Inside this issue:

Letter from the President 3

PM Corner 4

October/November Top Performers 5-6

RELO/REO Review 7

George Mason Updates 8

Teal For Good 9

New Home Value Landing Pages 10

Lake Ridge Chili Cook-Off Winners 11

Holiday Parties 12

SO Much to be Proud of this Holiday Season!A Letter from the President | By Scott Avery

Happy HolidaysLast night I enjoyed what I feel is the embodiment of the Holiday season. Katja, my grandson Charles, our dog Breezy, and Charles’s dog Harvey all went to a neighborhood caroling night at the home of a wonderful gentleman who has hosted this event for 30 years. With bright colorful lights all around, warm cider, lots of children, neighbors, new friends and even a visit from a rather good-looking Santa (with a sleigh I might add) a great time was had by all. Moments like these are a piece of what is most important in our lives; our family, friends and loved ones, along with a sense of belonging to a community. I hope each of you will put aside the time and spend it with people who mean so much to you. And if you’re really

motivated, start a holiday tradition within your community and I have no doubt you will receive the greatest gift of all over many years.

My time in December is filled enjoying your company at the office parties and working on the business. We share our experiences, joys, rewards and frustrations along the way. Your thoughts, goals and inspirations enhance our collaborative company culture, improve on ways to help each of us achieve rewarding successful careers and ultimately better serve our clients by providing the best in real estate service. All of us work diligently on a daily basis helping others accomplish their real estate goals and aspirations. I hope you join with me in recognizing what a great and rewarding gift this is for us.

Working on the company this time of year involves business planning, researching trends, reviewing industry changes, and analyzing our strengths and weaknesses to aid in positioning us for continued growth and prosperity. We have had a wonderful 2015 with revenue units up almost 18% and sales volume up 20%. These are fantastic growth numbers I might add. However the biggest trend jumping out at me is the great growth in our average productivity per agent. This is a testament to our selectivity in hiring, our collaborative work environment, our training (both basic initial training and advanced career developmental) our services and support and YOUR desire to BE THE BEST. I see offices and companies throughout our market area with very very marginal productivity per agent. What does this begin to tell you about the job you do and the company you work with? Time and again agents in the marketplace comment on the quality of your brokerage’s work. Time and again I hear YOU talk about the lack of quality you encounter. I am beyond PROUD of what our entire TEAM is accomplishing. You are setting a standard of real estate brokerage that can and will be the envy of the marketplace. The vision and focus for all of us is to continue this pursuit of quality and encourage better agents in the marketplace to come and be a part of what we are doing to stay relevant and competitive in our core competencies so we can provide additional value to the well informed consumer of today.

Here are a few thoughts regarding 2016. Consumer confidence is growing, employment is gaining, we’re finally seeing some growth in salaries and wages, there is stabilization in many asset classes, the housing market is returning to a more even supply/demand cycle and the Millennial Generation is pushing forward buying homes. All this is very positive for us. Do not let the specter of marginally higher interest rates (which I’m sure will begin trending up very soon) scare you or your clients. Hopefully your 2016 business plans are in place and you’re excited about the possibilities next year. I certainly am.

So let’s decorate our homes, celebrate our holidays with loved ones, give thanks for our accomplishments in 2015, and get ready for a banner year.

May God Bless and Happy Holidays to the entire Avery-Hess family,

Scott

PM CORNER

A Year of Great Progress!Over the past 12 months we’ve made many wonderful changes to AH Management:

• We made some invaluable additions to our team who have hit the ground running and made our service even better than before.

• With the implementation of our new RentTrack online payment system, our tenant screening technology is now industry leading and better encourages on-time payments by giving renters the ability to build credit.

• The rental market in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area (while still strong) has changed. It became more competitive! And with that we’ve risen to the challenge and have become more competitive for new business.

• On the educational front, we started teaching our clients the four key ingredients for a successful rental: Marketing, Pricing, Service, and Curb Appeal. We will certainly continue that process throughout 2016!

On behalf of the entire team – Thank you for another great year and thank you for your continued support. We look forward working with everyone in 2016!

Happy Holidays,

Barbara, Georgie, Valerie, Danny, Erica, Carol, Cara and Katja

Congratulations to October & November’sTop Performers!

