John Daugherty Realtors Teaches Class at Rice University

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Darren Moore, Cheri Fama, Michelle Sandlin and John A. Daugherty, Jr.

Since rejoining John Daugherty, Realtors at the end of 2008, I have had many opportunities to speak to various groups about the relocation industry and the impact of social media on our business.  If you read my Houston Relocation Blog on a regular basis and follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, then you already know that I am a social media junkie!  So when I was invited earlier this month to co-teach a class at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University again this year, I was more than a little thrilled.  I knew that this would be a tech-savvy class, and was eager to share with them an overview of the relocation industry and how I have successfully utilized social networking in my marketing strategy and as an important business development tool.

The class was on Real Estate Development and I was invited to co-teach along with John A. Daugherty, Jr., Cheri Fama, and Darren Moore.

In addressing the students, John talked about his own background in real estate and what his vision and goals were when he started John Daugherty, Realtors in 1967.  He stressed that one of the cornerstones of the company’s success has always been the long-standing commitment to being a company that is highly focused on providing the proper training its sales associates, both on an initial and continuing basis.  This has been very important to me as well in my role as Director of Global Relocation Services, as I have developed a very comprehensive Relocation Training and Certification Program for my relocation team of agents.

Cheri Fama, our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer also addressed the class and provided up-to-date MLS statistical reports and information regarding the current Houston real estate market.  Based on recent reports provided by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), Cheri talked about how we are in a balanced real estate market right now, with about 7-8 months of current inventory.  She said that the Houston real estate market has just seen its twelfth consecutive week of year-over-year gains in buyer activity, according to HAR.

For my portion, I spoke to the class about the relocation industry, provided statistics and information on the latest trends, and discussed the importance of having a relocation team of agents who are specifically trained and certified in relocation.  I also went into great detail about the value of social media and the positive impact that it has had on our company’s relocation business.  I told the class that my Houston Relocation Blog, combined with my consistent use of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have resulted in a continuous increase in our relocation and referral business.

I also spoke about the importance of Google ranking, and how my frequent use of social media and the consistency in my message have resulted in page 1 status on Google.

Lastly, Darren Moore, our company’s Director of Web Marketing spoke to the class about the role that technology plays on real estate and how consumers are seeking more and more information on-line.  Darren talked about the company’s commitment to being a leader in terms of technology and innovation.  He said that the company had incorporated the use of mobile technology by launching “THE TAG,” which has been installed on about 350 of our yard signs.  “THE TAG” enables consumers to quickly access information about properties we have listed via a mobile app from Microsoft©.  Darren said that “John Daugherty, Realtors continues to be innovative with the use of technology and the ways in which we are able to engage consumers.” I couldn’t agree more!

Michelle Sandlin and Darren Moore will each be panelists at 2 separate sessions during the upcoming Leading Real Estate Companies of the World Conference next month in Las Vegas.

My “Personal” Approach to Relocation

I always enjoy the opportunity to visit with transferees and clients who are moving to Houston.  Whether their relocation is employment-based or for other reasons entirely, personal counseling is an invaluable part of the process.  While this counseling is often initiated through their employers and/or their relocation management companies, there is still a significant amount of counseling that we do in real estate Relocation Departments.  

As soon as I receive a new relocation referral, the very first thing that happens is that I reach out to the transferee or client.  In the case of someone who is moving to Houston, this is that crucial conversation in which I am able to gather pertinent, personal information about the transferee’s priorities and those of his or her family, their familiarity or not with the Houston area, the timing of their move, what they are looking for, whether they need to rent for a while first…and so much more!  It also gives me guidance in selecting the agent on our Relocation Team who will be most appropriate to assist that transferee and his or her family. 

While this conversation is most often done via telephone, I recently had the opportunity of visiting in-person with several transferees and their spouses who will be relocating to Houston from Oklahoma as part of a corporate group move.  One of the relocation management companies that I work with on a regular basis had requested my presence and services in speaking directly to the employees and their spouses.  This offered an even more personal approach to the process.

As with any relocation, there are always those people who are excited about making the move, and those who are more than a little apprehensive, and of course, those who are downright hostile about it.  Luckily, this group seemed to be happy about their relocation, at least for the most part.

But their excitement about moving wasn’t without a certain degree of stress and anxiety, caused by a fear of the unknown.  And my job was primarily to ease their fears and answer questions that they had  about Houston, our real estate market, various neighborhoods and areas of interest, and other more specific questions that were unique to each transferee and family situation.  You could almost see the questions on their faces:  “How long will it take me to sell my current home?  Where am I going to live?  Where are my kids going to go to school?  What if my spouse has trouble finding a job in Houston? Will I ever find my way around in a city so large?”…and so on and so on…

Being able to visit with these transferees and their spouses face-to-face provided me with a deeper level of understanding and  personal insight into what they were really thinking and feeling, and how I can best assist them and make them feel more comfortable about their relocation.

