WHAT'S UP WITH THE REAL ESTATE MARKET? Lack of confidence is really what we are talking about here. Reality is that the price of homes has declined. Long-term investments have their ups and downs and real estate is, after all, a long term investment.

NOT IN THE NEWS - If you look at the market over the past decades and decades, real estate increases over time.. no matter what the market is in the short run.

The media version of the real estate market and mortgage lending, for that matter, does nothing to help build it up. Another example of how Bad News is King in the media. Wouldn't you love to see a local highlight each night on how many homes have sold? Now that would be news that this country could use.

It's funny to me.. Real Estate ON SALE NOW... ATTENTION BUYERS! But somehow it gets turned around! If the plasma TV you have been wanting to buy drops in price, should the headlines read.. Economic Crisis? The economy is falling apart! Just an observation that everything has it's ups and downs and real estate is no different.

Everyone who has their home listed at an amount that is unrealistic for the market is making matters worse. If the overpriced homes were not on the market, the saturation problem would be lessened. After all, the majority of the sellers on the market are going to buy a home to move into.

It's the simple law of supply and demand... and right now supply is over demand by 9 to 11 months!

EDUCATION - If you price your house in line with the market and you buy a home that is in line with the market.. any dollars that you feel you've given up on the sale of your home, you are very likely to make up on the purchase on your next home. So pricing it right, in the first place is a win-win situation for you, making a buyer's or seller's market less relevant to the big picture than most people think.

In time confidence in real estate will be restored.

Dream Media - Wouldn't it be great if the media removed the negative spin on the real estate market?

For example:

They could help by talking about how the first-time buyers (or buyers who have not owned a home for the past 3 years) can benefit with the $7500 tax credit through June of 2009. This should be getting buyers excited.

They should talk about how this is the time to buy and let's predict the News of the future. In 2018, a newscaster interviews a real estate investor, who bought properties up during the down market, back in 2008 and now is a ga-zillionaire! Then the news will be that people wish they has bought more!

I guess my point here is that it's all in the attitude and a POSITIVE ATTITUDE and some POSITIVE NEWS would be great!

I am sure I am not alone on this one. I live in a fairly small town (approx 10,000 people). It is the kind of place where everybody knows everybody else's business, like it or not. It is a town dominated by one or two real estate agents that not only get a lot of referral business, but also get most of other business because they have physical offices in town.

My question is as a new agent without a physical office location, how do I break into this market? I know I can offer clients more than these other agents. I have a great grasp of current technology and these other agents are slightly out of touch. I definitely have more individual attention to devote to my clients. I just need a way to reach them! Any ideas?

When I first went to the RE/MAX Broker/Owner training in Denver, I was overwhelmed with a wealth of knowledge, and a little salesmanship on the trainer's part, but it did seem to get the other owners excited and sold on the concept. I've been in sales pretty much my whole life, and started in real estate at Sibcy Cline. I quickly realized that I had given them $20k in 6 months and needed to make a switch. I wasn't about to join a Coldwell, Irongate, or Prudential, as I knew the commission splits there weren't any better. So I joined Valley Real Estate Services, an aggressive high commission company, that had sent me a plethora of emails. Valley was a medium sized independent with 100 or so agents. I had great success and my best year every utilizing ideas the company gave me.

I was about to open the first franchise for Valley, when Scott Harris the owner said "Wait! Let's open a RE/MAX!" He then proceeded to show me the RE/MAX he wanted to emulate. RE/MAX Towne Center out of Columbus, OH. They didn't charge the $1000+/month that many of the other RE/MAX's around were charging. They had the hottest spot in town and they quickly grew to over 100+ agents. I said, "Let's do it!"

RE/MAX is an interesting concept. I've read Dave Liniger's "Everybody Wins", and it was an interesting story to me. I have agents join my office that say that Keller's book blows it away and yada yada yada, but I haven't gotten the chance to read it for myself. I'm sure that I will post again after doing so. I will say that Keller Williams agents really buy into the lifetime residual income idea, and RE/MAX agents do think they are the cream of the crop and typically are at least decent producers to afford a traditional RE/MAX's monthly fees.

So now that you've read my life story, you're probably asking yourself, "Why am I reading this?"

First of all, this is not a RE/MAX vs. Keller debate. I think that both are great companies, but historically they have catered to somewhat different agents.

You are reading this because we (RE/MAX Victory) have gone in a different direction than most RE/MAX's and though we've faced resistance, we have quickly become to the Fastest Growing RE/MAX in our Region!

Gone are the days when RE/MAX brokers could charge high monthly fees. Sure, I believe the value is there and I won't sell against it, but the market has changed, the industry has changed, and the agent mindset has changed. This is apparent with the mass exodous of RE/MAX agents nationwide, that simply couldn't afford the monthly fees when the market went South.

Agents no longer need offices, there is a Starbucks on every corner. So how have we survived and grown to over 30 agents in less than a year? We adapted...we evolved.

If RE/MAX, Keller Williams, and a majority of small independents across the country had a baby...it would be RE/MAX Victory.

Yes, we did follow the basic model of having the high end office in the hottest spot in town. But we also adopted a "Remote Agent" program that allows agents to work from home or on the road, and DHL picks up their shipments from their homes. We have an awesome back-end website (www.victoryatthegreene.net) for them to upload their documents, and download our forms and anything else they need. They are completely independent and truly follow the RE/MAX motto, "Your Business, Your Way!"

