You may recognize Timothy Ho, SRES, as the “30 Under 30” Readers’ Choice winner who brought in an astounding 250,000 online votes. In addition to having his own brisk sales business, Ho, 26, had a hand in almost every one of the Energized Realty Group’s 170 sales transactions in 2011. As a four-year veteran of the business and manager of the team’s buyer specialists, Ho coaches team members in time management, strategic thinking, and productivity. “I have the ability to step out of the transaction and look at it from a different perspective,” says Ho, a former accountant with Deloitte Touche in New York. To accommodate the team’s varying levels of comfort with technology, Ho devised a prospecting database system that’s both simple to use and sophisticated enough to handle the 200 to 300 calls his office receives each month.
Tip: “Be honest, work hard, keep learning and success will follow.”
Brokers, MLSs get more control over display of property data
By Inman News Inman News®
Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Popular real estate search and valuation portal Zillow is launching a program designed to improve listing data accuracy on its site through what it says will be mutually beneficial partnerships with brokers and multiple listing services.
“Zillow is committed to partnering with MLSs and brokers to get reliable and timely information to its more than 32 million unique users each month,” said Bob Bemis, Zillow’s vice president of industry relations, in a statement.
“We have a common goal to provide accurate listings for the benefit of agents and consumers.”
Zillow recently hired Bemis and Phoenix-based broker and blogger Jay Thompson as part of its partner outreach team in an effort to improve its relations with brokers and MLSs.
Under the Zillow Partnership Platform (ZPP), Zillow makes several pledges toward giving brokers and MLSs greater control over how Zillow displays listing information. These include:
Always showing the listing agent and listing brokerage adjacent to their listings and including contact information and links to broker, agent or MLS websites free of charge. Agents who sign up for a free Zillow profile receive prominent placement on their listings. In addition, the name of the data provider will always be displayed or immediately available upon request, Zillow said. Providers can also ask to have their name link back to their contact information.
All parties will be clearly identified, including listing agents, buyer’s agents, Zillow Premier Agents who buy advertising on the site, and property advertisements.
Zillow will never resyndicate, redistribute or sublicense listings for display on other sites without express written consent. This does not include Yahoo Real Estate, with whom Zillow has an exclusive advertising partnership. Zillow provides for-sale listings to Yahoo Real Estate and sells ads featuring real estate brokers and agents that appear on both sites.
Zillow will also take steps to stop scraping and misuse of listing data and monitor traffic to its network. Suspect sites will be cut off from access to Zillow.
Broker and MLS feeds will override all others.
“In the current environment, Zillow must resolve discrepancies among a myriad of data sources by removing duplicates and deciding the trump order of listings, which consumes considerable resources for everyone involved,” Zillow said in a document explaining the program to brokers and MLSs.
“ZPP is a clear solution that supports the business objectives of each party by receiving listing data from the source closest to the origin.”
In the document, Zillow emphasized that brokers and MLSs must “work together” to clean up listing data on Zillow.
“The MLSs serve a critical, but often undervalued, function of compliance and rules enforcement, which results in the best listing data available anywhere. But the impact of that data is lost if it is not delivered in a timely manner to the destinations consumers value most,” the company said.
“Frankly, real estate agents and consumers expect Zillow and the brokers (and) MLSs to work together to improve the supply chain. ZPP strives to purge stale data, while entrusting the final decision of where to publish listing information to the broker.”
Zillow also pledged:
To remove or correct listings with the wrong status or inaccurate information within one business day of receiving notice. Partner brokers and MLSs will have a direct phone number and dedicated email address to flag a listing for immediate review, Zillow said, and listings will not be reposted unless verified by the source broker or MLS. Listings will be updated at least once a day and as frequently as every five minutes.
To honor all intellectual property rights. The company will also honor any broker’s decision to opt out of sending listing data to Zillow.
To share traffic statistics on listing pages to the data feed provider.
To restrict agents to advertising or claiming only those listings they have a legal right to claim. Listing “piracy” is uncommon on the site, according to Zillow, but not unheard of. Earlier this year, two Orange County, Calif., real estate professionals reported that their listings on Zillow had been wrongfully claimed by other agents.
Not use listing data delivered to one Zillow business in support of any other Zillow business without express written consent of the provider. Zillow specifically refers to data fed to its subsidiary Diverse Solutions for use in agent websites that provide Internet Data Exchange (IDX) listings. Similarly, data licensed to Zillow for display on the Zillow portal will not be used by Diverse Solutions without permission, Zillow said.
Two MLSs dropped Diverse Solutions as a provider of IDX listings for their members’ websites after Zillow acquired the company in November. The Santa Barbara Association of Realtors, which owns the Santa Barbara MLS, cited “concerns of misuse of our data” in ending its relationship with Diverse Solutions, and said “Zillow is not a friend to organized real estate.” Diverse Solutions maintained that it “does not share data with Zillow without MLS authorization.”
