New Year, New Resolutions

Deciding to set goals is just the beginning.  Indeed, it has been said that your goals will be much harder to achieve if you don’t write them down.  And while that seems simple enough, that’s not really the end of the story.  Once you write them down, I have found that it’s helpful to prominently display your goals in places that are pertinent to them (posting your work goals at your desk in your office, for example, and your personal goals somewhere in your home), so that when you are in that place and mindset, your focus is on the right things.

Have you written down your goals for 2009 yet?  Here are a few suggestions on how to go about it and what to include:

• Step One: Evaluate how you did in 2008.  Did you meet the goals you set for yourself this past year?  What did and did not work for you?  What did you learn that you can take with you into 2009?
• Step Two: Conduct a quick SWOT analysis on yourself.  What are your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats?  Identifying these things can help you to be more honest and realistic about what your goals are and how you go about reaching them.
• Step Three: Write down your goals (personal and business related) for 2009 —along with some strategies that you will use to accomplish them— and put them somewhere that you will see them often.

Best wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2009!

HIS Holiday Greetings – December 18, 2009

Our office will be closed from December 25, 2008 through January 4, 2009. Normal office hours will resume on Monday, January 5, 2009.

Normal office hours are Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In case of emergency….

Neighbor Islands call 1-800-628-3121 and enter “*”
Oahu call 599-4224 and enter “*”

Leave a voicemail message along with your name and your contact information.

Mahalo!

HAWAII INFORMATION SERVICE
680 Iwilei Road, Suite 777
Honolulu, HI 96817
HawaiiInformation.com

Crisis for Some, Opportunity of a Lifetime for Others

The economy is in crisis, home prices are dropping, and people are tightening their financial belts.  Given all of this, many have the misconception that now is the worst possible time to purchase a home.  In fact, the opposite may be true.

Even though mortgage companies and banks have narrowed the field when it comes to approving loans, they are still lending to those who can meet their criteria – and I know you have clients who are perfect candidates.  So break out your client list, find those qualified first time home buyers and savvy investors, and let’s get crackin’.

The order of the day? Narrow your sphere to a specific list of people who are perfect home buying candidates right now. Target them via personal e-mails, e-blasts, phone calls and mailers spelling out why you think they are ready to buy NOW.

Here are a few good reasons to start with: home prices continue to drop, mortgage rates are also on their way down, and there are many sellers out there who are desperate and willing to negotiate to get the deal done.

And here are a few things you should include in your communication with them:

• Remind first time homebuyers and investors that they are in a unique situation in that they don’t have to sell something in order to buy – putting the market on their side.
• Provide first time home buyers a rent vs. buy chart to demonstrate the benefit of buying over renting for the next few years.
• Tell them WHY you think they are ready to make this move, despite the current conditions.
• Use REsearch to find and send them examples of homes that you feel can demonstrate that what they are looking for IS out there. It helps when people can visualize what you are suggesting when there is an actual home and price in front of them.

A wise person once told me that it is ALWAYS the right time to buy, regardless of the market or economy, if you are in the position to do so and you find the right opportunity.  Encourage your clients in this position to take advantage of what may be a chance of a lifetime.

HIS Bulletin – December 16, 2008

Important Billing Reminder

The next billing date for credit card and ACH Customers is
Monday, January 5, 2009

If you are placing your license INACTIVE, or if you are surrendering your license, please let us know by by December 23, 2008 to assure that you will not be billed for MLS service in this January billing. If you are not the principal broker, designated REALTOR or Broker-in Charge of your office, please ask him/her to notify us to terminate your service.

Just as clarification, you may not terminate your service if you are not going inactive or surrendering your license if your office is not terminating its service as well.

Once we charge your credit card or debit your account, there is no refund. Please contact us before billing occurs if you would like to make any changes to your billing.

If you need to change your payment account, please go to this link:
http://www.hiiinfo.net/REsearch/IDX/mlsHawaii/forms/PreAuthprizedPayment.pdf

Print and complete this Exhibit C form, sign it, and fax it to (808) 524-6874. Please note that your broker does not have to sign this form if you are only changing your account information.

If you need to change your payment frequency or billing cycle, please notify us by:

o Calling HIS Accounting at 1-800-628-3121, ext. #454, or
o Sending an email to Accounting@HawaiiInformation.com

Mahalo!

