Real Estate Zealot

The Perfect Storm in Real Estate

3 ways to win in real estate... Buy now! Sell now! Invest Now!  Interest rates are at all-time lows, there is no better time to get into the market! 

Metro Broker Virginia Clair can help you navigate the real estate process. Call her at Urban Mountain Associates at 303-229-2450 or get more information online at www.VirginiaClair.com.

Interviewer: Welcome to Metro Brokers TV. Today in the studio I have Virginia Clair with Urban Mountain Associates. Welcome Virginia.

Virginia Clair: Thanks, Kari.

Interviewer: So what makes you different from other realtors?

Virginia Clair: Well, let me tell you - it's really the breath and depth of my experience, I've been licensed for over 21 years now and that was after a very successful career as a diamond broker, so I've been brokering for a while. And my early experience was quite diverse. I started at a time when we were working through the savings and loan fiasco, so a lot of my projects were fairly varied in that I did a shopping center in Colorado Springs, a ranch in Larkspur, I actually had a golf course in La Veta, Colorado as well as several executive homes that were a result of that whole fiasco.

So my business now is really in and around residential as well as short sales. I have a tendency to really want to be available to people in their time of need, especially when it does come to properties that are a little bit complicated and need a little extra help.

Interviewer: Wonderful. Now you're very involved in the real estate community, correct?

Virginia Clair: I am.

Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about that.

Virginia Clair: Well I happen to be the current president of the local chapter of the Mile High Women's Council of Realtors and incoming president for the state. And this is an organization that's part of the National Association of Realtors, so we're very much in tune with consumer issues and lobbying and making sure that our members are empowered in their leadership and their education.

Interviewer: What advice can you offer to buyers and sellers and investors?

Virginia Clair: Buy now, sell now. It's a perfect storm.

Interviewer: Really!

Virginia Clair: Yeah. The interest rates are low, historically low. Our inventory is short, so for sellers that have been sitting wondering whether they should make a move or not, now is the time.

Interviewer: That's great to hear. Where can people learn more about you?

Virginia Clair: Give me a call directly at (303) 229-2450 or on my website which is www.VirginiaClair.com.

Interviewer: Great, Virginia. Thank you so much for taking the time to come and talk to me today.

Virginia Clair: It was my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Interviewer: Again that was Virginia Clair with Urban Mountain Associates. Thank you for watching Metro Brokers TV.

Sell Your Home Quickly in Northern Colorado

Whether you are a buyer or a seller, learn what options you have from Bev West with MetroBrokers West Realty, an experienced real estate agent. Call Bev at (970) 631-7111 or visit BevWestInGreeley.com.

Interviewer: Welcome to MetroBrokers TV. Today in the studio we have Bev West with MetroBrokers West Realty. Welcome Bev.

Bev: Thank you Kari, it's great to be here today.

Interviewer: It's nice to have you, so what areas do you focus on?

Bev: Kari, we focus along the entire Front Range, but our main area is Northern Colorado and Northeastern Colorado, and we also help our clients and customers when they're relocating out of the State of Colorado to help them find a realtor in another area.

Interviewer: Great. So what value do you give to your buyers and sellers?

Bev: You know, for our sellers, we do a statistical pricing system that includes about four different ways that we come up with a price that we feel that, you know, we'll value their home at the right price to get it sold quickly, and in doing this, we average on about a 98% list to sale price ratio and also, this helps in the negotiating when we do get an offer on their house. The other thing, I am an accredited stager and I help our sellers stage their home and this also helps to get their home sold quickly, and by doing that, we average about a 90 days or less days on the market. For our buyers, we do an initial consultation with them, you know, go through a lot of questions so that we get an in-depth feel for what their expectations are.

