Home buyers face many questions throughout the home buying process. There are many steps to purchasing a home, one of which, is having a home inspection performed on the home you’re interested in purchasing. Sometimes a home inspection may seem like an additional expense, but in many cases, having a home inspection performed may be in your best interest. In the long run, a home inspection may be a beneficial investment. It can provide insight into areas of the home that you may not be able to see yourself. Discussing the results of your home inspection, with a licensed home inspector, will give you full disclosure of many aspects of your home, including the condition of the home’s structure, foundation, electrical system, heating/cooling, roof, and more! Watch this video to hear Dale Sandberg’s advice on obtaining a home inspection. Dale Sandberg is a Licensed Real Estate Salesperson with ERA Team VP Real Estate. Dale serves the Chautauqua County real estate market specializing in the areas of Chautauqua, Bemus Point, Jamestown, Lakewood and all surrounding areas of Chautauqua Lake. You may contact Dale at his office: (716) 789-2600.
Tag: real estate
Ellicottville Real Estate Firm Focused on Growth Adds 2 New Associates
[ELLICOTTVILLE, NY] (12/27/2011) — ERA Team VP Real Estate recently announced the addition of Christy Wiser and Wendy O’Neil to its team of real estate sales professionals serving consumers in the Ellicottville area and Southern Tier of Western New York.
Christy Wiser has been an assistant to Tina Dillon (Licensed Salesperson with ERA Team VP and a top producer in Ellicottville) for over 3 years, which gives her a strong foundation to begin building her own business in real estate. Now that Christy is a fully licensed Real Estate Salesperson with ERA Team VP she will continue to work as a team with Tina Dillon.
Wendy O’Neil joins ERA Team VP with over 20 years of experience in residential, recreational and commercial real estate experience in the Ellicottville, Salamanca and Cattaraugus County areas. She has consistently proven to be a top Realtor in the Ellicottville Area Real Estate market.
“In today’s market, growth is the only option, and attracting top talent is a surefire way to achieve that goal,” said Bill Soffel, Broker/Owner of ERA Team VP Real Estate. “Unwavering commitment to clients has been critical to the success of both Christy and Wendy, and ERA Team VP’s culture of collaboration, innovation and knowledge sharing combined with our reputation for superior service will not only enhance their careers, it will enhance the experience of their clients as well,” said Soffel. “We are thrilled to have professionals of Christy and Wendy’s caliber join our firm.”
As part of ERA Team VP Real Estate, both Christy Wiser and Wendy O’Neil will be able to offer homebuyers and sellers a wide variety of innovative and market-relevant products and services, such as the ERA® Sellers Security® Plan and the ERA® Gold Star Property program, as well as robust online marketing programs, extensive listings distribution partners, and related services including mortgage, title and home warranty.
For more information about ERA Team VP Real Estate and the real estate market in the Southern Tier of Western New York visit www.myteamvp.com or call one of the main office locations: (716) 699-4800 Ellicottville; (716) 789-2600 Chautauqua; (585) 968-2113 Cuba.
Downtown Jamestown Holiday Parade
ERA Team VP Real Estate & Vacation Rentals participated in the downtown Jamestown Holiday Parade on Friday December 2nd, dressed as “Homes for the Holidays”. Hosted by the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation and sponsored by the Resource Center, it was a great way to kick off the holiday season with local businesses and support our local community!
Lots of local businesses and organizations participated in the parade and it was great to see all the wonderful floats and costumes everyone had designed. The theme of this year’s parade was “I’ll Be Home for Christmas – Parade of the Wooden Soldiers”. Ashley Anderson, special events coordinator for the DJDC said, “With 2011 being the 10 year anniversary for 9/11, DJDC thought it would be a great time to honor all Military persons past and present.”
ERA Team VP was proud to take part in this fun event! The “Team” danced through the parade dressed as houses and presents, followed by the ERA moving truck – to remind everyone “If you buy or sell with ERA Team VP, you can use our truck for free!”
ERA Team VP Agent Awards Luncheon
On Tuesday, March 8th, ERA Team VP Real Estate hosted an Agent Awards Luncheon at the Ellicottville Inn in Ellicottville, NY. Realtors® from all ERA Team VP offices were present representing Ellicottville, Chautauqua County and all surrounding areas of the Southern Tier of New York State! ERA Team VP Realtors received awards in various categories based on their hard work and production in 2010.
Congratulations to all of the Realtors of ERA Team VP Real Estate. Everyone worked hard to build and strengthen their businesses and we are looking forward to an even more successful and prosperous 2011! We’re already off to a great start!
