Partners 'Deliver' Toys for Tots!

Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners’ sales agents and staff from throughout the region spent November and December of 2010 gathering toys for children in need. The astounding result was nearly 1,500 gifts collected and provided to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program. The Company has collected for Toys for Tots for many years now.

“We are delighted with the continuous tremendous response from our agents, staff, and other residents throughout the area who contribute to our toy drive. The opportunity to help children have a merrier Christmas was extremely rewarding for all of us,” said Connie Farmer Ray, Broker / CEO of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners.

All the toys from each of the Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners’ offices from around the region were collected, loaded and dropped at a central location for sorting. From there, the toys were distributed back out to children throughout the region from South Carolina’s Low Country through Savannah to the Golden Isles of Georgia. A heartfelt “Thank You” to everyone who helped to make a difference in so many children’s lives this Christmas.

Coldwell Banker wins LACP Award

PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Dec. 7, 2010 – The League of American Communications Professionals has named coldwellbanker.com a recipient of this year’s Gold Top 100 Spotlight Award in the Online Organizational Website category. Top 100 awards were given to the highest-scoring entries regardless of competition class.

The website was judged on a 100-point scale factoring first impression, overall narrative, overall visual design creativity, message clarity and perceived relevance. The coldwellbanker.com site received an aggregate score of 96. The site was awarded maximum points in the overall narrative and overall visual design segments.

In June, Coldwell Banker Real Estate rolled out a new version of coldwellbanker.com, which was produced in collaboration with FD kinesis.

“Innovation is one of the key pillars to our success at Coldwell Banker,” said Helen Galasso, vice president for platform development/ebusiness at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “This wholly re-thought and re-designed version of our site features optimizations that enhance the experience of searching for and finding a home online, which is so critical to today’s consumer.”

The 2010 Spotlight Awards Global Communications Competition drew a near record-setting number of submissions from a broad range of industries and organizational sizes. The Coldwell Banker website was selected from more than 1,100 entries representing nearly one dozen countries.

Tips for an easy and efficient move

After a closing is said and done, most buyers are eager to move into their new home. What some are guilty of is becoming overly excited and failing to properly plan for their move. By taking some time to think your move through, you can ensure a smooth and efficient process so your family can begin to settle in as soon as possible.

"Getting multiple moving estimates from moving companies is recommended before choosing which one you will go with," says Connie Ray, President/Owner of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners. Try to avoid phone or Internet estimates. Furthermore, get recommendations from your friends, family or trusted real estate professional. Have the company come to your home and see the task at hand so that your estimates can be more accurate. "Many new buyers make the mistake of randomly choosing a moving service because they're anxious to get moved into their new home. Take some time to make your decision," says Ray.

The moving business can be quite complex, so don't be afraid to ask your moving company any questions you may have regarding the process. Read all of the documents provided to you, but ask for clarification if something doesn't make sense. If the carrier hesitates to calm your concerns, consider another carrier.

When you move may also make a difference in service. "June to September is a busy season for movers and moving companies," says Ray. If you must move between those months, aim for mid-week and/or mid-month--the end of the month can get hectic and service may falter.

Be reachable by phone in order to facilitate communication. "Your mover may have specific questions to ask you at any given time. To make sure the process runs smoothly and as quick as possible, make sure they know how to reach you," says Ray. In addition, ask the company for your driver's name, ID and truck number. You want to know how to contact someone who is responsible for all of your personal belongings.

By properly screening a moving company and planning your move with them, you can be sure that your family and belongings are relocated with ease.

Caravan for Charity!

Over 20 Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners teamed with 5 local Builders to “Caravan for a Charity” with one goal in mind, to raise money for local charities like Hugs for Haleigh and Toys for Tots. The concept, initially developed by the Company earlier this year to raise funds for the American Cancer Society, is to caravan (or tour) the communities of builders who were willing to donate to the Company’s chosen Charities. The Builders, which included Sunburst Properties of Savannah, Lamar Smith Signature Homes, Fred Williams New Homes Sales, Inc, DR Horton, Beazer Homes, Fred Williams, and The Fairways at Savannah Quarters, LLC, all pledged to donate monies to the touring Partners in support of Hugs for Haleigh and Toys for Tots. The “Caravan for a Charity” kicked off at 9:30 am on Thursday, December 9th with the REALTORS departing from the Company’s Pooler Office. Agents then set off to tour seven individual neighborhoods. At each community, Builders offered drawings /give-aways, even offered food. One special drawing was held in the beginning of the tour for those Agents who brought in extra Toys for Tots.
Hugs for Haleigh is a company-generated program founded in effort to assist with medical costs for fellow Realtor, Libby Jordan and her family in support their 9-year old granddaughter, Haleigh, who is suffering from ASL and recently underwent a Liver Transplant.
With the combined efforts, over $1300 dollars were raised for donation to Hugs for Haleigh and Toys for Tots.

