Do you have a business plan?

Dear Members,

October and November are busy months for us at GHAR! As the largest local association in CT and the second largest local association in New England, we are organized like a business. That means we also plan like one. This is the time of year that we get budgets squared away, we approve plans for 2011, and we transition to 2011 leadership. We do all of this to help you be successful during the coming year.

The strategic or business plan is the ‘brain’ part of the Association. It’s our guide throughout the year so that we make sure our goals are met. Most experts agree that behind every successful business, there is a plan. I’ve been actively meeting with our the Leadership Team, our Board of Directors and committees to identify some of the best ways to help you to improve your business. Below are just a few ideas our leadership has brainstormed:

• Enhancing the value of your membership in GHAR by providing new products and services.
• Building relationships with other housing related organizations and associations
• Identifying areas of knowledge that are necessary for members to be successful as the marketplace evolves
• Formulating an awareness for the need for enhanced professionalism in the real estate profession
• Finding ways to build our influence throughout the Greater Hartford community

These are high level ideas and we are working hard to come up with creative ways to implement all of them. As a REALTOR® and small business owners, do you have a business plan for the upcoming year? Here's an interesting article that discusses this very topic: www.marketing-tools-for-real-estate.com/Realtor-Business-Plan.html. If you have a plan, tell us about it! We’d love to have you share with our readers and give us some feedback about what you do to make your business successful.

-Jeff Arakelian

Volunteers = Awesome

Finally, it’s my turn again and boy, have I got stuff to tell you! First, I’m going to let you in on a secret. As fun as writing press releases, newsletters, and email blasts can be… nothing gets my blood pumping like working with the Community Involvement Committee! There. I said it. It’s true that a majority of my duties deal with writing but the things GHAR has accomplished through getting out and helping communities really makes me proud. I hope after reading this post, you’ll be proud, too!

Wednesday, September 29th, marked the first GHAR-organized REALTOR® volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity. What a day! The weather was picture perfect and our 13 volunteers were ready help build not only a house, but a community. 16 Sexton St. in New Britain was our ‘office’ for the day and we eagerly picked up paint brushes, screw drivers and safety goggles instead of a cell phone, a pen or a laptop. It still warms my heart to think about REALTORS® coming together to help put finishing touches on a neighborhood that is in need of just that type of special attention.

 

We painted trim, hung blinds, shoveled gravel, stacked boards, vacuumed floors and left with a satisfied smile because we were able to give back. So often it seems that REALTORS® are thought of in terms of commission rates but not on that day. Nope, on that day we were able to show a community that REALTORS® are so much more! That is what makes me so proud not only to work at GHAR but also to be a part of the Community Involvement Committee.

Stay tuned for more great things from this committee like the upcoming Foreclosure Prevention forum that is paid for by grant money received from NAR. It’s open to the public so please help spread the word! GHAR is hosting a free seminar at our headquarters taking place this Saturday, October 9th, at 11am. We have foreclosure experts speaking and lawyers volunteering their time to help anyone with questions about this very complicated process.

So... are you proud yet? :)

Special thanks to: Linda Berkowitz, Prudential CT Realty; Shelley Gentile, Prudential CT Realty; Arlevia Williams, CHFA; Nelly Kinahan, Prudential CT Realty; Gene Bolles, Prudential CT Realty; Lisa Lepore, ERA Broder Group; Brenda Baldino, ERA Broder Group; Jeremy Joslin, Coldwell Banker; Eve Stricklett, Wiliam Raveis; Marianne Latimer, Prudential CT Realty; Thomas Burr, William Raveis

Technology That Helps Your Business

Hi, I’m Christian, the Director of Information Technology for GHAR. I’m the official techie for the Association and it’s my duty to keep the network at our office running smoothly. When Keara, our Communications Director asked to me write something for the blog, I pondered what should I write about since Technology encompasses a wealth of information.

I thought about writing commentary on what’s going on in the tech world, writing reviews of products I personally purchased, or providing instructions on how to accomplish something. I decided not to write about news items because my turn to write for the blog comes up every six weeks or so and that wouldn’t be timely. Now I’m left to either writing how-to’s or reviews and I thought there are plenty of those types of blogs on the Internet already.

I looked at a number of technology blogs to see what other techies were writing. The publications I read published by MIT (Cambridge, MA) and IEEE (a professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation) are great, but they’re geared for academics, scientists and engineers.

