A Message fromPeter F. Huntpage 2

Distinctive Properties Programpage 6

News AroundRegionpage 9

The official newsletter of HUNT Real Estate Corporation December/January 2016 | Issue 77

HUNT Partners with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estateby Dan Mirsky, Director of Marketing

To affirm our standing as the luxury real estate leader in all of

our regions, we are pleased to announce that HUNT Real Es-

tate ERA has partnered with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Es-

tate, a network of the finest residential real estate firms from

around the world. Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate and its

website LuxuryRealEstate.com represent a compendium

of the finest residential real estate firms from around the world.

The organization’s 130,000 professionals in more than 70 coun-

tries collectively sell in excess of $190 billion of real estate an-

nually.

With HUNT’s membership in the Who’s Who network, we

become their only real estate partner representing luxury buyers

and sellers throughout all of Western, Central and Upstate

New York. (We also plan to be affiliated in our Arizona region

soon.)

So how does our membership benefit you?

Beginning the week of February 29th, all HUNT Real Estate

ERA listings priced above $500,000 are now showcased on

LuxuryRealEstate.com - the #1 most highly-trafficked por-

tal for luxury properties on the Internet. This means HUNT

listings will be exposed to more qualified luxury home buyers -

nationally and internationally - than any of our competitors.

Additionally, our Who’s Who membership affords you a num-

ber of personal marketing opportunities, including:

● Use of the Who’s Who & LuxuryRealEstate.com logos

on all of your marketing materials (you can access these from

the Distinctive Properties section of AgentAchieve)

continued on page 6

Where Will Be Your Focus?”

The beginning of the year is the customary time to re-

solve to do things differently or better or simply to better

for oneself. Your company operates on a fiscal year, so I

created my short list of things I hope to see change or

improve back in early November. My first chance to

share them with you was at our recent Awards Celebra-

tions. I don’t expect you were taking notes at those

events. Accordingly, please allow me to share those areas

of our business that will be my focus for the organization

for this fiscal year.

As background, to avoid a random process, areas for our

focus are chosen based on perceived greatest impact.

Here are the four choices and why:

1) Implementation of the Team Concept. In our

research, the most important shift in our industry is from

Agents as “generalists” to Agents as “specialists”. Spe-

cializing is the expression of where Agents are feeling

the greatest job satisfaction. Agents may then choose to

associate with those that compliment their skills, hence

the creation of teams. One Agent may really enjoy the

challenge of securing a listing; another nurturing a

longer term relationship with a buyer prospect; still oth-

ers a supportive administrative role. Each individual

capitalizes on their particular talents and skills. Every-

one—and the clients—benefit. We have begun a Re-

gion-by-Region education and training program, which

will be ongoing. In addition, your Branch Director will

be fully-versed on our Team Policy, the suggested roles

on a highly functioning team, and outlines of our edu-

cation and training sessions. Please take the time to meet

confidentially learn more even if you are now leading

or part of a team.

2) The Right People are in the Right Places. This

follows naturally from the above and is always an area

of focus, but as we grow, build and rebuild various ele-

ments of our organization it is all the more important.

In addition to making our entire Company the most

team-friendly environment for our Agents, we

are creating an all-new HUNT Insurance, which

is now headquartered in our Williamsville Clarence

Branch in the Buffalo Niagara Region—HUNT Insur-

ance will have a physical presence and staffing in all Re-

gions in the current fiscal year. HUNT Commercial

will see new leadership and a growing presence in

all Regions as well. Several Branches will see a signifi-

cant investment and commensurate support staffing to,

among other things, serve our individual Agents and

those functioning as teams. HUNT Mortgage will

continue to grow its human presence, on the heals of

a record year in 2015, to better serve our Agents and

clients and Network Title personnel will be more

visible to serve our attorney clients, our Agents and our

buyers and sellers.

3) Model Branches for our Company and the

Industry. Branch by Branch we will continue to build

our presence in our designated Primary Market Areas,

grow our market share to targeted levels, increase our

per person productivity even after a record year of

growth in 2015, and continue to improve the extent to

which we serve each and every customer and client—a

concept we call “Same Customer Service Level”. We

will build on our current powerful base in each

Branch to create themodel for the industry.

