Johanna Rhoads

Johanna Rhoads joins the SouthPointe office. She grew up in California and moved to Nebraska two years ago. This summer she married Adam Rhoads ( Adam is the reason she came to Nebraska) Her family owns a mortgage company in California and she credits them for sparking her interest in the real estate industry. Johnanna’s hobbies include watching Husker football and traveling. Johanna can be reached at 402-617-4678 or Johanna.Rhoads@WoodsBros.com.

 Posted by Woods Bros Realty

Dennis Mehrhoff recieves the Shining Star award from CEO Gene Brake.

Dennis Mehrhoff of the Woods Bros Realty Lincolnshire Square office is the September Shining Star recipient.

His nomination read:

“Year after year, Dennis continues to be the person who helps the REALTORS Association of Lincoln (RAL) get its team together and supplies to the job site for the Paint-a-thon; he does this without hesitation. It is because of Dennis RAL gets enough volunteers to make up a team!”

Shining Stars are HomeServices of Nebraska associates, including managers, employees and agents, who help make our company a better place for our customers, clients and for each other. Nominees must exemplify the following:

1. The person went out of their way to exceed the HomeServices of Nebraska Standards and best practices.
2. The gesture or service was above and beyond normal job requirements or expectations.
3. The employee, manager or agent went beyond the call of duty to ensure the needs of a customer, fellow employee or agent.

Anyone is invited to nominate employees, agents or managers who have displayed The Shining Star Spirit. For someone to be recognized, a Shining Star Nomination Form must be submitted by the 15th of every month. *A participant is eligible to win one (1) time per year.

Shining Star Values

Positive Attitude – A positive attitude is focusing on what is useful, beneficial and worthwhile in each and every situation. Your attitude is displayed through your words, actions and facial expressions with your customers and those around you.

Accountable - Accountable is being responsible for your actions and behaviors as they impact customers and those around you.

Responsive – Being responsive is being open to the situation as it occurs and responding in a sensitive manner to meet needs and expectations.

Teamwork – Teamwork is helping each other win and taking pride in each other’s victories. No one person or department alone can provide for the comprehensive needs of our customers. We achieve our goals when working together as a team.

No Excuses – A culture of no excuses acknowledges when mistakes or perceived shortcomings are made and seeks to correct or make right rather than rationalize or justify the problem.

Exemplary - To serve as a model or example of positive action; strive for high performance standards and deliver results. Demonstrate technical competence. Set high standards for self, demonstrating integrity and superior customer service skills.

Responsibility – Responsibility is acting with initiative and understanding that our organization and our customers are depending on us.

Service - Service is everything we do to exceed the needs and expectations of our customers at all times.

Safety – Demonstrate the importance of safety and how it may influence our daily lives.

 Posted by Woods Bros Realty

For the past several years, I’ve been hearing about a backlog of homes that were waiting to be released to the market. Most of these homes are banked-owned, and are currently sitting in the banks’ pipelines. The graphic above from The KCM Blog shows you what that situation might look like.

I’ve never been a fan of government interference in the marketplace. Whether it was the $8,000 tax credit or the currently-artificially-low interest rates, the housing market can’t truly recover until Uncle Sam stops trying to ‘fix’ it. In this instance, however, government interference is helping prevent a total market collapse.

Imagine what would happen if the banks were allowed to suddenly flood the market with all those foreclosed homes. Those properties are typically sold at a discount, which works to drive down property values in the surrounding neighborhood. If you were trying to sell your home, and there were two or three similar houses in the area selling for 10-30% less, you would likely have to discount your home’s price in order to get it sold.

I’ve always maintained that we’re extremely blessed here in Lincoln. Our market has slowed, and we haven’t been immune to the recent changes in the housing market, although we haven’t experienced the dramatic drops like some other cities. However, the number of default notices filed in Lancaster County in the past year has risen substantially. I don’t know if there’s a 47-month backlog of homes in our area, but the pipeline is definitely full.

Will the floodgates open anytime soon? I wish I knew! It would surprise me if those properties were all suddenly released to market, simply because current real estate values would plummet. The economy is still fragile, and a sudden influx of foreclosures into the market would be a big push in the wrong direction. Those properties are still there, though, and they’ll need to be sold at some point. The banks won’t hang on to them indefinitely.

If you’re a buyer looking for a good buy in the year ahead, know that there will be opportunities for you. If you’re considering selling, be ready to prepare and price your house to compete, not only with the traditional listings in your area, but also perhaps with some of these bank-owned properties.

 Posted by Jon Rademacher

Jeremy Engelman

Jeremy Engelman joins the Beatrice office. He grew up in the Diller area.  After graduating from high school he attended Southeast Community College Beatrice, taking classes in Business administration and Accounting. He has experience in welding, motor sales/service and is currently managing an electric generator division.  His hobbies include outdoor activities, archery, hunting and spending time with his wife and four children.  Jeremy can be reached at 402-520-1885 or Jeremy.Engelman@woodsbros.com.

 Posted by Woods Bros Realty

John Kohout

John Kohout joins the SouthPointe office. He grew up in the Clatonia area and attended school at Wilber/Clatonia. He attended Southeast Community College in Milford and received his Associates degree in Machine Tool and also has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Peru State College. John’s hobbies include golf, fishing, trap shooting and biking. John can be reached at 402-416-9065 or John.Kohout@woodsbros.com.

 Posted by Woods Bros Realty

Here are the August numbers from all Woods Bros offices, including Lincoln, Seward, York, Beatrice and Grand Island:

• $43,535,123 Total Volume Closed (Up 11% from August 2010)
• 277 Total Sides Closed (Up 33% from August 2010)
• 307 Sides Placed Under Contract (Up 23% from August 2010)
• 452,373 Page Views on WoodsBros.com
• 51,967 User Sessions on WoodsBros.com
• 5,485 Users Sessions from Mobile Devices
• 49 New Saved Searches on WoodsBros.com
• 1,174 New Saved Properties on WoodsBros.com
• 790 New Customers/Clients on WoodsBros.com
• 1,747 Daily Active Users on Facebook.com/WoodsBros
• 187 Text Inquiries to WOODS at 59559
• 3,389 Guided Tour Views at WoodsBros.com
• 229 Views on MyWoodsBrosTV.com

View our monthly Market Snapshot here.

 Posted by Woods Bros Realty