Hi my name is Dr. Robi Ludwig, and I’m a psychotherapist in New York City. I teamed up with Coldwell Banker Real Estate this Spring to better understand Americans’ mindset after the recession on important issues like owning a home.

In my decades of practice, it’s always fascinated me to study how timely issues or tragic circumstances can affect us. In some cases, we also find that in spite of issues at hand, our underlying emotions and deep-seeded beliefs remain consistent even in times of stress or strife.

Clearly the recession has had an impact and one of the questions American’s have is the value of homeownership. I believe the home has a deep psychological value that goes beyond the financial investment so we decided to get straight to the source and survey more than 2,100 Americans to get a sense of their state of mind following the recession.

It caused me to reflect personally about my first real home, as well. My parents recently sold my childhood home in New Jersey. They were excited to move to a new community, but I was surprised at my own feelings of loss and then nostalgia. Then again, this was a home that hosted happy occasions, school pep rallies, prom photos, Thanksgiving dinners – it was essentially another character in our family, and that it was natural to feel this strong emotional pull.

So how did our survey compare to my own feelings about the home? Here’s a brief video in which I share some of our most important findings: namely, we learned that for the overwhelming majority of Americans, owning a home is still a very fundamental part of the American Dream (in spite of the recession), and it’s something we feel is important for our children in the future!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9wwQuJY4mg

Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty

We are very proud to announce that Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty has been named among the Top 20 Coldwell Banker offices in North America - #12 to be exact!

Below is the list of top 20 offices, and here’s a quick reminder of who we are and what we do…

Founded in Kitty Hawk, NC in 1990, Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty is a dynamic full service real estate company, servicing the entire Albemarle region. More than 50 licensed agents provide both residential and commercial buying/selling assistance in Northeast North Carolina. Offices located in Kitty Hawk and Elizabeth City, NC. More information can be found on the Coldwell Banker Seaside Realty website at www.ColdwellBankerOBX.com.

Top 20 Coldwell Banker offices in North America 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0_XfTlv-As

]]> http://obxmarketreport.com/2012/05/outer-banks-real-estate-news-coldwell-banker-seaside-realty-ranked-12-in-north-america/feed/ 0 http://obxmarketreport.com/2012/05/new-infographic-home-really-is-where-the-heart-is/ http://obxmarketreport.com/2012/05/new-infographic-home-really-is-where-the-heart-is/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 16:18:55 +0000 Gordon Jones http://obxmarketreport.com/?p=2212 Continue reading →]]> Via Coldwell Banker’s Blue Matter…

When looking for a home everyone uses the same criteria. Beds, bathrooms, price, square footage, etc. But what we at  Coldwell Banker Real Estate found is that there is so much more to the home buying process than just facts and figures. Emotions, feelings and lifestyle play just as an important role and they differ for both men and women.

Take a look at our latest infographic “Home Really Is Where the Heart Is” to see what we discovered:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=47-JHxmNtEo

“Why do people buy homes? It’s for lifestyle. It’s personal.”- Michael Fischer, CMO of Coldwell Banker

 
The coldwellbanker.com mobile websites have been completely revamped to enhance your mobile experience with easy navigation, integrated video and complete agent and office searches. Best of all, coldwellbanker.com websites are accessible on nearly every phone! Simply type in “coldwellbanker.com” into the mobile browser of ANY mobile device and you’ll be greeted with the best search experience for your phone.

To learn more about the new mobile experience:

• Read our latest Blue Matter blog post to find out more about our great new mobile websites
• Check out the “Mobile Matrix” which gives you the what, where and how of coldwellbanker.com mobile platforms and more.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8LfpsWeCRc

Gillespie was the only representative from the real estate industry on the top 10 list. He was joined in the top 10 list by CEOs from companies such as Amazon, FedEx and Qualcomm.

“I think many of us get into real estate because we feel that we have a higher calling to help people live the Dream of Homeownership and Jim Gillespie has always been an inspiration for agents like me,” said Jessica Edwards, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Consumer Specialist, and an agent in Wilmington, N.C.

“I’ve worked in different positions in the Coldwell Banker brand for 35 years in real estate, and began as an agent myself,” said Gillespie. “Receiving an honor like this, from our network of trusted agents and brokers across the globe, humbles me because I have stood in their shoes, and it motivates me to do the best job that I possibly can.” Read entire press release…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I7v8hGgfJA

Owning a home is a wonderful experience and Coldwell Banker Real Estate thinks finding one should be too. Visit us at ColdwellBankerOBX.com and ColdwellBanker.com to discover all the ways Coldwell Banker Real Estate can help you find your home.

