Keynote Speaker

Biography

Micah White has spent over 20 years in the entertainment industry as a stand-up comedian, host, and philanthropist. He has performed in four countries, and in over 80 U.S. cities in 30 states. The go-to guy for corporate comedy and hosting, White’s talents have led him to perform for 40 corporations, 30 non-profit organizations, and 20 colleges doing everything from stand-up to hosting and delivering the commencement address. He’s gone on tour with Gary Owen, has hosted and performed aboard the Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage, and has appeared in Denzel Washington’s “Unstoppable” and the Lifetime network’s “Army Wives.”

Class Descriptions and Instructors

Recession Proofing your Business – How to adapt your business to a shifting market

Join us as we cover the state of the economy and market!  We’ll also analyze trends and steps agents can take to reduce any negative impacts on their business. 

Biography

Richard Bridges is the founder and CEO of Bridges Business Solutions. As a former managing broker at both Weichert Realtors Woodbridge and Pearson Smith Realty, Richard brings 15+ years of experience as a top producer, recognized both locally and nationally, in the real estate industry. In his leadership role at Bridges Business Solutions, Richard pairs 1-on-1 coaching with targeted content and a collaborative community, to teach agents how to provide world-class service while maintaining efficient and profitable businesses. Under Richard’s coaching, all levels of entrepreneurs — from the sole proprietor to the small business — have learned how to maximize their potential by honing their strengths, pairing their personnel with the right systems and tools, and finding holistic well-being by taking a multi-faceted approach to both professional and personal development.

Introduction to At Home w/ Diversity 

The key to most any successful real estate business is to appeal to as many people as possible. The wider the appeal, the more opportunity that business has to expand its customer base and increase revenue! In this one-hour Introduction to the At Home with Diversity® Certification, you will learn how to build an inclusive brand that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion thereby growing your client base!  

Biography

Tara Furges Houston! Tara is the Founder and CEO of Houston Consulting Group & Associates, LLC, a consulting practice with a mission of helping others build their legacies. She practices real estate with EXP Realty as a global real estate advisor (Former State Managing Broker) in DC and MD and (Former Compliance Broker) in VA. Alongside her husband, Michael, she serves as a leader and ambassador for the brokerage. Tara and Michael train, mentor, and coach their personal agent group (Legacy Builders Global of eXp Realty), consisting of over 220 REALTORS (spanning nine different states) to build successful real estate businesses.

The 2019 President of Women’s Council NOVA Metro, Tara has co-authored two books – The Confident Woman (chapter titled “Eagles Don’t Need Parachutes”) and Overcoming the Good Little Girl Syndrome (chapter titled “Saying No without Guilt”).  Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, Tara served as an educator for over 21 years in teacher, Principal, and college professor roles.  She has documented success in using creative teaching methods to ensure participants leave her classes and workshops energized and empowered with knowledge. Tara teaches Broker and Salesperson Pre-licensing and CE courses for DC, MD, and VA. A life-long learner, she has the At Home with Diversity (AHWD), Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS), Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), and Professional Management Network (PMN) designations.

Home Inspection Contingency Refresher

For the last two years it was almost impossible to get a contract ratified with a home inspection contingency. Now that the market has shifted, we are seeing more and more contracts with home inspection contingencies included. This is a great time to review the terms of the addendum, talk about how to write an effective home inspection contingency removal addendum, and look at some real-life examples of well written and not so well written removal addendums. 

Biography

Heidi Marine is an associate with the firm of Leggett, Simon, Freemyers, and Lyon, PLC and is counsel to Ekko Title, LLC.  Her practice is concentrated in residential real estate transactions, title defects and title insurance issues.  In addition to her practice at Ekko Title, Ms. Marine is a Qualified Trainer for VHDA’s Homeownership Education Program. She teaches the loan closing portion of VHDA’s first time home buyer course covering all aspects of the closing process including the documents that are signed at closing, different ways to hold title, surveys, title issues, and title insurance.

