Residential Real Estate
A Q Environmental, Los Angeles, California is announcing new methods for analyzing air for Mold Spores. A Q uses an inexpensive new method. An air filter cassette is used to collect air in a room, the process takes a few minutes, and the sample cassette is then analyzed. The results will show the type of mold, how many mold spores are present in the air and the concentration per cubic meter of air. The levels of hazardous mold can be determined and the health risks associated with the mold.
A well-run, home-based business can be virtually indistinguishable from a larger corporation thanks to technology that performs tasks so efficiently a work-at-home business owner can compete on nearly equal footing.
Evidence consumer ignorance is also contributing to the growing number of foreclosures, more than one in three home owners couldn"t tell you what type of loan they have if their home ownership counted on it.
Once considered virtually a panacea for those who otherwise couldn"t buy a home, subprime loans have become such a scourge they are now being blamed for reducing the nation"s level of home ownership.
Here"s one more California anomaly -- highways in the hood.
April showers may bring May flowers, but they also prompt the onslaught of scam artists who prey on homeowners. If you get a knock on your door with an
As you embark on your house-hunting ventures, chances are the contenders
As you ponder renovating your bathroom or giving your kitchen a facelift,
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 6.04 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 6.02 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.34 percent. The last time the 15-year FRM was higher was the week ending October 18, 2007, when it averaged 6.08 percent.
As the ribbing goes, temperate California has but two seasons -- the Fire Season and the Earthquake Season, but the Golden State may be about to weather a particularly nasty mold spell as well.
Brunswick County market experts at Century 21 Anne Arnold are reporting that home sales in their part of the country have remained constant from May 2007 to May 2008.
My cousin and her husband are buying a house with not one but two offices.
Information technology and dot com-mania encouraged scores of workers to leave their tired old jobs and set up shop at home to create their own "wealth effect".
If you like the looks of wood siding and the low-maintenance qualities of man-made siding products, consider fiber-cement for your home.
Given a choice, most people prefer to "age in place" in their homes, but the healthcare system is now largely organized to provide services at clinics and hospitals, a system which is likely to evolve as the population gets older.
A battle over title insurance in California has entered the courts in what promises to expose the American Land Title Association (ALTA) as either an heroic protector of consumers" interests or a dastardly, anti-innovation protector of its own market share.
Erie, PA-based Erie Insurance Group, the nations 16th largest insurer, ranked highest overall among 14 other large homeowner insurance companies examined in 11,200 responses to an eight-page survey conducted by Agoura Hills, CA-based J.D. Power, the company"s first ever such survey.
A typical family living in a 10-year-old home could save $200 annually by switching to energy efficient appliances, according to a new study conducted on behalf of the Department of Energy.
A landmark court ruling in Texas awarded a family $32 million after finding that the family"s insurance company mishandled the homeowner"s claim for "stachybotrys" (black mold) damage. Similar cases are popping up all over the country, and the issue is being fueled by popular media such as Time magazine, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal.
With home energy costs skyrocketing, the phrase "little things mean a lot" couldn"t be more timely! Fortunately, many energy tweaks don"t require a handful of money nor a great deal of time to perform.
One of the hardest questions for a condominium association board regards management: Is it better to do-it-yourself or should you hire a pro?
U.S. consumers and businesses are expected to save $19 billion during the next 30 years as a result of new efficiency standards for household appliances.
People wandering through model homes come in several varieties. Some are dreamers, forming fuzzy mental images of what their future home may include.
The recent effort to end the estate tax has now failed, an event that raises an interesting question: Since we still have an estate tax how much must you pay?
You’ve bought the decorating books, you’ve watched the shows... but all for nothing... your home or apartment is still empty and lifeless. You can’t seem to find your niche. Nothing “speaks to you.” If this sounds like you, you should consider visiting Homestore.com’s HomeStrology feature - a recent addition to their extensive web site.
If your idea of interior design is remembering to cut the tags off your pillows or draping that end table with a piece of fabric to disguise its secret identity as a milk crate, you"re not alone. Very few of us, it seems, have been blessed with an "eye" for home dűcor. Sometimes, of course, our lack of finances limits our capabilities. Perhaps the most tragic scenario of all, however, is when homeowners have the necessary resources to afford beautiful furnishings and accessories and take it upon themselves to decorate their homes with reckless abandon.
Hailstorms often strike quickly, take place within a small radius, and last
You"re traveling out of state when your next-door neighbor, in the middle of walking his dog, spots something peculiar trailing out from under your front door. Walking up the steps for a closer look, he realizes it"s a trickle of water slowly creeping its way down the front step. Retrieving the house key you leave at his home at all times, your neighbor enters your home and sets foot on a soggy carpet. Your house has flooded, the result of a frozen pipe that burst underneath your wet bar.