Top Listers: October

Top Producers: October

Carolyn Hurley, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Fredericksburg OfficeSherri Embrey, Front Royal OfficeIngrid Myers, Lake Ridge OfficeSeema Rodriguez, Rockville OfficeJohn Griggs & Carolyn Lindahl, Springfield OfficeCarlton Hill, Tysons Office

Gwen Nelson, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Fredericksburg OfficePamula Jackson, Front Royal OfficeIngrid Myers, Lake Ridge OfficeYour Minka Group, Rockville OfficeSusan Metcalf, Springfield OfficeKate Herzig, Tysons Office

Iris Aponte, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Fredericksburg OfficePamula Jackson, Front Royal OfficeCorinna Peters, Lake Ridge OfficeYour Minka Group, Rockville OfficeRenee Mumford, Springfield OfficeJim Muldoon, Tysons Office

Frances Irizarry, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Fredericksburg OfficeDeena Davis, Front Royal OfficeSam Mangrio, Lake Ridge OfficeJoginder Nayar, Rockville OfficeSusan Metcalf, Springfield OfficeNina Chen Landes, Tysons Office

Production Over $750,000: OctoberGwen Nelson, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Jami Harich, Fredericksburg OfficePamula Jackson, Front RoyalIngrid Myers, Lake RidgeYour Minka Group, Rockville OfficeSusan Metcalf, Springfield OfficeKate Herzig, Sheila Carney, Tysons Office

Top Listers: November

Top Producers: November

Production Over $750,000: NovemberFrances Irizarry, Centreville OfficeAmy Cherry Taylor, Jami Harich, Fredericksburg OfficeSam Mangrio, Lake Ridge OfficeReid Voss, Susan Metcalf, Springfield OfficeNina Chen Landes, Chris Brown, Sheila Carney, Tysons Office

Mobility Title: October & NovemberCentreville: BJ Winar (3), Carolyn Hurley (2), Francis Irizarry (2), Jim Agnew (1), Elizabeth Falcon (1), David Payne (1), John Flynn (1) , Iris Aponte (1), Gwendolyn Nelson (1)

Fredericksburg: Amy Cherry Taylor (8), Karen Janson (4), Natalie Seliquini (2), Gina Schwartz (2) Jami Harich (2), Nancy Mizelle (1), Katrina Taylor (1), Kathleen Abercrombie (1)

Front Royal: Pamula Jackson (3), Deena Davis (1)

Lake Ridge: Mark Holyfield (3), Rebecca Morehead (3), Theodore Spittal (2)

Springfield: Susan Metcalf (1), Reid Voss (1), Diana Walcher (1) Tysons: Sheila Carney (2), Kate Herzig (2), Ebony Bates (1), Naveed Wakil (1), Zaure Haynes (1)

Congratulations October & November’sTop Performers!

Our closing professionals come to your clients, providing them the personalized and convenient service they deserve.

We specialize in:• Residential Closings• HUD Home Closings (VA)• Commercial Closings

We’re conveniently located in the Tysons Regional Building:2301 Gallows Road, Suite 200A, Dunn Loring, VA 22027

Contact Daphne Flynn at 703.281.5012 or dflynn@mobilitytitle.com.

• Refinancing Loans• Short Sales • 1031 Exchanges

www.mobilitytitle.com

2015 was a great year for the department! We continue to grow with some great new partnerships.

This coming February, we will be attending the LRE Conference in Miami....as we continue to network and get Avery Hess’s name to brokers and relocation companies across the country and even the world. We look forward to doing even more next year!

Have a wonderful holiday season all! This is the holiday card we sent out to our sphere this year....along with some fun outtakes of the photo shoot. Enjoy!

All the Best!

Kim HoffmanDirector of Relocation

RELO/REO Review

George Mason Updates / Greg Mullan

Helping Boomerang Buyers Re-Enter the Housing Market

During the mortgage bubble of 2006, 78 million consumers, or 43% of credit-active consumers had a mortgage. More than 8% of those consumers were impacted by the “burst” that followed in the years ahead. In a study completed earlier this year, TransUnion defined these buyers as those who were 60+ days past due on a mortgage loan, lost their house through foreclosure, short sale or other non-satisfactory closure, or had a mortgage loan modification. Now, with their credit repaired, some of these buyers are returning to homeownership and these so-called “boomerang buyers” could become a significant driver of new housing demand over the next several years. In fact, over the next five years, TransUnion has estimated that 2.2 million of these buyers could be eligible to re-enter the housing market.

While these buyers may be eligible, the question remains: are they willing? Of the 1.3 million who are now eligible to buy, less than half have already purchased another home, according to the TransUnion study. This tells me that either they simply don’t want to purchase another home or perhaps they don’t know that they are qualified. It’s incumbent upon lenders & real estate professionals to educate these buyers about the waiting periods associated with major derogatory credit events such as foreclosure, short sale, or bankruptcy. In an effort to help you educate your potential boomerang buyers, below I’ve outlined the most prevalent waiting period requirements for Conventional, FHA, & VA financing:

Conventional: • Foreclosure: 7 years from completion date, 3-year possibility with proven extenuating circumstances.• Short Sale: 4 years from completion date, 2-year possibility with proven extenuating circumstances.• Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 4 years from discharge or dismissal date, 2-year possibility with proven extenuating

circumstances.• Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 2 years from discharge date, 4 Years from dismissal date, 2-year possibility with proven

extenuating circumstances.

