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Hill & Co. Real Estate announced today that it has launched a new blog, focused on San Francisco – its people, neighborhoods and attractions. The blog’s name is SFDentro, and visitors can find it at www.SFDentro.com, or by clicking on the blog link on the homepage of Hill & Co.’s website.
A new item is posted each weekday. Some San Francisco websites offer an overwhelming amount of news, reports, profiles and event calendars. SFDentro seeks to present a single jewel each day, the very best of San Francisco.
The posts are deliberately short in order to be easily digested – usually only two or three paragraphs long. They always include a photo or two, and typically have links to other pages where more information can be found.
Categories include: Happenings, People, Looking Forward, Places to See and
Neighborhoods.
Hill & Co. is a real estate company, but the blog is not all about real estate. Instead, it’s more general in nature. It is intended to be an insider’s guide to San Francisco, appealing to City and Bay Area residents, visitors, out-of-towners and prospective homeowners alike.
“Our website provides lots of good information on the San Francisco real estate market,” said Hill & Co. Vice President Eileen Mougeot. “We have market reports, homes for sales, neighborhood profiles and more. This blog rounds things out. It offers a broader view of the City than you might find elsewhere.”
Dentro is Italian for “inside,” and that’s where the name SFDentro comes from. Items are posted on the blog, and then reposted on Hill & Co.’s Facebook and Twitter channels.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
A new item is posted each weekday. Some San Francisco websites offer an overwhelming amount of news, reports, profiles and event calendars. SFDentro seeks to present a single jewel each day, the very best of San Francisco.
The posts are deliberately short in order to be easily digested – usually only two or three paragraphs long. They always include a photo or two, and typically have links to other pages where more information can be found.
Categories include: Happenings, People, Looking Forward, Places to See and
Neighborhoods.
Hill & Co. is a real estate company, but the blog is not all about real estate. Instead, it’s more general in nature. It is intended to be an insider’s guide to San Francisco, appealing to City and Bay Area residents, visitors, out-of-towners and prospective homeowners alike.
“Our website provides lots of good information on the San Francisco real estate market,” said Hill & Co. Vice President Eileen Mougeot. “We have market reports, homes for sales, neighborhood profiles and more. This blog rounds things out. It offers a broader view of the City than you might find elsewhere.”
Dentro is Italian for “inside,” and that’s where the name SFDentro comes from. Items are posted on the blog, and then reposted on Hill & Co.’s Facebook and Twitter channels.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Hill & Co. Real Estate announced today that Brian Wilcox has joined the company and will assume the position of IT Director.
Wilcox brings 15 years of technology experience to Hill & Co. He spent the last 10 years in the real estate industry, seeing that the brokerages and agents he worked with stayed ahead of the ever-evolving technology curve; an area that has changed the process of buying and selling a home dramatically over the last decade.
At Hill & Co., Brian is responsible for in-house IT operations, oversees technical support and shapes the company's technology direction.
"Our IT infrastructure is incredibly important to us," said Jay Costello, president of Hill & Co. "It has become a key driver in our business, both for selling homes and for recruiting new agents to our company. Today's REALTORS demand the very latest in technology solutions and support, and with Brian on our team we know we are able to provide our agents with everything they need to be successful."
Wilcox previously served at another brokerage as a Technology Trainer, Solutions Architect, Network Engineer and Director of Technology. He is a Bay Area native who holds a Bachelor's degree in Network Technology and is certified by both Microsoft and Cisco Systems.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Wilcox brings 15 years of technology experience to Hill & Co. He spent the last 10 years in the real estate industry, seeing that the brokerages and agents he worked with stayed ahead of the ever-evolving technology curve; an area that has changed the process of buying and selling a home dramatically over the last decade.
At Hill & Co., Brian is responsible for in-house IT operations, oversees technical support and shapes the company's technology direction.
"Our IT infrastructure is incredibly important to us," said Jay Costello, president of Hill & Co. "It has become a key driver in our business, both for selling homes and for recruiting new agents to our company. Today's REALTORS demand the very latest in technology solutions and support, and with Brian on our team we know we are able to provide our agents with everything they need to be successful."
