Congratulations to the elected winners to the 2010 NVAR Board of Directors.
Merlin Smith- Remax
Scott MacDonald- Remax
Robyn Burdett- Remax
Trudy Severa- Long and Foster
Tammy Bagnato- Coldwell Banker
And "maybe next year" to the 4 that didn't make it (listed in no particular order):
Tracy Comstock- Mega Realty
Delk Hamaker- KDH Real Estate
Sita Kapur- Arlington Premier Realty
Frank LL0SA- FranklyRealty.com
Hum, anybody see a trend in the above named and companies that they are associated with?
Perhaps NVAR needs to drop the popular vote system and go to another system where the smaller companies (that represent 50% of membership) can be heard.
Dell Mini 10v refurbished for as low as $170 shipped.
I absolutely LOVE my Dell Mini 10v. I can't tell you how many I have bought for gifts, or for friends etc. So finally I'm going to just write out the steps to get one, so I don't need to be the one buying it for everyone.
Why do I love it? It is 2.5 pounds. It is fast, and even does video/youtube. Built in wireless. 92% keyboard (better than the Mini 12 keyboard actually). The charger is tiny like a cell charger. It lasts 3 hours on a regular battery (don't buy the extended!). You can get it in Purple! Just great for throwing around and traveling.
What it does not do is high end photoshop or other intensive stuff.
Ok here are the steps. It can be a pain. If you don't want the pain, just pay 80% more and get it new for $315 after shipping.
Sign up for BOTH the Dell Outlet Business and Dell Outlet Home newsletter/coupons. The 15% off coupon is only sent out a couple times a month, and you have to sign up 3 days before the coupon goes out.
www.Dell.com/Outlet is the place these are sold. From the front page, go to Laptops> Home Office> Mini 10/10v There you will see the inventory. The inventory changes daily and hourly during work hours M-F 9-10pm. The total available can be as high as 400, and as low as 50. The more inventory, the better lower prices.
Sort by Price! This will show you the cheapest stuff. And for the most part, you don't really need anything more. The cheapest I ever saw was $190 for a black, scratch and dent base model. This is perfect but rare. Usually they are $230, but avoid buying if they are $300 minimum.
Don't buy the wrong thing/features. (more below)
I prefer the Mini 10V because they are cheaper and faster. One drawback is the connection for projectors is HMDI and not the oldschool blue CRT plug that many projectors use.
WHAT NOT TO BUY
- Do NOT get the 6 cell (vs 3) battery. It makes it much heavier which defeats the purpose, and the bumpout is odd and takes up room. If you are in the outlet looking at computers and prices, click on the "View Details ZRBVMXZG" and look for (and avoid) the 6 cell battery.
- Do NOT buy the Linux operating system. These tend to be cheaper (only on the Mini 10). Only buy this if you are a hardcore programmer and know what you are doing. The best option is the Windows XP (Don't get the Vista as it runs too slow on this computer)
OTHER FEATURES
- There are 3 harddrive options. The 120 Gig, 160 and the 16 "SS". The 120 is fine if this is a 2nd computer, and why not keep it cheap. The 16 SS is a Solid State Drive. No moving parts. It IS faster and more responsive and uses less heat and has NO noise. But it adds $30 and can sometimes be "only" $250 (vs $170). I'm trying to get a 16 SS, but it is harder to get, they are rarer. You have to sort by hard drive size to find these.
- Bluetooth. A few have this. I guess would be neat for syncing, but not too necessary.
- Other software can make it run up to $500, that isnt necessary
- COLORS! You can get Pink, Purple, White, blue. But the colors add $30
- Modem. There are 2 modems, the cheapest is the Dell 1397 b/g. For $10-20 more you get the Dell 1510 a/g/n/. This has the "N" channel which only a few modems can use, but in theory is 2x faster (that could be wrong) when it comes to download speeds.
