Prudential One Realty of Northern Indiana Joins With Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® of Michigan

Merger Creates Only Real Estate Firm Serving Both Northern, Southwestern Michigan and Indiana

Elkhart, IN. – On January 10, 2012, Prudential One Realty announced its merger with Prudential Preferred, REALTORS^® of Michigan. The four northern Indiana and two Michigan offices, with over 70 agents, will continue to operate as Prudential One Realty. The combined entities will become the one of the largest real estate brokerage companies in the Midwest with a sales team of over 450 agents and 26 offices.

According to Joe Dunfee, President of Prudential One Realty, “This is a culmination of four years of discussions and planning.  I am excited about the dynamics of this new partnership. Prudential Preferred, REALTORS^® is an agent and customer centric company and is on the cutting edge of technology which helps us better serve our customers. We are taking the best of what both companies offer and creating a more effective way to support our agents.” The merger creates the only real estate company to span from the Michigan-Indiana border to the Straits of Mackinac.

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS^® is an independently owned and operated member of the Prudential Real Estate network with a 50-year history of real estate sales. Along with its presence throughout northern Michigan in Charlevoix, Boyne City, Gaylord, Harbor Springs, Beaver Island, Torch Lake and Petoskey; it has offices in Grand Rapids, Rockford, Kalamazoo, Portage, Battle Creek, Marshall, Richland, Plainwell, Colon, Three Rivers and South Haven. Find out more and view over 40,000 Michigan properties at www.PPRMI.com.

(L-R) Joe Dunfee - President of Prudential One Realty; Joyce Ott - General Sales Manager; Steve Fase - President of Prudential Preferred, REALTORS

Press release published in The Elkhart Truth; online edition on January 20, 2012 and print edition on January 29, 2012

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® of Three Rivers is proud to announce a $1000 grant has been awarded to the St Joseph County Emergency Care Network, Inc. through the Prudential Foundation. Through the efforts of local agents, employees and customers as a part of Prudential’s Global Volunteer Day, the Three Rivers Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® office met requirements of the Prudential  challenge grant during a recent food drive.

To date, the Three Rivers Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® office has raised in excess of $9,400 in grants, cash and food donations for the Emergency Care Network in St Joseph County.

Congratulations to the St Joseph County Emergency Care Network, Inc. on being a recipient of the 2011 Prudential Challenge Grant.

Join us in congratulating Bill Hanner, who was named the Battle Creek Area Association of REALTORS’ REALTOR of the Year for 2011!

Read the Battle Creek Enquirer’s article on the award.

Bill Hanner is also currently serving as the BCAAR President-Elect.

New national survey shows belief in real estate as a good investment is unshaken

Michigan. — The majority of America’s potential homebuyers and sellers — 68 percent — believe that the real estate market and property values will recover in the next year or two, according to a survey released today by Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc., a Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE:PRU] company. This exceeds the 47 percent of Americans who expected house prices would rise in a similar survey conducted in April 2010, underscoring a more bullish outlook for the real estate market today. In addition, 86 percent of Americans believe real estate is a good investment despite the market volatility of the past few years. The Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey of 1,253 Americans between the ages of 25-64 in the market for buying a home was conducted Jan. 20-27, 2011.

The survey reveals that six in 10 respondents are more interested in buying real estate (58%) and are optimistic about buying given the momentum of the economic recovery (59%). It also shows that although the price of many Americans’ homes declined during the recession, 89 percent recognize they can also buy a new house at a lower price.

“This survey clearly demonstrates that Americans continue to be optimistic about the real estate market and believe that home prices will rise,” said James Mallozzi, chief executive officer of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc. “A key take away from the survey is although consumers recognize that it is a good time to buy, they are concerned about their ability to sell their homes. This is one of the reasons the market is still struggling to recover.”

For those on the fence about buying, uncertainty about selling an existing home (77 percent), concern about getting a fair price for the home (67 percent) and emotions (58 percent) are holding them back. For those who have sold homes in the past year, despite the down market 78 percent report that they were satisfied with the sale. Of these, 32 percent were very satisfied with the final price of their home and 46 percent were grateful they were able to sell given market conditions. A relatively small number, 22 percent, indicated that they were disappointed or resentful about the price they received for their home.

The survey highlighted Americans’ interest in trading up their homes. Of the 45 percent looking to trade up, 64 percent wanted more space or property, 49 percent a nicer house and 41 percent a better neighborhood. Only 21 percent surveyed said they were looking to scale down, and 34 percent said that they wanted a similar home.

The survey highlighted the importance of getting the right price in today’s market —74 percent of buyers believe that many homes could meet their needs and that price is a significant differentiator, while 26 percent stated that they were willing to pay top of market for a home that specifically suits their needs. In setting the right price, however, sellers were split—with 53 percent wanting to price right at or slightly below market to attract more bids and 47 percent wanting to price slightly higher than market and hoping to find a buyer willing to pay more.

