Congratulations to Carlye Buxton - FNTA-Maricopa's May 2012 Employee in the Spotlight

Our May 2012 Employee in the Spotlight was born in New York State – Queens Village in Nassau County, to be exact. With two sisters, one older and one younger, Carlye Buxton and her family moved to Arizona from New York when she was ten years old due to her dad’s job transfer. Carlye thought the “move” was an exciting event to say the least. You can imagine what a ten-year-old growing up in New York pictured when told she was moving to the desert. She was sure she would see lots of sand and camels.

This “peace-making, over-achiever” middle child was very active during her high school years. Freshman class president, three years in the National Honor Society and President of her school’s Key Club Chapter in her senior year tells us how well-rounded Carlye became. Somehow she managed to fit cheerleading and volleyball in there, too. None of this is a surprise to those of us who know Carlye and her infectious laugh and constant smile.

After graduating from Seton Catholic High School in Chandler, Carlyle packed up and moved to San Diego to attend the San Diego Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. After completing several quarters of study, Carlye had to return to Arizona due to her dad’s failing health. She enrolled in what was at the time called Chandler/Gilbert Community College where she earned an Associate’s Degree in General Studies.

Carlye’s introduction to “escrow”, believe it or not, came by way of an association with “The Magic Kingdom”. While in San Diego, Carlye worked part-time at a Disney Store and when she moved back to Arizona, she transferred to the Disney Store at Fiesta Mall where she worked two evenings a week and weekends. During the week, Carlye worked as a receptionist at a nearby ATI Title office. It was soon evident that Carlye had the qualities needed to work in the fast-paced, sometime pressure cooker world of escrow, and so began her escrow adventure.

                Carlye is married to Ken (She calls him her personal chef!). Together they have two little girls, Ivy, who is 11 and Luci, who will be seven in May. Luci loves animals and participates in an after-school Phoenix Zoo program called Zoo Vets. Ivy is what Carlye calls “a book-a-holic”. Ivy loves to read and last year logged reading 3,800,000 words. The program entails reading a book, taking a test on the book, and if the test is passed, the student is awarded the corresponding number of words. Ivy is also in the Drama Club. Family time for the Buxton’s includes playing board games, going to movies, riding bikes, and getting to Disneyland as often as they can. In her leisure time (if she can find any), Carlye enjoys reading, movies, and scrapbooking. No dust settling in the Buxton household for sure!

                Sharing a little life lesson with us, Carlye says, “We all need to laugh a little every day and to make a real effort to find a way to enjoy whatever it is you are doing at the time and enjoy the people you are with. The joy is always there; you just have to look for it.

                Congratulations, Carlye, on being chosen the FNTA- Maricopa May 2012 Employee in the Spotlight. We appreciate your constant dedication to honing your craft. Thank you for all your contributions and for sharing your expertise with our Fidelity family. We are grateful for all you do. 

Congrats to Bernie Espinosa, Our April 2012 Employee in the Spotlight

Warm temperatures have arrived. We call it Spring in the Valley of the Sun, and the second quarter begins!

Meet Bernie Espinosa, one of our esteemed Sales Executives.  Vivacious, energetic, thoughtful, and caring are just a few words that describe our co-worker.

Bernie was born in San Francisco to parents who both immigrated to the United States from Nicaragua. Interestingly, even though Bernie’s mom and dad came to the United States from the same country, they did not know each other in Nicaragua. They met through mutual friends in San Francisco. Bernie is, as she says, first generation. She attributes her work ethic and her appreciation for life to the lessons she learned from her parents who worked so hard for their family.

Bernie has one older brother, David, who is a policeman (on the SWAT Team) in San Francisco, and one younger sister, Janel, who lives in San Diego and who also works in sales. Bernie went to school at the San Diego Fashion Institute. She moved to the Phoenix area in 2000 to take a position in a technology firm as Vice President of Marketing. After a very successful term with the company and completing her business goals, Bernie spent some time traveling to Europe and South America.

Bernie Espinosa, FNT Sales Executive

Wanting to grow professionally and move on to new challenges, Bernie entered the world of title and escrow. With a referral from a loan officer friend, Bernie obtained positions with Equity Title and Magnus Title. In August of 2007, Bernie worked for Ticor Title and came to Fidelity National Title by way of the Ticor Title merger in May of 2008. Bernie says that the longest time she has ever worked for a company is with Fidelity and she loves her job.

