Ok, so Real Estate Barcamp Los Angeles goes live on Thursday, April 2nd! It's basically a one-day event on everything Social Media in Real Estate. People who've used social media successfully will be there and so will people who have no idea where to start. So whether you're a novice or fluent in web 2.0 speak and are in real estate (or even if you're any other solo-practitioner or small business), REBarcamp LA will be the place to be on April 2nd.
And hey, it's FREE!
But, because it's free I need your help. If you plan on making it out drop a comment or register at www.rebarcamp.com/losangeles. You'll get a few emails with important updates leading up to the event and some practical "how to's."
If you still have questions regarding Real Estate Barcamp Los Angeles, or any other questions on social media, drop a comment below. I'm listening. Oh, and in terms of location, we're looking at the Westin by LAX (it's still tentative for now, but we'll confirm in a week or two).
The Answer:"Because it gets me clients. It gets me commission checks. What's not to like?" -- Jay Thompson, Thompson's Realty in Phoenix, Arizona
The truth is, when is comes to blogging and social media, the results are going to vary from user to user. But, I'll tell ya this much, the results arereal, they aretangible! Just ask Jay Thompson, The Phoenix Real Estate Guy and otherwise known as "the man with a blogging problem;" he's built an entire business on it! Now fair warning, just because he did it doesn't mean it's going to be all 'easy cheesy' for everyone and anyone. It still takes: Hard Work, Consistency, and the ability to be Transparent (to be yourself).
Here's a quick chat with Jay himself...
Now, whether you're writing here on Active Rain or you've built your own outside blog, the important thing is that you're doing something to create a brand name for yourself! The great thing about Active Rain is that the immediate sense of community that is established will help you deal with the pressures of dishing out content. Jay says he "likes writing." But let's face it, many of us don't. In fact, when you first sit down and try to get down to it, you're scared of writing and putting your name out there...but then that's where the A|R community comes in. Active Rain and it's members do an excellent job of helping you cope with the anxieties of "putting yourself out there." They help you find your voice and grow your confidence. That's a good thing to have! Don't ya think?
So, how about it? How has blogging helped you? What are you having trouble with? What's not to like?
Best,
Ricardo Bueno
By the way, Join me at Ribeeziefor an upcoming series on Social Media Starter Steps in Real Estate.
Invest your otherwise additional monthly payments in an interest baring account whose rate-of-return is higher than the interest paid on your mortgage. Essentially, you accumulate enough assets to pay of your mortgage in fewer than 30, even 20 years... [give me a call or send me an e-mail, I can show you the math]
Now some will argue with what I'm about to say next (in fact quite a few of you might)... Ultimately, no one way is better than the other. What's really important is, which method brings you greater piece of mind?
When you're a Real Estate Agent, you dream of having a Pre-Approved Borrower with a Buyer's Brokerage Agreementevery time someone hops into that SUV. It'd be the perfect client every time!
But alas, you live in the "real world" where no one is approved for fear of running& ruining their credit report and no one wants to sign a Buyer's Brokerage Agreement; they're just not ready for that type of commitment. You know, they wanna test the water (so-to-speak) to see if there's anything out there to buy to begin with (something that's within their budget and appealing enough to call "home").
If you're a Real Estate Agent, where do you draw the line? When do you say, "no mas! I won't show you a home without a Buyer's Brokerage Agreement.
If you're the consumer, why won't you ante up? You can be honest...this blog has an "open door" policy.
Did you know that you could increase your credit score by as much as 50 to 100 points in as little as 45 days? And here's the kicker, you can do it without using a formal credit repair service (Uh oh, now I'd on gone done it...here comes the onslought...).
So what's the big secret Ricardo? What's the catch?
No secret(s). No catch.
Most people who have credit issues are mis-informed is all. So here's a little Credit Education 101...
THE 5 ELEMENTS OF YOUR CREDIT SCORE
[Note:Click on the image to enlarge.]