The prospect of a newly remodeled home, while certainly tempting, often
Batten the hatches.
Mother-in-laws may not be "the rage" but adding their suites to Americans" homes is! Remodeling contractors tout that a growing number of home owners want that large, spacious extra area added to their existing home. It"s used to accommodate house guests, house kids returning from college, or parents who need to be close to family in their golden years.
Creating a home with brains not only makes your home more efficient now, but also more valuable when it"s time to sell, provided you have the technological aptitude to do the work or are smart enough to know when to call in a pro.
If you"re like many Americans, the threat of having your home burglarized is a mounting concern. And if you can"t afford an alarm system, what other precautions can you take to protect your home?
Buying furniture these days can be a truly perplexing experience for the novice shopper. The last generation of homeowners had it easy. When they visited furniture stores, they could be relatively certain they"d find wood furniture -- sturdy wood furniture, that is. Solid construction was the top-most priority of manufacturers. Pieces were built to last, and last they did -- which is why they"re sitting in your home now. That chest of drawers or end table may not capture your decorative preferences, but its quality construction and solid wood has allowed it to be owned by multiple generations and withstand considerable abuse.
As mentioned in a previous article about termite infestation ("Termite Tribulations"), the average single-family home has as many as four termite colonies beneath it (and each colony has as many as 1 million winged residents). The smallest of cracks in your foundation -- usually a basement or concrete slab -- is enough for those sneaky termites to gain entry into
But only half the customers who deal with energy providers over the Internet are satisfied with the results, and these high-tech households are more critical of their utilities than other consumers, according to the survey. Representing a threat to utility market share -- and an opportunity for competitors -- one in five of these customers say they will shop on-line for a new energy provider, the survey points out.
If you"ve successfully begun, or better yet, completed your spring cleaning, congratulations. You"re in the minority. If can see the floor, if you"ve actually thrown items away and/or given them to your local charity, and you have indeed achieved "the illusion of clean," you"ve accomplished quite a feat. Most of us dream of spring cleaning but never do it. Why upset the "order" of things? After all, that might look messy to everyone else, but there"s a method to your madness. If you were to rearrange your possessions, you"d never find anything again. Think of the time you"d waste just trying to find things afterward.
A survey of communities across the United States would reveal that some
If there was ever an appropriate time to consider cleaning your oven, it"s
It"s time. Time to throw me in with every other consumer out there who must
In neighborhoods across America, the contest is on: Which household will
There is a new study out suggesting that high power lines, telephone lines and the like may indeed have an adverse health impact on children, not because of the power in the lines but because of the chemicals on the poles that hold the lines up.
If keeping your home in top condition seems like an impossible dream,
Approximately 1.6 million home owners claim a home office deduction each year, according to the Internal Revenue Service, and a single-family home, condo, mobile home, manufactured home, boat or apartment can qualify.
Oh, the perils of ... winter? Yes, winter. It"s a time of year when
As we turn our clocks back this fall and bundle up for the arrival of Old
If you"re the parent of a child with asthma, you know how scary a sudden
Good taste is expensive, right? Whether you"re a first-time
For many Americans, hiring a landscaper is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. It
President Clinton declared 11 Oklahoma counties as disaster areas following
Spring has officially arrived. OK, maybe it doesn"t seem that way for some
One of the most best aspects of the Internet is the presence of a wide
You"ve decided to remodel your kitchen. Or you"re building a new home. In
When Uncle Sam gave home owners a big tax break when they sell their homes
If you have just insured your new home and paid a year"s premiums in advance as required by many lenders, you may think you can forget about insurance for a while. But what if you are planning to remodel your home? Your liabilities may not be covered under your current policy.
In an increasingly mobile society, our automobiles are as important as horses were a century ago. Horse thieves were shot or hung, and we don"t feel much differently about our horsepower. That is why we go to so much trouble and expense to house our cars in garages, which are quickly becoming the number one home amenity.
If you"re getting ready to build your own home, you can take a few preventive measures as an insurance policy against various forms of vandalism to your property. Reader"s Digest has the following strategies for consumers who preparing to build homes: First, read the contract, and ensure that your builder is ensured against all types of vandalism -- including fire. After your windows and doors have been installed, give them a once-over and inspect them for defects. Record the manufacturers" warranty and guarantee on each of the products used for the construction of your new home. And file those records away for future reference. Give your local police department a call, and ask them if they"ll make routine visits to your property, inspecting it for any damage. Request that your custom doors and windows not be installed until just before your move-in date. In the meantime, you can install temporary doors and for your windows, a temporary or wood sash in the window frame. Then switch the sash for the permanent designer before you close on your house. It"s going to cost you a little more money to go this route, but it"s good insurance -- not to mention assurance.
