CB Tax Credit Promotion is Great PR, But Poor Solution for Sellers

Coldwell Banker is launching a "Buyer Bonus Sales Event", which will attempt to build on the momentum created by the Federal Government's buyer tax credit.  The government tax credit helped breath life into the sagging real estate market and it seems like a brilliant ploy to come up with a way to keep the party going.

The program provides a credit toward closing costs of up to 3% of the purchase price or a maximum of $8,000. CB will do national advertising and provide a place on their website where you can search properties enrolled in the program. It sounds brilliant, and it is.

But when you read the fine print, it turns out that the seller is paying the price.That's right, CB pays for the advertising and the seller pays for the closing cost credit. So before any buyer approaches a seller, CB agents will put their sellers in a weakened negotiating position.

"If you look at this program," states Doug Ayers, President and CEO of Koenig & Strey, "it is really done to draw attention to CB, not listings. It actually does little to nothing to bring attention to sellers’ properties or assist the buyer any more than a buyer negotiating a closing cost credit with the seller upon making an offer. I am not sure a lot of sellers will feel good about the fact the company is putting them in a less desirable negotiating position even before a buyer submits an offer."

It is a great marketing ploy by CB but you must ask the question, is it in their client's best interest?

Koenig & Strey Website Shows Off the New Brand

As we move closer to our goal of completing our rebranding of Koenig & Strey, today we launch the new logo on our website. Since launching the new brand on March 22 we have come a long way. Our yard signs are in the process of converting and will be done by May 2. Business card orders are now being shipped. New marketing materials are posted on the Intranet and will soon be posted on ToolKit. Our rebranding has been enthusiastically embraced by Koenig & Strey agents and there is anew feeling of progress and optimism in our company. Koenig & Strey is on the road to great achievements as we grow our marketshare and create new ways for our agents to grow their business. This is a fantastic time to be part of the Koenig & Strey story!

Flowtown.com: A Great Social Networking Tool

Ever wonder what social networking groups your contacts use? There is now a way to find out and to set up drip marketing campaigns to your contacts through their favorite social networking sites. Flowtown.com is a site that allows you to track the social networks that your contacts are using. Simply upload a csv. file of your contacts and in a few minutes you’ll see each of your contacts with icons after their names indicating the social networking sites they subscribe to. They include newspaper sites and Amazon.com.

Why is this valuable? Effective marketing means that you are putting your message in front of your target demographic. In the age of print only advertising figuring out exactly where your target demographic was spending their time was a hit or miss affair. Now with tools like Flowtown.com the guessing game is over. You can know on an ongoing basis where your clients are spending their time and what media they are using. And it is very easy to use!

One caution is not to overdo it. Don’t bombard people with messages that will turn them off. There is a fine line between staying top of mind and being a nuisance. Remember that social media is about having a conversation and developing long term relationships.

Housing Starts and Permits Rise

NAHB April 16, 2010 - Nationwide housing starts rose for a third consecutive month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units from an upwardly revised February number, according to figures released today by the U.S. Commerce Department. The rate of permit issuance for new housing construction also rose by a solid 7.5 percent in the month, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units.

“After an uncertain couple of months, home builders are gradually getting back to what they do best as the spring home buying season commences and consumers return to the market,” said Bob Jones, Chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. “While we still have a long way to go, today’s numbers are an indication that builders are looking down the road with a bit more optimism.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE.

At Long Last, Job Growth Emerges

(NAHB April 16, 2010) To many, the economic recovery so far has seemed to be more talk than reality. Economists have been rolling out one positive statistic after another to suggest that the recovery process is underway, but that hasn’t been sufficient to convince those clamoring to know where the jobs are.

Unfortunately, employment is a lagging indicator, so we’ve had to wait for any improvement on this crucial front for housing and the economy; the good news is that at long last some encouragement can be derived from the job statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported for March the first significant increase in monthly employment since December 2007 — with a gain of 162,000 jobs at a seasonally adjusted rate. Further, revisions to previous months showed that the situation had stabilized, with virtually no change in employment from December to March following average losses of more than 200,000 per month last fall. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

Quoted in the Daily Herald

Great deals to be found in more affluent communities
By Jean Murphy

The real estate market in the Chicago area is improving. That is the good news, according to Mark Pullinger, vice president of media, marketing and technology for Koenig and Strey, GMAC Real Estate.

The bad news is that distressed properties are driving the market and are continuing to hold prices down, he added.

