Current Press
WAGNER REALTY CELEBRATES SUCCESSFUL LISTING CONTEST WITH BAR-B-QUE, SHREDDING BOTH PORK AND PAPER!
To celebrate the success of a listing contest, Wagner agents were treated to shredded pork BBQ and an opportunity to shred old paper records from home and office. A tent was erected in the parking lot of the Wagner office at 7411 Manatee Avenue, West, where the BBQ and trimmings were served, while a shredding truck made confetti of their old records. Wagner hired “The Moving Men” to pick up hundreds of boxes containing old records from Wagner offices and agents brought personal business records to be dumped into the giant shredding truck.
Traffic on Manatee Avenue slowed to a crawl to get a glimpse of the tent and 150 Wagner agents gathering throughout the afternoon. Grill master Tom Moseley smoked and shredded the pork and Linda Khouri of the Greiner Group handled the rest of the menu. Most of the agents wore T-shirts provided by Wagner business friends, Barnes-Walker, Boyd Insurance and Real Estate Mortgage Network.
Agents earned tickets for each listing to bid on a number of prizes gathered for a silent auction. The grand prize of an Apple I-pad was won by Debi Chaffee in the Lakewood Ranch office. Throughout the contest, agents were awarded gas cards for their efforts in listing 150 properties valued at $30,000,000. A good time was had by all!
WAGNER REALTY TOP PRODUCERS ENJOY BREAKFAST AT THE CROSLEY ESTATE
Last week, Wagner celebrated the Top 25 Agents (year to date) for 2011 at a breakfast in the Crosley Estate. Wagner President David Eckel thanked the agents and branch managers for their performance, reminding them that the market in our area is much better than national or state-wide figures. With record-breaking sales this year, the top 25 have sold over $100,000,000 so far, and look forward to the usual year-end increase in sales activity!
Marketing Director Ron Cornette introduced guest speaker Elliott Falcione, Executive Director of the Bradenton area Convention & Visitors Bureau, who spoke on the efforts of the CVB and Chambers of Commerce to attract visitors to our area. He pointed out the fact that Florida’s number one industry is tourism, and we are fortunate to have the island beaches and proximity to other attractions that bring them to us and keep them coming.
The Top 25, including teams, were: Nancy Allen, Maria Balaz, Curt Bell, Andrew Britt, Donna Bucher, Ken Clanton, Carol Codella, Earl Cowdrey, Pat Duran, Julie Evans, Sherry Flathman, David Fletcher, Diane Gallagher, Cindy Greco, Rae Ellen Hayo, Duane Henderson, Ryan Hoffman, Erika Lane, the team of Rick Mace & Debi Chaffee, The Royal Team of Judy McCauley, Gina & Peter Uliano, Lynda Melnick, David Moynihan, Cyndi Myers, Alice Ohme, Joan Oliszewski, Michelle Simmons, Dottie Wiencek and Woody Woodworth.
WAGNER RENTAL AGENTS MEET
Last week, all Wagner’s rental agents and property managers met at the Bradenton Country Club to discuss the coming season. The property management division has well over a thousand rentals and have already booked many winter vacation rentals for 2012! The 5 island offices (Anna Maria, Runaway Bay, Cedars West, Harbour Villa Club and Longboat Key) are nearly full for February and March. Reservation requests are coming in daily, from advertising and their new website: www.WagnerRealty.com .
Call any Wagner Realty office for information or call the corporate office at 941-727-2800 for the appropriate office.
WAGNER ANNOUNCES TOP PRODUCERS FOR AUGUST, 2011
Wagner Realty announced the top producers in their offices for July, 2011. Listing honors went to Judy McCauley, the Royal Team at El Conquistador; Barbara Mollanazar on Cortez Road; Jerry Cunningham at Longboat Key; Lynda Melnick at SR 64, East; Nancy Allen at Manatee Avenue West; Jennifer Summeralls in Anna Maria; Louise Tessier at First Street in Sarasota and Cindi Grigsby at Lakewood Ranch.
Tops in sales honors went to Judy McCauley, the Royal Team at El Conquistador; Cindy Greco on Cortez Road; Gerry Feudo at SR 64, East; Sherry Flathman at Manatee Avenue West; Teresia Bradford at Longboat Key; Penny Bray in Anna Maria Island; Margo MacKenzie at First Street in Sarasota, Cindi Grigsby at Lakewood Ranch and Ryan Hoffman in the Commercial Division.
