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CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures Ranks as One of Nation’s Top-Producing Brokerage Firms in RISMedia’s Power Broker Report
(RISMedia-Norwalk, CT)— With the record books now closed for 2013, Power Brokers are pleased to weigh in on the real estate market’s second solid year of recovery. In 2013, brokers across the country paid witness to many key indicators of the housing market’s gradual return to normal, heading toward a balance that we haven’t seen since before the boom years.
This welcome balance is reflected in the statistics generated by RISMedia’s 26th Annual Power Broker Survey, the real estate industry’s preeminent report ranking the nation’s top real estate firms. According to survey results, this year’s more than 1,000 responding brokers reported a collective $896,865,166,104 in sales volume for 2013 and a total of 3,165,310 closed transactions—that’s an increase of more than $125 billion in sales volume and more than 175,000 transactions over 2012.
Each April, RISMedia highlights the Top 500 of these firms in its annual Power Broker Survey. Included in this year’s report, CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures, headquartered in Arroyo Grande, CA, ranked number 458 with 1,597 transaction sides closed last year and a total sales volume of $540,221,316.
Now in its 26th year, the Power Broker Survey has long honored the incredible business feats of remarkable real estate leaders—and brokerage firms—who continue to shape our industry.
RISMedia President & CEO John Featherston congratulated CENTURY 21 Hometown Ventures for their prestigious ranking in this year’s survey. “The firms represented are the nation’s most elite brokerage firms serving literally millions of consumers with their real estate needs,” Featherston said. “2013 was a turnaround year for real estate firms across the country, as consumer confidence in housing returned and buyers flooded back into the marketplace. But there are many challenges ahead for brokers and agents, from low inventory to lingering economic uncertainty. Discerning real estate consumers will look to proven real estate professionals to help guide them toward the best decision. Being included in the Power Broker Report validates your firm’s reputation as a trusted resource for today’s homebuyers and sellers.”
RISMedia’s Annual Power Broker Report ranks firms by closed transactions and sales volume for 2013. The Top 500 rankings appear in the April 2014 issue of Real Estate magazine and online at rismedia.com. The complete ranking of all firms that meet the criteria will be available in the 2014 Power Broker Report publication, available both digitally and in print this summer.
RISMedia’s 26th Annual Power Broker Report & Survey is based on results garnered from a survey distributed via
Century 21 takes over YOUTUBE.COM
I am thrilled to tell you that tomorrow, Thursday, March 27th, CENTURY 21® will take-over the YouTube home page. The most recognized real estate brand with the most visited real estate franchise web site will be the first real estate advertiser to ever take over the YouTube home page. CENTURY 21 will OWN YouTube for the entire day. We will invite the expected audience of 27+ million consumers to fall in puppy love with the home of their dreams, and we’ll offer them a connection with CENTURY 21 agents and offices around the nation.
Why now? Because NOW, just as we move into the spring selling season, is the time Google expects more real estate searches than on any other day. This YouTube takeover is a great way to capitalize on all that search traffic for the benefit of you, our CENTURY 21 agents! It is also a great way to kick off the spring selling season.
Here’s a preview of what you can expect:
Make sure to tell your customers, your prospects and everyone in your sphere to visit YouTube.com tomorrow!
Bev Thorne
Chief Marketing Officer
Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Century 21 is Most Recognized Brand in Real Estate Industry
Survey Shows CENTURY 21 Is Most Recognized Brand in Real Estate Industry
MADISON, N.J. 02-12-2014 —
Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of the world’s largest real estate sales organization, commissioned an independent real estate brand survey that found CENTURY 21® to be the most recognized brand name in real estate. According to the 2013 Ad Tracking Study conducted by Millward Brown, CENTURY 21 is the industry leader in brand awareness, a position it has held since 1999.
“Others may make claims, but these survey results from a third-party global market research firm clearly show that CENTURY 21 is yet again the most recognized brand in real estate,” said Rick Davidson, president and chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “This brand leadership recognition comes at an exciting time for us, having recently announced that century21.com is the No. 1 “most visited” real estate franchise website and our new agent-focused TV ad campaign has rolled out with the start of the Winter Olympic games.”
“The fact that we have maintained our ranking as the most recognized real estate brand speaks volumes about the System’s independently owned and operated offices and their brokers and agents,” added Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “We are committed to maintaining leadership positioning by leveraging our ‘Smarter. Bolder. Faster.®’ real-time and traditional marketing tactics and campaigns.”