Each partner MLS or broker participating in the ZPP program will be assigned a dedicated account executive. As of today, the program applies to all renewal and future MLS and broker contracts, Zillow said.
“The objective of ZPP is to create a strong contractual relationship with each partner (broker or MLS), grounded in transparency and accountability, to build a foundation of mutual respect and trust through a long-term relationship that results in increasing value for all parties,” the company said.
“Zillow is prepared to make commitments to its partners in writing as defined in the data license/contract.”
Zillow and other third-party listing portals, including Trulia and Realtor.com, have come under fire from some brokers in recent months over both listing inaccuracy and ads and lead forms for competing agents that sometimes appear next to listings on the sites.
A few brokers have decided to stop providing listings altogether to third-party sites not affiliated with a multiple listing service or Realtor association. HomeServices of America Inc. subsidiary Edina Realty announced in November that it would pull its listings from third-party real estate search sites, though the brokerage has continued to provide listings to Realtor.com, and last month was still in negotiations with the site’s operator, Move Inc.
San Diego-based broker ARG Abbott Realty Group made a similar announcement in January and, earlier this month, Austin, Texas-based brokerage the GoodLife Team stopped syndicating its listings to Trulia and canceled its advertising on the site because the firm objected to ads for competing agents appearing next to their premium listings.
Trulia has since revamped its broker offerings and in the coming weeks will remove any display advertising for competing agents from featured listings. The revamp is part of what Trulia CEO Pete Flint said was a “major investment” in the interests of brokers and a recognition that Trulia needs “to partner with the industry to be successful.”
Looking for something fun to do with the family, and help out a great cause…
8th Annual Walk for St. Mary’s Kids & Family Fun Day
Fort Totten Park – Bayside, NY
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
Registration: 9:00am
Family Fun Day: 9:00am
Walk: 10:00am
Join St. Mary’s for the 8th Annual Walk for St. Mary’s Kids on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at Fort Totten Park and help support children with special needs and their families.
Help make a difference in the lives of New York’s most vulnerable children.
Sign up today – Do it for St. Mary’s Kids!
To learn more about the Walk for St. Mary’s Kids, contact Angela Sculti at 718-281-8817 or asculti@stmaryskids.org
BikeNYC.org is your one-stop site for all things that is related to bicycling in New York City.
It offers biking deals, an events calendar, tips for riders, and a map that shows all the nearby bike shops and bike stations. BikeNYC.org is the go-to source to connect with the vibrant world of bicycling in New York City.
Take advantage of Bike Month, try an event or a route in Queens, NY, if you never rode a bike before, or haven’t in awhile, check out the local stores on this website to see what deals they are having. Summer is around the corner, so now is the best time to start. Good luck and start pedaling!
It’s not everyday we see a spaceship fly by our North Queens area, however, on Friday, around 9:45AM, if you were looking up at the sky, it wasn’t a bird, or a plane, it was the Shuttle Enterprise on top of a jumbo jet flying into JFK airport. It will eventually be transported by barge to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, which is located at Pier 86 in Manhattan.
Spring is here! If you’re ready to make the move from walking to running why not take advantage by going to the best parks in Queens, NY. Still not motivated? Why not download the app called Couch to 5K. This app is your own little personal trainer, you can take a stroll around Bowne, Crocheron, Fort Totten, or Kissena Park, listen to your music, and the app will interrupt and remind you to move faster, and keep you moving throughout the workout.
Couch to 5K program allows anyone to get started as a runner
App is simple to navigate, set up, and use
Customizable settings (e.g., turn audio alerts on or off)
Allows users to play their own music (up to 100 songs)
Record and share workouts if desired; compatible with Nike+
This 9-week program helps running beginners. Each workout is 30 to 40 minutes long (which includes a warm up and cool down). It tracks your workout history, and you can listen to your music while you run. You’ll be running a 5K in little as 9 weeks. And when you do, please run past our office (27-04 Francis Lewis Blvd.) and let us know you did it!
Originally published: March 14, 2012 4:22 PM
Updated: March 15, 2012 1:27 PM
By KRISTIN TAVEIRA Special to Newsday
Denial is like a shiny, seductive bubble — it offers psychological shelter from unpleasant realities until you’re ready to come to grips with them. But, if you are selling your home, it can be your worst enemy, and you could be in for a long stay on the market. But someone else’s wishful thinking can work to your advantage — if you can wake up and face the facts before your competition does, and do what it takes to sell your home in the real world.
“The delusion is that the market is getting better,” says Linda Bonarelli Lugo of Realty Executives North Shore in Huntington. That’s only partly true, she says. “We are having more sales, but the pricing has not increased.”
That is true in Nassau County, where in February the median home sales price of $380,000 represented a 3.8 percent decrease from the prior year. Suffolk County reported a slight increase for February — the median home sales price was $304,250 compared to $300,000 the prior year, representing a 1.4 percent uptick.