According to Nielsen and comScore Media Metrix, the two global leaders in digital measurement, Coldwell Banker branded websites had the highest number of unique visitors among all national real estate franchise brands for full-year 2011.  This marks the second consecutive year that the Coldwell Banker brand ranked No. 1 in Web traffic among all real estate franchisors.

“The Coldwell Banker brand is clearly top of mind when consumers go online and search for a home,” said Michael Fischer, chief marketing officer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.  “Consumers know our great brand and have shown a desire to utilize the suite of online tools seen throughout the Coldwell Banker network at the national and local levels.”
According to Nielson, Coldwell Banker websites had 17.5 million unique visitors in 2011, which was more than 28 percent higher than the next nearest franchise brand competitor (13.7 million). Similarly, Coldwell Banker branded websites (26.1 million unique visitors) had the highest Web traffic ranking among real estate franchisors in the comScore Media Metrix full-year ranking for 2011, easily outpacing its next nearest competitor by 21 percent (21.6 million unique visitors).

The Coldwell Banker brand continues to place an emphasis on developing its website into a hub for consumers to find and prepare for the home buying and selling process.  Recent additions include the lifestyle search page and first time home buyer resource center.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC accessed the aforementioned information through its subscription to both Nielson and comScore Media Metrix. The rankings encompass all consumer Web traffic (unique visitors) to national and local websites operated by the franchise brands as well as by their franchisees.

We are pleased to inform you that Coldwell Banker is among the first brands to join the Real Estate Network, which was launched by Move Inc. on its ListHub site Tuesday morning. The Real Estate Network was created to extend the syndication of real estate listings to highly trafficked consumer websites operated by real estate franchisors and other industry participants. ListHub, which will operate the Real Estate Network, is the largest syndicator of real estate listings.

In addition to providing our brokers’ listings to the Real Estate Network, we also will be receiving listings from the Real Estate Network that will be published on our brand website, coldwellbanker.com.

“We view our involvement with the Real Estate Network as the next step in the evolution of our listings distribution strategy, following the spirit of the franchisor indexing rules that were considered last year,” said Michael Fischer, Chief Marketing Officer for Coldwell Banker.  “We are pleased to expand the distribution of your listings by syndication through the Real Estate Network to more prospective home buyers, and at the same time, enhance the marketing value that you provide to home sellers.”

  ]]> http://obxmarketreport.com/2012/01/coldwell-banker-among-the-first-to-join-the-real-estate-network/feed/ 0 http://obxmarketreport.com/2011/11/trying-to-define-home/ http://obxmarketreport.com/2011/11/trying-to-define-home/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:05:28 +0000 Gordon Jones http://obxmarketreport.com/?p=1748 Continue reading →]]> Via Coldwell Banker’s Blue Matter

Home.

It’s a simple word with more meanings than one would expect. It’s a term that crosses continents and has universal appeal. Sports, entertainment and even financial sectors all use the word on a regular basis. It’s a part of pop culture, music and a niche market all wrapped in one.

Today the headlines have tried to change the definition of home. The meaning has been construed to be solely about financial value, investment and an indicator of market plight, but what is missing is seeing the true definition of home in the eyes of those who own one.

I set out to see how people would define their home as well as what they thought the best part about being home is  by polling homeowners on Twitter, Facebook and people that I met during my recent travels. Ironically, not a single person of the hundreds of response I received talked about the monetary value of their residence. Every response was different.

A number of responses brought the idea of a place of comfort, love, rejuvenation and even giving. Some took the concept and defined it in a physical way with the sense of dominion by calling it their palace, castle or kingdom.  Others defined it more intimately by defining their home as “no place like it” and “a gathering place for friends and family.”

The only consistent thing from the responses was that everyone defines home differently.

I love some of the response when I asked what their favorite part of their home was. One responded that “it’s mine and I bought it!” My favorite is someone who answered “the creaking front door.” When I asked for an explanation they replied, “It signals my two little ones that daddy is home and they rush out to greet me every afternoon.” That’s a priceless definition.

For me, home is difficult to define. It’s defined more by memories and moments than by adjectives. There are many great orators and poets who can more eloquently define home than I ever could. Some you’re probably familiar with. The Roman philosopher and author, Pliny the Elder, was the originator of the famous phrase, “home is where the heart is.”

But perhaps the most famous quote about home is credited to a fictional girl from Kansas named Dorothy. What many people don’t realize is that Dorothy’s legendary wish while she taps her ruby red slippers is actually borrowed from an 18th century opera called Clari, The Maid of Milan and written by John Howard Payne. Payne’s lyrics, though over a hundred years old, still very much apply today in the minds of a many homeowner:

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which, seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.
Home, home, sweet, sweet home!
There’s no place like home, oh, there’s no place like home!

Well said, Mr. Payne. Share how you define home or what’s the best part about your home in the comments.