Dec. 15, 2006 Edition

Awards Night Rewards Passion, Accomplishment

Red Brick Properties sweeps awards, taking home four trophies Adrian Tartareanu, John Hayesand Minas E. Litos. An undisputable highlight of the Lone Star Legacy convention, the Team HVA Awards Dinner & Dance celebrated the accomplishments of the crème de la crème among our franchisees. Franchisees in both low-end and high-end real estate markets walked away with the top awards, proving that the way to succeed at HomeVestors is by following the system. The biggest surprise of the evening was Red Brick Investment Properties' Minas E. Litos and Adrian Tartareanu who, together with their buyer, Brian Ferry, walked away with an impressive four awards: Top Buyer, Top Closer, Best Customer, and Rookie of the Year. Other top winners included Matt Drndak of MJ Property Solutions; Colin, Rob, and Robert Reilly of Harvest Properties; Timothy Risley, Edward Risley, and Mark Crosby of Front Door Properties; Mike Maldonado of PeyMax Properties; Mike Freedline, Dan Freyling, Cary Lane, Wally Loeffelman, Keith Mills of Illinois Property Development; and Cal and Robin Wilkins of The Real Advantage. A complete list of the awards given and their winners will be included in the forthcoming print edition of The Vestor's Voice®. The list also appears in the Franchise Area of HomeVestors.com

Getting Gerber: The Man and His Message

Now you understand what it means to work "on" your business and not "in" it By Monica Feid Has the entrepreneur within you awoken? It has if you left HVA's 10th Annual Convention looking for ways to streamline your business. It has if you're putting systems in place so that you aren't "doing it, doing it, doing it" all yourself. It has if you can define your dream, your vision, your purpose, and your mission. In short, what best-selling author and internationally renowned speaker Michael Gerber shared with HVA's franchisees was positive proof that his definition of the E-Myth can change the way you think about your business. Gerber's motivational style offers a hard dose of reality to people who think they are entrepreneurs when, in fact, they are not. And if you were in the audience identifying with him on why you and your business are not where you want them to be, remember that it's never too late to change direction. Ray Kroc was in his 50s when he bought the franchise rights to McDonald's and launched a worldwide fast-food sensation. You, too, can change the way you look at your business to realize its full potential. So, where do you begin? According to Gerber, you want layers in your business that define the speed at which it can succeed. Those layers include an entrepreneur at the top, a manager (or managers) in the middle, and technicians at the bottom. In order for you to have a handle on the big picture, you need to be able to say, "The people who work for me need to produce the results for my company." And Gerber knows exactly what that means. His business is bigger today than it has ever been, and it requires less of his time than it has ever required. He works three hours a month on his business. And that's to be expected. How else could he be on the road speaking and autographing books if he was supposed to be home running his company? Therein lay the answer. Gerber has put systems in place that allow him to be the entrepreneur. He has managers that run the greater team. And the technicians then execute the managers' directives. Gerber has a system – and that system has helped him turn a company into a business and a business into an enterprise. It was the same for Kroc and McDonald's. It was the same for Sam Walton and Wal-Mart. It was the same for Fred Smith and FedEx. All of these business icons made their dreams a reality without doing it, doing it, doing it. They built systems for others to follow while they grew their dream, their vision, their purpose, and their mission. Kroc didn't flip burgers, Walton didn't man the store, and Smith didn't fly a plane. They built systems. And their businesses were not unique. They were simply BETTER than other burger joints, retailers, or the good old post office. They had systems. And you're in luck. Because, as part of the HVA franchise network, so do you! . . . Monica Feid of BizCom Associates handles public relations services for HomeVestors and its franchisees.

