Interviewer: Today were talking with Michael Morton from Metro Brokers Realty Oasis and Michael, welcome to the show.
Michael Morton: Hi.
Interviewer: Thanks for being here.
Michael Morton: Thank you.
Interviewer: So how long have you been in real estate?
Michael Morton: Ive been in real estate for, this is my tenth year.
Interviewer: Interesting market youve seen over the last couple of years?
Michael Morton: Yeah, its been quite up and down its...
Interviewer: Because I imagine if we take a look at the last 10 years, youve had a little bit of everything, youve had probably the very best and the very worst.
Michael Morton: Sure, sure, it can be a roller coaster ride at times.
Interviewer: All right, so any tips on how you make it through that?
Michael Morton: Well, you just keep pushing forward.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Michael Morton: Try and find a definite niche, something like that, to work with.
Interviewer: And youve found that?
Michael Morton: Yeah, yes I have.
Interviewer: So tell me, what REDS is, R-E-D-S?
Michael Morton: REDS is a designation for Real Estate Divorce Specialist.
Interviewer: And I say wow because, you know, I know theres a lot of designations out there, but I didnt know you could niche it down that much.
Michael Morton: Sure. Well, yes, you can.
Interviewer: And why did you decide to do something like that?
Michael Morton: Well, Ive been through a divorce myself.
Interviewer: Okay.
Michael Morton: Fortunately or unfortunately.
Interviewer: Right.
Michael Morton: And I also volunteer for a local nonprofit that helps with support for people going through divorce, and one of the things that I found was they were needing help with liquidating or negotiating the resolution of their property, their family home.
Interviewer: Yeah, so talk a little bit about that. I mean, when you go to meet with a husband and wife who are splitting, obviously in very rare cases its probably amicable, but in most cases, its not.
Michael Morton: Right, unfortunately.
Interviewer: So what's going on there--I mean, what's the skill set that you need to handle that dynamic?
Michael Morton: Well, theres a lot of different dynamics going on that you need to be aware of, within the family, between the two people. So generally I can meet with them together; I can meet with them separately. I met several times with people with their divorce attorney, because this also relates to how their final orders are set up, as far as liquidating the house or having one of the parties stay and the other party move on.
Interviewer: You know it's funny, if you talk with buyers, what the buyer's primary concern is they didnt buy low enough. If you talk with the seller, you say what's the seller's primary is that they sold for too low a price, but when youre talking with divorced people, I imagine one of the top primary concerns is, who is my real estate agent really representing? Is he representing me or is he representing my wife?
Michael Morton: Right. Well, its hard to stay in the middle, but I do have some mediation skills. I also have a couple of designations as a certified parenting instructor and within those two certifications, Ive learned the dynamics of a divorce and how the family reacts, and how the two partners react, and its really about making them both comfortable with what youre doing.
Interviewer: Yeah, final quick question wrapping it up, but do you find that now, given the current economy and circumstances, were seeing not only the difficulty of divorce but were finding now divorced couples under water?
Michael Morton: Well yeah, there are a lot of short sales involved in this, and I have been doing short sales for pretty much the length of the 10 years Ive been in the business.
Interviewer: Oh, okay.
Michael Morton: So, and I have also have experience with fixing and flipping houses on my own and things like that. So I understand also those dynamics of working with the banks and being able to get people out in the shortest period of time with a short sale instead of a foreclosure which is, could be, another whole show here.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Michael Morton: But there are just several things to think about. There are also tax consequences and things like that, that usually, its so emotional during a divorce that youre not thinking about that.
Interviewer: Yeah. Michael, thanks.
Michael Morton: Thank you.
Interviewer: Appreciate you being here.
Michael Morton: Appreciate it, thank you very much.
Inman News announced their annual nominations for the Finalists for their prestigious Inman 2009 Innovator Awards. The category winners of the 12th annual awards will be announced in San Francisco in August during the Inman Real Estate Connect Conference August 5th - 7th. According to Inman, the award "honors companies that use technology and innovation to enhance the real estate transaction process and improve the overall experience for consumers and real estate professionals."
