Local real estate insights — from the people who know
Watch video about how got Intero started, who we are and where we’re going
Intero Real Estate Services was founded in 2002 by Gino Blefari and group of inspired real estate people. Here’s our story about how we got started, who we are and where we’re going.
Intero LA is recruiting motivated, passionate real estate agents and broker–owners
We’ve just finished putting together a new ad for Broker Agent LA. I’d like to include it here because I think it communicates what’s going on with Intero right now. It’s tough out there for everyone today, but we are continuing to grow and expand regionally in Los Angeles County and in national and international markets.
When we find ourselves in the middle of the perfect storm, it challenges even the best REALTORS®. These are the days when you’ll want to rely on your brokerage for support and guidance. If you’re not getting that, it may be time to really think about what you need so that you can move your business forward.
We’re actively looking for the right people to join our team here in LA, agents and broker–owners who are motivated, focused and passionate about real estate.
If your interested in talking, please feel free to call or email. I can be reached directly at 818.992.9977 or rario@interorealestate.com.
Intero’s Real Estate Center at Santana RowIn the early months of 2007, we embarked on an ambitious plan to create a new kind of real estate office that better suited the working habits of today’s mobile, high tech REALTOR®. What we came up with is a radically new idea for what a real estate office can and should be: The Intero Real Estate Center.
We chose for our location a popular, high-end retail/residential development in Silicon Valley called Santana Row and created a hybrid space that is part real estate office part retail showroom and part café/meeting place.
We’ve integrated the coolest technology we could find—tablet PCs, flat screen plasma TVs, a high speed Wi–Fi network, and web–based transaction management software that empowers our agents to work completely paperless. And, we designed the interior in a minimalist, modern style, getting rid of the cubicles and replacing them with leather sofas and chairs, café tables and a large central bar where agents can work or meet with clients.
The floors are polished concrete, and the main conference room and two smaller meeting rooms are separated by glass walls that reach from the floor to vaulted ceilings. The design is more akin to an upscale gallery than real estate office (complete with a full espresso bar and wine or beer) and that gives our clients a better experience when they come in.
The concept for the Intero Real Estate Center came about when we realized that REALTORS® today are working very differently than they did 10 (even 5) years ago. Laptops, mobile phones and wireless modems are commonplace, and this is changing the real estate business right before our eyes.
Many agents now maintain home offices and use the branch as simply a professional base where they can meet with clients and finalize deals. We started thinking, if technology has evolved so that agents don’t have to be in the office 100 percent of the time, why have cubicles? Let’s just give them an inspiring, open space to work in with a few secluded areas and all the necessary technology they need, and let them use it as they see fit.
The Real Estate Center has become our greenest location. We’re very proud of this, as we encourage all of our agents to become EcoBrokers. The space itself has one of the smallest footprints of all our locations, taking up a mere 2,100 square feet. Less space meant fewer materials and construction waste and less impact on the surrounding environment. It also means less energy consumed in maintaining the office as we move forward.
We’re empowering all of our agents in the Center to go paperless. We’ve integrated Relay™ into our workflow. It’s a web–based transaction management software for managing transactions and collaborating with clients and affiliates online through a centralized web site. Admittedly, this is a process because being completely paperless depends as much on the agents we’re working with on the other end as it does us. If they’re lacking the technology to receive paperless documents, we still have to print and deliver the old fashion way.
From our perspective though, we can manage entire client files online, and at the end of the transaction, we either burn them a CD or print out the final paperwork for their files. Clients are able to sign directly to a PDF using our tablet PCs and the signatures are as secure and official as a contract someone hands you on paper. We’re then able to store and access those files easily down the road, if necessary. Not having to store boxes and boxes of files means less space and energy consumed all around. It’s definitely a greener way of doing business.
Our locations is in one of the hottest retail developments in the Bay Area, which means the Intero Real Estate Center is also a great showcase for the properties we represent and gives us an excellent way to promote our partners and their projects.
We’ll talk more about that in next week’s posting.
If you’d like to stop by, we welcome visitors. We’re on Olin Avenue (across the street from the movie theatre). If you’d like to know more about joining this Intero office, please email Brian Crane at bcrane@interorealestate.com.
