JUNE/JULY 2017
N e w s l e t t e r
ISSUE 83
HUNT’s 1st Annual CommUnity Day 2017 Regional News On Thursday, July 13, HUNT Real Estate Corporation agents and employees participated in HUNT’s 1st Annual #WeLiveHere CommUNITY Day. The company teamed up with United Way chapters throughout Western and Upstate New York, as well as Phoenix, Arizona, to take part in local community service projects, ranging from painting, cleaning and landscaping to making meals and helping out at children's summer camps. While the inclement weather caused a handful of events to be postponed until a later date, a total of 17 projects were able to be completed. Read more on page 5≥
6
Find out whats going on near and around your area and other parts of the company in the Regional News Section! Read more on page 6≥
Introducing Revolutionary “Buyer Match” Tool Buyside connects potential buyers with sellers. Read more on page 4≥
8
“The Truth about Our ‘New’ Competitor—and Us”
If you are in one of our Upstate Regions, you have probably seen some advertising about the new “brand” in our industry. I had another topic planned for my article this month, but decided to discuss something entirely different with you at this time because I have received several questions and comments about what is now and has been going on in the industry. Up until now, I have chosen to say as little as possible for one simple reason: very little has changed on the competitive landscape except a name. Here are the facts as I see them: 1. A Pittsburg-based company, Howard Hanna Realtors, first purchased Nothnagle Realtors, based in Rochester with offices in Buffalo Niagara as well, and later purchased Realty USA with offices from the Western part of the state through to the Capital District. They ran both companies in parallel with separate signs and offices until just recently, when the Hanna sign replaced the two others, a process that has begun most recently in the Western part of the state. 2. These deals are acquisitions, not “mergers.” The Hanna administration will clearly be in charge. They will have local leadership, reporting to Cleveland, where their Great Lakes Region is based. 3. In order for Hanna to realize any efficiencies and improve their return on investment, they will have to merge back-office operations (administrative departments) and close offices that are clearly redundant although they have claimed “no changes.” We’ll see. 4. They are going through the brand transition in Western New York now and are reported to be going through a similar change in Central New York and the Capital District in September. 5. Corresponding to the name change, they are ramping up media advertising touting, among other things, their size and “innovations.”
2
A Message from the CEO
Regarding their size, in the Buffalo News on August 4th, it was reported that Hanna “dominates” the local market, reporting 14,517 transactions as opposed to our 5,800+ in the same geography. I just ran the real numbers. While ours were reported accurately, their real number of transactions, from both of the old brands combined, was 8,213, representing 31.8% of total transactions versus our 24.3%. By the way, they have 992 agents in the B/N Region versus our 735—our Agents are more productive. If they are not honest about the number of transactions they participate in, what else are they less than honest about? 6. Regarding their “innovations,” they cite one: “The 100% Repurchase Guarantee.” One must ask oneself, “why would I want to sell my house to anyone within the first year of ownership?”—which is their time limit. The likelihood of this happening under any circumstances is almost nil. Why? Because very few, if any, buy a home without a high degree of emotional attachment. The vast majority of homebuyers spend more time improving and personalizing their home in the first year of ownership than any other year they own the home. Why would they walk away from that investment, considering our competitor will only repurchase the home at the original purchase price, less a fee, of course? And there are many other restrictions, including the fact that the seller must also buy another house from Hanna. We’ve read the fine print. We will see new signs and more advertising from them. But other than the facts above, it will largely be business as usual, competing with the same agents (except those that have joined us) working the same centers of influence and neighborhoods. Lastly, and what I hope will be a source of pride for you, it is important for you to determine for yourself which real estate company is the “innovative leader.” Here is a partial list of your Company’s innovations:
The first Company-wide comprehensive training program as a requirement of association The first network program-length television show on real estate in the Buffalo Niagara Region (“The Sunday Showcase of Homes”) The first company to publish its own inventory magazine (“The Showcase of Homes”) The first company to publish a magazine devoted to new home subdivisions (“The New Homes Showcase”) The first company to publish a magazine devoted to its inventory of higher-end properties (“Distinctive Homes”) The first company in the United States to have a real estate Customer Service Center The first company in the United States to have its own showing system operated on proprietary software (“ProShow”) The first company to create a consumer-based brand for its website (“r-house.com”) The first company to offer a market-wide guaranteed sale plan (The ERA Seller Security Plan) The first company to develop a comprehensive technology platform for Agent productivity (first “OneRealPro”, now “Agent Achieve”)
The first commission-based real estate company to offer multiple commission options to sellers (“Seller Select”) The first branded buyer agency program (first introduced as “Buyer’s Edge”, now “Buy Design”) The first commission-based real estate company to also offer fee-based services to sellers through an affiliated brokerage (“Realty Express”) The first company in all Regions we serve to offer a comprehensive (for ALL listings—not just ours) 24/7/365 technology system delivering voice and data directly to customers (“The HUNT Hotline”) There’s more, but I do not want to overwhelm you. We will continue to innovate because I will never stop until every buyer and seller in every market we serve sees so clearly that there is no good alternative to working with one of our Agents for one simple reason: they offer more and better service and products, delivered more efficiently than any competitor, regardless of their size.