Here are a few things you may or may not know about our April 2012 Employee in the Spotlight:

Bernie…

§  Is an artist and loves vibrant colors

§  Loves being outside (hiking especially)

§  Loves to cook – she makes a great chicken piccata

§  Loves to learn, read, and travel

§  Loves spending time with her rescue dog, Lucky

§  Enjoys life and loves helping others

§  Loves the San Francisco Giants

§  Was born on February 14^th (Valentine’s Day) which may account for her love of “sweets”

When asked about any special life lessons she wanted to share, Bernie said that many of the lessons she has learned from others are things she would not want to emulate. Sometimes learning what not to do is a valuable lesson, too. Bernie’s best “life advice”? Work hard, be grateful, cherish your family and friends, sow a seed, help others, and be present in the now.

Congratulations to Bernadette Espinosa on being selected the FNTA- Maricopa April 2012 Employee in the Spotlight. It has been said that the real secret to success is enthusiasm, and Bernie certainly demonstrates that quality to all of us. We thank you for bringing your unique gifts and talents to our Fidelity team, Bernie. You are appreciated!

Calling All Raving Fans! Vote For Fidelity Phoenix For Ranking AZ

Ranking Arizona Magazine has become the largest business opinion poll in the state. Each year, we have the opportunity to broadcast our opinions on who the best companies are in the Valley through online voting! This year, our goal is to lead the state’s title company industry by taking top rank in the 2013 edition of this magazine. Please help us reach this honor by casting your vote today!

Click here to access the voting link: http://ranking.aznow.biz/

Instructions to vote:

1. Click the “to vote search by category”

2. Select “Real Estate-Residential”

3. Select “Title Companies”

4. Select “Fidelity National Title”

5. Enter in your email address

6. Click cast my vote

Supercharge Your Online Marketing

Today’s web is a very noisy place, so competing for eyeballs is no small feat. Smart marketers know that it’s no longer enough to talk about you, your product, how fantastic your service is, throw a couple of testimonials on your site and call it a day.

In order to create action & engagement, you must first earn the interest and trust of your target. So how do you do this?

Create content that informs, educates or excites, or all of the above. When you create content that people read and interact with, that is a great start. Create content that people share, well now you’ve discovered the secret.

Bring on social media and blogs. The rise and popularity of social media consumption gives you as a marketer a great opportunity to create the type of content mentioned above and convert social media and blog readers into customers. But, don’t think of your online presence as a hard sale sales tool. Not only will this type of content not attract new readers, it will turn off the readers you have. So as tempting as it is, listings don’t make for effective blog posts.

Where to start? What to write about? This is the challenge that content marketers face every day. Think about your interests, your passions, think outside real estate. Connect with people with common interests.

If you’ve a passion for black and white photography, write about it from time to time. Or gardening, collecting fabulous wine, etc.; you get the idea. Not all posts must or should be real estate related. Connect online to people as people, with a shared interest, just as you do in the real world. Interact with them on your blog, Facebook page, etc. and forge relationships with those readers; you’re adding these relationships into your pipeline of eventual customers (when the time was right).

Now think back to real estate. What do you know about the market, selling a home, home staging that consumers would be interested in? Write about it! Position yourself as a leader, an expert, another great way to build trust.

Social media is not a short term strategy, it takes time, patience is a virtue, write like a human (no corporate speak), let your personality shine through, look for new and interesting angles, use the web for inspiration (what are your peers blogging/posting about, what content is working for them) and have fun!

Source: Marie Still, Director of Marketing for MRIS.

Fidelity Flexmls Tips and Tricks - Map Grid, Subdivisions and Zip Code Overlays Now Available in FlexMLS Mapping

Did you know...

That there are three new overlays available in the Flexmls mapping section. Map Grid, Subdivisions and Zip Code overlays have recently been added to the system, making it easier for you to create custom map searches.





Map Grid Code Overlay




Subdivisions Overlay




Zip Code Overlays



Would you like us to bring a customized Flexmls class to your office? If so, please email info-fntarizona@fnf.com.

Pati Conover - Armls Approved Flexmls Trainer
Fidelity National Title