Past Dues & Bankruptcies make up 35% of your credit score...
The Amount Owed on ALL Accounts (how much available credit there is) constitutes 30% of your credit score...
New Credit, New Accounts make up 10% of your credit score...
Credit History makes up 15% of your credit score... And,
Type of Credit Used (car loan vs. a credit card at Victoria's Secret) makes up the final 10%.
Being selective about the type of credit accounts you use can make the difference in ranking a higher credit score. Spreading your credit across various accounts is better than maxing out two credit cards.
Where most people plunder is in monitoring their credit scores to begin with. Think about it, when's the last time you checked your own credit score? "My credit is fine..." so you say. But when's the last time you checked it?
Any credit report can contain minor erros that can adversely affect your credit score between 5 to 100 points; enough to deny someone credit. If you don't monitor your credit it can take a credit bureau up to 20+ weeks to fix their own mistake. And that's if they fix it at all! Whereas if you find an error (such as a late payment or two), report a claim to fix it with appropriate evidence...they have to respond otherwise the late payment is coming off.
Not convinced you should monitor your credit just yet?
How about a payment of $388 more a month because you're shy a few points on your credit report? That's $4,656 a year. $139,680 over the life of the mortgage.
THE HIGHER YOUR CREDIT, THE BETTER YOUR INTEREST RATE!
Contact me if you'd like to register for a FREE Annual Credit Review.
What does it take to get married? Well, it starts with a formal proposal.
With life in general, two people meet. Man loves woman. Woman loves man. Man buys a diamond ring (as is the formal custom), gets down on one knee and says “will you marry me?” Then he experiences a split millisecond of gut wrenching terror while he awaits a response; hopefully a yes!
In real estate, man AND woman (though sometimes alone and not together) look for a home. At first they go it alone (newspaper, weekend open houses, maybe craigslist?). One or two weeks in they make nice with an Agent. This Agent (out of the kindness of his or her heart) puts together a list of homes for sale and saddles them up in the SUV…and off they go…house hunting!
As they go through the list and the Agent expends gallons of gas at $4.43 a gallon (how nice of him or her) it’s either “love at first sight” or “honey, let’s get out of here” until…suddenly…man and woman (though sometimes alone and not together) find the one they LOVE.
They want to put in an offer. You know, ask: “will you marry me?” Well, as is the formal custom in today’s Real Estate Market, they need to be Pre-Approved (this is the real estate "diamond ring" equivalent). A seller won’t take you seriously without one. The answer to “will you accept my offer” is a resounding (and sometimes gut wrenching) “NO.”
On the advice of their REALTOR® they accept the offer for $5,000 - $10,000 less. Why? Because they proposed with a diamond ring. They were pre-approved. Pre-approval says, “I’m qualified to buy THIS house. I have the income, credit and down payment necessary. See...look... I told you so.” This escrow will close! The seller accepts.
A pre-qualification says nothing of your credit. You haven't jumped through the underwriting hoops. Sure a lender took a gander at your DTI, quoting you a possible rate and payment (to arrive at a price point you're comfortable with). But still, no: credit report, verification of income, etc. You’re proposing empty-handed. And that’s not very confidence inspiring to Mr. Motivated Seller. Is it?
My name is Ricardo Bueno. I’m a mortgage lender based out of Los Angeles, CA. If you need to get approved for your next Real Estate purchase you can reach me at (323) 810-2175 or via email at ricardo (at) ricardobueno (dot) com
Jobless Claims came in yesterday lower than expected; this is typically bad for interest rates. Just have a look...today's 30-year fixed rate mortgage sits at 6.25% here in Los Angeles. That's up from 5.99% just about a week ago.
The rest of the news on tap for today is the Employment Situation. Typically, the lower the number here, the better your Los Angeles mortgage rates. See, non-farm payroll employment tracks the number of paid employees working both part-time and full-time. By tracking this jobs data investors are able to effectively gauge the level of "tightness" in the job market. And if it's evident that wage inflation is a threatening factor, mortgage rates will rise. But we want them to fall, so again, the lower the number the better your mortgage rate.
