Justin Smith Plans to Attend RE BarCamp

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Metro Denver is lucky to have so many terrific technical people who are willing to share their knowledge.  Justin Smith of Searching Solutions in Castle Rock is planning to be at RE BarCamp Denver.  As he says in the video, he’s “pumped to be able to talk on Search Engine Optimization.  Anyone who has a website or wants one should make a point to hang around Justin.  Watch this video and I’m sure you will agree…

REBarCamp Denver from Justin Smith on Vimeo.

As a professional SEO expert, Justin has a natural ability to take difficult topics and break them down into bite-sized understandable concepts everyone can understand and implement.

Thank you Justin for contributing on this video and agreeing to be a big part of RE BarCamp Denver on May 22. We look forward to hearing and learning from you!

Justin Smith can be found at Searching Solutions.

Please be sure to RSVP for REBC!

Ellen on Twitter

Twitter is the latest phenomenon sweeping not just the country but the world.  If you don’t understand it, relax you aren’t alone.  Most who are truthful admit they didn’t get it at first either.

Ellen obviously has a handle on Twitter now, she’s got 10′s of thousand of FOLLOWERS!

If you are uncertain about Twitter, what it is, what does and how it might effect your business, you need to come to RE BarCamp Denver.  We will be revealing unravelling social media as it pertains to the real estate industry.

RSVP for REBCD Here!

Short Sale Management Experts Embrace Social Media to Get

Short sales have become the deals we love to hate. They have become so prevalent in our market there is absolutely no way to ignore them any longer.  So in an effort to bring everyone up to speed on the aspects of Short Sales and how to make them work RE BarCamp will be bringing specialists in who will share their knowledge and give us tips for making Short Sales a success in our business.

Today we welcome Tara N. Rogers, President/CEO of RealtyTMS a national Short Sale Management  Company.

How has Social Media enhanced your business?
Social  Media has provided us a great way to get and stay connected to the real estate community and to share our expertise with  REALTORS® all over.  We sponsored Brad Hanks’ “Expose Yourself! Social Media Technology” CE Class at the Colorado Association of  REALTORS® State Convention last fall.  It helped us understand the value of staying connected and sharing insight with others in the industry and also gave us the tools to be able to gain knowledge from others as well.

Tell us about your business and how you are able to assist REALTORS ® in theirs.

RealtyTMS, Inc. provides administrative support to REALTORS® along with technology integration (online access to their transaction).  This allows REALTORS® to focus more on business-building activities such as lead generation, networking, marketing, and lead conversion rather than on managing time-consuming deadlines and paperwork associated with real estate transactions.

Describe your day to us, what do you do?

For me, each day is different.  As President and CEO I wear many hats from networking, presenting at brokerages, attending classes for further education, hosting and teaching classes on short sales for  REALTORS®, managing our workforce, and meeting with current and potential shareholders in our company.  We have a team of Transaction Management Specialists and Assistants that manage the Listings, Transactions, and Short Sales for  REALTORS®.  They work diligently throughout the day, contacting lenders regarding the progress of a short sale, inputting listings onto the web and creating flyers, and managing the dates, deadlines, and paperwork for transactions.

Tell us about your short sale close ratio.

We have a very high success rate in getting short sales to approval.  The only ones that do not come together successfully are those in which there are too many judgments or liens on the property or the buyer decided not to wait for approval or could not get financing to come together after approval.  Unfortunately, in the case of the latter, unless we can get it under contract again quickly, it will be difficult to get the bank to move the foreclosure sale date.  We do have a list of real estate investors that we send out any short sales that have been approved by the lender but the buyer has fallen off.   This can assist the Realtor in getting a new contract on it.  The great thing about what we do, is that we help the Realtor by taking on all of the administrative challenges associated with short sales so that they can focus on what they do best, marketing the property and getting it under contract.

What 4 or 5 questions should we as REALTORS® be prepared to ask a buyer/seller?