Real estate consumers are increasingly choosing environmentally friendly products and corresponding service providers. Residential and commercial builders, remodeling companies and design professionals who accept this paradigm and adapt unique green building products and eco-friendly innovations will keep ahead of the competition in a cost-effective manner.
If you choose a lender and a mortgage based entirely on the interest rate, you
A government-driven wave of construction may leave Ontario new home and
From Cape Breton Island to Vancouver Island and from Pelee Island to
Here"s a common question: "Denise, do I need a website?" DEFINITELY!
Let"s get right to it. Here are my Top Ten Lessons for 2008:
Have you often avoided making those "dreaded cold calls?" Do you dream of how much better your business could be but just can"t bring yourself to pick up the phone? You"re not alone. In the 10 years that I have specialized in coaching real estate agents, I have noticed the same avoidant patterns in each of my clients. This article gives you 5 tips to make it easier.
Having been a business coach for more that 10 years, I often hear my clients say things like, "Why does this have to be a Struggle?" or "I"m feeling desperate, I need more clients." They try the right marketing approaches, they manage their time and it looks like they are doing everything they can. However most business owners are missing the key ingredient: The Law of Attraction.
The Law of Attraction is potentially one of the most powerful tools you"ll ever have as a Real Estate Agent. Why? Because it helps you to train your mind into a successful and prosperous mindset. In other words, if you practice the Law of Attraction you"re always looking at the opportunities for growing your business rather than the obstacles.
The Law of Attraction is potentially one of the most powerful tools you"ll ever have as a Real Estate Agent. Why? Because it helps you to train your mind into a successful and prosperous mindset. In other words, if you practice the Law of Attraction you"re always looking at the opportunities for growing your business rather than the obstacles.
Hooray, it"s Open House season!
Our industry has shifted to a buyer"s market. The mortgage industry"s woes have come to roost in the building industry"s branches, and builders are rightfully concerned about how they can be as successful as they were in the past.
Many novice real estate investors readily call a roofer when the roof is leaking or a contractor to renovate a bath or kitchen, but they often view real estate agents as superfluous overhead. They focus on the agent commissions they have to pay, while overlooking the value that an agent can add to their investment business. As a real estate agent, you can expand your business by proving yourself indispensable to investors who purchase distressed properties.
What is the most important asset you own? Is it that wonderful home you live in? Is it the beautiful car that you drive to and from your listing appointments? Is it your investment account of stocks?
[Note: To follow is an excerpt of an interview with William Carter, CR, CKBR, first vice president for the National Association of the Remodeling Industry and owner of the Carter Carter Company in Sacramento, California. To listen to, or download the show archive MP3, go to www.IncomePropertyInvestmentTalk.com.]
“Rely on my Sphere of Influence? I don"t know anyone who wants to buy or a sell a home right now!”
How do you get to the top of your game? How do you take your place center stage in any profession or life"s ambition? Like all of those who have graced the stage of the historical center for performing arts, you must fine-tune your techniques, hone your skills, master your talents and study the subtle nuances to ensure that you not only succeed, but you also stand out for your commitment
"If you can get Internet leads to respond, you can start the relationship," states Michael Maher -- a Kansas City realtor.
Question: In my first transaction as a Realtor I went from incredible exhilaration to a deep purple funk in about three days. Customers with whom I was working made an offer through me on an expensive home. The seller, a nice widow lady, decided after she got the offer not to sell her place at all and took it off the market. I"m convinced the buyers think I messed things up because I"m a rookie real estate agent. After over a month of showing them homes they are now working with someone else. Does it get any better than this?
Marketing strategies for title companies have changed dramatically over the years. From the wild and crazy 1980"s to the most recent re-fi boom, there was little regulation as to how much money title companies could spend on their marketing efforts.
Independent real estate agents are often reluctant to explore the agent team approach. They often mistakenly believe that the best way to serve their clients is to do everything themselves -- answer the phone, develop CMA"s (Comparative Market Analyses), create presentations, meet personally with clients, show homes, and perform all the other tasks required to run a successful real estate business.
This sort of thing happens all the time. A prospective homebuyer comes into an open house. The real estate agent strikes up a conversation and they hit it off. Next thing you know they are talking about writing an offer on the house that is open, or perhaps on some other house that the agent has by then shown to the buyer. Then comes the uncomfortable breaking of the news. "You know, I really appreciate all the help and information you have given me, but I"ve been working with another agent. I"m really going to have to go to him to write this offer."
You know the stat. Everyone knows the stat. These days, 80 percent of consumers begin their search for real estate information online, according to the National Association of Realtors.
We"ve all heard that old bromide, "You can take a horse to water but you can"t make him drink." You can, however, hold his head under water until he is forced to inhale … . That"s what many agents feel like doing with their "buyers." Forcibly hold them down until they buy or die. Good luck. How"s that working for you so far this year?