We also, for our buyers, we do a listing alert, we set them up on that so that as soon as the home that comes on the market, we can give them an alert via their cell phone or email so that they're aware of what's coming on right away and, you know, for both the buyers and sellers, we are very proactive in our communication and we also explain to them the working relationships that they have available to them in working with their agent. This can be a buyer's agent, a seller's agent, transaction broker, or they can be a customer and we feel that, you know, it's very important that they understand those differences.

Interviewer: So, how long have you been in real estate and are you affiliated with any special groups?

Bev: You know, my husband and I work together as a team and we've both been in the business about 11 years, and we're both members of the National Association of Realtors, the Colorado Association of Realtors, plus the Greeley Board of Realtors, and I am currently the president of the Milliken Housing Authority.

Interviewer: Well, yeah, that's great. How can clients reach you?

Bev: The best way is my cell phone which is (970) 631-7111 and my email address is bev@BevWestInGreeley.com.

Interviewer: Great. Well, Bev, thank you so much for joining us in the studio today.

Bev: Thank you very much Kari, it's been a pleasure to be here.

Interviewer: Thank you for watching MetroBrokersTV.com.

Hire an Expert in Denver Real Estate

Ken Aggus of Metro Brokers, Aggus Realty is your expert for managing properties or buying or selling a home in the Denver area.

Call him at 303-210-1338 or go online to AggusRealty.com.

Interviewer: Hi I'm Kathy Soltero with Metro Brokers TV and today, in the studio, we have Ken Aggus, with Aggus Realty. Ken thank you so much for coming in with us today.

Ken Aggus: You're welcome.

Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about your business, you manage properties as well as sell real estate?

Ken Aggus: I do, we have been managing properties for the whole time I've been involved in real estate for over three decades. But in recent years we've decided to beef up and expand our property management. So we hired a couple of full-time people and now we've been growing on that end. But my first love is really working with buyers and sellers, so about two thirds of my time goes into that.

Interviewer: Right. So where are you located, so that we can get an idea where you work mostly?

Ken Aggus: We are in Wheat Ridge. After about 26 years in Westminster, in the same location, we relocated to the area near I-70 and Ward Road with Metro Brokers Professionals office and recently the Metro Brokers Northwest office from Arvada has joined us. So we've become one of the larger Metro Brokers offices.

Interviewer: You're getting - it sounds like you're growing by leaps and bounds up there?

Ken Aggus: Well, we are trying.

Interviewer: Now tell us about your involvement in the community, you're also involved besides being a real estate agent?

Ken Aggus: Well in the realtor community, I've been involved in the national, state and local associations the whole time. I've also worked a couple of years on the Metro Brokers education committee helping to develop the program and curriculum for the Metro Brokers Academy and I was the president of the Jefferson County REALTORS® Association a long time ago. In 1996, I was honored to be the REALTOR® of the year.

Interviewer: Congratulations, that's fabulous. Well that's three decades, so you've been in it for more than thirty years...?

Ken Aggus: A long time, thirty three.

Interviewer: Wow. So tell us about your background, I mean what got you started in it?

Ken Aggus: I was in the building materials business in the beginning, but my parents, Frank and Grace Aggus, started our company in 1959 and in 1979 they talked me into getting a real estate license. So, I did that. And then I left building materials, went into the business and I became the broker owner of Aggus Realty in, I think, it was '83 and I've been Aggus Realty ever since. The most rewarding career move I've ever made though was joining Metro Brokers in about 2000.

Interviewer: It's a great organization.

Ken Aggus: We really enjoy it.

Interviewer: You have also embraced technology - tell me about your website and what you've done to grow it so well?

Ken Aggus: Well I've always been a firm believer that a REALTOR® who doesn't embrace technology is going to really struggle to succeed. I am one of the few people left still working who wasn't born with a computer in his hand, but I've been involved with creation of the Jefferson County Association website and the initial CAR website and this was way back and couldn't be getting to that now.

Interviewer: Right, right well so if customers want to get a hold of you what's the best way to contact you?

Ken Aggus: If anybody is looking to buy or sell or have their property managed they should call me at 303-210-1338 or my website address is AggusRealty.com.

