BrokerIPTV Real Estate News and Videos

Broker IPTV was at this years 2008 Realtor Rally was held at Denver's Downtown Convention Center.  Real Estate Companies like ReMax, Metro Brokers, Century 21 were are present.   Okie Arnot is the Chair for Realtor Rally.  The Rally is a full day event.  Besides product Vendors, there is lots of eduction and industry information. Below are just a few of the participants form this years event.

Vicaso

CARHOF

IRES

Nouveau Riche University

AJ Karas Auctions

Sharper Agent

Hydro Physics

The Bagster

Dan Bury Enterprises

Cutco

Sarah Thornstienson- Summit County needs housing for basic service employees

BrokerIPTV-Mark Eibner: This is Mark Eibner with broker IPTV and I am here with Sarah Thornstienson and she is the political affairs representative for the Summit Association of Realtors and I was just wondering if you could tell us the cities in your county that you cover and really what the purpose of your position is with the Board of Realtors up here?

Sarah Thornstienson: Absolutely. The Summit County are Breckenridge, Dillion, Frisco and Silverthrone and I also represent the Steamboat Board of Realtors, the Vail Board of Realtors and the Glenwood Springs Association of Realtors. So, I cover everywhere from the Summit all the way to the Board.

Mark Eibner: Great, so, you are appointee of CAR, Colorado Association Of Realtors or you just do this as a fill position?

Sarah Thornstienson: It is a really cool position that the National Association of Realtors has created it, it is called the Shared Government Affairs Directors Program. So, all the boards kept together and pulled their money together to pay for me, but I am actually employee of Colorado Association of Realtors. The biggest issue that we see across the mountains is the issue of affordable housing. Obviously, the cost of living here is incredibly high we have workforce issues, because there is no place for them to live, whether to rent or to own. Middle-class families cannot afford to buy anything here, we have got even in Summit County, and we have our fire fighters live in Denver and coming up here 3 days a week. We need people like our fire fighters to actually live here. Our nurses, teachers they cannot afford to live here. It is a huge issue across all off them mounts towns. So, that is a big priority right now at the mountain, as well as and Breckenridge has a huge issue, now where the town is considering restricting professional offices our main street including specifically real estate offices, they feel like they want to make sure that there is healthy mix to keep the tourist walking up and down main street, but our base concern is that the private property rights have been violated. So, I am working to fight that issue and to make sure that free market continuous to work as it is, because right now there is a great mix in our main street. This Summit County I would say it is a great advanced for the rest of the state in terms of affordable housing, they are combined housing authority that has worked really hard. The realtors, the builders and this is as our team together last year or two years ago to get a sales tax increase and actually go towards affordable housing. Breckenridge is doing a great job in building affordable housing, they are attractive building. I believe 900 affordable housing units.

Mark Eibner: That is incredible.

Sarah Thornstienson: Yeah, because previous town councils had the foresight to buy some land. So, they actually had something to work upon.

Mark Eibner: Oh great, well excellent thank you very much Sarah, my pleasure.

Sarah Thornstienson: My pleasure, yeah, my pleasure thanks.

BrokerIPTV: Maurice Giroux of Metro Brokers caught you here on the forward Inman Connect in New York City 2008. I know I saw you the other day at Brad Inman's opening speech and he was talking about some of the past themes, which is social networking, video transparency in the market. How do those things relate to your role back in Colorado?

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.

BrokerIPTV : Karen Easton Metro brokers, past President, from Denver Colorado, Karen if you are starting over again today, based on what you have learned, what would you do differently? 

Karen Easton: Well today with the technology available I would pick a geographic area or several, I would be the blogger or the expert for that area, localism. I would have a video on myself personally as well as the community and the neighborhood and I will go in to the schools and may have all that information available, and I would blog as much as I could and that way the customer would come to me instead of me having to go out and find the customer. 

BrokerIPTV : We are talking with Kay Watson today from Metro Brokers and Kay we love always talking with you. You have got so much going on in your involved with so many communities and boards and particularly you work with National Association of Realtors, so that where I would like the start. How does what happens politically with the National Association of Realtors benefit me on this tree?

Kay Watson: I think there are two things that first come to my mind. I am an independent contractor and that's one of the privileges as a realtor. We can work as an independent contractor that seems to be threatened on the hill over and over and if it was not for work the National Association of Realtors and their political activity in Washington DC, we stand a chance that, that could go away any day and I think that would the way we work and if we could not be independent contractors the whole structure would have to change, and I don't want that ever have to change. I think the other thing is mortgage interest deduction and we think of that affecting the consumer, yes. But it also affects me, myself as a realtor, because if that mortgage interest deduction goes away and then what's going to be the incentive for home ownership. Because that is the one tax deduction and any time, we have a deficit in the government. They always are looking for a way and that's one of the first places they always look.

BrokerIPTV : You started in this business and your are selling homes in just like every other broker making your away, but at some point you got involved, I mean heavily involved, national level, local level committees, standards. Why is it that you when kind of above and beyond what the regular realtor would do?

Kay Watson: I have always had the philosophy that I needed to give back and when I realized the opportunity that being a realtor and being a member of the National Association of realtors, my local in-state associations, what that afforded me. I wanted to give back and the more I got involved the more, I wanted to get involved and I can tell you that I did my involvement has just been an incredible experience. I have gained so much more than I have ever given back and the benefit the bi-product of that is, when I need to send a referral to some one on the east coast, I have met enough people that I can either get a contact, so I can send a personal referral knowing that my clients are going to be handled the way I would want them to be handled and then the another bi-product is, I do get referrals. I never have gotten involved thinking about the bottom line in the business. Because my philosophy is, if you are looking at the dollar sign, when you wakeup in the morning, you need to get out of the business. Because it is a service business and we are here to serve our clients and to work as well as we can with our peers.

BrokerIPTV : Kay, thanks so much, I love the philosophy, great meeting you, thanks for being a part of the program.

Kay Watson: Thank you.