One of the not-so-secret secrets to sales success is to build on past success. That is what the 10/10/20 technique is all about, and here is how it works:
Tip 1: Build a strong foundation
As the months continue to fly by, soon we will be celebrating a new year. Real estate has been the topic of more media coverage than we can even begin to discuss and the "poor housing market" has been blamed for all sorts of troubles in the financial world. In the end though, 2007 has been a pretty good year. There are companies and agents across the country having a phenomenal year, sales are up and business is good!
In the real estate industry, people are so busy doing business that they often fail to take reasonable measures to manage and protect their businesses. I have met dozens of agents who do their own accounting, for example, never realizing that an accountant can save them thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars a year in taxes alone.
This column is a continuation of Part I, previously published.
Great agents are already thinking about business planning for 2008. They are developing their strategies for lead generation, marketing, human resources, and investing. I am involved in many of these strategy meetings from some of the nation"s top agents and have found exciting and wonderful trends are emerging to make the top people in real estate even better in 2008.
Question.
In a tough market, kicking your career into high gear involves implementing some obvious strategies such as realistically pricing listings, holding open houses, and deploying reliable, effective marketing campaigns. Savvy agents who are successfully dishing up consistently high production also know that the secret to success lies in some of the not-so-noticeable solutions for building a better business and a better life.
What does it mean to "sharpen your saw"?
The biggest mistake that most real estate agents make in dealing with their clients and colleagues is that they are unconsciously committed to "people pleasing." This article shows you the signs to watch out for. These signs will clearly show you whether you are inadvertently falling into a "people pleaser" pattern. If so, you"ll be shown an alternative strategy. You"ll learn what it means to commit to "win/win" or "no deal."
Google"sTM search engine is a widely-used tool for locating information or items on the Internet. On any given search, its inherent value equates to a vast set of relevant links for the user to sift through in mere seconds! A new environment termed "Virtual Worlds" has created a similar challenge -- finding a vast range of items in a timely manner.
The internet can be a remarkable marketing tool, especially since the majority of buyers begin their searches online. Despite this -- many agents don"t take the time to build relationships -- and powerful emails -- with potential clients!
Home buyers across the country are adding in rising numbers a walk-to dog park to their new home search parameters. I first reported this trend in my annual survey: "What"s In, What"s Out with Homebuyers in 2006." Many first-time and repeat home buyers in suburban and urban communities want to include a nearby dog park as a day-to-day way to integrate their favored pooch into their next hood.
"Welcome aboard. Here"s your desk, here"s your phone. Good luck to you."
Have you ever noticed a voice in your head that puts you down?
About ten years ago, I was working with a minority couple to help them find a home -- a pair of young professionals, both of whom had solid incomes. They were excellent, highly qualified buyers, whom any seller should have felt fortunate to find.
The first rule in a real estate brokerage business is GET LISTINGS! As many other speakers before me have said, "List to last!" As you remember job one, it is important to understand that you can control more listing sides than you can control buyer sides. It is faster and less expensive to obtain a commission from a listing than it is from a buyer. Buyers just take more personal hand holding than listings. Obtaining a listing is the least expensive and most effective way to find a buyer. Listings promoted geographically by signs, word of mouth, and worldwide through the internet put you in front of more buyers.
It has been several years since the last "land grab" for great real estate domains. This means some real opportunities, whether you missed out on buying any awesome domain names, or feel you bought too many during the frenzy. Either way here are some very clever ways you can turn your current situation into profit.
One of the most popular movies circulating around in everyone"s living room these days is The Secret. Everyone in every profession is watching this movie and wondering, "Can the Law of Attraction really work for me?"
The days of kicking over a rock in your office parking lot and finding three buyers ready, willing, and able to write a full price offer on your new listing may be a distant memory, but for many agents there is still a sliver lining to this stormy market. What is it? Surprisingly it is the luxury home market!
You"re just too busy to send little notes to your clients on subjects, pictures, or attachments that might interest them, right? Big mistake! You need to make the time for this task, because it can give you better results than almost anything else you can do in the minimal time it takes.
Imagine buying a home where you spend just 13 minutes at the closing table and only have to sign once. You read that right, just once -- instead of the dozens and dozens of documents typical of most real estate closings. While this may sound like science fiction, it just recently happened for a client of Stephanie Evelo of The Evelo Team in Indianapolis, IN. And the benefits to buyers and their agents are truly huge.
The more I coach and train Agents, the more I realize the biggest battle Agents have is on the battlefield of time. Maximizing the dollars we earn per hour separates the extremely successful from the frustrated. There are many Agents across the country who are merely trading more time for more money, spending more and more time with people other than their family. If you are one of those agents, make sure you do the steps outlined in this article. This article was written for you!
