Right now if you scroll through my phone and click on the contact "evil advertisers" you'll find over 80 contacts, all from real estate solicitors. When they call me my phone doesn't ring, it goes straight to voicemail.
Why do I do this?
Is it because I'm simply annoyed by real estate lead generation companies? No, it's much more involved than that. I actually enjoy talking to anyone who can help grow my business. If they are uneducated about their product or sound like a dummy on the phone then I quickly lose interest and want to end the conversation. Here's a list of suggestions I have for any company attempting to sell an agent for business.
1. Avoid this stupid question: "Are you willing to work with anymore buyers?"
2. Avoid this even more stupid statement: "We are looking for just ONE Realtor in Houston and...."
3. When you call us show an ounce of respect and ask ... "is this a good time?"
4. It's obvious you are in a hurry when you call us. We can hear this rush, panic and aggression in your voice. Consider QUALITY conversations versus sprinting through your calls for the day.
5. Don't act like a jerk because we don't like your company, pitch, or slogan.
6. If we tell you we're not interested it means we're not interested. There is no need to say.. "So you aren't interested in making more money?" Do not call us every 2 weeks with the same line..."Hi this is XXX with XXX and I was curious if you were still a Realtor?"
7. Remember that we get called weekly...as in EVERY week, EVERY month, EVERY YEAR. We're tired of answering and listening to the same statements... "Hi, we represent Realtors on Google and..."
8. Never call a Realtor and act like you know them, worse... don't call and try to sound like a buyer when you aren't!
9. Do you know what you are selling? If I ask you.. "how many leads a month will your product yield me," you should be able to give me SOME kind of answer. You saying.... "I have no idea" puts you and your company in a really bad light.
10. Don't insult or criticize an agents approach about getting business. Nor should you tell an agent how to sell a house.How the hell do you know? You sell real estate leads and have never once represented a buyer or seller in your life.
11. Don't lie about how many people in my market are using your product. I'll ask who they are and call them. If you lie, you'll get caught.
12. In the background is chatter of other people just like you saying the exact same thing. Your office sounds like a boiler room. This sounds untrusting. I get calls ALL the time from companies where multiple people are saying..... "I can get you on the first page of Google."
13. Don't insult anything. Many times we test you. I'm writing this post right now on Activerain... a wonderful part of my business. If you tell me AR is a joke, then you have zero chance in separating me from my money.
14. Be prepared for lots of hard questions. You can't suggest your product is the best because it's the most expensive. There is no such thing as an "Exclusive Lead." Leads go to MULTIPLE websites for information. They could be receiving correspondence from a dozen agents.
15. I'm a Realtor with RE/MAX. If you want to sell me real estate leads or some be like me video then don't call and ask how long I've worked with Realty Associates.... and do I have time to work with buyers.
16. The most annoying thing I've ever been asked was... "Are you accepting any buyers right now?"
17. Don't tell me how "good" your leads are if you haven't worked them YOURSELF. You can suggest you hear good things about them, but don't attempt to tell me that they "ROCK."
18. Don't tell me that your cost is nothing in comparison to what I'll make. Have you seen my books? No. You have no idea about my budget.
19. It's important that YOU LISTEN instead of talk 200 miles per hour about how awesome you and your company are.
20. Finally, talk to some Realtors that you've sold to and simply ask them how you can be a better sales person for other Realtors. Realtors know how Realtors like to be treated and spoken to.
The information contained in this blog is believed to be reliable and while every effort is made to assure that the information is as accurate as possible, the author of this blog, and its comments disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it's accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for any particular purpose. All information is copywritten and the property of Greg Nino.
ANNOUNCING A NEW GROUP - REALTORS® Code of Ethics. COME JOIN US, HERE.
This GROUP is a place for the EXCHANGE of thoughts and opinions and shared experiences in our day to day real estate practice that involve the REALTORS® Code of Ethics.