Wilcox previously served at another brokerage as a Technology Trainer, Solutions Architect, Network Engineer and Director of Technology. He is a Bay Area native who holds a Bachelor's degree in Network Technology and is certified by both Microsoft and Cisco Systems.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Celebrated as one of the City's most extraordinary properties, the Castle on the Park at 601 Dolores Street has been sold, and is now home to Children's Day School, functioning as a second campus to accommodate middle school students.
The stunning Gothic Revival style building was listed as one of the largest and most extraordinary single family homes in San Francisco. Built in 1910, the property features breathtaking public rooms with soaring, coffered, hand-painted ceilings, magnificent chandeliers, beautiful stained glass windows, as well as impressive arched windows framing Dolores Park.
Dubbed "Castle On The Park" by Hill & Co. REALTORS John Woodruff and Marcus Miller, the property was the topic of countless posts and articles both online and in print across the country. In fact, using their website tracking matrix, the agents report that the property was confirmed viewed online throughout the world, with the exception of only two countries, Greenland and Angola. There was endless speculation as to who the eventual buyer might be - a rock star, an eccentric millionaire, a technology company looking for a playhouse. Some said the property would never sell.
In the end, after being on the active market for one year, the perfect buyer stepped forward. According to Children's Day School, the building will house nine classrooms, as well as a community gathering and performance space that they intend to share with community and neighborhood groups. Because the school already has a large parking lot and drive-through driveway at 333 Dolores, they are confident that they can minimize their parking and traffic impact at 19th and Dolores Streets.
Retrofitting and making improvements on this property was an enormous project, one requiring extraordinary vision and tremendous skill. Siamak Akhavan, the former owner and a partner of BMP Construction, and his entire crew did a remarkable job, transforming the formerly condemned building into something truly magnificent.
Once completed, finding the ideal buyer took time. The property was marketed across the City, in Silicon Valley, in Hollywood and around the world. Yet, somehow it seems fitting that ultimately the buyer - Children's Day School - is very much a part of the neighborhood, and very much committed to serving the community.
Listing agents John Woodruff and Marcus Miller have been the #1 Team at Hill & Co. Real Estate for a number of years, and both agents have been Top Producers at the brokerage for well over a decade. Finding the right buyer for this property presented a number of challenges, but John and Marcus have often said they love a good challenge, and they were able to make it happen. This sale speaks volumes about their ability to market virtually any property, regardless of size, and no matter how complex the transaction.
To learn more, contact the Woodruff-Miller team at (415) 321-4329.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
The stunning Gothic Revival style building was listed as one of the largest and most extraordinary single family homes in San Francisco. Built in 1910, the property features breathtaking public rooms with soaring, coffered, hand-painted ceilings, magnificent chandeliers, beautiful stained glass windows, as well as impressive arched windows framing Dolores Park.
Dubbed "Castle On The Park" by Hill & Co. REALTORS John Woodruff and Marcus Miller, the property was the topic of countless posts and articles both online and in print across the country. In fact, using their website tracking matrix, the agents report that the property was confirmed viewed online throughout the world, with the exception of only two countries, Greenland and Angola. There was endless speculation as to who the eventual buyer might be - a rock star, an eccentric millionaire, a technology company looking for a playhouse. Some said the property would never sell.
In the end, after being on the active market for one year, the perfect buyer stepped forward. According to Children's Day School, the building will house nine classrooms, as well as a community gathering and performance space that they intend to share with community and neighborhood groups. Because the school already has a large parking lot and drive-through driveway at 333 Dolores, they are confident that they can minimize their parking and traffic impact at 19th and Dolores Streets.
Retrofitting and making improvements on this property was an enormous project, one requiring extraordinary vision and tremendous skill. Siamak Akhavan, the former owner and a partner of BMP Construction, and his entire crew did a remarkable job, transforming the formerly condemned building into something truly magnificent.
Once completed, finding the ideal buyer took time. The property was marketed across the City, in Silicon Valley, in Hollywood and around the world. Yet, somehow it seems fitting that ultimately the buyer - Children's Day School - is very much a part of the neighborhood, and very much committed to serving the community.