Administration Notes

Our offices will be closed for the holidays from December 25, 2008 through January 04, 2009. Normal office hours will resume on January 05, 2009.

Normal Office Hours
Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

In the event of emergency ….
you may leave a message in our emergency voice mailbox by calling the main office number and pressing * (star). Leave your message and our phone system will notify our on-call staff that there is an emergency message. Call 1-800-628-3121, if calling from the neighbor islands or 599-4224, if calling from Oahu.

www.HawaiiInformation.com
Dole Office Building, 680 Iwilei Road #777, Honolulu, HI 96817

“MELE KALIKIMAKA
&
HAUOLI MAKAHIKI HOU

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

Fax With Care

If you regularly advertise or send out bulk communications via facsimile machine, be sure you know to whom you’re allowed to send faxes.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission issued its final rule on the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005.  The requirement to have had an Established Business Relationship (EBR) with the recipient still stands, but the clarification issued in October also covered fax numbers obtained on the web, from an advertisement, or in a business directory.

Key to the latest update is determining whether the recipient”voluntarily agreed” to make its fax number available. Generally, senders are in the clear if the fax number is published on the recipient’s official website, placed in an ad or other publication from the recipient, or included in a directory or database in which the recipient appears to have requested or authorize the listing.

The Junk Fax Prevention Act also requires that all facsimile advertisements include an opt-out notice that instructs recipients on howto notify senders that they do not wish to receive future facsimile advertisements.  You can invite recipients to opt out via a website, provided the mechanism is plainly visible on the main page.

For all the details (including petitions made by the Direct Marketing Association and other groups),  consult the full report in the Federal Register (PDF).

HIS Bulletin – December 10, 2008

Important Billing Announcement
The next billing for credit card and ACH Customers is
Monday, January 5, 2009

If you are placing your license INACTIVE, or if you are surrendering your license, we must receive a copy of your DCCA change form. We normally request that changes be submitted to us 4-5 working days prior to the billing date, so please send your form(s) in by December 23, 2008 to assure that your changes will be processed before the billing is sent out on January 5, 2009.

Once we charge your credit card or debit your account, there is no refund. Please contact us before billing occurs if you would like to make any changes to your billing.

If you need to change your payment account, please go to this link:
http://www.hiiinfo.net/REsearch/IDX/mlsHawaii/forms/PreAuthprizedPayment.pdf

Print and complete this form, sign it and fax your new Exhibit C to (808) 524-6874. Please note that your broker does not have to sign this form if you are only changing your account information.

If you need to change your payment frequency or billing cycle, please notify us by:

– Calling HIS Accounting at 1-800-628-3121, ext. #454, or
– Send an email to Accounting@HawaiiInformation.com

Mahalo!

Important!
MLS Rules Clarification
Listing Residential Properties as Vacant Land
or Vacant Land as Residential

Clarification of the use of more than one form type to list property:

Vacant land listed also as Residential:
A vacant land property may be listed as residential only if there are building plans for a residential structure “to be built”, and the list price on the residential listing must reflect the cost of the land and residential structure to be built.

Vacant land with a structure that is not considered a residential structure (such as a storage shed or temporary structure) may not be listed also as Residential unless there are building plans for a residential structure “to be built”. The list price on the residential listing must reflect the cost of the land and the residential structure to be built.

Residential listed also as Vacant Land :
A property with a structure already on it may be listed as vacant land only if the list price on the vacant land listing reflects the price of the land only. Even if the structure was built without permits, the property may not be listed as vacant land unless the land listing is list priced for the land only and the seller/owner is willing to sell the property at the land only price.

The above criteria has been developed to prevent the listing of properties on more than one form type only for the purpose of providing additional exposure for the property. To list a vacant land parcel as residential when there is no intention to build a residential structure on it before it is sold, or to list a residential property as land when there is no intention to sell the property at the land price only is deceiving, and could be considered a misrepresentation of the property in the eyes of license law enforcement authorities.

We will be sending notices to all listors who currently have listed properties under both Residential and Land that do not meet the above criteria. After December 31, 2008, any listing that does meet the criteria will be in violation of the rules and the listor will be subject to processing fees of $25 for the first instance and $50 for every instance thereafter.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact Diana Haraguchi at 1-800-628-3121, enter # and then 172, or send an email to Diana@HawaiiInformation.com.

