LeadingRE's Jana Coleman

Jana Coleman, Vice President of Business Solutions – North America for Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^© recently gave a presentation during a Sales Meeting for the agents and staff at John Daugherty, Realtors.  Coleman provided an update on the Network and talked about some of the new tools that were introduced at the LeadingRE Conference in March in Orlando, FL.  Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^© is a global network of 550 premier real estate firms with 4,600 offices and 140,000 sales associates in 30 countries around the world.

In her presentation, Coleman demonstrated some of the new marketing tools that are available to sales associates to enhance the marketing of their luxury property listings.  She also reviewed the ways in which the Network promotes its members and member listings globally through its web site, which was just recently re-launched, and through its member web sites.  She said, “The Network is focused on a global reach.”  This is evidenced in the opening of the London office of LeadingRE and through the continued promotion and assistance of cross-border referrals.

Coleman also emphasized two of the Network’s most valuable programs for the agents, management and staff:  Institute 2.0 and OUR WORLD™.  These programs were designed to provide a dynamic online learning environment to help the sales associates and the management team achieve the next level of success.  Institute 2.0 is LeadingRE’s online real estate university, while OUR WORLD is more like a social networking platform, which promotes online sharing and discussions in a non-competing setting.

Lastly Coleman hinted at a few other new things that will soon be introduced from LeadingRE.

Coleman’s visit was of particular interest and importance to me and my Global Relocation and Referral Services Department.  As much as we are concerned with our Houston Relocation business, our department is also responsible for our broker-to-broker referrals.  Our membership in LeadingRE assures that we are able to place our agents referrals with like brokers in other markets throughout the country and globally.  Membership in the Network is made up of the “best of the best,” which is an important distinction given the large number of referrals that we manage on a regular basis.

John Daugherty, Realtors is a proud member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World^©, and a member of its luxury real estate arm, Luxury Portfolio International.

Trevor Parkes (BABC-Houston President), Becci Himes (BABC-Houston Executive Director) and Michelle Sandlin

Over the past couple of years, I have written a lot about my membership and involvement in the British-American Business Council Houston.  This is an awesome group and I am proud to say that I was recently elected to the Board of Directors to serve a three-year term.  My first official Board Meeting was yesterday, and I am very excited to be able to contribute to the Board’s initiatives and help the organization in achieving its business and membership goals.  My primary focus will be on communications, social media, blogging and event photography.

Earlier this year, I was approached and encouraged by one of the Board Members to throw my hat into the ring for consideration as a potential new Board Member.  (Thank you Lauren!)  I was so proud to receive such an outpouring of support from my fellow BABC Houston members, as well  as Board of Directors for my nomination.  I was also honored to receive the same encouragement and support from BABC-Houston Executive Director Becci Himes, who is the heart and soul of the organization.  Upon my election to the Board, Becci said, “I am looking forward to working with Michelle as new director. I know she will bring a lot of enthusiasm to the Board. I am particularly excited to have someone so experienced in social media to help build our marketing platform.”

I look forward to jumping in with both feet as a new Board Member, and send out my thanks again to the Board and members for their support!

If you or your company is interested in joining the BABC, please visit:  British-American Business Council

The mission of BABC Houston is to build UK/US business, cultural and educational relationships. The BABC Houston is the premier organization for British American business in Texas and provides networking opportunities, B2B introductions, and marketing and promotional opportunities for its members.

Have you been following all of the great press that Houston has been receiving these days?  It is all over the place. In case you may have missed some of the news, I thought it would be a great way to kick off my Houston Relocation Blog this year by highlighting some of these reports and articles.

Let’s start with the Houston economic forecast for 2012.  Last month Mike Inselmann of MetroStudy gave his annual presentation at John Daugherty, Realtors.  His forecast was very positive, reinforcing the notion that it’s a great time to be in Houston, Texas.  He pointed out that Houston was the last city into the recession, and the first city out of the recession.  He said that this has largely to do with the Houston housing market.

As for the year ahead, Inselmann said, ”Expect to see more articles about the price of houses going up and not down, which will spur more interest in people wanting to purchase homes.”   He added, “Houston is the top job market in the United States…and jobs translate into housing and population growth.”

I also attended the Annual Business Meeting of the Greater Houston Partnership a few weeks ago.  This was an extremely positive meeting that included the induction of new Chairman, Anthony R. Chase.  And with the winds of change came a bold statement by Chase.  He announced that one of his goals is to make Houston the natural gas capital of the world.  Houston is already the Energy Capital of the world, so let’s add natural gas leader to the mix.

Then there are the many headlines about Houston that have been featured in local and national publications so far this year.  I would list them all here for you, but truly there are just too many already this year.  To at least give you a taste, here are a few of my favorites from the past few weeks, as well as links to those articles for your reading pleasure.

Let’s start with today…The Houston Business Journal reports:  Houston posts largest 10-year job gain in U.S.

Here are other headlines and articles that have appeared over the past few weeks:

Houston gained most U.S. jobs since recession

Houston added most U.S. private-sector jobs in 2011

Houston driving Texas’ growth, economist says

Local jobless rate dips to 7.3 percent

Strong year for jobs in Houston

Have I mentioned that it is a great time to be in Houston, Texas?

Be sure to follow Houston Relocation Guru and Social Media Expert Michelle Sandlin on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Through my membership in the British American Business Council (BABC), I always manage to stay well connected within the British business community in Houston.  I was recently introduced to Andrew Millar, who is the British Consul General, shortly after his relocation to Houston.  He was kind enough to agree to let me interview him about his relocation adventures and early impressions of Houston so that I could share it with the readers of my blog. 