First of all, I want to thank Brenda Mullins for here grace and professionalism in the face of over 200 comments before she wisely disabled the comments.
Brenda is a wise agent always read to learn. When what she thought was improper conduct on the part of an agent seeking to negotiate the Buyer's Agent Co-op turned out to be the proper thing for the agent to do, Brenda quickly embraced the proper procedure as described in the
Sadly, many of the comments to Brenda's post used the opportunity to disparage the character and/or practices of fellow agents and brokers with whom they disagree. In the space of the first 175 comments, agents who clearly understood the Standard of Practice involved were referred to as:
a self serving idiot
crass
greedy
unprofessional
having bad real estate practice
unfair
nervy
illegal
violating the COE
a jerk
unethical
like a used car salesman
a blackmailer
schmuck
bloodsucking
self serving
To their credit, many members commenting understood the matter and clearly described the Standard of Practice involved that permitted the agent who contacted Brenda to do just what she did, While her attitude and motivation may not have been "pure", her action did not, from what was written, violate any Standard of Practice of the REALTORS® Code of Ethics.
ANNOUNCING A NEW GROUP - REALTORS® Code of Ethics Exchange. COME JOIN US.
WHO CAN JOIN? Any ActiveRain member; agents, brokers, appraisers, home inspectors, product or service representatives, attorneys, title company representatives, home stagers, virtual assistants, and more. If you have an interest in what guides a large percentage of real estate agents in their day to day practice, COME JOIN US.
Post your questions, ideas, understandings, problems with and anything at all involving the Code or any SOP.
In fact, to inspire discussion and an exchange of ideas , I plan to post sections of the COE and specific SOP with an opportunity for members to contribute by sharing some of their experiences involving the code.
Hopefully, this group will enlighten, educate and generally lift awareness of the importance of the REALTORS® Code of Ethics. Membership in the National Association of Realtors is the first step for many new agents to become aware of the AWESOME responsibility we assume when representing BUYERS and SELLERS.
This December, we're inviting you to complete a five-question quiz to benefit your favorite animal shelter. It's quick, it's educational, and it doesn't matter if you get the answers right or wrong, you'll be entered either way. If you're one of our lucky winners, we'll donate $250 for the shelter of your choice and give you a one-year supply of FRONTLINE Plus.
The contest runs from December 1st to December 31st, 2011. We'll be selecting one winner daily, so enter NOW and re-enter each day to increase your chances of winning.
If the refinance is closed by the 15th of January, for example, a homeowner can roll their January payment into the loan by just letting the accumulated interest due for December be added to the payoff. Since the first payment on the new note is due in March, they skip the February payment. Voila! 2 payments skipped.
Skipping a house payment is actually used occasionally as a marketing strategy for refinancing. It is especially nice around the holidays when extra cash is always needed. It is pretty common knowledge that a payment is not necessary the month following a new mortgage closing, but there is actually a way to skip 2 payments. If the refinance is closed by the 15th of January, for example, a homeowner can roll their January payment into the loan by just letting the accumulated interest due for December be added to the payoff. Since the first payment on the new note is due in March, they skip the February payment. Voila! 2 payments skipped.
Buyers can also use a similar strategy to time their transaction and minimize the amount of cash needed at closing. If a buyer closes on the loan in the 10th day of the month, we can actually pretend (from the pro-rated interest aspect at least) that it closed at the end of the previous month. The mortgage company actually gives the buyer an interest credit from the 1st to whenever the loan closes. This is usually allowed for up to 10 days.
This option reduces the amount of cash needed to close the transaction, but it accelerates when that first payment is due. This will put the note's first payment date as the 1st of the following month, effectively making the first payment due in 20 days or so. If a buyer is strapped for cash and can make that first payment in a few weeks after another paycheck, closing before the 10th of the month is the cheapest time of the month to close a purchase transaction.