Interviewer: Ken, thank you so much for coming in and talking with us today, it's been a pleasure.

Ken Aggus: Thanks for having me.

Interviewer: And for more real estate related videos like this one, be sure to tune in to MetroBrokersTV.com.

Let Our Experience Work for You

Metro Brokers Hume & Company has the experienced professionals to help you buy or sell your home. Let agent Ben Bow help you negotiate the real estate process and find the perfect home for you.

Interviewer: Hi, I'm Kathy Soltero and this is Metro Brokers TV. Today in the studio we have with us Ben Bow and he is with Hume & Company here in the Denver metro area. Ben, thank you so much for coming in.

Ben: Thanks for having me, Kathy.

Interviewer: Tell me about where you're located? Where is your office?

Ben: We are at 6025 South Quebec, suite 100 which is in the Tech Center. My office has more experienced knowledge than, you know what to do with. We have past and present CAR and NAR directors; we have past and present board presidents as well as board directors. Anything I ever wanted to know about real estate is just down the hall.

Interviewer: That's awesome. Why did you decide to get into the real estate business?

Ben: I enjoy helping people, I enjoy the whole process, I enjoy going and looking through houses to find my client a perfect home. I enjoy the negotiations, the contract; I just enjoy helping to make sure the process is easy as possible for my client.

Interviewer: Absolutely. So you are pretty much involved in the community, tell me a little bit about that?

Ben: Yeah I'm on a committee for the MS Society of Colorado-Wyoming Chapter, and put on event called the MuckRuckus which is a five mile, not an obstacle course, but like a challenge course through the mud, through they have all kinds of fun like giant balls that you're going through and....

Interviewer: Kind of a wipe-outs...

Ben: Oh yeah, well perfect exactly and most of the proceeds go to the MS Society so...

Interviewer: That's awesome.

Ben: Yeah.

Interviewer: So how would you say the Denver housing market is going these days, what is your perspective on it?

Ben: It's great, it looks like we've come close to the bottom and then we're on our way up right now. But the market is moving fast so if you have your financing in place you can really find some great properties right now.

Interviewer: Yeah I think it's also a little bit frustrating also for some buyers because the inventory is a little bit lower, don't you think?

Ben: Oh yeah, it's low but again if you have everything lined up to where you need to have it you can be one of the few that gets a great property in this date and time.

Interviewer: Right, absolutely well, so tell me what customers you work with? Are you working with sellers, buyers, both?

Ben: Yes.

Interviewer: Yes all of the above, right?

Ben: All, buyers, sellers, I go into anything from first time home buyer to if you're trying to move on up or downsize well, I work up and down the Denver metro area, so...

Interviewer: All around the metro area pretty much, okay.

Ben: Yeah.

Interviewer: Again now how can customers reach you if they want to get a hold of you to sell or to buy a home?

Ben: Sure. They can reach me at my cell phone 303-819-4150. I have a website which is http://www.metrobrokersonline.com/agents/Benjamin.Bow

Interviewer: Okay.

Ben: Or email me at BenBowMB@hotmail.com.

Interviewer: Very good. Well Ben thank you very much for coming in and talking with us today.

Ben: Sure. Thank you.

Interviewer: You bet. For more real estate related videos like this one be sure to tune into MetroBrokersTV.com.

Enhance your Listing Presentations with RPR

The Realtors Property Resource is a valuable real estate tool that gives you in-depth property knowledge to enhance your listing presentations. There is even a new mobile app to let you log-in from your smart phone!

Interviewer: Today we are talking with David Barber from Re/Max Unlimited, and the topic is RPR. First of all David, welcome to the show.

David Barber: Thank you Dan, it's nice to be here.

Interviewer: Lot of agents don't know what RPR is or what those initials stand for, so let's start there.