Check out this video for some of the highlights from the awards luncheon:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahw_fF15Dsw&tracker=False]
Here are our award winners recognized at the Agent Awards Luncheon:
Team Pritchard (Cathy & Melanie Pritchard) – Team Category
#1 Gross Commissions (Company Overall & Ellicottville Office)
#1 Closed Transactions (Company Overall & Ellicottville Office)
#1 New Listings (Company Overall & Ellicottville Office)
Karen Goodell
#1 Gross Commissions (Company Overall & Chautauqua County Office)
#4 Closed Transactions (Chautauqua County Office)
#5 New Listings (Chautauqua County Office)
Tina Dillon
#1 Closed Transactions (Company Overall & Ellicottville Office)
#1 New Listings (Company Overall & Ellicottville Office)
#3 Gross Commissions (Company Overall)
#1 Gross Commissions (Ellicottville Office)
Jane Grice
#2 Gross Commissions (Company Overall & Chautauqua County Office)
#4 Closed Transactions (Company Overall)
#2 Closed Transactions (Chautauqua County Office)
Mary Beth Holt
#2 Closed Transactions (Company Overall)
#3 New Listings (Company Overall)
#1 Closed Transactions (Chautauqua County Office)
#2 New Listings (Chautauqua County Office)
#5 Gross Commissions (Chautauqua County Office)
Linda Wolfe
#2 New Listings (Company Overall)
#1 New Listings (Chautauqua County Office)
Jeff Fellows
#3 Closed Transactions (Company Overall & Chautauqua County Office)
Greg Spako
#3 Closed Transactions (Company Overall)
#2 Closed Transactions (Ellicottville Office)
#4 Gross Commissions (Ellicottville Office)
#4 New Listings (Ellicottville Office)
Dale Sandberg
#4 New Listings (Company Overall)
#3 New Listings (Chautauqua County Office)
Amy DeTine
#4 Gross Commissions (Company Overall)
#5 Closed Transactions (Company Overall)
#2 Gross Commissions (Ellicottville Office)
#3 Closed Transactions (Ellicottville Office)
#3 New Listings (Ellicottville Office)
Wayne Reimondo
#5 Gross Commissions (Company Overall)
#3 Gross Commissions (Chautauqua County Office)
#5 Closed Transactions (Chautauqua County Office)
Andree McRae
#5 New Listings (Company Overall)
#2 New Listings (Ellicottville Office)
#5 Closed Transactions (Ellicottville Office)
#5 Gross Commissions (Ellicottville Office)
Sandy Goode
#3 Gross Commissions (Ellicottville Office)
#4 Closed Transactions (Ellicottville Office)
#5 New Listings (Ellicottville Office)
Becky Colburn
#4 Gross Commissions (Chautauqua County Office)
Wayne Weaver
#4 New Listings (Chautauqua County Office)
Special Awards:
Most Improved (at least doubled their production from the previous year)
Dale Sandberg (Chautauqua County Office)
Sandy Goode (Ellicottville Office)
Rookie of the Year (based on production of newest agents to the company)
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Wells Fargo Says Credit Score of 500 OK
According to www.REALTOR.org/realtormag, “In a long-awaited shift, Wells Fargo is providing FHA mortgages to borrowers with credit scores as low as 500. The move comes after the National Association of Realtors® and FHA Commissioner David Stevens, among others late last year, criticized the country’s major banks for requiring credit scores as high as 650 in some cases before making loans. At NAR’s annual conference last year in New Orleans, Stevens said banks’ credit policies were out of sync with the FHA and artificially restraining home sales by as much as 20 percent. Under its new policy, Wells Fargo will accept borrowers with credit scores of 500 to 579 if those borrowers can make a down payment of at least 10 percent; gifted funds or other down payment assistance is not allowed. For borrowers with credit scores of 580 to 599, borrowers must put down 5 percent, with the same restriction on gifts and assistance funds. Borrowers with credit scores of 600 or higher can make a 3.5 percent down payment. The new policy took effect Jan. 15.”
Have you started the property search? Why not begin your search now with ERA Team VP Real Estate – the area’s leader in Real Estate technology! secure web hosting
Offering a Higher Level of Expertise Enables Agents to Meet the Needs of Today’s Buyers and Sellers
By Nick Caruso
RISMEDIA, January 20, 2011—Today’s real estate customers and clients have access to much more information than they did in the past. As their access to information will continue to increase with the introduction of new technology, real estate professionals must stay ahead of the curve to offer a greater degree of value to meet the needs of today’s customers. Here, Bill Soffel, president and CEO, broker of ERA Team VP Real Estate in Chautauqua, New York discusses how he is giving his agents the tools they need to be the experts in today’s market, and well into the future.