In the recent state legislative session there was a little-noticed bill (AB 2962 – Benoit) that contained good news for sellers of investment property in California. In many cases this new law will result in reduced withholding when the property is sold.
Realty Times editor, Blanche Evans, recently interviewed Tom Di Mercurio, owner and broker of The Mercury Alliance, LLC of Denver, Houston and Tulsa, who also plays a strong role with The Freedom Realty Exchange, about REO brokerages. (For more about Mr. Di Mercurio, visit themercuryalliance.com.)
The purpose of prospecting is to develop prospective clients for your business. The real estate prospecting process involves two-steps.
Dontwanner (don"t want her) is a term I often use to describe distressed properties -- houses and other real estate that the owners don"t want so much that they"re willing to do anything to get rid of it, including deeply discounting it. Real estate investors can score big profits on dontwanners by recycling what the owners consider burdensome trash into cash.
"Marketing battles take place in the mind of a consumer or prospect. That"s where you win. That"s where you lose."
"I don"t think I"ll ever be able to buy a house. My credit is terrible."
Recent law changes include valuable breaks for a wide range of small businesses. What follows are the highlights of several good-news provisions.
1031 exchanges involve property you hold for investment, not your personal residence. So why write an article about doing a 1031 exchange on your personal residence? Everyone knows that your personal residence does not qualify for a 1031 exchange! Or does it?
Do you recall Garrett Morris" Saturday Night Live character Chico Escuela? His famous line was, "Baseball has been very, very good to me." Let me borrow from that sentiment to say, "Blogging has been very, very good to me!" My own experiences with blogging testify to the positive effect it can have in marketing and growing a real estate business.
The future of real estate is changing at high speed. In the future, Realtors® who form teams to design, build and run their business will continue to thrive and prosper, while individuals doing it on their own could be left behind.
Agents I talk with from different parts of the country are telling me similar stories these days about investors who aren"t as excited about buying properties as they were months ago, and how they"re much slower to act now than they used to be.
Real estate is cyclical by nature. And in our current market, conditions are rapidly changing both in my market and across the nation.
Most of us love it when a plan comes together. California Realtors® have a lot to love about a plan that has come together on their behalf.
In the late 1800s, an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto observed that, in Italy, a small group of people held nearly all the power, influence, and money, which they used to create a significant advantage over the rest of the population. He theorized that, in most countries, about 80 percent of the wealth and power was controlled by about 20 percent of the people. He called this a "predictable imbalance," which eventually became known as the 80:20 rule.
Good News! Your sales associates can know virtually nothing about real estate, yet still succeed as long as he or she knows how to sell.
Your effectiveness with FSBOs can radically increase if you use the "DISC" method of determining the dominant behavioral style of the seller so you can adapt your approach accordingly.
Consistently using professional-looking, targeted marketing materials is an important lead generation tool for your business. Used effectively, online and print marketing materials can add substantially to the amount of business you do each year. And, if you are not careful, creating these materials and executing their use can be very time consuming, expensive and produce poor results. Fortunately, there are some leading-edge solutions that take most of the guesswork out of the equation and for a price that make most advertising people wring their hands in despair.
First impressions by real estate agents, home sellers, and buyers carry a lot of weight. If you appear well-groomed and properly dressed -- your stock and credibility go up.
For most people the notion of home is determined by how they perceive the place. In many situations the home is simply an investment for financial gain or use to ensure a child"s academic success -- hence the potential economic growth or quality of the school system in a neighborhood is of greatest concern.
One of the biggest challenges I see facing new agents is not having a clear idea as to who their prospects are. Ask any agent what their typical prospect looks like and most will give an answer ranging from "everyone," to a vague elevator speech that might sound good while networking, but has little in the way of specifics.
Over the past few years in many of our markets, as listing agents and buyer"s agents, we"ve become spoiled with quick sales from limited choices of little or no listing inventory.
Denver, Colorado, market experts Tony and Cindy Anderson say that homes in their market are spending around 70 to 120 days on the market, and prices continue to be unchanged.
After emerging herself into a competitive market, where well over a 1000 Realtors swarm over a population of around 70,000, Sue Ellen Drake, NC licensed Broker, Realtor®, with Keller Williams Professionals (Asheville NC) has worked hard to make it to the one year mark in her sales job. Along with keeping some business basics in mind to set a solid foundation in real estate she has also embraced technology as a way to keep the clients coming.
Knowledge is power, especially in sales, but it is not the gold ticket to the top. "Education alone does not necessarily equal [real estate sales] success, [but ensures that] agents are more informative people to work with," Bobby Potts, GRI, NC licensed Broker, Realtor® says.
