Louis's Blog

HomeGain Survey: The Number #1 Home Improvement is....

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:14:03 -0600

The results of the most recent HomeGain Home Sale Maximizer home improvement survey are in.

Get the Home Sale Maximizer widget for your website by clicking here.

The Boston Globe noted the results...

Sellsius covered the story

CBS money watch noted it

The story was tweeted hundreds of times.

And the number #1 Home Improvement is

Click here to find out

HomeGain Survey: Home Staging Provides the 2nd highest ROI of all home improvements

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:02:59 -0600

Get the Home Sale Maximizer widget for your website by clicking here.

HomeGain.com recently conducted its third nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer^TM survey (previously conducted in 2003 and 2007) to reveal the top 12 low cost*, do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements for people getting their home ready to sell. Nearly 1,000 REALTORS® responded to the survey. (See complete survey results)

Thousands of REALTORS and Home Stagers use "Home Sale Maximizer" to advise their home seller clients.

Home Staging is reported to be the 2nd most valuable home improvement project to a seller when it comes to selling a home by return on investment (ROI), according to surveyed Realtors.

Home Staging is also the 3rd highest price increase to a home's resale value ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase to a home's selling price, which is a 586% ROI)

82% of Realtors nationwide recommend home sellers do DIY home staging.

Staging has rose on the list of priorities over the years. In 2007 survey results, Lightening and Brightening had the second highest ROI followed by Home Staging. Two years later, Home Staging overtakes Lightening and Brightening.

How many Realtors recommend professional home staging the majority of the time?

12.7% of U.S. Realtors nationwide recommend professionally staging a home to sellers 60-100% of the time
10.2% in the East
11.5% in the South
10.8% in the Midwest
18% in the West

10.3% of Realtors in the West recommend professional home staging 100% of the time. (highest of all four regions)

How much faster do Realtors think a home sells when it is professionally staged?

Nationwide: 5.3% of Realtors think the home sells days faster (less than a week)
44.8% think a home sells weeks faster
25.8% think a home sells months faster

9.4% of Realtors in the West think a home sells days faster (highest of all regions).

Surveyed Realtor Commentary:

"Staging is SO critical we own our own staging company and provide it free of charge - a $2,500-$3,000 value on every listing." - Carl Medford

"A staged home sells more quickly than non-staged homes. Most home sellers need to detach themselves from their homes so they can show the home in its best light. That's why I suggest a professional staging company." - Tony Bruno, Coldwell Banker, Fremont, CA

"Place pots of fresh plants and or flowers at the entrance to door or on front porch. Place fresh flowers inside." - Delores Clark, RE/MAX United, Carrollton, GA

"I do all my own staging recommendations which saves the sellers thousands of dollars. I believe in giving my sellers more for their money."

"I've had a lot of resistance from clients about professional home stagers. Possibly because I don't present it in the right fashion!"

"Biggest thing for me is staging." - Melodee Brooks, Edina Realty, MN

"I am a stager and Realtor and do my own listings to get them ready. It does make a difference along with proper pricing."

"We have an in-house stager available."

"I am a professional home stager and use the home owner own things to stage with which requires in most cases very little out of pocket expense, this is a service I do provide for my sellers."

Try the Home Sale Maximizer Tool (It's FREE, and only takes a minute!):

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"Staging depends on the situation - if they have nice furniture, we can help them ourselves - if house is vacant, it must be staged unless very low end, if in the middle (occupied but bad furniture) it is usually wise to rent a few good pieces and remove the worst of the old."

"I have earned the Certified Home Marketing Specialist (CHMS) so I advise and do my own home staging for my sellers. If the house is in a price point that I truly felt a professional staging company was called for, I would certainly advise the seller to do that."

"In regards to staging, I only recommend it for properties with higher values and/or in neighborhoods or subdivisions where there is an abundance. In that way, the property is memorable to the potential buyer."

"Staging can often help significantly, especially in homes where people have lived a lifetime. Living in a home is different than selling a home. Often we need to sell, pack, ship, throw away what we are not going to move. When there are so many homes on the market, this can often mean the difference in selling or not."