4) Aggressive Marketing of who and what we

are—our Brand. We have an unparalleled 105-year

history, unique “signatures” based on our innovations,

creative marketing, training infrastructure, proprietary

and licensed technology, corporate relationships, and a

philanthropic spirit. Now we have to tell our

“story” in a simple and memorable way. We are

now implementing the most comprehensive mar-

keting plan in our history that we hope you will

draw on to tell your own story and build your

own brand along side ours.

Over the last few weeks, I have asked each of our De-

partment Heads, Core Business Leaders and Regional

General Managers to articulate their areas of focus for

the year so that we hold one another accountable and

measure our progress. I strongly encourage you to cre-

ate your own short list. In addition to goals in terms

of numbers of sales and “volume”, how will you

measure your professional progress? If you

A message from Peter F. Hunt Chairman & CEO

2

would like any help developing your goals and areas of

focus, please seek out a coaching relationship

with your Branch Director—this is among the most

important contributions we can make to your career.

Lastly, please allow me to offer my congratu-

lations once again to all our Award Winners

whom we honored recently. Those moments when

we pause to celebrate these many successes are among

my favorite every year. Please keep this in mind as our

competitors attempt to shake our confidence, as they al-

ways do, with there own stories about us. We should be

flattered that they spend so much time worrying about

what we are planning next or rewriting our history to

suit their own reality. Just remember that we had the

best year in our Company’s history by a wide

margin in 2015, our per Agent productivity grew (by

8%) to its highest level and way beyond our competition,

and HUNT Mortgage and Network Title had their best

years ever—among other record achievements. Please

take pride in what you have combined to pro-

duce and the record number of customers and

clients you have successfully served.

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Agents of the Month

Buffalo November DecemberAkron Cheyanne Seelau Adam BurgAmherst Judy Jack Lewis Judy Jack LewisBuffalo Metropolitan Ellen Daly William AbelsEast Aurora Todd Aichinger Rosa McCabeHamburg Lori Pyanowski Melissa WeidnerKenTon Kim Nemeth Stephanie KarvouniarisLancaster David Gierlinger Jeanine KacalaLewiston Barbara Kivi Anne SmithLockport Lou Faery Chari HimmelsbachOrchard Park Bill Smith Geralyn BonillaWest Seneca Dennis Dargavel Janice MrozWheatfield Jennifer Schreckengost Cheryl PolasikWilliamsville-Clarence Michelle Winer Sharone FrisicaroWilliamsville Village Joe Trifilo

RochesterBrighton-Pittsford Richard Testa Larry MagguilliCanandaigua Dawn Marie Kane Sandi Van CampGreece Richard Orczyk Tod MyersPerinton John Denniston John DennistonWebster Alfred Constantino Vince LoCastro

Central & Northern NY/Carthage WatertownCamillus Dave Manzano Sr. The Crocker TeamCazenovia Thomas Tait Thomas TaitChittenango Amy Burnell Cheryl CaryClinton Mindy Bradley and Jim Lenahan Mindy Bradley and Jim LenahanDeWitt Gaetano Belmonte The CNY Key TeamLiverpool Ray Grzenda Brian MacGormanManlius Gaulin Team Judy WinslowOneida Mary Pat Adams Jeanette DenneyWatertown Jill Rosette Jill RosetteCicero MariRae Dopke Shane Tibbitts

Capital DistrictSaratoga Springs Sheila Brumley Donna MartinLoudonville Dan Lesage Ken ChampagneGlens Falls Jen Ball Kelly HayesSlingerlands Jaime Evans Lucy Sokaris

ArizonaTempe Ken Mayer Scottsdale Kevin Cracolici Jacqueline Higgins

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Buffalo JanuaryAkron Marge TuerkAmherst Kelly PoulosBuffalo Metropolitan The Rob Blake TeamEast Aurora Keith CochraneHamburg Carol Lee RubeckKenTon Elizabeth LallyLancaster Barbara HoyLewiston Barbara KiviLockport Dianne ShawOrchard Park Bill SmithWest Seneca Cynthia StachowskiWheatfield Mark LemkeWilliamsville-Clarence Jim HoffmanWilliamsville Village Bonnie Clement

RochesterBrighton-Pittsford Larry MagguilliCanandaigua Sandi Van CampGreece Richard OrczykPerinton James PeckWebster Vince LoCastro

