Jack O'Connor and Leeann Iacino have left RE/MAX Professionals to launch a new company.

Jack O’Connor and Leeann Iacino, most recently top executives at RE/MAX Professionals, have  launched a full-service residential brokerage firm serving the Denver area. O’Connor had been one  of the five main owners of RE/MAX Professionals and Iacino had been president.Their new company, Prestige Realty Services, takes its cue from the Prestige Real Estate Group, which they formed in 1999, before merging it with RE/MAX Professionals a decade later. Prestige Realty Services, the new company, will be headquartered in the Inverness Business Park at 385 Inverness Parkway.

The new company is structured to attract medium-to-large production broker agents, who will be drawn by an exceptionally high level of technical, communications, and marketing support, as well as lower overhead fees, Iacino said.

Technology driven

“This is not a ‘work-from-home’ based company, but rather one that will allow better agents to use technology to their advantage, whether they’re working from here, or their own office elsewhere,” Iacino said.

Iacino, who co-founded Prestige Real Estate Group and turned it into one of Colorado’s largest independent real estate agency, began working on the idea of a new venture three years ago. Through her participation with the national group Real Trend, she discovered several large brokerages in major metropolitan areas, modeled around high services with a minimal sticks-and-bricks infrastructure.

In 2006 Iacino was named an ‘Outstanding Woman in Business’ by the National Association of Women Business Owners in concert with the Denver Business Journal; and in 2009 was chosen as Residential Real Estate’s ‘Power Book Newsmaker’ by the Journal. That same year, Prestige merged with RE/MAX Professionals; Iacino resigned as president of RMP last month, to launch the new venture.

Good mix, predicted

O’Connor, top producer whose monthly ‘Jack’s Report’ of market trends has  predicted some of the Denver market’s ups-and-downs over the last seven years, is also partner in the venture. He also resigned from his partnership in RE/MAX Professionals last month.

“This company will prove to be a very good mix for a medium to upper producer,” O’Connor said. He has a frequently appeared  at national and international  forums as a speaker on sales and management, and plans to head PRS’s agent training capabilities, including new agent recruiting.

Iacino said that O’Connor will continue to release his report. PRS will be on the web at PRS-Brokerage.com beginning in January.

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“We continue to sell franchises in this economy, because RE/MAX offers the best value in the marketplace,” said Vinnie Tracey, President, RE/MAX International Inc. “By joining RE/MAX, our new franchisees and our former competitors know they’re getting the power of a world-class brand, and all the cutting edge technology and training that comes with it.”

A closer look at RE/MAX international franchise sales in 2009 shows explosive growth in several regions –  southwest Germany increased 200%, Portugal grew 100%, and Israel was up 45%. With the addition of eight new countries, including the Bahamas, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Morocco, Peru, and Uruguay, RE/MAX continues to have an international presence greater than any of its competitors.

RE/MAX experienced additional success in the U.S., selling 21 new franchises in California, a state with one of the most challenging real estate markets. There was also impressive growth in other regions. The number of new offices in New England and southeast Michigan increased by 100%, in Georgia by 80%, and in the Mountains States region, franchise sales were up 40%.

“Achieving this type of growth despite a recession is the true test of any company,” said Tracey. “And the fact that RE/MAX continues to exceed expectations and surpass the competition is the reason we’re still going strong, after 37 years.”

Conversions from competing real estate companies to RE/MAX are also increasing. A conversion in Denver allowed Prestige Real Estate Group, a major independent brokerage with 250 agents, to merge with RE/MAX Professionals, creating the third-largest real estate firm in Colorado.

With significant economic and real estate improvements in 2010, RE/MAX said it is looking forward to another successful year of franchise sales around the globe.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The report shows that the U.S., overall, saw prices drop by 8.9 percent during that time period. And the 10 and 20 city composites in the report, fell by 8.5 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively.

“Neither Denver nor Dallas saw that meteoric rise in prices other cities did, so it is logical that they would not see the meteoric declines,” said Tom Cryer, a broker with the Kentwood Co.

Overall, the third-quarter report is a marked improvement over the 14.7% decline in the annual rate of return reported in the second quarter of 2009, and the 19.0% drop in the first quarter.

“We have seen broad improvement in home prices for most of the past six months,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “However, the gains in the most recent month are more modest than during the seasonally strong summer months. Fewer cities saw month to month improvements in September than in August in both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figures.”
Nationally, the U.S. National Composite rose by 3.1% in both the second and third  quarters of 2009. Both the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted their fifth consecutive monthly increase with September’s report.