"In the Mid-West, we have Buyers that want ‘move- in' ready and spotless homes. The homes that are picture perfect sell faster and for top dollar in their market." - Christine Moscinski, Realtor & ‘HouseHunter' eHouseHuntOnline.net, GOBBER GMAC REAL ESTATE Chicago's Western Suburbs

"Fresh paint, neutral clean flooring, and a well staged home goes a long way." - Eric Pakulla, RE/MAX Advantage Realty

"After taking care of any blatant home repairs that need attention and thoroughly de-cluttering, I always recommend neutral paint, new/refinished flooring, and new light fixtures. Professional home staging is recommended after those steps are taken. This is normally a person's largest financial investment: it pays to take care of the details!" - Nicole Donaghy ERA Wilder Realty Lexington, SC

"Most of the properties that I show and sell are 2nd homes and vacation properties. These homes are already generally well kept and not lived in on a day to day basis. Usually home staging is not recommended too often in such cases." - Karen Harrison RE/MAX of Orange Beach www.karensgulfproperties.com

"Home staging has not made a difference in getting a home sold in our area, it is just starting to catch on." - William Staab, Keller Williams, Albuquerque, NM

"I personally stage all of my owner occupied listings. Have been doing it since 2000. Staging allows homes to sell faster, but only of course if they are priced right, overpriced staged homes still don't sell." - Kyle Davis, RE/MAX Select Properties, Ashburn, VA

"Staging is something any owner can do without spending a lot of money." - Bob Savera, Las Vegas First Realty, Las Vegas, NV

"In this market prices have dropped so much, most sellers do not have the resources to hire a professional stager, so I became a certified stager. I can now stage my listings to get them sold. In this market, the problem is getting the homes sold at all. Staging gets your listing on the top of buyers list to see." - Linda Moore, EXiT Real Estate Results, Longwood, FL

"Staging is great when the market isn't bringing your home value down so much that you can't get the improvements to increase the value. It would however I think increase the speed of the sale even if it didn't increase the sales price." - Charles Burgess, Washburn Real Estate, Rutherfordton, NC

"There are not many professional homestagers in the Midwest. There is alot of foreclosed homes in the area. Most buyers are having a hard time qualifying for a mortgage due to the increase in FICO score." - Serena Brown, Taylor Brown Real Estate, Gary, IN

"I think home staging is crucial to sale a home in this economy." Maria Torres, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, TX

"I make it a regular comment if the home is empty as staging is very important." - Jay Larson, RE/MAX Leaders, Centenniel, CO

"In our market, sellers can't spend a cent more than they need to in order to make their homes marketable. Professional staging and environmental considerations simply aren't on their radar screens." - Daria Uhlig, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates, Brodheadsville, PA

"If you price the home properly, you don't need a furnished-staged home." - Nancy Marshall, Charter I Realty Low Country, SC

"I am a certified ‘Pristine Home Stager' I include this service when I list every home. I would only bring in an outside stager when the home needs different furniture they can provide." - Tim Flaherty, RES Realty, Minneapolis, MN

"Current market conditions are not improved by home staging." - Rene Lovas, Coldwell Banker Distinctive Properties, Simi Valley, CA

"In this buyers market the seller MUST do everything they can to stand out from the crowd to get top dollar and sell faster. They're competing against foreclosure/short sale pricing and must LOOK more expensive to justify their price. Perception is everything and a property that appears to be well maintained will fare much better than one in just okay condition. You need to put your dollars where the consumer can see you've spent money to get it back in return." - Trisha Lee, RE/MAX Boone Realty, Columbia, MO

"Most clients are very stubborn about hiring stagers despite the huge benefits. The attitude is ‘let they do what they want with the house after they own it, I'm not putting a penny more into it.'" - Beverley Gaudio, RE/MAX Legend, Wayne, NJ

Additional survey results taken from Realtor comments:

Home Staging:

4 Realtors recommend having fresh flowers (3 South, 1 East)
6 Realtors recommend depersonalizing the home by removing photos and personal items (4 South, 2 Mid-West)

*The term "low cost" is defined as less than $5,000.