We have gone away from the high monthly fees.

We only charge $199/month and a $199/transaction fee for the first six months on a 95/5 split. It increases to $299/month and $299/transaction, but we've capped the transaction fees at $10k.

Yes, we actually lose money (approx. $50/agent/month) to the regional and international fees for the first six months. If they close only one deal in four months, we don't lose anything and I'm sure there are plenty of other Brokers out there that that have been willing to lose a year's worth of monthly fees trying to recruit an agent. The idea has been around for a long time folks, it's called a loss leader. And yes, we do have other plans available.

We also tapped into the lifetime residual income idea. We simply call it our Partner's Program. For agents, if you recruit another agent on our $199 program, you receive 1% of their commission for the life of that agent at our company. On some of our higher producer programs we even offer a flat $100/month for every agent you help bring on.

I will say that people DO recognize the RE/MAX name and balloon. This was obvious when first coming from a no name company, and seeing the difference at a listing presentation with the RE/MAX name. I do, however, think that RE/MAX International does need to reanalyze it's game plan or it may be beat at a game it hasn't lost in a long time. What will to happen to every real estate company when Google decides they want to play. You say, "It'll never happen, Wal-mart couldn't do it!" Well guess what, Google is bigger, more aggressive, basically has control of the Internet world and is already sitting on the bench. Don't believe me?...Google (funny it's now a verb) "Google Base" and see what you come up with.

We pride ourselves on being a leader in technology and thinking outside the box. We're not drinking the Keller Kool-Aid, but have tread away from the traditional RE/MAX model. We'll continue to adapt and progress as we do have the backing and support of the largest real estate company in the world, not to mention over $1 Billion in advertising.

I'd advise Brokers and Agents alike to shop around, see what the competition is doing. No office or concept is going to be perfect for everyone or we'd all be working for the same company. But the ideas and solutions are out there...you just have to Google them! :)

Bellbrook Ohio Real Estate Update for April 2008

Welcome back to our Bellbrook Ohio Real estate update, part of our Dayton Ohio Real Estate total market overview. As usual this info. is pulled from the Dayton MLS and give you the active Bellbrook Ohio real estate homes for sale, Bellbrook Ohio homes that sold, Bellbrook Ohio homes that failed to sell and Bellbrook Ohio homes listed as pending sale. We also offer this information in a very exciting automatic system that will update you on all Bellbrook OH real estate activity periodically in the time frame you choose¦ You can see the Bellbrook Ohio real estate Market Snapshot here¦ The market snap shot will give you instant Bellbrook and Dayton Ohio real estate market updates anytime you like. You can get the value of you home or a what a house sold for down the street. Thinking of buying a home in Bellbrook or the Dayton Ohio area? Use this tool to determine what homes for sale should sell for. Here is an example of what a Dayton Ohio real estate or Bellbrook Ohio update would look like, this is just PART of the what this tool offers¦

April 2008 Bellbrook Ohio Real Estate MLS activity

Also see Bellbrook Ohio info¦

Finish your Bellbrook Ohio market update here Dayton Ohio Real Estate

Bellbrook Ohio Real Estate Data Explained¦

Thinking of buying a home? Now is a great time! There are many homes to choose from and you are likely to get them for a good percent below asking price. Check our our free ENHANCED home search tool below¦

Beavercreek Ohio Real Estate Update for April 2008

Welcome back to our Beavercreek Ohio Real Estate updates. As always this information is compiled from the Dayton MLS and gives you the active Beavercreek listings, Beavercreek homes sold, Beavercreek homes that failed to sell and Beavercreek homes listed as pending. We offer a very exciting automatic system that will update you on Beavercreek Ohio Real Estate periodically at the time frames you choose. This Market Snapshot will give you instant Beavercreek real estate information and an estimate of your homes value. Thinking of buying a Beavercreek Ohio home for sale? This tool can help you determine if the asking price of the home is fair. Check out Beavercreek Ohio Market Snapshot

Here is an example of what you will find:

April 2008 Dayton MLS activity for Beavercreek OH

Also read: Dayton Ohio Real Estate market update a Total Market Overview.

Also Read: Dayton Ohio community information for info on area communities.

Check Out: Beavercreek Ohio City site for general Beavercreek, Ohio information

So, what does this info mean for Beavercreek Ohio Real Estate?

Well there is good news for your Beavercreek Ohio real estate is you are thinking of selling a home. The number of homes pending sale and that actually sold in Beavercreek in April are both up from our last update. The average price of homes for sale in Beavercreek and the average price of homes sold in Beavercreek are both up from the last market update. The best news for you Beavercreek real estate if you are thinking of selling a home is that the average list to sale price is up to 97.27% or .86% UP¦ putting more money in your pocket when it comes to selling your home. The other good news for you Beavercreek OH real estate from a selling standpoint is that the average days on the market prior to selling is 122, down 6 days from the last update.

There is some not so good news as well, the number of homes actively for sale in Beavercreek is up to 411 or 46 more homes for sale in Beavercreek that you will have to compete against as a home seller¦ There are more pros than cons to be gathered from these numbers¦ at least the market is moving in the right direction¦

Thinking of buying a home for sale in Beavercreek Ohio? Well it is still a great time to buy a home. There are many homes for sale in Beavercreek for you to choose from and the prices are still good. Mortgage rates are great as well. Please feel free to contact the ˜mortgage chick to check mortgage broker rates and get a great home mortgage for your purchase.