Issues Available 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2009 December 2009 September 2009 June 2009 March 2008 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April

Gulf Winds
EXTRA! EXTRA! EXTRA!READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!
Bay County Association of Realtors® is proud to announce the Gulf Winds Magazine** is now available online to our Affiliate Members.Beginning with the May 2008 edition, the electronic Gulf Winds Magazine will replace our hard copy magazine distribution.Check out the new Gulf Winds Magazine by going to http://bay.flrealtor.net

**Limited printed versions of the monthly Gulf Winds magazine will still be available for pick up at the Association Office.
Gulf Winds is a monthly publication of the Bay County Association of REALTORS&reg, Inc., 1123 Harrision Ave, Panama City, FL 32401. It is no longer mailed to each member and affiliate member of BCAR. What you will find here is links to archived articles that appeared in the Gulf Winds. This is not every article but if you are looking for information you remember having read a few months ago, it may be here. Some articles are written by one time guests while others are there every month but submitted by the current Chairman of a committee or the President.

Click on the flyer to view full size as a pdf.

What Is HouseLogic?
HouseLogic, NAR’s new consumer Web site, offers everything home owners need to increase, maintain and protect the value of their home. The site provides free information and tools to help home owners with home improvements, maintenance projects, taxes, finances, insurance, and even community involvement. HouseLogic helps consumers make confident decisions about what is often their largest investment – their home.
www.HouseLogic.com The official launch is Feb 15, 2010 but the site is open now!
REALTORS® may find information of how they can make great use of HouseLogic on the MLS Announcements page.

Steve Mapes from Instanet wanted us to let you know that there is a new change coming to Forms Online Gold. He is part of his email.

On January 5th, 2010 we will be upgrading Forms Online Gold within TransactionDesk giving your members several great new features – including DocBox2Go for access from their mobile phones free of any charge! The upgrade also features a brand new toolbar that our customer advisory group helped design for ease of use. Plus you will now have full Macintosh compatibility for forms editing. TransactionDesk as a whole will now be Mac compatible.

To make this easy on you and your members, we will email all registered users of TransactionDesk twice an informational document and a link to the User Guide for the new toolbar, prior to that date. We will also post a notice, with a link to the FAQ and User Guide for the forms editor, on the home page of TransactionDesk the morning we make the upgrade live.

Here’s a summary of the upgrades will become available on January 5th:
* DocBox2Go – Our mobile solution allowing and access to documents, transaction, forms and contacts from a mobile device. There is no additional cost for this item.
* Newly designed toolbar for making editing and system navigation even more intuitive.
* Vanity Fax Numbers – Inexpensive personal fax numbers that integrate with TransactionDesk and DocBox.
* Desktop InstanetFax Cover sheet – A desktop based fax cover sheet for fax to email that can be used without logging into the MLS or TransactionDesk.
* Faxit@TransactionDesk.com – Send email to fax from any email address.

We have links, below, which you can send to your members to help get out the word. Just so you have everything in one place, here are links to the User Guide, the FAQ and a webinar overview of the new forms editing toolbar. Please share with any appropriate staff and feel free to use them in any communication you would like to provide your members.

* A fact sheet and user guide is available by following this link.

Steve Mapes
VP of Sales
Instanet Solutions
404-551-2204 (one connect) | 404-625-1217 (mobile)

DALLAS – Dec. 18, 2009 –Real estate agents will find more success prospecting for referrals with personal calls and requests than impersonal mailers and other marketing materials.

Clients will make referrals if they feel a personal connection to the agent and believe in the agent’s vision for his/her business, and they want to be seen as champions among friends and family and will tell them when they receive top-notch service and outcomes.

Agents can build a referral relationship at the first meeting or during the first phone call, saying something like, “I build my business primarily based on referrals from clients. The benefit to you is: My focus will always be to give you the best service possible. The reason is: I want to earn the honor to talk with you in the future about who you know that would benefit from my service.”

Agents should respect that they are asking for access to people with whom clients have personal relationships, and asking for a referral should never be treated as an after-thought.

Agents should ask for the client’s help, and they should ask permission to sit down and determine which of the client’s contacts could benefit from their services. Rather than make a general referral request, agents should specifically ask about people they know from church or their child’s school, for example, to ensure they get a more detailed response.

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