Ms. Marine graduated from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2005 with a B.A. in Psychology and received her law degree from George Mason University, School of Law in 2008.  She has been licensed to practice law in Virginia since 2008.  Ms. Marine is a member of the Virginia Bar Association Real Property Practice Area.

Prior to entering real estate practice, Ms. Marine practiced civil and criminal litigation in Fairfax, Virginia where she focused on domestic relations and criminal defense.

Crypto Currency & Real Estate Chat- The Basics 

Want to learn about cryptocurrency and how it works with Real Estate? Be sure to attend this course to learn how they both work together when you want to purchase your home.

40 Closings from 240 People

Join us for this 1hour presentation on specifically how to stay in touch with your advocates to create 40 closings per year from 240 people. 

Biography

Author, Master Coach, Teacher, and Entrepreneur, Pam O’Bryant has dedicated her career to understanding what makes real estate agents successful and how to help them become more so. Known for her unique ability to break down complex ideas into bite-sized actionable pieces, Pam has been leading real estate teams, offices, and affiliated businesses across the United States to top levels of production for years.  Today Pam coaches a select group of real estate agents and consults with teams and offices across the world to help them understand and implement best practice models and systems. 

Property Condition Disclosures

Join us to learn how to sharpen your skills with identifying features of real property that require disclosure to potential buyers during a real estate transaction. You will also become familiar with the proper way to present this information including disclosure timing requirements and necessary disclosure methods, as well as the consequences for nondisclosure.

Biography

Meet your instructor, Shannon Minarik.  A Settlement Attorney for MBH Settlement Group, Shannon strives to serve as an information resource for realtors, buyers, and sellers.  Whether in a classroom setting or at the settlement table, her goal is always to leave people feeling more informed and confident about real estate transactions.

Adjustable-Rate Mortgages

Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned professional, it’s probably been a while since you’ve had to talk about Adjustable-Rate Mortgages or ARMs.  

 It’s time to get reacquainted with ARM loans so your prepared to educate your homebuyers and answer their questions with confidence. This presentation will cover: 

-ARM basics – How does it work 

-qualifying – How is it different from a fixed rate mortgage 

-Borrower considerations – When does it make sense to consider an ARM 

-product comparisons – What types of ARM programs are available 

Biography

Laura Triplett has been a mortgage loan officer since 1993 and a resident of Prince William County since 1972. She is currently a Vice President, Branch Manager for Atlantic Coast Mortgage LLC. Laura has been a course instructor for the Prince William Association of Realtors since 1993. Laura has had many courses approved by DPOR, including VHDA/State and County Down Payment assistance and Basic Mortgage Finance. Laura has been recognized as a top producer by VHDA since 2001 and currently serves on their lender advisory board. Mortgage Originator Magazine has also recognized Laura as one of the top 200 lenders nationwide for FHA loans. Laura is a member of the Virginia Mortgage Lenders Association and the Mortgage Bankers Association and serves as a consulting member for these organizations. Laura is a member of the Housing advisory board for the Prince William County office of housing and provides information to the Prince William County board of supervisors to make local decisions for housing. Laura provides training to volunteer housing counselors for the Virginia Cooperative Extension semiannually..

Using Bright Market reports to help grow your business

Join us to review the various reports and tools available to you within Bright MLS that capture important market data and activity you can use to enhance your presentations, identify target markets for prospecting, and share with your clients.

Biography

Hello, my name is Ken Stone and I am a Customer Success Coach here at Bright MLS.  I’ve been in the Real Estate industry for 5 years while managing hotels and training associates for over a decade.  I’ve always enjoyed helping my colleagues become the best at what they do, which subsequently led me to Bright.  I look forward to helping you make your business a success.

How to utilize Home Warranties to protect clients and help w/ negotiations

This 1hour info session will discuss home warranties and how Super is unique in providing protection for your clients.  We will also show you how utilize home warranties both on the sale and purchase of a home to help with negotiations. 