Average price of a home in areas where Realtors were surveyed? 85.9% of homes were priced under $350,000.

Regions:

WEST: AK, CO, HI, MT, WA, OR, CA, NV, ID, UT, AZ, NM, WY

MID-WEST: IL, ID, IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI, MI, IN

SOUTH: TX, OK, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, GA, FL, SC, NC, WV, VA

EAST: PA, NY, MD, NJ, NH, CT, DE, MA, ME, VT, RI

Definition of Home Staging category:

Home staging: Add fresh flowers; removing personal items; reduce clutter; rearrange furniture; add new props or furniture to enhance room/s; play soft music; hang artwork in walls. See complete staging checklist.

Disclaimer:

HomeGain received survey responses from nearly 1,000 real estate agents in each of the U.S. regions. All agents might not necessarily agree on the same pre-sale strategy. See "% of agents recommending" column above. Differences of opinions may vary based on the climate of the market, region of the country or condition of the home in question. The percentage of agents that agree on the positive impact of a particular pre-sale activity is summarized here.

Home Sale Maximizer Home Improvement Tool:

If you are preparing to sell your house, Home Sale Maximizer can help identify and prioritize the home improvement projects to focus on to increase the saleability and selling price of your home. Home Sale Maximizer is a free, quick and easy-to-use tool for homeowners, and it's also a great resource for real estate agents to provide to their home seller clients.

HomeGain Releases 2009 Home Improvement Survey Results

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:00:30 -0600

HomeGain reveals new survey findings of top 12 do-it-yourself home improvements for home sellers, based on responses from nearly 1,000 REALTORS®; cleaning and de-cluttering ranks as highest return on investment, followed by home staging.

"Inexpensive cosmetic home improvements and basic improvements greatly enhance the value of the home," stated Carol Wilson of Carpenter Real Estate in Indianapolis, IN.

Emeryville, CA (PRWEB) November 5, 2009 -- HomeGain.com, the first website to offer web-based free instant home values, today announced that it has released the results of its nationwide home improvement and home staging Home Sale Maximizer^TM survey.

HomeGain's recent survey shows the top do-it-yourself home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers.HomeGain received responses from nearly 1,000 Realtors® nationwide and configured a list of the top 12 do-it-yourself (DIY) home improvements that cost under $5,000 and benefit sellers most when they sell their homes.

According to the HomeGain survey, the top five home improvements that Realtors recommend to home sellers based on cost and return on investment (from highest to lowest ROI) are:

1. Cleaning and de-cluttering ($200 cost / $1,700 price increase / 872% ROI)
2. Home staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase / 586% ROI)
3. Lightening and brightening ($230 cost / $1,300 price increase / 572% ROI)
4. Landscaping ($320 cost / $1,500 price increase / 473% ROI)
5. Repairing plumbing ($385 cost / $1,250 price increase / 327% ROI)

Cleaning and de-cluttering continues to rank as the top suggested home improvement (since the survey was originally conducted in 2000), recommended by 98 percent of Realtors, costing less than $200 and returning a value of nearly $1,700 to the home's sale price, or an 872% return on investment.

"Many Realtors agree, especially in a buyer's market, that sellers who make these recommended home improvements often get their homes sold faster and at higher prices," stated Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain. "We have customized our Home Sale Maximizer online home improvement tool to help identify and prioritize the projects that can increase the salability and selling price of a home."

Rounding out the top 12, the list of low cost, do-it-yourself home improvements includes: updating electrical, replacing or shampooing carpets, painting interior walls, repairing damaged floors, updating kitchen, painting outside of home, and updating bathroom/s.

The home improvement projects with the highest price increases to a home's resale value is Updating the Kitchen ($1,200 cost / $2,850 price increase), followed by Painting the Outside of the Home ($900 cost / $1,815 price increase) and Home Staging ($300 cost / $1,780 price increase).

"Inexpensive cosmetic home improvements and basic improvements greatly enhance the value of the home," stated Carol Wilson of Carpenter Real Estate in Indianapolis, IN, HomeGain AgentEvaluator member since 1999.

