The latest news covering real estate industry executive appointments, community service, new business models and more.
Despite COVID, Delta Media hits record growth in 2020, poised for a ‘breakout’ year in 2021
No one expected real estate to experience a record-setting year in 2020, with the economic slowdown and banning of a number of real estate activities, including open houses. Yet existing-home sales jumped nearly 27% in October year-over-year, the average home price increased by almost 16%, and the annual adjusted rate home sales hit a record pace of 6.85 million.
“Because of COVID-19, real estate agents are using more tech tools in the last seven months than in the last seven years,” said Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media, one of the most established and largest broker technology solutions providers. Its DeltaNet 6 CRM is real estate’s most advanced all-in-one digital marketing, back office, and website platform.
Minard notes Delta Media had to pivot throughout 2020 to respond to the impact of COVID on real estate brokerages and agents. “After investing more than 40,000 development hours and over $30 million in hardware and software, we launched DeltaNET 6 at the onset of the pandemic in March, Minard explained. “It sounds like terrible timing, but in hindsight, this rollout positioned us for one of our best years ever.”
Delta Media reports its real estate brokerage sales are up 53% year-over-year, with its primary customer base of real estate agents growing 30%. Delta Media now serves brokerages in 46 states across the country.
This year “is poised to be a breakout year for Delta Media,” Minard said. Early in the year, his company expects to announce the addition of breakthrough technology that will make its DeltaNET 6 CRM “the most robust digital marketing platform at the best price-point in the marketplace.” Other improvements are coming online throughout next year, Minard notes, explaining, “Everything new we add maintains Delta’s mission: Helping provide agents with the best advice, tech tools and resources available.” Discover more at deltamediagroup.com.
ERA Real Estate Achieves Record-breaking Global Participation Collecting More Than 5,000 Toys for Tots
ERA Real Estate, a global franchising leader within the Realogy family of brands, today announced the results of its national #GivingTuesdayERA campaign. For the second year, ERA® offices worldwide united to support the national non-profit organization Toys for Tots, which collects and distributes new, unwrapped toys for children in need this holiday season.
Nearly 70 percent of ERA Real Estate’s affiliated US-based offices—representing more than 8,500 affiliated agents—joined forces with five of the brand’s international affiliates and the ERA corporate office collecting more than 5,100 toys.
Several US-based offices responded to the needs of their communities and participated in local causes supporting food banks and food drives.
- ERA Priority Real Estate in Gillette, WY donated roughly 15,000 food items.
- ERA Courtyard Real Estate in Amarillo, TX collected shoes to support Mission Amarillo—a non-profit organization in Texas that serves low-income families through its shoe closet.
- Napier ERA in Midlothian, VA collected toys at all office locations for Central Virginia children.
- ERA Doty Real Estate in Jonesboro, AR collected toys and supported the Salvation Army.
- ERA Strother Real Estate in Fayetteville, NC hosted a canned food drive collecting more than three 55-gallon barrels of non-perishable food items for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
Significant global reach was also achieved through our international offices.
- ERA Middle East delivered candy boxes and thank you cards to devoted employees expressing gratitude for their contributions.
- In South Africa, many affiliates made an impact in their local communities.
- ERA George, ERA Mosselbay, and ERA Dana Bay donated food parcels, clothes, toys, lucky packets to old age and foster homes.
- ERA Prestoria East donated toiletries, sanitary products, and clothes to a women’s and children shelter.
- ERA Vryburg ran a community project to offer relief to farmers affected by recent wildfires.
The #GivingTuesdayERA campaign aligns with Giving Tuesday, the widely recognized movement with a designated annual day devoted to making charitable donations. It immediately follows Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
BoomTown Announces Winners of Inaugural Give Back Awards
BoomTown, the leading sales and marketing platform for real estate professionals, is excited to announce the winners of their inaugural BoomTown Give Back Awards, highlighting members of the real estate community who have gone above and beyond to serve others in 2020. The winners each received a $1,000 prize, and BoomTown’s pledge to donate five dollars per nomination to the Homes for Heroes Foundation generated an additional $2,585 donation.
2020 BoomTown Give Back Award Recipients:
The Helping Hand Award: Debbie and Tony Ferrante, RE/MAX Edge Realty
The Walk the Talk Award, Mario Mitchell, The Mitchell Team
The Creative Changemaker Award: Gabriel Deukmaji, City Smart Living
The Caring Companion Award: Monty, a service dog for veterans and first responders with disabilities.
The Helping Hand award celebrates jumping in to aid friends, family, employees, another business or the community, The Walk the Talk award showcases those making charitable giving an integral part of their business, The Creative Changemaker highlights using creativity to put an innovative spin on giving back, and an additional fourth category, The Caring Companion, was created in light of a heartwarming submission for a service animal who exemplified the spirit of these awards to the fullest, and was awarded a $500 donation to Hero Dogs. Award recipients were selected by a panel of judges from BoomTownLOVE, the company’s service and outreach organization, and nominations for 2021 will resume in November. To learn more about the winners, visit https://go.boomtownroi.com/boomtown-give-back-awards
RE/MAX Advance Realty Hosts Drive-through Holiday Party
RE/MAX Advance Realty (RMA) recently hosted a festive, safe, and creative “drive-through holiday party” for its agents and staff. The event was held in the drive-through lanes of First National Bank of South Miami, located at 5750 Sunset Drive, with all guests remaining in their vehicles and wearing facial coverings. The lanes were festooned with super-sized inflatables such as RE/MAX’s iconic hot air balloons, Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs, and other holiday decorations.