Steve Blank, a broker with Fuller Sotheby’s International Realty, said that the 1.2 percent decline in Denver is “freakishly good,” and better than he would have expected.

“I would say that things are pretty well bottoming out now, and if they are not at the bottom, they are close,” he said.

But he said that the market is only down by 1.2 percent because of price improvements at the lower-priced homes, as expensive homes are still hurting.

“There are some phenomenally good deals at the high-end,” Blank said.

However, there is some good news for buyers of luxury properties, he said. Just recently, lenders started making more competitive jumbo loans – that is,  for mortgages of more than the conventional loans that top out at $417,000, he said.

“One lender offers what it calls “doctor loans,” he said.  These loans are fixed for either 10 or 7 years and are amortized over 30 years.

“You can get them at in the 4.375 percent or 4.75 percent range,” Blank said. But you need a credit score of 740 or higher, and typically lenders want at least 20 percent down, he said. Thirty year fixed jumbo loans also are available in the 5.5 percent range, for extremely qualified buyers who put at least 20 percent down, although he said occasionally a lender will allow only a 10 percent down payment.

Diane P. Huttner, a broker with Prestige Real Estate Group, said the top ranking at Case-Shiller is wonderful.

“That is really good news,” she said. “That tells us something about our market.”

But she agrees with Blank and other Realtors that the top-end of the market is still “quite challenging.”

She said that she has noticed a number of expensive homes recently selling in the Hilltop and Cherry Creek areas for less than the mortgage amount, although she said one expensive home in Cherry Creek recently sold for a mere $15,000 below the asking price.

And she said she spoke to a builder about buying some land near the Preserve in Greenwood Village. The builder, who constructs homes priced above $2 million, said even if she gave the land to him, “no one wants to pay me what it would cost to build a home.”

But she said for someone wanting to move up, it may be worth it to sell their home for even a slight loss, because they can drive a great bargain for a luxury home.

Mike Rinner, of the Genesis Group, which tracks housing along the Front Range, also said that the most recent Case-Shiller ranking is good, and continues a trend seen for most of the year.

He said Denver and Dallas each have has seen seven months of consecutive improvements from the previous months this year. But some of that, especially in mid-year, was because of seasonality, he said. Even in overall down years, there are some month-to-month improvements for seasonal reasons, he said. No markets are showing consistent improvements from the same month in 2008, Rinner noted.

While that, with today’s report are encouraging, he said the market still faces more pain.

“I think it is going to stay negative, as far as price appreciation,” Rinner said. “We will be lucky if we hit zero (price appreciation) next year. In the third quarter of this year, foreclosures jumped 54 percent from foreclosures last year.  And with more foreclosures, and fewer jobs, it is just tough to get a housing recovery. Housing demand is a function of employment.”

Still, for those able to buy today and hold on until 2012, will  be rewarded, said Cryer, of Kentwood.

He said 2010 will not be that much different from 2009, and 2011 “will not be super. But in 2012, I guarantee you that you, me, my neighbors and everybody will wish they had bought those short sales and foreclosures in 2009. If you want a “lock it and leave it” lifestyle, and plan to retire in the next few years, now is the time to buy a condo in the Landmark. Look at the confleucen of events we have with low interest rates, a good supply of homes to choose from at the upper end, and depressed prices. It just takes one of those factors to go away to completely change the buying opportunity we have  today.”

Area	Appreciation since 2000	September to October change	1-year change from October
U.S.	46.58	0.4%	-7.3%
Atlanta	10.12%	-1.0%	-8.1%
Boston	54.7%	-0.6%	-2.8%
Charlotte	19.05%	-0.7%	-7.0%
Chicago	30.78%	-1.0%	-10.1%
Cleveland	4.97%	-1.6%	-3.5%
Dallas	19.90%	-0.6%	-0.6%
DENVER	28.91%	-0.4%	-0.1%
Detroit	-26.93%	0.2%	-15.1%
Las Vegas	04.7%	-0.1%	-15.1%
Los Angeles	68.43%	0.3%	-6.3%
Miami	49.09%	0.4%	-14.0%
Minneapolis	24.51%	-0.5%	-8.4%
New York	75.01%	-0.0%	-7.7%
Phoenix	9.26%	0.8%	-21.8%
Portland	49.72%	-0.5%	-11.8%
San Diego	55.37%	0.4%	-2.4%
San Francisco	35.81%	1.3%	-2.6%
Seattle	49.26%	-0.4%	-12.4%
Tampa	40.27%	-1.6%	-15.2%
Washington, D.C.	79.71	-0.4%	-2.8%
Composite-10	58.82%	0.0%	-6.4%
Composite-20	46.58%	0.0%	-7.3%

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