- There are 3 quality computers 1) Scratch and Dent, these are the least expensive 2) Certified Refurbished and 3) Previously Ordered New. I try and get #1, but those are rare. When I do, yes it has a little 1 inch scratch, but I dont care.
OTHER COUPONS Sources
- Ask me. I signed up for like 8 newsletters so I tend to have extras.
- www.Twitter.com/delloutlets they sometimes posted limited offers.
- Dell Outlet Facebook page. If you just missed a coupon, oftentimes people will post the coupon on the wall.
- Ebay , they sometimes sell 15% off coupons for $5 that are emailed to you. Make sure it is for the Outlet Laptops.
Once I get them, I take these steps to get it up and running
- For the Computer name, I skip it
- For the User name, I put Dell or User
- I change the mouse size to Extra large (under control panel)
- I go to pack.google.com and ONLY download Adobe Reader, Chrome Browser, and Picasa Photo editor and nothing else (the firefox is OLD)
- I check the microphone, which by default is on MUTE, which is a pain. Check this by finding the sound recorder program. And also clicking on the dark orange speaker icon in the lower right and look for a Muted symbol. (email me if you can't unMute it)
- I do the recommended updates, but then I shut down the pop ups to check for new updates daily.
- I hate having 15 icons in the lower right, so I "hide" most of them forever
- I remove the annoying Dell docking system (large icons on the front page)
- GO to add remove software and remove unwanted stuff (don't do this unless you know what you are doing)
- I remove all the annoying shortcut icons on the Start button like MSN, Free Tour, etc.
Too frequently, I get an email from somebody that has been following my blog and tweets for months and is now ready to buy!
I get the details of this person’s dream home, including number of bedrooms, lot size and location (don’t get me wrong, most buyers still do their own searching). But then they end the email with a catch. “Oh, but the only problem is our maximum is $400k." Meanwhile, homes in this area sell for $550k.What to do with buyers wanting the IMPOSSIBLE?
1) Reply that they are nuts and spend an hour explaining why.
2) Ignore the email or a quick reply saying I’m too busy. (But do I look too busy? Watch Video)
3) Lie. Accept the "challenge," but in reality hoping they would come to their senses. Many agents that are hungry (Anybody see the site Hungryagents.com, how hilarious is that? Do you bring them bagels at each meeting?) will say yes to several of these types of customers, hoping that one will stick. Knowing (lying) that they can not get the client what they want… a miracle.
4) Save a tree and send them a link to this post. If I do send you this and tell you that you are nuts, I'm not trying to upsell you. I'm trying to educate you. Save you from wasting your time (cough, cough*, and mine). Don’t be offended. This route is much better than #3. Homes are expensive. Really expensive. Maybe you should rent. No harm in that (see 2006 video on Buying Myths and Renting Benefits, notice the full head of hair. How many people would have saved $500k by watching that in 2006!)
Whatever gut feeling price target you have, increase it by 10-15%. Again, not an upsell, just our society which tends to have taste buds just outside of our gut feeling “reasonable” price (see blog post on buying a pricier home).
* Make sure when you cough to cough into your shoulder, not into your hands. Stop the spread of H1N1.
5) Still want that miracle deal? Skip your agent (because the “seller pays” doesn’t apply). Go buy a courthouse Foreclosure (see my video at the Courthouse). Not an MLS listed Foreclosure, short sale or REO, but a real courthouse auction. Look through the notice section of your newspaper or search the Washington Post trustee search (which blows since a search for a zip code can bring up hundreds of results if the law firm’s zip code happens to be in that city). People who do this, THEY get homes for $100k below market. Easy money? If it was, I’d be doing it.But wait, there is more! Here are the pitfalls for #5: a) Professionals doing this have 3 employees going to dozens of auctions in hopes of getting ONE property (good for an investor that doesn’t care about getting a “home” but more about a “steal.”)
b) Research 20 homes. No photos. No entry into the house. No home inspections. 100% as is.