Wagner Realty Holds Listing Contest
Wagner Realty announced a listing contest for July, August and September to bolster inventory while sales are still setting records. The increase in residential sales has depleted some inventory, so Wagner agents have begun a friendly competition among the offices to convince sellers that – if this is the time for buyers to buy – it must be a great time for sellers to list. Listings are up substantially this year over 2010, with most of them traditional listings at market value. Monthly prizes of gasoline gift cards are presented to the top listing agent in each office. The grand prize of an Apple I-Pod will be awarded at the end of the event in a celebration featuring food, beverages and more prizes. Gas cards were presented for July to Cindy Greco at Corporate; Jennifer Summeralls at Anna Maria; Karl Esterbrook at Manatee; Michelle Simmons at El Conquistador; Gerry Feudo at SR 64, East; Tamara Owens in Sarasota and Rick Mace & Debi Chaffee in Lakewood Ranch.
WAGNER REALTY AGENTS RECOGNIZED BY SARASOTA MAGAZINE
Rick Mace, an agent in Wagner’s Lakewood Ranch office, was listed by Sarasota Magazine as a “Top Scoring” real estate agent. Rick and his partner Debi Chaffee, have been top producers for some time, and continue to be included in Wagner’s top listing or selling agents in the Lakewood Ranch area. Rick and Debi have often staged their listings to make them more appealing to prospects when shown. They say, “Buyers have to envision themselves and their family in that homes they consider. That means minimizing personal effects and clutter.” As for winning awards, they said, “It’s an honor that reflects our sincere effort to provide our clients with the very best service possible.”
WAGNER REALTY COLLECTS FOOD FOR MANATEE COUNTY FOOD BANK..
A recent article in the Bradenton Herald prompted agents in Wagner’s West Manatee branch office to start collecting food for the Manatee County Food Bank. They placed a barrel in the lobby and before long it was filled, so they started another barrel, and plan to continue collecting throughout the year. Agents are bringing in non-perishable food daily and encourage anyone in the area to bring such items to any Wagner Realty office for delivery to the food bank. United Way notes that the situation this year is more severe than in 2008, when similar aid was requested. Gina Uliano, manager of the west Manatee office said, “Let’s fill the barrels, so we can fill empty Tummies!”
We've Been Voted Favorite Real Estate Company for the 13th Time!
Recently, David Eckel, President of Wagner Realty, was notified that the company was voted “Favorite Real Estate Company” for the 13th time! The first year was 1999, just four short years after he purchased the company. At the time, it was based in a humble cottage on Anna Maria Island. Eckel remodeled the building to its present look and began growing the company.
He acquired and merged several companies and in 1998 opened on office on Manatee Avenue, West. In 2000, the El Conquistador and SR 64 East offices were added. Wagner became the on-site rental office in several island resort condominiums: Runaway Bay, Cedars West and Harbour Villa Club. In 2009, the first Sarasota branch opened on Palm Avenue, later moving into its own building across from Whole Foods on First Street. That same year, the Lakewood Ranch office opened. Rapid growth prompted that office to relocate into the Lakewood Ranch Herald Building on SR 70, near LWR Boulevard.
Through the years, Wagner has attracted over 200 well trained professionals to join the company, including 7 Past Presidents of the Manatee Association of REALTORS. The owners of more than a dozen real estate companies are now agents at Wagner Realty. David Eckel is especially proud of the branch managers: Becky Smith, Anna Maria; Sandy Greiner, Cortez; Gina Uliano, West Manatee & Longboat Key; Betty Gambrell, El Conquistador; Gerry Feudo, East Manatee; Iva Fadley-Dane, Sarasota and Diane Lee, Lakewood Ranch.
Training and agent support are two of the reasons so many have been attracted to the company. Classes are conducted weekly by Ron Cornette, Polly Gaar, Sharone Martinelli and Cindy Greco on marketing, legal forms, referrals, building a business and much more. That, plus the lack of charges to agents or clients continue to help the company grow. People like the fact that this is a local company and the money they earn stays here and is reinvested in the community. David Eckel says, “Sales for the first four months of 2011 have been the best in over 5 years.”
WAGNER REALTY HOLDS INTERNET TRAINING CLASS AT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
This week, Wagner Realty used a computer lab classroom at the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee Campus to teach social networking and creating Microsoft Tags for marketing. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, over 96 percent of consumers start their search for real estate on the internet. With this in mind, Wagner has developed a number of training courses for their agents. While most of the training is one on one, the interest has been so great that they decided to hold larger classes to get all of them trained as quickly as possible. Another similar class is set for August 15th.