“We all wish we could gather and celebrate in our traditional ways, but this innovative drive-through concept allowed us to stay safe and thank our team for their extraordinary work in 2020,” said Anthony Askowitz, broker/owner of RMA. “This is certainly not the holiday party we envisioned at the beginning of the year, but the realities of the COVID 19 pandemic have forced us to think outside the box in the ways we practice real estate and many other facets of our lives.” For more information, visit www.advancerealtymiami.com
RE/MAX Victory and RE/MAX Affiliates Merge To Create Real Estate Powerhouse
RE/MAX Victory of Ohio and RE//MAX Affiliates of Kentucky today announced their merger. The new entity, RE/MAX Victory + Affiliates, creates a real estate powerhouse with seven office locations and 220 agents stretching from mid-Ohio to northern Kentucky.
The merger also creates the largest RE/MAX organization in Greater Cincinnati and places RE/MAX Victory + Affiliates in the top five of Greater Cincinnati brokerages. The closed sales volume for both companies in 2019 was $841,048,806. Combined, the companies also closed 4,201 transactions in 2019.
RE/MAX Launches 2021 National Ad Campaign, “The Right Agent Every Step of the Way” and New Hustle Video Editor Tool
RE/MAX announced the launch of a new national advertising campaign, “The Right Agent Every Step of the Way.” The campaign kicks off today with 12 spots across radio, digital, TV and social media outlets. For the first time, the package also includes a video concept for The RE/MAX Collection®, the network’s luxury property brand.
The campaign showcases the value RE/MAX agents provide buyers and sellers, leveraging technology, tools, experience and skill to support them in what is likely the biggest financial transaction of their lives.
View it here: https://rem.ax/2021AdCampaign
Leading Edge Real Estate Launches LEAP (Leading Edge Affiliate Partner) Program, a First-of-its-Kind, Plug & Play Solution for Teams and Small Independent Brokerages.
Leading Edge Real Estate is excited to announce the launch of its LEAP (Leading Edge Affiliate Partner) Program, a first-of-its-kind, “plug & play” solution for teams and small independent brokerages. LEAP affiliates receive the full portfolio of custom marketing, technology and coaching that Leading Edge provides to its agents. Affiliates can avoid the troubles of designing and forging a business framework that can take years to build and “LEAP” into full-throttle productivity.
“A LEAP affiliate has the best of both worlds, they keep their identify and build their legacy while focusing on building their business, not their infrastructure. LEAP handles all the back office finance, CRM, checklists, letters for clients at every point in the transaction, custom marketing by an in-house graphics team and coaching for all levels of agents. LEAP is a game-changer for teams and small brokerages that want to scale and focus on what makes them money.” For more information about Leading Edge Real Estate, visit LeadingEdgeAgents.com
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago Acquires Live Here Chicago
Diane Glass, CEO of real estate brokerage Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, announced today that Carolyn Anavi’s boutique rental agency, Live Here Chicago, will join the firm. This new division of leasing agents and brokers will be known as Live Here Rental Group.
Glass said, “This year, we expect emerging rental demand, more multi-family building sales, and an influx of new brokers who left careers in other industries. Carolyn has created a highly successful leasing business, and together we are ready to meet those needs. The Live Here Rental Group will expand and diversify our services to renters and landlords, allowing us to serve more people in more places. Building lifelong real estate relationships starts with the first apartment rental, so a dedicated leasing group is the perfect complement to our established homeownership services. We anticipate expanding this model to our suburban markets, and welcoming new agents with a way to start a career in real estate that allows them to begin earning an income sooner.” Visit BHHSChicago.com.
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE EXPANDS LOUISIANA PRESENCE WITH AFFILIATION OF LEADING SHREVEPORT INDEPENDENT BROKERAGE
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC announced that Lindsey Realty, based in Shreveport, LA., has affiliated with the
BHGRE® brand. The company headquartered at 333 Texas Street in downtown Shreveport will now be known as Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Lindsey Realty. The boutique brokerage will continue to serve communities within the greater Shreveport region including Caddo, Bossier, Desoto, Webster, Bienville, Claiborne and Red River Parish.
DUFF RUBIN NAMED PRESIDENT OF COLDWELL BANKER REALTY IN FLORIDA
Coldwell Banker Realty in Florida announced today that general manager Duff Rubin has been elevated to president of the company. In this position, Rubin will oversee the daily operations of the company’s approximately 80 offices and over 7,000 affiliated sales associates across the state. Rubin succeeds former company president Clark Toole, who retired at the end of 2020.
Rubin previously served as the president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in the Mid-Atlantic, overseeing 28 offices and more than 2,400 independent agents in Greater Baltimore, Greater Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and the Maryland and Delaware beaches. During his tenure leading the company, Rubin streamlined processes, drove organic growth and grew the company’s commercial real estate offerings.