The Bengel Blog

RE/MAX USA & Central Atlantic First Quarter Top Producers

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:48:58 +0000

Congrats to the following Allegiance members for leading in sales in the the Central Atlantic Region and US for the first quarter!

USA
#58 Individual Tom Buerger, Georgetown
#30 Team James Nellis, Burke
#66 Team Rob Ferguson, Leesburg Pike
#72 Team Tom Faison, Capitol Hill
#74 Team Todd Norris, Capitol Hill

Washington, DC
#1 Individual Thomas S Buerger, Georgetown
#2 Individual Jennifer Myers, Capitol Hill
#3 Individual Kelvin Reaves, Capitol Hill
#4 Individual Linda J Hughes, Georgetown
#5 Individual Carol Howell, Georgetown
#6 Individual Rob Bergman, Georgetown
#7 Individual Ansa Tyus, Capitol Hill
#8 Individual Eric Rice, Capitol Hill
#9 Individual Ayana Douglas, Capitol Hill
#10 Individual Jason Townsend, Capitol Hill

#2 Team Tom Faison, Capitol Hill
#3 Team Todd Norris, Capitol Hill
#4 Team David Thomas, Capitol Hill
#5 Team Alan Dalton, Capitol Hill
#6 Team Pam Kristof, Georgetown
#7 Team Steve Dean, Capitol Hill
#8 Team Jackie Von Schlegel, Capitol Hill
#9 Team Ellen Levy, Georgetown

Virginia
#6 Individual Patrick Carosi, Leesburg Pike
#8 Individual Abdul Azeez, Leesburg Pike
#10 Individual Gigi Otar, Arlington
#13 Individual George Torres, Leesburg Pike
#16 Individual Keri O’Sullivan, Arlington
#18 Individual Chrissy O’Donnell, Arlington

#3 Team James Nellis, Burke
#4 Team Rob Ferguson, Leesburg Pike
#8 Team Irina Babb, Leesburg Pike
#9 Team Ray Gernhart, Leesburg Pike
#12 Team Frank Prindle, Old Town
#14 Team Ron Sawyer, Chesapeake
#16 Team Will Carder, Virginia Beach
#19 Jeff Ferlazzo, Dale City
#20 Team Karla Cornwell, Arlington
#22 Team Alex Nova, Virginia Beach
#25 Team Kim Barber, Fairfax

Allegiance Again Named to WBJ Top Corporate Philanthropists List

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 20:48:28 +0000

Allegiance has again been listed by the Washington Business Journal as one of the top corporate philanthropists in the Washington metropolitan area. We’re thrilled to be listed among the likes of IBM, Verizon, The Washington Post, Ernst & Young and Giant Food. Thanks to all of the Allegiance members who contribute and make Allegiance a leader in giving throughout our communities.

Employees of the Year

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:32:19 +0000

We’re thrilled to announce the following two employees as our employees of the year! Both have demonstrated a willingness to embrace our core values, most especially by Delivering Associate Happiness Through Extraordinary Service, Staying Humble, Getting Things Done, Doing More with Less and Accepting and Driving Change.

Logan Rush

Mark Vergara

Logan and Mark each win a cruise for their efforts!

Notable Quotable: Brian Block

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:41:09 +0000

Congratulations to Brian Block (Arlington, McLean) for being quoted recently in the Washington Post. The article was about real estate web sites and searches and Brian was quoted as saying, “People are having to see fewer homes because they’ve done their initial research on the Internet,” says their agent, Brian Block, managing broker for RE/MAX Allegiance in Arlington. “It can really help you narrow down your search.”

For the entire article, click here.