1. Are you behind in your mortgage payments and if so, how far?
2. have you received a Notice of Election and Demand?
3. Have you discussed a loan modification with your lender?
4. Have you considered renting your home?
5. Have you considered getting a roommate in the short term to help make payments?
6. Are you in are going to be in Bankruptcy?

For a Buyer:

1. Are you willing to wait (possibly 6 months or more)?
2. Are you pre-approved?
3. Do you have a Pre-Approval Letter?
4. Do you have proof of funds
5. Are you really willing to wait?

Are you coming to RE Bar Camp?  If so, would you be willing to share your insight on short sales with us?

Yes, I will be attending and I am very excited as this looks like it will be a fantastic event!  I would be happy to share our insight and expertise on short sales.  We have a great class we teach on the 7 Keys To Successful Short Sales.  We’d be happy to present this and also have some agents that can attest to their short sales experience.  I would also be available for anyone who wanted to know more about our Listing and Transaction Management services too.

Tara N. Rogers can be reached at RealtyTMS

Susan Stewart of Stewart Title Utilizes Social Media for Business

Social Media is impacting businesses of all kinds. Susan Stewart who works Stewart Title has embraced social media as a way to increase her sphere.  Susan so impressed me with her enthusiasm and her willingness to spread the word. Susan is now teaching social media classes in Metro Denver.

How long have you been in the Title Business?

7 years

What did you do before?

Banking & College

We just meet last month at a Tweet Up. I was very impressed with your enthusiasm for social media. What attracted you to start utilizing social media?

Recommended by some of my clients to start engaging in it. Then realized the power of the networking sphere you have through this online world and its fun too.

What has it done for your business?

Given me credibility & strength, known as an innovator and trusted business partner with resources to help agents achieve results.

Assuming you have had enough experience using a variety of platforms, which social network is your favorite? And why?

Facebook, its the easiest/user friendliest, and lots of fun!

Are you coming to REBarCamp Denver?

Absolutely

What do you hope to gain by attending?

Broader understanding of the social media world, and how knowledgeable the Denver real estate industry is. And to network and connect with others interested in growing their social media marketing platforms.

Who do you think should come to REBarCamp?

Everyone in the real estate industry interested in learning how to utilize these social media tools to grow their networks and business.

Would you like to teach a topic?

I would love to offer any help in the intro social media cafe area, which can help newbie’s get started by getting any of their social media sites profiles set up and started.

REBarCamp Theme Song

It all started just over a year ago, when Andy Kaufman began kicking around the idea of replicating a silicon valley event for the real estate industry.

Now with 5 amazing events successfully completed and more than that on the drawing board, RE BarCamps have become a phenomenon in the real estate industry. They are free, informative and speak to the need of the attendees. How refreshing!

On May 22 RE BarCamp convenes in Denver, we too shall ROCK!

Will you be there?

Video Credit goes to the Real Estate Zebra, Daniel Rothamel song by Neil Diamond, starring many people who believed it possible and made it come true.

The Colorado Springs Connection Wagners Chat on Social Media

Derek and Mariana Wagner manage to stand out in a crowd. It’s no wonder they decided to ditch the traditional written interview and deliver a video to us instead!  As an outstanding example of how to convert web leads into closings, the Wagner’s continue to perfect their system and better yet, they will share it with us!

Thank you Derek and Mariana for taking the time to entertain us with your video.  We look forward to seeing you at REBC.

The Wagner iTeam can be found selling Colorado Springs Real Estate, stop by and say hello!

And yes, they will be at REBarCamp Denver, will you?

Denver Blogger Gretchen Faber

Gretchen Faber is a well recognized broker in Denver real estate. She is active at the Denver Board of Realtors and manages the Kentwood Cherry Creek office. It is a pleasure to have Gretchen as part of REBarCamp blog “I’ll Be There” Interviews.

How long have you been selling real estate?

I earned my license in 1996, and got the broker’s license right away.  Back then, Colorado had two levels of licensing – agent and broker.  I decided to go for it and sit for the broker exam and I passed.  A few years later everyone had to go back and get their broker license and I was really glad I didn’t have to!

What made you decide to get into the business? What were you doing before real estate?

