Real estate professionals who earn $100,000 or more per year show quite a few differences in how they do their job and the technology they use compared to real estate professionals who make $30,000 to $50,000 a year, according to a new survey conducted by InmanNext, a Web site operated by Inman News. Let’s take a look at the results

Surveying about 1,300 real estate agents, InmanNext found some of the following characteristics common to those who make $100,000 or more per year versus those who make less.

– Work longer hours: Forty-two percent of high-income agents say they work between 40 to 50 hours a week, and 41 percent say they work more than 50 hours a week.

– Spend more on marketing: High-income agents tend to spend more money on their marketing. About 62 percent of middle-income agents reported spending less than $2,500 on their marketing for their business. On the other hand, 63 percent of high-income earners said they spent $5,000 or more per year on marketing.

– Spend more on technology: High-income earners also tend to spend more on technology purchases to aid them in their business. More than half said they spend $2,500 or more on technology each year, and a quarter spend $5,000 or more. Meanwhile, about 84 percent of middle-income earners say they spend less than $2,500 on technology purchases a year. As for technology preferences, high-income earners show a preference toward Apple Macintosh computers and iPhones, more so than mid-range earners.

– Use social networking and Web sites: Nearly half of high-income earners say they update their Web site at least a few times a week, while 39 percent of mid-range earners report updating their Web site or blog only once a month. High-income earners are also more connected on Facebook, with nearly half reporting 500 or more friends on Facebook compared to more than two-thirds of middle-income earners who say they have 500 or fewer friends on Facebook. High-income agents also were more likely to have a YouTube account and Twitter account and to have more followers than mid-range earners.

Source: “Survey: High-Income Real Estate Agents Lead the Pack on Technology,” Inman News (Feb. 14, 2012)

Oakland Athletics Baseball Manager Billy Beane, who was recently made famous by the major motion picture “Moneyball,” was the keynote speaker at the NAR Issues Conference in Florida last week. As he shared his story and experience, I found some important principles that will definitely affect your business in real estate.

As a former baseball player, Beane looked the part: He was 6 feet 4 inches tall, handsome, athletic, and quick. Despite the Brad Pitt looks, his poor performance as a player shortened his career, and he moved into management.

Beane’s management approach, it turns out, forever changed the game. For all the tradition and romance that we know and love about baseball, Beane had the courage to look at things different. He changed the sport by comparing and evaluating the success of player’s skills and the various traditional philosophies and focused on the activities that gave a better chance for success.

Basically put, he took emotion and tradition out of his management decision. He removed the romance of the game and replaced it with math. Running regression statistical models and comparing probabilities became the rule.

Gone are the days of looking for the best-playing kid in high school; it turns out that less than 30 percent of these kids make it in the Big Leagues, thus making those  big signing bonuses a waste. Beane found that college players are more likely to play and focused his recruiting there. He also stopped worrying about stolen bases and bunting as his found that these traditional activities actually hurt your changes of scoring.

“Rational management gave us confidence,” Beane said. “We focused on factually important skills not on looks or tradition.” The result was the A’s won with a team that wasn’t supposed to win.

FACT: By focusing on the skills and activities most likely to contribute to success, you’ll actually succeed.

This brings me to real estate and your business.

What activities are you spending most of your time doing? How likely are these activities to lead you to success? What skills are you developing that will help you succeed in this business?

Each of us needs to invest in the skills that will lead to success and stay away from emotional biases. Beane commented, “We used information from the past to guide decisions in the future, and it paid off.”

When planning for a prosperous 2012 ask yourself what skills do I need to learn? What methods are you holding on to that don’t actually produce results? What activities do I need to focus on? Then focus on these skills and activities. The result for your business may be similar to how Beane changed baseball.

Sincerely,

Taylor Oldroyd

UCAR CEO

In 2011, NAR conducted a survey to find out what type of neighborhoods Americans prefer. One aspect of the results showed that 50 percent of respondents would like to see improvements to existing public transportation.

Utah County is no different and is excited to see those improvements come through the FrontRunner South rail line, which is likely to arrive sooner than planned.

Construction for the project is more than 90 percent done and is expected to be complete by August. That leaves just a few months of safety testing before the stations in Lehi, American Fork, Vineyard, Orem, and Provo open to the public as early as December 2012.

Right now construction from Provo to 14600 S. is essentially complete. UTA is mainly working to wrap up Salt Lake County construction as well as construction at the Provo, Orem, South Jordan and Murray park and ride lots. The Lehi and American Fork park and ride lots have been serving the public for the last two years.

Transportation plays a large role in the growth and development of our community and the residents who live here. The FrontRunner will definitely play a part in helping offer the types of neighborhoods buyers want to see: walkable, transit-accessible homes.

Take a look at the FrontRunner map below. More information is available from UTA here.

Sincerely,

Taylor Oldroyd

UCAR CEO

We have concluded the dues renewal period for 2012 and our final membership numbers came just over 1,350. Throughout this time of year, we often receive questions asking what the dues pay for and what benefit UCAR offers to our members.

The simple answer includes the advocating support of our political team, access to our excellent schedule of education classes, and invaluable networking opportunities.

However, there is a lot more that I don’t want you to lose sight of. This NAR Member Savings Calculator breaks down exactly how much you save by being a REALTOR® member. This chart shows anything from the free online Code of Ethics training to the ready-to-share articles from REALTOR® Content Resource and even the national discounts offered on car rentals, computers, banking service, or insurance. Each of the resources offered helps raise your level of professionalism and the quality of your business.

We can’t mention REALTOR® benefits without including the NAR’s advocacy achievements. By preventing the 10% down payment on FHA loans, the NAR’s analysis translates to avoiding a per-member loss of $3,225 a year. The repeal of the 1099 reporting requirement saves REALTORS® about $740 a year. Those arejust two examples of savings from political advocacy success; REALTORS® have had countless others on the national, state, and local levels.

Take a Complete Look at the UCAR’s Handout “Why RPAC” here and here.

Also, here at UCAR our staff is working to revamp our local REALTOR® Rewards program to continue offering daily benefits of your membership with us. Hopefully, you had the opportunity to participate in the recent survey asking what benefits you want to see added. Look forward to receive more information about this program in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Taylor Oldroyd

UCAR CEO