To see the complete survey results, visit the HomeGain Real Estate Blog.

Home Sale Maximizer is a home improvement online resource that helps homeowners identify key repairs for getting a home ready for sale, and that can result in a higher sale price for their home.

Get the Home Sale Maximizer widget for your website by clicking here.

Listen to survey respondents discuss the survey questions during a 30-minute live call on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by registering on HomeGain Webex.

About HomeGain

HomeGain® is a leading provider of online marketing solutions that connect real estate agents and brokers with home buyers and sellers. HomeGain offers free services to find and compare real estate agents, research home values, and view homes for sale. Since 1999 REALTORS® have used HomeGain's real estate marketing programs, products and tools to connect to consumers, promote their services and grow their business. HomeGain.com receives an average of over five million web visits per month, ranking it in the top 10 real estate websites worldwide.

Jay Thompson, Pat Kitano, Joe Ferrara and Rob Hahn Discuss Trends in Real Estate Marketing

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:18:50 -0500

Here is the the long awaited video of industry experts Joe Ferrara, Rob Hahn, Pat Kitano and Jay Thompson discussing industry trends at HomeGain Live Nation

2009 HomeGain Nation Video - Trends of Real Estate Marketing

Louis Cammarosano of HomeGain, Robert Hahn of 7DS Associates, Jay Thompson of Thompson's Realty, Joseph Ferrara of Sellsius Real Estate Blog and Patrick Kitano of Transparent Real Estate take the stage to discuss a variety of strategies real estate professionals can implement on the internet, including advertising trends through social media, the value of networking via Facebook and Twitter, how to enhance the quality of your social media followers and more.

View Video >

Click here to see the video

HomeGain Live Nation A Hit!

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:58:17 -0500

9 hours ... 1 gorgeous day in San Francisco ... 1 amazing hotel ... 15 presenters ... 6 real estate sessions ... 3 product breakout sessions ... breakfast ... lunch ... networking ... 10 Max bobblehead prizes ... over 300 tweets ... 65 satisfied attendees!

Thank you to all who attended and made HomeGain Live Nation a success. As Karen Breen Elia says below in her video, it was indeed a 2-way street of giving and getting of real estate strategies and insight for those who attended.

Read HomeGain Nation Tweets

HomeGain Nation Photos and Videos below:

Photos

From left to right: Jay Thompson, Robert Hahn, Louis Cammarosano, Joseph Ferrara, Patrick KitanoLouis Cammaroano (above center) leads the "Trends in Real Estate Marketing" discussion Mitch Ribak of The eHomes Realty Network and Sarah Bandy of The Bandy Group

Brian Kinkade of Cherry Creek Professionals Realty: Winner of a Max Gorilla Bobblehead

See more photos on HomeGain Facebook Page and HomeGain Flickr Page.

Videos

See more videos on HomeGain YouTube Channel

Videos of the individual sessions coming soon!

Stay tuned for HomeGain Nation 2010...

14 Comments on "HomeGain "Live" Nation 2009 Is A Hit"

Kris Anderson

Wow! Great energy and synergy! I'm jazzed and have already amended my business plan and bought new HomeGain services.

August 4th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Dave Marron

Thank you for a fantastic event! It was so great to meet such fun, interesting people who are finding new and better ways to sell real estate. I learned a ton and had a great time in the process. HomeGain is an important partner for my company and my own personal practice. I look forward to a mutually beneficial, long term partnership. And I appreciate the effort the entire HG staff made to create such a successful event.

Louis, Jessica, Peter and everyone at HG - THANK YOU!

August 4th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Jay Thompson

Even though my primary objective was not met - winning a Max Bobble Head - I thought it was a great event. Any and every Homegain user should attend the next one.

Spectacular venue, very well organized, good mix of speakers!

August 5th, 2009 at 7:44 am
Louis Cammarosano

@Kris
Thanks for coming. Great meeting you.Please contact me or any member of our team any time.
See you at the next HomeGain nation event.
I think we may call the next one HomeGain Unplugged to emphasize the real life aspect of the event.

@Dave Always a pleasure seeing you. Thanks for you participation in the buyerlink panel and for your support!