David Barber: Okay RPR is the Realtors Property Resource. This is an ambitious project started by the National Association of Realtors and their end goal is to catalog 157 million parcels of property in the United States. It's been in existence for a little over 24 months and is becoming alive in a lot of markets and being a very valuable tool.

Interviewer: And obviously they are partnering with your local MLS is which is where they are getting a lot of the data I assume.

David Barber: What they are doing is consolidating data in this area from Metrolist, and also from a lot of public records. So, in the past, when you used to spend a lot of time going to different public sites to gather information, their goal is to have it all in one location.

Interviewer: Yeah I think that's what I like best about it, when I've used it, I can see the data that's coming from your local MLS and then it gives me a side by side comparison about the data that's coming from the public records so you can see if it kind of jives.

David Barber: Exactly, and it is based on what's called the realtor evaluation model, where companies like Zillow and Trulia are using an automated evaluation model that are basically just granting public record data. This allows us as realtors to personalize the information we know about the market place whether that property backs to a busy street or has an enhancement that makes it a little more valuable.

Interviewer: Well as a realtor, if I don't know about it, what can I do on RPR that I can't do on say my local MLS?

David Barber: Well it's, if you think of it as a CMA on steroids. You've got a lot more detailed graphing, you have overlays or maps that you can do a lot more in-depth research. As a realtor, and this is a realtor-only benefit, you do need to have a NRDS number to log in and it gives you tools to enhance your listing presentation that a normal CMA doesn't offer.

Interviewer: Yeah, one of the cool things I thought was just the amount of data that they have on distressed properties. Obviously that's very big with consumers today, they want to know about foreclosure, short sales; people that may be in a distress situation and this is pretty well detailed and laid out there.

David Barber: Exactly, one of the other enhancements is that it gives you some visibility in what's going on in the world outside of our market. So if you have a relocation client, you can take a look at their property, see what they have and what it's worth in their market to kind of help them understand what it's going to be like in our market.

Interviewer: That's where, like the California buyer that comes out here, wants to know about the postage size.

David Barber: Absolutely.

Interviewer: Wow! It's right.

David Barber: Exactly.

Interviewer: All right, they are adding new tools to RPR all the time. You mentioned that they added some more two weeks ago, is that right?

David Barber: Yeah most recently, they've added some new mapping products, you can check flood zones, you can overlay price changes. They've also put in a mobile application, once you are set up and registered on the main RPR site you can log in from your smart phone.

Interviewer: I think I'll do that. David thanks great information.

David Barber: Thanks Dan.

RPR: An Agents Best Resource

In this Broker IPTV video, Rohn Goldstein of the South Metro Denvers Realtors Association, introduces RPR, the Realtors Property Resource, a comprehensive tool to gather information on all properties sold and for sale.

Interviewer: Today we are talking with Rohn Goldstein, CEO of the South Metro Denver Realtors Association, and Rohn welcome to the show.

Rohn Goldstein: Thank you

Interviewer: We are talking about a topic called the RPR and a lot of real estate agents don't know about this yet, so why don't you tell them what it is.

Rohn Goldstein: The National Association of Realtors has been kind enough to have a four-legged stool of technology, that is available to realtors. The first one that everybody knows about is realtor.com of course, and then the second one the people seem to know about a little bit is realtor.org which is an internal site that gives them tons of information about real estate. The third one which was announced a couple of years ago was called houselogic, it's a consumer site about how to care for your house, and then the fourth one, the one that we're so excited about called Realtors® Property Resource or RPR

Interviewer: Yeah. Now, when people ask me what it is, or other agents ask what it is, the best way I could describe it is that The National Association of Realtors has essentially put together a national database of homes that have been sold or are for sale correct.

Rohn Goldstein: That's correct, 147 million homes show up on RPR, and it derives data from all different kinds of sources, from multilists around the country, from public records around the country, from school districts across the country, from data sources, from the census... and pools all that information into one amazing report

Interviewer: Yeah! Well, give us a sample of what type of information is available on RPR.