Jim Goldman of Tech Check talks about Silicon Valley real estate sales and the credit crunchGino’s on CNBC’s Tech Check with Jim Goldman today talking about Silicon Valley and the credit market crunch . . . or lack thereof. Mostly, Goldman has focused on the high–end market—homes well over $1 million—and how buyers in this price range aren’t affected by the credit crunch. He acknowledges, as do we all, that lower–priced neighborhoods are being affected.
Wall Street is nervous, but there are still lenders funding mortgages.
Wall Street is nervous. It’s plastered everywhere. Why should we as REALTORS® care? Because, it’s the investors on Wall Street who fund about half the mortgages in the US through the secondary mortgage market. Their capital replenishes the pool of cash that local lenders (banks, credit unions and others) use to help your buyers finance their home. That doesn’t mean the money is entirely gone, though. We’ve still got options.
The mortgage market is a multi-layered, convoluted chain of buying, selling, packaging and repackaging of mortgage loans through numerous institutions, funds and investors. Banks, mortgage brokers and other lenders issue primary loans to buyers looking to finance. These loans are then (in most cases) resold to the secondary mortgage market where they are bundled together with other mortgages (both prime and sub-prime) into mortgage–backed securities (MBS), which are then sold to investors who take on the investment risk of the loan.
When Wall Street starts getting nervous and investors begin pulling their money out of the credit market, this has a direct affect on the number of loans that primary lenders (local banks, credit unions, etc.) can issue because the pool of cash that lenders use to go out and fund more loans in not being replenished. With fewer lenders giving out loans and requiring stricter underwriting processes, the number of individuals who actually qualify for a mortgage goes way down. You can see where this is all going.
How long will the current nervousness last, and how deep an impact will it make on the overall economy? That’s unclear. There’s plenty of predictions from pundits, but it’s really a wait and see game right now. The Federal Reserve is now getting involved, having just cut their discount rate to banks (the rate it charges banks for temporary loans.) See the story here. This has calmed the market some, but what’s going to happen next is still unknown.
Even amidst all that is going on, make no mistake there is still capital available to fund mortgages and LENDERS ARE ISSUING LOANS. The loans may be harder to find and can be more costly if your buyer’s credit is not so great, but they’re there.
Here in the Bay Area, several lenders are sending out the message that yes, they are still financing, so come on in. Here are just a few:
Cindy Solis
Rick Lewis
Rob McCarthy and Eric Nelson
Gina Hack
Why it’s important to work closely with clients to help guide their home buying decision
There’s been a lot of attention in the media this summer on defaults and foreclosures. RealtyTrac© just released a report that showed foreclosures for the first half of 2007 are up 55 percent from 2006 nationwide. For the full report, click here.
As REALTORS®, we know that a high rate of foreclosures and defaults can negatively impact home values and sales overall. We’re going through this right now. So I pose this question: How can we as REALTORS® help to minimize the risk of foreclosures and defaults for our clients before it’s too late? And, how much of an impact do we really have? Here are some thoughts.
One of the main advantages full-service brokerages offer over discount brokerages is that we guide our clients through the entire process of their home purchase. This can make a difference when it comes to helping them get into a home and finance it with a loan they can realistically afford today and in the future.
In order to do this, we need to really get to know our clients, and this begins with the very first meeting. Ask questions. Find out as much as you can about their budget and lifestyle, as well as what they’re looking for. Get to know their situation so that you understand what they can actually afford before your even start researching properties. Part of our job is to guide our homebuyers to the reality of what they can afford versus what they think they can afford.
Once they’ve found a home, you now have the opportunity to refer your client to a responsible lender who will work with them to find a loan that meets their needs and fits within their budget. This is an important step in the home buying process. As has been shown in the last few months, many buyers are looking for a lot of guidance when it comes to financing and will often take the advice of their agent. Without it, they can find themselves in trouble down the road.
At Intero, we’ve developed mortgage affiliations with some of the industry’s most respected lenders and brokers, including Bank of America and Diversified Capital. Use these companies as a resource. They are leaders in the industry and will work with your clients to find the best loans products for their situation. They will also be realistic with your clients about what they can handle today an in the future.
