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Today will be a short message as I’m writing this in my hotel room in Dallas, Texas. I’m attending the 2008 International Conference of the Cartus Broker Network. Cartus is a global leader in corporate and government relocation that annually assists more than 130,000 employees for a client base including more than half of the Fortune 500 companies. In Tallahassee, Century 21 First Realty is the Principal Broker for the Cartus Broker Network. I feel very honored to represent the Cartus Broker Network in Tallahassee and value the benefits of a relationship that supplies my company with so many corporate and government transferees to and from the Tallahassee real estate market.
The 2008 Cartus Broker Network International Conference has so much to offer, especially for a real estate company in Tallahassee. Many of the hundreds of companies represented here are from large markets, so being from a relatively smaller market certainly makes me a bit different than my peers at this conference. I have learned quite a bit about the state of the markets across the United States (and many other countries as well). While the educational courses have been enriching, the value of this conference to me is the networking opportunities with industry champions from across the United States, Canada, Panama, and the United Kingdom.
We were very fortunate to be able to hear from one of the most influential people in the real estate industry today. Richard A. Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Realogy Corporation, overseas the Realogy Franchise Group, which consists of the Cartus, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens, and Sotheby’s International real estate Brands! That is roughly 30% of the U.S. real estate market and a significant piece of the global real estate market.
Richard spoke to attendees at the conference yesterday and covered quite a few topics. I am fortunate to be able to hear his insights on the industry a few times each year and he certainly is in a position to form an educated opinion on the state of the market. Yesterday, he acknowledged the difficulty of the market (not only in Tallahassee but across the entire U.S. with very few exceptions). Richard also predicted that we would see the beginning of the recovery before the end of 2008! I am sure that there are many people in the Tallahassee real estate market that would like that to be true. While we can find opinions on the state of the market every day in the media, it is a rare treat to hear from somebody so wired in to the market.
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Joe Manausa is a real estate investor and the Broker and Co-Owner of Century 21 First Realty. He can be reached via e-mail through the Tallahassee Real Estate Website or catch his latest writings on the Tallahassee Florida Real Estate Blog , or by calling (850) 386-2001.
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Joe,
I’m a government employee that has used cartus many times throughout my career. Let’s just say that I’ll try my best to keep comments about this company to myself.
Cartus recently informed the Federal Government that they were pulling out of their contract with federal agencies effective April 15th. After many profitable years with government contracts, they suddenly have a bad quarter and want to jump ship. That’s why I find it so hard to believe that even Realogy (the parent company) thinks the market will turn later this year.
Thanks for the feedback Gooch. From what I understand, they were losing their shirts on the guaranteed move program and the Government was not willing to renegotiate a contract that would make sense for both parties.
I can see how this might sound like abandonment, but it was much worse than one bad quarter. In the end, it has to profitable to all parties.