c) Only 1 or 2 of those homes will be sold at any decent price. The rest of the 18-19 times the seller reclaims the property in time (think Brady Bunch movie saving the family home from auction) or the bank, which is too busy to get a proper value on the home, will buy it back for the loan amount, which is way over market.d) Oh, and do a title search first for each home. It might have a hidden $100,000 trust or IRS tax levy that is NOT disclosed and you have to pay for it.
e) Win the house and in some states, the homeowner can still get it back.So, I digress. A good agent will help you get the best price possible. A great agent will be willing to lose a couple dealsfor you (this about that for a second. LOSING a deal can be a GOOD thing) because you came in just under the “price that would pass the seller's laugh test.” A fabulous agent might tell you to read this post because what you want is impossible. If you let it (the customer) free, it will come back (is that how the saying goes?)
(NVAR members, have you voted yet? And customers with agents, tell your agent to go to www.ChooseFrank.org to vote me onto the NVAR Board of Directors before Oct 8th 2009)
The "Home Inspection for Information Purposes Only." (coupled with no home inspection contingency, ie, no back and forth, no walkingg after the inspection)
What the hell is that? It is a trick, is what it is. In my first year, I let one agent do this, thinking it would build goodwill, and it backfired. They did it during the HOA review period and backed out over something stupidly small!
(Sidenote, I was able to keep $3,000 of the deposit for my client. Why? Because the idiot put on my voicemail that he was backing out because they found XYZ. Thing is, with HOA docs, you can get out for NO reason, or an HOA reason, you can't get out for an unrelated matter. The broker said "in my 30 years... I've never...")
Now my motto is "You want that information, great, do it AFTER closing."
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for home inspections. What I am against is agents sneakily (is that a word?) trying to make their contract look more attractive, either to win a bidding war or to win on price (see post on winning on terms).
There are other creative ways to help your client while making your contract stronger (without increasing the price).
Such as:
1) Put in a provision that the buyer will only request items over $2,000 to be repaired. That way the seller knows you aren't going to nickel and dime them
2) Or go higher. Put in a provision that the buyer will only request items over $15,000 to be repaired. That way the seller knows you just want it inspected to make sure it isn't falling off a cliff (which is usually most people's concern)
3) Make it an all or nothing home inspection. That is what the banks do sometimes. I'll get it inspected and I'll walk or I'll buy it. Hopefully this implies that you won't sweat the small stuff.
But don't do the "Info Only" stuff. It is dishonest if you try and do it during the HOA review period with the intent of using the HOA Docs to get out. And if the seller can prove that this was your intent, you might risk your deposit and more. (most people think only the deposit is at risk when you back out of a contract, they are wrong)
And the only thing worse that an "Info Only" inspection is a contract with no home inspection contingency yet the buyer still sneaks in their Home Inspector anyhow, and then they have the gaul to bring one anyhow? No Sir.
He's #1, She's #1, Everyone is top 1%! Heck, even I was #1, once.
How is that possible? How can everyone be #1?
Well here is how it works.
1) Consolidation with Teams
This is where a Realtor becomes a "Team." or skips the "team" title but has others working under them.
The agents within this team are instructed to funnel all their deals through one agent (when an agent sells a home, they have to enter in an Agent ID#, instead of giving credit to the actual agent, they put in the AgentID of the team leader).
Why would they do that? Because it helps for marketing. Now each one of those agents, including the one at the top, can all say "#1 Realtor" or "Top 5 Realtor in Virginia."
The scamming of the system got so bad that NVAR, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors stopped giving out awards or titles of greatness. So no more "#3 NVAR Realtor." I think this is great that they stopped this gaming of rankings.
The only REAL way to rank agents would be the 1099 test. He/She with the largest tax return 1099 is the winner!
