By Tom Branch, on September 14th, 2010 
What we started over a month ago became a reality this afternoon. We recently purchased a SMART Car for use in our business. The car is unique and where ever you go someone wants to stop and talk to you.
One of our initial ideas was to wrap it as part of our local marketing efforts. It seemed like a natural way to combine the uniqueness of the car with some marketing for the team.
After interviewing a number of companies who could wrap the SMART Car, we selected SkinzWraps. Located in Dallas, SkinzWraps has a nice product and lots of experience with SMART Cars.
Our first meeting with their design staff resulted in a couple of draft ideas. We really pushed them to think out of the box and to come up with something as unique as the car itself.
In the end, they came up with a design that met those requirements. The SMART Car is anything but fast. In fact it scored number one on fuel economy for traditional gasoline engines and was dead last for the quarter mile. Skinzwraps has experience wrapping NASCAR race cars so they came up with the idea to wrap the SMART Car as a RE/MAX sponsored race car.
We sold a few advertising spaces to some of our ancillary service venders to offset the costs. You’ll see their advertisements on the front air-dam and front fenders.
We’ll have to see how the public reception goes over the next few weeks.
By Tom Branch, on September 8th, 2010 
I’ve been reading all the blogs lately talking about what’s wrong with the profession.
People want to raise the bar for entry into the profession because they believe that higher education and training is answer to the public perception problem.
I have advocated that the answer lies in holding the brokers responsible for the activities of his/her agents and that we need to hold each other to a higher standard of practice. While both of these would help curb the unethical practices that cause much of our problem, it would only do so retroactively.
What we really need is a test for a person’s ethical compass. If only there was a way to determine what people would do in a number of given situations prior to licensing we could effectively weed out the undesirable people long before they could cause problems for the rest of us.
Wouldn’t this be grand?
It sounds a bit like the “Precogs” in Stephen Spielberg’s “Minority Report.” The “precogs” could “see” a murder before it happened and the police were able to arrest the person for a crime that would have happened in the future. As a result there had not been a murder in Washington DC for a number of years.
While Pre-Crime appears to have created a Utopia of sorts, we find out just how flawed it really is when the “precogs” see the character played by Tom Cruise commit a murder. In the end he does not commit the murder and the flawed system is terminated, all those convicted of pre-crimes are released, and the “precogs” live out their lives on a small island isolated from people.
Sadly we can’t test for a person’s ethical compass. What we can do as a group is to watch for people who act unethically and then file complaints with the appropriate association or state licensing board. Until we start to really self regulate our collective behavior, we’re not going to solve the public perception issue.
PS – Updated moral to ethical.
By Tom Branch, on September 7th, 2010 
Leslie Ebersole’s well-written blog titled, “If This Was Easy, Our Wives Could Do It” took a look at the industry as it is today.
She states, “The low education requirements plus the preponderance of licensees who make a little money in the business creates a self-perpetuating cycle of public mistrust and even contempt. We can change it…but we need to think about it and talk about it, openly and honestly, in ways that help us to change.”
You have to go back to the 1960’s to really understand how the part-time housewife came to be the stereotype for real estate agents. In the late 1960’s we saw a major shift in the make-up of residential agents. Many men shifted into commercial real estate leaving residential real estate to women. The low entry level combined with a small sphere of influence could produce a little extra income for the family. It was never supposed to be a full-time job nor the sole source of income for the family.
I had the opportunity to meet with Ebby Halliday (a regional icon in the industry) a while ago and she tells the story about getting her license. You could send in $1 and get a salesperson license or send in $3 and get a broker license. That was the extent of the requirements at the time.
We’ve seen lots of changes over those 50-plus years and there are plenty of full-time professional agents-both men and women–who are the primary wage earners. We have also seen many changes in the licensing requirements.
One of major issues is each state decides on the licensing for agents within their state. For example, Texas requires 210 hours of education (with an additional 60 hours in year one), a passing score on the state / national examinations, and fingerprinting for an FBI background check. I read one Maryland blog talking about 60 hours of education in that state.
