A hush permeated the crowd of more than 250 people gathered at the William Raveis Shelton Headquarters on March 1, 2010. Bill Raveis, blindfolded and smiling, reached into the large glass bowl and pulled out names of four very happy real estate agents who are now $10,000 richer.
The occasion was the fifth and sixth drawing in the company’s statewide marketing campaign called Target 20K, a program Raveis conceived to stimulate cooperation among agents, and to increase property showings. In the program, agents who have listed and sold Target-20K houses become eligible to win $10,000. Drawings are held when 50 houses are sold.
As of 2/23/2010, the company has cooperated with 175 different agencies on this popular event.
In his remarks, Mr. Raveis confirmed that, to date, the company has closed properties totaling more than $108 million in 98 cities with the most expensive property at $1,700,000
. Based on statistics accumulated since the start of the program, Target 20K homes sell faster than regular listings. Mr. Raveis stated that Target 20K houses have an average market time of 82 days compared to 101 days for regular listings.
The happy winners of the first drawing were listing agent, Dorothy Ashmore, of the William Raveis Real Estate Trumbull Office and a selling agent, who wished to remain anonymous.
The 2nd drawing produced both winners from William Raveis Real Estate with the listing associate being Anne Augustine of the Cheshire Office and the selling associate, Anastasia Damalas of the Danbury Office.
William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance is one of the top companies in the nation. It was recently ranked in 2009 by sales volume in REALTOR® Magazine as the #1 family-owned real estate company in the Northeast and the 10th largest real estate company in the USA. The innovative firm is nationally recognized as an industry leader in technology, marketing and REALTOR® education. Its award-winning website, raveis.com, draws more than 10 million visitors annually and includes more than 200,000+ MLS listings in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont.
The company entered the Massachusetts marketplace in 2003 and, according to the 2009 closed sales volume in the Multiple Listing Service Pin, the company is now the largest independent brokerage in that state with 20 offices. William Raveis recently expanded into New York and presently has offices in Rye and Harrison in Westchester County. Future plans entail expansion into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Presently, the firm has 2,400 highly trained sales professionals and 70 company-owned and affiliate offices in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.