real estate | Kaira Rouda

23 02, 2009

Real You: No Light? No Trouble?

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T01:54:10+00:00February 23, 2009|business, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe, real estate, realtors|Comments Off on Real You: No Light? No Trouble?

Yesterday at lunch I was enjoying a great sandwich at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe when I looked up and saw this sign on the wall next to my booth: Green -> NormalRed -> AlarmNoLight -> Trouble It made me think. Do we too often ignore the signs right in front of us in business? I know, speaking for the real estate industry, we were in a state of greed and denial before the bust. The government's goal was to increase home ownership rates; the mortgage companies made money easy to get; the number of real estate agents had reached record numbers nationwide; and everybody who was anybody had a no-miss real estate opportunity. In February of 2006, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors released a book: Why the Real Estate Boom Will Not Bust. The bust had started in the fourth quarter of [...]

20 02, 2009

Time to enter the family business?

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T02:07:58+00:00February 20, 2009|business relationships, career, family business, passions, real estate|Comments Off on Time to enter the family business?

The question of whether or not to join a family business is a tough one. You have been given an opportunity, that’s for sure, but it is smart to carefully evaluate the situation before you jump in. I recommend asking yourself the following: Are you personally passionate about this business? If you’re not, it may not be right for you. Do you have experience in the field? If not, are you willing to learn, and do you think you have what it takes to be successful? What does the future hold? Will you be an equal decision-maker, and will you be able to grow with the company? And perhaps most important, will joining the family business be at all awkward? You may feel like you have to justify your existence to outsiders down the road. Some folks deal with that better than others. As you [...]

19 08, 2008

If you make your female customers happy, your male customers will be happy, too. We are the demanding ones.

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T02:18:29+00:00August 19, 2008|female consumer, real estate, Real Living, Real You Incorporated, Rouda, speaker|Comments Off on If you make your female customers happy, your male customers will be happy, too. We are the demanding ones.

MAKE IT HAPPEN: Schedule a regular time (monthly or quarterly) when you and the members of your team can discuss how to touch base with your customers. During this time, talk about what’s working and what’s not. Consider what you might do differently—or better. Remember, your goal should be to stay one step ahead of her. Now, get moving! You have no time to waste. TIP IN ACTION: Women are world-class consumers, making or influencing 85 percent of all purchases and 91 percent of home purchases. Given these statistics, don’t women deserve a little attention? In the 1970s, women were purchasing with his money. Today she is purchasing with her money. Knowing that, it’s no surprise that women are dramatically changing how products and services are designed and marketed. Call it what it is: the unstoppable trend of women’s buying power. At Real Living, we [...]

2 05, 2008

In today’s 24/7 world, women make over 80% of all consumer purchases across every product category

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T13:33:38+00:00May 2, 2008|female consumer, Genevieve Bos, marketing, marketing to women conference, Marti Barletta, real estate, women|Comments Off on In today’s 24/7 world, women make over 80% of all consumer purchases across every product category

In fact, there’s a whole conference designed to inform marketers on various topics concerning the female consumer. The fourth annual The Marketing to Women Conference will be held May 8-9 at the Chicago Cultural Center, and I’m so excited to be attending this year. I’ll be speaking along with some of the most well-known experts in women’s marketing, like author Marti Barletta and the founding publisher of PINK magazine, Genevieve Bos. In my presentation, Home is Where the Purse is, I’ll be explaining the immense buying power women have around the real estate transaction. Women are buying during life stages, so there's a huge opportunity to reach them during these moments. Marriage, the birth of a child, a growing family--these are opportune times to market to women. Since women also increase spending by 200 percent in the first year of home ownership, savvy marketers can [...]

27 01, 2008

Are you worried? Turn off the news…

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T13:35:26+00:00January 27, 2008|gut instinct, heart, mind, real, real estate, true|Comments Off on Are you worried? Turn off the news…

Here's the thing: when you have 24-hour news slots to fill, you have to fill them. And what has proven to draw viewers, more than anything else, is negative, sensationalized news. We all know that - and yet - we all play into it by watching. Ick. So, yes, the economy is not what we hope. But how many different news segments do we need to hear/watch filled with doom and gloom to get the picture? Housing - whether your area had a bubble or not - has faced record trouble, but in many parts of the country, things are starting to stabilize. At my company, Real Living, we are based in the heart of the heartland - Ohio. And here, like other areas of the country without the extreme highs, buyers are coming back into the market. You don't really hear about that though. [...]

13 01, 2008

What is important when times are tough

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T13:35:38+00:00January 13, 2008|authenticity, economy, housing, passions, real estate|Comments Off on What is important when times are tough

I just returned from the Real Estate Connect conference in New York and there were some very depressing economists there. As you no doubt have surmised, the housing market is in a recession. There is a wave of sadness, despair and fear crashing down on those directly involved in the industry: real estate agents, brokers, lenders and the like. And for good reason. There are 10 month plus inventories in markets across the country. Everyone seems to have stopped buying and selling homes. So, that was the gist of the conference and then I was on a technology panel. My message? Not so much about the next technology killer app - sure there are exciting things appearing daily. But mostly, my message was about getting real. When times are tough it's more important than ever to make sure you still have passion for the business [...]

17 05, 2007

Speaking of the facts

By Kaira Rouda|2023-02-07T13:42:28+00:00May 17, 2007|marketing, real estate, women|Comments Off on Speaking of the facts

I spoke tonight at the National Association of Realtors Mid-Year conference in Washington, DC. The panel's topic was: Creating a consumer facing business. Other panelists included Allan Dalton of Move.com, Marty Frame of Fidelity, Justin McCarthy of Google, and other really important folks, well, important to the real estate industry. My particular question was: tell us about women as consumers. Talk about that niche. Now, of course, that was a softball question from my friend, Ed Krafchow, president of a big real estate company in California. He knows I've been building a consumer-centric brand with women as the primary target audience for 6 years. So I said: Ed, women comprise more than 1/2 the population of the U.S, control 79 percent of all consumer purchases, and make or direct 91 percent of all home buying decisions. Seems to me, female consumers aren't a "niche" or [...]