MetroBrokersTV.com was announced to be a finalist in the category of Most Innovative Media Site, which is an extremely exciting recognition. MetroBrokersTV is indeed an innovative corporate portal for Metro Brokers to take their Internet presence to the next level. It is a complete Web 2.0 PR machine - with built in video syndication, custom SEO pinging services for Metro Brokers to increase their Internet brand presence. MetroBrokersTV is a custom built blogging platform, with custom built video players for all MetroBrokersTV productions. In essence, it is a complete corporate IPTV portal to expose the organization in the totally new transparent media trend that is spreading throughout the entire real estate industry.
MetroBrokersTV was built to increase visibility of the brand in the new world of SEO and search. Besides extensive online storage for the player videos, the built live streaming capabilities also provide unique educational and meeting experiences. It also offers an easy outlet for that human touch through video that potential real estate clients are looking for - there is no learning curve. Brokers that are new to the tech side of life, so to speak, will be able to advance quickly and easily as well, and this has become such an important area of focus in today's competitive real estate arena. This is exactly what Colorado real estate consumers are looking for in their next real estate agent and we have it, all in one package.
Congratulations to all of the nominees. MetroBrokersTV is thrilled to be amongst such creative, innovative, forward thinking businesses throughout the entire real estate industry. And of course, MetroBrokersTV will be broadcasting live from the Inman Real Estate Connect conference here on MetroBrokersTV and BrokerIPTV, so tune in live as the winners of all of the categories are announced.
Here is the entire list of 2009 Inman Innovator Awards finalists:
BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Mike Bradley from
Metro Brokers Eagle View Properties and Mike, thanks for being with us. How are you?
Mike Bradley: Thank you, I am very good.
BrokerIPTV: We are talking about a topic that's kind of
near and dear to my heart. I am a
fitness junkie and it sounds like you are going to put on a triathlon. Is that right?
Mike Bradley: Yeah.
This will be first our annual triathlon.
BrokerIPTV: And how did the idea come about? Why a triathlon?
Mike Bradley: Well, Metro Brokers really want to appeal to
a new market segment. We had
traditionally had golf tournament and it is kind of difficult to get people
participate in golf tournament. There is
a lot of golf tournaments to choose from.
So, we said, "Well, what's something new that we could get a new
audience, new participation and still benefit Special Olympics and continue our
10 year partnership with them."
BrokerIPTV: Talk a little bit about that, what's that all
about and how you benefit them.
Mike Bradley: All proceeds will be benefitting Special
Olympics of Colorado.
BrokerIPTV: Wow.
Great.
Mike Bradley: So, for a first year event, we don't really
know what to expect.
BrokerIPTV: Right.
Mike Bradley: As a charity event, it's a little bit
different from the competitive race, the whole goal is to get it done, prove to
yourself you can do something and help a worthwhile charity.
BrokerIPTV: And when you were coming up with this idea in
the conference room with all the people involved, did anyone push back and go,
"Ooh, exercise?"
Mike Bradley: Yeah.
Realtors® are traditionally older, somewhat overweight, in some places
and so this is definitely something that's going to change attitudes and it's
really appealing to everybody. It's not
just real estate agents. In fact, we
don't know how many Metro Brokers will be doing it, but that's not our target
market. This is just for the public and
for the benefit.
BrokerIPTV: So, the public can participate in addition to
the Realtors®?
Mike Bradley: Oh yeah, definitely.
BrokerIPTV: Okay.
Tell me a little bit about the format?
Mike Bradley: Well, let's say sprint triathlon and it
starts with an open water swim in Cherry Creek Reservoir.
BrokerIPTV: How far?
Mike Bradley: It's half mile.
BrokerIPTV: Okay.
Mike Bradley: So, that's about 880 yards or approximately
34 lengths of the swimming pool and then that's followed by a 12 mile bike, and
a three mile run.
BrokerIPTV: Okay.
Mike Bradley: And then we have the finish line and we have
a catered dinner from Lodo's Bar And Grill and beer and party and music and
awards and everything.
BrokerIPTV: So, you can reward yourself if you complete
this thing.
Mike Bradley: Yeah.
BrokerIPTV: When is it?
