Archive for the 'Wright Realty' Category

You can know a company by the integrity and character of it’s leadership. We are fortunate at Coldwell Banker to have a CEO who truly cares for people and has the integrity and ambition to make an effort to change things for the better. In order to reach out and encourage helping others in need, Alex Perriello, CEO and President of REOLOGY- the parent company of Coldwell Banker LLC., sent this letter to all the brokers and agents in the Coldwell Banker family today:

October 8, 2008

Dear Coldwell Banker® Brokers and Sales Associates:

There are now hundreds of thousands of families all across America facing foreclosure because they simply cannot afford their mortgage payments, or they owe far more than their house is currently worth. To make matters even worse, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports that approximately 50% of home owners who do lose their homes to foreclosure have never once contacted their lender.

With this stark reality in mind, I am writing to you today to initiate a system-wide Call-to-Action to the more than 300,000 brokers, managers and sales professionals who are affiliated with one of our franchise brands. I am asking each of you to help “Save the Dream” of home ownership for just one family facing foreclosure. I believe that we have both an opportunity and an obligation to help our neighbors and our local communities by trying to prevent as many foreclosures from occurring as possible.

This “Save the Dream” initiative may require several hours or even a few days of your time, but I am confident the end result will be well worth the effort, both personally and professionally. Specifically, I am asking each of you to find just one family in your local community who may be facing foreclosure and help them reach out to their lender or a housing counseling agency so that they can begin the process of exploring a loan workout solution and hopefully stay in their homes. If you don’t know of anyone in this unfortunate position, I’m confident that you can use your networking skills to find someone who needs this kind of help and approach them in confidence and with great sensitivity to the situation. Collectively, we can make a difference.

Here are direct links to two of the best resource sites available that you can use both to educate yourselves and to share with people in need of learning more about how they can help themselves avoid foreclosure:

- Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)
- The HOPE NOW Alliance and the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline (1-888-995-HOPE)

One thing I have learned during my career as a real estate professional is that we REALTORS are very focused on community service. You spend time every year supporting a myriad of very worthwhile causes like Habitat for Humanity, Easter Seals, MDA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Toys for Tots and Make-A-Wish, to name just a few. You know firsthand that doing good deeds is indeed good business. More than that, I know you care deeply about your communities.

I truly believe that this “Save the Dream” initiative will enable you to give back to your communities in a positive and meaningful way – one that at some point in the future might have a direct benefit on your business. There is an old expression I’m sure you have heard many times … “What goes around, comes around.” I’m most certain, that if you can help save someone from the pain and anguish of foreclosure, they will be your friend – and customer – for life.

America got into this foreclosure crisis one house at a time, and we need to resolve it one house at a time. Please help “Save the Dream” for someone today. Thank you.
Sincerely,

Alex Perriello
President & CEO
Realogy Franchise Group

Today I have to post about the “latest and greatest” at Coldwell Banker. These are the things that make me truly appreciate having the international power of the world’s oldest real estate agency behind us.

Rather than moving slowly like some typical large companies, Coldwell Banker is always looking ahead and anticipating consumers needs so they can meet them. When Second Life was noticed by the business world for being not just a game but a marketing medium, Coldwell Banker was the first to set up a virtual real estate office showing that not only do they want to meet consumers where they are, but they also like to have a little fun too.

Yesterday,  Coldwell Banker continued to blaze a path of innovation in the real estate industry becoming the first full-service national real estate brand to launch a customized online platform for iPhone users.

When a user accesses the site through his or her handset, the Coldwell Banker Web site automatically recognizes that it is being accessed by an iPhone, and will serve up the special iPhone interface.  iPhone users do not need to download any special software to benefit from this enhancement to the Coldwell Banker mobile technology.

“Providing easy access to real-time real estate information is critical for consumers in the home buying and selling process,” said Michael Fischer, senior vice president of marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.  “Distribution of listings is crucial in today’s environment.  Our mobile society is moving away from the desktop and utilizing cell phones and PDAs for more and more content and entertainment.  With so many connecting to the Web by phone, we have to be where the consumer is in a way that makes sense.”

Those looking for a home will be able to search for homes and utilize the brand’s home value estimator.  In addition, consumers will be able to enter specific search criteria such as city, state, price as well as optional filters including number of bedrooms and bathrooms.  When a property is selected, iPhone users can view all of the specifications for that home and contact an agent directly.

“Now more than ever consumers want to access information about a home as they see it, pass it or hear about,” continued Fischer.  “Being in front of a computer should not be mandatory.”

