buying and selling process.

Coldwell Banker agents have been a valued partner to millions and millions who have bought and sold homes. We have been a real estate constant despite many ups and downs in market conditions.

As we mark another year in business, we wanted to honor a few other companies which are also celebrating 104th birthdays:

  • American Greetings Corporation, Inc.: The world’s largest publicly-traded greeting card company has been bringing smiles to friends and family on joyous occasions for 104 years.
  • National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA): Founded in 1906 under the name Intercollegiate Athletic Association, college athletes have been seeking the NCAA National Championship title for 104 years.
  • New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.: For the past 104 years, New Balance has been helping people stay active and healthy, as one of the largest makers of sports footwear.
  • Xerox: A Fortune 500 global company, Xerox has continued to help businesses by improving its printing technology year after years since discovering xerographic printing in 1906.

Here’s to another 104!

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Trust our Team

August 24, 2010
Posted by mike_fischer in Marketing
1 Comment

Trust in an organization starts at the top.  Our CEO, Jim Gillespie, is one of the most admired and trusted executives today because of the way he carries himself everyday in business.   We were founded by Colbert Coldwell in 1906 in the aftermath of the great San Francisco earthquake because he was tired of seeing people being treated unethically by real estate speculators.  And all the leaders in between have shown the same qualities that have created the culture of Coldwell Banker ® Real Estate.  But they say real estate is “local,” so here’s an example of how it all starts at the top locally as well…

I recently attended and spoke at an event for a large local Coldwell Banker ® brokerage.  Great event, talking about the latest technology trends and getting the agents exposed to all the great ways they can better service their customers.  At the event, I met an executive associated with that company, Joe Reis, and it really reinforced to me why my brand is sooooo good and why consumers have trusted us with the biggest purchase in their lives for 104 years.

He told me two stories that day.  The first was about a customer that had an issue with their purchase.  These things happen, but thankfully not that often.  But he told us what he and his team were doing to help the customer and make it right.  He was knowledgeable about the problem, walked through his resolution steps, and made me feel confident that everything would be resolved.

Then he told me another story.  He attended Game 6 of the 1991 World Series — Twins Braves — and in that game (pivotal to the outcome of the series that year and an all time classic moment), Kirby Puckett hit a game ending, walk-off home run.  The ball went into the seats and Joe caught it!  The stadium went crazy, and the excitement of being a part of history had to have been overwhelming for him.  But he made a quick decision.  He didn’t post it on eBay, or hold it for ransom, or try and sell it through a collector.  No, he took his family down to the locker room and gave Kirby the ball back, and wanted nothing in return.  It was the right thing to do.  It was the ethical thing to do.  And you know what, he lights up when he tells the story because it brought him great joy to do the right thing.   Click Here to watch Joe’s daughter’s school video project on “the catch”

You can learn a lot about the people you work with, and this made me very proud to be a part of Coldwell Banker.  If something goes wrong, or a consumer needs help, they need people like Joe to help them through it.  You build trust as a company one relationship at a time, and one agent or manager at a time.  There’s lots of stories like this out there in the Coldwell Banker network, and I can’t wait to hear the next one.

Photo by Flickr user resedabear

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Down Economy Does Not Stop Coldwell Banker

August 16, 2010
Posted by jim_gillespie in General
1 Comment

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and hopefully taking some vacation time. I have to admit that I haven’t had much free time this summer, but have had a few great weekends with family, friends and most importantly our grandchildren!

One thing that has been tough this summer has been the disappointing news that the U.S. economy is still struggling. The Fed last week said the recovery was “more modest” than they hoped.  In the housing industry, we did see a spike in home sales during the first half of the year largely because the federal tax credit worked as a stimulus.

The credit was all about instilling confidence in housing. But today without that incentive, buyers have retreated again which is not great news for the economy. Housing relates to about 21% of the US gross domestic product according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and each home sold brings about $60,000 into local economies according to a couple of studies.

Clearly we are not in robust economic time. But still the National Association of Realtors and Fannie Mae are projecting there will be more than 5 million homes sold in 2010, about the same number as last year. So despite the financial challenges there are still a lot of families on the move.

And today, probably more than ever, they need the advice, counsel, experience and knowledge their real estate agent provides. I was absolutely thrilled with the results of the Wall Street Journal/RealTrends Top 400, the leading survey of real estate agents, that shows how Coldwell Banker continues to dominate the real estate industry. Coldwell Banker had nearly two times as many agents included on the Top 400 than any other brand.

While being on top is a great place to be, I find it even more exciting that our agents continue to meet your needs during one of the toughest economic times in US history. If they didn’t provide outstanding service, there is no way our agents would be able to be as successful as this survey shows.

Congrats to all Coldwell Banker agents on the list!  We all salute you!

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Best Cities for Working Moms

August 13, 2010
Posted by david_marine in General
1 Comment

Minneapolis, MN

As I noted last week, everyone loves top 10 lists, and ForbesWoman recently ranked the best cities for working mothers. While I obviously don’t fall into that category, I know it is relevant for many of you.

