Issue 40

The official newsletter of HUNT Real Estate Corporation

February 2012

Building a Book of Business

A message from Peter F. Hunt, Chairman & CEO
This is the last in my five-part series on what separates the successful from the not-so-successful real estate agents. Last month I discussed how we can anticipate market trends and in so doing, add value to our relationships with our customers and clients. In an earlier article some time ago, I wrote about the secrets to success in this industry, at least as they have been demonstrated or described to me by the elite of real estate. One of those secrets was to prospect regularly and on a schedule. Allow me to expand on this most important secret again. Years ago there was a movie about a real estate office, Glen Gary Glen Ross, where at one point the manager of the office said something to the effect that its about the leads. Real estate companies still try to sell agents on coming into the industry or leave their current company and join a new one because the company somehow controls a vast number of leads that its current agents are somehow unable to handle: Join us and well give you an endless supply of qualified buyers and sellers. We belong to the _________ referral or relocation network and we control all the incoming out-of-towners with great jobs and inflationary equity! Our website gets more hits, unique visitors, click-throughs and leads than our competitorssee, look at this chart. At our company, we even buy leads and we cant wait to just hand them over to you!

The all new HUNTREALESTATE.COM is here!

newsletters coming to your email from Peter Hunt weekly theres more great news in those as well! For more ideas on how to use this content to build your business, reach out to your Broker Consultant or our Career Development department for help. After a month of going live with the new HUNTREALESTATE.COM, our site visits are UP! Web Stats
Dec 30 2011 - Jan 30 2012

Hopefully you have all browsed the new look, features and tools of HUNTREALESTATE.COM, and shared some of these consumer-driven features with your clients and prospects. One feature worth spending some time on is the Real Estate Videos and Real Estate News section at the bottom of the home page. To win the Information Revolution is to become THE source of accurate and worthwhile content, and HUNT has given you that opportunity through our investment in Rismedias REIN (Real Estate Information Network). As the exclusive provider of this customized industry-specific content in our market area, HUNT agents have the chance to provide customers and clients with whats really going on in the industry. Feel free to share links to these videos and articles with your contacts, post to your blog or Facebook page, and start leading the charge towards educating the public! Keep reading the REIN

47,996 Unique Visitors (up from 47,127 for the same period the year prior) 816,389 Page Views (WAY up from 673,255 for the same period the year prior) 10.49 Pages/Visit (WAY up from 7.6 pages/visit for the same period the year prior) 48.32% New Visits (up from 41.15% for the same period the year prior)
Source: Google Analytics

Proshow Stats
January 2012

Our Customer Service Reps scheduled 4,611 showings within the past month!

Continued on inside cover

iPhone or Droid, the Final Chapter

The final chapter & comparison to help you decide which phone to choose!

Welcome Dave Evans!

Dave Evans takes on the role as General Manager in the Capital District!

Welcome to HUNT! Building a Book of Business... Continued from cover

One of our top agents, ____________, is building a team. Join us and well put you on her team. She has so many leads, youll be swimming in business in no time! Our better agents are always looking for someone to hold their listings open. Want to start fast or experiencing a slump? Join us and well put you in open houses every weekend guaranteed to be high-traffic. while building their own personal brand power in the market niche they choose to serve. At HUNT Real Estate, we believe that the most effective prospecting and marketing is a true partnership between the agent and the company. Since 1955 we have lead the industry in marketing our services to relocation management firms, generating listing and buy-side opportunities consistently for our agents. To serve the local corporate community, we developed an employee benefit program (On the House), free to the corporate client, that produces tangible financial benefits for all real estate and homeownership services. To prepare our agents, we educate on the most effective personal marketing systems, provide institutional support through our Marketing Department and train and coach on how to budget and execute a personal marketing and promotional campaign. We also offer concentrated, high-impact training on the fundamentals of prospecting, proven to increase an agents personal production and income. Among the benefits of all of this is that when you choose to retire from real estate business, you actually have a book of business that has real value. Well even show you how to monetize this valuable asset and continue to receive financial rewards for years to come. And it all begins with a personal marketing plan and the discipline of prospecting regularly and on a schedule. Talk with your Broker Consultant today about building your book of business!

