The Warranty Group Announces Agreement with Realty Executives International

RISMEDIA, May 22, 2008-The Warranty Group has announced an agreement with Realty Executives International to offer a branded home protection program. The program, named “The Realty Executives Home Protection Plan,” will be available to consumers in all 50 states through more than 700 Realty Executives offices.

The program will cover multiple dwelling types, including single-family homes, condominiums and new construction, and offer comprehensive coverage on appliances, plumbing and electrical systems and heating and air conditioning systems.

Home protection plans often increase listings and sales, while potentially reducing costs and risks to sales associates and homeowners alike. Homeowners benefit through protection against unexpected expenses related to home repairs.

“Realty Executives is a perfect partner for our innovative approach to enhanced buyer loyalty and satisfaction,” said Mike Frosch, President & COO of TWG Home Warranty Services, Inc. “Our industry-leading home warranty expertise will be a win/win for both Realty Executives brokers and their customers.”

“Teaming up with The Warranty Group further distinguishes Realty Executives as a leader in the real estate industry and adds even greater value to our customer experience,” said Rich Rector, President and CEO of Realty Executives. “Our Home Protection Plan will deliver increased peace of mind to our valued clients.”

The Realty Executives Home Protection Plan will be available on all homes listed by Realty Executives sales associates.

2007 Realty Executives MidSouth Award Winners

Hattiesburg, MS Award Winners from Left to Right: Ken Broom, Amy Simpson, Mark Graham, Veronica Staten, and Jim Stroo (B/O)

Top 5 in Commission Dollars
#1 Dell Palmer, Madison, MS
#2 Sherry Dinges, Huntsville, AL
#3 Mark Graham, Hattiesburg, MS
#4 Ken Broom, Hattiesburg, MS
#5 Cynthia McAllister, Daphne, AL

Top 5 in Units Sold
#1 Mark Graham, Hattiesburg, MS
#2 Dell Palmer, Madison, MS
#3 Ken Broom, Hattiesburg, MS
#4 Sherry Dinges, Huntsville, AL
#5 Tanja Adams, Madison, MS

Executive of the Year
Bonita York, Gulf Shores, AL

Rookie Executive of the Year
Veronica Staten, Hattiesburg, MS

Executive of the Year Nominees
Bonita York, Gulf Shores, AL
Mark Gunsaullus, Tuscaloosa, AL
Darcy Peoples, Enterprise, AL
Bradley Mayfield, Lafayette, LA
Amy Simpson, Hattiesburg, MS
Tanja Adams, Madison, MS

Rookie Executive of the Year Nominees
Kathryn Scott, Tuscaloosa, AL
Ronald Guilbeaux, Lafayette, LA
Veronica State, Hattiesburg, MS
Barry Becker, Madison, MS

CONGRATULATIONS & THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK!!!

Local Brokerage Hosts Benefit Golf Tournament

Realty Executives Gulf Coast in Gulf Shores joins in with community initiative

Realty Executives Gulf Coast, located in Gulf Shores, is hosting their 10th Annual Habitat for Humanity Benefit Golf Tournament this coming Friday, May 9th at Cypress Bend Golf Course at Craft Farms. Each year this local real estate company organizes this event to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County.

"Those of us at Realty Executives believe that it is important for us to give back," said Anthony Kaiser, broker/owner of Realty Executives Gulf Coast. "We always encourage positive efforts in the local community, as well as throughout the nation. This initiative is just us doing our part."

The golf tournament shotgun will be at 1:00 pm on Friday and will end with prizes along with food and camaraderie. The community is encouraged to participate for only $100 per player for a 4 person scramble team. This year’s title sponsor is Armbrecht Jackson, LLP. For more information on how to participate or help sponsor the Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County Benefit Golf Tournament, please contact Lacie Maynard of Realty Executives at (251) 968-7925 or lacie@gulftel.com.

Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County, Inc. is a grassroots Christian nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the elimination of substandard housing and worldwide poverty. For additional company information, call (251) 943-7268 or visit http://www.baldwinhabitat.org/.

For more information about Realty Executives Gulf Coast, please contact Anthony Kaiser at (251) 968-4300 or visit their website http://www.realtyexecutivesgulfcoast.com/.

REALTY EXECUTIVES OPENS NEW OFFICE IN ENTERPRISE AT 1200 RUCKER BOULEVARD

Realty Executives, Meade and Associates, headquarted in Enterprise, Alabama announces the opening of their new home office building at 1200 Rucker Boulevard. The ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the new location on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 10:00 am and the Open House was from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Thank You to all who joined Realty Executives, the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Kenneth W. Boswell for food and fun as we celebrated the opening of the new Realty Executives office.
Since April 1997, Hugh and Eva Meade, broker/owners of Realty Executives, Meade and Associates, Inc., have been serving real estate consumers in the Wiregrass area which includes Enterprise, Daleville, Ozark, Geneva, New Brockton and surrounding areas. Realty Executives Meade and Associates in Enterprise is one of five Realty Executives offices in Alabama. Other Realty Executives offices in Alabama are located in Gulf Shores, Daphne, Tuscaloosa and Huntsville.
“The opening of our new Realty Executives office is one of our proudest achievements to date for enhancing and establishing our business. This attractive new location adds usable floor space in order to accommodate our growing real estate office and new Executives (sales associates),” said Eva Meade, associate broker/owner.
For more information on Realty Executives, Meade and Associates, please contact us at (334) 347.7334 or visit our website, www.meadeandassociates.net/.

Regional Meeting Information (Rescheduled for October 13th & 14th)

Why Should I Go?

