Matthew Ferrara & Company News
September 29, 2008
Amy Chorew, Senior National Instructor at Matthew Ferrara & Company, is featured in an article just published in Florida Realtor Magazine titled “Take Your Blog from Blah to Brilliant”. You can read the entire article here courtesy of floridarealtors.org.
Amy Chorew, Senior National Instructor at Matthew Ferrara & Company, has made the Top 50 in Active Rain’s “Top 100 Most Influential Women in Real Estate”.
Here is the article, courtesy of Inman News.
Top 100 Most Influential Women in Real Estate Leadership for 2008
Posted in Real Estate Trends By Stefan Swanepoel, Monday, September 29, 2008.
Nine months ago when the 2008 edition of the Swanepoel Trends Report was published, the demographics that included women, youth and minorities were identified as key drivers in the future of the residential real estate brokerage industry. In the Trend titled “Shattered Glass” it was detailed how many women had reached leadership positions at national levels.
My subsequent blog on ActiveRain lit the match to initiate a nationwide flame in search of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in leadership roles in the Real Estate Industry.
The post attracted 11,000 views and resulted in 3,460 respondents casting 6,099 votes. Wow!!
Here are the Top 25 in alphabetical order:
Ann Defries
Avis Wukasch
Barbara Corcoran
Blanche Evans
Bonnie Mays
Danielle Kennedy
Dorcas Helfant-Browning
Ebby Halliday
Gail Liniger
Helen Hanna-Casey
Joeann Fossland
Judy Ladeur
Kelli Todd
Laurie Janick
Leslie Appleton-Young
Margaret Kelly
Mary Frances Burleson
Mary Tennant
Michael Saunders
Mo Anderson
Niki Rapattoni
Rita Santamaria
Sharon Millett
Susie Hale
Virginia Cook
The Top 50 (in alphabetical order) are:
Adorna Carroll
Amy Chorew
Andy Capelluto
Ann Bailey
Anne Randolph
Barb Schwarz
Bernice Ross
Carla Cross
Cathy Whatley
Darity Wesley
Dianna Kokoszka
Dottie Herman
Frances Flynn Thorsen
Kaira Sturdivant Rouda
Kim Ades
Laurie Moore-Moore
Lenn Harley
Marilyn Wilson
Pam O’Connor
Pat Vredevoogd Combs
Patti Kouri
Shari Chase
Sherry Chris
Terry Murphy
Vicki Cox
Though the survey was not billed as warranting scientific rigidity, the tremendous response rate and distribution of over 6,000 votes speaks to a strength in collective wisdom about the relative placement of the most influential women in the Top 100 list.
Bios and photos of the Top 50 can be viewed here
Congratulations to all.
Growing Your Hispanic Market
September 28, 2008
Here’s an idea that should appeal to all REALTOR entrepreneurs: Rather than waiting for a pile of money to fall from the sky, why not grow your way out of these tough times? It’s decision time now - and I don’t mean the election: Are you going to just sit there and let your company go bust? You probably don’t have enough cash to keep waiting it out - so pull your head out of the sand, shake off the panic and go do what you do best: Sell homes. Help buyers. Grow your sales.
If you don’t know where all this growth is going to come from, maybe it’s time to look at the growing Hispanic market.
The Bailout will Destroy the Housing Industry
September 26, 2008
Only in the United States Congress can a plan to destroy the housing industry and credit markets be called a “rescue” plan. It’s almost as farcical as calling “card check” bill that effectively kills secret voting for unions a “secret ballot bill.” Far more troubling, however, is the fact that the elements of the plan are laid out - in plain sight - for everyone to see and think about.
Why, then, does the real estate industry and average homeowner, not see the danger?