The first real estate company in the State to own and operate a mortgage banking firm, a title agency and an insurance agency—the most important step in realizing our Vision of “Always there for you” The first real estate company to form an association of vendors to support our clients and customers in the process of turning a house into their home (“The Realty Club”)
Peter F. Hunt
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - HUNT Real Estate Corporation
A Message from the CEO
3
Introducing Revolutionary “Buyer Match” Tool At HUNT Real Estate, we take pride in providing unique, innovative tools to help our sales professionals attain more business. In line with that commitment, we are pleased to announce that we have partnered with Buyside to help you attract more leads and win more listing presentations. What is Buyside? Simply put, Buyside helps connect potential sellers with your buyers. They do this by aggregating buyer data from all of our online sources (the HUNT website, Zillow, Trulia, ERA, ProShow, HUNT Hotline, and many more) to give potential sellers direct insight into how many buyer matches HUNT has for their home. Rather than telling you about it, visit homevalue.huntrealestate.com and try it out for yourself. Just search an address of an off-market listing or a home that is not listed by HUNT (if you search a HUNT-listed property, you will be redirected to the property detail page on our website).
Dan Mirsky, Marketing Director 716-880-1514 dan.mirsky@huntrealestate.com
4
Core Businesses & Departments
Buyside will instantaneously display the following information: • 3 separate home valuations from Zillow, RPR and Collateral Analytics • Buyer activity in the last 90 days funneled into multiple categories • The number of “Buyer Matches” for your home, including profiles of those buyers • Detailed local market data including a buyer heatmap, supply-side trends and recent nearby sales Visitors to HUNTrealestate.com will be able to access Buyside by clicking the new “What’s My Home Worth?” tab in the main search box on our homepage and entering their address. ** Coming Later This Summer: You will be able to utilize our Buyside partnership on your own HUNT Agent Website. Stay tuned for more details! ** No other real estate company in your market has access to this innovative new tool to attract more sellers. We are excited to introduce our partnership with Buyside and look forward to increasing business for all HUNT Real Estate sales professionals.
HUNT’s 1st Annual CommUnity Day (con’t) The following are a list of organizations we partnered with for our #WeLiveHere CommUNITY Day: Valley Community Center The Salvation Army of Buffalo Ronald McDonald of Western New York
House
Charities
Boys & Girls Club of Buffalo Compass House Every Person Influences Children Gateway-Longview Alliance for the Great Lakes
“To witness the excitement from our agents and staff to give back to their local communities was amazing, especially given the challenging weather conditions we experienced that day,” said Dan Mirsky, Marketing Director for HUNT Real Estate Corp. “We had people battling torrential downpours and even flash flooding simply to spend a few hours helping out in their community,” Mirsky added. “We are already looking ahead to next year and making our #WeLiveHere CommUNITY Day an annual day of action for our company.”
Champion Academy
United Way Chapters Participating in HUNT CommUNITY Day:
Hornell Children’s Home
United Way of Buffalo & Erie County
Samaritan Center
United Way of Greater Niagara
Rosamond Gifford Zoo
United Way of Greater Rochester
Central New York SPCA
United Way of the Southern Tier
CazCares Community Action Partnership of Madison County “We see no better way to show that ‘#WeLiveHere’ than to offer support for our neighbors and give back to the communities in which we live and work,” said Peter Hunt, Chairman & CEO of HUNT Real Estate Corp. “It was wonderful to see our entire company so eager to participate, donating their personal time and energy.”
Allegany County United Way United Way of Central New York United Way of Greater Oneida United Way of the Valley & Greater Utica United Way of the Greater Capital Region Tri-County United Way United Way of Columbia & Greene Counties
Dan Mirsky, Marketing Director 716-880-1514 dan.mirsky@huntrealestate.com
Core Businesses & Departments
5
News Around the Regions
Buffalo/Niagara
Rochester
Central & Northern NY Region
Scott Wander from our Lancaster Branch met with Matthew Hurtubise, Special Finance Manager at West Herr of Orchard Park at our On the House employee event. Matthew was the lucky winner of a $25 gift card.
