The Real Estate Blog of Mark Archer, Eastlake, California REALTOR®

Don't Be A Twitter Snob....or A Twitter Tramp

Mark Archer (Eastlake, CA REALTOR® & Owner, eRealty Professionals) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:51:57 -0700

Ever since Twitter went mainstream, there has been debate among real estate professionals about how to effectively use Twitter, the micro-blogging platform, for networking, prospecting and marketing your business.

Social Media is like owning a magazine, a newspaper or a TV show and while Oprah was into magazines, and booking celebrities through her vast Harpo Network, now you too can leverage the power of media with a free Twitter Account, Facebook fan page and Youtube Channel.

People are people and you can succeed in any niche (mortgages, luxury real estate, foreclosures, investments, pre-construction) with some sound, common-sense social media strategies.

One of the biggest mistakes I see with a newbie Twitter practitioners is the Art of The Twitter Tramp.

The Twitter Tramp thinks that social media is an easy and lazy way to get links and a large fanbase and proceeds to follow every and any person they can find and then posts their own listings or bogus and worthless articles on their twitter feed.

This not only irritates any would-be Twitter Followers (a major faux-pas in social media) but ultimately results in massive attrition as The Twitter Tramp's followers drop off.

The Twitter Tramp's profile starts to look like this:

In this example, the Twitter Tramp is following 1,744 Twitter Accounts, but only has 511 Twitter accounts following back....not a good ratio to have.

Conversely, the Twitter Snob is someone who usually has an existing fanbase through other media, or past business such as a CRM list or is someone who is a TV or radio personality that has an existing fanbase.

The Twitter Snob thinks he is "too good" to follow anyone and thinks that the pontification on his chosen subject is good enough to keep his audience enaged.

While this is a common strategy with radio personalities and TV stars, the problem is this method lacks any interaction and the conversation is one-sided.

(A great example of the Twitter Snob)

The Ideal Twitter Profile is balanced, interactive, lively and offers great content through their tweets.

Take a look at this profile and reel free to follow Chris as an example.

(His blog is also very good BTW)

Social media is meant to be a fun, effective and easy way to grow your business and allow you to become an authority within your niche.

Treat Social Media like a cocktail party and remember the Golden Rule: Treat Other Like You Would Want To Be Treated.

For more social media tips: check my offsite blog at:
Themarkarcher.com

Mark Archer
Owner, eRealty Professionals

"The Real Estate Agency For The Rest Of Us"

Credit Score Basics

Mark Archer (Eastlake, CA REALTOR® & Owner, eRealty Professionals) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:56:26 -0700

Credit Basics

Every time you apply for credit, your credit score is checked. Your credit score is based on your
financial responsibilities and past payments and provides potential lenders with a snapshot of your current financial state and recent repayment habits.

There are many misconceptions about credit. There are customers who believe that they don’t have a credit score and many customers who think that their credit scores just don’t really matter. These sorts of misconceptions can hurt your chances at competitive interest rates.

Understand where credit scores come from.
If you are going to improve your credit score, then logic has it that you must understand what
your credit score is and how it works.

The credit score is a number, usually between 300 and 850, that lets lenders know how well
you are paying off your debts and how much of a credit risk you are. The higher your credit score,
the better credit risk you make and the more likely you will be able to obtain credit at great rates.

Scores in the low 600s and below will often give you challenges in finding credit, while scores of 720
and above will generally give you the best interest rates out there. However, credit scores are a lot like GPAs or SAT scores from college days - while they give others a quick snapshot of how you are doing, they are interpreted by people in different ways. Some lenders put more emphasis on credit scores than others.

The credit score is based on your credit report, which contains a history of your past debts and
repayments. Credit bureaus use computers and mathematical calculations to arrive at a credit
score from the information contained in your credit report.

Each credit bureau uses different methods to do this (which is why you will have different scores
with different companies) but most credit bureaus use the FICO system. FICO is an acronym for
the Fair Isaac Corporation Company. This is by far the most used software since the Fair Isaac Corporation developed the credit score model used by many in the financial industry and is still considered one of the leaders in the field.