Glenn Melton, Chief Operating Officer for Realty Executives International had this to say..."Over the last year, we've had a paradigm shift in how we look at our company conferences and meetings. While we do still have annual, all-company events, more and more we are bringing the content directly to our franchisees and sales associates through content-rich regional meetings where we can roll out new programs and tools face-to-face in a broker or sales associate's backyard.

What Do I Get If I Go?

• Motivation & Inspiration
• Regional Networking Opportunities
• NEW Tools & Education from Convention
• Meeting Materials
• 3 Guest Speakers from Realty Executives International
• Lunch & Snacks

What Else is There To Do?

• Like the Beach? Home to the nation's most beautiful white sand beaches
• Like to Shop? Home of the Tanger Outlet Center, Pinnacle Shopping Center, The Wharf in Orange Beach & San Roc Cay
• Would you prefer to Golf? Play on one of the area's famous golf courses such as Cotton Creek, Peninsula or Kiva Dunes

Meeting Schedule

• Broker/Owner Meeting, October 13th, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm at Gulf Shores Adult Activity Center
• Executive & Broker/Owner Meeting, October 14th, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at Gulf Shores Adult Activity Center

Speaker Topics

-Broker/Owner Meeting, Monday, October 13th:

• Best Practices Round Table
• PR, Homeworks and Grassroots PR
• Marketing & Recruiting Tools
• NEW Electronic Recruiting Presentation

-Executive & Broker/Owner Meeting, Tuesday, October 14th:

• International & Regional Updates
• Executive Level Marketing & Branding
• NEW Buying & Listing Presentations
• NEW REX 2.0 Online Ad Builder
• Communications, PR & Strategic Alliances

Man, I Wish You Had Been There

Convention in San Diego was an absolute BLAST! Sorry if you missed it, because you missed some valuable information, inspirational and motivational speakers and most of all the new buying and listing presentations and REX 2.0! Man, I wish you had been there.

First, valuable information: So many breakout sessions with different speakers provided a wealth of knowledge and perspective about the real estate industry. I'll just give you a snippet of statistics and real estate trends from Anne Randolph, publisher of LORE Magazine and Partner for Murray Consulting. Despite the negativity the media is pushing on its viewers about how awful the mortgage crisis is, if you tell the real story, people just might buy. The media is fueling negativity...and we as real estate agents and experts are letting their hoopla win! Did you know that less than 6% of all mortgages in the US are behind in their mortgages or at risk of foreclosure (1)? According to the Mortgage Bankers Association there are currently about 72 million mortgages active in the US, 3 million mortgages are behind an additional 1 million were at risk of foreclosure...you do the math. Although subprime mortgage delinquencies have risen to just above 10%, it is still below the delinquencies in 2002 (2). Our "mortgage mess" partly stems from the fact that (3) roughly one half percent of homeowners should not have purchased a home in the "hot" market. To say that everyone should be a homeowner would be a fallacy. (4)Despite the property value loss in areas with overbuilding, speculation and excessive price increases (ummm, the Gulf Coast), homeowners who purchased their house 2 years ago still have an average 5% equity in their home. Yes, the market will probably continue to decline for the next year or two until it corrects itself because people will return to renting for various reasons (medical, job loss, can't afford a mortgage, etc.). There were people who purchased homes who should have never done so to start with. Lenders loosened their guidelines and loaned money to borrowers that would never qualify under normal market conditions. Anne Randolph said it perfect, "Anytime you go through a party like that, you have to clean up." But guess what...there are opportunities even in an overbuilt and overpriced market! REAL Trends PULSE report shows buyers and sellers softening their stance and 68% of reporting brokerages are seeing conditions improving. If you are an investor, this is perfect buying opportunity. If you are a hurting builder or developer in a vacation market, find the foreign investors...they're out there. Use our International network of Realty Executives offices. They're everywhere (Canada, Israel, Greece...etc.). I could go on and on, but man, I wish you had been there.

Second, motivational speakers: We had the pleasure of listening to James Arthur Ray and Jerry Rossi. Very soon the convention seminars will be uploaded on KnowledgePoint. I STRONGLY suggest you watch them. Their energy & attitude is so contagious, you can't help but be excited about what they have to say. Man, I wish you had been there.

Third, new tools and strategies: Easily customizable, brand new buying and listing presentations were presented. And they sure do look sharp. Not to mention the amazing new REX 2.o. This program puts the original REX to shame. You will be amazed at marketing capabilities that REX 2.0 has. Not kidding. Not trying to hype it up out of proportion. Seriously. Man, I wish you had been there.

HOWEVER...Haha! We will be holding our MidSouth Regional Meeting and Awards Dinner May 1st and 2nd in Gulf Shores to further explore some of the great strategies & new tools that are available to you. Our keynote speaker will be your regional developer and Region V Regional Vice President for NAR, Randy McKinney. Ask your broker/owner for registration details. Over 95% of our region's regional meeting attendees are in the top 5% of our region. Coincidence? Man, you better be there.

(1) MBA March 7, 2008
(2) MBA National Delinquency Survey
(3) Anne Randolph, REAL Trends, March 18, 2008
(4) Zillow.com US Home Value Report-Q4 2007

MidSouth Executives We Need Your Input!

Thank you Realty Executives MidSouth Broker/Owners and Executives for visiting our blog. With a completed survey, you will receive a $5.00 Starbucks giftcard. Click Here for survey.

*Offer is only for Realty Executives MidSouth broker/owners and agents. Only one entry per agent. Offer extended through March 31st, 2008 @ 7:00 pm.