Relocation is much more than boxes and moving vans.  Transferees are uprooting their families and often leaving the city where they grew up and all the things that are familiar to them.  It’s always my goal to be the calm in the storm and hopefully remove some degree of stress from the process. 

We need to always remember that as relocation professionals, we are ultimately in the people business.  Yes, it’s business, but it is also VERY personal!

For more on relocation and moving to Houston, I invite you to click here often:  Houston Relocation

International Relocation Assignments & The Value of Cross-Cultural Training

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Dean Foster and Larry Scott (Founder & President of Houston International HR Roundtable)

I consider Houston to be the global center of excellent for International Human Resources.  This should come as no surprise, because after all, I have the pleasure of serving as the Chairman of the Global Center of Excellence Committee for Houston International HR Roundtable!  This is a wonderful organization for Houston’s International HR professionals and their international and domestic service providers.  Each month our group meets at the offices of Deloitte in downtown Houston to provide networking and educational opportunities to its members.

For last month’s meeting, we were treated to a presentation by Dean Foster, who conducts cross-cultural training and consults with many Fortune 1000 companies worldwide.  His presentation was entitled, “Culturally Thriving, or Merely Culturally Surviving.”

This is a very important topic for those of us involved in global mobility and international HR.  When a company sends an employee and his or her family overseas, cross-cultural training or the total lack thereof, can positively or negatively impact the success of the assignment.  According to Foster, the real value is in building the strategic talent for the future in organizations, and talent that understands intercultural issues so that a global mindset can be developed throughout an entire organization.  He says that this is where the real value and long-term value are realized.

Dean Foster

Foster also provided some interesting statistics with regards to the success and failure of international assignments.  He said that upwards of 60% of all international joint ventures do not work out as planned.  He added that 30%-50% of expatriate managers fail.  Considering the fact that the average successful relocation assignment represents an investment of over $1 million USD, failed relocation assignments can end up costing a company or organization about 3 times that amount. 

Then there is the issue of returning expatriates following a relocation assignment.  Foster said that 48% of all returning expatriates end up leaving their company within 2 years of returning home.  This is obviously a poor return of investment.

So what is the primary cause of unsuccessful relocation assignments?  Foster said that the number 1 reason has to do with the inability of the employee’s spouse or family’s to adjust to the cultural/physical environment of the host country.  The number 2 reason is the inability of the employee to adjust to the cultural/physical environment.

Conversely, Foster says that if organization retains the talent, they are getting an exponential value based on the initial $1 million investment per employee for an international relocation assignment.  Foster pointed out that if the employee leaves their company within that 2 year period upon returning home, chances are pretty good that when the employee walks out the door, that he or she is going to walk through the door of the competition.

Foster said that cross-cultural training costs only about 0.5% of the total relocation investment being made.  He said that the insurance policy with cross-cultural training is that people adjust, adapt and perform at peak levels of excellence.  “Cross-cultural training is an investment in the future of an organization,” according to Foster.

For information on Houston International HR Roundtable, please visit: http://houstoninternationalhr.com/.  Our February educational program will be on the challenges of international assignments for the “Dual Career Couple.” We hope to see you there!

To read more by Houston’s “Relo Guru” Michelle Sandlin, please click here:  Houston Relocation

Houston’s 2011 Economic Forecast

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Mike Inselmann and John A. Daugherty, Jr.

I have been remiss about writing a very important blog post.  My excuse, however, is a good one.  Plain and simple…people are moving to Houston!  As the Director of Global Relocation Services at John Daugherty, Realtors, this keeps me very busy.  Even with my insomnia, I have found it difficult to find the time, even during the wee hours of the night, to blog about Houston Relocation as much as I would like to since the start of the year.  Fortunately for us, 2011 started off with a bang, and it hasn’t stopped.  If anything, each week brings more and more business opportunities!

So the timing of having our annual visit and economic forecast presented by MetroStudy President, Mike Inselmann, a couple of weeks ago, was most timely.

Mike began his presentation by saying that, “The recession has officially been over since the summer of 2009,” but pointing out that while this is true, that people aren’t necessary feeling better just yet.   He pointed out, though, that we have several reasons to be optimistic about the economy, such as the passage of the new Tax Bill, historically low interest rates, and corporate America has become lean and mean. 

Mike said that the U.S. job market saw an increase of about 1 million new jobs by the end of 2010, while the Houston area saw an increase of about 15,000 of those new jobs.  According to Mike, the Greater Houston Partnership is calling for about 18,000 new jobs in Houston for 2011.  Just to give you a little perspective, Mike said that during the pre-recession years (1990 – 2008), our annual average job growth was around 46,000.

Mike Inselmann

According to Allied Van Lines, Texas is the #1 destination state in the country, and many of those people are coming out of California.  Thus, we have a lot to be thankful for in terms of the business community in Houston, and in Texas in general.   Texas saw the greatest increase in net inbound shipments versus outbound shipments.  The second highest ranking state, per Allied Van Lines, was Colorado, with only about a quarter of the inbound shipments experienced in Texas.