CENTURY 21 advertised in both the 2012 and 2013 Super Bowl® games and will advertise in the 2014 Winter Olympics. Additionally, CENTURY 21 is the official real estate company of the USA Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, as well as both the U.S. Women’s and Men’s Soccer clubs.
The survey results come one week after CENTURY 21 announced that its website – century21.com – was the No. 1 “most visited” real estate franchise website in every month of 2013, according to comScore, Inc. Century21.com held a commanding lead in the number of unique website visitors in 2013, with 25.3 million for the entire year, which was approximately 10 million unique visitors higher than the next closest national real estate franchise brand.
Millward Brown Study Methodology
*Study Source: 2013 Ad Tracking Study. The survey results are based on 1,200 online interviews with a national random sample of adults (ages 18+) who are equal decision makers in real estate transactions and who have bought or sold a home within the past two years or, plan to purchase or sell a home within the next two years. Survey was based on a sample of 1,200 respondents. Results are significant at a 90% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/-2.4%.
The study was conducted in two waves by Millward Brown, a leading global market research organization during the following time periods: Wave 1 (February 4 – February 18, 2013) and Wave 2 (September 30- October 14, 2013).
About Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of approximately 7,100 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 75 countries and territories worldwide with nearly 102,000 sales professionals. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services.
© 2014 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21®, the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated.
Where do Central Coast Home Buyers Come From
Century 21 Hometown has more consumer website traffic (over 600,000 monthly visits) than any other brokerage or franchise website on the Central Coast according to Hitwise. Only Century 21 Hometown partners Realtor.com, Zillow.com, and Trulia.com have more. No other brokerage ranks in the top 10 for the Central Coast DMA, Hitwise reports. The Central Coast DMA or Demographic Market Area is defined as the stretch of the California coastline that includes Ventura County, Santa Barbara County, and San Luis Obsipo County. The image to the left explains where consumers are connected to the internet when they access C21Home.com for property information. Our ability to attract buyers from beyond the local market area is a key reason why sellers choose to list their home with a Century 21 Hometown agent.
As you might imagine, most buyers for real estate on the Central Coast are local. San Luis Obispo and Arroyo Grande, two of the region’s largest cities account for the most significant amount of consumer traffic. Where it gets interesting is looking at the other cities in the top 10. They include, in order of traffic volume: Bakersfield, Los Angles, Santa Maria, Paso Robles, San Francisco, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and Orcutt.
“I am not surprised at all by these results,” says Century 21 Hometown Realty broker Amy Gallagher. “I review every transaction for the company and I routinely see the buyers coming in from the Central Valley, Bay Area, and Los Angles.” Central Coast is known by many to provide one of the best lifestyles in America and real estate here trades at a discount to property closer to the major metropolitan cities.
The Future Looks Bright
The county planning commissions in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obsipo Counties have taken care to manage growth. Every planned development project goes through a careful consideration process to ensure that expansion does not overwhelm community roads, school, or other population sensitive services. We have a condition whereby far more people are trying to move to the Central Coast than move away. This holds property prices stable and drives property value growth. If you would like to see our recent Central Coast Market Trends, here is a sample for the CCRMLS market area for Northern Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County.
Free Credit Scores Abound
As a home buyer, a mortgage may play an important role in your purchase. It is a good idea to check your credit history before starting the home buying process. You will want credit hygiene to enhance your opportunity to negotiate the best possible mortgage program. A handful of credit card issuers are betting that you’d like to see your credit score every month. Discover, Barclaycard US and First Bankcard’s have started offering their 35 million cardholders free access to their credit scores.
The score they’re sharing ? called FICO ? is used by credit card issuers to decide whether to give you a charge account and what interest rate to charge you.
Discover is putting your credit score on your monthly statement. Barclaycard and First Bankcard customers will have to visit their credit card company’s website to see their score.
You don’t have to open a new credit card account to see your credit score. Credit.com, CreditSesame.com and CreditKarma.com will give you a credit score (without making you pay for credit monitoring services as some other sites do).
The score you get on those sites can be different from your FICO score and from the credit scores used by mortgage companies, auto dealers and other types of lenders.
All credit scores are calculated using information from your credit report, but each type of credit score is based on a proprietary formula devised by the company that sells the score. While different scores have different number ranges they all predict how likely you are to repay.
So if you have good credit based on one scale, you should have good credit based on another credit score’s scale, even though the two numbers might be different.