Biography

Jonathan has lived his whole life in the DMV area. He has a diverse background with over 10 years of technology sales experience and also owns multiple properties in the area. Not only does he understand the pains of owning a home, he also has experienced many of those issues firsthand. With SUPER, he is able to protect your investment and make home-owning painless. He currently lives in Herndon, VA with his dog and enjoys being active. He competes in jiujitsu, as well as teaches yoga, does photography and is an avid foodie.

Demystifying Condos

Over the past couple of years, the VA Home Loan has seen some significant changes. We’ll be covering all the updates to the VA Home Loan, how to make your offers more competitive and how to reach the military consumer. As a currently serving military member myself and a Financial Readiness Program Assistant for the DOD – I see firsthand the challenges military members face when it comes to buying a home.

Biography

David Piatek has an adoration for helping clients achieve their dream of owning a home. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in Finance and a certificate in Entrepreneurship, he decided to follow his true passion – mortgage lending. His fervor for helping clients understand their loan options, and his guidance in walking them through the home buying process is decisively first class. He stops at nothing to recognize clients’ needs and finds the right tailored product that best suits them to better protect their investment.

David recently moved to the Northern VA area and is the Senior Vice President at the Arlington Federal Savings Bank.  David spent over a decade in Chicago’s vibrant real estate market developing a knowledge of the industry that is unrivaled. He also has been serving in the Illinois National Guard since 2011. His diverse and unique background allow him to make the home buying process fun and seamless. David is extremely knowledgeable, efficient, and prides himself on educating his clients. Most importantly, he lives by his golden rule of “doing what I say I’m going to do”, a mantra his clients tremendously appreciate.

Outside of work, David combines his love for his community and commitment to the military by volunteering for various veteran charities. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, watching sports with friends, taking road trips across the US and traveling abroad.

Critical Conversations on Unconscious Biases and Microaggression…

Are you ready to talk? In this very interactive session, attendees will look at Critical Conversations on Unconscious Biases and Microaggression…”Are you ready to talk?” and apply what we learn to work together in a cohesive environment using proven communication and connection strategies. Throughout the session, attendees participate in role-playing using real-life examples to help us recognize our own unconscious bias and how it impacts the organization. This is done through self-awareness and self-reflection.  These examples will help us consider “How that situation made us feel?” what you thought about while the situation was happening,” and what did you learn about yourself and others?”  We will talk about in depth Microaggression and Macroaggression and their impact on the work environment. You will gain best practices on what to say to remove misconceptions and stereotypes and engage in dialogue that will be the catalyst for positive change and acceptance. The presenter will provide practical tips that help you manage situations positively and more productively. 

• Learning Points: 
• Create an inviting DEI culture for your organization. 
• Recognize your unconscious bias and how to prevent it within your organization. 

• Recognize the distinct types of Microaggression and apply effective best practices to eliminate them from your organization and your team 
• Interactive practical examples that the audience can role play and participate in the learning experience 
• Answer open-ended questions to help you take an introspective look at how you are the catalyst for change! 

Biography

Kevin M. Coleman is the founder of KMC Empowerment where he provides empowering speeches, leadership training, and executive coaching to help make individuals and organizations successful.  KMC Empowerment has always been a passion of Kevin.  Kevin knew that he had much to offer those in leadership positions and future leaders to help make organization not only survive but thrive!  This starts with building relationships and partnerships.  Therefore, KMC Empowerment was established to help promote professionalism, work ethic, passion, and relationship building techniques that will inspire individuals and organizations to strive toward excellence at all times.

George Town South Community Food Drive

We are asking conference attendees to bring in non-perishable donations that will then be taken to Georgetown South Community Center. Those who bring in a donation will have their name submitted into a raffle for the chance to win a prize! 

Location

Tradeshow & Exhibitors