Have you noticed your real estate site rankings for various key word phrases have taken a drop? Actually, in some cases, sites on page one of Google are now nowhere to be found within the first 10 pages of returned results. Wondering what changed?
Probably, the most common questions our firm gets are related to the required holding period for real estate with which clients intend to do a 1031 exchange. A good reason for all these questions is that there is more confusion about this issue than any other issue involving 1031 exchanges.
We have all experienced a case of "the misconstrued" email. Sometimes what we mean to say just doesn"t come out right when it"s in black and white. Clients or friends occasionally need to hear empathy or urgency in our voice to understand the complete message. One solution to this is a phone call. But, what happens when you are up late at night or very early in the morning? It could be rude to call -- so follow these steps to make a quick & easy sound recording:
A rookie Realtor writes:
So what happens when you make a pricing mistake?
Question: At our annual meeting, the procedure for voting in person and voting by proxy was different. Those who attended the meeting registered by signing in. Proxies were only counted if the signature on the form matched the signature of record. Is this standard procedure?
Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code allows you to roll the gain from the sale of your old property over to your new property without paying taxes. To qualify for this great benefit, both the old property and the new property have to be property held for investment or used in a trade or business. If you meet this requirement, you could sell your purple duplex and buy an office building, or an apartment building, a warehouse or even bare land -- you do not need to buy another purple duplex.
They vary widely in management styles, philosophies, and attitudes. But CEOs never lose sight of a very important fact: They are ultimately responsible for the success or failure of their business. And one thing I"ve found from talking with hundreds of agents from around the country, is that top producers approach things as if they are the CEO of their own business.
The measure of you and your institution"s character is the way you deal with a complaint. Here"s a short quiz to help you judge your corporate "character" in the way you deal with complaints:
It"s been a long time since online lead generation companies provided free seminar-style training for their future customers and existing subscribers. Free seminars are profit drains, and training is the first weight to be thrown overboard when a company is in trouble, but HouseValues, an online lead generation company out of Washington, believes training is crucial to making their services better understood and better utilized by their Realtor customers.
If you ever have a prospect interested in buying a property with a First Right of Refusal on it, you have a delicate situation that you need to address. When talking about a potential sale of a property, a First Right of Refusal is an agreement that gives someone the right to purchase a property at the exact same terms and conditions contained in an offer that the owner has received (and wants to accept) from another buyer.
Have you ever had a shopping experience that left you fuming and frustrated? Ever been in a store when a sales clerk treats you with disinterest or disrespect? Recently, I was in a store and couldn"t find my charge card fast enough to apparently make my clerk happy. As I searched through my wallet, I apologized for the delay -- apologized several times. All the while she was visibly annoyed with my lack of organization and remained unresponsive to my conversation.
What can the rhythm and flow of a pendulum teach us about balance and personal growth? Everything in life happens in accordance with a certain rhythm. This rhythm is a constant movement between two opposites. In and out, up and down, back and forth, positive and negative, excess and deficiency, high and low, order and chaos, ignorance and understanding.
By June 2005, every company that deals with consumer credit information will have to change the way it does business. That"s the day the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) goes into effect. This new federal law was designed to reduce the risk of consumer fraud and identity theft that is created by the improper disposal of consumer information. Its impact will be felt by any business that has access to consumer"s credit information, including Realtors.
A few months ago I read an article by a man who teaches people how to negotiate. He travels all around North America hosting seminars where he teaches people how to do this more effectively.
What"s the difference between creating a job and building a business?
Has this ever happened to you? You"ve prepared well for your listing appointment hoping to win the listing on a great property and arrive to present to the owners. As you start your presentation, the husband begins taking control by raising objections to several of the points in your presentation. Instead of responding, you feel the need to react, feel you have lost control and walk out of the appointment without the signed agreement because they want to "think it over", or "interview a couple of other agents for the job". You know you could have done better.
Women especially find it more of a challenge to take care of "self" first. We are heroic at making sure kids have lunches, and husbands have found lost keys and briefcases. Even the cat"s needs are met with food and water before we rush out the door. But who takes care of the care giver? Many of us jump in the car, rushing to our first appointment already out of control, .the first step in a long day of denying ourselves those little extras like breakfast and a few minutes of critical centering to start the next life adventure.
Today it"s in vogue to talk about having a buyer"s agent. It seems everyone who is anyone has one, two or even three! Yet behind closed doors agents keep asking me: "Greg, how can I make my buyer"s agent work? I thought a buyer"s agent would save me time and make me money, but they have turned into a giant headache that"s keeping me up at night. I am too embarrassed to tell anyone it"s not working for me, when all those other agents keep talking about how great life is with their buyer"s agent."