You have to look no further than the Mortgage Loan Originators to see what happens when the Federal Government gets involved. While I don’t see it in the immediate future, it could very well happen down the line. It will level the requirements for entry into the field and will add to the cost of getting a license but I highly doubt it will solve the image problem.
I’ll argue that it’s not the low educational requirements or the fact that the average agent makes less than minimum wage that causes our issues. The public is not aware of it–in fact, most of them thnk we’re all making loads of money selling real estate.
You see, the public tends to loath commission-based professions. The American system produces great employees but not entrepreneurs. We’re taught to go to school, get a good education, find a good job, stay at it for 20 years, and collect a small pension.
We’re an anomaly–people who will lay it all on the line for the chance to earn a living that’s not tied to a corporate salary. It’s the risk-reward principle–the more risk involved, the greater the reward and conversely, the greater the loss if you fail.
The real problem are the unethical agents and brokers who create all the bad publicity for the profession.
One of the defining marks of a profession is that it has established rules for ethical behavior and takes care of its own problems. What we need to do is to take on the bad players through the appropriate channels be that the real estate associations or the state licensing authorities.
We need to do it ourselves before someone else comes along and tries to do it for us. I assure you, we will not like the latter.
PS – I’m not bashing part-timers. I think there are some great part-time agents and there are some really poor full-time agents.
By Tom Branch, on September 6th, 2010 
It appears that Sharon Angle’s campaign is the target of a Copyright Infringement Suit according to Fox News (Click here for the original story).
Fox is reporting that the campaign allegedly reprinted two stories from the Las Vegas Review Journal. What’s really interesting is that the Review Journal sold their rights to Righthaven, who actually filed the suit. Fox News reports that Righthaven scours the Internet looking for copies of Review Journal stories. When they find someone with deep pockets, they purchase the copyrights and file suit.
If you’ve read my other blogs on Copyright Infringement you know I’m dead set against the theft of intellectual property. What I find really interesting about Righthaven is that they have turned this into a business. Find a potential violation, buy the rights, and file a suit.
This tactic reminds me of the now-famous Getty Images letter program. Getty hired a third-party to scan the Internet looking for copies of their images. Once found, they would send the site owner a letter demanding proof of licensing or a fee between $1000 and $1500 per image as a settlement in lieu of a lawsuit.
One of their major issues was that the vast majority of the images they sell have not been registered with the Federal Copyright Office. The lack of registration severely limits what they are entitled to collect. That said, if the material is registered, statuatory damages can be huge.
There are a couple of lessons in this for bloggers.
First, never “reblog” articles. You’re better off rewriting the story and referencing it rather than “reblogging” it (note this does not apply to AR’s reblog button). Second, always use your own photos or purchase them from a reliable source.
By Tom Branch, on September 5th, 2010 
Gina was out of town visiting College Station for the Texas A&M game and I took the evening off.
I spent some time with my oldest son and my granddaughter.
We took in a little dinner at Palio’s, a highly-rated local pizza establishment in Frisco. After dinner we went out, picked up some worms, and went out to Lake Lewisville and did a little fishing.
If you’ve ever taken a little boy fishing, you know they just can’t sit still. Little girls must be wired differently because she simply sat there and watched her fishing pole. It was a level of concentration that I never expected from a 5 year old.
The evening wore on and while we never caught anything, everybody had a good time. It’s hard to believe she’s five and starting school already. I have to remember to slow down more often and enjoy her while she’s still a child.
By Tom Branch, on September 2nd, 2010 
I had planned on releasing another blog in my Short Sales 101 series, but I snapped this photo this evening and it reminded me of something.
So far it’s been one of those weeks-nothing has gone right.