When Companies Should Fail
September 25, 2008
America has become so obsessed with its financial crisis that people are forgetting the basic lessons of economics. You remember economics, don’t you? It’s the science of how markets work. Yet everyone is acting like it’s a “strange reason” why companies are losing money, people are losing their jobs, customers are fleeing their products and services. We all know that “customers are sitting on the sideline,” but nobody is willing to really ask why. We all just assume it’s because “credit is frozen,” whatever that means. And everywhere we turn, people are saying somebody must do something - fast, soon, now - because the market downturn is assumed to be “a fluke” - it’s “happening” to good companies and good people through no fault of their own. As if the laws of supply and demand - and the customer - didn’t apply to the “modern” economy.
Nobody is asking the basic question: Should these companies fail?
[Podcast Version]  |
Why do Brokers Hire Sellers?
September 24, 2008
(Podcast Version) Ask any broker today what his “number one” problem with the market conditions, and he’ll tell you either there’s too much inventory or it’s all overpriced. Granted, if sellers want to put their homes on the market, nothing can stop them, with so many “for sale by owner” options out there. But that still leaves the issue of the overpriced homes that are represented by brokers. And that begs the question:
Why are brokers hiring sellers to sell their own homes?
International Lessons on Real Estate
September 22, 2008
If you think it’s hard to sell real estate in America today, take a lesson from the Continent. After spending four days with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World in Rome, it’s become pretty clear that most American real estate agents have it “too easy.” Just try running your business when selling homes with “verbal commitments that are binding but broken without cause or recourse” and “you have six months to close” is the norm.
It’s about time American REALTORS figured out just how good they really have it.
Where is Your Government Bailout?
September 10, 2008
Over the weekend, the United States government tried to correct one mistake with another: Under intense pressure from foreign governments - especially the Chinese government who are the single largest investor in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - Uncle Sam took out its checkbook. With a flourish of the pen, the Treasury nationalized these failing financial behemoths. In the process, it wiped out any remaining common shareholder value, eliminated stockholder control over the company’s operations and fired (but will still pay millions in golden parachutes) one of the most inept management teams in the history of any undertaking.
In yet another stunning example of crisis management, lack of planning, and most of all - lack of leadership control of an organization - a pillar of both the real estate industry and the global economy itself crumbled. If the situation sounds a little too familiar to you, perhaps you’re wondering: Where’s my government bailout?
It’s the Housing Market, not the Stock Market
September 9, 2008
For some months, REALTORS have been fretting that buyers are “sitting on the sidelines” waiting for the market to “hit the bottom.” We constantly hear news reports with interviews of “savvy” sellers who are trying to “time the market just right” to get the most for their home’s sale while getting a “bargain” for their next home. Timing the market - to sell high, and buy cheap - is a strategy for buying and selling stocks or bonds.
But when it comes to housing, it’s the entirely wrong market model. It’s time REALTORS started saying so.
Another Cool Outlook Tool from Xobni
September 8, 2008
Recently a friend in the business send me an email suggesting I try out Xobni, a ‘must have’ plug-in for Microsoft Outlook. I always get a little skeptical about Outlook plug-ins, usually because they always end up causing my Outlook to “go funny.” Maybe there some code Microsoft puts in the program that says, “If anyone tries to add on a piece of software that REALLY makes Outlook work well, then sabotage it!” But in this case, it looks like the only quirks come during shut down, and even then I can’t be sure it’s Xobni’s fault.
I can say this: Xobni is something every busy Outlook user needs to check out!
What if Listings were Irrelevant?
September 5, 2008
Here’s a question that’s certain to be avoided by the real estate industry: What are you planning to do on the day that “taking a listing” becomes totally irrelevant? It’s coming, of course, and it’s not just because of a “housing recession” or any such calamity. Real estate based upon consumer needs, not actual “listings” will be the focus of the Next Generation of Real Estate.
And clearly nobody is prepared.
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- Why IDX is a Really Bad Idea
- A Difference of Six Words
- An Alternate Theory of the Market Crash
- Do you have the Success you Deserve?
- More Evidence the Bailout is a Handout - and a Lie
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- The Bailout will Destroy the Housing Industry
- When Companies Should Fail
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