The Dog Days of Summer have been quite rainy, but that didn’t damper the HUNT agent spirit! HUNT agents have been quite busy enjoying our Summer Events. Each Branch office in the region has been hosting gatherings with food & drink just to hang out and enjoy each other’s company. The BDs have put on Happy Hours, a Summer Social Potluck, a BBQ, and, of course, Taco Tuesdays! We certainly eat well in the Rochester Region!
On June 8th, members of "The Bees" Real Estate Team put together a HUNT Real Estate Meet and Greet booth at Bridgeport Elementary, a local school in Central New York. The school was having its annual Family Fun Night with hundreds of families attending. During the event, local community businesses organized games and activities for the kids to participate in. It was a great event for families to attend, and it provided the team with a great opportunity to meet and interact with so many people in the area.
Contributing to a Buffalo football tradition that found its roots in 1904, Jerry Voskerichian, with our Amherst Branch, was recently inducted into the Harvard Cup Hall of Fame for the 2017 calendar year! Jerry’s contributions will inspire students to accomplish their goals and dreams as well as continue to honor and celebrate Harvard Cup athletes, coaches, and officials.
In addition to the summer events, we had a wonderful turnout for our HUNT CommUNITY Day on July 13th. Rochester volunteered with Roland Williams’ Champion Academy. What a special treat to not only be part of the welcoming committee, but to see what he does for the kids: it was inspiring to all of us. Thank You to everyone who participated! HUNT has some bragging rights! The Rochester Business Journal has posted their “Reader Rankings for 2017.” HUNT Real Estate ERA/Columbus Division ranked 3rd in the category of Best Residential Real Estate Company. Props to our agents for Always Being There for their clients!
6
Regional News
Ben Gaulin placed 3rd overall in the Green Lakes Triathlon on June 10th out of 257 participants. Congrats, Ben!
The Clifton Park office has begun its charitable efforts by working with the Jonesville Food Pantry, a hamlet located within the Town of Clifton Park. The food pantry serves 215 families per week and is staffed entirely by 75 volunteers.
belief in the market, and their dedication to providing superlative service to our clients. Executive Vice President and COO, Charlie Hunt, said: “With a marvelous facility and an exceptional team of agents, we have positioned our company to capture explosive growth in the Capital Region in the coming years!”
“Agents and staff of the Clifton Park office volunteer on Thursdays and Fridays. We pick up produce, bread and fruit donated by Hannaford Supermarkets, and deliver those items to the Jonesville Food Pantry,” said Mark Phoenix, Branch Director of the Clifton Park office. He continues, “We give what we are able, yet, the take away is the privilege to serve.”
General Manager Dave Evans admired the level of support that our agents exhibited for the new office, even from the beginning. “This office is a wonderful place to come to work where there fostered atmosphere is one in where agents are interested in each others success as much as they are their own. Undeniably, our greatest asset is our agents.”
Capital Region
Clifton Park Grand Opening was attended by over 300 well wishers comprising of local business leaders, Realtors from many companies, together with local and state political dignitaries. Attendees enjoyed appetizers, wine and champagne.
Thank you to our agents and Suzanne Guzman, Administrative Assistant, who worked closely together and addressed the many fine details necessary to make a grand opening truly grand!
N E WS
To have your news, events or announcements featured here, email them to marketing@huntrealestate.com. Check out our blog for photos and more News Around the Regions: HUNTSince1911.com
Chairman and CEO, Peter Hunt, thanked our agents for their support,
Regional News
7
Mary Croglio, Director of Relocation 716-880-1303 mary.croglio@huntrealestate.com
On the Road with On The House Beatrice Dunwoodie and Laurie Dietrich have been busy visiting local employers promoting our On the House program along with a number of our agents. In Rochester, Markus Coward from our Brighton/Pittsford branch introduced us to LA Fitness and they quickly invited us to participate in eight member appreciation events in June and July. Not only did Markus and Laurie have an opportunity to participate, but John Passafiume, Deb and Roy Raup, and Tim Tobin were at various locations spreading the word about the On the House benefits and began building relationships. All are looking forward to securing future business. Laurie and Mike Priset presented, “Understanding Your Credit” during a lunch and learn at CMI AV. They were able educate associates on both financing and refinancing. Joseph Farrauto from our Amherst branch introduced Beatrice to the Human Resources Manager at Cannon Design. His contact was very enthusiastic about the program and was looking forward to sharing it with all her employees, locally and internationally. It
8
Core Businesses & Departments
was perfect timing because they were in the midst of developing various perks for their employees. Beatrice and Wayne Malcomb from HUNT Mortgage had their first event with the Cannon Design and provided a “First Time Buyers” seminar. Wayne and Beatrice did a similar seminar for McGard in Orchard Park. Beatrice and Nancy Callari Frank from HUNT Mortgage also did a “First Time Buyers” seminar for New ERA at the downtown location. Barbara Hoy from Lancaster spearheaded a meeting with her contacts at Verizon to invigorate and cultivate her relationship with that account. Scott Wander, also from our Lancaster branch, has been a great support at multiple West Herr events helping their employees understand their On the House benefit. It has been a great team effort. We are continue to look for ways to build relationships in the community and with our agents.