One other thing you may want to understand about the software and algorithm that goes into your credit score is the fact that the math used by the software is based on research and comparative mathematics. This is an important and simple concept that can help you understand how to boost your credit score.

Credit bureaus and lenders often look at general patterns. Since people with too many debts tend not to have great rates of repayment, your credit score may suffer if you have too many debts.

Understanding this can help you in two ways:
1) It will let you see that your credit score is not a personal reflection of how “good” or “bad”
you are with money. Rather, it is a reflection of how well lenders and companies think you will
repay your bills - based on information gathered from studying other people.

2) It will let you see that if you want to improve your credit score, you need to work on
becoming the sort of debtor that studies have shown tends to repay their bills. You do not have
to work hard to reinvent yourself financially and you do not have to start making much more
money. You just need to be a reliable lender. This realization alone should help make credit
repair far less stressful.

Information such as what type of debt you have, how much debt you have, how regularly you
pay your bills on time, and your credit accounts are all information that is used to calculate your
credit score. Your age, sex, and income do not count towards your credit score. The actual formula used by credit bureaus to calculate credit scores is a well-kept secret, but it is known that recent account activity, debts, length of credit, unpaid accounts, and types of credit are among the things that count the most in tabulating credit scores from a credit report.

Look for more tips and simple strategies to boost your credit score.

Mark Archer
Owner, eRealty Professionals

"The Real Estate Agency For The Rest Of Us"

Debt to Income Basics

Mark Archer (Eastlake, CA REALTOR® & Owner, eRealty Professionals) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:06:17 -0700

What are Debt-to-Income Ratios?

A debt-to-income ratio answers the question “How much of your income goes to paying your debts?” The ratio basically compares your income to your monthly financial responsibilities, such as credit card, student loan, alimony payments, etc. It may or may not factor in rent or mortgage depending on the lender.

Lenders generally require this ratio and it is computed on a monthly basis. It gives lenders an idea of your financial status at a glance. It can either be expressed as a percentage or it can comprise two numbers.

Percentage

The lower the percentage of debt-to-income, the better your standing is financially. A good percentage would be 16% to 19%. Once you hit 20% or above, this normally signals that your credit status is out of control. The more debt you have, the more interest you pay, effectively getting you deeper into debt.

But the reverse is also true. Once you decrease your debts, you decrease the interest you have to pay, and you can channel your money to a better investment than simply paying off interest on a huge debt!

Following is an example of how you can compute debt-to-income:
Monthly debt payments = $450
(divided by)
Monthly salary = $3000
(multiplied by 100%)
Debt-to-income ratio = 15%

Ratio

When your debt-to-income ratio comprises two numbers, lenders will require at least 33/38 or 28/36, depending on the lender and your financial situation, before they qualify your mortgage. But the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) only requires around 29/41. This is what the numbers mean.

1.    First number (front-end or front ratio) – the part of your income that pays off:
a.    Mortgage interest plus principal
b.    Mortgage insurance
c.    Homeowners insurance
d.    Property taxes
e.    Community association dues

2.    Second number (back-end or back ratio) – the part of your income allocated to recurring payments, which includes even items covered by the first number, plus what you pay for your:
a.    Credit card
b.    Car loan (car or life insurance is not computed)
c.    Alimony or child support
d.    Furniture or appliance loan
e.    Bank loan
f.    Student loan
g.    Medical bills

Following is an example of how you can compute debt-to-income:
Monthly salary x 12 + yearly bonuses and benefits = $3000 x 12 + $10,000
(therefore)
Yearly gross = $46,000
(divided by 12)
Monthly gross = $3,833

To hit the first number, for example in 28/36, you have to spend less than the allowable amount for items under it:
Monthly gross = $3,833
(multiplied by 0.28)
Allowable housing expense = $1,073

To hit the second number you have to spend less than the allowable amount for items under it:
Monthly gross = $3,833
(multiplied by 0.36)
Allowable housing + recurring payments = $1380

In calculating your gross income do not forget to ADD the alimony or child support you RECEIVE, as well as dividends you get from insurance and investments.

Mark Archer
Owner, eRealty Professionals

"The Real Estate Agency For The Rest Of Us"