In this Issue:

• The Mortgage Meltdown Continues- ARM Freeze?
• e-Agent 2.0 is Here - Changes & Benefits
• Happy Holidays from e-Agent
• Save On Your Monthly Bill! – e-Agent’s Referral Program
• About e-Agent

The worsening mortgage market is nothing new to all of us in the real estate field, however the possibility of the government freezing ARM’s is.  Over the past few weeks, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush have introduced the idea of allowing the government to freeze the rate of adjustable rate mortgages that millions of consumers have.  More recently it appears as if this deal will be coming to fruition and will be bailing amount a large number of consumers.

The plan for this program is to allow a subset of consumers who received ARM’s between 1/05 and 7/07 to have their rates locked in.  By doing this, numerous homeowners would not face the threat of their rates increasing by figures as high as 30% and being able to maintain their home, which they may not have been able to do without this plan.  This could reduce the number of possible foreclosures in the coming months (and years) and in turn keep the real estate market level, as opposed to sinking even further.  Many homeowners who have ARM’s feel like this is their saving grace but many others who went with more traditional fixed rate mortgages feel as if the government is bailing consumers out who took a risk and that they are being penalized for taking a less risky approach.

The possibility of this happening obviously will have profound impacts on the real estate market.  e-Agent would love for you to chime in on this at the e-Agent Discussion Forum, click here to give your thoughts on the ARM freeze.  e-Agent has already polled both our agents as well as consumers regarding this and their feedback can be found on the Discussion Forum.

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Since our 3^rd quarter newsletter, e-Agent 2.0 has debuted and a large number of existing (and many new) clients have moved to the 2.0 platform. 

The new platform has a variety of features that are beneficial to the agent (as well as the consumer) that were not previously available in the old system, these include:

-Agents contact information to be directly displayed to the user

-Access to listings does not require the user to leave their info.

-Agents can post an offer/incentive to consumers

-Personal information about the agent is displayed

The above and more is part of the new 2.0 system, to view the complete details on the new system click here.

Recently, e-Agent has made a few changes to the 2.0 balloon that is displayed on eAgent.com; the submission area and “Submit” button for consumers to leave their information is now larger and easier for consumers to provide you with their contact details.

For 2.0 clients, e-Agent has some suggestions below on what to present to consumers in your balloon.

-Financial incentives (cash back, gift cards, vacations, etc.) are great, but only if that consumer is ready to buy/sell right now – which many aren’t at this time.

In a changing real estate market e-Agent suggests offers similar to the following:

-Offer a free real estate seminar, a brief, hour long seminar at a local school/community center to answer questions and discuss the real estate market in your neighborhood.  This should be a no obligation offer to consumers.

The above suggestions or similar offers are ways to get yourself in front of consumers, show them your expertise about the market and also build up your list of contacts for your mailing list, blast messages, etc.  Additionally, if you are using the 2.0 system take all of your past leads, contacts, etc. (from e-Agent or from outside of e-Agent) and use the blast feature in your account to send all of them an e-mail with a direct link to your balloon where they can see your most recent offer and all of your other information.

Below is a visual aid which shows how marketing and an agents offer reflects on consumers:

(click for larger image)

If you are interested in learning more about e-Agent’s new flat fee model feel free to contact us at 1-866-EAGENTS or e-mail us at sales@e-agent.biz.

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e-Agent would like to wish all of our clients and their families a happy and safe Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year!

We look forward to serving you in 2008 and will continue to strive to do everything necessary to ensure that your marketing dollars are being spent on the best possible advertising for you and providing you maximum exposure to potential home buyers and sellers.

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Looking to save a little money on your next e-Agent lead bill?

Refer a colleague or friend to e-Agent and you will be rewarded with one of the following:

 -For Real Estate 1.0 clients – 5 free leads

 -For Real Estate 2.0 clients - $75 off your next bill

 -For Mortgage, Title and Insurance clients – One Free month of service at the end of your contract

For complete details on the Referral Program click here. 

By referring fellow agents to e-Agent, Inc. not only do you immediately lower your bill but you also help to keep e-Agent’s costs down in the future. 

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e-Agent, Inc. was founded by real estate brokers and agents to combine the efficiency of Internet technology with the one-to-one professional contact that is a hallmark and necessary component of the industry. The company's suite of products and services allows real estate professionals to maximize the potential of online marketing without having to take time away from the business of helping their clients buy and sell homes. e-Agent’s value proposition to real estate agents is based on low cost, low maintenance, high value services, while it ultimately also benefits consumers by facilitating the process of finding an e-Agent to assist with their home buying needs. For more information, please contact us at sales@e-agent.biz or 866.324.3687. If you haven’t already checked out the new design of the e-Agent Website, please do so and let us know your feedback, we would love to hear it. Look for more new and useful features to the e-Agent webpage in the coming months.