2) Asterisks. #1 within a smaller group
Then if somebody can't be
#1 in America, they then try and be
#1 in Virginia. If that doesn't work, try
#1 in Arlington. Still no good, then
#1 in your office. Then types of homes
#1 in the neighborhood
#1 in volume (total dollar amount)
#1 is sales (total number of transactions, usually for lower priced homes)
Then you go back up
#1 Firm in America (even if you are just an agent with 3 deals, you can piggyback)
Well what about the Top 1% or Top 5% claims?
Well the thing is, there are about 1 million Realtors in America. The average Realtor makes about $17,000. But the problem with averages is it included weekend warriors. People who might do a deal a year for a relatives. So saying you are a "Top 5% of Realtors nationwide" means "I am within the top 50,000 full time Realtors." I guess that doesn't sound as sexy.
I even did it!
When I started it was kinda hard to compete with all these #1 Realtors so, after my first year I took the title of 2003 NVAR Rookie of the Year (that means #1, well actually they first gave the award to another person. They didn't believe my #s were possible since they were 3x the next Rookie!)
I then went on to be the #1 Agent in the United States under 30, and I did so in my first year! Did I have the highest 1099? Nope. So how did I do it? Well remember all my blog posts on rebating? You know, where I say "I used to Rebate, but then aI got good." Well I was also doing flat fee listings for $100. You'd pay me $100, I'd put your house on the MLS, and when it sold, it counted toward my sales numbers.
Today?
Since 2005 I stopped filling out the paperwork to get my "Million Dollar Producer (oh by the way, whose don't mean the Realtor made $1m, it means they sold two $500k homes). Also the agent within my firm take credit for all their own deals. No padding of my numbers.
And now FranklyMLS.com is working toward making this data public. No other site does this. Now it will show the name of the buyer agent on closed deals. Soon it will separate who was the buyer agent and who was the listing agent.
Bottom line, don't pick an agent just because they are "#1" at something. And as I have seen a few smaller firms claim "We aren't #1, you are"
Written by the #1 Real Estate Blogger in America* Frank Borges LL0SA- Broker FranklyRealty.com
This is a MUST HAVE. So Don't think "Will I" instead think "How do I sign up?"
(This is not a paid advertisement, though I should get paid.)
YouMail.com Rocks. It is like the ShamWOW of the world of voicemail.
(This is not a paid advertisement, though I should get paid.)
YouMail.com does two main things. One for free and one for $7 a mo.
(Before I get started, the basics of Youmail is you have your unanswered calls forward to Youmail's special number, so it acts as your voicemail)
1) FREE:
Customized voicemails PER incoming caller ID number. So you have a greeting customized for that client. "Yo Bill, sorry I can't make the call, cuz you know I'd run across a busy highway to get your call if I could." THEY LOVE IT.
Also If you put in an offer for a house and are expecting a call... but also heading into a meeting. Change the voicemail for JUST that agent to hear, but make it sound like you changed ALL outgoing voicemail for them. For example "Hello, you have reached XYZ, please leav... oh and if this is Sally, I really wanted to get your call, but I stepped into a meeting, please Sally, leave a message." So Sally will think you she was important enough for you to change all of your outgoing voicemail greetings.
2) $7/MO Transcribe
Your voicemails then get transcribed by live humans. I think what they do is use speech to text and then have live humans spot check it for accuracy. It works great. I went 2 years without voicemail, I used AnswerConnect.com and AppleTreeAnswers.com / Apple Tree Answering Service / which use live operators to answer your missed calls... but it just didn't work well enough. The operators didn't get when my wife called and said "It is his wife" that the operator probably didn't need to ask for her name and email and phone number.
Anyhow, so Google Voice also has the first free custom voicemail, but their second part was not spot checked my a human. Does this matter? Yes. I have Google Voice and vs Youmail it sucks. I got a transcribed Voicemail that really made me think my wife was in a car accident. No joke, it was that bad.
So Youmail.com is a no brainer. It also has an iphone app. It also will email you and text you the transcribed VM and of course let you hear the VM if you are so inclined (why bother).
