Inman News asked readers to share their expectations for real estate’s top issues and trends in 2012, and to find out what tops their wish lists and to-do lists in the year ahead.
The following is a collection of some of the submissions received. If you’d like to share your thoughts, fill out a brief online form at this link: https://www.inman.com/news/2011/12/15/2012-real-estate-trends-resolutions-and-wish-lists.
What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
1. Jobs, jobs, jobs. You can’t revive housing without jobs. Some say real estate will create jobs, but that is (putting the) cart before the horse.
2. Implementation of true data standards, and a movement toward global apps development.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Continue to identify and implement additional "public service" apps that assist brokers, agents and consumers. More direct involvement with brokers within our multiple listing service: What can we do to make things better?
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
Brokers taking back control of their listings, limiting their syndication of listings, and trying to drive people to their websites instead of third-party sites. MLSs will get involved in assisting them with self-syndication.
Russ Bergeron
CEO
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED)
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
1. Legislation that reduces principal owed in exchange for a percentage of future profit sharing, to keep troubled homeowners out of foreclosure. So far all attempts at legislating our way out of the foreclosure crisis have failed.
2. An improved job market in the U.S. as this would certainly help the housing market.
3. A loosening of the credit market for homebuyers and small businesses.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
1. Recruit.
2. Retain.
3. Recruit.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
1. Foreclosure backlog.
2. Interest rates starting to rise.
3. That we have hit the bottom becomes measurable in most markets.
4. Real estate company acquisitions and consolidations.
Nate Scott
Owner, managing broker
Windermere Real Estate/Anacortes Properties
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
1. Recruiting made easy — a weekly recruiting plan that involves contacting through multiple sources, streamlined confirmation and follow-up, and consistently bringing in four to six new agents per month.
2. Real estate companies working together toward a common goal of improving the community and giving back. Bringing relationship-building to a new level through innovative ideas and events, local contributions and more.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Each and every agent at (our firm) will have a consistent and professional Web presence on the top three websites: Yahoo, Zillow and Realtor.com.
The company will leverage partners and affiliates more than ever in 2012, offering to help in any way to enhance the businesses we are working with and in return receive the same benefits. We will adapt to the market, working on short sales and foreclosures, helping homeowners in need of answers, and promoting positive energy to those we surround ourselves with. We will prosper by helping those around us and the community prosper.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
Top trend No. 1: Mobile technology and e-signing on mobile technology.
Top trend No. 2: Paperless technology.
Top trend No. 3: Mastering foreclosure listings and relationships with bank asset managers.
Top trend No. 4: Cooperative short-sale movement.
Cheryl Spangler
Broker, franchise owner
Exit Gridiron Realty
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
1. Strategically add 10 new agents in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
2. An iPad 3?
3. Continue to grow market share in Southern California.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
1. Be totally in the cloud. (Almost there!)
2. Hire only quality agents.
3. Revamp transaction management platform.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
1. Multiple listing service issues and changes.
2. Distressed properties continue to dominate the market.
3. How alike 2011 and 2012 will be.
Jason Lopez
Managing broker
Smart Real Estate Solutions
…CONTINUED
What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
An iPad 2, and a multiple listing service that would run without Flash and on something other than Explorer.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
To be more discriminating in my effort to help people get their homes ready for market.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
1. Hot issue: Low appraisals continue to artificially hold down real estate market. A low appraisal can lower values in a neighborhood for years to come.
2. Consumer protection trend: Scammers taking listings info and posting fake rental ads that desperate renters fall for. (Regulators) need to crack down on them and make it harder for them to do.
3. First-time-buyer market: Newly employed "contract" employees are out of the market for at least 2.5 years.
Lexie Longstreet
Broker-owner
Savvy Plus Co. Real Estate
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
Nationwide, we’re setting our sights on growing by 25 percent — both in new franchise affiliates and existing affiliate production. We’re also adding new mobile tools for our broker affiliates as well as end-user consumers.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Continued innovation. We’ve made huge strides in technology and are committed to testing and implementing new and fresh tools and systems. Ultimately, this will engage our brokers and drive greater productivity to each broker partner in the local market.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
There’ll certainly be more conversation about the future of the MLS and regulatory issues, but I believe the most significant changes will be centered around what the consumers are demanding.
Clearly the consumer has driven countless changes in the industry over the past decade, and now that we’re in an economy where it’s trendy to be thrifty we’ll see more and more brokerages changing their business models and seeking alternative solutions to the ordinary old-fashioned commission structure.
The future of real estate is all about doing more business, at a greater efficiency, all while ensuring we’re giving the consumer what they want: exceptional value.
Ron McCoy
Vice president of business development
Help-U-Sell Real Estate
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
Fewer agents who are not dedicated to our profession as a full-time career vs. a part-time hobby.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Continue doing what I’ve done best for 39 years: work! Stay focused, be positive yet realistic, remain dedicated to my customer and clients.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
1. Foreclosures.
2. Mortgage reform.
3. License requirements.
Joy Isenberg Snyder
Associate Broker
Prudential PenFed Realty
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
Congress will deal with real estate issues. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should simply refinance all underwater properties at the discount window rate plus 2 percent. That would keep people in their houses and prevent further foreclosures.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Set up my real estate education company. Not enough buyers and sellers understand the value and investment returns on real estate.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
Bulk (sales of real estate owned or REO properties) should be scratched. Distribute the selling of distressed assets to all investors, not just Wall Street friends. Wall Street executives will go to jail for what they caused.
Antoine Pirson
Director of investments
Caldecott Properties
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What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Cut out all of the "work" that’s not working. Concentrate on what is.
David Bramblett
Broker associate
Century 21 Nature Coast
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What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
To be more selective about who we do business with.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
The government will continue to try to fix the real estate industry but will do more harm than good. This ain’t over yet.
Gene Donohue
Exclusive buyer’s agent
The Buyer’s Advantage Team
…CONTINUED
What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
Improved quality of MLS data. Data integration across websites.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
To be firm with clients on listing price.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
Workflow automation.
Meg Daly
General manager, Zeder Team
Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell (EWM) Realtors
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
More accountability for Zillow, et al., for property value (estimates).
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Investigate and decide the best way to get involved or not in blogging and social media. Develop ways of providing more individual property information given current online sites.
Patsy Whitney
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Prime Properties
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
A system for closing short sales that is honored by all banks and investors.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Making additional contact with past clients.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
Social media and YouTube.
Denise Aquila
Broker associate
Alain Pinel
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What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
To open my own office.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
Harlem Lady Real Estate Services LLC on 125th Street will be a reality.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
In Harlem … increased services, Columbia University expansion, and construction.
Lupe Moreno
Owner
Harlem Lady Real Estate Services LLC
…CONTINUED
What are the top items on your real estate wish list for 2012?
To double the size of (our firm) for the fourth year in a row. That would bring us to 1,200 Realtors.
What are your top New Year’s resolutions for real estate in 2012?
To establish a robust insurance and mortgage division nationally.
What do you expect to be the top trends and hottest issues in real estate in 2012?
I believe this is the year that Realtors will realize that our business model is the future and we’ll hit our tipping point.
James A. Crumbaugh III
CEO
Allison James Estates and Homes