So I thought I would share a few of my favorite technology blogs for the average person: “All Things Digital” written by Walter Mossberg and Kara Swisher for the Wall Street Journal, “Pogue’s Posts” written by David Pogue and “Bits” written by eleven contributors for the New York Times. What’s great about these blogs is that these authors write so that everyone can understand.

On my quest to find a technology blog that relates to the real estate industry, I found a technology blog on NAR’s website. On their blog was “a quick fun video created” at the NAR convention held last year in San Diego “about technology and its role on the member” called “How Technology Affects You!” published by Chris McKeever.

If you’re interested in making technology work for you as a real estate professional, there’s a great conference recommended by Todd Carpenter; author of the “Geek’s Guide to #NARdiGras.” The two-day conference, REtechSouth will be held next Spring in Duluth, Georgia (near Atlanta). It’s for “real estate industry professionals looking to incorporate new technologies and best practices of existing technologies into their overall business strategy.” National instructor, Amy Chorew, will speak at REtechSouth. If you can’t attend the conference, go to the West Region event “Leverage Your Listings: Get More In Return For Your Online Marketing” where she will instruct this CE elective on November 12th at the Golf Club of Avon.

If you have a radio, tune in to the weekly radio show REtechRadio. “It’s a fast paced 30 minutes of real estate technology tips, insight, interviews, and conversation” hosted by Ken Cook on Thursdays at 12:00 pm EST.

REtechSouth and RETSO the robot can be found on Facebook.

MLS Answers from the MLS Director

I’m Shelley LaPaugh, Director of MLS for GHAR and this is my very first attempt at a blog entry. I hope to be blogging regularly and I am looking forward to reading your questions and comments!

I’ve been in the real estate business for 23 years, ten as a practicing REALTOR® and thirteen with GHAR handling MLS issues. I am also the staff liaison to the South Region Committee, which bring classes, events, and programs to local venues south of Hartford. But, my main focus is providing support for all things MLS to you, our members.

I get calls from some of you everyday about a range of MLS topics; from Legal questions to “MLS won’t let me in!” Just today I received an interesting call I’d like to share with you.
An agent wanted to put MLS listings on a personal website. The agent had spoken to other agents (who already had listings on their websites) and asked them how they did it. Then, after the agent followed the advice, months were spent on getting written approval from the company broker to get an internet data exchange (IDX) data feed from MLS.

Unfortunately, this agent wasted a lot of time and effort, because the other agents must have set up their websites years ago and didn’t know that the technology and the rules had changed. Today adding MLS data to either your MLXchange website or an independent website is simple. Your personal link to a frameable IDX site already exists under your website settings on MLXchange. Just go to Settings/Personalize/Website Management and then click on the Website domain button. A list of the URLs is displayed there.

Getting information from your fellow REALTORS® is great. There is a wealth of experience there just waiting to be tapped. But, when dealing with MLS issues, it’s best to refer to GHAR. Don’t waste your precious time! We have up-to-date information that will help you navigate the MLS, and everything it has to offer, that will help make your business more efficient.

GHAR = Go Hug A Realtor® (Part I)

I’m Susy Hurlbert, Director of Executive Services here at GHAR. Cool title, huh? Now I'm sure you’re wondering what that means, right? Well, in a nutshell, it means I have my hands in a lot of different areas at the association. I’m a jack of all trades, in a way. I am the staff liaison to GHAR’s Professional Standards, Grievance, Legal Awareness and West Region committees. In fact, there is so much to tell you about all of these areas that I have to split it into two blog entries! So keep an eye out for part II next month.

All of the areas mentioned earlier give me great insight to Realtors and here is what I’ve learned…. REALTORS® are a delightful, enterprising, creative, giving, smart bunch of professionals who like to have a pulse on their community. They have great sense of style, like to dress to impress, and love a good party. I’ve noticed that what drives a REALTOR® is a genuine desire to help their clients. REALTORS® are astute linguists, contracticians, mathematicians, and they expect and receive the very best from each other when it comes to professionalism.