Please be Considerate!

Use of MLS/HIS Email Lists Limited

We have received several reports from members who have received unwanted email from members who may be using email distribution lists that have been generated from the HIS roster database. The MLS rules state that the use of these lists is strictly limited to promoting the sale of properties listed in the service. They may not be used for the distribution of announcements for garage sales, ads for the sale of vehicles or for forwarding chain emails. These are considered “spam” (sometimes called “junk email” ) that are not appreciated by most of our customers. Even if the sender is not using a list generated from the HIS system, the sender should provide the recipients with a way to “opt out” of receiving any future mailings from the sender.

Administration Notes
Our offices will be closed for the holidays from December 25, 2008
through January 04, 2009. Normal office hours will resume on January 05, 2009

Normal Office Hours
Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m

In the event of emergency ….
you may leave a message in our emergency voice mailbox by calling the main office number and pressing * (star). Leave your message and our phone system will notify our on-call staff that there is an emergency message. Call 1-800-628-3121, if calling from the neighbor islands or 599-4224, if calling from Oahu.

www.HawaiiInformation.com
Dole Office Building, 680 Iwilei Road #777, Honolulu, HI 96817

MELE KALIKIMAKA
&
HAUOLI MAKAHIKI HOU

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

New Upgrades for VOW IDX Customers!

We know how important it is that your customers be able to find everything they need right on your website.  Because of this, we are constantly working on developing and implementing new ways to improve our products and services for both you and your clients.

Most recently, we increased the number of photos our VOW (Virtual Office Website) customers can feature with the listings on their sites from six to 25, enabling them to showcase properties more thoroughly.

What is our VOW offering all about? VOW is a raw data feed that we provide to you (or a third party web developer or service provider) that contains the data for every single listing that has ever hit the market — active or otherwise.  With VOW, you can display active, sold, and off the market listings and data however you wish on your own website.  The data feed is updated daily so the information is always fresh, and with the recent increase in the number of included photos, even more complete.

VOW offers the richest set of data, but because it isn’t self contained like our IDX (Internet Data Exchange) products, you do need someone to help you manage it.

Don’t have the resources for VOW?  We offer three IDX solutions so that you don’t have to worry about designing or hosting listing information on your website. Our EZ IDX, Full IDX, and Custom IDX packages allow you to display current listings on your website with various levels of customization.  All you do is sign up and choose which package you want, and we do the rest to make sure it looks great and provides your clients useful information on all active listings.

Questions?  Want to learn more about your IDX options?

Colleen Yasuhara
Account Manager
808-748-8751 – Direct
800-628-3121 #151
808-524-6874 – Fax
www.alohaliving.com
www.hawaiiinformation.com
colleen@alohaliving.com

Localize your Advertising

Staying close to home this holiday season to save a bit of cash?  Be economical about your advertising by keeping it local as well.  While it would be nice to have a presence everywhere on the web, placing yourself in a few key places can help you to get the exposure you need for a lot less. 

Traditional advertising tactics suggest that you should put your message out there in as many places as possible, regardless of whether the people who see it are interested in your services or not.  Instead, refine your advertising by choosing to advertise to Hawaii specifically, to one particular island, or even to a neighborhood or street — whatever your target market calls for.  The result will be much more focused results, because the people who see your ad are specifically interested in what you are offering. 

Let’s face it: when you have a home to sell, the leads are all about quality, not necessarily quantity. 

A great place to start is at www.AlohaLiving.com, a site that aims to serve consumers who are starting their search for real estate here in the islands. We can help you with a traditional display ad, or with a blog that is featured across the site and uniquely indexed on the web. 

Another way to market more specifically is to use Google AdWords, to help maximize the effectiveness of your online advertising campaigns. AdWords lets you be as specific as you want in determining what searches bring up your ads, and gives helpful statistics on how your ads are doing, all to help you find only the people you are trying to target. 

Here are Google’s six tips to maximizing your dollar and exposure: 

1. Focus your ads on low prices and savings.

2. Use value-related key words.

3. Make sure your ad groups are targeted and relevant.

4. Don’t waste money on irrelevant clicks.

5. Make it easy for customers to buy.

6. Focus your money on your high-performers. 

Check it all out in more detail HERE

-Erin