2019 Five Star Professional Winner

Wow! Another year as a Five Star Professional Winner! Thank you God, my amazing husband Jay Modglin, my beautiful daughter, Reagan, my parents and friends and family for giving me the strength and support every day to do what I do. This career demands a significant amount of our time but it is so rewarding to help families find a place, be their advocate and guide them throughout the process to where in the end, they get to call it HOME. I am so grateful, honored and so very very blessed to win the award for 2018 and 2019 Five Star Professional for Real Estate. Thank all my clients and industry partners for your very positive feedback that helped me earn this award.

Five Star does in depth research to make sure they are nominating Realtors who exemplify truly exceptional service to their clients. Only 4 percent of real estate professionals are nominated for this award and out of over 22,000 agents in Colorado that’s a true honor. Thank you Five Star Professional and to all my clients, industry partners, family and friends as I could have not received this without your support!

Award candidates are identified through evaluations completed by consumers. To receive the Five Star Real Estate Agent award, a real estate agent must satisfy five objective eligibility and evaluation criteria that are associated with real estate agents who provide quality services to their clients. The award process is conducted annually in each market. 

Recent homebuyers are asked to evaluate real estate agents with whom they have worked and evaluate them based upon ten criteria. Recent homebuyers may evaluate up to two real estate agents in order to measure the experience associated with the purchase and sale side of a move. Self-nominations are not accepted. 

Five Star Professional:

• Conducts comprehensive research

• Recognizes service professionals

• Partners with leading city/regional magazines

• Helps award winners gain the recognition they deserve

  Program Summery and Methodology

View fullsize

The Oscar Goes To...The Premier Condo Market

The Premier residential market was feeling the love in February with its sales volume increasing 6.18 percent month over month, and 12.12 percent year over year. Sellers loved that their homes were not taking as long to sell in February with the days on market down 32.74 percent from the prior month to 76 days. No President’s Day sales were happening in the Premier single-family segment of the market, as the price per square feet increased 4.32 percent from the prior month. The average price of a single-family home in the Premier market was  $589,683 - up 0.07 percent from the prior month. With 999 active residences (single-family) at the end of February, and 1.99 months of inventory, buyers had more to choose from compared to homes under $500,000, but needed to act quickly when a listing came on the market. In the category of highest year-to-date percentage increase in sales and sales volume, 2017 over 2018, the Oscar goes to…the Premier condo market at 24.83 percent sold and 23.93 percent sales volume at over $100 million. Days on market for Premier condos was striking at 237 days, down 27.30 percent from the prior month. There were 261 active listings and 3.18 months of inventory in this segment of the market, so buyers had more to choose from in the Premier condo market over other segments of the market.  Download the full March market trends report here.  

How Testimonials and Reviews are Beneficial for Your Company (Even the Bad Ones!)

Let me start by saying this, the first time you get a bad testimonial or a less-than-professional review, it does not feel good on the receiving end. You may get upset; that pit in your stomach may grow and you may sit up at night questioning why the reviewer said what they did or what the testimonial will do for you and your company. All these thoughts will race through your brain and here is where I am going to tell you to take a deep breathe and listen to me when I say; all reviews and testimonials, good or bad, are good for you and your company and I am going to tell you why.

·      The reason most customers leave a company or stop using a product isn’t because they are necessarily dissatisfied with the company as a whole or the products they supply but how they were treated by an employee, the help team, etc. Customer support and how they are treated is the main factor with customers and if they feel they were treated poorly or their situation was handled poorly, get ready to wave goodbye. Knowing this is a huge advantage to you as a business owner because those are problems you can fix. My best advice would be to listen closely to the customer (and not all customers are the easiest of people I understand that and they may feel they deserve special treatment) but overall listen to what they are saying and make changes where changes need to be made. When you are developing your team of workers, surround yourself with a team who treats people the same way you do, no matter their title or their position. Customers can come from all walks in life and you and your team have to be prepared to go out on a limb for some to make them feel comfortable.

·      Customers are skeptical of almost any business they first work with and that is understandable. But it is those returning customers, the ones you have worked with for years, the ones who you send ‘Happy Birthday’ cards to and who continue to come back to you year after year that you need to write you a good testimonial. When researching companies to work with or products to use, people today turn to the Internet and read testimonials and reviews to decide where they should take their business. It is up to you as a business owner to ask your repeated customers and even your new customers to write reviews for your company and express how that will help your company in the long run.

Reviews and testimonials are a great way to connect with your customers and work on issues in your company as well as your own personal issues that could be pointed out through a review or testimonial. The bottom line is, by knowing what you are doing well and what you are not doing so well, these things will allow you to grow as an individual and as a company so you can continue to be better in the long run. 