Central & Northern NY/Carthage WatertownCamillus Beth LostyCazenovia Thomas TaitChittenango Robert FreunschtClinton Mindy Bradley and Jim LenahanDeWitt Chip HodgkinsLiverpool Robert JoeckelManlius Gaulin TeamOneida Sharon KimballWatertown Shirley Litz/Deborah ManningCicero Shane Tibbitts

Capital DistrictSaratoga Springs Ray HendersonLoudonville Joe CarusoneGlens Falls Thomas UlrichSlingerlands Mary Stapleton

ArizonaTempe Christine HartmanScottsdale Wendy Tinker

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● Public Relations exposure on the Luxury Real Estate

blog for your high-end properties

● Networking opportunities with other top real estate

professionals at Luxury Real Estate Conferences (4x per

year)

● Ability to purchase a Featured Property spot on the

LuxuryRealEstate.com homepage and email a pre-

mium property announcement to their global database

of 130,000 members

● Print advertising opportunities in Luxury Real Estate

Magazine and other international publications, includ-

ing: The Wall Street Journal (Regional & International

editions), Unique Homes, and duPont Registry

In the coming weeks, you’ll learn much more about this

exciting new partnership and how to leverage it in your

next listing presentation. In the meantime, if you have

any questions or would like to find out how to start uti-

lizing your member benefits, contact the HUNT

Marketing Department.

HUNT Partners with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate cont.by Dan Mirsky, Director of Marketing

Introducing...The HUNT DistinctiveProperties Programby Dan Mirsky, Director of Marketing

From exquisite lakefront properties to ultra-sophisticated city homes to sprawling country estates, the marketing of

a luxury listing can be significantly more involved and demanding than a conventional home - and the sellers of

these special properties expect only the best.

Our recently announced partnership with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate and LuxuryRealEstate.com enables

us to showcase our top properties to a global audience of qualified buyers. To further establish HUNT as the luxury

real estate firm of choice, and you as the preeminent luxury real estate expert in your marketplace, we have developed

the HUNT Distinctive Properties marketing program, exclusively for properties priced above $500,000.

7

When you enroll your listing in the HUNT Distinctive Properties program, you will receive the

following marketing benefits:

DISTINCTIVE PROPERTIES MARKETING PLAN

• Customized Seller Select presentation specifically tailored to your client’s property

HUNT DISTINCTIVE PROPERTIES YARD SIGN & NAME RIDER

• Special yard sign designating your property as a member of our exclusive luxury home marketing program

• Custom sign rider with your name

EXCEPTIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY*

• This is an agent-paid expense and required for inclusion in the HUNT Distinctive Properties

Program. Contact HUNT Marketing for Approved Photographers.

• Professional photography is required to ensure every aspect of your property shows brilliantly in all marketing -

both online and offline

ENHANCED WEB PRESENCE

• All HUNT Distinctive Properties automatically appear on LuxuryRealEstate.com - The Internet’s #1 search site

for Luxury Properties (starting the week of 2/29/16)

• Exclusive promotion on the Distinctive Properties section of the HUNT website

ONLINE ADVERTISING

• Featured property ad in our HUNT Distinctive Properties Magazine

• Marketing exposure via the HUNT Real Estate social media channels

OPTIONAL ITEMS**

For these unique properties, we suggest you take advantage of the following:

• Staging Consultation

• Aerial Photography

• Distinctive Property brochures and/or postcards from Xpressdocs

• LuxuryRealEstate.com print advertising programs in international publications, including: The Wall Street

Journal (Regional & International editions), Unique Homes, duPont Registry, and Luxury Real Estate Magazine

Even your most discerning clients will be impressed by the exceptional level of attention and exposure in marketing

their unique property through the HUNT Distinctive Properties Program. To have your listing considered

for this program, contact your Branch Director or the HUNT Marketing Department.

* Ad Bank dollars may be used to pay for photography

** Optional Items are an agent-paid expense

8

HUNT Mortgageby Linda Mallia, President of HUNT Mortgage

A Look Ahead

Now that we have had a chance to celebrate our past year’s success with our employees and our

agents, put TRID and a new software implementation in the rear view mirror, we look forward to

another record breaking year.