Wagner’s Training Director, Ron Cornette said the class at USF this week covered social tools like You Tube and Facebook with over 20 agents learning how to create accounts to begin using these tools for marketing to present and future clients. Wagner’s Website Administrator Corinna Decker gave them a step by step instruction to set up accounts in the various social media, so they could post information on themselves and their listings.
Ron Cornette taught them how to set up a Microsoft account and actually create a barcode tag that, when scanned with a smart phone, will lead people to the agent’s personal profile on the company’s website: WagnerRealty.com. Once there, they may be able to view the agent’s listings, all Wagner listings, virtual tours, etc. They can touch their phone to call the agent, the office, or go to the company website. Tags may be used in advertising in the newspaper, magazines, or on their business cards. Assisting agents in the class were Carla Ross, Sharone Martinelli, Sandy Price and Corinna Decker. The agents in attendance gave the class rave reviews.
WAGNER REALTY WEB ADMINISTRATOR TEACHES AGENTS TO BE WEB SAVVY
Corinna Decker has conducted internet classes in every Wagner Realty office over the past two weeks, introducing the new web site and all the features designed to help agents manage their listings, leads and web marketing. Included in the training are instructions on Microsoft Tags and QR Codes, Posting videos, Relocation and Referrals and Social Media.
With almost two billion people on the web every day, it is more important than ever for agents to be comfortable with the new technology. The new Wagner website (www.WagnerRealty.com) contains a wealth of information for the public as well as for the agents, including property search, market conditions, open house listings and translation into many languages. With the huge increase in traffic on the site, consumer leads are directed to agents in record numbers.
Ms Decker has a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from the University of Phoenix and practices continued education in technology and training. For the past 6 months, she has been studying Wagner’s business processes, goals and objectives and then implemented the best technology to carry them out. She helped select the new web designer and is training agents and branch managers how to maximize their personal presence.
Commerical Investment Division Expansion
Tom Moseley, former Area President of Whitney National Bank for Manatee Sarasota and Pinellas Counties has acquired his Florida Real Estate License and joined Wagner Realty.
ViewWagner Realty Announces the Return of Beverly Varnadore
Wagner Realty announced the return of Beverly Varnadore, who has joined the East Manatee office at 5215 SR 64, East. Beverly is a Florida native, born in Jasper and has lived in Palmetto since 1952. She and her husband Raymond have owned and operated a business in Palmetto for 53 years. In 2005 she received her Florida Real Estate License, specializing in residential properties. When she’s not selling real estate, Beverly enjoys time with her family and friends. To keep pace with the new trends, Beverly plans to take classes offered by Wagner in the latest technology and marketing tools. She can be reached at her office: 941-741-2500 or directly at 941-812-2378.
WAGNER AGENT SELLS SIX MILLION DOLLAR SARASOTA HOME!
Erika Lane, and agent in Wagner’s Lakewood Ranch office, has sold a six million dollar Siesta Bayfront home. The property includes a vacant 1.2 acre lot, ready for the construction of another luxury home. The home has five bedrooms, five baths and 2 half baths, with a heated pool and boat dock. Features include a library paneled in solid mahogany and floors of the same polished wood. Erika is an avid horsewoman and lives in the Polo Club, where she keeps her seven horses and boards horses for others. Erika teaches riding to beginners and enjoys her dual life as a horsewoman and Realtor. You can reach her at the Lakewood Ranch office: 941-756-7800.
WAGNER REALTY ADDS NINE MORE AGENTS!
Wagner Realty announced the addition of nine new agents to its roster in several offices. Four of them are now in the expanded Lakewood Ranch office at 11121 SR 70, East just west of LWR Boulevard. They are Maria Badgett, Scott Abraham, Nancy Fish-Mooney and Larry Gay. The growth of that office has escalated since moving into the Lakewood Ranch Herald Building.
Two agents have joined the Corporate Office at 3639 Cortez Road, West. Rob Welch and Tom Moseley are working in Wagner’s Commercial Investment Division. Included in the recent additions are Cheryl Carson in the West Manatee Office, Mara Cunha at First Street in downtown Sarasota and Chip Gutbrod in the SR 64 branch.
Training and Marketing Director Ron Cornette says, “Our revamped training program is one of the reasons so many are joining the company. Most sessions are one-on-one and changed monthly to keep pace with the rapidly changing market. Another is the large amount of advertising support given to our agents.” For information on the company contact him at the Corporate Office at 3639 Cortez Road, West or call 941-727-2800.
Ron Cornette, REALTOR®
Training & Marketing Director
Licensed to Sell Real Estate in Florida
Wagner Realty - Bradenton FL - 941-727-2800
Web Site: www.WagnerRealty,com
Web Page: http://fl.living.net/Realtor/1060561
