Erica, Your blog was perfectly timed as I am teaching a class today at KW showing people the different database options: top producer, Wiseagent.com and myredtools.com (the last two offer 30 day free trials). I have been cleaning up my database for the past few weeks and "GOLD" is the category name I use for my past clients. Top producer requires tons of patience but it has every bell and whistle. I use that and their market snapshot product. The database you choose is the one you are going to use. If it is too overwhelming, you won't use it. Thanks for being the inspiration to get this finally finished and done. I am then transferring my smaller, clean database to sendoutcards.com and putting in every birthday and anniversary this way; send them a real greeting card rather than an email - you will stand out from the competition, trust me!
I am torn -- to write this post or NOT write this post.
I want to write it to help other Rainers.
I am scared to death my competitors will read it.
But I'm posting it anyway ... besides, unless your name is Jonathan, if you're one of the 300+ agents in "my turf", you're not reading this post because you are NOT on Active Rain. Your loss. Jonathan and I are doing just fine here in the Rain, right Coles?
When I first started in real estate, in 2000, I started my career in January 2000. I started off with a BANG. I was new, fresh, and didn't know I was supposed to slack in January. I kicked butt.
My next year, I noticed agents around me slowing down in October, preparing for the big HOLIDAY freeze. All around me they whined and moaned how nobody buys houses in November. They took time off in November, and most barely worked in December. Nobody buys houses around Christmas, right?
Instead for working LESS hours, I worked more. Agents blew off floor time, and I stayed put at my desk. I got the calls they SHOULD have had. I worked Christmas eve showing houses, Christmas week, and yes throughout January. Year 1 in real estate, I sold over 1 million (in a county where average sale was -- back then -- about $60,000). Not bad.
My boss then commented that I was one of the only agents closing in January, and what a great KICK that was! To start the new year with CLOSINGS! Woo-hoo.
I developed a yearly routine, that I have done every year in October-November, and every January I have had closings. Instead of slowing down, then complaining the pipeline is EMPTY in 2010, speed up! Spend the next 4-8 weeks getting ready to TAKE OFF in 2010, and you'll be ready to kick butt too.
So here is part 1 of my October routine. I will post this series weekly, through November. I will post every Sunday from now till November 30, to tell you my secrets. Just don't tell anyone else.
WEEK 1 -- CLEAN HOUSE
Not my own house (although it really needs it). I clean up my database. I make sure I add anyone who should be in there (all my contacts, new and past clients, anyone at all who I met at a mixer or business function...). I clean up the emails, the addresses, add any info I have gathered since last clean up.
I go through my day planner and make sure everyone I have "touched" is now in this database.
Your database is worth GOLD. Add to it every week if you can. It'll make the annual cleanup so much easier!
If you don't have a good system, now is the time to CHANGE or FIND ONE. This year I have agonized over which one to use. I have tried trials and not found anything that is 100% perfect for me. But I must get off the fence now. I need something and I need to do it now. SO I'm jumping on board Top Producer. I tried it once and didn't like it. But the alternative is not cutting it right now. I am not pleased with outlook's limitations. So I'm trying TP again, and this time determined to learn it well.
This should take me all week to complete. It's crucial to the success of the rest of my program, to have the database up and running by the end of this week.
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November 4, 2008 will go down in history as one of America's most significant moments. On this day, the United States of America voted for a new direction. On this day, a nation stood up and demanded peace, prosperity and intelligence. On this day, the entire globe cheered as a dark chapter of hatred and fear was put to rest, and a new age of compassion, respect and dignity was born. On this day, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States of America.
President-Elect Barack Obama
While on this day, many will celebrate their candidate's victory, many will also reflect on their candidate's defeat. However, the paramount duty that lies before us is to now come together as one Unified Nation of Americans and blaze the path to success, peace and prosperity. Americans need to do this by finding common ground, by extending a hand of support and respect to our neighbors and by holding the people we have just elected to office accountable for the promises they made in this long campaign season.