Listing agents John Woodruff and Marcus Miller have been the #1 Team at Hill & Co. Real Estate for a number of years, and both agents have been Top Producers at the brokerage for well over a decade. Finding the right buyer for this property presented a number of challenges, but John and Marcus have often said they love a good challenge, and they were able to make it happen. This sale speaks volumes about their ability to market virtually any property, regardless of size, and no matter how complex the transaction.
To learn more, contact the Woodruff-Miller team at (415) 321-4329.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Real estate companies have long searched for the perfect property search engine. Typically a user enters a desired price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and the search engine responds by presenting dozens if not hundreds of homes to choose from. Hill & Co. has rethought this approach, and has developed an engine that asks more general questions in advance, and then presents one or just a select few homes that are more likely an ideal match.
“It’s actually just an easy six step point and click process,” said Hill & Co. President Jay Costello. “We call it our ‘Build Your Dream Home’ feature because we give you the chance to ‘construct’ the home you’d like online, and then we’ll see if it already exists in San Francisco and is for sale.”
The button for this search engine is located at the top of the www.hill-co.com home page. The site naturally includes a more traditional property search engine as well, one that provides information on thousands of properties available throughout the City. But it’s the “Build Your Dream Home” feature that helps set the site apart from others.
“Ironically, most search engines don’t even ask what style home a person is looking for,” said Eileen Mougeot, Vice President and Manager at the brokerage. “And yet ‘style of home’ is very important to buyers, usually something we talk about in our very first conversations.”
Though ubiquitous, the web is still in its infancy with technologies and applications ever evolving. It’s a wonderful time for innovation and experimentation, and Hill & Co.’s Dream Home search engine is perhaps a first step in a new direction.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
“It’s actually just an easy six step point and click process,” said Hill & Co. President Jay Costello. “We call it our ‘Build Your Dream Home’ feature because we give you the chance to ‘construct’ the home you’d like online, and then we’ll see if it already exists in San Francisco and is for sale.”
The button for this search engine is located at the top of the www.hill-co.com home page. The site naturally includes a more traditional property search engine as well, one that provides information on thousands of properties available throughout the City. But it’s the “Build Your Dream Home” feature that helps set the site apart from others.
“Ironically, most search engines don’t even ask what style home a person is looking for,” said Eileen Mougeot, Vice President and Manager at the brokerage. “And yet ‘style of home’ is very important to buyers, usually something we talk about in our very first conversations.”
Though ubiquitous, the web is still in its infancy with technologies and applications ever evolving. It’s a wonderful time for innovation and experimentation, and Hill & Co.’s Dream Home search engine is perhaps a first step in a new direction.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Nationally renowned real estate marketing and technology speaker and REALTOR.com(r) Vice President, Max Pigman, has presented to Stephanie Ahlberg of Hill & Co. Real Estate the "Real Estate Online Marketing Award of Excellence". The Award of Excellence recognizes top agents who consistently provide great marketing services on behalf of their buyers and sellers.
"There are always some real estate agents who distinguish themselves from other agents by doing a little more for their sellers. In particular; when the home they are selling is placed on a well trafficked site such as the number 1 ranked REALTOR.com(r)*, even simple efforts like having more photos displayed, crafting better descriptions or adding a full motion video, can make a home stand out from competing properties," says Max Pigman, Vice President of REALTOR.com(r).
The excellence award was presented to Ms. Ahlberg at a recent real estate marketing and technology seminar that demonstrated cutting edge techniques for leveraging the Internet and technology in real estate marketing.
Ms. Ahlberg says, "My seller clients appreciate how I can help bring more attention to the unique selling attributes of their home and ultimately help attract more qualified buyers. Buyers are also appreciative of a well presented home that has a better description and more ways to learn about the property before arranging an appointment. While it's certainly an honor to receive this award, I think ultimately it would be a disservice not to make REALTOR.com(r) and the Internet part of your standard home marketing plan. Some day soon most agents will see it as a must have requirement instead of something special. We're already seeing that change."
"The extra steps agents like Stephanie are taking on behalf of their clients is the reason we thought it worthwhile to call out the effort we have seen these agents make online and to recognize them for providing these added value services," says Mr. Pigman.
REALTOR.com(r) is just one of the many ways Stephanie is leveraging recent trends in home buyer online behavior to her clients' benefit.
