the Resourceful Realtor

Some ideas are considered “outside the box” just because they’re different. Others are outside the box because the box simply isn’t big enough for it.

When faced with a disappointing lack of awareness among local real estate agents about the many fine attributes of the town of Atlantic Highlands, NJ, one broker had a radical idea: educate them so they can better communicate the value of the town to their customers.

“I was thinking that Atlantic Highlands is under the radar of many agents,” said Thomas McCormack, broker at Resources Real Estate in Rumson, NJ. “And there’s so much here that’s unique and special that it required something out of the ordinary to get their attention.”

That’s when McCormack had an “aha moment.”

“An ‘aha moment’ is a sudden understanding – it’s an abrupt recognition of something that is right in front of you,” said McCormack. He took that concept, used it as an acronym (“AHa: Atlantic Highlands Access”) and created an event that he hoped would draw area agents to the town where they could experience it first-hand and learn about why their customers might want to move there.

With over 100 agents attending 30 open houses hosted by 15 different offices, it was clear this was an idea for which there was a very willing audience and it proved beneficial for the town, its businesses and homeowners hoping to sell their homes.

“Atlantic Highlands has a tremendous amount to offer,” said McCormack, “There’s a high-speed ferry to Manhattan, spectacular ocean and bay views, stunning Victorian architecture as well as brand new homes, a municipal harbor and a great downtown with fine dining options, great shops and a burgeoning arts scene.”

One reason for the event’s success was the support of the town’s chamber of commerce. When approached with the idea, Chuck Lero, head of the Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce, quickly came on board. In a town with a small but vital downtown commercial district, the chamber was eager to flaunt the town’s strengths.

“We recognize that realtors can be instrumental in bringing new people into Atlantic Highlands,” said Lero who is also a loan officer with Two River Community Bank in town. “I think the event helped agents walk away with a deeper understanding of what’s here and that’s great.”

“Chuck and Sherilyn at the Chamber were instrumental in making the event a success,” said McCormack, “They helped coordinate the gifts and prizes we raffled off to the agents, provided a luncheon at the Indulgence Café, they even got the mayor involved – their help was hugely supportive.”

Hundreds of dollars worth of prizes from local merchants -- everything from ice cream and a movie to dinner at one of the many, varied restaurants in town, to gift cards to the local jeweler and eyeglass shop – were raffled off to the many agents who gathered at the Indulgence Café for lunch.

“It was very well organized and informative,” said Rosemary Beales, an agent with Heritage House Sotheby’s in Shrewsbury, “Every town should have one.”

While some might be surprised that agents from different companies would cooperate on such an event, apparently it came together quite easily.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect but when I put the idea out to agents with homes listed in town, the response was immediate and strong,” said McCormack. “In fact, even the morning of the event we had additional homes being added to the tour.”

“Best of all was hearing agents say ‘Atlantic Highlands really is a great place – more people should consider it’,” said McCormack. “That was the goal.” That and, of course, getting some of his clients’ homes sold. “Absolutely, this was also intended to help get my listings sold,” he added, “but I think sometimes we have to sell newcomers on the community and a lifestyle before we can sell them a house.”

----------------------------

Download flyer for event.

Thomas McCormack
Broker-Manager
Resources Real Estate | 112 E River Rd  | Rumson, NJ 07760
732-212-0440  www.thomasmccormack.com

Search Atlantic Highlands' homes!

What do you do when you're in a market where the majority of agents have blinders when it comes to towns outside of their primary market area?

How 'bout, throw it a party?

In the northeastern part of Monmouth County where there are affluent towns such as Rumson, Fair Haven, and Little Silver, among others, that seem to monopolize the attention of many agents, some area towns suffer in comparison despite the fact that these towns have their own strong and distinctly different features.

Prime example:  Atlantic Highlands.