Home ownership has, and will remain, the poster child for the American Dream. Over the last few years we have seen a rash of fraudulent lending practices, unrealistic budgetary decisions and an increase in the housing affordability gap. No place in this nation has this been more true than here in the Las Vegas / Henderson, NV real estate market. Throughout their campaign, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have had a written policy on how they plan to address these issues if they were so fortunate to be chosen. Well...they were chosen. Now it is up to all of us; red, white and blue, to make sure they keep the promises they made to all of us.
Below is the written policy Barack Obama and Joe Biden have provided in regards to Protecting Homeownership and Cracking Down on Mortgage Fraud. Read it and refer back to it. I hope we will all continue to be involved in our political process to ensure these written policies become realities.
PROTECTING HOMEOWNERSHIP & CRACKING DOWN ON MORTGAGE FRAUD
The implosion of the subprime lending industry threatens to bring foreclosure to up to 6.5 million households nationwide, and continues to fuel our economic downturn. Over the past several years, ten of the country’s largest mortgage lenders were spending more than $185 million lobbying Washington to let them get away with aggressively selling loosely-regulated, high-risk mortgages.
Barack Obama and Joe Biden recognize that the real victims in the subprime mortgage crisis are the millions of borrowers who followed the rules and whose only crime was taking out mortgages that lenders told them they could afford. Normally, these borrowers, their neighbors who have been inadvertently pulled into our national foreclosure crisis, and the tens of thousands of Americans who have lost their jobs in the current recession could avoid foreclosure by refinancing their mortgages or selling their homes. Today’s borrowers lack the refinancing and selling protections that used to help out families during a tough period. Too many families are unable to refinance because no one will lend to them, and they are unable to sell their homes because the housing market has fallen. Obama and Biden will fight to ensure more Americans can achieve and protect the dream of home ownership.
I. PROVIDE A NEW MORTGAGE INTEREST TAX CREDIT
Barack Obama and Joe Biden will provide a greater number of Americans with the financial assistance they need to purchase or keep their own home. Many middle class Americans do not receive the existing mortgage interest tax deduction because they do not itemize their taxes. As a result, primarily wealthy Americans benefit from this homeownership tax incentive. Obama and Biden will ensure that middle-class Americans get the financial assistance they need to purchase or keep their own home by creating a 10 percent universal mortgage credit that give tax relief to Americans who have a home
mortgage. The Obama-Biden proposal will provide 10 million homeowners, most of whom earn under $50,000 per year, with an average of $500 in savings. This tax cut will provide direct relief to many homeowners who are struggling to maintain their mortgage payments.
II. COMBAT MORTGAGE FRAUD AND PREDATORY SUBPRIME LOANS
Barack Obama has been closely monitoring the subprime mortgage situation for years, and introduced comprehensive legislation nearly two years ago to fight mortgage fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices. Obama’s STOP FRAUD Act provides the first federal definition of mortgage fraud, increases funding for federal and state law enforcement programs, creates new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and requires industry insiders to report suspicious
activity. This bill also provides counseling to homeowners and tenants to avoid foreclosures and increases the ability of borrowers with risky mortgages to protect themselves in foreclosure proceedings. Finally, Obama’s bill requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report to Congress on various state lending practices so that state regulations that undermine consumer’s rights can be identified and hopefully eliminated.
III. MANDATE ACCURATE LOAN DISCLOSURE
Today’s subprime mortgage problem stems in large part from the lack of easy-to understand information that borrowers receive from mortgage brokers. As president, Barack Obama will enact laws to ensure that all prospective homebuyers have access to accurate and complete information about their mortgage options. Obama and Biden will create a Homeowner Obligation Made Explicit (HOME) score, which will provide potential borrowers with a simplified, standardized borrower metric (similar to APR) for
home mortgages. The HOME score will allow Americans to easily compare various mortgage products and understand the full cost of the loan. The HOME score would also help borrowers understand their long-term obligations and would be required to include mandatory taxes and insurance. Obama and Biden will also support efforts to improve financial literacy within communities most likely to be targeted by predatory lending practices.