The Greece branch welcomes Esther LaFontaine and Jack Kronenberg to the team. What sets Esther and Jack apart is that they do not take listings and do not represent sellers. Their focus is on the needs of the home buyer and providing them with the best service possible. Welcome to HUNT Esther & Jack! The Loudonville branch welcomes Jaime McCarthy to the team. Jaime is an experienced agent who holds the SFR designation specializing in short sales and foreclosures with a primary focus on residential real estate. Welcome to HUNT Jaime! The Loudonville branch also welcomes Ken Champagne & Joe Carusone to the team. Both were previously with RE/MAX. The S. Glen Falls Branch welcomes Sandy Austin & Stephanie Krzysik, formerly with Prudential. The Carthage Branch welcomes Shelby Lenten to the team. We would also like to welcome the following newly licensed agents from across the company: James Dunn from Hamburg, Dan Buccieri from Brighton-Pittsford, Marie Cancilla & John Scott Jones from Scottsdale, Stephanie Krzyski from South Glens Falls, Larry Clark from Webster, Bradly Zych from West Seneca and Julie Pfalzer from Akron.

We have an open floor time policy. Join us and well guarantee all kinds of floor time. We advertise so much that our phone rings off the hook. Our office is so well-located that buyers are regularly walking in looking for an agent. The intent of any of these statements and countless others is to lead agents to think that they dont have to generate their own leads. The result of this kind of company promotion internally and externally is that the vast majority of real estate agents in this country simply dont prospect or market themselves and the services of their company, relying almost solely on their center of influence, distributing (maybe) seasonal postcards, calendars or refrigerator magnets. Examining the practices of the industrys elite agents, it is easy to see why they command significant market shares: they prospect regularly and on a schedule. They have significant personal marketing budgets and they employ methods not unique to our industry, but are proven to be effective. And they leverage the brand power of their company

Coming Soon to a cell phone near you!

Be on the look-out for a new technology, soon to be joining the long list of HUNT tools and resources for agents. This ones both high-tech and high-touch, delivering quality leads to you, the agent, in whatever method your customers prefer. Whether it is through voice, text, or mobile web, this new HUNT tool will deliver a customer lead to you immediately all through the power of one innovative technology! More details to follow so stay tuned, and stay glued to your cell phones! Curb-side Lead Generation Here's how ...

News Around Our Regions

Arizona
This months region news for Arizona serves to illustrate just how local real estate is! Short Sales represent 32% of the Closings for December and 36% of the active Listings, for 3.9 Months of Supply. Distressed Sales (Short Sales and REOs combined) accounted for 59% of the regions total sales for December. REO property sales have dropped to 27% of the sales from 30% last month. The listing success rate for Short Sales is 60.8%! Closings are up 2% in December vs. November, and up 12% over December of 2010 (units are up 9%). Reality Check: The Median Sold Price for Maricopa County for December 2011 was $129,214. In December 2006, the Median Sold Price was $265,000! Luxury: The Luxury Market of $1.0 Million and above continues to be the lowest absorption rate of any market segment. There was a 6% absorption rate for the month of December. Only 66 properties in all of the MLS were sold for more than $1.0 million.

Buffalo/Niagara
Buffalo region is proud to announce that our own Lisa Avery was named REALTOR-Associate of the Year by the Buffalo/ Niagara Board of REALTORS! This prestigious award is to acknowledge exemplary service and participation to the real estate industry, the community and the BNAR. Congratulations, Lisa, on this amazing achievement you deserve it!

