The Agent University

Below are the most recent agents to earn their Certified Foreclosure Agent, Certified Short Sale Agent (CSSA), Certified Commercial Foreclosure Agent and/or Graduate Investor Series designation(s) through The Agent University. These highly-trained professionals are now equipped with the knowledge and power necessary to be leaders in their fields.

Congratulations!

• Ilario Bertolotto — Graduate Investor Series
• Rana Nuesca — Graduate Investor Series
• John Farrell — Certified Short Sale Agent | Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist”
• Doug Swierczynski — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Master”
• Kassiea Adams — Certified Short Sale Agent
• Terry Tincher — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Master”
• Lisa Benfield — Certified Short Sale Agent
• John Dean — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Expert”
• Jeanette Browning-French — Certified Short Sale Agent
• Lisa Benfield — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist”
• Louise Lintz — Certified Short Sale Agent
• James Perez — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist”
• Linda Wallenfang — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist”
• Monica Peterson — Certified Short Sale Agent
• Peter Hason — Certified Foreclosure Agent “Specialist”
• Landra Pryor — Certified Short Sale Agent

In addition to being industry leaders, all AU graduates can take advantage of The Agent University’s exclusive LinkedIn page to share their best practices and marketing secrets. LinkedIn is the leading way for professionals to connect with one another and capitalize on each others expertise.

Integrating lucrative relocation services into your business doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, after a little initial work (that you can easily outsource), it doesn’t have to require any effort at all.

Get relocation leads in your sleep by leveraging the power of your website. The vast majority of people begin their real estate searches online, but the number is even higher for relocation clients, who rely on the Internet for information about their eventual new hometowns.

With thousands of people looking for relocation services, it can be super easy to capture those leads with your website.

Three Steps to Relocation Leads:

1. Set up a dedicated page on your website. Relocation clients fall into a special category and therefore need their own, dedicated space on your website to find the information they’re looking for. You’ll want to include a lot of strong content about how easy you can make their relocation, whether they’re coming or going.
2. Optimize your page with SEO-friendly keywords. Don’t let the term “SEO” scare you! Search engine optimization doesn’t have to be difficult. They key to attracting more traffic is to use highly relevant search terms and place them in important spots on your page such as in your title and in the first few sentences of your content. Make sure the terms you choose are geographically specific to your location. Keywords that include your city name are far more likely to attract relocation leads than more generic terms. For example, the phrase “relocation agent in Tampa” will have far less competition and far more qualified traffic than simply “relocation agent.”
3. Follow up. It seems overly simplistic, but it is shocking how many great leads slip through the cracks simply because agents don’t bother to connect with them after they’ve reached out. Make sure to follow up on every lead to maximize your commissions.

For additional relocation tips and tools be sure to check out our featured website training course that details, “How To Become A Real Estate Relocation Specialist.”

One of the ways that home designers and builders keep in touch with the latest building trends is to evaluate the results of the Annual Home Design Contest. The results from this year are out, and it is showing some very unusual trends.

Newly built homes are being designed smaller and more economical. The average design this year was almost 200 square feet smaller than homes built in 2007. The trend seems to point to reduced space, less elaborate interiors, and very simply designed exteriors.

The homes that are trending this year no longer have gables and archways on their exterior design. The opinion is that these features, while aesthetically pleasing, only add to the cost of building the structure, not the actual value of the home.

Kitchens have become more streamlined. The large gourmet kitchens that were all the rage only ten years ago have become much simpler. The kitchen areas have been blended into the living areas in the new designs, and even contain a desk area for those who need to work while they cook.

Bathrooms have also simplified in the newer designs on your average home. The days of extra-large bathrooms with every imaginable fixture are gone. That is, unless you are looking for a mansion. Mansions are trending quite differently when it comes to bathrooms this year. The latest trend for mansion homes is to have two bathrooms for every bedroom, and each bathroom is approximately the size of the bedroom.

Home trends for average homes are expected to continue on this downsizing trend. It is anticipated that by 2015, the average newly built home will only be about 2140 square feet in size. The outside appearance will seem almost boxy, and amenities will be very sparse.

This new trend with new homebuyers is quite different than what was occurring in the 1980’s when their parents were buying homes. Back in the 1980’s the trend was very simple: “The bigger, the better.” Now, the more basic you can build a home, the more appealing it is to the new homebuyers.

The National Association of Realtors believes that this trend is driven by cost more than any other reason. Materials and labor costs can be greatly reduced when you simplify construction. This reduction in costs allows more people to qualify to build a home, and in some cases, is the only way that the buyer can qualify.

In addition to financing, many new homebuilders are also looking for homes that are cost efficient to maintain and are environmentally friendlier. Smaller homes cost less to heat and cool, which results in lower power consumption. Smaller homes are also easier to insulate. Many buyers also opt for a smaller home so that they can spend the money they saved on other cost-saving features such as double-paned windows.

With mortgage interest rates remaining low and new housing start figures showing an increase in the first two months of this year, builders are anticipating a good year for new construction. These smaller homes will allow builders to enter back into the market again without the excessive burden of high material costs.

Anyone that is familiar with the housing market understands that real estate purchases are seasonal. Spring and summer will see the home sales during the year, followed by a slowdown in fall due to the holidays, and a drop off in winter due to weather.

This year, however, has seen an increase in home sales in January and February when compared to the same figures from last year. In fact, figures for January and February of 2012 are up 8.8% compared to 2011, for preexisting home sales.

In January, figures for preexisting home sales registered at an annual rate of 4.63 million. February sales were a little less at 4.59 million. While an annual rate of 6 million homes is considered to be a healthy market, this rate at this point in the selling year is giving much hope that the market is in recovery mode.

Figures for new home sales for February were also released at this same time. The annual rate of 313,000 units is seasonally adjusted in February. This is a decrease of 1.6% from January’s figures. However, this should not be taken as too much bad news; these figures are up nearly 12% from the same month in 2011.

The Federal Housing Finance Committee released its figures for housing prices in January of 2012. The data shows that January home prices were flat. While this is not the best of news, it should be seen in a positive manner. This is the first time in a long period that home values have not dropped.

While this data is not proof-positive that the housing industry is returning to a booming industry, it is proof that life is coming back into the market. Even if the facts and figures only show a little bit of improvement, this improvement is better than a decline.

Many believe that 2012 will continue to be a mixed year for the housing industry. It is anticipated that home values may continue to drop during the year, but this is not written in stone. Election years have a way of slowing down the market, even during a good period, and this election year will not be any different.

Home inventory levels have shown a significant decrease so far this year. Inventory levels are down 22% from the same period in 2011. However, there is a large backlog of foreclosures that are pending in the shadows, and a gluttony of distressed properties may once again cause prices to drop.

The real estate market will most likely endure another year of good and bad news. This is, in fact, a good sign for the recovering market. There was a long period over the last few years when the only news that came out about real estate was bad.

Many real estate experts disagree about how 2012 will turn out for the industry. Some say that full recovery will be seen by summer, while others believe that March data will show a decline due to the high figures in February, signaling another stagnant year. Only time will tell which opinion is right.