Home sellers interested in finding out how to have their home marketed on REALTOR.com(r) should contact Ms. Ahlberg at (415) 321-4232 or email Stephanie at ahlberg1@comcast.net.
* comScore Media Metrix June 2010
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
"There are always some real estate agents who distinguish themselves from other agents by doing a little more for their sellers. In particular; when the home they are selling is placed on a well trafficked site such as the number 1 ranked REALTOR.com(r)*, even simple efforts like having more photos displayed, crafting better descriptions or adding a full motion video, can make a home stand out from competing properties," says Max Pigman, Vice President of REALTOR.com(r).
The excellence award was presented to Ms. Ahlberg at a recent real estate marketing and technology seminar that demonstrated cutting edge techniques for leveraging the Internet and technology in real estate marketing.
Ms. Ahlberg says, "My seller clients appreciate how I can help bring more attention to the unique selling attributes of their home and ultimately help attract more qualified buyers. Buyers are also appreciative of a well presented home that has a better description and more ways to learn about the property before arranging an appointment. While it's certainly an honor to receive this award, I think ultimately it would be a disservice not to make REALTOR.com(r) and the Internet part of your standard home marketing plan. Some day soon most agents will see it as a must have requirement instead of something special. We're already seeing that change."
"The extra steps agents like Stephanie are taking on behalf of their clients is the reason we thought it worthwhile to call out the effort we have seen these agents make online and to recognize them for providing these added value services," says Mr. Pigman.
REALTOR.com(r) is just one of the many ways Stephanie is leveraging recent trends in home buyer online behavior to her clients' benefit.
Home sellers interested in finding out how to have their home marketed on REALTOR.com(r) should contact Ms. Ahlberg at (415) 321-4232 or email Stephanie at ahlberg1@comcast.net.
* comScore Media Metrix June 2010
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Hill & Co. Real Estate is now creating YouTube videos for many of the properties it represents. The videos are then posted on the property's website, on the company's website and on the company's Facebook and YouTube channels (examples at www.YouTube.com/HillCoRealEstate). Links to property videos can be easily emailed, enabling recipients to view the videos on their computers or smart phones.
"YouTube videos are a wonderful way for us to present properties," said Hill & Co. President Jay Costello. "We know people like YouTube videos in general, and they enable us to showcase a property in 2 or 3 quick minutes, with full narration, music and compelling visuals."
Real estate today is a fast paced business. In many cases, a REALTOR(r) will win the listing on Monday, and be expected to stage, photograph, promote and hold the home open that weekend. Hill & Co. has put in place a program the enables the brokerage to create, post and distribute YouTube videos in as little as 24 hours as part of this process. The integration is seamless. And as more and more people use YouTube as a search engine, perhaps invaluable.
"You show someone a property video on their iPhone or Blackberry, and their jaw just drops," said Eileen Mougeot, Vice President and Broker Associate at the company. "At least for now, it's still unexpected. It's the perfect marriage of message and medium."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
"YouTube videos are a wonderful way for us to present properties," said Hill & Co. President Jay Costello. "We know people like YouTube videos in general, and they enable us to showcase a property in 2 or 3 quick minutes, with full narration, music and compelling visuals."
Real estate today is a fast paced business. In many cases, a REALTOR(r) will win the listing on Monday, and be expected to stage, photograph, promote and hold the home open that weekend. Hill & Co. has put in place a program the enables the brokerage to create, post and distribute YouTube videos in as little as 24 hours as part of this process. The integration is seamless. And as more and more people use YouTube as a search engine, perhaps invaluable.
"You show someone a property video on their iPhone or Blackberry, and their jaw just drops," said Eileen Mougeot, Vice President and Broker Associate at the company. "At least for now, it's still unexpected. It's the perfect marriage of message and medium."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Hill & Co. Real Estate announced today that it has launched its next generation website. The new site includes extensive San Francisco market reports, property videos, enhanced international search, a "Build Your Dream Home" tool and links to the company's Facebook, YouTube and Flickr channels. The adoption of social media marks a remarkable milestone for the venerable, family owned San Francisco brokerage, founded in 1956.