Here's a town with incredible attributes:

• A viable downtown area with great restaurants (Copper Canyon, AMA, Wine Bar), shops (I love The Flaky Tart!), movie theater and more.
• Some of the most astounding views on the east coast with the highest point on the eastern seaboard - views of Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook, the Atlantic Ocean, NYC in the distance
• Great architecture - reportedly the second highest number of Victorian homes in NJ after Cape May
• A municipal harbor - a wonderfully protected harbor for boats large and small that provides easy access to the ocean, the bay and New York Harbor
• High-speed ferry commuter service to Manhattan - I've had clients who were able to walk from their home to the ferry to their office in lower Manhattan and be sitting at their desk in under an hour.
• Proximity to ocean beaches & immense parkland (Hartshorne Woods' 700+ acres of trails.)
• A burgeoning arts community with music events (the monthly open mic), film events (FilmOne Fest of one minute films) and more.

You get the idea.

It's funny, Atlantic Highlands is the place I take any relocation clients I get moving from California and it's the place they inevitably say they want... even after I've shown them the more "affluent" area towns.  Why?  Because of the views, the sense of community and feeling of being in the heart of of natural beauty.

To try to educate our colleagues and perhaps (dare I say) sell our listings, a bunch of us agents with listings in Atlantic Highlands have banded together to create "AHa! - Atlantic Highlands Access" -- we're having a collective "Aha moment" and hopefully will clue others into what we know to be true... this town rocks! 

When:  Sept 14th 11-2pm
What:  28 houses open for brokers representing 15 agencies from great rentals to mult-million dollar homes
Who: Brokers & agents from all over Monmouth County
Where:  Throughout Atlantic Highlands with lunch at Indulgence Cafe compliments of Chuck Lero / Two River Community Bank
Download the flyer.

The Atlantic Highlands Chamber of Commerce is supporting this and we'll have hundreds of dollars worth of prizes & gifts from local shops & restaurants. 

If you're an agent who is less than familiar with this great town, I hope you'll join us.  If you're not an agent, I hope you'll consider Atlantic Highlands next time you want to experience a wonderful small town with a lot goin' on. 

And if you're thinking of moving?  Definitely give me a call.... I'm happy to give you the tour.

Thomas McCormack
Broker/Partner
Resources Real Estate | 112 E River Rd | Rumson, NJ 07760
732-212-0440 x212  www.ThomasMcCormack.com

Search homes in Atlantic Highlands.

Thought I would check in once again check in and see how the market in Monmouth County is doing and was pleased to see we're still in positive territory relative to last year for the same period.  Single-Family home sales are up 10% from last year with a particularly large comeback for the above $1.5 million bracket.

As you can see, the $1.5 - $1.99 million range is up over 48% and $2 million and above is up 53%!  Solid gains were also seen in the $550,000 - $700,000 range, each showing a more than 30% increase.

Perhaps most interestingly, the range with the least impressive results - largely flat or with slight decreases from last year's numbers - is the $250,000 - $450,000 range.  I find this somewhat surprising given all the attention paid to the first home buyer credit which ended earlier this year... this price range would likely have seen signficant increases if the tax credit was a factor in our market this year.  This bears out my experience which was that the tax credit was not playing a major role in getting buyers to take action, at least in my neck of the woods.

Modest gains? Perhaps.  Moving in the right direction?  Absolutely.

Thomas McCormack
Broker/Owner
Resources Real Estate
112 E River Rd, Rumson, NJ 07760
732-212-0440 x212
www.ThomasMcCormack.com

Search Monmouth County homes.

Carolynn Ozar-Diakon, broker-owner of Resources Real Estate in Rumson, New Jersey, proudly announced today that Thomas McCormack, a broker-salesperson with the company for over eight years, has become a partner and co-owner of the company.  McCormack will manage the Rumson office while continuing to service his clients.

"Tom's past experience and skill set has proven very effective for him in real estate", said Diakon, "I am excited that he will bring this to his new role as manager and I look forward to working together as partners in Resources' growth."