FHA requirements:• Foreclosure: 3 years from completion date. • Short Sale/Deed-In-Lieu: 3 years from completion date. Note: if the borrower was current on their mortgage

payments at the time of the short sale and had no 30 day late payments in the 12 months prior to the short sale, there is no mandatory 3 year waiting period.

• Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 2 years from discharge date. • Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 2 years from discharge date. Exception: borrower can obtain a mortgage while in

Chapter 13 if they’ve made 1 years’ worth of payments and have approval from the bankruptcy trustee.

VA requirements:• Foreclosure: 2 years from completion date.• Short Sale: VA has no set waiting period for a short sale. Typically, the borrower needs to show proof of on-time

housing payments for 12 months prior to applying for a new mortgage.• Chapter 7 bankruptcy: 2 years from discharge date. There are certain exceptions if at least 1 year has passed from the

discharge date.• Chapter 13 bankruptcy: 1 year if the repayment period has elapsed. Applicant must also receive written permission

from the bankruptcy court/trustee to enter into a mortgage transaction - if not minimum waiting period is 2 years.

And finally, a quick TRID Update. We’re officially two full months into TRID, and while initial reactions to this regulation have certainly been mixed, there is some good news to share here. In October, we closed 30 TRID loans at George Mason Mortgage and in November, that figure increased to 422. Most importantly, we did not miss a single closing date in October or November due to the new TRID regulations!

I hope you all have a safe & happy holiday season!

Cheers,

Greg

Teal for Good

3rd Annual “Everyone’s Home Matters“ Great Gatsby Gala

In November, Pattie Mancini donated her time and some wonderful silent auction gifts to Housing & Community Services of Northern Virginia’s Great GatsbyGala. It’s the charity’s largest fundraising event of the year andHCSNV was truly grateful for Pattie’s contribution in making the event such a success!

Stepping Stone Shelter Food Donations

Just in time for Thanksgiving, thanks to the very generous donations of our Rockville agents, the Rockville office was able to deliver three very full baskets of food to their charity Stepping Stones Shelter.

Vienna Turkey Trot

Another Turkey Trot in the books for Tysons’ Chris Brown and Donna Henshaw, who were also Premium Sponsors! A great way to gain that all important local exposure while getting a “little” run in!

New Home Value Landing PageAn Efficient Way to Acquire Online Leads

Avery-Hess’s Home Valuation Landing pages are mobile responsive lead generators that allow you to easily create home value/CMA digital marketing campaigns that are branded with your headshot and contact information. Landing pages can be easily created from your agent website admin section.

Without having to spend money on a 3rd party vendor subscription, your Home Valuation Landing page will bring in leads by capturing the address, name, and email address of prospective clients who may want to sell their homes. Once the consumer fills out and submits the landing page form, you will receive an email (or text) alert with their submitted information. This information will also be stored in the MyLeads section of your agent website.

After you receive the lead(s), it is up to you to provide the prospective client your own personalized CMA, based on the information they submitted.

There are a variety of ways to get your landing page out to the right people. Your landing page can be: • Advertised on Facebook• Featured in an email campaign• Promoted in a blog• Featured in local online publications

As always, let Marketing know if we can help you get started!

Chili Cook - Off Winners

CONGRATS ANGIE MONTGOMERY!

WINNER OF THE 4TH ANNUALAVERY-HESS, REALTORS®

CHILI COOK–OFF

Angie’s bison and elk chili took first place and with it a $100 gift card and bragging rights for a whole year!

Runners-UpBest Spicy: Danielle Jones (Lake Ridge)

Best Sweet: Mary Misleh (Tysons)Most Unique: Chris Brown (Tysons)

Also thank you to our sponsors Mobility Title and George Mason Mortgage and to everyone who made a food donation!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

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Resources for you:

Event Newscareers.averyhess.com/events

Property Managementahrmanagement.com

Mobility Titlewww.mobilitytitle.com

Avery-Hess App Downloadapp.averyhess.com

Testimonial Treewww.testimonialtree.com

Are you doing something special in the community? Do you have a great tech or strategic tip to share with other agents?

Email your stories to careers@averyhess.com! Chosen entries will be featured in an upcoming issue of MyLife!