Only a few weeks into the spring market, one Boston real estate firm is seeing tremendous success. Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty recorded 80 Under Agreements and over 100 sales transactions in January and February (source: MLS). The firm is ranked #5 in the state and has the #1 office in Boston’s Back Bay for 2010 sales-to-date. But their recent success is not just measured in sales figures. The firm has made some strategic moves over the last few years, making them the top-ranked Boston-based firm in the state. They expanded with office acquisitions in the Waterfront, Charlestown and Westwood areas.

All the improvements have attracted highly successful sales associates. Once again, Gibson Sotheby’s recognized Beth Dickerson as their top agent in 2009, having sold the highest volume of sales. Dickerson’s average sale price was more than $3 million last year and she recorded the most expensive sale in Boston, a condominium on Beacon Street in the Back Bay that sold for $9.25 million. Co-Owner, Paul McGann, meets regularly with agents who are considering the firm. “Most often, agents who join us are already successful – but they are looking to go to the next level; to grow their business.” It is that growth potential that brought agents like Tammy DeWolfe to the company. After years in the business, she joined Gibson Sotheby’s Westwood office last month, citing the company’s support as a major motivating factor.

1. Inconspicuously green: A very traditional home can become energy- and resource-efficient. When this house in Washington, D.C. was built in the 1950s, most of its windows got direct sun. But then it was remodeled to better suit D.C.’s steamy summers. The porch columns are not chemically treated to repel rot or harvested from some far-off rain forest. Instead, they’re made from the naturally rot-resistant trunks of Eastern Red Cedar trees grown nearby.

2. The Eaves: A roof should overhang walls by at least one foot. That keeps the sun off windows and exteriors, which helps the house stay cool in summer. It also protects siding from the weather, meaning you may be able to go twice as long between repaintings or re-sidings.

3. Reuse and remodel: The house you fix up will probably be much greener than anything you build in its place, no matter how cutting edge the new design or how much recycled material you use. Sure, some old houses just can’t be saved. But even a building with serious problems can give you plenty to work with.

4. Size Matters: Fight the urge to go big and high. Not only is a smaller, well-proportioned house easier to heat and to cool, but you’ll need to buy less furniture to feel at home in it.

5. Use renewable energy: Let’s just say you probably won’t be installing a wind turbine in your backyard anytime soon. Even if the homeowners association didn’t come after you with torches and pitchforks, the truth is most places aren’t breezy enough.

The Sun
A solar water-heating system can reduce the fossil fuel you’ll need for showering and washing clothes. Before installing one, determine whether you have a sunny enough location to recoup the up-front costs, which can range from $3,000 to $8,000.

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NikNik over at mytechopinion.com made this really interesting post on the 10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals. It is rather interesting how she show how you can use character education and lifeskills to help with our business goals and strategies. Below you will find the 10 Social Media Lifeskills for Real Estate Professionals.

1. Integrity- Be the real you. Strive for authentic engagement by being the same person you are online that you are offline. Instead of selling what you do, share who you are and your daily experiences. And when it comes to your avatar (profile picture) be a person, not a real estate logo. People connect with people, not signs and buildings.

2. Active Listening- Although it’s important to share your interests, it’s even more important to pay attention to others. Learning what your network is passionate about only helps you ask better questions, provide better resources, and become a better advisor. Who’s Talkin? and SocialMention are 2 social search engines that make it even easier to monitor certain people and topics you care about.

3. Effort- Add value! Know your expertise and passion well enough to identify resources that may be helpful to your network. If you’re not sure where to look for great resources, try a social bookmarking tool like Delicious or Digg where others share their favorite articles. Monitor your resources and share regularly, provide your own insight and strategies for implementation.

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The Palmyra, a Solis Resort and Spa; a natural hideaway that magically captures the essence of Jamaica in a quaint tropical island setting. The Palmyra boasts the added luxury of Jamaica’s first destination spa, designed under the guidance of global spa guru Susan Harmsworth, CEO and Founder of global spa company ESPA.

This elegant sanctuary offers luxury living and accommodations in spacious condominiums and villas. Enjoy the soft Ocean Breeze and delight in Jamaica’s Newest Resort, Residences are available for purchase, prices starting in the mid US$400’s.

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Are you religious (or not) and looking for a new way to speed up the process of selling your home? If so, you may want to try what one person did to help sell her home in Brooklyn, N.Y. during this difficult real estate market. She has turned to an unlikely source for help: St. Joseph.

St. Joseph is a Catholic saint who has long been believed to help with home-related matters. And according to lore now spreading on the Internet and among desperate home-sellers, burying St. Joseph in the yard of a home for sale promises a prompt bid. After she and her husband held five open houses, even baking cookies for one of them, she ordered a St. Joseph “real estate kit” online and buried the three-inch white statue in her yard.

These statues are flying off the shelves as an increasing number of skeptics and non-Catholics look for some saintly intervention to help them sell their houses. Talk about desperate measures. You might as well put your house up on eBay and/or Craigslist and see if anyone makes a bid. Regardless, I guess at this point I would try anything and everything to help sell my home.

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Here are some really helpful tips that will help you to maintain a sparkling, show-ready house in just 19 minutes a day.

First of all start in your Bedroom and this will only take 6 1/2 minutes daily. Make your bed after or before your morning shower. This will take only 2 minutes, Fold or hang clothing and put away jewelry (4 minutes) and Straighten out the night-table surface (30 seconds).

Tidy your Bathroom and this should take you approximately 2 minutes. Make cleaning the basin as routine as washing your hands. The head to the kitchen which should take just about 4 1/2 minutes, Wipe down the sink after doing the dishes or loading the dishwasher, stove top, counters and sweep the floor.

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There are many persons right now who can’t even stand to hear the word Forclosure because of what that word means to them. It means that they lost there house to that simple word. But do you know what is foreclosure? It is the legal and professional proceeding in which a mortgagee, or other lienholder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of a mortgagor’s equitable right of redemption. Usually a lender obtains a security interest from a borrower who mortgages or pledges an asset like a house to secure the loan.

Here is the fun part you can gain from previous homeowner’s lost. Did you know? Because these houses where owned and repossessed they are being sold for basically what was owed on the mortgage. So whenever you hear of a Foreclose Auction go out and see you may just end up with a house for less than you think.

According to this article the main way for Real Estate agents to get noticed isn’t by being remembered or getting referrals but is by building strong, lasting client relationships. The article goes on by tell you how to keep your clients relationship active.

The most effective way to do this is by keeping in constant contact with them and leaving a gift behind to remind them of you later. A phrase used for this type of self advertising is “Pop By”. You want to Pop By clients, old and new, on a regular basis.

Some key points:

* Have you already branded yourself? Pick gifts that highlight your brand.
* Use several different “levels” of gifts. Have smaller, less expensive gifts for lower priority clients and nicer slightly more expensive gifts for your A clients.
* Bring gifts specifically for your clients children or pets. When the clients sees that you have paid attention and know about their family and personal life, they are more willing to trust in you and take you in as part of that life.
* Specify it to the season or holidays. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas make this type of marketing great fun.
* Get creative and have fun!

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