On the flip side....If the buyers have the extra money for the pro-rated interest and the closing is scheduled for the first part of the month, I recommend that they pay the interest to finish out the month. Then their house payment is put off until the 1st of the month following the next month - 50-60 days away! Paying a few hundred dollars in interest is a cheap way to put their FULL PITI payment off another month.
The key to excellent customer service and goal oriented sales is communication. You communicate best by listening more than you speak. Excellent article by a top notch broker and writer.
I love buyers and sellers, they
are very different though.
Sellers know one thing, they want to sell their property. Buyers know
they want
to buy something and your job is to help them find what they are
looking for.
I hear it all the time in sales
meetings that buyers are
liars and I completely disagree. I used to think this
until I stopped talking
and listening to what they had to say. Each time you enter a home,
buyers talk,
they tell you what they need by showing you what they don’t want.
If you continue to show them what
they don’t want then they
are lying to you, you are lying to yourself about being a service to a
buyer.
Recently I had a buyer that told me what she was looking for and I was
sending
her MLS listings and on our first venture out, we looked at 8 homes.
(Only
because they were all within a mile of each other)
I listened to what she told me on
the phone and then I let
her show me when we were looking at those homes. By the 5th
home, I
knew what she described on the phone and online was not what I had
heard, I misunderstood.
After we got done for the day, I took what I had heard at the showings
and also
what I saw on her face during the showings. Quickly changed the search
parameters
and set up an appointment with her for the next day. We looked at two
homes and
she put in an offer and thanked me for knowing exactly what she was
looking
for.
She had bought other homes in
other cities before and was
expecting this to take months because she could never find what she was
looking
for and ever home she went to see was completely off what
she had described.
She said “You were the first agent to ever listen and learn rather than
open
the door and say check it out, if you need me I’ll be here by the door
to
answer your questions”
So,
follow your clients, watch their faces, listen to what
they are saying and you will have happier clients and faster sales.
Todd Clark and the Friendly Home Team
Knipe Realty Todd@IFoundYourNewHome.com
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739
Todd Clark is a
licensed Realtor who specializing in Washington County,
Oregon and also works both Clackamas and Multnomah Counties including
the cities of Aloha, Beaverton, Canby, Clackamas,
Gladstone, Gresham,
Happy Valley, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood and Tigard. All information
contained in these posts is copyrighted and cannot be
used without prior written approval authorization
from the author. If you are looking for an outstanding agent
please give Todd Clark a call he would love to help you in all your
real estate needs.
What
if there was a way you could
search the MLS for FREE just like Realtors do?
Now you can access the MLS using
similar tools as Realtors. You are in
control of what you want to search for, and you can search the MLS at
your leisure.
The information you submit in the form below can also be used to put
you on an automated system where you'll be emailed all homes that meet
your search criteria.
You'll get internet access to a website that includes pictures, prices,
and addresses to real estate that's listed in the MLS!
"A builder cannot offer incentives to encourage you to buy their homes, if those incentives require the use of their CBA or ABA mortgage and title companies."
How often did we see this years ago, and how often did we see the builder squeeze the buyer into these positions and force their hand by claiming the house will be sold to someone else (indirectly).
RESPA Section 9: How do You Spell V-I-O-L-A-T-I-O-N and the Required Use Rule
Thanks to Dr Gary Lacefield, President of Risk Mitigation. Risk Mitigation offers RESPA training and compliance programs for industry banks and realtors. You can hire him and his staff by visiting Risk Mitigation on the web. Read more about Dr Gary Lacefield at HomeFinancingNinja.com
Overview: How the Required Use Rule, RESPA, Section 9 is commonly and illegally used by builders and real estate brokerages.
THE PROBLEM: In the builder and large real estate brokerage world, it is common knowledge and a very sore spot between mortgage bankers vs brokers not affiliated with larger real estate brokerage and builder, that incentives are offered to the end user consumer.