It appears that interest rates are going to remain relatively stable and mortgage financing readily

available to qualified buyers. While inventory will remain the wild card, there appears to be no major

obstacles or red flags on the horizon.

Of course, even stable rates can be a different picture than we have seen in the past five years where

it seemed rates did nothing but go down. Stablity could lead to further complacency, but steady in-

creases in rates could push the fence sitters into the market. In either case, multiple offers will likely

remain a challenge for buyers and Realtors alike. While we normally like to introduce a new mort-

gage program each year, we decided that the Pre-Purchase Commitment program remains fully rel-

evant and important in the 2016 market. Last year, we added a $1,000 guarantee to sellers – if our

Pre-Purchase Commitment fell apart (except for reasons outside our control), we would give the seller

a check for $1,000. To date, we’ve never had to make good on that guarantee as we continue to fully

and carefully underwrite all of the Pre-Purchase Commitment loans in our pipeline, resulting in a

buyer that is as close to cash as we can get them without actually handing them a bag of money!

For more information about the Pre-Purchase program, or to have your clients apply, contact your

HUNT Mortgage Consultant.

Kelly Spurlock was promoted to the Branch Direc-

tor position in the HUNT Lancaster Branch on Jan-

uary 18, 2016. Congratulations Kelly!

The Buffalo Metropolitan office was so busy during the holiday season, that we

didn't have our Holiday Party until early February! We all had a great time

celebrating at Foundry Lounge on Elmwood. Here is to another great year in Buf-

falo real estate!

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News Around the Regions

Buffalo/Niagara

Niagara County branches

Lewiston, Lockport and

Wheatfield enjoyed their holiday

season, as well, with many celebra-

tions.

10

Out with the old and in with the New Year! Rochester agents are gearing up forthe spring market. Managers are already hearing reports from agents in the field thatmultiple offers are in full swing! In response to that, the management team has decidedto offer up some additional training to the newer agents who are about to enter their 1stspring market. On the docket are “Field Trips”(idea adopted from the Buffalo Region),review of listing paperwork & presentation skills and strategies on how to navigate yourclient in the multiple offer world.

We have big goals this year and it will take every agent in the region to help us achievethem. We have some new power backing us with the addition of the Hornell and Alfredoffices. Please join us in welcoming our newest members to the region. We are excitedto have you all onboard!

Mark your calendars for our 10th Annual Egg HUNT!Everyone is invited to attend and, of course, we welcomeany volunteers. The event is scheduled for Saturday, March19th at Kings Bend Park in Pittsford. Proceeds from theevent go to the Ronald McDonald Foundation.

Rochester

We are pleased to announce that Mark Phoenix has joined ourteam in the Capital Region as Branch Director of the soon-to-be opened Clifton Park office. He will also be our RegionalTraining Director. Mark’s immediate responsibilities will includeestablishing the new branch office together with assembling a teamof agents that reflect the HUNT Core Values of “Being the best inthe marketplace we serve.”

Mark comes to HUNT with 30 years of practical experience in residential real estate,serving most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Coldwell Banker Prime Properties.He has expertise in branch management, training, coaching and has experience in im-plementing new initiatives and technology.

Please welcome Mark to our company. He may be reached at 518-496-9313 orMark.Phoenix@HUNTRealEstate.com

Capital

We had an amazing time at our West

Seneca Agent Appreciation night!

With 22 of us in attendance we Painted

with a Twist and had a blast. It was an

evening of fun and just enjoying our-

selves while trying something new.

Buffalocont.

News Around the Regions cont.

11

News Around the Regions cont.

Would you love to participate in an active workshop that can actually bring you

leads before you even leave the training room? That is the concept behind

CNY’s new “Incubator” training—a new series of workshops where you will

either come away with leads or gain the tools to acquire leads. Held in the Liv-

erpool training center and led by CNY Regional Training Coordinator, Jeanette

Denney, these workshops are being touted by experienced agents and newbies

alike. It is all about building your business and making you money.

“In a 30-minute session in which we called our COI, I was able to get three ap-

pointments… I intend to go to every one of the workshops! They are invalu-

able,” says Patsy Scala, Associate Broker from our Manlius office.

Agent Peg Schick agrees, “Jeanette is amazing, as are my fellow REALTORS.

Everyone works together sharing their successes.”