Welcome Brad!

Brad Davis has joined Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners as a REALTOR at the St. Simons Island Office located at 507 Ocean Blvd., Suite 102. Brad looks forward to helping families who are looking to upgrade their homes while simplifying the buying and selling processes. He joins Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners because, “of the firm’s steady growing market share; and I believe CBPP is poised to become the leading firm in Glynn County in the next five years.”

Brad strives to exemplify, “how easy and simple the home buying process can be if you choose the right sales associate.” He earned his BBA from the University of Georgia and has a background in accounting and customer service. He is also active on the Board of REALTORS and is looking forward to joining several civic organizations and charities over the next few months. Brad and his wife, Angie, reside in St Simons Island and are expecting a baby in June. Brad Davis may be reached at 912.536.9753 or via email at brad.davis4@coldwellbanker.com.

Joan' and Don's boat received the "The People's Choice"

Way to go!
Rich and Pam Tritschler -The Grinch and Max
Dawn Vosbury - A Whoo
Cheryl Kercia - CB Mortgage

1st Place in Brunswick Parade - Fourth Year Straight!

Congratulations to the Brunswick & St Simons Island Partners for winning 1st Place in the Brunswick Parade for the fourth year straight!

How to Secure a Sizable Down Payment

SAVANNAH, GA, Dec 08, 2010 - As a result of tightened standards by lenders, down payments have become even more important as borrowers begin the planning stages of their home purchase. With more money on the table, lenders will be quick to approve your loan, and borrowers will most likely receive the best rates as well.

"Very few zero-down loan programs exist," says Connie Ray, President/Owner of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners. "The more money you put down to buy a home, the smaller your monthly payments will be."

What some buyers may not realize is that a down payment instantly becomes a homeowner's equity when the purchase closes, and that equity can be borrowed against with a home equity loan or line of credit, says Ray. Buyers should be sure to leave behind some reserves for emergencies. Depleting your entire savings with your down payment is a common mistake; make sure to have some cash on hand to handle the unexpected cost of any repairs and maintenance that may be required.

If you are finding it difficult to save up a sizable down payment, there are steps you can take to achieve this goal. To start, try setting up an automatic savings plan. Set up your checking account to automatically transfer a certain amount of funds over to your savings after each pay period. Weeks later, you'll be surprised by how much you have saved up.

If you have an extra car, or a boat or motorcycle you aren't using, now would be the time to sell it. Cashing in any collectibles or assets can free up quite a bit of funds to go towards your down payment for your new home. In addition, liquidating stocks, mutual funds, savings bonds or other investments can also help. Cashing in any extra assets will only add to your growing down payment sum, says Ray.

Additionally, you may qualify for a special homebuyers' program, depending on your state, adds Ray. For example, HUD's Good Neighbor Next Door program offers teachers, police officers, firefighters or other public servants extreme discounts on homes in certain neighborhoods. Buyers should contact a trusted real estate professional to discuss some of these possibilities, which are great options for those worried about the size of their down payment.

Also keep in mind that lenders may want to know how your down payment was sourced in order to ensure you can control and sustain those funds with a monthly mortgage payment in the picture. Gifts from friends or family are usually accepted up to a certain percentage, but borrowed money that is required to be repaid is not.

"Don't be discouraged if you are lacking a down payment," says Ray. "By contacting a real estate professional and also your state government, you can learn about any possible down payment programs run by state and local housing authorities to figure out the best possible option for your situation."

For more information regarding down payments or financial assistance programs, please contact Connie Ray at CFRay@ColdwellBanker.com, 912-352-1222 or Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners.

CB wins Spotlight Award!

The League of American Communications Professionals has named coldwellbanker.com a recipient of this year’s Gold Top 100 Spotlight Award in the Online Organizational Website category, the company has announced. Top 100 awards were given to the highest-scoring entries regardless of competition class.

According to the company, the website was judged on a 100-point scale factoring first impression, overall narrative, overall visual design creativity, message clarity and perceived relevance. The coldwellbanker.com site received an aggregate score of 96. The site was awarded maximum points in the overall narrative and overall visual design segments.

In June, Coldwell Banker Real Estate rolled out a new version of coldwellbanker.com, which was produced in collaboration with FD kinesis.

