Archive for August, 2009
Windermere President Steve Rodgers Named Corporate Citizen Of The Year
August 23rd, 2009 Categories: Brookside Escondido, Del Sur, Escondido, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Real Estate News, San Diego, Santa Fe Valley
Steve Rodgers, President of Windermere Exclusive Properties, was awarded the ABLE Corporate Citizen of the Year Award at this year’s second annual A.B.L.E Awards Sunday, June 28th.
The Achievements in Business Leadership Excellence (ABLE) Awards were designed to recognize some of North County’s most active community members and businesses. The event was a celebration of doing business successfully, doing business responsibly, and doing business in the spirit of San Diego North.
“This award belongs to the entire Windermere Team. As real estate agents it’s our philosophy and our pleasure to give back to the communities that we work in and live in,” said Rodgers. “We will be persistent in promoting environmental efficiency and will continue to do our part to keep San Diego great.”
The spirit of the Corporate Citizen of the Year Award is to recognize those individuals who have demonstrated a philosophy of giving and corporate social responsibility to make a significant impact on the San Diego North region’s health and well being.
This year’s award recognizes Steve Rodgers as being a leader in his field, leading the way ethically and with his community’s best interest always in mind. His Community Outreach Programs have been of great help to his fellow citizens and always include the majority of his fellow Windermere associates.
Most recently the Windermere Exclusive Properties team hosted their 26th annual Community Service Day. The day consisted of dual bloods drives and a food drive. At the end of the day the event had collected 80 pints of blood from as well as 2 bags of red blood cells. In addition, over a ton of food was collected to provide a number of families with an emergency food box supplement for the month.
“The recognition of the general public shows agents that they are in fact helping the community grow,” said Steve Rodgers, President of Windermere Exclusive Properties, “which is a key component to creating a positive influence in this area.”
In past years Rodgers has been involved in doing commercials for the blood bank and has been involved in a number of Southern California Beach Clean-Ups and Cancer walks. He has also made contributions to the Children’s Hospital and Jenna Druck Foundation and gotten his hands dirty in a number of environmentally friendly green community events. Steve Rodger’s dedication to his craft and community combined to make him the ideal choice for the ABLE Corporate Citizen of the Year Award.
| Currently No Comments »
The Social Media Revolution
August 22nd, 2009 Categories: Find Your Home, Market Trends, Marketing, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Real Estate News, San Diego, Santa Fe Valley, Technology
Watch this video on the Social Media Revolution and it will surprise you. Next be confident that your team at HotOnSanDiego is employing these techniques to buy and sell your homes!
- The Social Media Revolution
Stats from Video (sources listed below by corresponding #)
- By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers….96% of them have joined a social network
- Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
- 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
- Years to Reach 50 millions Users: Radio (38 Years), TV (13 Years), Internet (4 Years), iPod (3 Years)…Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months…iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months.
- If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
- Yet, some sources say China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services (Facebook’s ban in China plays into this)
- comScore indicates that Russia has the most engage social media audience with visitors spending 6.6 hours and viewing 1,307 pages per visitor per month – Vkontakte.ru is the #1 social network
- 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction
- 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
- % of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees….80%
- The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
- Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
- 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
- Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé…In 2009 Boston College stopped distributing e-mail addresses to incoming freshmen
- What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
- The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
- Wikipedia has over 13 million articles…some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
- There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
- 54% = Number of bloggers who post content or tweet daily
- Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
- If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
- Facebook USERS translated the site from English to Spanish via a Wiki in less than 4 weeks and cost Facebook $0
- 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
- 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
- People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
- 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
- Only 14% trust advertisements
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
- 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
- Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
- 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
- According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are for the Kindle when available
- 24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
- In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
- More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
- Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
- Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser
| Currently No Comments »
San Diego Real Estate: Market Bottom Clarity and Knowing When to Buy
August 22nd, 2009 Categories: Escondido, Market Trends, Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Real Estate News, San Diego, Santa Fe Valley
In today’s economy the Real Estate Market can be confusing, both for buyers and sellers. It can seem like no two market trend reports are alike and there are certainly enough available figures to paint a confusing picture of where the current market lies financially. Discussing a buying time frame and strategy with a professional real estate agent can help you make sense of the market and add some clarity.
Recent real estate figures have given buyers and sellers a positive outlook for the future of both the San Diego Market as well as the National Market.
To the delight of home sellers properties are beginning to sell at a much faster rate. California had an estimated home sales increase of 20% when comparing June ‘09 to June ’08. On a local level the San Diego Real Estate Market has posted increasing home prices for the fourth consecutive month and the median price of a house has increased by nearly $15,000 just in the last month. Bank-owned properties are selling with dozens of offers and home prices in San Diego are beginning to rise again. Additionally, the city’s available inventory has begun to shrink in a majority of lower price-range communities. Though the public should remain cautious of believing that all signs currently point to an absolute “bottom”, the next few months may possibly be the ideal time to buy.
The foreclosure pipeline, the number of properties making their way through the lengthy foreclosure process, has a fairly significant number of properties expected to hit the market. Mortgage Modifications, while helpful to many, didn’t get everyone through some very difficult economic times. In fact, it is estimated that anywhere from 25%-60% of the homeowners that modified their loans only postponed foreclosure and will re-enter the foreclosure process very soon if they haven’t already. Those properties may represent the home you have always envisioned owning.
All figures are pointing to a market that is full of opportunity and well on its way to recovery. Prices are among the lowest they have been in three years and mortgage interest rates are also incredibly favorable, hovering between five and six percent. The market’s recovery may very well have begun. As soon as the community’s perception of recovery changes, the available inventory will sell much quicker and everyone who waited will wish they hadn’t.
Signs point to a market that will remain reasonably stable for the next few months. Prices will not rise at the extreme rate at which they fell; patience is valuable in that respect. Yet, I don’t expect any major increases or decreases, so if you are planning on buying soon, start your search now.
“The market bottom” won’t last forever. The figures are beginning to line up and many signs are pointing to now as the right time to achieve the American Dream of Homeownership.
| Currently No Comments »
Homeowners Insurance Just Got Easier By Premier Insurance Services
August 13th, 2009 Categories: Real Estate News
Buying a home can take a lot of time and energy – obtaining homeowners insurance should not. Now when you purchase a home with Windermere Exclusive Properties, you can get homeowners insurance through Premier Insurance Services, Inc. It’s easy and simple, convenient, and affordable. We will help ensure you have the insurance that’s required by lenders to close on your loan. 
Simple, convenient, affordable insurance – Save up to 25%.
Premier Insurance Services Inc. recognizes multiple policy discounts. Depending on your home, situation and property type, you may be eligible for a variety of discounts. Discounts up to 25% will be applied to homeowners and automobile policy premiums when you package both policies with Premier Insurance Services, Inc.
Ask to speak to an auto specialist and save.
In just one call, a licensed insurance representative from Premier Insurance Services will discuss your needs and let you know the coverage options available. It’s insurance made quick and easy – just another way Windermere, through a special relationship, offers to help customers like you.
Get a free quote today.
You enjoy added convenience by obtaining homeowners insurance through Premier Insurance Services. For a free homeowners quote, call us at 888.507-8683, Monday through Friday, or e-mail us at Service@JBLPremier.com. When you contact us, please provide our friendly agent with your escrow number, or just your name!
You can also go online 24/7 and get a free quote easily and in minutes. Your information will be rated through over 30 different companies offering great rates and quality service. Visit www.jblpremier.com anytime. Representatives are available until 9pm!
| Currently No Comments »
