Louis Cammarosano, general manager of online real estate company HomeGain, formerly served as general counsel, senior vice president of corporate development and chief operating officer for that company.
He will speak at the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 7-9, 2009.
Cammarosano responded to a set of questions posed by Inman News:
What do you see happening in the real estate market in 2009?
The continuation of low interest rates, lower home prices, tighter credit and higher foreclosures for the first half of the year. Then, in the second half of the year, increased transaction volumes and stabilizing home prices as government initiatives and the free market kick in to allow buyers to start buying.
What advice do you have to help real estate agents and brokers get through this market?
Focus on what works and do more of it. Drop what doesn’t.
What made you join your current company?
Brad Inman. I joined HomeGain after meeting Brad in New York City in the fall of 2004.
What’s been your biggest challenge in running the business?
Keeping to priorities and not losing track of which initiatives will provide the best return on investment
What new features are in the pipeline?
We got some new features coming for our HomeValuation tool as well as some more tools for consumers and agents.
Can you share any future plans, goals?
Our goals are to leverage our assets that we have built up over nearly 10 years — namely, our products and technologies, our current 5,000-plus customer base, as well as our former customer base and our employees who understand real estate and how to service customers.
What lesson did you learn in the last year?
Treating customers and employees correctly is of paramount importance. Without either you don’t have a business.
What would your second career choice be and why?
This is already my fourth career, so I don’t get a second chance to have a second choice of career, do I?
What is the biggest problem in the real estate market today, and how would you fix it?
Agents spending inordinate amounts of time talking to each other instead of to potential customers. Real estate agents have taken up social media tools with a vengeance, perhaps more than other groups of professionals have, but most real estate professionals are using them to communicate with each other instead of potential customers.
What do you most enjoy about working in the real estate industry?
Working directly with real estate professionals who rely on HomeGain to help them with their marketing.
Tell us something we don’t already know about you …
I don’t know what you know about me. What do you know about me? How about, "Did you know I am paranoid?" (Smile.)
Louis Cammarosano, general manager of online real estate company HomeGain, will speak during a "Directing Your Ad Dollars Online" session during an Internet Marketing Bootcamp workshop at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 7-9, 2009. He will be joined by a representative for Manhattan-based brokerage company Prudential Douglas Elliman, and a partner for real estate consuluting company Mediatise.
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