Of course most of you reading this already know all that so here’s something you might not – let’s talk about me because I have the coolest job at GHAR! One of my favorite things to do is take Professional Standards phone calls. I get to hear a laundry list of all the unfortunate things that REALTORS® get accused of doing, such as:

• Leaving a door open for the sellers cat to escape
• Giving a key without permission so a buyer can start moving in before the closing date
• Not presenting an offer that is too ridiculous to waste time on
• Buyers who are mad that their deposits aren’t being returned right away
• Clients who want to switch Realtors but don’t realize their contract is legal and binding or switched Realtor’s and now want to vilify them to justify ignoring their contractual obligations

Recently I’ve had a couple instances this year where the “letter” of the law has met the “spirit” of the law when grammatical mistakes in the MLS have given rise to ethics and/or arbitration complaints. In these lean times, be careful what you write especially when it comes to offers of compensation! If you have a question or aren’t sure if you are following the Code of Ethics, give me a call (860.561.1800). If you need the forms to file a complaint, click here. Want to brush up on the Code of Ethics, click here!
BTW, my Grievance Committee is just as enthusiastic as I am about this work, and I am always impressed by the professionalism of those who serve on Professional Standards, especially the Hearing Chairs who lead the process with fairness and skill as though they were born for the bench.

Stay tuned for part II to find out the rest of the fun I get to have everyday! Please let me know if you have questions or concerns – I’d love to hear from you! Until next time… Happy home sales!

New fall education courses!

Dear Valued Members,

Welcome to my first post on the new GHAR Blog! What another great way to communicate with you, our members! I am Gina Micelotta, the Director of Member Services here at GHAR and one of the most important things I can do is listen to our membership. I hope to gather some great information from you right through this blog!!!

Did you know that we have a Member Services Committee for the association that is responsible for the programs, products and services that we offer to the members? This committee comes up with ideas on education, events, affinity discounts and so much more. The committee serves as your representative for all things education. Coming up this fall, we have some exciting new professional development courses to help you grow your business. NAR has written an important new outline “HAFA-Short Sales-The Complete Course” watch for details this coming fall.
We are also offering two regional legal updates to bring new information to you.

Even though our Member Services Committee does a great job bringing us fresh ideas, we still need to hear from you! Please let me know if there is a topic, area of interest, or a part of business that you want to know more about. Visit http://www.gharonline.com/ for an education schedule and/or event updates.

I am always available to hear your ideas so don’t hesitate to contact me. We are here to support and enhance your knowledge and your business!

What do you need in 2011?

Hello members!

Thank you for taking the time to follow our BLOGGHAR! I'm excited at the opportunity for us to let you know what's going on with the association as well as to get your input. Mike Tracy, our 2011 Chair of the Board, and I were able to hear all about this type of communication at the yearly NAR Leadership Summit in Chicago just last week. This is an exciting time of year as we look to generate new ways to help your business as well as align our goals with the National and State associations. We had the opportunity to hear from great leaders in the real estate industry from all over the country who touched on a few of these hot button issues:

• New NAR marketing campaign: "What Matters Most". Launched in May, supports NAR’s members by educating consumers about the benefits of homeownership and buying opportunities in a changing real estate market
• Lots of reports and member surveys! 47,000 random REALTORS® were surveyed via email and 78% of you have Facebook accounts and about 40% thought social networking was good for business
• Building effective relationships with lawmakers and the media by using talking points to deliver NAR's position and perspective
• Available tools to help you, our membership: 'Rookies' (http://www.realtor.org/toolkits/forrookies), 'Master Series' videos (http://www.realtor.org/rmosales_and_marketing/articles/2009/masters_series), Home design trends (http://styledstagedsold.blogs.realtor.org/)
• Real Estate market update from NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun and the Economists' Outlook section of the NAR website: http://www.realtor.org/research/research_commentary

...and so much more!

The summit is perfectly timed because just two weeks ago, the GHAR Board of Directors and committee leadership sat down with staff to soak up the vast knowledge from Belton Jennings (http://www.linkedin.com/in/beltonjennings). Belton is the former CEO of the 12,000 member Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association and the managing shareholder for the Mid-Florida Regional Multiple Listing Service (MFRMLS) which serves 29,000 real estate professionals throughout Central Florida.

We were able to pick his brain for a full day of strategic planning! What a creative day with great ideas from your peers on the Board of Directors. The lively discussions and brainstorming were inspiring! Mike Tracy and I hope to share even more ideas and initiatives with you as we sort through all of the great information from the National Summit.

Please use this opportunity to tell us ways we can better serve you. Do you have an idea on a program you'd like considered? How about a kind of event that would help your business? Post a response and let us know!!!

We're here to help you become the best in the business!
-Jeff

GHAR President and CEO