New Corporate Website Update

Our new tablet-friendly corporate website is continuing to develop. We have added functionality to the site, which will replace the current www.helpusell.com for desktop computers and tablets in the coming months.

Help-U-Sell Real Estate's new Find a Local Office feature
Help-U-Sell Real Estate's new website will enable visitors to find a local office without leaving the homepage.

When visitors come to the corporate site, they will be able to find the nearest office without leaving the homepage and, if there are multiple results, choose one of the offices as their favorite office. When the visitor returns to the site from the same computer or tablet, the office will be saved as the default. The system will use geolocation to determine the closest offices. Visitors can also perform a search by entering in a zip code of the city where they want to find an office.

We are also refining the search results for property searches. This is the only aspect of the new corporate site redesign that will impact the broker sites.

Help-U-Sell Real Estate property search results example 1
The new Help-U-Sell Real Estate property search results will have 'heat indexes' where listings are concentrated. By clicking on one of the numbered spots, the searcher will home in on a closer area.

The design and filters are still in progress, but the functionality is mostly in place now on our development site.

Searchers will be able to zoom in on a specific area by clicking on the “heat index” spots indicated with a number, by moving the map to a particular area, or by drawing boundaries on the map either with the mouse or a finger.

The new Help-U-Sell Real Estate site lets visitors draw search boundaries.
The new site lets visitors draw search boundaries.

Mousing over or tapping on a pin on the map will bring up a small popup box with a thumbnail photo and a few basic details about the property. Clicking on or double-tapping the pin will bring up a larger popup box with a larger photo, more details, and a link to the property details page.

We will share more updates on the new site as it develops. If you are a broker and have suggestions for the site’s design or functionality, please share those with us so that we can consider how we might add them to the site.

Top Producers for May 2014

David Bartels, Broker/Owner of Help-U-Sell Conejo Valley
Broker/owner David Bartels' office, Help-U-Sell Conejo Valley, closed 12 transaction sides in May 2014.

May 2014 was a banner month for several Help-U-Sell Real Estate franchise offices. The top producers averaged more than 13 closed sides each.

1) Tying last month, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties again had 21 closed sides. They consisted of one buyer side, 16 seller sides, and two dual-sided transactions.

2) Help-U-Sell Direct Savings Real Estate, out of Waynesboro, Va., finished May in second place with 15 closed sides: three buyer sides, four seller sides, and four dual-sided transactions.

3) In third place, California’s Help-U-Sell Conejo Valley closed 12 sides. Half of them were buyer sides, and the remaining were three dual-sided transactions.

4) Help-U-Sell Greensboro closed four buyer sides, four seller sides, and one dual-sided transaction.

4) Rounding out the top producers for May, Help-U-Sell Legacy, in Layton, Utah, also had 10 closed sides. Theirs were made up of three buyer sides and seven seller sides.

Congratulations to all of our top producers and a special nod to Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties for selling two properties for more than $1 million each and saving their clients thousands of dollars in commissions!

[Figures as of June 9, 2014.]

New Video: Pricing Your Home

Whether you’re selling your house yourself or hiring an agent, you need to have a realistic asking price in mind. It should be based on the prices of properties like yours that sold recently, the trend in home sale prices, and current competition.

If you overprice your home, you will miss out on its most important marketing period.

Watch our new video for advice on how to decide on a list price. If you want more information or are ready to put your house on the market, contact your local Help-U-Sell Real Estate office. You can find it on our website.

New Help-U-Sell Real Estate Postcard Designs

New Marketing Postcard from Excel Printing & Mailing
The newly redesigned arounds postcard boldly displays a recent Sold and Saved to entice potential sellers who live near another agent's listing.

As our branding continues to evolve, so do our marketing postcards that you can order through our print vendor Excel Printing & Mailing.

Updated arounds postcards, which you send to households surrounding another broker’s listing, are available now. Log onto www.husmailnow.com to customize and order these. A two-listing brag card that matches the new look and feel of our other marketing materials is also on the site under ETM Postcards.

If there are other postcards you want to see updated or other marketing messages you want to send, let us know. We are here to help you.

Top Producers for April 2014

Steve Vincent of Help-U-Sell Triad Realty in Greensboro, N.C.
Help-U-Sell Triad Realty finished April with 16 closed sides. Steve Vincent is the office's broker/owner.

Our top producers for last month gave new meaning to the phrase “April showers.” Closed sides poured in, thanks to the offices’ rainmakers.

1) Taking the top spot, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties saw 21 closed sides: five buyer, 12 seller, and two dual-sided transactions.

2) North Carolina’s Help-U-Sell Triad Realty closed 16 sides comprised of five buyer sides, seven seller sides, and two dual-sided transactions.

3) Help-U-Sell Federal City closed 14 sides in April. The D.C.-based office’s closings consisted of three buyer sides, nine seller sides, and one dual-sided transaction.

4) Help-U-Sell Detwiler Realty, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had three buyer sides, eight seller sides, and one dual-sided transaction for a total of 13 closed sides.

5) With a dozen sides, Help-U-Sell Greensboro completed four buyer sides, six seller sides, and one dual-sided transaction.

5) Virginia’s Help-U-Sell Direct Savings Real Estate claims fifth place with 11 closed sides: four buyer, one seller, and three dual-sided transactions.

5) Tied for fifth place, Help-U-Sell Prestige Properties, out of Chino Hills, California, closed nine seller sides and one dual-sided transaction.

Congratulations to our top-producing offices for a stellar month! We also want to acknowledge our offices that helped their clients sell homes worth more than $1 million. Way to go, Help-U-Sell Federal City Realty, Help-U-Sell Honolulu Properties, and Help-U-Sell Tri-Valley Homes. You saved your sellers thousands of dollars in commissions!

[Figures as of May 14, 2014.]