In a year when breaking even on year-over-year home sales might be considered a lofty goal for some real estate companies, Blue Ridge, Georgia’s Coldwell Banker High Country Realty, has reported a 49 percent increase in homes sold in 2011 over the previous year.
What’s their secret? Broker/Owner June Slusser says it’s all about providing information, which she has done with the help of RISMedia’s Real Estate Information Network® (RREIN).
“I knew this was going to be a better year for us,” Slusser says. “Our increases were even more dramatic than my goals were.”
She attributes the increase to the company’s ability to satisfy the consumer’s need for information, and new tools and systems implemented at the beginning of 2011.
“Today’s real estate consumer has demonstrated they have a strong desire to work with real estate firms that are willing and able to supply real time information about real estate,” Slusser says. “We took the stance we were going to be the company that provided more knowledge to consumers than anyone else.”
She continues: “We were able to accomplish this goal through a strategic relationship with Norwalk, Conn.-based RISMedia, best known as the Leader in Real Estate Information Systems.
Slusser is referring to her company’s membership in RREIN, the industry’s leading network of top real estate companies committed to providing their agents and consumers with news, information, marketing materials, mobile technology and more all through a turnkey web-based business platform.
Part of that information is delivered to the real estate consumer base by a monthly newsletter created by a full-time team of staff writers.
New technology includes a new website for smart phones, as well as the ability to text property codes. The new mobile website for Coldwell Banker High Country Realty includes GPS so consumers can more easily find the properties in which they’re interested.
The technology permits consumers who are passing by a property to text the code to Coldwell Banker in order to receive complete listing information within a few minutes.
And because agents are the prime means of educating consumers, agents are constantly informed of real estate conditions and tips through a daily e-mail newsletter. Many of the suggestions included in the newsletter are generated by RISMedia, Slusser notes.
The MLS service owned by the Northeast Georgia Board of REALTORS® also reports an increase of 14 percent during the same time period, CB High Country reports. The Northeast Georgia Board of Realtors serves the counties of Fannin, Towns, Union, Gilmer and Pickens in Georgia; Clay and Cherokee in North Carolina; and Bradley, Monroe, and Polk in Tennessee.
Last year CB High Country also partnered with two companies to offer even more solutions for consumers. Through OwnAmerica, the company provides offerings for the real estate investor, including a free investor course featured on the website, cbhighcountry.com. And through EquityLock Solutions (RISMedia’s “New Product of the Year 2011”), Coldwell Banker is able to provide protection for buyers against potential losses in value on their homes in the future.
Slusser is no stranger to success. Since she purchased the firm in 2003, the company expanded its offices from Blue Ridge to three additional locations in Ellijay and Hiawassee, Georgia, and Murphy, North Carolina.
She foresees another positive year for Coldwell Banker High Country in 2012, sparked by new strategies and techniques.
“I expect our increases for 2012 to be even more dramatic than the increases we saw in 2011,” she said.
CB High Country’s results were reviewed and certified by the firm of Jackie E. Seabolt, CPA, PC. Coldwell Banker has a regional footprint and serves the North Georgia, Southeast Tennessee, and Southwest North Carolina area.
For more information about CB High Country, visit http://www.cbhighcountry.com/.
Have you heard about RISMedia’s Real Estate Information Network® (RREIN)? RREIN is an elite network of leading real estate companies dedicated to providing consumers and their agents with leading real estate information, and committed to the belief that Information Share Equals Market Share. The RREIN network is comprised of more than 70 leading brokerages, which make up more than 858 offices, 35,000 agents, over 250,000 closings and represents more than $70 billion in transactions. How can RREIN help your recruiting efforts, differentiate your company AND help increase your sales today? For more information, email rrein@rismedia.com.
