YOUR NAR: International marketing

Bring the world to your doorstep
Interested in a marketing tool that can help secure more distinctive listings, sell more of these properties, and promote yourself and your business to an international audience? A new online resource available in March can help you accomplish these goals.

The WorldProperties.com service lets you market resort, high-end residential, and other exceptional properties to a targeted, global audience. And by including this service in your listing presentation, you set yourself apart as a practitioner who offers the most exposure possible for listings.

The advertising service is available in the United States only to REALTORS® through www.WorldProperties.com, the International Consortium of Real Estate Associations’ Web site. WorldProperties.com maintains the largest aggregation of broker listings worldwide through links to national sites such as REALTOR.com. ICREA represents approximately 2 million brokers—all bound by a code of ethics similar to NAR’s.

During the trial period, which runs through February, WorldProperties.com will display, free of charge, a subset of properties from all MLS data feeds received by REALTOR.com. The properties must be listed at $750,000 or higher, and the MLSs must grant permission to release the feeds.

Beginning in March, the cost to place listings at the site will be $150 for a life-of-the-listing ad, significantly less than the cost of comparable exposure in print publications featuring distinctive properties. There’ll be no restrictions on price or property size of listings in paid ads. Listing salespeople and their sellers determine what’s distinctive.

In addition to its distinctive and featured property advertising service, WorldProperties.com provides buyers and sellers around the globe access to all NAR member listings at REALTOR.com. Foreign buyers and sellers can also locate an NAR member by using the site’s Find a Professional feature.

Listing data fields, but not property descriptions, at the WorldProperties.com service are translated into French, Italian, and Spanish. To register at WorldProperties.com, use your NRDS ID.

NAR serves growing resort market

Baby boomers are fueling demand for second-home properties. But when they go to buy that ocean-side condo, mountain retreat, or cozy cabin, they don’t just want to know about sandy beaches, nearby slopes, and welcoming front porches. They’re also interested in whether they can obtain insurance in a hurricane- or earthquake-prone area or whether their town restricts rental property.

Fortunately, there’s help for you and the growing number of resort specialists in the form of several new NAR resources: a resort home page that serves as a clearinghouse of information and tools, a searchable database of resort specialists, a Resort Real Estate Committee, a two-day course, and a Resort Symposium & Workshop. Pack your sunscreen. The next symposium takes place June 9–11 on Cape Cod, Mass. For more information, click REALTOR.org/resort.

Be safe, not sorry

Viruses, crashes, dissatisfied staff. Threats to your online information come from myriad sources—and often when least expected. Now there’s a solution. NAR’s Center for REALTOR® Technology, established two years ago to heighten the real estate industry’s awareness of technological developments, has created the REALTOR® Secure Certification program. The program certifies companies and MLSs that use best practices to protect electronic data that they receive, store, or send.

To become certified, perform a self-review, using the checklist available at REALTOR.org/secure , to determine whether your system meets security industry guidelines. If you find holes—a lack of security procedures or ports that allow unauthorized access—choose a CRT-approved evaluator to conduct an assessment. After you correct problems, apply for the certification.

Costs, which depend on the amount of work you need as well as the size of your company, include the third-party evaluation, the work involved to correct problems, and the NAR certification, which ranges from $100 to $1,000. For more information, visit REALTOR.org/secure or call 312/329-8646.

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For information on discounts available to NAR members through the REALTOR VIP® Alliance Program, visit REALTOR.org.