- Blog

New Document Available for CMAs - 2014 Real Trends 500

2014-05-22T14:54:49-04:00

We have added a new document to the available choices for download for CMAs. The document, located in the RE/MAX Marketing Materials section on the download screen, is called 2014 Real Trends 500 and demonstrates statistically that "RE/MAX Agents Average Twice the Home Sales."

New Feature: Select the Order of Documents in your CMA

2014-05-08T16:25:43-04:00

CMA Download Screen Re-Design
(New download screen allows you to order your CMA however you want)

We have re-designed the CMA Download screen with the goal of allowing you to completely customize your CMA download. After selecting the specific documents you would like to include, you can select the exact order they will be in. The documents you select, and their order, will persist for future CMAs, but can be easily changed whenever you like.

In the left hand column, a list of all available choices, simply check off the documents you want to include in your CMA. As you do so, they will appear in the right hand column, which represents your CMA. All of the CMA documents you are used to are available in the new CMA download, and you can still include any of your custom PDF documents as well.

Once you have made your selections, and all are in the right hand column, drag and drop the documents to re-order them as you wish. When you are finished, click the green "Download" button in the upper right to begin the download process.

Valuable Infographics Show when to Post on Social Media (and when not to)

2014-05-08T11:38:54-04:00

Check out these valuable infographics by SumAll which illustrate the best times to post on various social media platforms, as well as when not to. Social media represented include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Google+.

Here is the full story:
http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2014/5/7/the-dead-zones-when-not-to-post-on-social-media.html

New Automated CMA Reports: Market Trends Report and Property Valuation Report

2014-02-18T11:55:12-05:00

Our enhanced CMA software now auto-calculates the local Market Trends and generates a Property Valuation Report.

Sample Reports:

The Market Trends Report uses arrows to indicate the direction of the data and the color of the arrows indicate the direction of the trend: Green indicates a Positive Trend, Red indicates a Negative Trend and Black indicates the Trend is Unchanged.

How to Set Up the New Reports:

The new reports are accessed from the CMA Editor screen for each of your CMAs.

How To Setup A Market Trends Report:
1. Click Edit > "Market Trends" button on the CMA Editor page to view the Market Trends Report Settings page.
2. Select two comparative periods. The default setting compares the most recent 3 month to the same year earlier period.
3. Select your market area which can be: 1 county or 10 towns or 20 areas of towns.
4. After you have selected your market area, click the "Save Changes and Update Reports" button.
5. When the Market Trends Report has been generated, click the "View Report" button.

How To Setup A Property Valuation Report:
1. Click Edit > "Property Valuation" button on the CMA Editor page to view the Property Valuation Report Settings page.
2. Fill in the Property Valuation settings page. The settings default to using the most recent 3 months of data, but you are able to customize this.
3. Click the "Save Changes and Update Reports" button. When it finishes processing, click the "View Report" button.

How To Include These New Reports In A CMA
Both the Market Trends Report and Property Valuation Report can be included in your downloaded CMA.
1. Click the "Download CMA and Selected Marketing Materials" button on the CMA Editor page
2. Select the Market Trends and Property Valuation selection boxes
3. Click the "Click here to build your CMA" button at the bottom of the Download CMA page

A Prospecting Metaphor from the Animal Kingdom

2014-01-24T17:21:46-05:00

The KCM Blog recently posted a very interesting metaphor on prospecting from, get this, the animal kingdom. Well, sort of the animal kingdom. It wasn't exactly the Sahara desert, but rather a group of ducks in search of table scraps at a hotel restaurant in California.

KCM's Steve Harney observed all of the ducks acting the same way, fighting over food after diners finished eating and left a table, except for one duck. That one duck had a more effective plan in mind.

Taking a page out of the playbook of many dogs across the world, this duck approached would be diners as soon as their food was brought out to them, requested some morsels, and was rewarded with a perfect success rate, getting food from each table that was approached.

KCM equates this enterprising duck with a real estate agent who decides to make things happen rather than waiting for things to happen.