"We are definitely in a recovering market," Pullinger, 52, said. "2009 was a year of struggle because of significant fallout from the near-market crash in 2008. Revenues were down because the sales just weren't there." CLICK HERE FOR MORE

HomeServices of America, Inc.TM Announces Acquisition of Elmhurst, Illinois-Based Schiller Real Estate

Schiller merges with Chicago-based Koenig & Strey, expanding the company’s footprint in the Greater Chicago residential real estate market

MINNEAPOLIS (April 07, 2010) – HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate (www.homeservices.com) and the nation’s second-largest and most financially sound homeownership service provider, announces the acquisition of Elmhurst, Ill.-based Schiller Real Estate, Elmhurst’s leading residential real estate firm.
Schiller Real Estate will merge with Chicago-based Koenig & Strey Real Living (www.koenigstrey.com), which HomeServices acquired in September 2009. The location will be referred to as the Koenig & Strey-Schiller Office.
The acquisition furthers HomeServices’ goal of expanding Koenig & Strey’s footprint within the greater Chicago market and surrounding communities and reinforces the strength, stability and financial solvency of Koenig & Strey.
Founded in 1970, Schiller is one of the Midwest’s leading residential real estate boutique firms with 70 associates and staff.
The merged organizations make Koenig & Strey the third-largest residential real estate firm in dollar volume of transactions within the greater Chicago market. Koenig & Strey will now have 22 locations and 1,000 agents and staff.
“The acquisition of Schiller, and joining that organization with Koenig & Strey, further strengthens our presence in Chicago,” said Ron Peltier, chairman & CEO of HomeServices. “Our goal is to grow the Koenig & Strey brand through the company’s ongoing sales and marketing process, as well as through strategic acquisitions with symbiotic organizations.”
“This is an important step in expanding Koenig & Strey’s footprint within key suburban Chicago markets,” added Koenig & Strey president Doug Ayers. “This opens a completely new market for us, and, with Schiller’s strength in the Elmhurst community, immediately positions our continued growth.”

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“We are very proud to be a part of HomeServices of America and Koenig & Strey,” noted Schiller Real Estate co-founder Bob Schiller. “We are joining an organization consistent with our high standards of service and integrity, making this a win/win for our customers and associates.”
“Bob and Anne Schiller have done an outstanding job of building a highly respected organization and we look forward to their continued association with us,” concluded Peltier.


About HomeServices of America
HomeServices of America, Inc. (www.homeservices.com), based in Minneapolis, Minn., is the second-largest homeownership service provider and the most financially sound real estate company in the United States. Owned by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a consolidated subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., HomeServices’ operating companies offer integrated real estate services, including brokerage services, mortgage originations, title and closing services, property and casualty insurance, home warranties and other homeownership services. HomeServices Relocation, LLC is the full-service relocation arm of HomeServices of America which provides every aspect of domestic and international relocation to corporations around the world. HomeServices operates in 20 states under the following residential real estate brand names: Carol Jones REALTORS; CBSHOME Real Estate; Champion Realty Inc.; Edina Realty; EWM REALTORS; Harry Norman, REALTORS; HOME Real Estate; Huff Realty; Iowa Realty; Koenig & Strey Real Living; Long Companies; Prudential California Realty; Prudential Carolinas Realty; Prudential First Realty; Prudential York Simpson Underwood; RealtySouth; Rector-Hayden REALTORS; Reece & Nichols; Roberts Brothers Inc.; Semonin REALTORS and Woods Bros. Realty. Information about HomeServices and the locations of its subsidiary companies is available at www.homeservices.com.
About Koenig & Strey
Koenig & Strey Real Living (www.koenigstrey.com) has approximately 900 sales associates, throughout 21 offices, serving the communities in Chicago, the North Shore, Lake County and the western suburbs. Koenig & Strey is the exclusive Chicago affiliate of Christie's Great Estates, the largest network of luxury independent real estate firms in the world.

WWW.KOENIGSTREY.COM

Well, it's official. The first step towards our new identity has been taken as Koenig & Strey changes its website domain name from ksgmac.com to www.koenigstrey.com. This makes our name instantly recognisable on the Internet and moves further down the road of developing a stronger brand.

This change will no doubt lower our search engine rankings for a while, but is well worth the cost. Our agents are ecstatic at this new direction. We are well along in our conversion to our new brand announced two weeks ago. Today's announcement is but a step along the way to our goal of making Koenig & Strey the finest real estate brokerage in Chicago.