2011 Year End Stats

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:25:17 +0000

2011 Year End Stats

Transactions: 6,233
Volume: $2,156,226,885
Commission Paid: $59,543,483
Average Sales Price: $345,937

51.46% of transactions were listings
48.54% of transactions were sales
5% of sales were cash

Great Housing News Today

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:20:04 +0000

Two bits of good news today:

1. Pending Home Sales Up
Signed contracts for U.S. home resales rose to a nearly two-year high in January, an industry group said on Monday, further evidence of a budding recovery in the housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in January, increased 2 percent to 97.0 — the highest reading since April 2010 when there was a stampede of activity due to the first time home buyer tax credit.

This news, in the middle of winter no less, should not be overlooked.

2. Buffett: Single Family Homes Better Long Term Investment Than Stocks
Warren Buffett says along with equities, single-family homes are a very attractive investment right now.

Appearing live on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Buffett tells Becky Quick he’d buy up “millions” of single family homes if it were practical to do so.

If held for a long period of time and purchased at low rates, Buffett says houses are even better than stocks. He advises buyers to take out a 30-year mortgage and refinance if rates go down.

170,000 Miracles

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:59:48 +0000

I am pleased to announce that we raised over $170,000 for Children’s Miracle Network in 2011! Here is the breakdown of the top giving offices:

1. Corporate/Leadership: $42,900
2. Leesburg Pike: $26,090
3. Burke: $23,385
4. Franconia $9,100
5. Ashburn: $7,096

Thanks to all of those who donated to CMN in 2011! Interested in giving? Sign up for the Miracle Home Program by contacting your front desk staff member.

January Company Top Producers

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:51:05 +0000

Congratulations to the company top producers for January. Office top producers may be found on the office facbook pages.

Highest Team Volume: James Nellis II – Burke

Highest Team Transactions: Ronald Sawyer – Chesapeake

Highest Individual Volume: George Torres – Leesburg Pike

Highest Individual Transactions: George Torres – Leesburg Pike

Club Award Achievements

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:09:26 +0000

Many Associates are already on track to have a great year in 2012. Congratulations to the following Associates for achieving Executive Club this year:

Tom Buerger – Georgetown
Alan Dalton – Capitol Hill
Will Carder – Sandbridge
Ron Sawyer – Chesapeake
Jeff Ferlazzo – Dale City
Phil Bolin – Franconia
Abdul Azeez – Leesburg Pike
Kim Barber – Fairfax
Waleed Abuzar – Burke
Carla Brown – Leesburg Pike
Patrick Carosi – Leesburg Pike
James Nellis - Burke
Tom Faison – Capitol Hill
Judy Reed – Virginia Beach
Lisa Dubois – Arlington
Mike Pugh – Arlington
Ray Gernhart – Leesburg Pike
Frank Prindle – Old Town
George Torres – Leesburg Pike
Dallison Veach – Burke

Congratulations to the following Associates for achieving 100% Club this year:

Rob Ferguson – Leesburg Pike
Gigi Otar – Arlington

$117,000 Per Second

Charlie Bengel, Jr. — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:37:18 +0000

Century 21 spent an estimated $3.5 million – or $117,000 per second of air time for its Super Bowl ad on Sunday. The result? Meh.

I admit I was skeptical when I heard C-21 was going with a Super Bowl commercial. After all, the company had sworn off TV advertising fairly recently, instead claiming it was better to focus on the Internet. Perhaps they should have as a USA Today panel of consumers ranked the commercial second-to-last. The Wall Street Journal grouped it with a handful of “spots that fell flat,” based on the thoughts of advertising experts.

We all know that a Super Bowl commercial has to be killer since there are so many other awesome commercials that air during the game. So, instead of that money being spent on Super Bowl Sunday, what would it buy another time?

- On a National level you could purchase about 32 thirty second spots.
- On a local level in a top 20 market (Los Angeles, Denver, DC, Philly among others) you could buy over 3,000 thirty second TV spots in highly rated programming.

To put it into perspective, you could run a healthy local TV schedule for a good 12-15 months with a $3 million dollar budget.

I like the RE/MAX approach: spread the ad fund over multiple media channels over the course of a year. You get more impressions and your brand is not lost in the shuffle or picked on the day after the big game.