The majority of respondents highlighted the importance of real estate agents in the process of buying or selling their home. Seventy-five percent of those surveyed said that an agent is very important or essential to this process, with only 24 percent saying agents are helpful but not imperative.

“Americans continue to see real estate agents as having a very important role in helping them price, buy and sell their homes,” added Mallozzi. “Although the data underscores the value real estate agents provide, it also shows that the industry needs to continue to work hard to meet clients’ unique needs.”

The Prudential Real Estate Outlook Survey was conducted online. The margin of error is +/- 3 percent. A more detailed breakdown of the data is available, as well as supporting charts and visuals, at www.news.prudential.com.

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc. is Prudential’s integrated real estate brokerage franchise and relocation services business. Prudential Real Estate franchises are independently owned and operated. Companies are selected based upon outstanding performance records, high levels of customer service and shared business values with those of Prudential. Prudential Real Estate is one of the largest real estate brokerage franchise networks in North America, with more than 1,600 franchise offices and 54,100 sales professionals in the franchise Network as of Dec. 31, 2010.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $784 billion of assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2010, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Leveraging its heritage of life insurance and asset management expertise, Prudential is focused on helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth. In the U.S., the company’s Rock symbol is an icon of strength, stability, expertise and innovation that has stood the test of time. Prudential’s businesses offer a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

Nick Breedveld ranks #6 for units sold by an individual in 2010
and
Cassie Roberts ranks #4 for units sold by a team in 2010

within the entire Prudential Network!

Nick and Cassie received these honors in front of all Convention Attendees, fellow award winners, Sunshine Kids and Jay Leno Tuesday evening.

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS and Prudential Preferred
Properties Network ranked #28 out of the top 50 productive
Prudential Franchises within the US and Canada in 2010.

Jim Fase, Rockford Manager, accepted the award in front of
thousands of convention attendees in San Diego, California
this week. Prudential Preferred was the only Gibraltar winner
in Michigan.

February 2011

Kalamazoo, Michigan – “Technology consulting firm Gartner predicts that QR (Quick Response) Code use will explode soon in the United States.” says Steve Fase, Prudential Preferred, REALTORS. “We now have QR Codes for all of our listings that allow consumers to scan them with their smart phones and see detailed property information for the listing such as several interior and exterior professional photos, a walk score, Google Maps with street views, school information and much more right from the Yard Sign, Property Flyers, Postcards and other places where it was never possible before.”

Similar to bar codes, QR codes allow people standing in front of a home to use a QR Reader on their smartphone to scan a QR code on the yard sign in seconds and access detailed information about the home they are standing in front of.

“We are using technology from Listings-to-Leads that automatically creates QR Codes for all of our listings allowing us to then put them on the yard signs in front of the seller’s home along with all our other printed marketing materials. This greatly increases the exposure of the property while at the same time giving the consumers the information they want quickly and easily.” says Steve Fase.

“We are excited to partner with Prudential Preferred, REALTORS in using the newest technologies in the market on behalf of their sellers and buyers.” Scott Pierce, CEO, Listings-to-Leads added. “QR Codes are big in Japan and are used widely in Asia, Europe and Australia and are now starting to catch on in America.”

“The Real Estate industry is one of the most technology intensive industries. We are proud to have been able to offer a powerful turnkey solution that allows Prudential Preferred, REALTORS to leverage this technology without wasting a lot of their time which is better spent working with buyers and sellers and not acting as their own IT department” continued Scott Pierce.

“Our main goal as real estate professionals is to market our seller’s properties to as many people as possible and to give buyers access to that information in as many ways as possible.” concluded Steve Fase “Using QR Codes allows us to achieve both of these goals while reducing the time needed to achieve this. As one of the first brokerages in our area to use this new technology we are also excited to share our expertise with buyers and sellers in our area along with other Realtors that may not have implemented this technology yet.”

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS has 20 offices throughout Southwest, West and Northern Michigan.

Prudential Preferred Properties Network’s own Roxanne Beach (Petoskey office) was awarded the 2010 Realtor of the Year Award by the Emmet Association of Realtors.

Beach’s achievement was featured in an article in the Petoskey News-Review.

Special thanks to the Petoskey News-Review staff for making the article available online.

Prudential Real Estate Ranked Highest for Seller Satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Home Buyer/Seller Study

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, a Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE: PRU] company, and Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® announced that Prudential Real Estate ranks “Highest Overall Satisfaction for Home Sellers Among National Full Service Real Estate Firms” in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2010 Home Buyer/Seller Study SM.

The study measures customer satisfaction of home sellers and buyers with major national real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining four factors for the home-selling experience: agent (44%); marketing (30%); office (15%); and services (11%).

Among home sellers, Prudential Real Estate scored highest on a 1,000-point scale and received particularly high ratings from customers in the marketing and agent factors. This is the second time in three years the Prudential Real Estate Network ranked highest in seller satisfaction. The Network also ranked highest in 2008.