So what are the elements that are going to drive Houston’s job growth this yera?  Mike says that those “tailwinds” are: rising energy prices, the value of the U.S. dollar, growth in the developing world and emerging countries, and the growth of the U.S. economy. 

According to Mike, the “headwinds” that will drive Houston’s job growth for 2011 are:  the after effects of the drilling moratorium in the Gulf, future of NASA/Johnson Space Center, EPA regulations in lieu of cap and trade, local health care industry and the new health care bill and effect on Medicare, budget cuts by state and local government, and a number of HISD schools that will close in the coming year.

As for the economic outlook with regards to the Houston housing market, Mike said that the outlook is a positive one, but we have some challenges.  For instance, the existing home inventory in the Houston area is an issue.  He said that we have weak pricing power for clients trying to sell their homes and it is important for them to make sure they are pricing their homes correctly to sell in the current market.  He said that we are also faced with strict credit underwriting for people who want to borrow money to buy a house.

The number of listings in MLS as of the third quarter 2010 was at an 8 month supply.  Typically the third quarter since 2001 has seen a much lower inventory of properties, generally hovering around 5.5 to 6.5 months of inventory.  Mike encouraged us to talk to our buyers and let them know that now is a great time to buy a house in Houston, Texas!  Our economy is improving and interest rates are still very low, so Mike says that there is greater pressure to push prices up than there is to push prices down.

Mike also stressed the fact that the renters of today are the home buyers of tomorrow.  We now have 500,000 occupied apartments in the Greater Houston area.  I know that I have seen a great deal of people who have moved to Houston over the past 24 months who have had difficulty in selling their home in their previous location, and as a result moved to Houston in a two-step process.  Many leased homes and apartments until they could sell their homes, and have since purchased properties from us, and/or are currently in the process of doing so.

Finally, Mike said, “No market is fully recovered until builders can buy lots at normal prices, build a house, get a decent profit margin and sell, and then the full recovery will have happened.”

We thank Mike for sharing his insights with us again this year!

TAG Success at John Daugherty Realtors

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At John Daugherty, Realtors, it is all about team work, and being part of the JDR family.  Tonight was no exception.  As the day was coming to a close, I was whisked into a very important project with a deadline of like 3 days ago.  I think we have all been there!  Nonetheless, Darren Moore, our Web Marketing/IT Manager had drafted a write-up about our successful launching of THE TAG, and asked for my help in crafting the final product, most of which can be found in the paragraphs below…

Back in November, John Daugherty, Realtors, became the first Houston real estate company to incorporate a powerful new mobile technology called Microsoft® Tag on our yard signs. THE TAG Reader app can be downloaded from http://gettag.mobi to smart phones.  The app is currently available for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Android-based Internet-capable phones. Once the app has been downloaded, with just a quick scan from a smart phone, consumers have instant access to the property description, price and photos of our listings, along with local information such as maps, schools, and nearby restaurants with ratings and shopping.

Ever since we launched THE TAG, Darren has been called upon to talk about this exciting new technology and how we are effectively using it to market our listings, and provide consumers with instant access to detailed information in the palm of their hands.

The challenge with implementing THE TAG, was in determining the best way to connect and engage sellers and buyers through smart phone technology.  In so doing, we were able to effectively provide instant access to comprehensive information to consumers about the properties we have listed.  THE TAG is now installed on 350 of our yard signs throughout the Houston area.

The research and implementation process was quite extensive, and not without a few challenges.  The first challenge had to do with where to position THE TAG on our yard signs.  The second challenge was in determining how to attach THE TAG itself to our signs.  Darren said that a lot of testing was necessary to ensure that we had the right kind of paper for our TAGS.  It was extremely important to make sure that the paper is weather-proof, and capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions, while adhering to the signs. 

Once the paper passed our rigorous testing, Darren had to educate the agents and staff about this new technology and how we planned to roll it out through our carefully planned marketing strategy.  It was essential to arm the agents with the necessary information to be able to communicate THE TAG technology effectively to their clients. 

As a result of our launching of THE TAG, our initial Press Release was picked up by over 4,800 websites.  And the success of THE TAG so far has been easily measured through the many calls our agents are receiving from consumers who have scanned THE TAGS on our signs.

THE TAG technology has opened up an unlimited number of possible creative marketing opportunities for us as a company.  We are able to utilize this technology in many different ways and create an unlimited number of TAGS, not just for our listings, but as an important marketing tool.  We are continuing to find and utilize new avenues for THE TAG.  While we continue to promote THE TAG, THE TAG continues to promote us, and differentiate our company from our competitors. 

The TAG is just another way we provide more services to the tech savvy consumer.  John Daugherty, Realtors continues to be the leader in real estate technology and innovation in Houston.

You can always click here for all of your moving to Houston or Houston Relocation needs:  Houston Relocation