Economists' Commentary: Research's Member Spotlight
July 30, 2009
By Meredith Dunn, Research Communications Representative
Each month, NAR Research will be spotlighting a member who has gone above and beyond in their use of Research data, surveys, and other products. These members are featured for their dedication to market data and in their efforts to get the best and most timely housing information to their customers and to fellow Realtors®. If you think you should be in the spotlight, or know a member that you feel should be spotlighted, please send an e-mail to us at data@realtors.org.
Maria Wells has been a Realtor® for 24 years. In that time, she’s earned her ARB, CRB and SRES designations, become a Broker/Owner of the Lifestyle Realty Group in Stuart, Florida, been the president of her association, a District Vice III President for the Florida Association of Realtors®, and has served on the Research Committee for the past 3 years. As you can imagine, she’s a very busy woman. NAR Research managed to catch up with her this month to ask her how she makes use of the information from www.realtors.org/research.
“Using the information from NAR on up to date statistics, I can provide my clients with information on the local, state and national level,” Maria says. “In presentations I can compare what is going on from a big picture perspective all the way down to the local market and how it affects them individually. When you know the facts, that’s a powerful listing tool. The charts, graphs and power point materials are impressive and set me apart when using this information when working with clients.”
Maria first discovered the Research website in 2005, when she was president of her association. Since then, she’s found the information Research presents more and more useful. It’s been years since she wasn’t able to attend the Research updates on Residential Real Estate at both the Mid Winter Meetings and Annual Convention. These presentations “are a must see as information is provided with up to the minute statistics and data that I can take back to Florida and share with my associates, contemporaries and clients,” she says. However, even if you miss the presentations, Maria advises, not to worry: “all I have to do is download the PowerPoint that was used in the program when I return from the educational session... I have put on seminars to local Realtor® associations, title companies and real estate attorney’s with [these] PowerPoint presentations. Bringing this information to these groups has allowed those attendees to better understand our market with accurate facts.”
In addition to the presentations, Maria makes use of the Local Market Reports and the information in Research’s E-newsletters, Research Update and Real Estate Insights. “The list goes on and on,” she says. “There is so much information from the Research section of the Realtors.org website, that I discover new useful information every time I’m on it.”
However, that’s not to say that she thinks Research is perfect, or that we provide everything she needs. She has a recommendation for Research, which is to “include more Metropolitan Statistics in the Local Market Reports. For instance, I live on the East Coast of Florida; the closest areas that are reported are Orlando and Miami. Both are very different markets from where I practice. If Palm Beach was included, that would be more helpful as that market would relate more to my area.” This is something that Research is looking into and hopes to be able to create in the near future.
Finally, if she had to give one recommendation for her fellow Realtors® about Research, it would be to join the Research Facebook group. “Join Facebook and get the constant feed of “snippets” to keep you up to date with current information,” she suggests. “The link that NAR provides leads you directly to the information, without having to log in.”
This is one in a series of commentaries by the Research staff of the National Association of REALTORS®. Read more commentaries >
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