Get Ahead of Your 2013 Taxes
Regardless of your opinion about taxes, we can all agree that nobody should overpay their taxes. Here are six sound ideas that you may want to consider this month that may provide some tax savings to your household.
Pay Bills Ahead of Time
If you itemize, paying some bills early may minimize your deductions. For example, if you pay your January 2014 mortgage payment and your 2014 property taxes in December 2013, you can itemize those. If you are a joint filer and don’t have $12,200 in qualifying expenses ($6100 for single filers) to make itemizing deductions worthwhile, don’t prepay your expenses. Save your payments until 2014 when you may be able to take those deductions. The IRS has an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Assistant Calculator to test if you are subject to AMT.
Make Home Energy-Efficiency Improvements
There are Federal Tax Credits for home energy-efficiency upgrades to your home that you may take advantage of before December 31st. These include improvements to your heating and ventilation or Air Conditioning systems, home insulation, Roofs, Water heaters, Windows and doors. The tax credit is 10% of the cost up to $500 or a specific amount from $50 to $300. Solar Energy systems allow for a 30% tax credit with no upper limit.
Recycle When You Remodel
It may be too late for this one this year, but keep this tax saving tip in mind. When you remodel, do it in a way that keeps intact the fixtures and house parts that you remove including cabinets, bathtubs, wood floors, windows and doors. Donate them to a salvage store like Habitat for Humanity’s Restore to earn a tax deduction. If you happen to be cleaning out your closets this winter, be sure t
o donate those to a local charity too.
Spend FSA Funds on Home Improvements
If you set up a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), you can spend any leftover allocation to make medically necessary home improvements like a handrail in your bathroom, or replacement air filters for your HVAC. Get a letter from your doctor supporting your medical need for the improvements. Many employers have adopted grace periods giving you until March 15th, 2014 to spend your FSA funds.
Deduct Property Taxes Paid At Closing
If you purchased your home in 2013, check you HUD-! settlement statement (Lines 106 and 107) to see if you reimbursed the sellers for property taxes they paid. You won’t get a 1098 from your lender showing those taxes because you paid them at settlement not from your escrow account.
Home Office Deduction
If you have a home office, but haven’t taken the home office deduction because it’s too complicated or you’re worried it would cause you to be audited, go ahead and take it on your 2013 taxes. Starting this year, you can take a new Home office standard deduction of $5 per square foot up to 300 square feet if you itemize deductions. You won’t have a home depreciation deduction or later recapture of depreciation for the years you use this simplified option.
Distressed Property in CCRMLS
The Central Coast Regional MLS spans multiple counties. It is mostly San Luis Obispo County and Northern Santa Barbara County. The nearest MLS to our south is Santa Barbara. The nearest MLS to our north is MLS Listings which spans Monterey to San Francisco.
The data below is a current snapshot of all homes in the CCRMLS region. Not just homes for sale, but every property on the tax roles. The data is calculated using something called an Automated Valuation Model or AVM. AVMs have been developed as tools that Mortgage companies (Banks) use to understand the default risk in their portfolio. There is no way that they can have an appraisal done on every home on a regular basis, so they use complex mathematics to create estimates. The AVM is a very important number for both home buyers and home sellers. Frankly, if there is a mortgage involved in the purchase, the AVM is the first tool used to evaluate the potential loan. Secondly, the bank will review the appraisal. This protects the bank from lending too much on a home and the buyer from paying too much. Sellers need to think about this in pricing a home. Even if you do get the highest possible offer from a buyer, the offer price may be too high to qualify for a loan. It happens a lot.
According to a report from Property Radar, in September, nearly one in four, or 1.5 million (22 percent) of California’s 6.8 million homeowners were underwater while more than 420,000 (6 percent) were barely above water (less than 10 percent equity in their homes).
This chart shows that in CCRMLS, the number is more like 2/3 of the properties are underwater, but most are not underwater by very much. 22% of the homes are on the bubble of + or – 10%. Given the accuracy of AVMs being what they are, you can be assured that there are an equal amount in the range of 10% above or below even equity that could go either way.
21% of the property is between -10% and -40%. This is the area of the market that qualifies for something we call a Short Sale. In most cases, the bank recognizes that both the home owner and the bank have a problem. Typically, a Century 21 Hometown REALTOR® can work with those sellers to get the bank to agree to market the property at current market values. 100% of the proceeds of the sale go to the bank and the homeowner walks away without owing any more on the home. There are some tax consequences that our Century 21 Hometown agents can explain.