Once you’ve referred your clients to a lender, it’s still not time to hand them off completely. You should be a trusted advisor for them throughout the process of closing the loan. Though you’re not working with them directly on the financing, you can act as a secondary advisor they will want to turn to, should they have questions about closing costs, loan fees or anything else that arises.
Giving this level of service is what makes the difference between an average REALTOR® and a great REALTOR®. It may be a little more work, but in the long run, it will work to your benefit in terms establishing your reputation as a knowledgeable, client–centric real estate professional that is looking after the best interest of your buyers and sellers. The industry benefits from this kind of cooperation between realtors and lenders, each doing their part to ensure that buyers are viewing houses within their budget and getting into loans they can afford and won’t default on down the road.
Find the world’s finest properties and new homes at Intero
Despite the slowdown in residential real estate, we’re still getting a lot of interest from our clients for second homes and investment properties. So that we could best serve this expanding market, we recently launched Intero Resorts and New Homes & Developments, our premier department that will market and sell a collection of the hottest new resort and home developments around the world. All of these properties are featured on interoresorts.com and interonewhomes.com, where you can find photos, descriptions, pricing and more. You can also contact our award-winning client services department through these sites. Take a look at some of the places we’re featuring.
Real estate agents should do their homework before affiliating with a new brokerageLast week, I opened my blog with a list of things I feel REALTORS® should be looking for when deciding to affiliate with a brokerage.
This list comes from my experience working with many different brokerages during my tenure of more than two decades in real estate. I included numbers 6-10 last week. Here are 1-5.
(1) CULTURE
Culture is in my opinion the most important thing you should consider if you’re thinking about joining a new brokerage. It’s the biggest factor in determining whether or not you’ll be happy where you work. What is the personality of the brokerage like? Do the values of the company align with your own? Are they values of abundance, prosperity, unlimited thinking and motivational? Are the values committed to every aspect of yourself, personal and professional? Are the people in your office ones you can work with five days a week or more? Are they friendly and open? Do they share their knowledge? Does the receptionist smile and greet visitors? Remember, the company and its people are a reflection of you in the eyes of your clients.
(2) LEADERSHIP
What is the leadership like? Do have respect for their position or for who they are as people? How far removed from the sales process are they? What is their background? Were they agents themselves? (Some large brokerages have executive management who’ve never sold real estate in their lives.) Will you have direct contact with them? Is there an open door policy, or is it difficult to get their time and attention? Is the leadership looking for you to win as well, or are they just looking out for themselves?
(3) TRAINING, EDUCATION & SUPPORT
How will the brokerage help you succeed? Do they contact you regularly? What sort of infrastructure do they have for ensuring your success? Do they provide hands on training and guidance, or is everything taught through corporate manuals, videos and books? Agent support is one of the most important things a brokerage has to offer. Make sure you’re really getting the kind of support and guidance you need. Have someone hold you accountable to your plan. It will make all the difference in your success.
(4) SUCCESSFUL AGENTS
Are the agents top producers in their market? Remember, we are all influenced by the people with whom we work. If you’re a new agent, this is particularly important because during the first 2-3 years of your career, you’ll be training with these people and learning from them. Look for realtors who are ethical and whom you feel you can trust and respect. And, look for people who carry a sense of mission and purpose (service) in their activities and interaction with others.
(5) ENVIRONMENT
Remember, in the eyes of your clients, your office environment is a reflection of you. You’ll also be working there day in and out, so make sure it’s a place you’re happy to be in. Is the office environment one in which you feel comfortable? Is it one that you can proudly bring your clients to and do business in? Is it professional, well designed and maintained? Is it comfortable and open? Does the ambience exude positive or negative energy? Do agents treat you as team members? These are all very important things to consider because our environment and its features, like lighting, temperature, noise, privacy, color and even issues related to security all have a profound impact on our productivity, satisfaction and health.
Please, comment on these and let me know if you have anything to add. I’d also like to hear your story about a good or bad transition you’ve made between brokerages.
A weekly e-newsletter with fresh market data and candid insights from Intero CEO Gino Blefari
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