When you attend these workshops, you do not simply listen to a lecture, you

are an active participant, placing cold calls, contacting prospects or working on

your sales skills. Topics range from prospecting FSBOs and Expireds to per-

fecting your listing presentation and creating a strong presence on social media.

Jeanette Denney does not just teach these classes—she has lived the lessons. Be-

sides her role as Training Coordinator, Jeanette is a top-producing agent from

our Oneida office. She has restarted her real estate business three times in com-

pletely different geographical areas and achieved great success using the very

tools she is teaching in these workshops.

It is a safe environment away from distractions to put into action strategies to

increase your business, Jeanette says, “We share a wealth of information and

expertise - and it is fun! We are all learning together.”

Central & Northern NY

Welcome to HUNT!

We would like to welcome the following newly licensed agents from across the company:

Patrick O’Keefe - Scottsdale

Lorraine Kowalski - Amherst

Debra Harrison - Amherst

Kimberly Mankowski - KenTon

Lori Stearns - KenTon

Cyndal Smith - KenTon

Alyssa Karcher - Lancaster

Sandra Ciliberto - Lockport

Joseph Young - Buffalo Metropolitan

Remy Rizzo - Wheatfield

Elonda Isbell - Brighton/Pittsford

Stefanie Baker - Brighton/Pittsford

Christiana Matos - Brighton/Pittsford

Donald Falzarano - Hornell/Alfred

Eric Shaw - Webster

Nikki Henry - Liverpool

Christine Neupert - Manlius

Tammy Startiff - Amherst

Mitchell Lyons - Scottsdale

Gloria Destefanis - Clinton

JeDawn Kennedy - Amherst

Valerie Ferguson - Liverpool

Marc Ruettimann - Metropolitan

Heather Cluckey - KenTon

Deborah Cavanagh - Manlius

JoAnn Jones - Camillus

April Seney - Rensselaer

Eldrie Anderson - Brighton/Pittsford

Robert Suhr - Brighton/Pittsford

Michael Satter - Perinton

Brian Cheverie - Buffalo Metropolitan

Alexander Mintskovsky - Manlius

Jennifer Dowdell - Williamsville/Clarence

William Schimpf - Williamsville/Clarence

Lawrence Mlejnek - Greece

Shana Smolinsky - Dewitt

Viktoriya Khomenko - Scottsdale

Patricia Rossi - Manlius

Erin Wightman - Oneida

We would also like to welcome the following experienced agents fromacross the company:

John Sciuto - Buffalo Metropolitan

Sharon Martin - Wheatfield

Barbara Neri - Wheatfield

Stephen Hiter - Glens Falls

Garry Britton - Brighton/Pittsford

Debra Raup - Brighton/Pittsford

Gloria Bucher - Canandaigua

David Marnell - Dewitt

Seth Homer - Clinton

Bryan Brooks - Brighton/Pittsford

Mark Phoenix - Slingerlands

Albert Stephens - Scottsdale

Relocationby Mary Croglio, Director of Relocation

Excellent Service + Cash Back Rewards = On the House®

A number of our agents have been actively working with our corporate clients providing outstanding service, as well as very attractive cash

back rewards to employees that are members of our On the House program. Since the start of the 2016 fiscal year, On the House employees

have received almost $8,000 in cash back rewards thanks to Beatrice Dunwoodie and a fine group of committed agents. Our agents have

earned almost $42,000 in commissions during this time, as well. Agents assisted employees from Verizon, The Rochester Executive Association,

Ingram Micro, Ryder Truck, The Buffalo Executive Association, Kaleida Health and Univera Healthcare to name few. Barbara Hoy, in par-

ticular, has had a long, productive relationship with the employees at Verizon - and these employees have certainly benefited from Barbara’s

stellar service and the cash back benefit. Paul Heaslip, Gerri Normandin, Stephanie Fiorentino, Bev Gaglio, Jasmine Biggins, Melissa Eye-

ington and Joanne Roberts all participated in the program, closed properties this quarter, and made certain that their customers received

outstanding service and their reward benefits. We have other agents that have helped us develop accounts and we truly appreciate all the

help and dedication bringing this benefit to some of our local businesses. We are looking forward to expanding our footprint in all regions

so companies and our agents can take advantage of this valuable offering.