Go Global but Stay Local

No matter where you live, you can help your members attract the growing international buyer audience. Skeptical? Just hear me out.

At a time when domestic buyers are hesitant, foreign buyers are eager. Last year, roughly $66 billion of U.S. real estate was sold to immigrants and buyers residing primarily outside the United States. NAR is working to ensure that your members are aware of these opportunities and equipped to successfully reach out to global and multicultural buyer groups in their areas.

AE-on-the-Street Report from 2011 AEI

If you attended the AE Institute in Dallas earlier this year, you learned plenty about today’s challenges in the industry, along with some solutions from AEs and others. I took the opportunity to survey AEs I encountered in the halls, on the elevator, and seated next to me at lunch with one vital question:

What’s your main challenge today and what are you doing about it?

Here’s what they had to say:

CEOs are Not Always CIOs

As technology plays an ever-increasing role in our lives and in businesses, CEOs are expected to navigate the virtual business world as expertly as they navigate the physical one. But make no mistake: The CEO should not be the CIO (chief information officer).

The extent to which an executive is involved with the technology side of a business varies depending on the industry, but one fact remains true across all industries: The CEO is there to run the business, not the Twitter account.

24 of the best advertising and marketing pieces from REALTOR® associations nationwide

It’s not easy to attract the attention of busy REALTORS®. Associations must flex every creative muscle to produce promotional and advertising materials that will engage and inform.

REALTOR® AE asked associations to submit their best advertisements, flyers, event brochures, and other marketing materials to our 2011 competition. The result was more than 65 terrific pieces. Judges chose three outstanding examples and 21 favorites.

Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®

Data Security & Privacy

Does your state have data security laws that your association must follow? Does your state regulate what businesses must do in the event of a security breach? Does your state have laws requiring you to properly dispose of personal information or implement a written data security program? It very well could.

Virtual AEs, Actual Success

The days when REALTORS® sat behind desks waiting for potential clients to drop in are long gone. Today, REALTORS® work from home, from their cars, from Starbucks . . . anywhere. Now, many AEs are following in their members’ footsteps.

RAE spoke with several virtual and semi-virtual AEs about the benefits and challenges of office-less association management.

Where virtual works