Capital District
It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the New Year! Shortly after ringing in 2012, we welcomed some new agents to the Capital team: Ken Champagne & Joe Carusone, previously with RE/MAX, and Jaime McCarthy from CB Prime all joined our Loudonville office. Sandy Austin & Stephanie Krzysik, formerly with Prudential, joined our Glen Falls office. As HUNT grows in the Capital Region (sometimes referred to as Tech Valley,) the communities around us are also growing. Everyone knows that the state capital and a large share of its workforce reside in and around Albany. Additionally our area boasts of 21 colleges with 65,000 students & staff. While discussing the Capital Region economy with a friend once, he said our highs arent too high and our lows arent too low; we attribute this to our large state workforce and numerous colleges which have always been a stabilizing force in the area economy. What most people dont know is that Tech Valley is home to the largest construction project in the US. In Malta (between Albany & Saratoga Springs) Global Foundries is starting the 2nd phase of construction on their $4.2 Billion computer chip plant, to manufacture the worlds most advanced wafer computer chips. The plant and its supporting businesses are resulting in one of the largest job growth and relocation opportunities in our states history. With HUNTs rich tradition of being a leader in relocation, we are all excited about this new opportunity in our back yard. The Capital Region team is eager to get to know team members from other areas in the company, so if you are coming to town or passing through town, make sure to stop by one of our offices and say Hi!

Syracuse
The CNY region has been abuzz with excitement as our new office was opened in Oneida at 730 Lenox Ave. We have 1600 square feet, and a very open floor plan. We have one largeAgent room in the back with 9 cubicles and a large round meeting table. There are no individual offices at all! There are three different meeting areas for Agents andclients, plus 2 Agent work areas with desktop computers and a laptop bar, where Agents can work with wireless. It isdecorated very trendywith dark cherry wood andbeautiful granite counters - compliments of the previous business that was in here! Broker Consultant Mary Rouse believes this is what the office of the future looks like, and invites everyone to visit because you really have to see it in person to appreciate how beautiful it turned out!

Rochester
Rochester Leaders are on Board! The Greater Rochester Board of REALTORS, that is! Ellen DeMar, BC from Perinton and Jim Sauer, Co-BC in the Brighton/Pittsford office, have been appointed to the Industry Advocacy Committee for GRAR. Laurie Dietrich, BC in the Webster office, has been appointed to the Professional Development GRAR committee. Brighton/Pittsford Co-BC Catherine Peters is a member of the Agents Fair committee. In other news the Webster office has been collecting non-perishable food for the Webster Community Food Cupboard. The office has also been named a Penfield Rotary Partner for their contributions to the local Rotary International organization events.

The Syracuse region congratulates David Manzano Jr., a sales associate with the Camillus office, for winning this years Shining Star award from the Greater Syracuse Association of REALTORS. Way to go, David, you are OUR shining star too!

Recognizing our ERA Real Estate 2012 IBC Top Sales Agents of the Month
December 2011
Buffalo/Niagara
Amherst / Judy Jack Lewis East Aurora / Rosa McCabe Hamburg / Candy Koch KenTon / Karen Loffredo Lancaster / Ann & Ed Dunning Lockport / Kevin Jordan & Jason Castricone Metropolitan / Ellen Daly Orchard Park / Barb Janish West Seneca / Peter Scarcello Wheatfield / Jennifer Schreckengost Williamsville-Clarence / Michael Burke Williamsville Village / Joe Trifilo

Rochester
Brighton-Pittsford / Peter Palermo Canandaigua / Sandi VanCamp Greece / Molly Nolan Perinton / John Denniston Webster / Doug DeMar

The countdown to this years IBC conference in New Orleans continues, and there is still time to join your colleagues at this powerful skill-building and networking event. With impactful seminars conducted by industry leaders, your real estate expertise is sure to grow - not to mention your database of referral prospects when you interact with fellow ERA agents from around the world! For more information and to register for the conference, visit ibcera2012.com NOW before its too late!

"New Orleans will be my 9th ERA IBC. The information at the break out sessions is fantastic! I usually attend 1 to 3 sessions and get great tips on how to deal with unreasonable sellers regarding pricing. One speaker used a fishing analogy to explain why we should price their home where most of the fish are swimming to get the highest price, not by pricing it high. My business has increased by 5 to 7 deals since I started going to the ERA IBC. Just listening to experts in our field has increased my confidence and my sales ability." Maureen Prinzbach - Lancaster Branch

Welcome, Dave Evans!

