Mike Russo

I learned in Jackson Hole this past week that they are making Top Picks every week in the market. After seeing the statistics about how many of these properties are selling quickly I decided to venture on the endevour.

For almost a year now I have been e-mailing my top picks to my clients, but decided to take it to my blog.

Below are two of the choices that I featured in my last e-mail newsletter to my clients.

Both properties are owned by developers and have significant price reductions over the last year. The property on Larson Drive in Starwood, Aspen has been reduced from it's original price of $13mm. This property offers some of the best views that Aspen has to offer.

The second is closer to the town of Aspen(not like Starwood is far), but is three minutes instead of thirteen minutes. This house has some great finishes with a fantastic floor plan.

I send choices like this to my clients every month in my newsletter. Please e-mail me at mike.russo@me.com to be added to this list. Would also appreciate your price range to help narrow down what I send.

70 Larson Drive Aspen, CO
$6,495,000	5	5	7,940

Brand New Construction At The Top Of Starwood. Huge Views Of All Four Ski Mountains And The Elk Mountain Range. Everything That You Could Ask For And Expect In A New Luxury Residence. Large Country Kitchen, Elevator, Wine Storage With Tasting Room, Office, Great Room, Media Room, Multiple Fireplaces, Oversized Two Car Garage, Outdoor Spa, And Extensive Patios And Decks. All Bedrooms Are En Suite And Above Grade. Absolutely The Finest Materials And Finishes Throughout. Nothing Was Overlooked!

1377 Sage Ct. Aspen, CO
$6,999,000	7	6	9,131

This Fabulous New Home Plus Guest House Sits On A 1-acre Corner Lot On A Quiet Street In Aspen. All The Key Living Space Is On The Main/ground Floor. Views Of Aspen Mtn. And Easy Access To The Roaring Fork River And Rio Grand Trail.

At Rezora, we have been pondering some questions as we look at additional functionality to our system – specifically around how lead generation and the agent/client relationship is handled. As we continue to work through various scenarios, we would like to reach out to each of you and invite you to submit feedback on some of the scenarios we encounter. Below is one such scenario…

Your client goes to the company website and inquires about property. What happens to that client in most systems?

1. System would check if this client was associated with an agent in the firm, if the client didn't have a relationship with someone in the system then the lead would route to the first available agent for the area. (Your client is now assigned to someone else)

2. If system recognized that the client was assigned to you then it would route to you directly. (This only happened if the client came through the website and was assigned to that agent previously)

This was a big issue in my firm because agents didn't go into the system to store their client’s information.

Our thoughts for Rezora and a little background on how we are different.

Rezora is an e-mail marketing and client insight solution for real estate. Currently our brokerage clients have about 50% of their agents uploading their contacts into Rezora. This number is partly due to the fact that agents are using our system to proactively market to their clients not just trying to protect themselves clients from the above scenario.

In our case the client is not a web lead. Instead, they are e-mailing for more information on a property from a yard sign or print ad The client would send an e-mail to info@rezora.com with a property id number.

1. System checks the database of clients and routes the information on behalf of the agent that is associated with client. (The e-mail has additional photos, specific property information and all the contact info of their agent)

2. If the client doesn't have a relationship with another agent then the lead is assigned to the listing agent of the property.

3. Consumer Choice - If the client does have a relationship within the firm and it is not present in any of the databases, the client can go into the system and assign themselves to the agent they wish to work with.

What are your thoughts on the differences between how the systems today handle these leads and what we are proposing? If something is unclear, please comment and let me know.

Otherwise, I look forward to your feedback.

As seen in the Aspen Times

ASPEN — Aspen's anemic real estate industry got a boost Friday from the $43 million sale of a Red Mountain mansion. Cheek Subdivision LLC of Addison, Texas, sold the home to 421 Willoughby Investors in a deal that closed Friday and was recorded with the Pitkin County Clerk's office on Monday. “It was a straight, cash deal,” said Newton Bartley, a real estate agent with Joshua & Co. who represented the buyer. Joshua Saslove, president and founder of the firm, represented the seller. The big transaction reinforces the claim of many real estate agents that Aspen is the type of market that will continue to attract wealthy buyers capable of pulling off expensive cash deals despite the recession. The house at 421 Willoughby Way has 21,477 square feet of total heated area, including nine bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, according to records at the Pitkin County Assessor's office. The assessor's appraisal for 2009 placed the actual value of the property at $50.31 million. The house wasn't listed for sale. The buyer became interested in the property toward the end of last ski season and eventually was able to negotiate a purchase with the owner, Bartley said. He wasn't authorized to release any information about the buyer. The listed agent for the buying firm was Chris LaCroix, an attorney with Garfield & Hecht P.C. in Aspen. He also declined comment. The seller is a firm managed by Daryl N. Snadon, a Dallas-area businessman with a wide range of interests. He is the owner of Beltway Development Co. and Beltway Commercial Real Estate, according to the company's web page. The firm develops and leases office, retail and industrial properties, primarily in the Dallas area. Snadon is also director of a company that makes paintball gun barrels and accessories. He is a co-founder of Chamberlain's Prime Chop House. Snadon's Cheek Subdivision LLC acquired a lot in the Cheek subdivision on Willoughby Way in 2003 for $7 million, then acquired transferable development rights to build a house larger than allowed by right by Pitkin County land-use regulations. The assessor's records indicate the house was completed in 2006. Snadon has two other houses listed for sale in Aspen, one for $19 million and another for $12 million. Joshua & Co. said in a press release that the $43 million transaction was the largest sale of a single-family residence in the country so far in 2009. A spokeswoman for the National Association of Realtors office in Washington, D.C., said Monday it had no way of verifying the claim because it doesn't track individual sales. Forbes.com reported in June that 2009 is shaping up as “a bad year” for sales of America's most expensive residential properties. “No one is buying $100 million homes,” Forbes reported. “Few are buying $30 million homes.” scondon@aspentimes.com