That last group of properties that are more than 40% underwater is 4% of the market. That is what we usually consider the Foreclosure market. It does not mean that those properties are in Foreclosure, it just means that they probably should be. There are plenty of homeowners who pay back underwater loans.
If you do not know where your property value ranks in comparison to market value, contact any Century 21 Hometown agent. We can provide you with the AVM for your property, or we can do a full analysis by visiting your home. In today’s market, there are more buyers than sellers, so property values are going up. It is a great time to list your home for sale with Century 21 Hometown.
Central Coast Real Estate Market Trends
The Central Coast Real Estate Market is in great shape, with one problem. Our inventory counts are down dramatically. Over the last 5 years, we have averaged an inventory of 3400 homes for sale at any given time. Now we are in the 1500 range. Mouse over the lines on the map below to see the changes in listing inventory over the past 5 years.
What this really means to you is that between now and next year, prices will continue to rise as a result of fewer listings. Common wisdom would lead you to believe that the reason why people are not selling is because they do not have equity in their home. Nothing could be further than the truth. Only 14% of homeowners in the CCRMLS region currently show negative equity. The number of distressed properties county wide has dipped below 100 according to information from CoreLogic. A distressed property is either bank owned, in the process of foreclosure, or has been sent a notice of default. These are really low numbers.
Take a look at the effect of low inventory has on the market. We have continued to sell just under 600 homes a year, but you see a significant spike in 2013 corresponding to the drop in inventory. Take a look at the inflection point in March where inventory dropped down into the eleven hundreds and the price spiked up nearly 80% the corresponding month.
If you want to see pricing trends in your town, contact a Century 21 Hometown Agent or visit your Hometown real estate page at the bottom of the home page at Http://c21home.com
How Long Will It Take To Sell
How long will it take to sell a home is a key question asked by every seller during the listing presentation. The answer usually depends on price. If you price too high, not only will it take longer to sell, but you will typically get less money for the home than it is worth. Listings that languish in an overpriced status typically get “low-ball” offers from buyers. The longer on the market, the lower the offer. The old strategy of pricing high and hoping for the best typically yields the worst results.
The best strategy for pricing a property is pricing low. Not only will you sell the home in a shorter time frame, but the value pricing is likely to attract bidders who over bid the listing price or who will pad their bid with fewer contingencies. It sounds counter productive, but pricing below market attracts far more interested buyers and a higher sale price.
Regardless of your pricing strategy, you should know what to expect.
Most homes sell in 30 to 60 days.
This is followed by 60-90 days, then oddly, 120-180 days. 90-120 is awfully close behind.
Century 21 Launches Global Search Website
Century 21 is the largest real estate company in the world, and we leverage that international presence to facilitate families relocating to and from America. We have noticed a significant influx of Chinese buyers here along the central coast. Wealthy Chinese families love the lifestyle of California and find that home ownership provides a safe harbor for their investments.
Listing your home with Century 21 Hometown Realty means that your listing will have global exposure around the world, translated into 16 different languages and currencies. Visit Century 21 Global to see how we do it.
Here is the international press release that went out on Marketwire today.
MADISON, NJ and DUSSELDORF, GERMANY — (Marketwired) — 09/30/13 — Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of the world’s largest real estate sales organization, today announced the launch of the new CENTURY 21 Global Website at century21global.com. The new website will provide consumers around the world with centralized access to all CENTURY 21 property listings. The announcement was made at the CENTURY 21 International Master Franchisors Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany, earlier today.
“Property transactions today are occurring from country to country and continent to continent,” said Rick Davidson, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “Through the development and launch of our global website, CENTURY 21 has positioned its 7,100 worldwide offices to collaborate, connect and engage buyers, sellers and investors around the world so they can transact business confidently.”
“The launch of our global website shows our commitment to leveraging the size and breadth of our worldwide sales organization for the benefit of consumers worldwide,” said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “As the world grows smaller through enhanced connectivity and mobile technology, connecting with homebuyers and sellers on a global scale is easier than ever. Whether our customers are in San Jose or Shanghai, CENTURY 21 professionals will be able to assist them with all of their real estate needs.”
The new century21global.com website features:
- Language, Currency and Unit Translation: Throughout the site, the content has been translated into 16 languages: English, German, Russian, Japanese, and Korean, Dutch, and Turkish, two versions of Spanish, French and Portuguese, and three versions of Chinese. The site also translates currency and units of measurement based on the consumer’s preference.
- Localized Content Pages: Each country will have localized content with useful information for foreign buyers to assist them in making informed decisions.