Please join the HUNT Leadership Team and everyone in the Capital region in welcoming Dave Evans to our organization. Dave was recently appointed to the position of General Manager for the Albany region, and brings a wealth of knowledge and 20 years of real estate experience to the team. Evans began his real estate career in 1989, and by 1994 had risen to a regional manager position overseeing branch operations and training for his brokerage. After holding leadership positions at this and other Albany real estate organizations, Evans went on to form his own brokerage and over a 7-8 year period organically built and recruited to make it the areas fastest growing real estate company. Evans accreditations include GRI, CRS, ABR, CRB and Certified Distress Property Specialist (CDPE). He is a Business Reviews 40 under 40 recipient, and was named one of RISMedias top 300 brokers in 2007. He is a former Director of the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS, and has held director positions for the Albany Medical Center Foundation Board and the Albany Chapter Entrepreneurs organization. Dave can be reached at dave.evans@huntrealestate.com or by calling 518-495-8500. Welcome aboard, Dave!

Syracuse / Carthage-Watertown
Camillus / Beth Losty Cazenovia / Brian Coughlin Cicero / Shane Tibbitts Fayetteville-DeWitt / Tom O'Hara Liverpool / Sarah Collins Manlius / Liz & Dan Gaulin Oneida / Ryan Kirch Carthage-Watertown / Erin Meyer

Capital District
Loudonville / Tony Huynh S. Glens Falls / Jennifer Ball Saratoga Springs / Felicia Cervera

Arizona
Phoenix / Sharon Bickford

iPhone or Droid, the Final Chapter

A message from Carlos Pegado, VP and Chief Technology Officer
4 million people purchased the iPhone 4S in the first weekend of its release and was temporarily sold out on all 3 carrier partners - that's when you know your product is doing well. Over the last two months, we compared the iPhone & the Android in the areas of: Ease of Use, Communications & Social Tools. Let's end this series by comparing the major tactical areas: INTERFACE: The iPhone row-of-icons interface is rather simple, not very creative but its ease of use helps, especially for first-time smartphone users. While the Droid displays a far more sophisticated interface integrating widgets and flexible arrangement of icons, it can also be more confusing. From my perspective, simplicity will always win. MULTITASKING: With the iPhone you double-press the Home button and swipe to either side to switch apps. To shut down apps, you press & hold the screen and tap the X next to that app's icon. On the Droid you must long press the Home button, but then you might only see the subset of all your running apps, and you can't close your apps from this view. Again, this is more confusing and as stated earlier, simplicity will win. SCREEN SIZE AND QUALITY: The iPhone still has the 3.5 inch screen size, but the LCD's resolution is higher than most Droid phones. This means the display is crisper & brighter. However, bigger screens are easier on the eyes & you wont need to zoom in as much to read text. The Droid line recently introduced phones using Super Amoled displays, like the Samsung Galaxy S II & the Droid Razr which offer better contrasts and more vibrant colors. Coupled with a much larger screen (varying from 4.3 inches and up) these phones dwarf the iPhone. KEYBOARD AND TYPING: This is the most surprising factor from my perspective; the iPhone's multitouch keyboard remains one of the best in the market, despite the much smaller display. Whether on landscape or portrait mode, I can type quickly and more accurately than on the keyboard of a much larger Droid screen. That's because with Droid phones, keyboards tend to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I love the Swype keyboard (easily available on the marketplace as a download) and some Droid phones come with physical keyboards. WEB AND DATA SPEEDS: Here the clear winner for now is Droid phones, with access to 4G networks - there is just no comparison because 4G speeds are double and sometimes 4X faster than the iPhones 3G network speeds. But, 4G networks can drain your battery very quickly. Youll need to buy extended batteries, which will change the form, size & weight of your device. THE FINAL CHAPTER: And then, Steve Jobs gave us SIRI the iPhone's most coveted feature, Apple's secret weapon. Only the iPhone 4S has SIRI, a voice-controlled assistant that through the use of artificial intelligence understands context - it's like youre having a conversation! Ultimately, it comes down to what you value most in a smartphone. Ease of use: the iPhone 4S cant be beat. SIRI: the iPhone 4S is the phone you are looking for. Blazing high-speeds that 4G networks offer: then you want a Droid (at least for now). If its a phone that you want to pimp it up - in other words fully customize the interface so that your phone is very unique, very you, then the Droid is the phone for you.