@Jay -thanks for coming and participating in the trends panel. There is still a chance to get a Max bobble head -
Recall this tweet:
HomeGain: #homegainnation Jay Thompson: to write on the HomeGain Blog about forced registration vs non - got it on video, we'll hold you to it, Jay!
1 day ago from web.

Produce it by end of month and we'll send a bobble head your way!

@everyone who attended and helped organize the event-Thanks!

August 5th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Eric Blackwell

@Louis (and actually everyone who commented), it was great to finally meet you all in person. The event was truly a success.

My compliments to you and the team from HomeGain.

best

Eric

August 5th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Brad Bakersfield CA Homes

Thanks for sharing some of the fun. Maybe next year I will be able to attend.

August 5th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Jessica Dalton

Thanks for having us, we had a great time and learned a few things too!! : )

August 5th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Jef Werolin

Great event. Brought back some great ideas and have already shared them with my team. Congrats to the HomeGain team for all the hard work in putting this together!

August 5th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Brandon

Glad it was such a success!

August 5th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Peggy Aldinger

What a great event! Thanks for inviting me. I am sold on Buyerlink. I didn't realize what a great product it is and can't wait to get started. I really enjoyed meeting all the Homegain Team!

August 5th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Brian Kinkade

HomeGain Live Nation was an incredible event and I truly enjoyed meeting everyone "Live" and in person.

The HomeGain team did an outstanding job of putting this together and a very big thank you for your efforts.

I am so very privileged to associated with such a high quality marketing partner as HomeGain.

I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

August 6th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Lise

I had an amazing time at the event and can't thank you enough for allowing me the opportunity to attend. The HomeGain staff is fabulous and the attendees were marvelous! What fun and education!!

Thank you again and I'm already booking my intentions for next year but I hope to see you all before that!

August 6th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
Joseph Ferrara

It was a wonderful event.

What most impressed me was the willingness of HomeGain members to share best practices with each other.

I admire HomeGain's leadership in committing to help agents use their products successfully. The growing number of members in their Clubs is testament that it does work.

I was pleased to join my friends and colleagues in sharing with the HomeGain community.

August 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Real Estate Investment Software

Great video! Sorry I missed it!

August 26th, 2009 at 9:22 am

HomeGain Live Nation Video: HomeStaging

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:56:43 -0500

This next video features Lise Desormeaux of RMR Real Estate Marketing Results at the August 2009 HomeGain Nation Live Real Estate Forum in San Francisco.

Lise presents powerful tips to REALTORS® who work with home sellers for maximizing the value of the home sale through professional home staging.

Lise refers to HomeGain's Home Sale Maximizer^TM guide for homeowners as a "must have tool" when selling a home.

Watch the video of the Home Staging session: "How to Sell the Value of Home Staging to Sellers"

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos over the few weeks!

Watch more session videos

Also see more HomeGain Nation videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel and on the HomeGain Nation Blog.

Home Staging Session Speaker: Lise Desormeaux, RMR Real Estate Marketing

Ms. Desormeaux established RMR-Real Estate Marketing Results, Inc. in 2002, a company that has successfully been helping Realtors sell listings while helping sellers reach their desire of selling a home for maximum value quickly. Lise is also the founder of ESIL, LLC, a media production company whose goal is to reach the masses with RMR's marketing and home staging techniques in an easy to learn, DIY format.

HomeGain Live Nation Video: Keynote by Louis Cammarosano

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:55:01 -0500

At the premier of this exclusive real estate event, HomeGain Nation 2009 in San Francisco, Louis Cammarosano kicks off the event with a pertinent and positive keynote speech.

In this video of the Keynote, Cammarosano welcomes all participants and sets the tone of the day by describing the meaning of "HomeGain Nation" and the value it has for all Realtors, bloggers and real estate professionals within its community.

2009 HomeGain Nation Video: Keynote

Louis Cammarosano, General Manager at HomeGain, kicks off HomeGain Nation 2009 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

Cammarosano recognizes the hundreds of agents who have been successful with HomeGain's online marketing programs - AgentEvaluator® Club members, BuyerLink members and AgentView members. In addition, he thanks all HomeGain advocates for their continued support and partnership.