THE QUESTIONABLE PRACTICE: These incentives are usually builder upgrades, closing cost concessions, furniture and electronics (such as expensive plasma 3-D TV) included in your new home purchase, or A combination of all the proceeding, by agreeing to use a preferred title or mortgage company. Whether the mortgage or title company is builder controlled (CBA) or Affiliated Business Arrangement (ABA) situation.
LEGAL OR ILLEGAL: What do you think
The Answer: This is a RESPA VIOLATION of RESPA Section 9, So Says the Respa Violation Expert, Dr Gary Lacefield of Risk Mitigation, Arlington, Texas. This is the so-called "required use rule".
EXPLANATION: A builder cannot offer incentives to encourage you to buy their homes, if those incentives require the use of their CBA or ABA mortgage and title companies. The end level consumer buying a home is free to choose their own title company and mortgage company and still receive the same incentives originally offered by the builder.
FYI TANGENT: This is the same with the larger brokerages and the larger banks who pay desk rent. Requiring agents to have to use the "in house" lender is completely illegal. Especially if you, the broker, are up charging the space for that preferred lender.
Let me say that again. A broker is not allowed to upcharge rent to lenders. If you are paying $50 a square foot to lease or maintain a building, then that same price must be passed along to everyone in the office.
FURTHER INFORMATION: The Required Use Rule was attempted by the Bush Administration in 2008. However, the NAHB sued HUD (and won) in Dec 2008. Bickering and bantering between DOJ, HUD, and the NAHB occured in 2009 and early 2010. In Jun 2010, according to Dr Lacefield, HUD made what is called a Final Rule (I had to look up the definition of a final rule, number ten from the top). Without having to go through Congress and all that stuff, HUD essentially said to the NAHB that the required use rule is illegal and will no longer be tolerated. The Required Use Rule Final Rule was put on the Federal Register in Jun 2010 and will be effective 120 days from then.
LET'S Talk about that TV Offered: Was it included on the HUD 1 (Settlement) Statement? Guess what, it should have been (and better be from now on). Did you entice someone to buy a home from you with the promise of an included something (gizmo, wizmo, widget or wadget) if they used your mortgage/title company? It has to be put on the HUD. A Common RESPA VIOLATION of the Required Use Rule, Section 9, RESPA
PENALTIES: Penalties of RESPA VIOLATIONS of the REQUIRED USE RULE is $10,000 per violation and up to 1 year in jail (prison). Further more, the offender can be required to pay triple the amount of the settlement service in question.
ANTI TRUST Implications: Repeated RESPA VIOLATIONS can be considered anti trust and (in my opinion) possibly fall under the RICO statutes of Federal Law. (ie, penalties get much more painful)
Report RESPA Violations to the RESPA Hotline 202-708-4560.
In my next installment, I will talk about RESPA Violations in the Lender/Realtor Training Relationship. In the meantime, while you wait, go visit Dr Lacefield and make sure that your company is completely RESPA Complaint
Chuck Ward Executive Director Florida Home Benefits
Are you thinking about buying or selling a home in Florida, then click to find out about how to get $10,200 back on your next real estate transaction
House not selling? It's not your property, it is the marketing plan. Download the secret, ninja strategy that helped an agent get 13 of 15 expired listings in one week. Upload unlimited pictures, video, documents and get virtual tours on every single listing. For less than a cup of coffee from the dollar menu.
A true measure of real estate value, is what a buyer will give you for the property. Richard is right on the money here folks, equity is theoretically up to the buyers in your market.
We often talk about the equity that we have in real estate that we own. We may even calculate a number based on the projected market value of the real estate minus the amount of outstanding mortgages.
The problem is that the result is only a theory, based on what a seller MIGHT get if the home was placed on the market and actually sold.
The true test of actual vs. theoretical equity rests solely on the shoulders of a buyer. Only a buyer can determine what they are willing to pay for a property, and what concessions will be required from a seller.
One might argue that the seller has the final say, but if the property is not sold, there is no equity to speak of, as there is not buyer willing to validate the amount hypothesized by the seller.