New Realty Club Vendors
We have recently added a new Realty Club service provider and a Realty Club attorney. If you have any clients with needs in these categories, please give them a call!
Category: Realty Club Attorney
Category: Radon Mitigation S.W.A.T Environmental 800-NO-RADON Swat-Radon.com Region: All New York Regions Company Information: A family-owned and operated radon mitigation company serving all of Western, Central & Upstate New York, SWAT Environmental is quickly becoming a household name across the United States. Offering radon reduction for over forty locations across America has made them the gold standard for radon mitigation. Founded in 1988 with only one radon specialist, they now boast a team of over 100 employees.
Did You Know?
We are very excited to announce that all of our new Insurance Specialists are now out in their designated branches.
Please feel free to contact Patrick, Amanda or Brittany for any of your insurance needs:
Patrick Clouden will be covering Hamburg, East Aurora, West Seneca, Orchard Park, Buffalo Met, Williamsville Village and Kenton. Amanda Barry just began her rotation and will be serving the Niagara County branches. Her branches include Lockport, Lewiston, Wheatfield, Lancaster, Williamsville/Clarence, Amherst and Grand Island.
Patrick Clouden: 716-545-0628 patrick.clouden@InsureWithHUNT.com
Our newest addition, Brittany Tierson, will be covering Rochester, Syracuse and the Capital region.
Michael E. Sliwinski, Esq. Attorney at Law (716) 200-4336 Mikesliwinski@meslaw.net Region: Buffalo
Amanda Barry: 716-263-1476 amanda.barry@InsureWithHUNT.com Brittany Tierson: 585-280-3915 brittany.tierson@InsureWithHUNT.com We thank you you for your continued support. James Farah, Director of Sales HUNT Insurance Agency, LLC 716-748-8906 james.farah@InsureWithHUNT.com
Core Businesses & Departments
9
Congratulations Agents!
10
Buffalo Niagara
MAY
JUNE
Akron Amherst East Aurora Grand Island Hamburg KenTon Lancaster Lewiston Lockport Buffalo Metropolitan Orchard Park West Seneca Wheatfield Williamsville/Clarence Williamsville Village
Jerri Boskat Judy Jack Lewis Mason Team Jason Sokody Carol Lee Rubeck Marhsa McCarthy Jeanine Kacala Cyndi VanDusen Carla Patterson Robert Blake Bob Wozniak Mary Derk-Weiss Jennifer Ranaletti Camille & Ray Colvin Bonnie Clement
Jerri Boskat
Rochester
MAY
JUNE
Brighton/Pittsford Canandaigua Greece Perinton Webster Hornell/Alfred
Larry Magguilli Sandi Van Camp Dick Lippa John Denniston Vince LoCastro Shaune Henry
Rich Testa Sandi Van Camp Rich Orczyk John Denniston Vince LoCastro Shaune Henry
Central & Northern NY
MAY
JUNE
Camillus Cazenovia Chittenango Clinton Old Forge Dewitt Liverpool Manlius Oneida Watertown Cicero
David Manzano Sr. Thomas Tait Robert Freunscht & Virginia Mann Tim Sweetland N/A Jean Hill Autumn Starr Judy Winslow Mary Pat Adams Shirley Litz Shane Tibbitts
Joy Bush & Scott Smith Thomas Tait Robert Freunscht & Virginia Mann Barbara Owens James Foley Gaetano Belmonte Autumn Starr Judy Winslow Mary Pat Adams Jacqueline Ladue MariRae Dopke
Eric Jensen Jason Sokody LouAnn Spaulding Karen Loffredo Maureen Prinzbach Barbara Kivi Ann Marie Dumais Robert Blake Geralyn Bonilla Maryellen Walsh Mark Lemke Michelle Winer Joe Trifilo
Capital
MAY
JUNE
Glens Falls Slingerlands Rensselaer Hudson Clifton Park
Jennifer Ball Andrew McCauley Cindy McMahon Jennifer Capala Dan Lesage
Jennifer Ball Jaime Evans Cindy McMahon Jennifer Capala Janice Styles-Hall
Arizona
MAY
JUNE
Tempe Scottsdale Glendale
Ken Mayer Donald Puddy James Riley
Ken Mayer Donald Puddy James Riley
Agents of the Month
HUNT Welcomes New Agents Sarah Oedbauer - Hamburg Paul Patterson - Lockport Erin Kazmierczak - West Seneca Jamie Thompson - Hamburg Kilby Ruiz - Grand Island Donna Rellos - Camillus Qais Alqaddah - Amherst Sarika Singh - Amherst William Johnson - Amherst Shane Brough - Scottsdale Sherry Adams - Hamburg Karen Alvord - Cicero Kyle Evans - Niagara County Anthony Ryan - Wheatfield Julee Brentwood - Scottsdale Barry Muskat - Williamsville Village Colleen Flynn-DiConstanzo Williamsville Village Chantelle McClain - Lockport Timothy Tobin - Brighton/Pittsford Susan Hunter - Glens Falls Charles Glander - Grand Island Susan Feiszli - Dewitt Wessam Hashem - Scottsdale Kelly Furmasnki - Watertown Darbie Peiffer - KenTon