Jay Costello, President of Hill & Co. said, "For the last several years we believe we have advanced our technology and marketing immeasurably. The new website is a wonderful expression of that progress, and we believe it will become a destination for those all over the world who want to know more about San Francisco real estate."
The web address is the same, www.hill-co.com, but virtually everything else has changed. The site makes searching for homes in the City easier than ever. Visitors can search all of the City's MLS listings by address, neighborhood, zip code or MLS number. The search results automatically display locations on a map, along with property information and photographs, and links to still more information.
The site's homepage is designed in three horizontal layers for ease of use. The top layer provides access to city-wide listings and broader information about the market. The second layer provides information on Hill & Co. and its listings. This layer also includes a featured property video and links to the company's social media channels.
The third layer is an abridged site map of sorts, ensuring that any page on the site is just one click away. This third layer is constant, and appears on every page as visitors move about the site.
Two new features are particularly noteworthy, "Click to Chat" and "Build Your Dream Home". The "Click to Chat" button enables visitors to instant message Hill & Co. representatives in real time, and get answers to their questions without having to sign in. The "Build Your Dream Home" button turns the typical home search tool on its head. Visitors imagine their dream home, choosing the style, finish and views they prefer. More often than not, that home exists and is for sale, and is presented accordingly.
"We looked at websites inside and outside our industry in developing this site," said Mr. Costello. "We took what we saw and built a site that is pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate and rich with valuable information on San Francisco and our local real estate market."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Jay Costello, President of Hill & Co. said, "For the last several years we believe we have advanced our technology and marketing immeasurably. The new website is a wonderful expression of that progress, and we believe it will become a destination for those all over the world who want to know more about San Francisco real estate."
The web address is the same, www.hill-co.com, but virtually everything else has changed. The site makes searching for homes in the City easier than ever. Visitors can search all of the City's MLS listings by address, neighborhood, zip code or MLS number. The search results automatically display locations on a map, along with property information and photographs, and links to still more information.
The site's homepage is designed in three horizontal layers for ease of use. The top layer provides access to city-wide listings and broader information about the market. The second layer provides information on Hill & Co. and its listings. This layer also includes a featured property video and links to the company's social media channels.
The third layer is an abridged site map of sorts, ensuring that any page on the site is just one click away. This third layer is constant, and appears on every page as visitors move about the site.
Two new features are particularly noteworthy, "Click to Chat" and "Build Your Dream Home". The "Click to Chat" button enables visitors to instant message Hill & Co. representatives in real time, and get answers to their questions without having to sign in. The "Build Your Dream Home" button turns the typical home search tool on its head. Visitors imagine their dream home, choosing the style, finish and views they prefer. More often than not, that home exists and is for sale, and is presented accordingly.
"We looked at websites inside and outside our industry in developing this site," said Mr. Costello. "We took what we saw and built a site that is pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate and rich with valuable information on San Francisco and our local real estate market."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Kim Barnes, a local realtor with Hill & Co Real Estate, received special recognition during a tree planting ceremony in Lafayette Park on Saturday, November 7. In attendance were park volunteers, Pacific Heights neighbors, students, and San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department executives.
Ms. Barnes was presented with a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was recognized for the enthusiasm and creativity she demonstrated while helping to make Lafayette Park a safer, cleaner, and more beautiful park - one that everyone can now enjoy. Ms. Barnes was also awarded the Mayor's Certificate of Honor
for her efforts.
While addressing those in attendance, San Francisco Recreation and Parks General Manager Philip A Ginsburg said, "For many years neighbors of Lafayette Park were eager to see their park volunteer efforts grow. Five years ago, Kim Barnes put her heart and soul into creating a vibrant, active, and effective Friends of Lafayette Park organization. Through Kim's energetic efforts and positive collaboration with SFRPD, Friends of Lafayette Park has been instrumental in helping the SFRPD beautify the park's entrances and hillsides."
The Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC) deemed November 7, "Kim Barnes Cleaning and Greening Day". San Francisco Parks Trust also recognized Ms. Barnes' leadership and community service as President of Friends of Lafayette Park. The organization applauded the way in which she has brought neighbors and local institutions together. And lastly, Friends of Alta Plaza Park recognized her further contributions in helping to launch Alta Plaza Park Volunteers.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Ms. Barnes was presented with a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She was recognized for the enthusiasm and creativity she demonstrated while helping to make Lafayette Park a safer, cleaner, and more beautiful park - one that everyone can now enjoy. Ms. Barnes was also awarded the Mayor's Certificate of Honor
for her efforts.
While addressing those in attendance, San Francisco Recreation and Parks General Manager Philip A Ginsburg said, "For many years neighbors of Lafayette Park were eager to see their park volunteer efforts grow. Five years ago, Kim Barnes put her heart and soul into creating a vibrant, active, and effective Friends of Lafayette Park organization. Through Kim's energetic efforts and positive collaboration with SFRPD, Friends of Lafayette Park has been instrumental in helping the SFRPD beautify the park's entrances and hillsides."
The Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC) deemed November 7, "Kim Barnes Cleaning and Greening Day". San Francisco Parks Trust also recognized Ms. Barnes' leadership and community service as President of Friends of Lafayette Park. The organization applauded the way in which she has brought neighbors and local institutions together. And lastly, Friends of Alta Plaza Park recognized her further contributions in helping to launch Alta Plaza Park Volunteers.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Hill & Co. Realtor Paula Pagano's book, Secrets of a Top Salesperson - How Emotions Make or Break the Sale, went on sale in late April of this year, and has already become a best seller on Amazon.com.
It is perhaps no wonder. The book is written with remarkable candor and insight, and speaks to issues confronting salespeople in all walks of life, whether in real estate or not.
D. Wink, of New Mexico, wrote of Secrets of a Top Salesperson, "I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it engaging on a general level because of its humanity, wit and wisdom. The lessons in this book can be applied to so much more than real estate, or even general salesmanship. I found it human, interesting and inspiring. And it's a hard-to-put-down fun read!"
Others seem equally impressed, also proclaiming it inspirational. The book is anecdotal in nature, drawing from life experiences to reveal important lessons and illustrate points; ultimately revealing how a reluctant salesperson could grow to become a top producing real estate agent at one of San Francisco's most distinguished brokerages.
Secrets of a Top Salesperson - How Emotions Make or Break the Sale is as entertaining as it is educational. The book is for anyone following their passion because it shows how success comes to those who make life happen.
The book can be purchased online at www.SecretsOfATopSalesperson.com, or at www.amazon.com.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
It is perhaps no wonder. The book is written with remarkable candor and insight, and speaks to issues confronting salespeople in all walks of life, whether in real estate or not.
D. Wink, of New Mexico, wrote of Secrets of a Top Salesperson, "I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it engaging on a general level because of its humanity, wit and wisdom. The lessons in this book can be applied to so much more than real estate, or even general salesmanship. I found it human, interesting and inspiring. And it's a hard-to-put-down fun read!"
Others seem equally impressed, also proclaiming it inspirational. The book is anecdotal in nature, drawing from life experiences to reveal important lessons and illustrate points; ultimately revealing how a reluctant salesperson could grow to become a top producing real estate agent at one of San Francisco's most distinguished brokerages.
Secrets of a Top Salesperson - How Emotions Make or Break the Sale is as entertaining as it is educational. The book is for anyone following their passion because it shows how success comes to those who make life happen.
The book can be purchased online at www.SecretsOfATopSalesperson.com, or at www.amazon.com.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
It's no secret that there are many properties for sale in San Francisco. Today, it's more important than ever to give your property a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Properly pricing the property is of course paramount. Staging or preparing the property for presentation is invaluable. Hill & Co. Real Estate complements these two staples of property promotion with expansive, compelling online exposure. After all, studies indicate that at a minimum 70% of all property searches begin online.
"We build an address-specific Web site for every property we list," said Jay Costello, president of Hill & Co. "Not only that, we create Craigslist.com ads that are more appealing than what you usually find. We format them, so that they present the property better, guiding the visitor from one bit of information to the next."
The Craigslist.com formatting is also in place in e-flyers, created and sent to thousands of San Francisco Association of Realtor member agents located throughout the City.