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos!

Watch more HomeGain Nation videos on the HomeGain Real Estate Blog Page

Also see more HomeGain Nation real estate videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel, on the HomeGain Nation Blog and in the HomeGain Media Center.

HomeGain Live Nation Video: AgentView

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:52:00 -0500

HomeGain Nation Video - Exposure, Blog, Listings: AgentView

This video features Brian Kinkade of Cherry Creek Professionals Realty who presented at the August 2009 HomeGain Nation Live Real Estate Forum in San Francisco.

Brian focuses on the value proposition of HomeGain's online marketing system, AgentView - Internet exposure, blogging and home listings - all of which are key marketing components to REALTORS' success.

Learn why these are important and how to effectively implement them into your business.

Get ready to take some notes because this experienced REALTOR packs in a lot of powerful information about marketing that you may never have heard!

Watch the AgentView session video: "Exposure, Blog, Listings"

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos!

Watch more session videos

Also see more HomeGain Nation real estate videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel, on the HomeGain Nation Blog. and in the HomeGain Media Center. Continue reading this post

HomeGain Live Nation Video:BuyerLink

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:50:20 -0500

HomeGain Nation Video - Traffic, Leads, Conversion: BuyerLink

Nothing beats attending HomeGain "Live" Nation in person, but the videos are second best!

This video features Mitch Ribak of The eHomes Realty Network in Florida, Linda Davis of RE/MAX Realty Group in Connecticut, and Dave Marron of First and Elm Realty in California.

These three Realtors® became successful by mastering techniques of leveraging the Internet to get people to their websites, turning visitors into clients, and building profitable real estate businesses as a result.

Watch the HomeGain Nation session video: "Traffic, Leads, Conversion: BuyerLink"

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos over the next couple of weeks.

Up next: "Home Staging Session" with Lise Desormeaux of RMR.

Also see more HomeGain Nation videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel and on the HomeGain Nation Blog.

homegain.com

HomeGain Nation Video: Agent Evaluator

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:47:50 -0500

This video features three highly motivated and successful Realtors® - Karen Breen Elia, RE/MAX Exclusive Properties, Carl Medford, Windermere Properties East Bay and Wayne Long of Shepherd Brokers.com GMAC Real Estate - who presented at the August 2009 HomeGain Nation Live Real Estate Forum in San Francisco.

Watch this strategic real estate video as they discuss their methods for effectively finding, connecting and closing homes with people through the Internet via HomeGain's AgentEvaluator® marketing program.

Watch the AgentEvaluator session video: "Prospecting, Proposals, Pipeline"

Keep checking back as we will be adding more videos!

Watch more session videos

Also see more HomeGain Nation real estate videos on the HomeGain YouTube channel, on the HomeGain Nation Blog. and in the HomeGain Media Center.

HomeGain Agent Raves About AgentView

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:40:47 -0500

I'm A Raving Fan of HomeGain's AgentView - Yes, I Admit It!

I started working with AgentView, formerly known as Source4Sellers, mid November 2006. Since then much has changed with my business model and with AgentView.

My business grew from a fledgling concept to a full team model. I had started the month before with HomeGain's BuyerLink. The traffic from BuyerLink helped build my faith in Internet marketing and build my lead database. Even then, I knew that HomeGain was very interested in my success and building a true business partnership.

The AgentView product suite continues to develop and is now a full service ad-free solution which highlights and promotes the participating real estate agent. When I first started with the product, the Source4Sellers solution contained an agent profile and a full CRM with built-in email campaigns. Now AgentView is so very much more. Some of the features include:

Agent Profile
Homes For Sale
Home Values
Agent Centric Blog
Local Information
Home Seller Tools

Agent Profile

The AgentView blog offers so much opportunity to help promote the area real estate agent and my Denver real estate website in an ad-free environment. This page is about the agent and their credentials. The "Have a Real Estate Question for Brian?" is to the right of your contact information as a call to action.