On Monday, we drove 37 miles to look at a listing that will be coming on the market only to arrive on location and discover the tenants had the doors bolted from the inside and had gone out through the garage. Since all I had was a front door key I could not access the property. I’ll run out there again tomorrow and see if I can finish up the on-site work and get it listed.
Today, I took the SMART car in to Dallas to have the wrap installed. When I arrived, the installation manager remarked that it was the second SMART car in for a RE/MAX installation and mine was not on the schedule. When I walked in the shop, I found my wrap being installed on someone else’s car. The poor guy working the installation was quit irritated as he removed the wrap from the car. They were happy I got there a little early before they finished the job! Now I’ll have to wait another week before they’ll have the skins ready to be installed again.
This evening, we ran out to Irving to do a listing at 5:30 PM. While we were there the sky opened up and we had quite a storm. We need the rain, but the timing was bad, leaving us damp in both body and mind.
We were exhausted, both mentally and physically, as we drove from Irving to Plano. We decided to stop and have dinner along the way at II Brothers, a neat local pub and restaurant. As we pulled in the parking lot, the sun poked through the clouds and a double rainbow formed to the east.
The sight of it lifted my spirits and reminded me to take each day as a gift because we never know if there will be another. I learned that lesson the hard way as I watched my spouse, best friend, and business partner survive cancer a few years ago.
However, the daily grind can dull the senses until something comes along to remind you of the lesson. This evening’s double rainbow was my reminder.
I’ll get back to Short Sales 101 tomorrow…
By Tom Branch, on August 24th, 2010 
We often talk about providing a level of service that creates “Raving Fans”, people who really appreciate that service and go out of their way to tell others. We call it, “Rock Star Status.”
It’s a goal that we strive for in every transaction.
A Letter from A Recent Client
To Whom It May Concern:
I am sending this letter with the hope that you will post it on your web site, as I believe others need to know about your outstanding team at RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs. I hope you will excuse me for being so lengthy. I know there are many people who may have walked in my shoes, or struggling today to make ends meet. I hope they will find my story beneficial.
With our nation’s financial debt and in this economic downfall, we sometimes need to take a look at where we are and what we ourselves with God’s help can do about our present personal financial situation.
I moved to Texas in 2008. My husband and I had purchased a beautiful home and planned to be there the rest of our lives, but sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you need to know what to do next.
Deep in debt I was working two jobs, but my income was not enough to support my outgo and I was using up all of my assets. I was faced with something that no one wants to have to do. I took a hard look at my numbers and realized I had two options. Option one, look for a “Government bail out” and wait……….and wait………..or option two, sell my dream home. I made the choice to sell my home.
I ordered a course by Dave Ramsey called Financial Peace University. I highly recommend this course to all of you. I did everything he instructed me to do. My goal was to make my home look like a model home, price it to move and not sit on the market along with so many other homes. It needed the “WOW “factor.
My next step was to interview real estate agents. I interviewed six real estate agents and hands down I chose the best team out there, The Branch Team with RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs. Tom and Gina Branch were experienced, knowledgeable and motivated. After all they would be in charge of my largest asset and I needed a professional not my relative who is an agent or someone new in the business who had just gotten their license. Let me say it again. I needed a professional to handle my greatest asset. I was serious. I knew immediately we were on the same page. They knew exactly what I needed.
We filled out the paper work, and scheduled a photo shoot for the MLS listing. Within the first week I had two offers on my home, and within a few weeks, I handed over the keys to the new owners. I know selling a home this quickly in this economy is rare but The Branch Team can make it happen. They were the combination that brought about this whole process smooth and pain free.
For some of us it’s hard to make the decision to sell your home, even when you are faced inevitably with the possibility of losing it down the road, just because” life happens.” I personally know how hard it is. Don’t wait until you are headed to foreclosure. Once you have made the choice to sell your home, make your next choice, “The Branch Team.” They make it happen!!!
I am so grateful to Tom and Gina Branch and I am looking forward to doing business with them when I purchase my next home.
Sincerely,
Margorie T. – Wylie, Texas
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