“This distinction underscores the satisfaction level and consistency of our network through challenging times in our industry,” said Jim Mallozzi, chairman and CEO, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services. “Affiliate to affiliate, our sales professionals are the local-market experts who market and price homes right, while providing attentive service. The more you know us, the more you love us.”

Added Earl Lee, president, Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services: “The Prudential Real Estate Network already enjoys one of the highest average selling prices in the industry. And, this prestigious J.D. Power and Associates designation demonstrates that our sales professionals are representing their customers with distinction.”

The team at Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® works hard to exceed the expectations of its clients – sellers and buyers alike, explained Steve Fase, broker/owner, Prudential Preferred, REALTORS®. “In today’s market, our clients require all the expertise and service we can offer – and by leveraging Prudential’s brand strength, its broad product and service offerings and its effective Internet marketing programs, we provide sellers with the exposure they need for their homes.”

The study finds that despite the popularity of home selling and buying resources on the Internet, the real estate sales professional remains key to customer satisfaction with real estate companies. A large proportion of both home sellers and buyers rely on the Internet to facilitate the buying or selling process, with 79 percent of buyers saying that they used Internet tools to help them in the purchase process, and 82 percent of sellers reporting that they used a website listing to market their home. In addition, among home sellers, online methods are the most important aspect of marketing.

However, the sales professional carries the greatest importance among the factors that comprise overall satisfaction among both home sellers and buyers.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, although the Internet provides real estate consumers with the ability to perform some essential tasks – such as listing a home for sale or researching a neighborhood in which to purchase a home – it still does not replace the importance of a good sales professional. The knowledge and expertise provided by experienced sales professionals are important benefits of using a full-service real estate company.

Satisfaction averages 768 among those customers whose homes sold within five months or less, but declines considerably to an average of 702 among customers whose homes took seven months or longer to sell, the study showed.

Nearly one-half of respondents in the study (46%) reported using recommendations from family or friends to find their real estate sales professional. Approximately 32 percent used a sales professional they had used previously, 22 percent used the internet and 12 percent used a listing agent for property.

The study reports that home buyers were shown an average of 17 homes before they made a purchase. Home sellers reported that, on average, their home was shown 12 times, and about two open houses were conducted before a sale occurred.

The 2010 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes 3,096 evaluations from 2,817 respondents who bought or sold a home between March 2009 and April 2010.

Based in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The company’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on cell phone ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance and more, visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Prudential Real Estate provides franchises with business strategies using Operation Reviews as well as numerous benefits, including access to Prudential Real Estate’s Online Seller AdvantageSM program designed to provide real-time information to sellers with the touch of a keystroke. Prudential Real Estate is one of the largest real estate brokerage franchise networks in North America, with 1,700 franchise offices and approximately 60,000 sales professionals in the franchise network as of March 31, 2010.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with approximately $693 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2010, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.

BATTLE CREEK, MI – On April 1st, Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® will complete its acquisition of Joy Brown Realty (119 E. Columbia Ave., Battle Creek). Joy Brown, broker/owner of Joy Brown Realty and long-time area resident, will be joining Prudential Preferred as a real estate sales agent at its 820 Capital Ave, S.W. location and will be joined by a number of experienced agents. According to Ms. Brown, “Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® was the right fit for my team and I look forward to being able to provide the services and tools that Prudential offers to all of my clients and customers.”

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® leads the Metropolitan Battle Creek Area in sales and the addition of the Joy Brown team of agents will only enhance their position as the leader in Battle Creek area real estate. According to Steven Fase, President and CEO of Prudential Preferred, “Joy Brown represents a long time presence in Battle Creek that has been marked by community involvement and success in real estate sales. Her presence in the market has made all of us stronger and better as a result of her dedication to the industry. I am enormously proud to have Joy Brown as a member of our team of professionals.”

According to Paul Ressler, Prudential Preferred’s Battle Creek manager, “This is great news for the Battle Creek area. This merger will help us grow in a market that is facing many challenges. By adding Joy Brown’s team of first-class professionals, we will create an even stronger office poised to meet the needs of home buyers and sellers both today and as the market grows in the years to come.”

Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® is an area-owned and locally operated member of the Prudential Real Estate network. It was founded in 1953 and has become one of Michigan’s largest real estate firms. The company’s West Michigan Offices are located in Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Portage, Plainwell, Richland, Three Rivers, South Haven, Grand Rapids, Rockford and Howard City. Prudential Preferred recently extended its service area by acquiring offices in the Charlevoix, Beaver Island, Boyne City, Petoskey, Harbor Springs and Gaylord areas in Northern Michigan, which formed Prudential Preferred Properties Network. Prudential Preferred, REALTORS® and Prudential Preferred Properties Network, when combined, is the largest Prudential franchise in the Great Lakes region with a sales team of over 400 agents and 19 offices. Its website, www.pprmi.com, offers more than 25,000 Michigan listings as well as professional virtual tours.

Questions regarding the Joy Brown Realtors acquisition can be directed to Kathy King, regional manager for Prudential Preferred, REALTORS®, at (269) 488-0144 or kathyking@pprmi.com.