ERA Key Realty Services

Woburn Agent Kathy Devine Featured in Inman DepositLink Article

Kathy Devine, an agent in ERA Key’s Woburn office, was quoted in a recent Inman article about DepositLink, which enables companies and agents to request deposits and commissions electronically. The article appears below.

By Jay Rooney

As a 25-year veteran in the Boston residential real estate business, I have experienced remarkable changes firsthand. For some sectors of the industry, the technological advances we have witnessed in the past three months outpace changes that have occurred over the last three years.Kathy Devine

Our DepositLink team meets with companies that want to empower their agents with tools to work virtually, and become more profitable by eliminating the inefficiencies caused by paper checks. DepositLink is a safe, secure, and easy way for real estate companies, their agents, and title companies to request earnest money deposits and commissions electronically through the ACH network.

With DepositLink, agents can request earnest money from their buyers from anywhere using any device that connects to the internet. They can also request earnest money through another agent who is connecting a buyer, and direct that money wherever it needs to go.

So a process that would normally take upwards of a week, can be done in minutes.

For example, on the very day she used our service for the first time, we heard from Brandi Peyatt with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Professional Realty in Brunswick, Ohio.

“All I have to say is YES!,” she told us. “So easy to use, such a time saver, and seriously simple. My client loved being able to use it in only five minutes. No more checks, no more wasted time for all involved. I especially loved the follow-up email letting you know exactly what is going on without all the extra time spent...

Marlborough Donation Featured in The Stow Independent

Agents in the Marlborough office donated $500 each to Stevie’s Back Road Cafe and Catering in Hudson, and Chill Kitchen and Bar in Marlborough to pay for meals for first responders. The  donation was featured in a recent article in The Stow Independent about the "Feed Your Neighbor" program. The article appears below.

Stevie Dembro, owner of Stevie’s Back Road Cafe in Hudson, knows what it’s like to be down on your luck. “I come from the inner city projects. I know what it’s like to not have a meal. I know what it’s like to not eat,” he said in a recent interview with the Independent. “To have something like this happen…this is a tough situation for everybody.”Feed a Neighbor

When COVID-19 hit, his business disappeared overnight, said Dembro, “I completely lost all of my business, and the thought process was, it looks like I’m going to shut down. But the thing was, I had all this food left over. I had stuff in the freezer, I had stuff in the refrigerators; what am I gonna do with all this food?”

To keep the $4,000 worth of food from going to waste, Dembro started the “Feed Your Neighbor” program, hoping that $5 meals would entice a few people to do some good, and use up what he had left before shutting down. Diners could order meals for themselves or donate them for others. “I’ve lived in the Marlborough-Hudson area since 2003, and I’ve seen a lot of struggling people, and to sit there and know there was going to be more, I just had to do something,” he said.

Six weeks later, Stevie’s Back Road Cafe is busier than ever. He’s hired two new people to handle the influx of donations, orders, and well-wishers so he can...

Still a seller’s market in MetroWest, Milford area despite slowdown in the real estate market due to coronavirus pandemic

The following article, quoting ERA Key President and COO Cheryl Eidinger-Taylor, appeared in The MetroWest Daily News and The Milford Daily News on May 28, 2020.

By Alison Bosma

When Framingham-based real estate agent Kathy Foran shows potential buyers a house, she suits up with a mask, gloves and even protective booties.

“That’s a no-brainer,” the 30-year industry veteran said. “That’s required.”

Sellers are also asked to leave open interior doors, like closets, and leave lights on, to help agents and house hunters avoid touching anything, and potentially picking up COVID-19.

“A vacant home has certainly been a hot commodity right now,” said Cheryl Taylor, president and CEO of ERA Key Realty Services of Northbridge, which oversees several offices in the Milford and MetroWest region.Cheryl Taylor

That’s because it means no one who potentially has the virus has been in the house lately, she explained.

Though agents have modified how they do their jobs, the business of buying and selling houses has continued throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as one of the state’s essential industries.

“I spent most of the weekend in sellers’ homes and ended up with over 10 offers, I think,” Taylor said, adding that sale prices have not dropped. “It’s an amazing time to sell right now. .... As long as you’re comfortable, and you can do it safely and without putting yourself at risk.”

Low inventory, meaning there aren’t nearly enough houses for sale as there are buyers, was a known issue before the pandemic. It’s still a seller’s market, even though sales are down sharply, compared to where they were this time last year.

Residential...

Whitinsville's Dana Claflin Named Ruby Top Producer by RACM

Dana ClafinDana Claflin, an agent in ERA Key's Whitinsville office, received a 2020 Ruby Top Producer Award from the REALTOR® Association of Central Massachusetts (RACM).

Top producers were recognized for outstanding levels of production in real estate transactions based on dollar volume or units sold in the 2019 calendar year. Only 5% of RACM members were eligible for the top producer award.

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