Homes For Sale

I was recently introduced to and have implemented the XML feed available for the AgentView listings. This is a very nice listing enhancement. While I was quite capable of entering my offices Denver property listings this new XML feed makes this process of updating listings effortless. I simply love this feature. This also exclusively promotes your client's listings in an ad free environment, by search and by map, and with a link back to your website it can bring traffic back to your website, to your blog or profile. Other listings packages make you pay to feature your listings alongside other listings that are not your own and alongside third party or competing ads!

Home Values

This is the bread and butter of AgentView. The "What If?" feature can help make adjustments for unrecorded bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. This also allows you to show your knowledge of the local market upon a request for a home valuation in your market area. Upon a consumers request for a "Custom Home Value" you get the opportunity to shine. These requests can come from home owners looking interested in the market, looking to sell, or even an interested property buyer. And, the two way interaction available can generate leads. And, your AgentView solution it includes built in SEO and HomeGain traffic flows into the home valuation tool.

Agent Centric Blog

The AgentView blog is ready to roll, SEO friendly and built for speed. Within minutes you can post your content to your blog and be seen online. One of the notable benefits if you are not an experienced blogger is the HomeGain Blog School blog coaching program. This is a great ongoing blogging tutorial to help you generate traffic to your blog.

Local Information

Demographics and neighborhood data on this page are readily available upon request in an easy to read graphical format. This represents even more available content to make your blog sticky.

Home Seller Tools

This page includes the Home Sale Maximizer feature and tips to home improvement guidelines. The Home Sale Maximizer helps consumers calculate which improvements will increase the sales value of their home. This feature too promotes the agent at the end of the process.

Here's the icing on the cake:

Beyond the obvious, as stated above, the ancillary benefits of your AgentView account, brings you a greater web presence including niche area marketing and branding, additional buyer and seller leads. If you don't have a presence when you start, if you follow the training you'll receive, you'll get one. If you already have a web presence, more presence certainly can't hurt your well placed and hard earned positioning.

Over the years, I have learned that given the appropriate tools anyone can succeed. The question really boils down to desire, commitment and persistence. Some of the leads I have connected with on AgentView I have closed and some of them I will close. For me, the question is not about if, it's more about when.

My attitude is indicative of what I recently heard at our Colorado Realtor Rally from Larry Kendall, "Don't just survive when you can thrive". Do you want to thrive?

I invite you to visit my HomeGain Denver Real Estate Blog to get an idea of what I am excited about.

Listen to Brian's interview about AgentView on HomeGain Radio!

HomeGain adds another 39 Club members- Celebrates Agent Appreciation Month

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 20:22:27 -0500

It's been a busy week at HomeGain.

Earlier this week, HomeGain.com announced that another 39 members reached commission dollar milestones of $500,000, $125,000, $75,000 and $50,000 by using HomeGain's Agent Evaluator program.

HomeGain also kicked off its Fourth annual Agent Appreciation campaign late last week.

Yesterday we released our Sept/Oct Agent Success Newsletter.

Become a HomeGain Member!

Louis Cammarosano

HomeGain Turns 10 Years Old!

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:45:39 -0500

On Sunday, HomeGain turned 10 years old. HomeGain's web site was decked out in Anniversary mode with Max the HomeGain gorilla celebrating amidst a shower of confetti

Here is HomeGain's blog post covering the story.

Here is what Transparentre had to say on the milestone

Here is coverage of the event on 1000 Watt Blog.

Louis Cammarosano

FrogPond.com Launches

Louis Cammarosano (HomeGain) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:18:54 -0500

FrogPond.com launched today offering "unique "Communications Solutions" enabling corporations, associations and small businesses nationwide to effectively reach customers, employees and members with ahead of the curve industry information."

They offer free re-printable articles from nationally recognized industry leaders and experts.

The site is the brain child of Susie Hale, wife of Bob Hale of the innovative Houston MLS.

Susie and Bob caught me after a panel I was on at Inman Connect and mistaking me for someone important asked me to do an interview.

Here is my interview with Susie.

Best of luck to Ms. Hale and FrogPond.com

Check out Houston Real Estate, Houston homes for sale and Houston home prices.

Louis Cammarosano