For now, let's lock-in your mortgage rates at application! And stay tuned for more info...
*Disclaimer: Equal opportunity lender. Interest rates are subject to change upon changing market conditions and are also subject to change upon borrower qualification. Contact me directly to verify pricing.
Contact me for pricing on Adjustable Rate Mortgages as well as for pricing on loan amounts above $650,000.
Lock/Float Recommendation: Lock-in your mortgage rate at application!
Note: This is a repost of my article on my home blog here. I'm posting it here because I think it's a nice reminder to focus on everything that's good in our lives. In order to excel in what we do we need to be confident in ourselves and our abilities every day.
Ever heard the saying, you are what you eat? Well, the same applies to our way of thinking.
Have you ever realized that what you think and focus on manifests itself into your everyday being? If you focus on how down you're feeling because things (work, life, etc.) aren't so good you'll walk around with a slouch and frown on your face all day long. And nobody likes a sourpuss!
If on the other hand your start thinking of the positive and focusing on the good, you'll walk around with an extra pep in your step, a smile on your face and you'll draw brighter conversations towards you.
"Decide on the life you want, visualize it, affirm it, decree it, focus on it, believe in it, have faith in it, and you will find yourself living this life much more quickly than you ever dreamed possible...
When the realization dawns on you, and you stop laughing, you'll probably ask yourself why you spent so much of your life working so hard, struggling like mad against outside circumstances, when all you had to do was change your own thinking." [Source: "The Road to Power"]
And that's what people want (clients, friends and family)...to be around a more confident you!
The fact is, it can be tough coming up with enough money for a down payment!
Say you needed 10%... 10% of $400,000 is a whopping $40,000!
Calculation: $400,000 Purchase Price x 10% = $40,000 (required down payment excluding closing costs)
You've only managed to save $25,000 but you're ready to own; you're paying too much on taxes every year so the mortgage write-off would serve you well and the monthly payments are affordable. What do you do?
Lucky for you your parents really want to help and they've agreed to give you the difference for the down payment and closing costs...this is called Gift Money!
HOW DOES IT WORK? WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?
You have to provide your lender with a notarized letter (signed by each of the givers) stating that the dollar amount given to you was a gift. Pretty simple huh? And what's great about it is that the money doesn't need to be seasoned.
Also, there is no limit with respect to dollar amount on Gift Money that you can receive but there will be tax implications to the person gifting the money for amounts beyond the $12,000 annual exclusion (you have to file a gift tax for monies beyond $12,000).
*Disclaimer: I am not a licensed CPA so please consult with your local Tax Professional for more clarity on the tax implications of Gift Money.
For more questions on how you can use Gift Money for your down payment and how to appropriately structure your next purchase, you can contact me here or call me directly at (323) 810-2175.
It was called the Morris Plan (clever name huh) and it was the first stab at making credit available to the average person despite heavy criticism that lending money to working class citizens had failure written all over it.
And yet the American economy today is built on credit!
Back then, the lending requirements were as follows:
Two co-signers in order to qualify
Loan term = 1 year
Payments were made in weekly and monthly installments
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
The Answer: "Because it gets me clients. It gets me commission checks. What's not to like?" -- Jay Thompson, Thompson's Realty in Phoenix, Arizona
Posted by 
What does it take to get married? Well, it starts with a formal proposal. 
puts together a list of homes for sale and saddles them up in the SUV…and off they go…house hunting! 
They want to put in an offer. You know, ask: “will you marry me?” Well, as is the formal custom in today’s Real Estate Market, they need to be Pre-Approved (this is the real estate "diamond ring" equivalent). A seller won’t take you seriously without one. The answer to “will you accept my offer” is a resounding (and sometimes gut wrenching) “NO.”
;)
;)