McCormack joined Resources in 2002 after an extensive career in television and entertainment. McCormack was on staff at HBO for five years, ultimately serving as production manager for on-air promotion. McCormack worked the following 13 years as a freelance producer and production manager for clients ranging from HBO (where he helped produce family and documentary programming), Showtime, Time Inc., VH1,E!, ESPN2, and others.  Much of his work just prior to entering real estate was with Big Fat TV and Holly Chasin Design, both broadcast design & brand identity firms, where he learned effective marketing and branding. 

His extensive background in television and entertainment has brought him to work with many celebrities, artists and athletes including Billy Crystal, k.d. lang, O.J. Simpson, Lauren Hutton, Mike Tyson, Harry Belafonte, and Elle McPherson

In his real estate career McCormack has received the New Jersey Association of Realtor's Circle of Excellence Award every year since 2003 and has consistently been a top producer in the area and at Resources Real Estate. 

"I have been extremely fortunate to have trained with one of the top realtors in Monmouth County," said McCormack of Diakon, "Carolynn is a very smart and respected professional and I can't imagine that I would have achieved the same success without her support. I am proud to be part of Resources Real Estate and am certain that our position as one of the foremost independent brokerages will continue to grow."

Diakon opened Resources Real Estate, a full service real estate company, in 2000. With 24 years of real estate experience, Diakon maintains an outstanding reputation of leadership and knowledge.

Resources Real Estate is located at 112 East River Road in Rumson. For more local real estate information, call (732) 212-0440. You can also hear real estate trends and tips on resourcesrealestate.com.

At the beginning of this year, anticipating a slow winter season I was encouraged by one of my fellow agents in my office to pursue my real estate broker's license.  It seemed more productive than waiting for the phone to ring and I figured I could DVR "American Idol" which posed a scheduling conflict with the class's nighttime schedule.

Having been an agent salesperson since 2002, I had never really felt the need to have a broker's license and indeed, wasn't sure if I wanted to commit the time to acquire it. (And until recently I was unaware of how significantly DVR can change your life!) But I followed my co-worker's suggestion and enrolled in the required courses, passed my state exam and am now a proud Broker-Salesperson.  Yeah!

Although many use the terms "agent," "salesperson" and "broker" interchangeably, there's actually a significant difference between them in terms of training, testing and responsibility to the public.

• An "agent" is anyone who is working on behalf of another and either a salesperson or broker can act as an agent. In New Jersey, your status of "salesperson" or "broker" (or "broker/salesperson") is a function of the state's licensing laws.
  
• To qualify for a real estate salesperson's license an applicant must be 18 years of age or older, have a high school education or equivalency, complete a 75-hour prelicensure course at a licensed school and pass the license examination. After successfully completing the course and passing the examination the applicant must apply for a license through a sponsoring real estate broker. In addition the Commission must be satisfied as to the applicant's honesty, trustworthiness, character and integrity.
• To qualify for a broker's license an applicant must have a high school education or equivalency and must successfully complete 150 hours of prelicensure education. Applicants must first complete a 90-hour general real estate course, and then two 30-hour courses on Agency/Ethics and Office Management and related topics. In addition, applicants must have been continually licensed and employed on a full-time basis as a New Jersey real estate salesperson for the three years immediately preceding application. An applicant must then pass the state's broker license examination.

As a broker you can work under another broker's supervision as a "broker/salesperson" or you can become a "broker of record" by acting as the supervising broker for an existing brokerage or start your own company.

All highly fascinating, I know. 

Aside from being able to change the title on my business cards and website, I am now held to a higher standard of care given my increased training and higher status in the hierarchy of real estate professionals.  While all this is good and it affords me new opportunities, I feel much the same today as I did before I got the official word of my change of status.

So let this now be the official introduction of my new moniker "Broker-Salesperson" (should I be concerned that its initials are "B-S"?)  Probably better to not dwell on that right now.... and besides, I've got to see who get's into the semi-finals for "America's Got Talent."