The Web addresses typically appear on rider boards, placed beneath "For Sale" signs on the property. The Web addresses will also appear in all property promotion -- including brochures, postcards and print ads and flyers. There is also a link to the address-specific Web site located on the Hill & Co. Web site page that describes the property.
"The technologies and programs we employ really present our properties in a superior way," said Costello. "We work hard to see that our listings make a great first impression, whether seen for the first time in print, in person or online."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
Properly pricing the property is of course paramount. Staging or preparing the property for presentation is invaluable. Hill & Co. Real Estate complements these two staples of property promotion with expansive, compelling online exposure. After all, studies indicate that at a minimum 70% of all property searches begin online.
"We build an address-specific Web site for every property we list," said Jay Costello, president of Hill & Co. "Not only that, we create Craigslist.com ads that are more appealing than what you usually find. We format them, so that they present the property better, guiding the visitor from one bit of information to the next."
The Craigslist.com formatting is also in place in e-flyers, created and sent to thousands of San Francisco Association of Realtor member agents located throughout the City.
The Web addresses typically appear on rider boards, placed beneath "For Sale" signs on the property. The Web addresses will also appear in all property promotion -- including brochures, postcards and print ads and flyers. There is also a link to the address-specific Web site located on the Hill & Co. Web site page that describes the property.
"The technologies and programs we employ really present our properties in a superior way," said Costello. "We work hard to see that our listings make a great first impression, whether seen for the first time in print, in person or online."
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
HILL & CO. PROVIDES THEIR REAL ESTATE AGENTS
INNOVATIVE UNIFIED MESSAGING TECHNOLOGY
Hill & Co. Real Estate is the first residential real estate brokerage in San Francisco to implement a complete, advanced Unified Messaging (UM) technology to meet the communication needs of their geographically dispersed and highly mobile workforce.
"Having a reliable unified messaging system is no longer a 'want to have' - it is a 'must have', especially in the world of selling real estate," said Jeremy Ferguson, Director of Technology at Hill & Co. "Our agents are always mobile and geographically dispersed throughout the San Francisco area. We needed a reliable, user-friendly communications system that helped our workforce stay in touch with each other as well as our clients. We also needed to upgrade our IT and communication systems to stay ahead of the competition."
After evaluating a few unified messaging solutions, Hill & Co. decided to implement and deploy Active Voice Kinesis* throughout their organization and all service branches. "We chose Kinesis because it offers the best-of-breed Unified Messaging system that met our specific needs and the easiest way to migrate from traditional VM to Unified Communications in a gradual approach without the need to replace other existing investments or retrain our staff," Ferguson explained.
The largest single value Hill & Co. has realized through Kinesis is its ability to improve their agents' ability to respond to clients in a timely manner.
Commenting on agent experience with Kinesis is Ron Sebahar, a broker associate at Hill & Co. "The ability to instantaneously know, via e-mail, when a client or anyone integral to the real estate transaction process has left a message in my voicemail box has proven extremely valuable in allowing me to respond quickly and demonstrate a higher level of responsiveness, care and professionalism. This technology is perfectly suited for my often erratic schedule, which keeps me away from my desk for long periods. Having experienced several successful years in the real estate industry, I now truly believe that timely communication is crucial and this technology helps to achieve that," he said.
Ferguson added: "For over 50 years, our company has harnessed a reputation in San Francisco as a premier brokerage firm; we want to elevate that reputation among our peers by providing our workforce advanced technologies that will help them succeed in what they do best."
"We are pleased that Hill & Co. found our Kinesis Unified Messaging solution to be the perfect match for their specific business communication needs after evaluating other solutions," said Eyal Inbar, General Manager of Marketing, Active Voice. "In a highly competitive market such as real estate, companies like Hill & Co. have to look at strategically improving their organization to stay ahead of the competition. Active Voice's ability to integrate with their existing phone system and infrastructure, as well as emulate the telephone user interface of their aging Octel voice mail system allows Hill & Co. to not only gain a competitive advantage of increased productivity, but eliminates any need to retrain employees or replace their existing IT investment ."