Samantha Pangborn - Grand Island Joyce O’Riley - Amherst Megan Gilbert - Orchard Park Marcy Nycz - Lancaster Brian Achs - Glendale Leslie Granville - Williamsville Village Richard Villa - Slingerlands Daniel Henderson - Williamsville Village Adriana Cabrera-Camacho -Glendale Ida Scott - Scottdale Jenna Barber - Cicero Erin O’Connell - Buffalo Metropolitan Dawn Tisdale - Hamburg Marcy Conaway - Brighton/Pittsford Kristian Schutrum - Manlius Leroy (Randy) Andrews - Manlius Sara Eaton - Grand Island Susan Burton - Williamsville/Clarence Julie Bell - Brighton/Pittsford Lisa Pierce - Hamburg Lisa Ridgeway - Lockport Michelina Bolton - Oneida Kara Stuart - Scottsdale Konstantinos Tsigkrelis Buffalo Metropolitan
Experienced Agents Dennis Price - Brighton/Pittsford Mary Jo LoTurco - Brighton/Pittsford Christine McKee - Glens Falls David Byam - Clifton Park Jordan Sherlock - Hamburg Svetlana DeVillamil - Hudson Kathryn Anderson - Lockport Roger Zaccour - Brighton/Pittsford
Welcome New & Experienced Agents
11
From the ERA Europe Conference Peter Hunt was the keynote speaker at the recent ERA Europe Conference in Berlin, Germany. Over 160 brokers from 13 countries attended the two-day event. Mr. Hunt spoke on a comparative look at the large broker model in the United States and Europe. A “large” broker in Europe will have under 20 agents, but all agents are employees, as opposed to independent contractor method of operation in the US. Per person productivity is substantially higher in units (40+ among the European ERA agents compared with less than 5 in the US). Gross commission percentage— what is charged to sellers—is much lower, ranging from 1.5% to 2%, but there are very few cooperative deals between different companies as there are no really effective MLS’s in Europe. Licensing is also vastly different and, in many countries in Europe, there are no licensing requirements for real estate agents at all. This may lead one to think that the atmosphere in the industry would be a free-for-all, but it is actually quite the opposite. Because agents are employees, the role of the agent is perceived as a “real job” and a true profession. Brokers are much more selective in the hiring process than is generally the case in the US. “The audience seemed surprised to hear some of the things I shared with them
about our Company’s structure and operation. The thought of more than 1,000 agents operating in one company was perhaps most difficult to understand.” The audience seemed genuinely interested, but seemed convinced that such a model with independent contractors would not work. “I discussed one-on-one with several of the brokers there the phenomenon of ‘PurpleBricks’ in the UK and how they were morphing into an independent contractor model. The belief seemed to be still that an employee model, where work and production expectations are clear and adhered to, is better for their style of operation.” In spite of the structural differences, there were many similarities between the European market conditions and those in the US. “Inventories are low there as they are here. Prices and demand continue to rise, and urban centers are continuing to gain popularity, reflected in growing populations at the Continent’s major cities,” according to Mr. Hunt. “This was a great experience. Our ERA counterparts in Europe are fine, dedicated professionals. I probably learned more from them than they did from me—we all have a lot to learn and this kind of crossnational discussion is essential to the improvement of our profession.”
Peter F. Hunt
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer HUNT Real Estate Corporation
12