Earlier this year Coldwell Banker became the first national real estate brand to put its listings on in-car GPS devices through an exclusive feed to Dash Navigation.  Drivers can now call up Coldwell Banker listings, map them, get directions and view other Coldwell Banker listings in close proximity.

It’s Monday…and before I begin my day I spend some time perusing some of my favorite industry blogs. Lo’ and behold I see my name referenced in a recent blog by Internet Strategist Extraordinaire, Gahlord Dewald of Union Street Media.

You have to check out his blog at USM…G can take complicated SEO concepts and explain them in such a way that you just get it. Instant enlightenment with zero head scratching.

So, he memed me. Meme- a fun word to see and say isn’t it? Meme rhymes with ‘dream’ and refers to a set of questions one is asked  and then it is sent along from person to person and from blog to blog. Since it is Monday and I am still trying to crank up this cranium at 6:00 AM, I thought this might be a different way to start my week.

So here goes:

6 Random Things You Wouldn’t Know About Me Unless You Asked

1. I play the Violin and even more shockingly–enjoy bluegrass music.

2.  I installed the first DBS satellite system at the Boston Garden.

3.  I speak Lithuanian.

4.  I can dunk a basketball and idolized Dr. J ( That is “Julius” not “Jordan” BTW) growing up.

5. I am an Apple computer fanatic and have been known on occasion to wear a black mock turtleneck with bluejeans and interject the word “boom” into conversations as I fancy myself giving a keynote presentation.

6.  At 19 years old I hiked the Appalachian trail from Mt. Katahdin in Maine to the Berkshires in Mass before realizing that it was going to take much longer to finish than one summer.

That’s my personal trivia now what is yours?…This is where I am supposed to pass this along to others to finish off my meme.

The following should consider themselves Memed:

Rose Robinson: Who caught the “blog-bug” and in less than a month jumped the charts at Activerain.

Bill Barbin: Fellow real estate pal that I once worked with at RE/MAX–we can chat about SEO and internet marketing for hours–and usually do. Bill is also an online entrepreneur  with a new project- Bulletblocker

Dave Soucy: Former national “big-wig” for a telecommunications company I worked for and later an internet company ( remember @home?) before the dotcom bust. He currently is a ” no-nonsense” fitness pro and an internet marketing superstar!

After months of planning and research we are proud to announce that we have just launched our new website at www.WrightRealty.com!

We designed this site solely for YOU- the real estate viewer.

• You asked for online tools and a simple, easy to use site.

• You asked to see ALL the NH MLS listings without having to sign up or provide your contact info.
• You asked for a free email notification service so that you could get new or changed NH real estate info when real estate agents do.
• You asked for privacy and did not wish to be contacted until YOU asked to be contacted.
• You asked for a “One Stop Portal’ for not just real estate info but other area information so you can save time and get all the info in one place.

We listened to you and have worked with our designer, Union Street Media to provide you with what you want. We look forward to adding more innovations– stayed tuned!

It’s a gorgeous start to a Wednesday here in the North Conway area and I am excited to submit our FIRST blog entry on our fancy new website!

We had another blog ( or THREE as it were…) going on out there in cyberspace but decided we would just begin again with a fresh new start. We were using blogger, wordpress.com and live journal and although it was a great intro into blogging platforms it all got kinda confusing to post to and organize thoughts. We still will blog on our industry blog, ActiveRain but this will be our main public blog.

So let me introduce you to me/us:

My name is Sean Bossie and I will be the primary “bloghead” here at Coldwell Banker Wright Realty. My job is to listen to you and provide you with all the online information and search tools you need to find real estate in the White Mountains and Western Maine area. If you see something you like on some other site and wish it was used here just let me know…I won’t bug ya’ or put you on some contact list either. I don’t like it when it is done to me either. We have nothing to sell but service so your privacy is respected. Guaranteed.

There are twelve agents in my office and we are essentially a *new* office. The three owners, Antonella Bliss, Lindsey Maihos and Rose Robinson all came from another local real estate agency ( the same one I managed actually…) and decided that after years of being successful agents they wanted to take it a step further and open a new office with a different approach and with new innovations–totally embracing the online model that buyers and sellers wanted. So they bought Coldwell Banker Wright Realty from Skip Smith, the prior successful owner of this 30 year plus agency.

Their vision and energy ( all in a tough real estate market the past two years..) was contagious and many of us moved over with them….and so here we are.

But, enough about US…this site is about YOU. We hope you like it as much as we enjoyed it building it for you.

Sean