For some reason agents generally view For-sale-by-owners as a very tough market to crack. They view private sellers as big, snarling, frothing monsters ready to devour the first agent that dares enter their domain.
A very bright man I know once told me his favorite saying - "I"d rather be lucky than smart."
It"s what you do now that is going to determine whether you start 2005 from ground zero or with momentum and focus. If you are proactive this month, you will reap the rewards next year.
There is no doubt that the day a person decides they want to move is the best day to list their home. One time of year is no better than another for a motivated seller.
Congratulations.
You may not realize how much selling you really do when you work with a buyer. What you don"t want to miss are opportunities to sell by not conveying the knowledge and information your buyer needs to make a well-reasoned decision that he or she will be happy about.
Just in time for the annual National Association of Realtors convention and a flurry of other summits and conferences, Realtors may want to know the right way to write off such trips without raising questions by the IRS.
Realty Times" just received this letter from a Realtor reader:
It happens to nearly everyone at some time or another -- the decision to move to a senior-living community. Before making this decision, author and elder care advocate Jacqueline Marcell points out several tips on transitioning to elder care in her piece, "How to Get Loved Ones to Move to Assisted Living."
Don’t you just love M&Ms(r)? They are a tiny little taste of sweetness.
Hammered by a volatile stock market, a growing breed of homebuyers want to put their investment capital into real estate. While some are true investors (long term holders of real estate) and others are flippers (into quick turnover of properties), many have no idea what they are doing, giving savvy Realtors the opportunity to build a good clientele by teaching these stock market refugees a thing or two about real estate.
Because of their sheer mobility and number of resources, buyers are particularly hard to acquire as loyal clients. Unlike sellers, who contract with only one agent and brokerage to market their homes, buyers can search for homes on the Internet, visit many neighborhoods, talk to FSBOs and work with multiple agents to find a home.
You"ve met the type already, because the Better Deal Buyer is suddenly everywhere.
Do you know exactly what you need to do on a daily basis to hit your goals for 2004? Do you know exactly how many sphere of influence calls you need to make, or how many appointments you need to go on each day?
With all the hype about housing information on the Web, virtual tours, web commercials and digital brochures, the bottom line remains the same….the lion"s share of buyers still traditionally work with a real estate agent to find property.
And the second largest single-family price jump was in Peoria, Illinois -- which rose 10.4 percent to $119,000.
Those kinder and gentler folks at the IRS have a nifty present for real estate brokers, sales agents and other self-employed individuals: a better break on what they spend for medical insurance, starting with returns for 2003 to be filed in 2004. You need no reminder that the cost of medical care keeps climbing. Worse yet, you have to absorb more of the cost because so many charges are not covered by your insurance.
It was once said that the only two things you can be sure of in life is birth and death -- everything in between is a negotiation!
Sellers, especially FSBO sellers, may be tentative about making a commitment to you. What can you tell them to reassure them that you are the right person to help them sell their home? Put the following ideas into your own words, based on these typical questions and statements by FSBO sellers.
Everyone loves referrals. When a referral comes our way, it feels great, we tell everyone about it, our manager brags about us at the office meeting, we know we are doing good. In our mind, a referral is a client’s way of bestowing on us their appreciation for our hard work, outstanding performance and personal care in helping them buy or sell a home. We know that eventually our hard work will pay off with an endless stream of referrals from loving clients.
Homestore made news this week by reaching a year-long high following the incredible run-up of its stock shares on Tuesday, closing with a whopping 46 percent increase to $2.62 per share. The increase is even more significant considering that it took place without any news, announcements, or rumor-mill activity, (except that traders are gleefully speculating that the class-action shareholder suit is close to being resolved or that media mogul Barry Diller has his eye on the company.) The shares closed Wednesday at $2.58 after profit-taking, still over three times the volume of its daily average.
Do you have an assistant? How long have they been with you? Unless you’ve been lucky, and have been able to retain an assistant for a long time, you’re unfortunately familiar with losing one, and then having to train another. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort, and looming in the back of your mind is that dread of having to do it all over again some day.
As agents and brokers in our real estate industry today we are besieged by the need to bring our technology skills into the new millennium. We have contact managers, talking sign ads, Websites, virtual assistants, PDA’s that synchronize to our laptops and cell phones, personal computers, e-mail programs, instant messaging, wireless technologies, cell phones that can track us down, auto-response systems, and so much more! Sounds great, doesn’t it? But can these tools make our lives in real estate more, productive, fruitful and profitable? It depends upon you and what level of industry knowledge and skills you possess!
The hotter your market gets in the summer, the more tempting it is to shed the coat and tie for men and pantyhose for women. How can you dress for the heat, but also for success?