Rohn Goldstein: Well, in just a couple of minutes I can pull up a specific address, get the mapping for the address, get all of the comparables or things that the County Assessor may be using, pull in data about the school districts, data about employment figures, data about whether this house is in foreclosure or some other stressed situation, give a range of value that RPR thinks that the house is worth, which, by the way, can be amended, if the realtor knows more information than the national database is pulling up, and all of that information and a 100 more items show up in the RPR survey.

Interviewer: I think the cool thing that they do here is they take information from your local MLS about what's being published about the property and then they take information from the public record and they cross-reference and marry the two, so you really have the best of both worlds.

Rohn Goldstein: You really do. You know, I used to have to pull information from multi list then go to public records, and then go to one mapping source, then go to a data source likes the census. All of that's in one thing.

Interviewer: Alright is it only available to realtors, or is it available to the consumer as well?

Rohn Goldstein: It's only available to realtors, it's part of what realtors pay for, when they pay for their membership, so consumers have no access, non-realtor agents have no access to it, lenders, appraisers, none of those have access to it. This is a realtor only service.

Interviewer: Alright, how do they access it?

Rohn Goldstein: I think, the easiest way is to go to Metrolist, as they always do, login and go to the tab across the top that says "search", when they pull down on the search button, they will see advanced, basic and different kinds of searches just like they always have if they look down the list. There will be one that says RPR, now the first time somebody goes to RPR they need to log on, and to do that they're going to need to know their national realtor database system number or NRDS number. They might have it on a card or they might have it on the back of one of the realtor magazines or if they don't have it in any of those other ways, they might just call their local association, who will be glad to give on that NRDS number, and they will be able to logon. If they have any issues at all, there is a 1-800 number for RPR, that'll help him through every step, really good people to work with.

Interviewer: Easier than that I use the live chat function on RPR. When I had a question I didn't even have to pick up the phone.

Rohn Goldstein: It's great, it just depends on whether you want to talk to somebody one way or the other, but either way they are there for you. I want realtors to take advantage of this.

Interviewer: Thanks Rohn. Good information.

Rohn Goldstein: Thanks.

Interviewer: Appreciate it.

The Value of a Realtor®

A Realtor® has the expertise, knowledge, training and support of local and national realtors associations to professionally assist you in buying or selling your home.

Interviewer: Today, we are talking with Rohn Goldstein, CEO of the South Metro Denver Realtors Association, and Rohn welcome to the show.

Rohn Goldstein: Thank you.

Interviewer: Hey, we're talking about what a Realtor® is, you know, it's a term that everybody uses and some people don't know that there is a difference between a realtor spelled with a little 'r' and realtor with a capital "R"

Rohn Goldstein: Actually there is not a difference, because there is no Realtor with a little 'r',

Interviewer: Yeah.

Rohn Goldstein: There are real estate agents and there are those people who are Realtors® which means they have joined The National Association of Realtors. It also means that they have joined the Colorado Association of Realtors and their local association of Realtors, as in mine: The South Metro Denver Realtor Association. So, whenever anybody joins, it's called the tri-party agreement, they agree that they are going to join on all three levels

Interviewer: What the consumer wants to know, what's the difference between a Realtor® and a real estate agent?

Rohn Goldstein: I think that's a great question. To me, I liken it to a doctor or a lawyer. Would you want somebody who says, you know, I will cut your head open, but I don't subscribe to any ethical behavior. Well effectively, when you're hiring a real estate agent who is not a Realtor®, that's exactly what you are doing. You are hiring somebody that does not subscribe to any code of ethics

Interviewer: Yeah. Why are organizations important to Realtors® and to the industry and consumers in general?