IV. CLOSE THE BANKRUPTCY LOOPHOLE FOR MORTGAGE COMPANIES
The 2005 bankruptcy bill, which Barack Obama opposed, is expected to have serious effects on low and middle-income borrowers of subprime mortgages. While investors who own multiple homes and people with vacation homes can renegotiate those mortgages in bankruptcy, current Chapter 13 law requires ordinary families to stick with the original terms of their home loans—regardless of whether the loan was predatory or unfair. Obama and Biden will repeal this provision so that ordinary families do not
suffer this unfair treatment.
The information contained in this blog is often considered time-sensitive and/or can change without notice, and should be treated as such. The opinions of this blog are solely that of the author, and do not reflect the opinion of Keller Williams Realty.
We did it again, and again, and again!! I have now staged at least 4 houses with the wonderful help of Sheila Black of Home Highlighting (www.homehighlighting.com) and every single home has sold right away. Between de-cluttering and pricing it right, it really works, even in this buyer's market. Please contact me if you have any questions about this process. The last house at Old mamaroneck Rd and Bolton had amazing potential but too much clutter. I helped them get a POD in their driveway and all that was unnecessary was quickly packed up and we were ready to go in a couple weeks. All the agents and buyers who walked in were blown away! On another house at 783 Sherman Ave in Thornwood, the owner painted and refinished floors and some other odds and ends. Sheila added accessories to the vacant house, and voila! offers right away. I just wanted to publically thank her for her excellent work and say "bring me more listings" and we will do it again, and again!
COMING SOON: One of the finest turn-of-the-century Victorian homes in White Plains, located in an exclusive area: "Prospect Park." This stunning Grand Old home with a rocking chair, wrap around porch is currently undergoing exterior major renovations, while keeping that wonderful old world charm. The shingles will be replaced and will soon reveal a beautiful shade of grayinsh green cedar that will last for many years to come, along with the new roof, new stonework, new wainscoting, new windows and mostly new porch.
Not everyone lives in the perfect Martha Stewart house. Things, kids, pets, projects - they all can get in the way. Does anyone "clean up" for the cleaning woman like I do? I admit it - the night and morning before I frantically straighten up so she can find her way to the dirt, and not spend her precious 5 hours straightening. Well, guess what! Preparing to put your house on the market can be much worse! The way we LIVE in a house, is not the way it should look when we want to SELL the house. Think Martha Stewart, or model home: Do you ever walk into a house and think no one can possibly live here, and then you are blown away when you see a big dog dish, or a childs room with toys neatly put away? Some people are just inherently neat and clean but this is maybe 5% of the population. So back to preparing the house for sale because you want to sell quickly and for the best price, and don't want hundreds of people traipsing trough at weird hours of the day and night. So what to do? Ask your neatest friend to come help - offer them something in return! Go get boxes from a local store or http://www.affordableboxes.com/ and lots of newspaper or tissue paper. Get those huge garbage bags - 1 color for trash, and one color for the local goodwill store. Pack away all photos and knick-knacks. Your tables should have 1 or 2 items at most. Check out your plants - do they look as good as the day you bought them? If not, get rid of them, unless a major clipping works. Artificial plants and flowers often look the best because they don't shed or get straggly. I have a magic red tulip arrangement that looks real, and it really helps sell the house. Did you know how red tulips can brighten up a room in a photograph? As for the kitchen, you must put away just about everything - if you have a new cool looking toaster, ok to keep it out, but forget the dingy coffeepot and plastic tablecloth! If in doubt, take a quick digital photograph of the kitchen and what shows up? Refrigerator magnets are a disaster in a photo. Don't forget about a virtual tour - we take one of every listing and it shows the whole room. Let's talk about your home office - what I see out there is scary, piles of papers and bills and yellow sticky notes. The desk must look like no one uses it so put the piles of papers either in the drawers or garbage. Play a game with your kids to pick out their favorite few toys, and they will not miss the hundreds of other ones. I think you are best off piling boxes neatly in an attic, basement or garage; better yet, you have a friend or parent with extra room to pile your stuff. Just think how much easier moving day will be! If you need a list of places that love donations, just email me at Carolyn@cloud9homes.com or call (914) 437-6106.
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.
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