Frank
P.s. I gave this idea to a banker. Wow, he loved it. All of his clients felt like roaylty with a custom greeting.
P.s.s. Due to the feature, and the replies, I decided to make the link an affiliate link. Now I will get a couple bucks off my plan, hope you don't mind.
Update: Here is a message from Google Voice:
Hi, This message is for and through those. My name is matty and Harry me in a and I, H, E K A R R E N line at 703623488895, up on my distinctly located on at 96 or 3 George. Sounds like you've been great. Box listed now at 3.285 2 friends. If you don't mind to give me a call and I have. I just wanted a lot. Thank you again.
Note that I did not edit the # of digits.
Here is Youmail
Hey Frank, It is 5:15. I'm just leaving school now. I'm exhausted, getting ready for back to school night. Anyway, I think you finish at 5:00 today, so I was wondering if you were on your way home. Let me know your status. Was wondering how your stomach is feeling. Bye.
Update: Sept 20th, the link to voting is hard to find on NVAR's site, so use this link to get there directly: http://tinyurl.com/NVAR-VOTE
Update Sept 10th. Preliminary results are in! Frank is in 2nd to last place!
Updated Sept 9th 2009: Voting began! (please Tweet/Repost etc) Vote through Oct 8th 2009.
Also here is my 1 hour class from VAR Convention on using Video for Realtors for FREE.
Hello my name is Frank Borges LL0SA, broker for FranklyRealty.com and I'm once again on the ballot for the Northern Virginia Association of REALTORS NVAR 2010 Board of Directors election. The electiontakes place during the month of September 2010. There are 5 open spots, and 9 people are running.
Want Frank to win?
VOTE FOR ONLY 1 PERSON (Frank). No it isn't anti-patriotic to use only 1 of your 5 votes.
At first it might sound bad to tell you not to vote for 5 candidates. Let me explain. Last time I got a few hundred people to vote. They didn't know who the other people were. They were forced to vote for 5 candidates, but effectively diluting the vote for me by 80%! This year they changed the rules. So unless you really have an affinity to another candidate running, I ask that you make your vote MORE powerful, and...
2) Your password on the NVAR vote site http://tinyurl.com/NVAR-VOTE is either your last 4 SSN, OR a password you created. (Beware: Try over 4 times and you get locked out!!)
3) Let me know you voted! And get 5 friends to vote.
For those of you that already read my main blog.FranklyRealty.com , I welcome you to say great things about me in the comments section below.
For those of you that came via www.choosefrank.org (mentioned in the NVAR Magazine), I will link you to some of my most read blog posts, so you can get a better idea for how I view real estate. These views I will take with me to the board and help shape the direction of NVAR for the next two years. A direction that embraces technology, and empowers NVAR Realtors to be more efficient and more profitable, while increasing our reputation in the community.
Here are some of my "best of" blog posts, targeting consumers.
I have also given free classes on blogging and photography at NVAR (ask for a link to the audio and video for those classes).
I hope you will put a comment here if you know me, and feel like saying nice things. If you are an NVAR member and you have a question, feel free to email me directly or post a comment here.
If you are going down to the 2010 VAR convention, I will be teaching a 1 hour class on video marketing.
If you would like to help me win and be a satellite campaign manager for your office, please email me!
Are you better off buying AFTER the tax credit expires? Maybe.
Everywhere you turn you read about the $8,000 1st time homebuyer tax credit and how you need to "Buy Now" (anybody remember that NAR ad from 2006?). Gotta hurry up before the Dec 1st Expiration!
(Sidenote: that expiration means you need to CLOSE by then. If you are looking for a short sale gamble, and you want the credit, you better get it under contract NOW. And everyone else, don't be an idiot and schedule your closing on the 1st. At least close a week early. There will be a backlog and hiccups and you might miss your tax credit.)