Rohn Goldstein: For a variety of reasons; Number one: those organizations work, not only like I said, to provide codes of ethics, rules that the people can abide by, rules that consumers can hold them accountable to, but Number two: those groups, like ours, become amazing advocates for the consumer, right now, just like in several times in the past few years Congress or people who work for a variety of government agencies have thought that the easiest way to get money is to eliminate the interest deduction for homes, quite frankly we fight like the Dickens, because we think that that's the number one advantage for most consumers, is their ability to take that one item off their taxes, but there's a lot of other items, as well, that happen all the time, and so that advocacy we think is incredibly important.

Interviewer: You know, there are a bunch of consumers out there that do regular searches on the Internet for properties, and they are very well educated. They know the neighborhoods, they know the price per square foot, they know homes, they know comparisons and comparables, and they say to themselves, you know, why should I use a real estate agent, let alone someone who is a Realtor®, your answer to that would be?

Rohn Goldstein: Well, I liken it, once more, to that medical situation, you know, I found it pretty easy to look up my diagnosis for all different kinds of physical ailments on the computer. And you know that it gives tons of information. And you know how many times it's been right? Almost none. You know, I think it's good to have second eyes looking at things. I think it's why lawyers say, you would be a fool to have yourself as a client. I think you ought to have other opinions, I think you ought to have knowledge, I think that you ought to have people who see things in a different way, and can give you information. Now the decision is still yours as a consumer,

Interviewer: Yeah.

Rohn Goldstein: But the more information you have and the more skills you have behind you, the better you are going to be.

Interviewer: Rohn thanks. I appreciated you being here.

Rohn Goldstein: Thank you.

See more videos about real estate at BrokerIPTV.com

Moving Ahead without the Tax Credit Incentives

Alison Brennan talks to us about how the tax credit effects home buying, as well as how the extensions affect sellers and buyers alike.  She also discusses opportunity that still exist and how to be creative without the government’s help.

 

 

METRO BROKERS INC. PROUDLY ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH COLORADO EAGLES HOCKY TEAM

Contact: Courtney Lis Voca

PR 970.581.6231

Courtney@vocapr.com

 

METRO BROKERS INC. PROUDLY ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH COLORADO EAGLES HOCKY TEAM

Relationship will facilitate Metro Brokers expansion and commitment to Northern Colorado

(Loveland, Colo.) - July X, 2010 – Metro Brokers, Inc. www.metrobrokersonline.com is proud to announce a joint partnership with the Colorado Eagles, Northern Colorado’s beloved hockey team based in Loveland, CO. Metro Brokers will be involved in a variety of marketing and sponsorship opportunities during the upcoming 2010/2011 hockey season at the Budweiser Events Center. Metro Brokers is dedicated to growing its membership and client base in and around Fort Collins and this relationship will help foster brand awareness for the growing real estate company in Northern Colorado.

“The Colorado Eagles have established an amazing fan base in Northern Colorado,” said Bob Luna, president, Metro Brokers, Inc. “This is a perfect venue for Metro Brokers to establish itself among the people in the community in a creative and unique manner and establish a strong identity by getting involved with such a noteworthy organization.”

As president of Metro Brokers, Bob Luna has been committed to growing its membership base into outlying areas along the front-range and this relationship illustrates their commitment to the people of Northern Colorado. A total of 9 Metro Brokers offices and 50 agents currently reside in the area.

“Metro Brokers is the ideal business model for those agents interested in controlling their own destiny,” said Doug Lindstrom, broker owner of the Metro Brokers Loveland office. “As a result, we have experienced substantial growth and success during the down market. We hope this partnership with the Eagles will prove our commitment to Northern Colorado, help us grow our businesses and foster a long relationship within our community.”

Metro Brokers Inc. provides real estate agents an independent framework to succeed through innovative technologies, brand awareness, continuing education courses and extensive multi-media mix marketing. Unlike other real estate companies, Metro Brokers Inc. is actually owned and operated by its brokers and prides itself on its strong team of agents.

“Just like the Metro Brokers organization, the Colorado Eagles are a hard working, high producing, and successful team, making this partnership a perfect fit for both sides,” said Lindstrom.

About Metro Brokers, Inc.