The Downside of the Payroll Tax Cut

The recent extension of the payroll tax cut may sound like good news for your paycheck, however it has brought about some negative consequences for the housing industry. The lost revenue from this tax cut must be made up somehow, and Congress has opted to pass on part of the cost to homebuyers. On April 12th, housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be increasing their guarantee fee currently charged to mortgage originators by 0.1%. This cost will ultimately be passed along in the form of a higher interest rate to those who are looking to purchase or refinance a home. While the increase in the guarantee fee sounds small, some experts are predicting it could actually result in a rate increase of up to .5%. This could certainly outweigh any benefit the borrower may receive from the tax cut over the term of the loan. This news also lessens the chance of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being phased out as initially planned. By turning them into a new and consistent source of revenue over the next ten years, it is unlikely that they will continue to decrease their presence in the mortgage market. Many critics of this new initiative are concerned about this new use of the guarantee fee. This fee that was originally designed to help offset the risk that is taken on when backing a mortgage is now shifted to becoming just another revenue source for the government.

Save The Date for the next Business Leaders Meeting!

Join us at the quarterly Business Leaders Meeting with Randall Standard, CEO and founder of Voicepad. Details coming soon!
Buffalo/Niagara Region - Tuesday, March 20
Millenium Hotel 8:30a Coffee - 9a Meeting 2040 Walden Avenue Cheektowaga, NY 14225

Rochester Region - Tuesday, March 20

Eagle Vale Golf Club 1p Coffee - 1:30p Meeting 4344 Nine Mile Point Road Fairport, N Y 14450

Syracuse Region - Wednesday, March 21

Craftsman Inn 9:30a coffee - 10a Meeting 7300 East Genesee Street Fayetteville, NY 13066

HUNT Mortgage Benefits

By Linda Mallia, President - HUNT Mortgage You know that you can call one phone number and reach everyone who is working on your file. There is also your Mortgage Consultant who works long hours to help guide both you and your buyer through their entire mortgage experience. If you have not yet been referring your buyers to get pre-qualified by a HUNT Mortgage Consultant, you may not know that in addition to providing the highest quality of service available, we also shop a variety of lenders to ensure that your buyer is getting the absolute best rate that they qualify for. I would like to thank all of our agents who have given us the opportunity to assist their customers with their mortgage needs. If you are still not convinced that HUNT Mortgage is the best option for your buyers, please call me at (716) 633-3700 x3106 to find out more about how we can help you and your business.

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As we finish celebrating HUNT Real Estate reaching its 100th year as a family owned company, I would like to remind you of the benefits you can bring to your customers by keeping them in the HUNT family of services. HUNT Mortgage continues the same personalized service that begins with our agents. Our staff of in-house processors, underwriters, and closing associates treats every file as if it were their own mortgage. What does this mean for you? This continuation of KYSO (knock your socks off) service greatly reduces the amount of stress and frustration that can come from some of the larger lenders. This makes your customers happier at the end of the process. This re-enforces our HUNT brand. In addition to making your customers more satisfied, HUNT Mortgage also makes everything run smoothly for you, the agent.

For more information on this vendor and to search all of the services available through The Realty Club, visit us at huntrealestate.com.

The 2011 Annual Awards Program has arrived!

Did You Make the Club?

164 HUNT Real Estate ERA agents worked hard enough over the holidays to qualify for membership in our 100 Club, and will be gathering soon at an event in their region to celebrate and be recognized for their dedication. Thank you to all who participated in this businessbuilding event, and be sure to keep the momentum going as 2012 gets underway. When the economy and the real estate market challenge us, HUNT agents buckle down and get busy. With the right tools, the most extensive services, and the strongest support network around, we have the chance to SHINE when it comes to serving our customers and clients. Keep up the great work, and stay focused on your goals! The 2011 Annual Awards Program is here! Have you checked it out yet? View the interactive program online and share the good news! E-mail it to your family, friends & contacts, post it on your Facebook page and more! You can even print a copy of your own to have a record of your accomplishments. View the 2011 Annual Awards Program TODAY!

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