Check out the full tale and advice for real estate agents at KCM Blog:

http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2014/01/23/even-a-duck-knows-the-importance-of-prospecting/

Massachusetts Realty Company Using Drones to Showcase Luxury Properties

2014-01-21T16:29:00-05:00

A Massachusetts Real Estate Company located in the Berkshires, Tucker Welch Properties, is using drones - yes you heard that right, drones, to showcase luxury properties. Recently, the company utilized drones to create a 2 minute video of a 27 acre property for sale in Richmond, MA. The property is currently listed for 5.9 million.

While this is possibly a first in Massachusetts, real estate agents have made use of drones for similar purposes in both New York and Chicago. Tucker Welch Properties decided to give this marketing strategy a try as the property has been on the market for approximately a year now.

Aerial photography has been utilized in the marketing of high end real estate properties for years, but this use of drones is quite a bit newer. What do you think about it? Good idea or a bit unnerving?

Read the full article here: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/ci_24905901/tucker-welch-properties-uses-drones-film-luxury-estates

This Friday, November 1st, Amazon Will Start Collecting Massachusetts Sales Tax

2013-10-28T15:34:38-04:00

It was announced late last year, and unfortunately for Massachusetts residents, it will begin later this week. Namely, the deal struck between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and online retailer Amazon.com last December by which Amazon will begin collecting the Massachusetts' 6.25% state sales tax, will go into effect this Friday, November 1st. So, only a few days remain for tax-free shopping on Amazon.

The deal will be in place just in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season. Massachusetts anticipates they will be able to collect over 36 million dollars in revenue during the 2014 fiscal year due to Amazon collecting sales tax.

More information can be found here:

http://www.gazettenet.com/blogs/theconspicuousconsumer/8940148-95/cry-me-a-river-soon-shopping-at-amazon-will-no-longer-be-tax-free-in

and here:

http://www.boston.com/businessupdates/2012/12/11/amazon-com-will-begin-collecting-taxes-massachusetts-governor-deval-patrick-says/WQnr45OToz1PRMH7nLcPZM/story.html

Recent "Contingent" Status Changes in Our System

2013-10-28T14:11:33-04:00

Here is information on recent "Contingent" status changes in our system, reflected throughout our system including property search, CMAs, and Market Intelligence Reports:

- MLSPIN's old "Showing for Backup" (previously "Active with a Flag") changed to Contingent, and is Contingent in iMax

- NNEREN's "Active with Contract" is now Contingent in iMax

- StateWide's "Active/Pending Soliciting Back-up Offers" is now Contingent in iMax

How to Increase Your Real Estate Sales With Social Media

2013-10-28T14:06:01-04:00

Great article by top RE/MAX of New England agent Bill Gassett of RE/MAX Executive Realty on how to increase your real estate sales using social media:

http://www.virante.org/blog/2013/10/23/using-social-media-increased-real-estate-sales/

Moving your Business in the Direction of Providing an Experience

2013-10-28T13:51:11-04:00

Interesting thoughts from Stacey Alcorn of RE/MAX Prestige on moving your business in the direction of providing an experience:

http://www.staceyalcorn.com/the-26-bag-of-apples/

Ever Thought About Making Money Off Your YouTube Videos?

2013-10-28T13:42:19-04:00

Ever thought about making money off your YouTube videos? Apparently, it doesn't pay quite as well as it used to:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-22/its-getting-harder-to-make-money-on-youtube#p1

Why It Can Be Difficult to Move Up One Spot in Search Engine Results

2013-10-28T13:37:03-04:00

Interesting article on why it can be difficult to move up even one spot in search engine results. Includes images of possible point system that could go along with search engine results:

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2296062/Why-Is-It-So-Hard-to-Increase-Your-Search-Rankings-By-One-Spot

Scheduling Tweets

2013-10-28T13:24:25-04:00

Twitter is now allowing advertisers to schedule tweets in advance:

https://blog.twitter.com/2013/now-available-scheduled-tweets

It is also possible to schedule tweets in advance using outside products. This has been possible for some time, preceding Twitter's recent announcement. This article will let you know about some of the additonal products that you can use to schedule Tweets:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-ways-to-schedule-tweets/

Want to Learn the History of RE/MAX of New England?

2013-10-28T13:19:46-04:00

Want to learn the history of RE/MAX of New England?