Sellers want to believe their homes will be the exception; experts say good luck with that. “There’s a certain kind of schizophrenia,” says Diane Saatchi, senior vice president with Saunders & Associates Real Estate. “Why is it the house you no longer want is worth more than market value, while the house you’re dying to have should be had at a discount? It’s not that I want to be rude, it’s just that it’s not going to happen.”
With the coming of the spring market, it’s time to burst your own bubble. Here are five things shrewd homeowners should do if they want to sell their homes this year:
1. BREAK UP WITH YOUR HOUSE
Delusion: Everyone will love my home as much as I do.
Reality: “The buyer sees all the other houses in the same neighborhood with the same amenity list — the seller only sees one,” says Saatchi. Tame your emotions and your ego. Feeling attached, ambivalent, proud or defensive about your home will cloud your judgment. “You want the buyer to be emotional, not you,” she says.
So before you list, break up — including the part where you take your stuff back.
Removing personal items will clear the way for buyers to picture themselves there, and it will also help you make the mental transition from owner to seller. The home should remain decorated enough to look inviting, but devoid of personal items such as family photos. That detachment is key — it will give you the distance and perspective to make good decisions. While other sellers are still struggling to accept the realities of the market — and making time-consuming mistakes — you’ll be able to make an accurate comparison and make yours the most attractive deal on the first try.
2. BE THE BOSS OF YOUR LISTING
Delusion: I can leave everything up to my broker.
Reality: It’s tempting to seek out a professional who will tell you what you want to hear — or one who promises to take over the process and wake you when it’s over. You’ll have to be more proactive than that if you want good results, says Saatchi. “You have to realize you’re making a business transaction,” says Saatchi. “You don’t want the broker who says your house is wonderful and gives you a high price. You want the one who has sold houses and can be businesslike.”
Listening to professional advice is key, but “the seller has to be participating in the discussion,” says Bonarelli Lugo. Speak up, do your homework and work with your agent to make informed decisions.
3. DITCH THE DEDUCTIONS
Delusion: I don’t have to do the work — buyers will see the potential.
Reality: House hunters will mentally chip away at your asking price for each flaw they spot — so declare war on the warts. Not everything has to be brand-new, but any big-ticket items that still have life left in them should be restored to their best possible condition so they don’t falsely announce themselves as needing immediate replacement or repair. Why let buyers argue that they’ll need a $3,000 discount to install new carpets if a professional cleaning could make yours look great for $300?
“Fix it if it’s fixable,” says Saatchi. But no faking it — if there’s a problem you won’t be repairing, disclose it, she says. Use attention and elbow grease to create an overall impression of cleanliness and care. But don’t go crazy; a major kitchen remodel isn’t necessarily worth it because you can’t predict buyers’ tastes, says Saatchi.
4. CASH IN ON OTHERS’ MISTAKES
Delusion: My home is worth my asking price, and my price is worth waiting for.
Reality: A house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Sellers are notorious for overestimating their homes’ values — then finding out the hard way that they’ve misjudged. Skip the long learning curve. Look at the prices of homes similar to yours that are languishing on the market and then at the prices of those that have sold. Ask yourself which group you want to be in — then price it that way.
“Sold properties in the area represent the reality of what’s going on,” says Don Scanlon, Long Island Board of Realtors president. “Not what people are asking, but sold properties. Those are the facts.”
There’s more at stake here than just taking a while to sell. While you’re waiting, a low sale or foreclosure in the neighborhood could strike a major blow to your home’s value.
5. MAKE THEM SWOON
Delusion: It will either feel like home to a buyer or it won’t, and it’s out of my hands.
Reality: Certain homes meet all the criteria but only make the “maybe” list. Others have that special something that give buyers the butterflies — that warm, fuzzy and slightly panicky sensation that walking out the door without making an offer could be the biggest mistake of their lives. It feels magical, but it’s not — it’s physical, and you can copy it.
The best way to understand the effect is to visit competing open houses, or pay attention during your own house hunt. When you find a home that makes your heart sing, dissect your feelings and impressions step by step — then try to identify the physical things that evoked them. “All our senses kick in,” says Bonarelli Lugo. “Buying a house is an emotional purchase, and you have to appeal to the purchasers’ emotions.”
The source of that “homey” feeling might be carefully constructed curb appeal that can be broken down into parts — a freshly painted front door, neatly trimmed shrubs, a clean-swept walk. The “cheery” kitchen may boil down to squeaky-clean windows that let the sun shine in and a bouquet of yellow flowers. If you can put your finger on the details that really pushed your buttons and try to replicate them, you just might be able to elicit the type of emotional response in a buyer that can translate into an offer.
Please help us elect our very own Tim Ho as the fan favorite
“30 Under 30″ Realtor of the Year.
Tim, the lead buyer specialist at the Energized Realty Group,
age 26, is a finalist for the 2012 National Association
of Realtor’s Top “30 Under 30″ award this year and
we are reaching out to ask you to please click on the link for Tim as the Fan Favorite
To read more about Tim, who began his successful real estate career
4 years ago, please click here