About Active Voice
Active Voice, LLC, a subsidiary of NEC Unified Solutions, is a global leader in Unified Messaging, computer telephony and voice messaging solutions, powering the communications infrastructure of businesses worldwide. The Seattle-based company has offices in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands. Over 200,000 Active Voice systems have been installed in more than 60 countries. Active Voice's products are sold and supported through a network of independent telecommunications manufacturers, dealers, computer resellers and strategic partners. For more information, visit our Web site at www.activevoice.com or contact Active Voice's Sales Support at 1-800-284-3575 or by e-mail at sales@activevoice.com.
* The registered trademark KINESIS is licensed from Kinesis Corporation (www.kinesis.com), designer and distributor of ergonomic computer accessories. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
INNOVATIVE UNIFIED MESSAGING TECHNOLOGY
Hill & Co. Real Estate is the first residential real estate brokerage in San Francisco to implement a complete, advanced Unified Messaging (UM) technology to meet the communication needs of their geographically dispersed and highly mobile workforce.
"Having a reliable unified messaging system is no longer a 'want to have' - it is a 'must have', especially in the world of selling real estate," said Jeremy Ferguson, Director of Technology at Hill & Co. "Our agents are always mobile and geographically dispersed throughout the San Francisco area. We needed a reliable, user-friendly communications system that helped our workforce stay in touch with each other as well as our clients. We also needed to upgrade our IT and communication systems to stay ahead of the competition."
After evaluating a few unified messaging solutions, Hill & Co. decided to implement and deploy Active Voice Kinesis* throughout their organization and all service branches. "We chose Kinesis because it offers the best-of-breed Unified Messaging system that met our specific needs and the easiest way to migrate from traditional VM to Unified Communications in a gradual approach without the need to replace other existing investments or retrain our staff," Ferguson explained.
The largest single value Hill & Co. has realized through Kinesis is its ability to improve their agents' ability to respond to clients in a timely manner.
Commenting on agent experience with Kinesis is Ron Sebahar, a broker associate at Hill & Co. "The ability to instantaneously know, via e-mail, when a client or anyone integral to the real estate transaction process has left a message in my voicemail box has proven extremely valuable in allowing me to respond quickly and demonstrate a higher level of responsiveness, care and professionalism. This technology is perfectly suited for my often erratic schedule, which keeps me away from my desk for long periods. Having experienced several successful years in the real estate industry, I now truly believe that timely communication is crucial and this technology helps to achieve that," he said.
Ferguson added: "For over 50 years, our company has harnessed a reputation in San Francisco as a premier brokerage firm; we want to elevate that reputation among our peers by providing our workforce advanced technologies that will help them succeed in what they do best."
"We are pleased that Hill & Co. found our Kinesis Unified Messaging solution to be the perfect match for their specific business communication needs after evaluating other solutions," said Eyal Inbar, General Manager of Marketing, Active Voice. "In a highly competitive market such as real estate, companies like Hill & Co. have to look at strategically improving their organization to stay ahead of the competition. Active Voice's ability to integrate with their existing phone system and infrastructure, as well as emulate the telephone user interface of their aging Octel voice mail system allows Hill & Co. to not only gain a competitive advantage of increased productivity, but eliminates any need to retrain employees or replace their existing IT investment ."
About Active Voice
Active Voice, LLC, a subsidiary of NEC Unified Solutions, is a global leader in Unified Messaging, computer telephony and voice messaging solutions, powering the communications infrastructure of businesses worldwide. The Seattle-based company has offices in the United States, Australia and the Netherlands. Over 200,000 Active Voice systems have been installed in more than 60 countries. Active Voice's products are sold and supported through a network of independent telecommunications manufacturers, dealers, computer resellers and strategic partners. For more information, visit our Web site at www.activevoice.com or contact Active Voice's Sales Support at 1-800-284-3575 or by e-mail at sales@activevoice.com.
* The registered trademark KINESIS is licensed from Kinesis Corporation (www.kinesis.com), designer and distributor of ergonomic computer accessories. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
Hill & Co.
Founded in 1956, Hill & Co. Real Estate is a San Francisco brokerage long associated with the City's finest properties. With four offices and nearly 100 full-time agents, the company enables clients to successfully navigate San Francisco's complex real estate market. Two additional Hill & Co. offices provide property management and rental services. For more information, visit www.hill-co.com.