To calculate the ranking, Forbes started with the 50 largest cities and looked at a variety of factors, such as income for women, unemployment rates, the cost of living, healthcare, the quality of schools, childcare, crime and parks. They really considered what working moms care about – for example, instead of evaluating healthcare based on the usual parameters, they threw in options for pediatricians. As Forbes stated, “What good is your six-figure salary if you can’t reach a doctor when your child is running a fever?”

So which cities are best for working mothers? The Minneapolis / St. Paul area came in at No. 1. “With the combination of wonderful schools, plenty of childcare options and cultural opportunities, it’s no surprise that Minneapolis/St. Paul was selected as the #1 area for working moms,” said Kathryn Kennedy, Coldwell Banker Burnet sales associate and a working mom herself. “The transferees that I have worked with have been able to work for companies that provide excellent benefits from healthcare to maternity to onsite daycare, which creates a wonderful support system for working moms.”

DC followed closely behind taking the No. 2 spot. Paul Valentino, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage of the Greater D.C. metro told us, “There are job opportunities here with a higher earnings potential, along with easy access to necessary services for working mothers, such as quality school systems, healthcare and daycare providers. Of course, the city’s diversity, world-class restaurants, and affordable entertainment with free admission to countless museums, and outdoor concerts, all make D.C. a vibrant and greatly desirable place to live.”

Here are the top 10 cities that topped the list.

  1. Minneapolis-St. Paul
  2. Washington, D.C.
  3. Boston
  4. Pittsburgh
  5. Baltimore-Towson, MD
  6. Denver
  7. Hartford, CT
  8. New York Metro
  9. Seattle-Tacoma, WA
  10. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

What is it about your community that makes it great for you as a working mom (or dad)?

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Old School Lesson from Verizon

August 12, 2010
Posted by mike_fischer in Marketing
2 Comments

I know in my heart that the real estate business will always be a combination of solid marketing efforts AND  a  one-on-one , relationship business.  It will never to get the point where the marketing and sales geeks like myself take it over 100% by dazzling consumers with great, emotionally compelling  advertising, creating wonderfully engaging website functionality, posting witty blogs (not!), or by providing more housing data than even NASA could possibly ever analyze…

Nope, I have seen the light and that light was shone on me by Jason McBride from Verizon.

You see, I’m a Comcast household.  And Fios wants in because they know the key to their corporate success in wrestling my Triple Play away from the cable guy.  So they get it.  They know I’ve sat through a whole season of American Idol watching the ads where the Fios guy constantly outsmarts the lazy cable guy to the point where someone needed to throw a flag for unnecessary roughness.  I’ve seen why Verizon has a great cell plan and their brand name has been tattooed onto my brain…they took on AT&T and absolutely crushed them in the public forum…even though I still like Luke Wilson (Old School was a great movie).  But at the end of the day, I was leaning toward Verizon, but not quite there.

Then came the fateful knock on the door just last night.  Jason was standing there and he wanted us to switch to Fios.  Because our dog would tear him apart, we had this conversation on my stoop (that’s a front porch for non East coasters).  He patiently explained the available Fios promotion, why it made sense for us money wise, gave us a nicely done brochure (yeah, marketing!), and walked us through the install process.  He answered all our questions outside on a sticky 90 degree night.  We offered him water, and he accepted.  He even looked like the actor on the Fios commercial.

We just might now go with Fios.  The commercials really helped set the stage and got us interested, and clearly, Verizon’s branding effort worked because it gave me the confidence to talk to him.  But we weren’t ready to make any commitment until some guy who was working really hard and made an effort to come to my home stopped by to make the case in person, one on one, and do it in a way that was genuine and sincere.

Clearly, a marketing effort can inspire trust.  But in our business that is not enough,  It’s the way our 100,000 agents do it everyday with their clients and potential clients that completes the circle.  My favorite photo that we use for advertising is one where the agent is sitting at the dining room table explaining the real estate process to a couple.  Because through my best intentions to sway you with great marketing, I can really only get you to seriously consider  Coldwell Banker® as your real estate agency.  But it really comes down to the dining room tables across North America and the relationships developed there with you and one of our great agents when the true commitment and partnership begins.

There’s just too much at stake financially and emotionally to have it any other way…did I mention I love Old School???

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Making a Real Estate List, Checking it Twice

August 5, 2010
Posted by david_marine in General
3 Comments

I’m going to focus on three things in today’s post. First, underscore that there are many wonderful, different kinds of places around the country. Second, encourage you to share what makes your area special. And finally, make the point that people…love…lists!

Whether it’s a late show comedy “top 10,” college football standings, school scores or real estate rankings, we’re all used to processing information through lists. Seeing the “best” or even “worst” can help us form opinions or make decisions.

And boy, have real estate writers taken this concept and run with it. So here’s a list of…well…recent real estate lists! We are seeing these come through more and more everyday, and they get at how complex the real estate market and how real estate is very local in nature:

Do you find lists like these valuable? What kinds of real estate rankings or lists do you find most interesting or helpful? And feel free to chime in with what makes your market special. If you think about your hometown, what list would it top?

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Crysti

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