Why Being Social Is Essential In Any Business

When talking about social media, many people think of it as a fun thing they do during the day when they have a few down minutes. Social platforms are seen as a place to keep pictures and look up old friends, to write about opinions and to share memories. But there is a whole other side to social media that I, as a business owner, have come know quite well. No matter how hard many business owners’ try to fight it, our country is an ever-growing social media network with new ways to connect and market coming out daily. It is important as a person in business that I figure out the best way to use social media to further my work connections, to advertise my properties and to market myself as a real estate agent and business owner. While I do believe in the older way of marketing, going out and meeting people and handing out my card, there is just not enough hours in the day. Having social platforms that I can post on helps me connect with a wider audience while allowing more relationships to begin via the Internet. Below I have compiled a list of the benefits to having different social media platforms for your company:

Finding New Customers/New Customers Finding You – Whatever product your are buying/selling, there is always a market out there and the more you are out there on social media marketing yourself, the more likely people will find you. With things like Facebook, you can join groups that specifically go with your company and from there, new customers can find you. Or on a platform like Twitter, finding what you want is only a “@” sign away.

Seeing Your Target Market Personally – With access to your customer base at your fingertips on social media, you will get to know them better which in turn will help you market your company/product better.

Keeps You in the Now – A lot of business owners think they have missed the train when it comes to social media and are not sure why they should start now. Well, I can tell you this, it is never too late to start! Even if you are just putting your business on the social media map, you will be surprised just how quickly being in the public eye will increase your sales. Also, it is more than likely that your competition is on social media already and therefore already a step ahead of you. We both know that being one step behind is never the best place to be so take the step and get your social media started today!

It Is Free – I could repeat this one a few times because let me tell you, marketing isn’t cheap, but social media is free, period. Use that to your advantage! Get out there and figure out what social platforms are best for your brand and then use those as guides to market your company. If you are a company such as a real estate agent, using Instagram to post pictures of upcoming listings or great house fixer-upper ideas would benefit not just you, but your clientele, and possibly future clients as well.

Take the time today and sit down to experiment with different social media platforms to figure out which one best fits your business. If they appear intimidating, there are plenty of social media experts out there who would be willing to sit down and go over each essential element to each platform and help you decide which platform makes the most sense for your company.

Just remember, it is essential to be social in today’s business world, find the best platforms for you and your company and watch your business grow!

A Little Meditation each Day Keeps the Stress Away

Everyone has his or her morning routines. Some people get up and head to the gym for a quick workout before heading into the office. Some people get up and sit down at their computers to answer emails and write for a few hours. Others meet up with friends for coffee and discussion before tackling their busy day.

My daily routine starts each day at 4am, yes that includes the weekends. I know, sounds a bit early for some people and that’s ok, for me, this is a time I can have to myself before getting my day going. I have found over the years that meditation works wonders for my mind and my spirit. By getting up each morning and focusing my mind and readying my person for the day ahead, I am able to tackle each day with a calm and ready demeanor. I grab a large glass of water and I do yoga or PiYo in the morning and then I always read something inspirational to help me get going for my day and then I may post something on my social media to help others feel inspired as well.  Nothing too elaborate but I make sure to stick with the same routine as it now is a habit and I look forward to it every day. I also follow a group on Facebook called Miracle Morning that is a group who takes everything based off a book by Hal Elrod. 

I know meditation can be a hard thing to start doing, we all have those racing minds especially right when we wake up in the morning. Below are some suggestions I have if you think this is something you think you would like to try out. For me, I know it has helped me to be a better wife, mother, friend and businesswoman. Starting each day by centering myself helps me center the other parts of my life.

1.    Start small, 3-5 minutes: It can be hard to sit still and let your mind rest, and trust me, 3 minutes will seem like a lot at first! But work on concentrating on your breathing and focusing your thoughts. Eventually, you will be able to meditate 20+ minutes if you so choose.

2.    Understand meditation can help with stress, irritability, anxiety and overthinking: I think every one of us suffers from one of these attributes and mediation is a healthy way to help work on controlling those.

3.    Find your own method that works for you: We are all individuals and as such we probably will have a method of mediation that feels right to us. I personally like yoga even though I know that isn’t for everyone. Try a few methods out, research different techniques and eventually with a few trials and error you will find one that works best for your mind and soul.

4.    Make sure you are comfortable: If your kids are running around, the dog is barking, and you are sitting on a hard wood floor, it will be almost impossible to meditate. Make sure to choose a quiet place as well as a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed and let everyone else in the house know that your meditation time is quiet time.

 If you are not a morning person, but rather a night person, I know many people who also find time to meditate each night to let their mind quiet for the night. Regardless if you are a morning or evening person, mediation has changed my life for the better and I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to find peace and tranquility in their personal life and professional life. 

Photo by anyaberkut/iStock / Getty Images