- Interactive Map: An interactive map will provide international customers with a visual look at the breadth of the CENTURY 21 System and will show all of the available regions, offices and agent contact information.
- Search Capabilities: Buyers can search for offices, agents, residential, commercial and land properties for sale and for rent. The search results can also be filtered by features like property type, and numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms to provide the precise listings that match the buyer’s needs.
“This new global website will give real estate consumers searching for International properties incredible opportunities,” added Don Lawby, President, CENTURY 21 Canada. “Visitors to the site will not only be able to more easily perform language, currency and translation functions but also conduct cross-border transactions more naturally with CENTURY 21 brokers and agents.”
Century21global.com is a stand-alone website that features global property listings, including those in the United States. CENTURY 21 will continue to host all of its U.S. property listings on its existing century21.com consumer website, which will cross link with the brand’s new global site at century21global.com.
About Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Century 21 Real Estate LLC (century21.com) is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of approximately 7,100 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 74 countries and territories worldwide with approximately 102,000 sales professionals.
Whats that Sound? How to fix house noises
Just about every home makes a little noise, but sometimes the noises are not just charming creeks, they annoy you. Rather than calling Ghost Hunters, there are a few things that you can do to make those noises go away. In fact, sometimes those noises you hear are early warnings of a big problem waiting to happen – like a backed up sewer line. If you can figure out what you are hearing, you may be able to fix it. Here are a few common sounds that homes make along with some repair suggestions.
Toilet Gurgling
Cause: This could be one of two things. First, your sewer line could be backed up. This can happen when tree roots find their way into the pipes. When you flush something that gets hung up around the roots, the pipe becomes partially blocked.A Another possibility is a worn-out toilet valve. If it is the valve, a constantly running toilet will tip you off. You will need to replace the gasket in the tank reservoir.
If you are like me, you would call a plumber. If you are a do-it-youselfer you would rent a sewer snake and try to clear the problem yourself. You can rent sewer snakes or purchase tank reservoir gaskets at most local hardware stores.
Knocking or Banging Inside Walls
Cause: This typically occurs when you turn your water faucets on or off. It is called a pressure hammer, and it happens when air pressure builds up in your water pipes, causing them to vibrate when the pressure is released.
If the pipe was not mounted properly, or it has loosened over the years, then it bangs against the stud in your wall. To fix it, you will need to open up the wall. You can either add mounting brackets to the pipe or put a sleeve over the pipe.
Humming from the Regridgerator
That noise is not likely gremlins eating your food. It is probably the compressor motor. Fridges are full of electrical devices that can cause all sorts of problems. If you refrigerator is more than 10 years old, you should consider replacing it rather than repairing it. New refrigerators are much more energy efficient. If it is a newer refrigerator, call an appliance repair specialist.
Squeaking from the Dryer
Cause: Many older dryer models have a belt that wraps around a drum. When the belt gets loose or worn, it starts to make that high pitched noise. To fix, either call an appliance specialist or open up the back of the dryer and replace the belt.
Thumping from the Washing Machine
Cause: The most likely cause of thumping is that the clothes in the washing machine are not evenly distributed. When weight builds up on one side the machine cannot keep its balance during the spin cycle. This also happens frequently when the washing machine is overloaded.
To fix this, redistribute the load or remove some of the heavy items.
Creaking Floors
Cause: Floors creak when the wood is loose. The board are moving up and down and rubbing against each other.
Sometimes you can fix this by simply putting some baby powder in the area. However, a permanent fix will require you to tighten the board by nailing, screwing, or gluing the boards. The best way to fix this without destroying the floor is from underneath. You may be able to tighten the subfloor or ad a 2X4 joist to add support.
Rattling or Whooshing Windows
Cause: When weather stripping fails on old windows, drafts happen.
To repair this, you will need to put on some new weather stripping. An alternative is to put a storm window on the outside.
Running or Hissing Faucets
Cause: If a faucet is leading enough, it can sound like its raining. If it is barely open, it can make a hissing sound, like air going through a reed.
You most likely need to replace the washer valve. Turn off the water to the sink underneath and remove the faucet. Take it with you to the hardware store to get new washers.
Chewing, Scratching, or Rustling in the ceiling or walls
Cause: Mouse, Rat, or a Bird
Animals are pretty cleaver. They have adapted quite nicely to the comfort of homes. If you hear prolonged scratching, you probably have a rodent problem. Best bet is to call a pet control specialist.