Jennifer Spivey’s Ecobroker Blog

Congratulations to eight great Atlanta Intown agents!  They just completed Ecobroker training last week.  We are a growing community of real estate professionals committed to being change agents in the Atlanta community.  That being said, we have started a newsletter by ecobrokers for ecobrokers.  We had our first ecobroker happy hour at Stella in Grant Park.  It was hosted by Allan Altman at Oakland Park - Atlanta’s first LEED certified condo development.  I got stuck at a closing (that was delayed by 3 hours…) but I have been told it was a great time.  Our next happy hour will be in August and will be sponsored by Eon, a transit centered community at Lindbergh and Atlanta’s first earthcraft certified condo development.  If you are an ecobroker and you are not receiving the newsletter, please let me know.

FMLS has agreed to include green building certifications and HERS ratings to their search options.  This will make it much easier to market and find green properties and to more accurately track sales.  Ecobroker®s Carson Matthews and Cotten Alston of Harry Norman Realtors were part of the team that worked with FMLS to make it happen!  Look for the changes in August.  Way to go, Carson and Cotten!

I am continually amazed by my students.  The Ecobroker program attracts some top notch professionals and I am honored to teach them and work beside them in the every changing field of real estate. I had five students this week - four from three different Keller Williams offices in the Atlanta area and one student from Pennsylvania.  Jan, my farthest traveling student so far, came to Atlanta to take the Ecobroker class.  She owns the firm her father started 80 years ago.  She has been practicing real estate for over fifty years!  Jan knows the value of lifelong learning and her knowledge of global warming was impressive. 

One of my other students told me about Active Rain, a very useful on-line real estate community site. I have added a link to the page if you’d like to check it out.  Another student arranged for us to tour Weatherford Place, a zero-net energy community in Roswell.  It was great for the students to see green building in action and I hope to add the tour to future classes held at PURE.

I have the best job in the world - not only do I get to teach and practice real estate but I get to meet some amazing people along the way.  Life is good.

The next Ecobroker certification series at PURE is July 9, 10, 11.  Register at www.georgiarealestatecareers.com.

Congratulations to Lewis, Whitney, and Carolina - the on-site agents of Eon at Lindbergh, for earning the Ecobroker (R) designation last week. 

Eon is the first earthcraft(R) multi-family development in Buckhead!  Eon is located within the Lindbergh redevelopment area steps from MARTA, shops, and restaurants.   On the last day of training, we toured several units under construction and checked out all the green features. 

I very much enjoyed teaching Whitney, Lewis, and Carolina on-site at Eon and wish them much success! Tired of sitting in traffic?  Want a second home in the city?  Check out Eon at http://www.livinglindbergh.com/ - tell them Jennifer sent you!

Are you a Real Estate professional and interested in becoming Ecobroker certified?  The next classes will be June 4,5, and 6 at PURE.  Details available at www.georgiarealestatecareers.com.

Congratulations to Karen Grant on becoming the first Power Realty Partner to successfully complete Ecobroker training through PURE and earn the Ecobroker designation!

Among the many things that Karen learned during her training was how to deal with indoor air quality issues.  She now has the tools to help her clients with indoor air quality concerns such as asthma and allergies, very important knowledge to many in the Atlanta area.

The next Ecobroker series is May 6, 7, and 8.  The cost is $395 and includes 3 days of instruction (18 CE’s) & 3 reference manuals / text books.  Upon successful completion of the series, students earn the Ecobroker designation and one year in ecobroker international (a bio & listings posted on ecobroker.com, marketing materials, educational materials for you and your clients, and much more).

To register online go to www.georgiarealestatecareers.com.

A big congratulations to 38 new Atlanta Ecobrokers!!  Last week I taught 38 Harry Norman realtors at their North Atlanta training center.  Around 80 Harry Norman realtors have gone through the program so far. 

This is a tremendous commitment for any real estate firm right now and just goes to show that “going green” is not a fad.  Real estate professionals need energy and environmental training to keep up with consumer demand and truly add value to every transaction.  This will hopefully serve as a challenge for all the other great realty companies - especially those listing “green” properties!

Knowledge is POWER.

People often ask why I teach “green” real estate.  I answer by explaining what green building actually is and explain how real estate professionals such as myself have a tremendous opportunity (and responsibility) to effect change and provide exceptional service to our clients. 

 Typical green residential and mixed-use properties fall into two main categories, new building and renovations.  In general terms, “certified green” new construction such as new single family homes are built above the required building code for the area.  Certification programs such as earthcraft require builders to go through special training and offer on-going training and support.  In order for a project to earn certification, a third party inspects the home at various stages of construction to ensure it meets certain benchmarks.  The resulting home is less expensive to heat and cool, has healthier indoor air, uses less water, and is better built than a similar conventionally built home.  There are also less call backs for the builder and higher customer satisfaction ratings (as reported in the NAHB news, April 2, 2007). 

One of the misconceptions real estate professionals and homebuyers have about “green” properties is that they are much more expensive then conventionally built homes.  While it is true that currently the cost of constructing a typical “green” home will be about 1-3% higher then the same conventionally built home, that homeowner will also realize reduced monthly utility costs.

With daily changes in the current housing market, there is even more opportunity to help our clients with green renovations or “greenovations.”  Clients that are doing minor repairs before putting their homes on the market can benefit from using “green” products such as low voc paints, formaldehyde-free flooring and cabinets, and green label carpeting.  There’s nothing that will turn a buyer away from your listing faster than watery eyes or an asthma attack.  If your seller needs to upgrade appliances, energystar rated appliances use 10-50% less energy than standard appliances and are a great marketing tool!  For clients looking to buy a foreclosure or a “handy man’s special,” suggest a blower door test from a qualified energy rater before they spend thousands to upgrade HVAC, windows, or insulation.  Your buyers will thank you and tell their friends about your services!

So in a nut shell, I teach green real estate because we are not order takers or facilitators.  We are the professionals people turn to when they are buying or selling their single largest investment.  The clients are asking for better homes, the builders are building them and we are the link between them.   I believe we have a responsibility to learn about all aspects of the real estate industry, from schools to finance to building, and when we don’t know the answers we should know the people who do. 

Until now the only way to go through the Ecobroker certification program in Georgia was to take it on-line.  Not anymore!  Ecobroker classes are now available through P.U.R.E. at our brand new, fully accredited RE school in North Fulton.  If that is out of your area,  e-mail me and private classes can also be arranged for associations, offices, and groups of 15 or more anywhere in Georgia. 

It is a goal of mine to reach out to every association, board, and RE office in Georgia.  “Why”you ask?  Here is my top ten list for teaching Ecobroker (not in any particular order).

1. Ecobroker is the best in energy and environmental training for real estate professionals.
2. Ecobroker training is by real estate professionals for real estate professionals.
3. Our clients and customers deserve agents that are on the cutting-edge of issues that affect their health and their wallets.
4. More and more developers and builders are taking big financial risks in converting to a better, more healthy product for our buyers and the planet - we should do our part and know what we are selling! 
5. Ecobroker is more than a certification program.  It is networking, on-going education, marketing, and community.
6. Green has gone mainstream, it just makes good business sense.
7. Real estate people are social, interactive learners and on-line learning doesn’t work for many of us.
8. To help our clients make sound, informed real estate decisions by knowing when to direct them to outside professionals.  Sometimes not being the expert is the best way to serve our clients…
9. To meet people that are passionate about what they do and strive to be the best!
10. Because it’s a challenging, exciting time to be in real estate and knowledge is power.