Monthly Archives: June 2012

YOUR ‘MOVING’ STORY COULD BE WORTH $10K

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HAVE A ‘MOVING’ STORY TO SHARE?
YOU COULD WIN $10K FROM RE/MAX

Contact: Kevin Bayzath
Phone: (856) 988-1800
Email: kbayzath@aol.com

MARLTON (May 31) – RE/MAX, the nation’s leading real estate franchise, is sponsoring a social media contest this summer – with a grand prize of $10,000 to the winner – to find the most interesting stories about why people buy and sell homes.

From now until August 1, consumers can take part in the multi-platform social media “What Moves You?” contest by uploading stories, videos or photographs directly to the contest website www.whatmovesyou.remax.com.

“Buying or selling a home is not only a major financial decision, but also one that can carry deep emotion,” said RE/MAX Connection CEO Christopher J. Brown. “Our Realtors hear stories every day ranging from the funny and bizarre to sad and poignant. Any one of those could be a $10,000 winner.”

What moves you? It’s usually a pivotal moment in life. Is it when you get married, or find a job that’s not in you city? Is it when you learn you’re having a baby, or when their kids leave home and the house feels empty and way too big? The RE/MAX national advertising campaign focuses on these events and this contest gives you the opportunity to share those moments from your life with others.

The contest runs nine weeks, and consumers will be entered when they submit one, or a combination of, the following:
* Story (500-word maximum)
* Video (three minutes or less; with a YouTube or other video-sharing link)
* Photographs (JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF or TIFF; not to exceed 10MB)

The ongoing voting by the general public at the www.whatmovesyou.remax.com website will determine eight weekly winners (tallied Monday through Sunday) and ultimately the grand-prize winner — named after the final grand-prize voting week, which ends this August 1.

The weekly prize is a $750 Apple gift card with the overall winner taking home $10,000. In addition, for each story submitted, RE/MAX LLC will donate $1 to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

RE/MAX affiliates and their families are not eligible to submit stories or vote. Full contest rules and eligibility guidelines are available on the contest website.

RE/MAX Connection – Marlton is located at 1000 Lincoln Drive East, Suite Two, Marlton, NJ 08053. Phone: (856) 988-1800. Fax: (856) 988-8020. RE/MAX Connection – Mantua is located at 140 Bridgeton Pike, Mantua, NJ 08051. Phone: (856) 415-1210. Fax: (856) 415-1291. RE/MAX Connection – Turnersville is at 5701 Route 42, Turnersville, NJ 08012. Phone: 856-228-7990. Fax: 856-228-4433. All three offices are on the web at www.goconnectionnj.com.

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RE/MAX Connection Realtors accepts no liability for the content of this email/blog, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that information is subsequently confirmed in writing. RE/MAX Connection Realtors is providing this transmission for informational purposes only. Any views or opinions presented in this email/blog do not necessarily represent those of the company.

The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

RE/MAX Connection Realtors, 1000 Lincoln Drive East, Suite Two, Marlton, NJ 08053 www.goconnectionnj.com.

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RE/MAX CONNECTION SPONSORS INNOVATIVE CLASS AT B.C.C.

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RE/MAX CONNECTION REALTORS SPONSORS
INNOVATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA CLASS AT B.C.C.

Contact: Kevin Bayzath
Phone: (856) 988-1800
Email: kbayzath@aol.com

MARLTON (May 30) – This Friday, June 1, is the first day of class for an innovative social media internship program making its debut as part of Burlington County College’s summer session.

The class is a joint venture between the county’s community college and RE/MAX Connection Realtors, the number one multi-office RE/MAX company in New Jersey in units sold for 2011.

Five students will be spending the months of June, July and August writing and posting on social media blogs for 25 Realtors (five Realtors per student) who work out of the three RE/MAX Connection offices in Marlton, Burlington County, and Mantua and Turnersville, Gloucester County.

All five will receive three college credits for the course and the one student who is judged to have the most successful set of blog sites (based on both subjective and objective criteria, including search engine optimization [SEO] ratings) will receive a $2,500 scholarship to continue their education at BCC or a four-year college or university of their choice.

The $2,500 scholarship and the course credits for all five students are being paid by RE/MAX Connection.

Known as the ACCESS program – for American Community College Education Social-media Scholarship – class sessions are being held every Friday at RE/MAX Connection corporate headquarters in Marlton through August 31.

“With ACCESS, we look forward to creating a blueprint for similar small business/community college cooperative projects in the future,” RE/MAX CEO Christopher J. Brown explained. “It’s my belief a strong small business and community college partnership can be a silver bullet for many of the socio-economic problems facing New Jersey.”

“Offering significant cost advantages over both private and public four-year institutions, and holding strong connections to their local residents, our state’s community colleges provide great opportunities for all citizens to benefit,” said Brown, a former county freeholder who now serves in the New Jersey Assembly representing portions of Burlington, Camden and Atlantic counties. He also sits on the Assembly’s Higher Education committee.

The five students participating in the initial year of the program – all of them studying business administration – present a broad cross-section of community college attendees: One is an Iraq War veteran in his mid-30s, another was born in Colombia, South America, and a third graduated from BCC earlier this month and is headed to Rutgers University this September.