Bill Soffel
President & CEO / Broker
ERA Team VP Real Estate
Chautauqua, New York & Ellicottville, New York
Regions served: Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties of New York
Years in real estate: 28
Number of agents: 50
Average listing price: $175,000
Average days on market: 151
Best advice for real estate rookies: From the very beginning, conduct your real estate practice as a business and spend considerable time on market research, budgeting, goal-setting and performance tracking.
Key to staying profitable: Formal business planning is the key to profitability, and never more so than during a challenging market like we find ourselves in right now. Profit must be budgeted and planned for. A solid business plan provides the foundation or template from which to make adjustments as market conditions change.
What is your biggest challenge in today’s market and how is your company taking it on?
Our greatest challenge is offering the right type of training and support to our agents so they can successfully navigate through this tough market. Many of the tools and strategies they used when the market was at its peak just aren’t working anymore. We need to help them adapt, and at the same time, help them refocus on the basics.
How are you keeping consumers educated about today’s buying opportunities?
We are certainly moving away from the traditional methods, like print advertising, and focusing more on new technology. Since over 90% of buyers start their property search on the Internet, we are pushing our listings to as many real estate websites as we can, constantly updating and refreshing our own website, and are jumping heavily into social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.
What have been some of your most effective strategies for working in today’s market?
Inventory management has been a real focus and it has yielded results for us. We are updating our CMAs for our sellers more frequently, recommending price adjustments accordingly, and frankly, are more willing to decline listings that cannot be properly priced. When sellers have followed our advice on pricing their properties ahead of the market trend, we have seen a higher list-to-sale price ratio and a reduction in days on market.
How do you determine your marketing spend?
We break down our marketing budget into two components: one for the money we will spend as a company to build our image and brand recognition, and one for money we will make available to our agents for their self promotion and promotion of their properties. We require that our agents submit a business plan if they want to access these company-provided marketing dollars, and we determine the allocation amount for each agent based on past production and the strength of their plan for the upcoming year. This allows us to direct our resources to the agents who can provide the best return on our investment.
What do you tell sellers about this market?
Seek out the real estate agent and company with the most knowledge and expertise in your local market, and follow their advice on the best pricing strategy for current market conditions. Too often, sellers insist on setting an asking price based on old market conditions or based on factors unrelated to the market, and end up overpricing. Buyers have many resources available to them with today’s technology and are very educated on the market. They don’t respond well to overpriced listings.
What is essential to your company’s ongoing success?
We have to be successful in providing a greater degree of value in order to meet the needs of the new age of buyers and sellers. Our customers and clients are very knowledgeable by the time they connect with us; we have to offer a much higher level of expertise than they are able to obtain on their own. At the same time, we have to find better ways to attract young, tech-savvy agents into our profession.
Have you heard about RISMedia’s Real Estate Information Network® (RREIN)? RREIN is an elite network of leading real estate companies dedicated to providing consumers and their agents with leading real estate information, and committed to the belief that Information Share Equals Market Share. Having only launched this past June 2010, the RREIN network is already comprised of 40 leading brokerages, which make up 575 offices, 30,000 agents, 167,000 closings and represents over $41 billion in transactions.
Copyright© 2011 RISMedia, The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems and Real Estate News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be republished without permission from RISMedia.
ERA Team VP Real Estate Receives Award Nomination!
ERA Team VP Real Estate has been named 1 of 5 finalists for the 2010 Gene Francis Memorial Award. This award, given by ERA Franchise Systems LLC, is named for the late ERA Real Estate co-founder and executive vice president Gene Francis. The overall winner will be announced at the 2011 ERA International Business Conference this March in Las Vegas, NV.
As stated by ERA Franchise Systems, “This award recognizes the ERA company which best exemplifies excellence and integrity in our profession. It is our system’s highest honor for companies, with its winner reflecting Gene’s standards of ethical conduct, strong business sense, consistent growth and a commitment to their community and the ERA brand.”
ERA also states the award requirements: “To be eligible for the Gene Francis Memorial Award, companies must be ERA system members for at least five years; other criteria include total performance and growth over past five years; participation in the ERA Select Services® programs; participation in ERA Mortgage; home warranty production through the ERA Home Protection Plan® and application of ERA system and tools. In addition, to emphasize the importance of community service to the ERA philosophy, MDA fundraising and/or community support is also a requirement for this award. One winner and four national finalists are chosen each year and honored at the International Business Conference, with the responsible broker also invited to join the influential ERA National Advisory Council.”