You might be wondering to yourself, “What exactly does a British Consul General do?”  This was my first question to Mr. Millar, who explained:  “Within every country we are represented and have an Embassy.  There are 9 Consul Generals in the U.S., as well as the Embassy in Washington. I cover: Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.”  He explained that there are 3 key areas to his role:

1. Consular – looking after the interests of British subjects in the states that he covers.

2. Commercial – promoting the UK as an investment destination and British exports to this region.

3.  Political – keeping in close contact with the political and government sectors in the region.

Now that I had a better understanding of he role, I asked Mr.Millar to share his first impressions of Houston with me.  His reaction wasn’t that surprising, as he addressed the size and weather immediately.  He said, “Good heavens, it’s so big!  It’s a huge city physically.  The first thing that hits you is the heat, and the second thing is the sheer physical size of Houston.”  As to the general feel and culture of Houston, he added, “It is open and friendly.  I have yet to experience a city where I have actually felt so welcomed everywhere I have gone.”  I told him that he wasn’t alone in this sentiment, as this is probably the most common impression that people seem to have about Houston.  It is an extremely friendly city, and we enjoy welcoming newcomers to Houston.

But, no relocation is without its challenges.  I asked Mr. Millar to tell me about the challenges faced by him and his family upon their move to Houston.  He said, “When you are uprooting a family, particularly with small children and dislocating them from their friends and networks, you know that this is a huge impact on their lives.  The way that you manage that is to make sure that they are in as welcoming an environment as possible.  Texas is a great place to do that. You also have to remember that the partner moving with you has to keep everything together.  It’s often much easier for the employee, while your partner has to parachute into all the strangeness that has to be dealt with as a family.”  This is a very important point, and often key to the success (or failure) of a family’s relocation.

There are always creature comforts from back home that people miss upon relocating to a new city.  I asked Mr. Millar to tell me what he misses most.  He said, “It would be the map of the London underground.  I am not used to driving everywhere, which you have to do here. London is a very dense and old city but with an amazingly good public transport infrastructure.”  Agreeably, Houston is not as pedestrian friendly, and you really do have to drive here!

I am always curious about the impact that social media has on the ability of people to stay connected with friends and family back home. For Mr. Millar, he said, “The beauty of social media is that it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, you can stay as connected with your group as you need to be.  Skype comes in very useful and helps with the visual stimulus for small children who get easily bored on the telephone.  It makes a difference when you are used to family being close by, and suddenly they aren’t.  You can use these tools to stay connected and in constant contact.”

Finally, I asked Mr. Millar what advice he would offer to other Expats moving to Houston? He said, “Get your banking sorted out before you come, particularly if you need to shift money to buy cars and other large purchases.  There are a lot of things that you need to think about and manage before you come over, so doing the research is really important: where to live; what car to buy; which schools to send your children to.  The Internet is a great way to do this.”

I am always interested in hearing from people who have relocated to Houston.  If you would like to share your relocation story or experiences with me, please contact me.

Hot off the press from the HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) Newsroom:  Houston-area home sales rise for a fourth straight month!  As I have been reporting all year, things are going very well in Houston.  The latest MLS statistics for September 2011 state that sales of single-family homes in the Houston area have increased nearly 17 percent as compared to last year this time.  And, this represents the fourth consecutive month of increased sales volume.  Our months of inventory also fell to the lowest level since May 2010.  At the same time, pending sales rose, while active listings declined.  According to the report, “All are considered signs of a healthy and balanced housing market.”

The average price of a single-family home in the Houston area for September 2011 was $213,334, which is the highest level ever for a September in Houston.  The median price was up 1.6 percent to $157,500, which is also a September high for Houston.

The sale of all property types in Houston were up 15.9 percent from last September, and there were 5,469 total property sales.  As for the total dollar volume in September, that figure was also up 16 percent at $1.1 billion.  Click here to read the September MLS Press Release

Being extremely knowledgeable about the state of our current Houston real estate market is an important facet to our relocation business.  As we work with transferees and relocation companies to market and sell properties, a key factor is always pricing a property correctly to sell within a very short time frame.  This is not the time to price a property at a high price and ask for price reduction after price reduction.  We are expected to evaluate a property, devise an aggressive marketing strategy, and price it to sell at the onset.  This is also an important element to the relocation training that I provide to our agents.  Our next relocation training and certification class is tomorrow on Worldwide ERC’s BMA (Broker Market Analysis).  I have found this to be one of the single most important and beneficial relocation training classes that I teach.  (Feel free to reach out to me for more information about our Relocation Training and Certification Program).

We have been very fortunate in Houston to have a much more stable real estate market as compared to other parts of the country.  From a relocation standpoint, we have been equally as fortunate as mobility to the Houston area continues at a rapid pace.  Transferees are often surprised by real estate prices in Houston, and the fact that they can often get quite a bit of home for their money.

We certainly have an active real estate market in Houston, and it’s great to be able to report that our home sales are consistently on the rise.  As a company, John Daugherty, Realtors has been exceeding our sales goals nearly every month so far this year.  Our relocation business has also enjoyed a huge increase this year as compared to 2010, and I expect it to continue to rise through the end of the year and deep into 2012.

It’s hard to believe that we are already in the fourth quarter of the year, but thankfully this has been a very fast a furious year, and Houston is still the place to be!