First published in 1987, Your Successful Real Estate Career, by Dr. Kenneth W. Edwards, has become one of the most popular books for new agents in the literary market. A new, updated version of the classic how-to for real estate professionals, has just been released in a spiffy fourth edition paperback, featuring all new sections on using technology.
You know the feeling: you are a businessperson, a spouse, a parent, a caregiver to your parent and a volunteer on many community activities…..so the only way to be time-efficient is to do several things at once. Sort mail while talking on the phone, send e-mail on your PDA while sitting in a committee meeting, help with homework while designing your next marketing piece. Multitasking seems the only way to keep juggling and to get it all done. Sound familiar?
In our society the role of color and certain color combinations has long been associated with particular meanings. Red means stop, yellow and orange mean caution, and green means proceed. While many of these associations are culturally learned, there are many who believe that color choices and preferences are more innate.
Long-term relationships are an essential ingredient to success in today’s real estate marketplace. Your jobs as Realtors should not end at closing – by providing a little extra “TLC,” you can potentially secure lifelong business. Helping clients find a safe and reliable moving source can be a great start.
In response to a recent Agent News article, a buyer named Alan wrote the editor to explain why he feels he has to use multiple agents. He scores some valid points, but there could be other reasons why he hasn"t found the home of his dreams.
Real Estate may be one of the most interesting rewarding, and lucrative careers available, but not necessarily the easiest to survive and be successful. If it were easy, perhaps we would not see a large turnover of agents every few years. For most that leave our industry, it isn’t better opportunities that draw them away… most just leave disillusioned and broke. They couldn’t make a go of it. They either had no plans or strategies in place to ensure success, or they could not earn enough to sustain their needs and expectations. Perhaps because they were unrealistic and unprepared for what lay ahead, and did not budget their finances accordingly. So how does a newer agent survive?
When the market cools, agents’ instinctually pull back on their marketing. Don’t follow the herd. Instead, capitalize on the incredible opportunity it provides.
Predicting the next hot market in real estate is a talent worth its weight in gold for both the real estate sales person as well as the land mogul. Many seasoned veterans, and even some novices, might be able to predict when and where these markets will appear. However, for most, short of consulting a crystal ball, predicting when and where the next hot market will appear can be somewhat daunting. But with the right arsenal of tools, the ability to predict future hot markets can seem more scientific than an enigma. These tools are concepts found in marketing, city planning, and a theory referred to as concentric rings.
As the new year begins, resolutions and plans are made that, for many, may not survive past the first quarter of the year. Perhaps, this sounds familiar to you. It may be an old pattern keeps you from even beginning to create plans for 2003. You know it won"t make any difference because it never has before.
Look in almost any desk drawer and you"ll likely find them - a collection
Fair housing violations, even if you aren"t charged with anything, can still result in lost income and many hours spent defending yourself.
Nearly one out of every two Americans age 65 or older will spend time in a nursing home. While 45 percent of nursing home stays last three months or less, the average nursing home stay is 19 months, and 10 percent of stays last five years or longer. Such care can be very expensive and quickly deplete your family’s financial resources.
When I began coaching agents years ago something that I greatly
It"s always intriguing when I hear an agent say that business is
The National Association of Realtors attracts over 10,000 new members a month. But close to as many agents wash out and go inactive, most in their first year. Why isn"t the success rate higher for new agents? One reason - lack of preparedness - may be the answer. Don"t fall into the same abyss as others. What you know in advance can help you ride out the rough spots better than your peers who turn their licenses in after they find real estate sales more difficult than they bargained for.
Margins are thin enough in the real estate industry, but there is a niche of brokers and agents that work with asset managers and relocation management companies which specialize in REOs, where the work is hard, and the rewards iffy.
According to the "2001 National Association of Realtors Member Profile" study of its members completed in 2000, the NAR says that the longer you stay in the business, the more money you"re likely to make. How much money? That depends on a wide variety of factors from your gender to your educational level, from your adoption of technology to your age. What does it take to make money in real estate sales? Here are some truisms to keep in mind:
Many companies view seniors as a bunch of old geezers sitting
In the light of recent armed robberies of Realtors sitting open houses in the Dallas area, as well as post-home-viewing burglaries committed by criminals posing as buyers, the Greater Dallas Association of Realtors offers general safety and open house tips to Realtors.
By far the most powerful tools today"s agent has in their business is a personal assistant. Please do not stop reading just because you think you can"t afford one, you are too new to get one, or you are too busy to train one.
If you’ve been in the real estate business any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly questioned “why do we give away so many services for free?” Answer: “It’s just the way things are done. It’s tradition.” True, albeit myopic and counter productive to the broker/salesperson’s bottom line.
July 4th has passed again with lots of celebration of our Independence
HUD just changed its condominium rules again, and there"s both good news and sobering news for investors and developers tucked away in the revisions.