“Innovation is one of the key pillars to our success at Coldwell Banker,” said Helen Galasso, vice president for platform development/ebusiness at Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “This wholly re-thought and re-designed version of our site features optimizations that enhance the experience of searching for and finding a home online, which is so critical to today’s consumer.”

The 2010 Spotlight Awards Global Communications Competition drew a near record-setting number of submissions from a broad range of industries and organizational sizes. The Coldwell Banker website was selected from more than 1,100 entries representing nearly one dozen countries.

Hugs for Haleigh

Haleigh Little, an 8-year-old granddaughter to a fellow REALTOR, Libby Jordan of Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners is fighting a rare disease called Argininosuccinate Lyase Deficiency (ASL). Haleigh was diagnosed with this rare disease at birth, of which there are only about 100 known cases in the United States.

ASL is an inherited, congenital metabolic disease caused by a defect in the urea cycle. Even with medications, Haleigh’s ammonia levels can reach life threatening levels requiring her to spend days in the hospital and sometimes causes seizures. Haleigh has had to be air lifted to Miami whenever her ammonia levels had to get too high to have the medication administered intravenously.

Haleigh was recently on the liver transplant list; and just in the past month a match was found for little Haleigh! The news is fantastic! Haleigh’s transplant occurred in Miami, FL where Haleigh has been admitted to the hospital, and visits frequently. The family has had to locate affordable housing to stay close to the hospital for her visits and any emergencies.
The family of Haleigh has had some major financial obstacles to overcome. Her medications, after her insurance has paid, is around $1200 per month, not counting theexpenses of the Miami housing. The family desperately needs help.
Coldwell Banker Platinum Partners has banded together to help Haleigh, Libby and their family, through a charity program they developed named, “Hugs for Haleigh”. In November, the REALTOR family held a 50/50 raffle; where half the proceeds were to go to Haleigh’s medical costs. The winner, drawn on November 24th was Dr Jim Vaughter, a local Savannah dentist. He DONATED all his winnings to Hugs for Haleigh!! That's something to SMILE about! All together, the raffle brought in about $1800 for the family.
The next event the Company plans to hold is a Caravan for Charity on December 9th. Agents from the Platinum Partners team will tour through various homes on a Real Estate Caravan. Builders have generously offered to contribute money to the cause based on the number of agents who attend. For each agent that attends, Builders donate a certain amount of money; a portion of the monies raised will also go to Toys for Tots.

The Company also hopes to hold a Boston Butt sale just in time for the Super Bowl.

For more information on this cause, or to donate to the Hugs for Haleigh please call 912.352.1222 or visit online at http://savannahgahomes.net/hugsforhaleigh.html. Thank you for your support.

Congrats David Siroty!

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Dec. 1, 2010) – The “PR People Awards” today recognized David Siroty, vice president of North American communications, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, as the 2010 “Lemonade Maker” at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., hosted by PR News. The “Lemonade Maker” award recognizes the achievements of a public relations professional over the past year who overcame hurdles to achieve remarkable PR success.
“David Siroty is an incredible public relations leader who has empowered our brokers and agents to share positive news about their local markets despite a challenging industry and media environment,” said Michael Fischer, chief marketing officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “We take our role seriously as a real estate leader and work with the media so that they have the resources and information they need to cover the housing market. We believe public relations is a critical part of marketing and helps to drive business leads and awareness for our brand.”
To combat the national sentiment of doubt and uncertainty surrounding real estate, Siroty led an integrated public relations campaign to reframe the discussion of the housing sector. This included highlighting the Coldwell Banker Real Estate legacy of more than 100 years of service, its network of outstanding professionals and its innovations paving the way for real estate in the future. In addition, the public relations team and agency of record, CooperKatz, communicated the positive aspects of housing both on a national level and also helped to support Coldwell Banker affiliated companies in their efforts to deliver informative and timely messages locally so that consumers could make smart and educated decisions about their housing needs. Coldwell Banker Real Estate was featured in over 3,500 media placements outlets in 2009, and is tracking to surpass that number in 2010.
Siroty led public relations efforts for numerous initiatives including the Coldwell Banker Home Listing Report (HLR), a snapshot study of hundreds of the most expensive and affordable real estate markets around the world as well as the successful launch of the Coldwell Banker “On Location” YouTube channel, which has received more than 2 million channel views.
Prior to being promoted to vice president of North American communications, David Siroty was senior director of public relations for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. He has been with Coldwell Banker Real Estate for six years. Siroty spent 25 years in public relations focused on the sports, TV, agency and university industries. He taught public relations for several years and wrote the baseball book, The Hit Men and the Kid Who Batted Ninth. Siroty earned his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University.