Mike Bradley: It's on Friday, June 5th and it starts at 6
p.m. So, you don't even have to wake up
early.
BrokerIPTV: So, it's appropriate we are talking about
this now. So, we give people plenty of
time to get in shape and get ready for this.
Is that right?
Mike Bradley: Yeah, you need about three months of good
training.
BrokerIPTV: All right.
What are the critical things that have to happen to make this successful
in the first year?
Mike Bradley: We have been very lucky to bring on Ian Adamson,
who has... he is going to be our race director and producer. He has produced over 36 events around the
world, including the 24 hours of triathlon at the Boulder Trail Triathlon and
then multiple iron man type events around the world. So, his expertise and the USAT sanctioning
that we are going to get along with that really will make this a success.
BrokerIPTV: I think it's a different idea. I applaud you guys for thinking out of the
box. I mean are you ready?
Mike Bradley: I am getting there.
BrokerIPTV: All right.
Mike Bradley: Work on the run.
BrokerIPTV: Now, if somebody wants to participate because
it's absolutely a worthwhile event, how do they find out more information?
Mike Bradley: All the information is posted at
metrobrokerstriathlon.com and there is online registration, mail in
registration, and we are even looking for volunteers.
BrokerIPTV: Excellent.
Mike, great event. Thanks so
much. Appreciate you stopping by.
Brian Macmillan from Metro Brokers is a great young example of a proactive business generation lifestyle. Are you still waiting around at home for someone to call you about buying or selling a house? You've all heard about "joining a leads group". This story will get a couple things straight. #1, you have to go out and get business. #2 They are not called leads Groups #3 Business is out there for the taking. #4 You need to take the bull by the horns and start your own club.
BrokerIPTV: Welcome to Broker IPTV and today we are talking with Brian Macmillan and this is part of our Gen X Gen Y section in Broker IPTV where we talk to some of the younger producers and I mean people that are actually producing in the business. Brian is with Metro Brokers and Brian, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, like how long you have been in the business?
Brian MacMillan: This is actually the beginning of my fourth year in the business.
BrokerIPTV :Great. So, tell me a little bit about your business? Where does most of your leads... where do most of your leads come from? Is it via Internet...?<more>
Maurice Giroux: Well, there is no down market, video is doubling the way of the future and Metro Brokers, we are going to take a real close look at that, this next few months and that is going to be part of our advertising programs.
BrokerIPTV: And what you seen as far as transparency, blogs what is your opinion and take away on blogs here?
Maurice Giroux: If you are not blogging now, you better start. I came to my first Inman Conference a year ago and did not even know what a blog was at that time. I started blogging just a few months ago and right now I am number one in my market place.
BrokerIPTV: Wow, fantastic.
Maurice Giroux: Yeah, it is fun, it takes time, but it is lot of fun.
BrokerIPTV: So what is your take on the market, you have seen what Brad is talking about?
Maurice Giroux: As you probably know market in Colorado, we have a lot short-sales, a lot of foreclosures, there has been a lot of doom and gloom talk now for years, but the truth is we are doing better than most parts of the country. Yeah, there is a little parts of New York, well little New York is doing well and but in general they are talking about prices dropping anywhere from 10% to 40%, huge. I dont think we are going to see that in Colorado and lot the express that I have been talk to, say the same thing, they hearing good things about Colorado.
BrokerIPTV: Yeah that is fantastic; I wish the press back home, we get the same news out, alright?
Maurice Giroux: Absolutely, it is time to start doing something and I think we are at the bottom of the market and even though again the media, like you say in general, they always paying poor picture of way things are, that is not the case, it is time to act. I think depending on what a MSAs you look throughout the nation, a lot of times you are not talking about Dallas, you are not talking about Seattle, you are not talking about North Carolina, Denver. The numbers we have seen is saw at most year-to-year change on sold values with incentives, is less than 1% in Colorado which is fantastic really.
BrokerIPTV: Exactly, right Moe, I have enjoyed talking with you.
Maurice Giroux: Great seeing you at Inman.
BrokerIPTV: Thank you. Alright we will see you next time
Maurice Giroux: Alright.
Posted on January 30, 2008 11:16:24 by Mark Eibner
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