So Warren Buffet says whenever you see a herd running in one direction, you are supposed to walk the other way.
Oh, and there IS a stampede in Virginia trying to buy a home in time for the tax credit. People LOVE tax credits. Kinda like people love to "SAVE" by going FSBO, when it will likely actually NET them less.
Has anybody stopped to wonder whether this mad dash might be temporarily INFLATING prices beyond the credit that it offers? And the day after the credit expires, might there be an even MORE of a dead winter following it?
Buyers:
If you are buying under the $100,000 price point, sure that $8k credit will likely be better to take now.
If you are buying from $400k-$700k, you have to ask yourself, "Once the flood of buyers evaporates, won't that send prices down?" Maybe.
Am I saying "NOT TO BUY." No, but I am also saying, don't be silly and getting into some crazy bidding war or overpay for a place to get in under the wire.
Kinda like the Cash For Clunkers campaign. How many "Deals" do you think the Dealers were really giving in that last week when their phones were ringing off the hook? They probably jacked prices up. And sometimes that $5,000 credit was in place of a $3,000 valued car. So the net saving was only $2,000! And on a $25,000 car, I bet a month after the tax credit, (after inventory catches up) you can get that $25k car for well under $23k.
Sellers:
Don't get too greedy! You also want to sell into this flurry. Ask for too much and watch the dead Winter-time come (unless Congress extends it, which they might).
Normally I am not an advocate of Market Timing. But for those that like to try and play the game, I just wanted to give some food for thought.
Also please attach comments with links to any other blogs that might question the value of rushing in to get the tax credit (I didn't see any, they were all "buy now").
And stay tuned for a flurry of new posts. I had an 18 hour trip to Africa (see Wheel Estate Cam Below) to write a ton.
Written by Frank Borges LL0SA Broker FranklyRealty.com
Inman 2009 Innovator of the Year
Random Wheel Estate Cam video from Africa:
Please report all typos!
In Virginia, there is a substantial savings on Title Insurance if you can get the "Reissue Rate." It can be from $500 to over $1000 depending on the price of your home.
When do you qualify for the reissue rate? If the previous owner bought Title Insurance within the last few years, usually within 10. The seller has to either provide proof of the title insurance, or they have to give you (or your agent) permission to get it from the previous title company, which can be a little bit of a pain.
A buyer agent also might consider making it a requirement in the contract to buy. Otherwise you are asking for a favor from the seller after you are under contract.
One warning. There are some title companies that have partnerships with lenders and offer a "package" deal that can "save" you $1000. Problem is, the savings can NOT be combined with the reissue rate.
In one instance I saw the reissue rate was $1300 and the "package" discount was $1600. Sure that is nice, but in reality the "package" savings was only $300 (but saying $1600 is better for marketing).
Why does this matter? Well if you are comparing lenders and one has a "package" that you think saves you $1300, but really only saves you $300, you might not be properly comparing apples to apples. Does that make sense or is it confusing?
Oh, and any listing agents out there? This could be a nice card to pull out to "save" the buyer $500 to $1000.
Yep. People don't think of Twitter as a search engine.
What is wrong with Google? It has everything?
The problem... it has everything!
Twitter is REAL TIME. So it shows you recent and updated news and information. I used it yesterday to save $80. I needed a coupon code. I did a search for Dell Outlet Coupon Code on Google and for 1,000 results, all with expired coupons. I logged into my twitter account and did a general search for Dell Outlet Coupon and saved $80!
Easy as that!
Try it for everything from Victoria Secret Coupon Code and any site that you see "Apply Coupon Code"
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.
You've seen them, and maybe you have used them.
He's #1, She's #1, Everyone is top 1%! Heck, even I was #1, once.
Posted by 
Has anybody stopped to wonder whether this mad dash might be temporarily INFLATING prices beyond the credit that it offers? And the day after the credit expires, might there be an even MORE of a dead winter following it?
;)
;)
