800 Number Makes Moving Easier for Buyers and Sellers; Coldwell Banker Launches Concierge Services

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    DALLAS, July 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Home buyers and sellers in the Dallas/Fort
 Worth area can now take advantage of a program designed around the philosophy
 of TLC -- tender loving care -- says the head of the Metroplex's largest
 residential real estate firm.  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's
 Concierge Services -- an elaborate, broad-based customer service for buyers
 and sellers -- was launched recently and has begun to really take off, says
 Susan Dunn Arnold, president of the Dallas division of the company.
     (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990730/DAF001 )
     Announcement was made this week of the appointment of Myra Lancaster,
 longtime figure in the residential real estate industry in North Texas, as
 director of Concierge Services.  The announcement signals an area-wide launch
 of the high-profile program.  "This marks an important step in achieving
 'one-stop' shopping for buyers and sellers in this market," says Ms. Arnold.
 "I'm especially delighted to have someone of Myra's caliber to head the
 program."
     Concierge Services provides help with all the important details related to
 buying and selling a home and is similar to the concierge program in a fine
 hotel where a guest might expect to find someone who can handle every problem
 and who knows all the best local vendors and services, says Ms. Lancaster.
 "Now our buyers and sellers can find the same kind of in-depth help with our
 Concierge Services.
     "We want to assure our customers of the easiest, most convenient and
 hassle-free purchase or sale of their property available in our market," she
 says.  "They can rely on qualified, preferred vendors rather than what might
 be the haphazard method of word of mouth or the Yellow Pages.  It facilitates
 the process and lessens the stress and strain that often accompany a major
 life-change like a move."  She says an added advantage of the program is that
 it frees sales associates to concentrate on the critical aspects of listing
 and selling and the details of the contract, mortgage and closing.
     Typical services provided by the program include clean-up, repair and
 replacement work on a home for sale; renovation and remodeling services; pool
 and spa services; landscaping and yard-care; temporary or long-term leasing
 services for housing and automobiles; and a multitude of personal services
 such as babysitters, doctors, hospitals, emergency care, schools and
 utilities.
     "Concierge Services works closely with our award-winning Relocation
 Division, which has always been a major resource of services and area
 knowledge for newcomers," says Ms. Arnold.
     The Concierge Services staff also assists in two additional areas:  acting
 as liaisons with Cendant Mortgage for buyers' financial needs and coordinating
 local activities for the company's national Alliance Program which offers
 major discounts with a wide variety of national vendors such as Budget Car
 Rental, Public Storage, ADT, Snapper Tools and others.
     A home buyer or seller can ask their sales associate for concierge
 services or contact Concierge Services directly by calling a local Dallas
 phone number, 972-385-7607, or a toll-free number, 800-490-2600.
 Ms. Lancaster's staff includes Cecili Bussey and Carol Temme, Concierge
 Services Representatives.  "This program has taken off so quickly that we
 already are increasing our staff," she says.
     Ms. Lancaster and Ms. Arnold have worked together for more than 20 years.
 Ms. Lancaster moved to Dallas in the '60s, worked in commercial real estate
 and development and eventually became a top producer on the residential side.
 She was company relocation director and manager of the Preston Campbell office
 of Murray Realtors, one of the brokers that eventually became Coldwell Banker
 Residential Brokerage.
     Ms. Lancaster moved into corporate work for the company several years ago
 and most recently has handled special projects and operations.  She is married
 to Wayne Lancaster, a mortgage loan officer, and they have one daughter,
 Meghan, also a Coldwell Banker employee and a member of the data management
 department.
     Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage is independently owned and operated
 by NRT Incorporated, the nation's largest independent real estate brokerage as
 well as the largest affiliate of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation,
 a subsidiary of Cendant (NYSE:   CD).  Coldwell Banker franchises more than
 3,000 real estate offices with nearly 70,000 sales associates throughout North
 America.
 
 

SOURCE  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage