Residential Real Estate
Have you ever wondered why some places feel good? Or have you noticed how other places just don"t feel right and you are relieved to exit? There could be several reasons.
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.
In a highly unusual step, the Department of Energy has quietly rescinded a final rule on minimum energy efficiency standards for residential central air conditioners and heat pumps that was published in the final days of the Clinton Administration, replacing it with one calling for a slightly lower seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER).
Advancements in technology have forever changed many aspects of our lives, especially in our homes. While smart home devices have been around for as long as 30 years now in small numbers, a new breed of computerized products from a new diverse group of suppliers is ready to enter the marketplace. This is good news developers who, if they add smart home automation systems as a value added service, can expect long-term revenue streams.
With Memorial Day just barely behind us and June just around the corner,
As an increasing number of homeowners and renters turn to home security systems, the high number of false alarms and unnecessary law enforcement responses remains a huge problem - a problem caused largely by user error.
Comparing sales activity through May in the major cities of Collin County, Roxanne Deberry indicates that there has been a sales decline of approximately 14 percent to 31 percent over the same period of last year.
If you"ve been itching to spend some of that equity your home has earned in recent years, consider using it to shore up your home against the seismic forces of an earthquake.
Your offer has been accepted and, like 77 percent of American homebuyers, you"ve heeded your agent"s advice to hire a professional home inspector to examine the home you hope to purchase. But once the inspector has done the job and issued a report, what"s your job?
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
Despite all the recent tax cuts, most homeowners are continually looking for another way to reduce their tax bills. If you operate a home-based business, you may be able to do that through deductions for a home office.
You"ve made countless trips to the huge home improvement warehouse to gather
Lighthouse Laboratories, LLC announced today that it is now able to perform a DNA based test developed by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the detection of toxic mold (Stachybotrys Chartarum) using real time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Only a few laboratories in the country are able to perform this state of the art testing procedure.
Q: My wife and I are caught in the middle of a disagreement between our mortgage company and the county tax collector, and it appears that we are going to be the looser. In March, 2001, we refinanced our mortgage with a local bank, but since then the mortgage has been sold twice to out of state mortgage companies. Our mortgage requires an escrow account for property taxes and insurance.
Another study about the increasing incidence of equity borrowing habits among home owners should be a red flag not to equity drain your home
As beloved as pets may be to sellers they can be a detriment to the sale of a home.
If you like the looks of wood siding and the low-maintenance qualities of man-made siding products, consider fiber-cement for your home.
As you pull out those holiday storage boxes filled with decorative goodies and embark on your seasonal embellishing, take extra care as you hang those outdoor lights, choose that tree, and spark those holiday candles.
Selling real estate in today"s market -- particularly those properties at the high end of the price spectrum where most of the action is -- requires a new set of skills to close the deal.
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.
Moving into a new home can be great motivation for turning trash into cash. Whether you call it a garage sale, yard sale, or moving sale, the idea is to finally clean out the garage, basement, closet or attic that"s been harboring all that junk you haven"t used, and maybe haven"t even seen, for years.
It’s summertime. It’s hot. And you’re sitting in your living room with a bead of sweat on your brow. The air conditioner is running. In fact, your electric bill reflects the fact that your air conditioner must be doing one heck of a diligent job trying to keep the house cool. So what’s the deal? Is there something different that can be done to help beat the summer sizzle and cut those fuel bills?
You"re finally taking the household on a well-deserved vacation. You"ve arranged to board the dog, and Aunt Martha will babysit the bird.
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.
A significant portion of contractors" business comes from repairs that could have been prevented. Financially speaking, the earlier a homeowner spots a problem, the better. Early detection often results in less-expensive repairs.
Unless your homeowner association transacts all its business town meeting style, a regular newsletter is essential to keep the owners informed. There are tricks of the trade to increase its effectiveness and readability. Here"s a "baker"s dozen":
Your insurance broker has undoubtedly advised you to create a thorough inventory of your household possessions. You can certainly keep written records and save those records in a safety deposit box, but it"s best to back-up documents with a photographic inventory.
Many of us are working hard just to keep a roof over our heads -- but how good is that roof? With April showers on the way, it might pay you to find out.
Almost half the $6.5 million in disaster aid for residents affected by
The Seattle-area 6.8 earthquake and smaller aftershocks sent Mother Nature"s latest resounding message about seismic activity -- not only is it difficult to predict where the earth will move, predicting when the shaking will occur isn"t easy.
American homeowners get two major tax benefits under our tax laws: they can deduct their mortgage interest and real estate tax payments while they own their house, and when it is sold, there are significant capital gains exclusions.
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?
Communicating Your Expectations for the Remodeling Project
Republicans are giving a swift kick to the departing Andrew Cuomo
Record high heating oil costs likely will force many home owners to turn to the hearth to supplement their heating needs with hopes of paying less to keep warm this winter.
It"s 7:28 a.m. on a freezing Saturday in January, and you"re sitting in
For a significant percentage of first-time homebuyers, merely closing the deal is an economic feat in itself. From the earnest money to the appraisal to the (gasp) closing costs and that unforgettable rite of passage called the first mortgage payment, you"re feeling broke at precisely the time when you want to rip open that wallet and spend an absolute fortune on improvements to the home you waited so long to purchase. And here lies the primary frustration of first-time homeownership (and homeownership in general, for that matter): The house consumes a larger chunk of your financial resources, leaving you with little money to make improvements. You"re left with the difficult to decision of what projects to tackle first.
It"s one of homeownership"s unfortunate side effects. You purchase a new home, and despite the fact that your bank account is suddenly much, much
With energy costs expected to rise, builders are turning to insulated siding as yet another way to meet the needs of the environmentally-friendly -- and cost-conscious -- consumer. While few homeowners are aware that insulated siding can reduce consumption by up to 20 percent, they do know that replacing doors and windows enhances a property"s energy savings potential and its corresponding return on investment. The trick for builders is to create homeowner awareness to the positive impact of insulated sliding.
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.
Every seller is looking for the perfect sale and every buyer is looking for the perfect opportunity to seize a new home or investment property. Getting your home ready to close the deal for the most money, starts with knowing where to begin and, often, that means, quite literally, you need to paint the perfect sale.
Ignorance is bliss ... and danger. Children often seem hardwired with an inherent curiosity for all that is hazardous. If you"ve lived in your current home for a length of time and are convinced you"ve covered all your bases when it comes to childproofing, here"s betting you haven"t. And if you"re preparing for a move, it"s easy to overlook hazards around your new home, given all of the excitement and hustle-bustle that you unpack with your belongings.
Have you ever noticed how appliances seem to break down in threes? You wake up one morning to a noxious odor drifting from the kitchen ... where your refrigerator/freezer has died. You"re surveying the damage when you"re suddenly jarred by a loud banging noise coming from outside. It"s your air conditioner announcing to the entire neighborhood that it no longer feels like working. Now that you think about it, it did seem a lot hotter in here. Resigning yourself to the fact that you"re going to kiss your entire savings account goodbye today, you decide to get yourself ready and head to the nearest department store to start shopping for new appliances. So you head to the laundry room to grab some clean clothes. Only you can"t open the laundry room door. There"s something blocking it. Something like your clothes washer, which has boogied across the floor, parking itself in front of the door. You know that dance, don"t you? I think it"s called "I"m on the fritz."
Question: Could federal aid to homeowners facing foreclosure affect MY home"s value? Even if I"m not delinquent on my mortgage?
Editor"s Note: This is the second part of a two part series. Part I was: Home Sweet Business: Qualifying For The Home Office Deduction
Oh, the perils of ... winter? Yes, winter. It"s a time of year when
It"s every homeowner"s worst nightmare: You arrive home to discover you"ve been burglarized. Your drawers have been ransacked, and your belongings are scattered about the floor. Your most prized possessions are missing, somewhere between your home and the nearest pawn shop. You feel violated in every sense of the term, and your family"s sense of security will never be regained. Although it"s much, much easier said than done, you do need to make sure that you go through a few necessary safety procedures should this ever happen to you and your family. If you are indeed ever burglarized, it"s likely that your sense of shock will interfere with your ability to make clear decisions. So you should make a plan now and make sure all of your fellow family members are aware of it.
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
As we usher in the spring break months, our thoughts turn to sun, surf,
In the midst of natural disasters, homeowners have occasionally found
What would you do if you awakened in the middle of the night to the smell of smoke? Do you know the best way to put out a small wastebasket fire or burning pan on the stove? Do you own a fire extinguisher and know how to use it?
Hardly a day goes by without blaming something on El Nino. Rain in California. Must be El Nino. Hot air in Washington. What else? El Nino. Storms in Kansas and Iowa? You guessed it. El Nino.
A good general contractor is worth his or her weight in gold if you are interested in saving time, money and aggravation. The contractor"s job is to assure that the proper building permits are obtained, that all work adheres to code (and will pass inspection should the home be put on the market), and oversee the hiring and scheduling of subcontractors so that the job will go smoothly. The contractor will also obtain the materials, keep track of the receipts, and is responsible for paying the subcontractors when the job is complete and cleaned up. And the job isn"t complete until the homeowner is satisfied.
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.
Ignorance is bliss ... and danger. Children often seem hardwired with an inherent curiosity for all that is hazardous. If you"ve lived in your current home for a length of time and are convinced you"ve covered all your bases when it comes to childproofing, here"s betting you haven"t. And if you"re preparing for a move, it"s easy to overlook hazards around your new home, given all of the excitement and hustle-bustle that you unpack with your belongings.
It"s cold outside, so you have all the windows shut tight. Along with other energy-efficient measures that you"ve taken, you should be all snug as a bug in a rug for the winter. But by keeping the cold air out so effectively, you could be adversely affecting the quality of your indoor air, trapping pollutants that could make you and your family potentially ill.
Your dream can come true. If you loved Anne of Green Gables and other
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.93 percent with an average 0.6 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.65 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.43 percent. The last time the 15-year FRM was higher was the week ending October 25, 2007, when it averaged 5.99 percent.
The business plan is a foreign tool to most REALTORS®. After studying, observing, interviewing, and coaching hundreds of Agents, I have concluded that very few have taken the time to create a quality business plan. Fewer still review their business plan on a regular basis. The few who have good business plans often make them so complicated that they possess little value. Those Agents create such a complex business plan that they will never carry it out. What kind of value does this complex business plan have to them? . . . Zero!
As a business coach for real estate professionals for the last 12 years, I often hear the same question from my clients, "How do I stop procrastinating and do what I need to do to pick up the phone?"
Blanche, just over a year ago you interviewed me regarding the opportunities for real estate agents and brokers to specialize in the area of residential real estate (handling bank owned properties -- REO homes) which has become my 37 year career. While there is no time to lose in trying to get in on this business, I can safely say that it"s not too late. Not a day goes by in the financial press and in regular newspapers that we are not reminded that the "Tsunami of foreclosures" (my title) will likely bring the country to the precipice of a national recession.
"Help me help my agents." Training experts across the nation are scrambling to answer this challenging plea as our markets continue to shift and normalize.
Does your spouse confidently and cheerfully refer you to everyone he knows who has a real estate need? Yes? Good for you! You can move onto the next article on your list. You don"t need me today!
Have you ever wondered why even the very best, in any profession receive coaching? Have you ever thought about why a top-notch athlete, like Tiger Woods, would need coaching? Why is it that so many successful real estate agents have used coaching to get to the top?
The days of the lonely door-to-door salesman are over, thank goodness, but I often observe salespeople who have placed themselves in a sort of self-imposed exile. By falsely assuming that nobody can do it better than they can (whatever "it" is), they end up working themselves to a frazzle and never achieve the sales success they really deserve. The fact is that you can do more and do it better by harnessing the power of people.
As we steady ourselves and look to the rest of the year, it"s important to look within and ask what perspectives, habits and heroes have made their mark on who we are and where we"re going. That particular trip can be soothing or scary -- depending on the road you"ve traveled -- but either way, an important step in making the most of what lies ahead.
Are you in a rut? Ever played musical chairs? A lot of folks in real estate do, but sometimes the way they play it … it"s more like playing Russian roulette! Sales are off, your broker is too busy to assist you, and voila! You decide why are you putting up with this? The grass is always greener at the new real estate office across the street! They"ll really appreciate you, and besides their corporate logo is a real eye catcher, and the cheery office dûcor is "To die for!" So why not change real estate offices? It sounds like a real plan, but is it? As a survivor in real estate, it may not be such a good idea!
“Rely on my Sphere of Influence? I don"t know anyone who wants to buy or a sell a home right now!”
Take your career to the next level with an Interactive Marketing Plan. To get to the top of the heap, today"s real estate agents can"t just be good salespeople. They must also be expert marketers.
Do you know that 90 percent of Americans break their New Years Resolutions by January 31st? This article tells you why this is so, how you can prevent this from happening, and how you can turn your Resolutions into a Reality.
According to Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey there"s no need for a federal task-force to unearth big-name mortgage fraud. That"s what he told the New York Times last week, and instead said that investigations were best handled by local prosecutors.
I love SOI*. It"s my thing; it"s my passion. I think every self-employed salesperson oughta include a little SOI in their arsenal. Or a lot. During my real estate days, my business was nearly 100 percent SOI with a few random floor calls, walk-ins and web leads tossed in as gravy.
My wife and I bought a dog recently -- a black Lab we named Jazz. Now, the thing about Jazz is he"s only four months old, which means everything he sees is a brand new experience.
As real estate professionals, we feel the heat of the current mortgage meltdown a little more intensely than the rest of the country, but the people feeling it the most are our clients who are facing the real possibility of losing their homes. As with most problems, this one places a heavy burden on you and your clientele, but it also opens opportunities for you to serve your community and actually build your 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."
As buyers sit on the sidelines in the housing market -- how does the rental market fare? The two markets are more closely related than some may think. Both are strongly affected by local and national economic trends.
It occurs to me that running a Sphere of Influence (SOI) business is a lot like dating. I"m thankfully no longer in the dating world, but I remember it well. Trying to figure out where Mr. Right might be hanging out that day. Pondering who among my friends would give me that magic referral to the man who was The One. Trying to find the elusive balance between approachable friendliness ... and aloof hard-to-get-ness. The roller coaster ride of euphoric highs followed by crushing lows.
Trick #1: Voice Mail Super Tricks
Fire safety has become a hot button item for governments in Alberta and Ontario this year, as both provinces move to strengthen their fire codes. But not everyone is happy with the proposed regulations, as home builders fear they will add to the cost of housing while not actually improving the safety of new homes.
One of my clients shared a great quote with me the other day. "Lack of preparation on your part doesn"t create an emergency for me."
Are you interested in creating your ideal income this year? Are you tired of waiting for things to get better? Are you feeling like you have so much more potential than you are currently using?
Would you like to hire a great assistant, while at the same time lower your taxes, save more for the future and make your real estate practice deliver a bigger bang for your entire household?
You are in front of the TV, watching the six o"clock news, and up pops a story about the real estate industry. Maybe it is about real estate or mortgage fraud. Maybe the market has bottomed out and people are having trouble selling their homes. Perhaps your area has been hit hard by layoffs and the foreclosure rate has spiked.
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.
Question: I am new to real estate. I have affiliated with a Broker who has an excellent reputation in our community. My problem is that I am having trouble getting into the swing of things. I"m working long hours but I"m not generating any income. Any suggestions on what I might do to start making some money?
What does it mean to "sharpen your saw"?
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.65 percent with an average 0.6 point, down very slightly from last week when it averaged 5.66 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.22 percent.
The thought of marketing makes most people clench their teeth, tighten their stomach and engage in marketing avoidant behavior that sends their business down the drain.
Do you remember that feeling you got when you contacted your first lead? You get a pit in your stomach and sweaty palms; you"re nervous and stumbling just to get your name out. What should you say? How should you act. The fear of rejection is heavy on your mind, even though all the while you"re hoping the lead explodes right in front of you -- lists, buys and settles in thirty days.
Generally speaking, we expect to encounter truth when we read the newspaper. But turn the page to the advertising pages, and this may not be the case. Especially, sad to say, in the real estate section. There, we know we are more likely to encounter slogans, claims, and implications that are not quite true. Some, we suspect, may even be outright false.
Here"s some great news for the thousands of real estate investors and brokers who use "Section 1031" (ten thirty-one) tax-deferred real exchanges every year: Congress has backed off its latest plan to narrow the definition of "like kind" for real estate swaps.
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.
But it looks like no one is safe from the overall slowdown.
A lot of sellers in today"s market don"t want to paint, clean or fix anything. The assumption is the house down the street sold last year for more money, and that home does not come close to comparing to theirs! Even when an experienced listing agent makes recommendations to the seller -- the sellers refuse to take them to heart. Why? They believe their home and situation is different from everybody else that is selling a home.
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.
With the holidays and the new year behind us, new agents all seem to be asking the same thing: What can they do to build their business in 2007? New agent sales coach Brian Hilliard weighs in with some helpful tips.
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!
Many Realtors® who are concerned about a lack of ethics within their ranks believe that one of the causes is that there is not sufficient enforcement of the Code of Ethics to which all members are supposed to subscribe. Certainly one good explanation for a lack of enforcement is that very few complaints are filed.
It makes good sense to go green when you make home improvements and renovate your home.
Based on your qualifying efforts, determine the likelihood that your prospect will convert into a good client for your business by conducting a DNA analysis. This involves measuring the prospect"s level of desire, need to take action, and ability and authority to make a purchase or selling decision.
After a showing, you"ll receive an abundance of feedback (hopefully!). Much of this information can come from the buyers agent. Here is some common feedback and what it means.
Websites are always rising and falling in search results. Why? Search engines change their ranking schemes constantly. New sites are added. Existing sites are modified. All this yields constant change in search results. Expect change.
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.
One of my often used sayings with those selling their home at a listing presentation is: "Marketing a home is not the same as living in one." The rebuttal from property owners is usually a groan.
Everyone uses search engines. They are so common that many internet users make them their default homepage.
The first client I ever met in my commercial real estate career turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and memorable ones I would ever know. I wish that I would have closed even more business with him than I did, but it was the time spent with him and the way he treated us commercial brokers that I"ll always remember the most.
When we begin our careers as commercial real estate agents we normally don"t have any clients or prospects at that time. So we begin prospecting to locate people we can begin working with. Then we work on closing transactions with these people. But oftentimes we drop out our communications with these people after we"ve closed these transactions.
Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code allows you to roll the gain from the sale of your Old investment property over to your New investment property. There are a number of rules you must follow for your exchange to be valid, but perhaps the most confusing are the reinvestment rules.
From time-to-time I have commercial agents I"ve never even spoken with before call me or e-mail me asking me the following question:
Key Performance Indicators are like the instrument panel in your car"s dashboard, but instead of telling you how your engine is operating and how fast you are going, a set of real estate KPIs will tell you how well you are doing today and give you a very accurate prediction of what the next three months will look like. KPIs give you an easy way to know how your real estate business is running and give you early warning signals about potential problems so that you can make adjustments before little difficulties become big problems.
2006 is on pace to be the third or fourth best year in history in real estate, so I know it is hard for you to listen to all the doom and gloom talk about the fact that the real estate market has turned.
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.
Brokers, are you spending too much time spent managing and not enough time recruiting?
Testimonials are one of the best ways for you to communicate your value to your prospects. A third party endorsement always carries more weight than you tooting your own horn. I find many agents pass up opportunities to build their testimonial pool.
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.
Being successful seems to be everyone"s desire. We all want to achieve what our definition of success is in life. Have you ever wondered why successful people are successful; why they seem to go from one successful situation to another, from one victory in life to another? There is one thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessful. It is not a huge thing -- successful people act on their thoughts.
In a recent article I wrote for Realty Times entitled, "Title Holding Issues in 1031 Exchanges," I set out the requirements for holding title to your property in a 1031 exchange. That article pointed out some of the obvious problems caused by these rules. In this article I will show you some solutions, or ways around those problems, using disregarded entities.
Being a successful producer in any aspect of life is more than having high production. Production or money or wealth is only one measuring stick. There are many other measures in life: family life, relationships, spouse, children, physical health, spiritual well-being, mental state.
The nice thing about the real estate profession today is that the options for practicing within it are very diverse. While we acknowledge that the Internet is a critical component of an agent"s overall marketing initiatives, there are several niche pursuits that suit some folks just fine. Those individuals prefer to specialize within a target market and hone his/her expertise in order to provide that market with exemplary service.
I still remember something I heard in a seminar I attended in June of 1985 that remains quite profound to me to this day. The leader of the seminar said to the audience, "You either have what you want in life, or you have the reasons why you don"t."
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.
In my Time Management seminars which I have conducted for more than 100,000 people from around the globe, I show people how to get more done in less time, with less stress; to help them have more time for the things they want to do in their work and business lives.
New Year has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, looking forward to the year ahead. It is also a time we reflect on the present moment and the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes.
Downward pressure on real estate commissions is everywhere these days. On the residential side of the business, agents and companies are up against an abundance of discount companies offering homeowners the ability to list and sell their homes at substantially reduced rates.
In your 1031 exchange, one critical due date falls 45 days from the day you close the sale of your Old Property. You have 45 days in which to create a list (called a 45-day list) of properties you may want to buy.
If you"re a new agent, you might not be sure what to do to get more sales during this distracting Holiday Season? Say no more as new agent Sales Coach Brian Hilliard takes this troubling issue head on, with some specific business building advice you can use this Holiday Season.
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.
There are a number of skills and qualities that a highly successful real estate agent will utilize. But one of these qualities, and one that I rarely hear discussed by people, is the quality of resiliency.
Let me ask you a question.
Old Rule: All this tech-talk is just Geek to me.
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:
Being stealthy and secretive are great skills -- if you happen to be James Bond.
When buyers are choosing from among several homes, there is one selling tool that is indispensable even in the electronic age -- the listing feature sheet. The feature sheet not only contains visuals of the home to jog the buyer"s memory, it also lays out the special amenities of the home and gives the listing agent"s contact information.
New agents are critical to your business plan being capable of delivering profitability, mortgage capture and finally, injecting vital energy into your environment. Right now everyone wants to get into the business. Why the need for focus on attracting new agents?
There"s been a myth floating around the real estate industry that prospecting is something need only do for a short amount of time, and then an abundance of transactions will start flowing to you easily. But it"s very rare to find an agent who experiences this unless they"re in the middle of a fairly hot market where they"re working.
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.
Science and technology doubled the sum of human knowledge by 1900. By 1950, it had doubled it again. By the 1980s, knowledge was doubling every five to eight years, today it"s doubling every two to four. Technology continues to speed up the world, pushing us ever faster just to keep from falling further behind. Our culture reflects this pressure, by demanding that we constantly do more, get more, be more.
Your personal productivity cannot be measured simply by what you are doing. If what you are doing is not getting you to where you want to go, your time is not being spent productively. Rather, personal productivity is measured by what is produced from that performance, the product of your performance.
Almost every top producing Realtor®, sales guru, and "How-To" book on building a financially successful real estate business will tell you one of the primary keys to success is a well-designed and executed business plan. A plan is the roadmap to success. Without it you"re likely to get lost on some real estate back road and end up either leaving the business or wandering aimlessly without ever getting closer to your goal. The mistake far too many agents make is developing and executing plans that end up requiring 60, 70, 80 or more work hours a week, leaving no time or energy for distractions like family, friends, community service or self-care.
According to author and real estate speaker Brian Hilliard, one of the biggest challenges facing today"s Realtors is learning how to deal with wide range of responsibilities they have.
I was teaching a workshop on "How to Talk So Others Will Listen," when the following question came up:
It"s a gorgeous, azure-blue-sky day. The crispness of autumn is peppering the air while the sun still warms the chilling earth. What a great day to be alive!
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.
Blue is the hue of sadness and rue.
A long-established section in the federal tax code, section 1031, allows real estate investors to sell property that has been held for investment purposes and defer capital gains and depreciation recapture taxes if they acquire “like-kind” property of equal or greater value and reinvest all of their equity.
Almost every agent in real estate would like to be making more money than they are right now. For successful business people, increasing our income over what it is now is very often a barometer we utilize to determine what our next level of success will be. This is very normal, but we also have to watch out.
Ahhh...the coveted listing.
Homes built in the mid-century, late 1940s through the sixties, are among the largest number of resale homes available in the country. In fact, between 1948 and 1968 about 75 percent of the homes built in the U.S. were ranch-style, low-slung, horizontal-lined single-story or split-level homes. Today, homes built in the 1950s and 1970s constitute the largest inventory of resale homes available by age, according to the U.S. Census.
The dog looked friendly enough as I walked past him on my way up to the door of my new listing. His name was Buster. Buster was a beefy, big-headed dog, with long hair, and ears that stood straight on end. He wagged his tail as I walked by and I petted his thick brown fur which he seemed to enjoy. The owner had proudly told me that Buster was half Rottweiler, and half German Shepherd.
There"s always a lot of new business out there for you to begin working on. Just look at all the agents in your area who are closing transactions with clients you"re not working with. This in itself should show you there"s constantly new business out there waiting to be discovered. But if you don"t have a system in place to locate this new business, you may have a problem.
Who are your future recruits? They"re sitting in their current miserable jobs, punching a time card, wondering if their watch will be gold or silver when they retire, and they are continually uninspired in the top-down environment of Corporate America. Many are not even fortunate enough to be concerned about the watch, their focus is on whether they’ll will even survive the next round of cutbacks. Then there are the more fortunate, these folks who have enrolled in real estate school with a great career ahead.
On your first visit to your home seller, you did no selling. You focused on building rapport and trust, then establishing seller"s needs, before asking for permission to show the seller what the numbers would look like if you marketed the home.
You"ve heard the dismal statistics. Between 55-70 percent of Internet leads are never picked up by real estate agents, according to the NAR, leading to the number one complaint by Internet homebuyers against agents - that they don"t answer email.
I have two numbers for you: 69.3 and 67.5.
Back when I started my business, (and I was one of the few who thought of it as a business within a business, working for a real estate broker) my business plan was loose and by the seat of my pants. Now there are profound changes in the industry that forced me to work this strategy into the plan. So what happened?
I am always amazed at the number of agents who are constantly complaining about what they have to give to their broker. They tell me their broker is not really earning their part of the commission. The funny thing is, it"s the agents who seem to be on the highest splits who complain the most about not getting enough value from their brokers.
Have you ever wondered why most people are better speakers than they are listeners? Or how sometimes when you’re talking with someone, you can tell by their response that they were only "half listening" to what you were saying?
Question: Do you do a good job helping the seller understand your services in terms of their needs? You will close more listing presentations if you clearly communicate the benefits, not just the features, of your services.
It would be great if new agents knew what old-timers do - that there isn"t a silver bullet for success. The survivors and industry veterans in our business realize that it isn’t one fancy piece of software, fancy marketing materials, scripts, new technologies, or Websites that catapult careers to a new level.
A new agent I"ll call "Private Benjamin," was recruited into a brokerage with promises by the broker for lots of help in getting started. Once she passed her exam and showed up for work, the broker has been busy with other details and hasn"t had time to do more than show her where her desk and phone are. Like Private Benjamin was made false promises by her recruiter, this agent is finding out that some brokers will tell you what you want to hear to get you in the door, and that by the time you have your business cards and signs paid for, you"re going to be stuck for a while.
We are well aware that the nature of showing real estate makes Realtors vulnerable to attack. But what about the safety and security of your clients? Both buyers and sellers have their own set of risks. Clients are sometimes robbed, assaulted and sometimes worse. Sellers make themselves vulnerable by alerting the world to come inside and take a peek. Eager buyers make the mistake of trespassing and putting themselves in vulnerable situations (a sign in the yard is not an invitation to hop the fence or knock on the door.)
Over the years all of us have accumulated an enormous amount of stuff -- some of it is near and dear to our heart and the rest, well, we might classify it as just cumbersome stuff. But somehow when we downsize from, say, a 3,600 square foot home to a 1,700 square foot home, as one reader who telephoned me is doing, figuring out what to take and what to leave behind can be a painful process.
Ever wonder why some real estate seems to sell in a matter of days while other property seems to stay on the market forever? Some places, no matter what we do, just seem to fall short on appeal to prospective buyers. As an agent, the frustration of trying to sell these properties can drive one crazy as you see your labors starting to exceed your potential commission.
Despite all the grim news about gas prices and recession, there are more than a few encouraging signs popping up in the national economy that aren"t getting a lot of attention.
Brand recognition is the name of the game when it comes to positioning yourself in your local market. Just like national companies compete to be number one in the public consciousness, you must systematically market your personal brand to earn precious mind share among potential home buyers and sellers in your chosen market. This is where a good lead generation program comes in. Unfortunately, many agents make two costly mistakes in lead generation: They underestimate the importance of building their personal brand and they are not consistent and systematic in their approach.
When I was new in the business back in the early 1980s the manager of the company I was working for decided to pair me up with an agent who had 40 years of experience in the business. His name was Dave Smith and I must say that in working along with Dave I received an education on how to become successful in real estate sales that was unlike any other education I had ever received.
A recent Supreme Court ruling just increased state’s rights to tax income made in other states.
Are you one of the people out there sounding more like a disgruntled or disappointed seller or buyer than an agent? Well, you are if you find yourself saying any of the following:
Holiday decorations can make a home look warm, festive and inviting, but they can also make it look overcrowded, or obscure the home"s greatest selling features. This poses a dilemma for listing agents who want to help their clients stage their homes the most effectively. How much is too much when it comes to holiday decorating?
For some reason buyers think purchasing a property is a two-step process: finding the right house and negotiating the transaction. Make sure during the Initial Interview that they know it is a three-part process. Alert them that their lives are no longer their own after the contract is signed. Contingencies need to be satisfied, time is of the essence, and the clock is ticking.
To my way of thinking, there are two ways to describe new in terms of a real estate agent. New as in you just got your license and are launching your career. Then there is new as in doing the same first year over three, four or more years running. In either case the same advice applies.
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.
Should you prequalify your wealthy buyers? In many of my finance classes with experienced, successful agents, invariably a nicely manicured hand is raised and the agent explains to me that in her market, agents would never think of asking their wealthy buyers about their finances. It just isn’t done.
After listening to top Realtors talk about their recent successes, I noticed a common theme with all of them. They believe in marketing themselves and doing it consistently. Let me share with you some of their views.
It has become a regular occurrence. A manager will walk up to me at the end of a seminar and ask about his or her new young associate. "They have all the credentials," the person will say. "They"re ambitious, confident, and maybe a little arrogant. It is clear they want to run the place, and I"m not ready to retire. I don"t want to lose their skills and eagerness, but they"ve only been in the business two years. What do I do?"
Many factors, separately and in combination with others, will build walls to block productivity. While most people intuitively and instinctively want to be productive, they may have trouble getting over the following blocks to productivity.
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.
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.
As closing gifts or as incentives to buyers and sellers, home warranties are often purchased by real estate agents for their clients. Particularly useful for homeowners of older homes that are beyond builders" warranties, a home warranty helps new owners with a protection plan that can get a service technician called in with little out-of-pocket expense.