App of the Week: Speaktoit

Your Speaktoit Assistant performs tasks, answers questions, notifies you about important events, and more.

Free for Android and iPhone/iPad

Real estate can be an overwhelming career. While most business people have set days off, demands on your time as a real estate sales associate mean you never know how busy your weekend will be and forget taking a weekday off, too much to do, right? Think again, you can set your schedule and still profit. People are overwhelmed with the complexities of their own lives and are desperately seeking a way to maximize happiness in their home and work lives, says Gary Kunath, an entrepreneur, speaker and former CEO who works with some of the world’s top corporations and business schools.

“I used to be caught up in the spin cycle of thinking that net worth automatically afforded me life worth,” says Kunath, author of “Life … Don’t Miss It. I Almost Did: How I Learned To Live Life To The Fullest,” (www.lifedontmissitbook.com).

Priorities have shifted; now, U.S. workers seek family wellbeing above all else, he says. Companies need to recognize that it’s imperative to positively affect their employees’ lives, both inside and outside working quarters, he says.
Here are five ways career-minded individuals can achieve both:

• Look for signs you’re falling into the net-worth trap: For Kunath, those signs were clear. One day, he says, “it was like someone had smacked me on the head,” when his son, then 12, walked away in dismay after Kunath said he couldn’t play baseball with him because he was too busy working on a business proposal. “The look of disappointment on my son’s face was something I will never forget,” he says. Kunath dropped everything and spent the day with his son. “I promised that would NEVER happen again.”

• Bad things happen to good people: Adversity finds us all. No one enjoys the worst, most painful moments of their lives. Nonetheless, life events like loss of a loved one, financial ruin, divorce, addictions or illness tend to define us. We need adversity in our lives. Anyone can be a rock star when life is perfect. But when adversity strikes, then the real you is revealed. How you face adversity can either extinguish you or distinguish you.

• Believe in something bigger: There will be times when you are utterly helpless, with no control over an outcome. All the money in the bank and all the authority at work will do no good when it comes to, for instance, the death of a loved one. Believing in something bigger than you is an important part of having life worth; it helps you maintain your emotional health when you face life’s biggest challenges.

• Don’t Major in the Minors: As Henry David Thoreau wrote, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” For every evening spent late in the office there are moments professionals miss out on – and can never get back. Many of us spend time on things that ultimately don’t matter. “The three greatest gifts you can give to your family are: Time, Memories and Tradition,” he says. “These are things in life that matter.”

About Gary Kunath
Gary Kunath is the founder of The Summit Group, which is ranked among the top sales-training companies in the world by Selling Power magazine.

So many sales associates offer one message and it’s pointed at those ready to buy or sell now. But, HubSpot says you should have several messages available:

At the Gathering of Eagles, an agent panel talked about different aspects of doing business as teams. One question was asked: What is more important technology, marketing or education? Their answers differed, and it’s interesting to note why:

Tammy Spalding: The Group
Colorado
“Education. You have to have a strong leader who is respected and who excites sales associates. Leaders must be visionaries and great educators.”

Ryan O’Neill: Re/MAX
Minnesota
“Training is important, but sometimes we  overfocus on training. There’s a firm in the twin cities that focuses on education and its production levels are low. For me it’s about marketing. It’s about generating business. I need to be all over Google and be on the radio. Technology is second as it allows you to do the marketing. But, if the technology won’t directly impact your business it can lead you astray.”

Joe Rothchild: Keller William Signature
Texas
“Education is huge. You’re either learning or you’re dying. If you’re not learning it, then others will surpass you. Of course we should constantly market ourselves as well.”

What do you think? If you had to rank importance, how would you rank education, marketing and technology?

Realtors(r) were busier and making more money in 2012, marking the second year of improvement following nine years of decline, according to the 2013 National Association of Realtors (NAR) Member Profile.

Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research, says housing market growth has boosted real estate professionals’ earnings. “The median gross income of a Realtor rose to $43,500 in 2012 from $34,900 in 2011, which is only the second gain in the past 10 years,” Bishop says. “To put that in perspective, the median Realtor income had fallen by 35 percent during the housing downturn, but with the help of sustained increases in both home sales and prices, it’s recovered to the highest level since 2006.”

Members licensed as brokers typically earned $54,900 in 2012, while the median for sales agents was $34,000.