Watch this video, which was posted to YouTube in August but looks to be older than that. It includes interview footage with Walter Schneider, early RE/MAX of New England broker / owners, and more:

Facebook is Removing the Privacy Setting Allowing a User Not to be Searched for by Name

2013-10-28T13:16:22-04:00

Facebook is removing the privacy setting allowing a user not to be searched for by name:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/10/facebook-search-privacy/

Twitter is Now Allowing Followers to Direct Message Users

2013-10-28T13:13:13-04:00

Twitter is now allowing followers to direct message users who allow it in their settings:

http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/15/twitter-direct-messages-all-followers/

RE/MAX Marketing Materials Updated for CMAs

2013-04-19T14:42:23-04:00

We have updated RE/MAX marketing documents available for inclusion in your CMA, and also added a number of new RE/MAX marketing documents that you can include in your iMax CMA.

Specifically, we have updated TV Share of Voice to the most recent one released by RE/MAX, which is year end 2012.

We have added the following RE/MAX marketing documents:

- RE/MAX Around the World
- RE/MAX Earnings per Designation
- RE/MAX Office Growth
- Top 100 Brokerages in Sides Per Agent
- RE/MAX Countries in the Network

We have also updated our own document "Understanding iMax Market Reports" which is also available for inclusion in your CMA. Start using these documents in your iMax CMA today!

Buyers Facing Bidding Wars for Many Homes in Boston Area

2013-03-27T14:24:05-04:00

Bidding wars between real estate buyers in Massachusetts continue due to a limited number of houses for sale, particularly in the competitive $300,000 - $500,000 range. Many of the real estate buyers lose out on a number of properties they made offers for before finally succeeding in getting an accepted offer, often over asking price. Home prices are rising as a result. Check out the full article from the Boston Globe:

http://www.boston.com/realestate/community/2013/03/27/scarcity-homes-for-sale-around-boston-sparks-bidding-wars

New Firefox Cookie Policy a Positive in Preventing Unwanted Cookies

2013-03-06T14:40:45-05:00

Mozilla has announced a new change to the cookie policy for Firefox which will bring it in line with something Safari has offered for some time. Namely, users will be able to choose a setting that will disallowing the setting of third party cookies.

Read the full article

Limited Homes for Sale, High Demand Create Seller's Market in Massachusetts

2013-03-06T13:28:05-05:00

The Boston Globe ran a front page story recently about the local real estate market, which has plenty of eager buyers, but few sellers. According to the Globe article, the supply of homes for sale in Massachusetts is at an 8 year low, and "the result is the demand for homes far outstrips the meager supply." They point out the contrast between now, with a multitude of buyers, and the immediate aftermath of the subprime crisis, when buyers were nowhere to be found. The net result at the moment is a market that is tilted in favor of home sellers.

Read the full article

Video Tutorial: iMax Professional CMA Software

2013-02-27T11:07:47-05:00

Did you know iMax includes professional CMA software at no additional cost? Why pay for CMA software over and above your web site cost? Learn how to use iMax's powerful and impressive Comparative Market Analysis software to pinpoint the right price for a real estate listing to sell at, and impress the seller with your listing presentation.

Check out the overview tutorial of iMax's CMA:

Video Tutorial: Showing Schedules

2013-02-20T15:57:28-05:00

Learn how to use our Showing Schedules tool to get organized for showings, make your life easier, and impress your buyers:

Video Tutorial: Market Trend Charts

2013-02-13T15:02:32-05:00

Learn how to use iMax's Market Trend Charts to increase your knowledge of the real estate market and impress your clients. Utilize them as part of your listing presentations to "wow" the seller.

Video Tutorial: Learn How to Blog on Your iMax Web Site

2013-01-30T13:13:47-05:00

Learn how to blog using your iMax Web Site, which comes with a built-in blog. Improving your search engine results and traffic from search engines requires that you continually add valuable content to your web site. One great way to easily add content to your web site is to use the Blog feature. Get started today!

How Does the Fiscal Cliff Bill Pertain to Housing?

2013-01-18T11:36:26-05:00

Inman News had an excellent summary of the parts of the recent Fiscal Cliff Bill that were applicable to housing.

Here are some of the key points as summarized by Inman News:

- Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief was extended through 2013

- Qualified borrowers can deduct Mortgage Insurance premiums

- $200-500 tax credits for energy-efficiency home improvements

- $2000 tax credits for new energy-efficient new houses

View the full article and all the details