“ACCESS is a creative and highly motivational internship model,” said Rebecca Corbin, executive director of the BCC Foundation, co-sponsor of the program. “The foundation and the College applaud Chris Brown for envisioning this project, and we look forward to seeing our students develop marketable skills and building a network of contacts that will help them in their chosen career fields.”

Two other South Jersey businesses are assisting in the ACCESS joint venture between RE/MAX Connection and Burlington County College. VisionLine Media, a website design and development firm based in Collingswood, constructed and posted all 25 Realtor blog sites, is hosting the sites on its servers and will be monitoring SEO rankings for the sites and students; Steve Royek and Associates, a Mount Laurel writing, media relations and marketing communications company, is providing editing and proofreading services and is helping to mentor the students.

RE/MAX Connection – Marlton is located at 1000 Lincoln Drive East, Suite Two, Marlton, NJ 08053. Phone: (856) 988-1800. Fax: (856) 988-8020. RE/MAX Connection – Mantua is located at 140 Bridgeton Pike, Mantua, NJ 08051. Phone: (856) 415-1210. Fax: (856) 415-1291. RE/MAX Connection – Turnersville is at 5701 Route 42, Turnersville, NJ 08012. Phone: 856-228-7990. Fax: 856-228-4433. All three offices are on the web at www.goconnectionnj.com.

Burlington County College, a comprehensive community college, provides all individuals access to affordable and quality education. BCC has campuses in Pemberton and Mount Laurel, centers in Mount Holly and Willingboro, satellite centers in high schools throughout Burlington County, as well as a presence at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and in Burlington City. For more information, please call (609) 894-9311 or (856) 222-9311, or visit www.bcc.edu.

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RE/MAX Connection Realtors accepts no liability for the content of this email/blog, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that information is subsequently confirmed in writing. RE/MAX Connection Realtors is providing this transmission for informational purposes only. Any views or opinions presented in this email/blog do not necessarily represent those of the company.

The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

RE/MAX Connection Realtors, 1000 Lincoln Drive East, Suite Two, Marlton, NJ 08053 www.goconnectionnj.com.

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Naroff Economic Advisors — May Employment Report

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NAROFF ECONOMIC ADVISORS, Inc.
Joel L. Naroff
President and Chief Economist

INDICATOR: May Employment Report

KEY DATA: Payrolls: +69,000; Unemployment Rate: 8.2% (up 0.1 percentage point)

IN A NUTSHELL: “There is no sugar-coating this report, it was bad.”

WHAT IT MEANS: The so-called “all important” employment report was released today and it was a real stunner. Job gains in May were disappointing, to say the least.

Yes, there were the usual strange elements. For example, construction, including residential and large projects such as road construction was down sharply. There were no other data to indicate this was happening. We also saw major cut backs in seasonal industries such as garden supply stores and in amusement and recreation.

Did we really stop working on our back yards and going to baseball games? Okay, those of us in Philadelphia are a little upset about the Phillies, but that is a different story. But the rest of the report was nothing great as there were few areas outside health care where hiring was solid.

The government at all levels, keeps cutting back and that is not helping. There were other reasons to be concerned. Wages and hours worked were down which has negative implications for income. As for the unemployment rate, there was at least a little some news in the disappointing rise in the rate. The increase was driven by a huge jump in people looking for work.

While employment was up sharply in this survey, it could not keep up with the rise in the labor force. We have been looking for this uptick in the workforce for a while as it normally signals an improving outlook on the economy.

MARKETS AND FED POLICY IMPLICATIONS: There is little positive in this report other than a rise in the labor force. Businesses have become really cautious, a pattern we saw last year at this time. Then, high gasoline prices, a tsunami and the insanity in Washington joined to crater the economy. By the fall, conditions had turned back around.

This year, high gasoline prices, Europe and the looming end of year Washington insanity are playing on the minds of households and businesses. Will we see a rebound as we did last year? That is not clear but we can hope so. I say that because I have no good explanation for the sharp deceleration in hiring has occurred.

Were any of the factors listed above so great as to stop businesses from adding workers? Are households really changing spending patterns because of Europe or Washington? Not if you consider the solid rise in consumption and inflation adjusted disposable income in April. Since I cannot point to anything to clearly explain the slowdown I will simply wait and see and worry.

As for investors who are already fearful of Europe, this report can only add to their concerns. Meanwhile, with rates so low, the Fed really has nothing to do. The markets are doing the job for it.

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RE/MAX Connection Realtors is not a licensed financial advisor and is not providing any financial advice. You should consult with a licensed financial advisor prior to making any financial decisions. RE/MAX Connection Realtors only is providing this economic statement from Naroff Economic Advisors, Inc. for informational purposes.

Our company accepts no liability for the content of this email/blog, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Any views or opinions presented in this email/blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the company. Finally, the recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email.

RE/MAX Connection Realtors, 1000 Lincoln Drive East, Suite Two, Marlton, NJ 08053 www.goconnectionnj.com.

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