A seller is free to demand whatever they want when a property is offered for sale.
And a buyer can simply move on to the next house, or the next, or the next!
Thursday's bond market has opened fairly flat, following the lead of the stock markets. The Dow is currently down 14 points while the Nasdaq is up 4 points. The bond market is currently up 2/32, which should improve this morning's mortgage rates by another .125 - .250 of a discount point over yesterday's morning pricing.
The Labor Department said early this morning that 445,000 new claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week. This was lower than expectations, but has not hurt bonds during early trading. Forecasts were calling for 455,000 new claims, meaning the data points towards a little stronger labor market than many had thought. That can be considered negative for bonds and mortgage rates. However, with tomorrow's monthly data having so much importance, the markets have shrugged off today's weekly report.
The big news of the week is tomorrow's Employment report for September. The Labor Department will be in the spotlight when the y post September's unemployment rate, number of jobs lost or added during the month and average hourly earnings. These are considered to be very important readings of the employment sector and often causes a great deal of volatility in the markets and mortgage pricing. There have been repeated concerns about the shaky labor market and its likelihood of strengthening. It is widely believed that an economic recovery can't happen until the labor market gains some momentum. Therefore, weaker than expected readings would be considered good news for bonds and mortgage rates.
If it does give us numbers that fall short of expectations, bond prices should move higher tomorrow. This would likely lead to noticeably lower mortgage rates Friday morning. However, if tomorrow's report reveals stronger than forecasted readings, the stock markets will likely rally while bonds suffer. That would be bad news for mortgage shoppers. Analysts are expecting to see the unemployment rate rise by 0.1% to 9.7%, with little change in payrolls from August's level and a 0.1% increase in earnings.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing was taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.
Created while you are alive, a revocable living trust lets you control the distribution of your estate. Ownership of your property and assets is transferred into the trust. You can serve as trustee or you can appoint another to serve as trustee. If you serve as trustee, you must appoint a successor to serve as trustee upon your death.
Properly drafted and executed, a revocable living trust can avoid probate and delays as the trust owns the assets not the deceased. Consult with your attorney and/or CPA before deciding if a revocable living trust is the right choice for you.
Advantages to a Living Trust Holding Title
A husband and wife can establish a joint revocable living trust.
While the trustor serves as a trustee or a co-trustee, a separate tax return is not required for the trust.
The revocable living trust allows the trustee to buy, sell and finance assets just as before.
In the event of incapacitation, management of the living trust passes to the successor trustee without the necessity of a court-appointed conservator.
The living trust can be cancelled or changed at any time before death or incapacitation.
Probate - including multi-state probate - is avoided when assets are held in a living trust. (Often probate takes 9 to 12 months.)
Privacy. When a decedent dies with a living trust, the provisions of that trust usually do not become public.
Litigation is discouraged by a living trust.
A married couple with a living trust can reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes by setting up an Exemption Trust. While both are alive the assets remain in the revocable living trust. Upon the death of a spouse, the trust is split into two trusts: the survivors trust and an exemption trust. (For tax purposes, the surviving spouse and the exemption trust are two separate taxpayers.)
Disadvantages of a Living Trust
A living trust will cost more to set-up than an estate plan with only a will.
A trust agreement with a new will must be set-up.
Transferring assets into the living trust will require paperwork and incur costs not encountered with a less elaborate estate plan.
Handling an Exemption Trust may require extra effort from the surviving spouse.
Some lenders may require property held in a living trust be removed from the living trust to refinance the property.
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.
Overview: How the Required Use Rule, RESPA, Section 9 is commonly and illegally used by builders and real estate brokerages.
es originally offered by the builder.
PENALTIES: Penalties of RESPA VIOLATIONS of the REQUIRED USE RULE is $10,000 per violation and up to 1 year in jail (prison). Further more, the offender can be required to pay triple the amount of the settlement service in question.
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