Metro Brokers, Inc. has been Colorado's leader in real estate, technology and services, for more than 30 years, providing the framework, structure, brand and freedom for real estate brokers to work professionally, efficiently and profitably. Our network of nearly 2,000 highly experienced real estate professionals specialize in residential, commercial and investment properties and have access to ground breaking technologies, continuing education courses, and innovative marketing that help buyers and sellers make the most of their real estate transactions. Unlike most other real estate companies Metro Brokers, Inc. is actually owned and operated by its brokers.

Metro Brokers Ted Bryant a shining example of a real estate professional

MetroBrokersTV :  Welcome to Metro Brokers TV.  We are with Ted Bryant today and Ted is the current National Director for the National Association for REALTORS®.  He is also a director for the Colorado Association of REALTORS® and he has also been a past chairman for the Real Estate Commission and welcome Ted.  Ted Bryant shining example of an real estate industry professional

Ted Bryant:  Thank you Mark.  It's an honor to be here. <watch video>

MetroBrokersTV :  Why don't you tell me a little bit about your company and maybe how long you have been with Metro Brokers and how long you have been in the business?

Ted Bryant:  I can't remember exactly when I joined Metro Brokers, but I started my company, my own name, Ted Bryant Inc. in 1969 and we have been in continuous operation since that time and we have gone through some transitions as you know I like to tell people I was in business before we had fax machines and fax machine was a really neat thing when it came along and now we hardly use them.  I have seen a lot of stuff change.  We had a Realty World franchise, a really good one.  We had the highest production of anybody in the franchise.  I was part of that, but then I had an opportunity to move on and sell that and I did.  I have an independent person since then and that is about the time I joined Metro Brokers and I believe it was '85, '86.

MetroBrokersTV :  So, tell me what do you like about being a Metro Broker?  What is the I think the biggest benefit that you see as being part of the organization?

Ted Bryant:  Well, I think for $80 dollars, it is just a steal.  You get a corporate identity, you get national advertising on the TV and in some print and it gives you the look of a large company and the support of a large company.  We have educational programs, license renewal programs, things like that through Metro Brokers, plus you can retain... you can keep your own company and be your own broker.  You are still a broker owner.  It gives you that possibility and then it gives you also the opportunity to associate with a lot of people who are in a similar situation to you; having other people that you can associate with and ask questions of is a great benefit.

MetroBrokersTV :  Have you been out there?  Have you operated without a brand name, just Ted Bryant Inc. all by yourself?

Ted Bryant:  I really haven't done that Mark.  I pretty much transitioned into Metro Brokers from... we had I think at the time 90 associates and three offices.

MetroBrokersTV :  Well, I can speak from experience that not having that Metro Broker behind you is... it is devastating out there competing with the other brand names.  It is amazing what you get... the clout you get for what you are saying $80 bucks a month.

Ted Bryant:  I think and also importantly we have an obligation each of us to try to make Metro Brokers better.  I think that to be courteous in our MLS, treatment to other brokers, to show professionalism in our responses to showings and to contracts and that kind of thing.  So, I hope everybody pulls together and that way we can truly be the professional organization that we would like it to be.

MetroBrokersTV :  Well, I personally think it's people like you that have made and our... what makes our organization so professional here volunteerism, etc. and I find the high level of volunteerism coming out of a lot of Metro Brokers whether it be on educational, CE or NAR or CAR etc.  I mean there is a lot of volunteer people coming from within Metro Brokers.

Ted Bryant:  Absolutely, there are, right.  I just... you know Kay Watson is a shining example and Karen Easton our past president is very active.  There are a lot of people that are active with CAR.  I am very proud of our group and proud of what they have done with our professional trade association.  I think that that says a lot as you've mentioned.

MetroBrokersTV :  Well, thank you once again for coming in today, Ted.

Ted Bryant:  Thanks Mark.

MetroBrokersTV :  It has been a pleasure.