Median gross income tends to increase with experience. NAR members in the business for 16 years or more earned $57,300. Realtors working 60 hours a week or more earned $85,700, and 21 percent of all members earned a six-figure income.

There are two sides to every real estate transaction – one each for the seller and the buyer. Among Realtor members, the median number of transaction sides or commercial deals handled in 2012 was 12, up from 10 transaction sides in 2011.

Some other findings:

• Repeat business and referrals are important to the success of Realtors. Repeat business accounted for a median 21 percent of activity in 2012 and is higher for those with more experience – for members in the business 16 years or more, repeat business was 40 percent of their activity. Referrals accounted for an additional 21 percent of all business.

• Several factors limit potential clients in completing transactions. Members said the biggest impediment was difficulty in obtaining a mortgage, cited by 29 percent of respondents, followed by difficulty in finding the right property, 25 percent.

NAR offers the full survey to NAR members for $14.95 and $149.95 for non-members. It can be ordered by calling 800-874-6500, or online through NAR’s website.

Read the full article here: NAR Member Survey 2012

Android

The App: Flayvr

What it does: Merges all of your photos and videos into a gallery on your phone.

For: Android, iPhone

Get it: Google Play Flayvr

Get it: iPhone

According to an article on Business Insider:

Flayvr is the perfect photo gallery replacement app.

All your photos and videos are sorted based on time, and you can create and manage various albums.

One of our favorite features about Flayvr is how it stitches photo and video into the same stream. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s4-apps-2013-5?op=1#ixzz2TN7UB5gW

iPhone

REAL Trends Housing Market Report

The May 2013 report shows that the rate of housing sales increased strongly in April growing 16.2 percent from April 2012.  The annual rate of new and existing home sales for April 2013 was 5.731 million up from the 4.932 million recorded in April 2012.  These are the strongest year over year results this year.

The average price of homes sold increased by 7.9 percent in April 2013 compared to April 2012.

May 13, 2013 – The REAL Trends Housing Market Report showed that the combination of new and existing home sales in April 2013 strengthened from the prior year and at a faster pace than in prior months.  The annualized rate of the combination of new and existing home sales increased to 5.731 million in April 2013 up from the 4.932 million recorded in April 2012.

The average price of homes sold in April 2013 was up 7.9 percent from the average price of homes sold in April 2012 marking the 13^th consecutive month of increased home sale prices. 

Housing unit sales for April 2013 were up 19.0 percent in the South, the strongest showing in the country. The next highest region was the Midwest and West regions where unit sales were up 15.3 percent. The Northeast was up 11.8 percent.

The average price of homes sold in April 2013 increased 7.9 percent across the country, a better showing than in the prior month. The West had the best results with the average price of homes sold increasing 15.7 percent followed by the Midwest region at 8.5 percent. The South region showed an increase of 5.2 percent while the Northeast lagged with the average price of homes sold decreasing by 0.1 percent.

“April 2013 sales of new and existing homes increased at the fastest pace in several months evidently shaking off the impact of shrinking inventories.  The two regions of the country with the lowest average sales prices, the South and Midwest, continue to outperform other regions in terms of unit sales increases.  The average price of homes sold was up solidly again due to supply and demand imbalances.  As this report and other housing indicators show the scarcity of inventory and buyer demand are creating a situation where prices are advancing at far greater rates than had been predicted due to high levels of housing affordability and restricted inventory,” said Steve Murray, editor of the REAL Trends Housing Market Report.

 
REAL Trends Housing Market Report 
 
April 2013                                                March 2013

                  
Closed Sales    AVG Price                    Closed Sales     AVG Price

National
+16.2%               +7.9%                         +7.4%                 +6.9%

Regional Report

Northeast
+11.8%               -0.1%                        +3.5%                   -4.2%

South   
+19.0%               +5.2%                          +11.9%                +8.2%

Midwest
+15.3%               +8.5%                          +12.0%                +7.2%

West               

+15.3%               +15.7%                        -0.4%                  +16.3%

If you are trying to get your business in front of influential referral sources, potential customers or persuasive partners, write an update, mention them in the update and tag them.  Even share one of their most recent updates that your audience would be interested in, tag them and then thank them for sharing the wonderful information.

Tagging can boost your business. Get tips and how-tos  at Facebook Tagging: A Quick Way to Double Your Exposure