I was separating from my husband at the time, and had a toddler.  We had worked together in his family’s business so I naturally needed to move on.  I had always loved real estate and different architectural styles.  My parents owned investment properties in California, and they also instilled an appreciation for many types of architecture.  Real estate sales seemed a logical step.  With a master’s degree in marketing plus advertising experience, real estate seemed like the perfect career.  I also wanted some flexibility so that I could spend time with my son; take him on field trips, etc.  HA!  Little did I know how much you work in this business.  But those first few years I was able to carve out a lot of extra time with Joe – he went to many an open house with me.  He still does on occasion.

We had known each other from the Denver Board and the CIPS Committee.  Since then we both have taken up blogging? How long have you been blogging?

I became interested in blogging only recently.  You are much further ahead, and I had read about you and your blogging and found it intriguing.  At first, I just read other people’s blogs.  I was nervous to break some sort of rule of etiquette or say the wrong thing, so I never commented in the beginning.  At the end of 2007 I decided to go for it.  I thought that if I got one solid deal in 2008 from the blog, then it would have been worth it.  I investigated different platforms and coaches and decided to use the Real Estate Tomato to design my blog and teach me the ropes.   That won’t be for everyone, and many people can just do it on their own with a free wordpress blog, but I wanted to really know the ropes right out of the gate.

Social media has become so popular in the real estate industry. Can you tell us what it has done for your business?

At first I was engaging with other real estate bloggers, and these people have become my friends and coaches. We are constantly learning from each other, and no one is ever too busy to be generous with their time and answer a question.  Everyone is also very receptive to making referrals to other markets where they’ve gotten to know Realtors online.

As the blog writing began to flow, and I learned about all of the other social networking sites, I found that I’d get occasional comments from the public interested in Denver real estate.  Two weeks ago, I closed a $1.1 million transaction, cash buyer who found me from my internet presence.  He called and said, “you appear to be the expert where I’m looking.”  He flew into Denver, looked at homes for two days, and he made an offer.  I realize that this is probably not going to happen too often, but it illustrates the power of the internet and becoming the perceived expert.

If you could pick only one aspect of social media, what would that be.  By that I mean you must choose from Active Rain, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and any of the hundreds available, which one would you use and why?

I don’t think you can pick just one and I don’t’ know that I could!  It’s all so vitally integrated, and you meet up with some of the same people and also different people across the spectrum.  I think at a minimum, if you’re going to commit to social networking and blogging you need to be on all of the above.  Active Rain is powerful and gives you great links back to your site.  It’s also full of interesting conversations between brokers. Plus, consumers are going on AR more and more. You learn to ignore the trivial stuff.  LinkedIn is business related and you don’t need to spend too much time there, but should be on it nonetheless.  Facebook is a fabulous way to connect and reconnect with people you know present and past.  It’s more like your sphere.  On Facebook, you remind them that you sell real estate, but also have little reunions with people you don’t get to see too often.  Twitter is like a party. At first you can’t understand how to integrate all of these half conversations, but you get used to it.  Todd Carpenter says it’s like walking up to the water cooler at work and hearing half of the conversation about last night’s Academy Awards, and then wandering away.  You can also use Twitter to post the URL of your most recent blog post.

Are you coming to REBarCamp Denver?  Would you like to present a topic? If so what would that be?

I am coming to REBarCamp and I look forward to it!  Thanks for organizing it. I know you’ve spent a lot of time getting it just right.  I was sorry to miss the REBarCamp in Las Vegas, but couldn’t get away from work that week. It’s exciting that you’ve planned it here in Denver.

I could present any topic that you feel I’d be competent at.  You and your team are all way ahead of me!  One thing I feel passionate about is writing.  I’ve learned to really enjoy the art of writing a blog, and I don’t come from a writing background.  It might be fun to talk about how to write, what to write and work with people on relevant content, headlines, etc.  If you think that would be good or don’t have someone else better for that one.

Finally – shameless plug – my blog is www.LifeStyleDenver.com and my real estate web site is www.GretchensDenver.com !

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