Sheri Moritz

Have you ever had anyone ask... "What is it you actually DO as a real estate broker?" Can't you just see the endless list that starts going through your head only to respond with "It's different everyday." Broker/Owners and trainers how often do you have new or prospective agents come in the first day and look around thinking"so, what is it that I do?"

There are some really wonderful statistics and information about the occupation of Real Estate Broker posted on the U.S. Department of Labor Website (Bureau of Labor Statistics). They have done an excellent job of putting a definition into what a real estate broker does.

They start out by letting the reader know that real estate brokers often work on the evening and weekends and that their income is sensitive to the economic shifts. It also warns that although there is a low entry level there is a lot of competition from experience agents.

This seems to be a great resource for those that have people in other fields considering a career in real estate.

For details check this out... http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos120.htm

Ok, Who decided that moving with children was a good idea? As a Realtor myself, I see families pack up their family and belongings everyday and move them to a new house. It looks like an easy task from the outside. We, the agents, just get the paperwork signed and the family packs their belongings...Right?

Well, when I was in high school and college I was a waitress and thought everyone should do it once just to see what it is like to better appreciate what the servers are going through. Maybe part of the real estate exam should be to see how well us Realtors handles a move of our own. This might help agents better understand what our clients go through on a daily basis.

I recently moved my 1 and 10 year old to a new house. I think that those who move a long distance have the advantage of limited space. When you are moving local and can make several trips people seem to throw or give less away. In my move I learned several things that I hope will help you whether you are moving with children or not.

1. Prioritize what you really want and need to move with you! Now is a great time to look in those boxes that have been in the attic for several years. Do you really want or need these things. Sometimes it seems easier to just pack that box into the truck and move it to your next home. I found that if you post anything for free on Craigslist (www.Raleigh.Craigslist.org) that someone will come and pick it up. This way you don't have to worry about an additional trip to the dump or goodwill. Just set it outside, post an ad and someone will pick it up.

2. Help Children Sort through their things ONCE! That is right...ONCE. This is my third move with my 10 year old and found the best thing to do is first have a discussion with her about the importance of giving to other children that don't have as much as she does. Then I let her go through each of her toys and decide what is important to her and what she really uses and what would be a blessing to a child needing toys. Of course our pile of give always is small, but I then go through them while she is not around and narrow the keeper pile to what I know she actually uses. I allow her to look at the pile of stuff I don't think she needs anymore and have her explain why it is important. With most of the toys she agrees that it would be better for another child and she really doesn't play with it. But like most adults, children find it hard to let go of things even if they are not using it.

3. Ask the Older Children to Help! I found that children enjoy helping pack. Although it may take longer sometimes it makes them feel better and more secure with the move if they have seen their belongings go into the boxes and then where the boxes go. Most children fear a move and losing their belongings. This allows them to feel more comfortable that the new house will have all of their things from the old house. Most teenagers should be responsible for packing and unpacking their own room. They too will feel more comfortable knowing where their belongings are and if you are a parent of one will understand..."you didn't touch their stuff".

4. Get a Babysitter for Children Too Young to Carry Boxes! You might have to pay a friend or a neighborhood teenager to help with this task, but is worth every penny in time. Moving is very stressful without children running around and needing attention and food. It is also a potentially dangerous place for them to be. You will be able to cut your move time considerably if you don't have to manage the small children. If you can't find a sitter because they are all helping with the move you should plan to have things for the children to do such as coloring. Moving day might be a good time to rent a couple of good kid's movies, get out some snacks and pack the tv and dvd player last!

5. Resort items at Your New Home! Take a second look at the things you moved with you when you are unpacking. If you have no place for it, don't plan to use it, but still moved it... This again is a great time for Craigslist. If it is valuable, sell it. You are not under the same time pressure. If you have a garage, don't bring items into the new house you don't plan to use. This will encourage you to get the garage cleaned out and to donate or sell those things you are not going to use.

The closing to a blog like this can only be... Good luck! Moving itself is hard. But, moving with children allows us to show them our maturity to give to others, to prioritize what is important and needed, and how the unconditional love we have for them gives us patience to help with their stress from moving and the separation anxiety from the clothes and toys they have outgrown.J

Ever wonder how agents are able to get their listings on YouTube without using some fancy software they try to sell us? All of you with a windows operating system should already have the free software on your computer that will allow you to easily create "virtual tours/movies" of your listings. Better yet make one of your community and post it. For Broker/Owners post one of a testimonial and tour of your office for recruitment.

The program is Windows Movie Maker. Just click on start, then programs and look for Windows Movie Maker. There are a lot of great tutorials online for how to make a movie that can be posted to places like YouTube. All you have to do is upload photos and video to creat a movie, choose music and drag them into a timeline. You can add transition effects, title and credits at the end.

There are many unique ways to use this tool. Sales agents can use it to creat listing videos, neighborhood specific videos, community specific and city specific videos. Sales agents can create a testimonial video from their past clients by taking a short video at closing and photos of their new house with credits at the end promoting the sales agent. The clients will be thrilled and will send a link to your YouTube site to view the video getting your name and business out to their sphere of influence without the pressure.

Agents can create virtual foreclosure videos. Tour some of the foreclosures and take photos with some details. Stream them together with a little information and have an on-line tour of this weeks foreclosures.

Broker/Owners can do a recruitment video telling about the office and having office photos so prospective agents can get a sense of the atmosphere of your office. Have your agents do a short video commenting on why they like working in your office. Put those videos together with clips in between for a wonderful short movie about your office.

Best things about Windows Movie Maker is that it is Free! We need all the tools available to us as agents and Broker/Owners that enable to create professional marketing materials that can be broadcast easily around the world. Utilizing these tools will allow us all to create value for the consumer and set us apart for others.

I first started using Meetup.com as a way to generate leads for investors and have since found numerous other uses for this easy to manage website.

I have since found that Meetup.com has been a great FREE resource for getting our office training and recruiting organized and marketed. On Meetup.com you can organize several different groups. It is a great idea to have one for your office that all the agent in your office can join. On this site you can schedule your weekly office meetings, training schedule, open houses, and more. The information can be kept private so your competition will not see back office communications and training schedules if you prefer. You can email all of the members of your group/office straight from Meetup about scheduled meeting however Meetup goes one step further and automatically reminds members of meetings that are scheduled and allows them to get more information, rsvp, rate and leave feedback for your meeting.

I have also set up a Meetup group for technology related agent training since that is what I enjoy the most. http://www.meetup.com/RealLivingTraining/ I am not afraid to train the competition because I know most of them will never use it, but hosting agent training in our office allows other agents to come and tour our office and get to know more about our company opening the doors to recruiting. If you have extra space in your office to host an ABR class, CE or other industry related classes this is agreat way to get the word out and manage attendence.

Meetup.com makes marketing your event easy as provides the html for you to post a professional looking ad on Craigslist with a link straight to Craigslist to post it in your local market. You can also use this htlm to plug right into your website, sending professional email about the event and more.