We are very proud of our entire team at ERA Team VP and all that we have accomplished together! Many of our Realtors will be attending the 2011 ERA International Business Conference this March. This will be a great opportunity for us to connect with ERA Realtors from all over the world, learn about great new innovative tools that ERA has to offer and learn from each other and other real estate experts so that we can apply it to our own market and help our company continue to help YOU!
You may have noticed that one of the requirements for this prestigious award is fundraising for MDA and community support. Last year we held our first annual Agents of Hope Golf Tournament and were thrilled to raise over $15,000 for the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) Division of MDA. We are already planning for next year’s tournament, which will be held in August at the Chautauqua Golf Club. Keep your eyes open – we’ll have more details coming soon! who is .
Winter is Coming… Is Your Home Ready?
It is a beautiful fall day here in Western New York… hard to imagine that before we know it, we’ll be buried in snow!
Fall is coming to a close – this is the perfect time to prepare your home for the winter with preventative maintenance! Whether you’ve just moved into a new home, you are a first time home-owner, or you’ve lived in your home for years, it is a smart idea to take care of some simple preparations in order to avoid the risk of expensive repairs down the road. Here are 10 quick, inexpensive tips for preparing your home:
1. Check and seal your windows and exterior doors. Test for drafts on the inside of your windows. (Hold a lit candle close to the window seems, if it flickers you may have to repair the exterior seal). Check the caulk on the outside of the window frames (look for gaps & cracks). If repairs need to be made it is easiest and most efficient to remove the old caulk with a caulk softener so that you may re-seal the window. The new caulk will stick and seal best to a clean surface. Check your local home supply store for materials. How about Chautauqua Brick!
2. Replace your window screens with storm windows. Consider covering window wells in your basement with plastic shields.
3. Have a HVAC professional inspect your furnace. It is a good idea to clean the ducts and replace the filter to help it work more efficiently through the winter months.
4. Consider installing a programmable thermostat. This will allow you to automatically create a heating schedule for your home. For example, I have programmed my thermostat to raise the temperature slightly around 6:00 AM when I wake up, decrease slightly at 8:00 AM when I leave for work, increase again at 5:00 PM when I return home from work and decrease again at 10:00 PM when I go to sleep at the end of the day. This way, my thermostat is not being overused when I am not home or do not need the extra warmth.
5. Have your chimney cleaned and inspected to avoid unwanted fires or fumes entering your home. Chop and store firewood in a dry area.
6. Inspect your downspouts and gutters. Clean the gutters and use a hose to spray water down the downspouts to clear out the debris. This will allow melting snow and ice to melt and drain properly.
7. Replace any worn, loose or missing shingles. It’s better to fix them now and prevent the potential damage caused by the weight of the snow!
8. Install smoke & carbon monoxide detectors and test them to make sure they are working properly. Replace any fire extinguishers that are 10+ years old.
9. Clean and store your porch/patio furniture. It will be much easier to take care of this without battling the snow!
10. Bring any of your weather sensitive potted plants indoors. Clear plant debris away from your house to allow proper air circulation and avoid pooling of water against your house when the snow and ice start to melt.
I hope these tips will be useful to you! Taking advantage of some of these ideas will help you maintain your home’s value! Spend a little money in prevention and avoid spending much more $$$ in repairs if winter damage were to occur.
Did we miss anything? What are your creative ways of preparing for the winter season?
We’re Still the Same Great Team!
ERA Team VP Real Estate & Vacation Rentals… (formerly ERA Vacation Properties) we have refreshed our name & our logo to reflect all that our team has to offer you!
And guess what?? Our BRAND NEW website has officially launched! Visit www.myteamvp.com to easily search all properties listed for sale in both Chautauqua & Cattaraugus Counties. Looking for a house in Jamestown, Chautauqua, Bemus Point, Mayville, Lakewood, Ellicottville, Salamanca, Great Valley, etc, etc… our website will give you the ability to view property pictures, details, a map & directions, a satellite image, community info… see for yourself!
Looking for a Vacation Rental near the ski slopes in Ellicottville, on Chautauqua Lake, in Chautauqua Institution, or any of the surrounding areas? View all properties available and easily book online!
We also provide full service property management, including: property association management, repair & maintenance and cleaning and housekeeping services!
Take a look at our website and let us know what you think! We hope you’ll continue to use our site as your favorite place to search for properties, vacation rentals or area information! server ip domain expiring . webhosting info . compare hotel prices . domain analysis