Team HVA Expansion

New hires, promotions, and other staff-related happenings By Brenda Baumann During the past three months, HVA has welcomed six new employees, bringing new talents and a wealth of new experience to our team: Gwen Hughes Gwen Hughes, our new direct marketing manager, came to HVA on Oct. 10 with more than 18 years' experience. She assists franchisees with all their direct mail needs, and handles a variety of other tasks, including negotiating with vendors and managing inventory. Direct-mail related question? Contact Gwen at 972.761.0046, ext. 159. Quintese White On Oct. 16, HVA's Accounting department welcomed Quintese White. Having a background that included work as an accountant for both a real estate investment company and a lending company made her an ideal fit for Team HVA. You can reach Quintese at 972.761.0046, ext. 197. Buck Maxey Buck Maxey joined our Research & Development Department on Oct. 23. As research specialist, he works with Rena Graver, auditing data, gathering information on competitors, conducting feasibility studies . . . basically, if it involves stats and graphs, Buck is doing it! If you've got an R&D question, call Buck at 972.761.0046, ext. 173. Wendy Moroze Wendy Moroze became our new outdoor media buyer on Nov. 20. She plans outdoor buying activities, negotiates contracts, manages budgets and more for markets in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. You can contact Wendy at 972.761.0046, ext. 191. Gabi Maxwell On Nov. 13, Gabi Maxwell became HVA's new interim lending support specialist, reporting to Sonja Vaeth. She processes new loan files and payoff requests, and handles lots of other fun finance-related tasks. Gabi can be reached at 972.761.0046, ext. 121. Alan Stewart Alan Stewart joined the Operations Department at HVA on Nov. 29 - the first day of the convention! As our newest franchise systems manager, Alan will coach franchisees and assist them in building a successful business by following the HVA system. Alan can be reached at 972.761.0046, ext. 181. Onward and Upward Sonja Vaeth At the end of October, Sonja Vaeth was promoted to interim servicing supervisor. She supervises the funding of loans, handles billing and loan payoffs, and manages the processing of interim financing statements. She has been an asset to the Finance Department since 2001. You can contact Sonja at 972.761.0046, ext. 161. Angela Hines We're also pleased to announce that, on Nov. 1, Angela Hines was promoted to human resources manager! Angela has been a key employee in the HR department for more than two years. Her duties include handling recruiting, payroll, and benefits. And from the looks of the above list of new employees, she's been working overtime! You can contact Angela at 972.761.0046, ext. 116. HVA department heads Bonnie DePasse and David Hicks were named vice presidents by the HVA Board of Directors at its annual post-convention meeting earlier this month. "I am very pleased that the Board of Directors agreed with me that Bonnie and David should be appointed vice presidents of HVA," said John Hayes, president and CEO. "In addition to their commitment to HomeVestors, they consistently demonstrate their passion for working together cooperatively as we continue to build our franchise network. I routinely hear positive comments about both Bonnie and David from not only their colleagues, but also members of our support team, as well as franchisees. Congratulations to them!" David Hicks Bonnie DePasse Bonnie is the Corporate Counsel for HVA, serving in that capacity since March 2003. She can be reached at 972.761.0046, ext. 133. David joined the HVA team in May 2005 and has served most recently as Senior Director, Operations. Contact David at 972.761.0046, ext. 201. . . . Brenda Baumann is HVA's Director of Human Resources. She can be reached at 972.619.0076, ext. 120.

HVA Marketing - Celebrating the Successes of 2006

And cheers for what's new in 2007 By Gregg Stengel During the Annual Convention's closing General Session, VP of Marketing Mark Hagen delivered a review of his department's goals for 2006, and the stats to show that there was reason to celebrate. The goal was to increase buy leads by 5% while decreasing the cost per lead by the same percentage. The Marketing Department initiated numerous projects to accomplish the goal, including a per-inquiry Internet lead program, and a new advertising testimonial campaign. System-wide, leads shot up an average of 20% per while cost per lead dropped more than 15%. But that's not what prompted the cheers of the convention audience. Let's Hear It for Outdoor Mark Hagen gets into character to reveal a new marketing strategy HomeVestors' most influential medium in terms of brand building has always been outdoor advertising. "Our highly successful outdoor campaign is going stronger than ever," said Hagen. "But to be successful, you're always looking for things that will keep the customer's focus on something different, something new. So we thought we would build on the strength of our current board and expand the understanding of what 'ugly' means, and communicate the idea that we also buy houses that aren’t ugly." Hagen then introduced three new billboards for 2007 that work together to accomplish this goal. All three utilize HVA's trademark branding elements, with a slight twist to the message. One board reads "Facing Foreclosure?" while another reads simply, "Ugly Situation?" It was the introduction of the third board -- "We Buy The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" -- that got the convention crowd cheering. All three billboard concepts will be tested in rotation with the current board in several markets in the first quarter of 2007. More Reason to Cheer Another marketing highlight: The release of HomeVestors' 10th anniversary magazine, created to inform the public, the media, and politicians about HomeVestors and the real estate investing industry. Each franchisee left the convention with four copies of the magazine, and additional copies may be ordered through the company store, Workflow One. TV and Radio Heading into 2007, the Marketing Department will continue usage of its highly successful testimonial TV and radio campaign. "We now have three spots, each focusing on a different scenario," explained Hagen, "Seniors in transition, no-hassle sales, and problem rental/inheritance. The new spots fit very well with the current market conditions because they involve foreclosure, from both the customer and the franchisee perspective." HVA tests many of the creative programs in both small and large markets before launching them nationwide. If you or your Ad Council would like to participate in testing any of the new creative, please contact your regional marketing manager. Your RMM also has DVDs available which showcase some of our latest marketing creative.