Are you a REO agent providing minimal information about each bank owned listing? The bank expects you to market each listing as much as possible so the best possible offer is received. You should never look at an REO property as a burden and/or think little effort is required. Remember, each successful sale contributes to the next listing you receive from the REO Company/Bank.

Here are a few tips when listing the REO:

• Take the time to take incredible picture of the property. If the property has been de-trashed after the listing, upload the new pictures to the MLS. Do not leave the garbage-ridden pictures on the MLS or your flyers.
• Take the time to write about the property and its features. There is more to a property besides the standard, "Bank owned, sold as-is, great property." Write about the upgrades, good features, kitchen, amenities, etc. Give the property much needed attention.
• Fill out the square footage and acres if your MLS does not import all of the information from the tax records. How often do you see incomplete listings?
• Make sure your email address and fax is accurate.
• Always list the docs required from the bank in the broker area regarding all offers.
• Create a flyer and upload as an attachment in the MLS.
• Upload the offer instructions and letter of intentions as attachments to the MLS.
• List the property on various FREE websites. It is a good way to obtain buyers and investors for your database and sphere.
• Keep copies (PDF) of all marketing efforts so the banks will know that you are giving your best.
• Schedule showings and obtain feedbacks. You will need this information for the MMRs. If your area does not have a showing system, hire one or hire an assistant that can assist with your showings and feedback collection.
• If you do not have your own website, consider getting a site through Point2 so you can display your REO listings or have a site created.
• Create a network among local agents. Send updated listings to each on a weekly basis. Make sure you have permission. Even though marketing is an effort performed by all agents, I am still amazed at the number that balks when new listing emails are received.

Some of these tips appear as common sense but it is not all common.

Carolyn Nelson, carolyn@onlinerepa.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Direct:  980.233.8938 | Toll Free:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

Visit http://www.revaprofessionals.com/ today!

While at NAR, I was introduced to Wise Agent. I have also spoken to Brandon Wise and Heidi several times over the past few months. With that being said, I believe that any agent looking for an alternative to the current online CRMs on the market should look at Wise Agent.

Over the past two months, I have introduced Wise Agent to several of my clients and to several agents. The overwhelming response have been positive. The program is very easy to use, offers many opportunities, does not charge any add-on price for team members, the cost is very affordable and most of all, customer service is servicing the customers. You are not treated like a money generator, you are a customer.

Wise Agent offers:

• Detailed data on all of your clients
• Date stamped conversation log
• Contract checklist
• Time line checklist
• Real estate forms
• Flyers - eFlyers
• Free updates, no setup fees No pop-up advertisements whatsoever
• Professional, private, and secure web workplace
• Access to your entire business-past and present anytime from anywhere
• Customization
• Branding
• And more!

Response time is excellent. I emailed customer service late Friday night while working on a client's account. To my surprise, I received a response back within 10 minutes. This was around midnight. It was not a canned message; it was an actual response and an ongoing dialogue. Thank you Amy! Great customer service!

Another agent needed a customizable banner for her branding. We received the customizable banner within 1 hour. We were also given the same banner to use on the website and all marketing materials including emails, stationeries, etc.

Customizable contact form. Wise Agent offers a customizable form that can be added to your website to capture all incoming inquiries. This form adds the individuals to your incoming Wise Agent call list. It took less than 5 minutes to setup the entire process.

Training - Training is provided to everyone on a weekly basis. I love the fact that you can freely ask questions during and after the session without limitations. Thank you Heidi!

Uploading contacts - Having problems uploading your contact database? Clean it and contact Wise Agent. Speaking from experience, the contact databases I have sent over were uploaded in less than one hour. Giving me the opportunity to reduce my down time. Oh yeah, did I mention that the database was uploaded into the correct area and the sellers and buyers were uploaded as requested? We didn't have fields that were incorrectly uploaded the way I have seen it done by another program.

Transaction Management - This is another great feature of Wise Agent, it has customizable features. You can create new input fields for the unique and routine information tracked on a per transaction or broker required basis. For REO brokers and agents, this is a big plus because you can create custom fields for the asset number, loan number, asset manager, bank name, BPO due dates, MMRs, and all of those contacts that you have to manage.

Samples - check out their samples! Here is a link to sample the branded email Branded Email Samples

No Contracts! Wise Agent has a 30-day trial period. After that point, you will pay on a monthly basis. NO CONTRACTS and NO 1-Year Hostage Situation!

Helpful Links:

http://wiseagent.com/agentresources/wiseagentflyer.asp

http://wiseagent.com/agentresources/

Give Wise Agent a test drive. The regular cost is $24.95/month. Use code ONLINEREA and pay $19.95 per month. This code is provided by REVA Professionals at http://www.revaprofessionals.com/

Carolyn Nelson, carolyn@onlinerepa.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Direct:  980.233.8938 | Toll Free:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

Visit www.REVAProfessionals.com today!

Do you have a plan that will help you manage your properties? How organized are your files and if the bank calls you regarding an invoice submitted three months ago or inquires about the details of a property, are you prepared? I help several agents remotely organize their files and provide different resolution based on their setup.

Here are a few tips that will help keep you organized. It may not pertain to everyone and depends on the current process being used.

• Get rid of the post-it notes. They are not meant to be used as long term solutions to tracking notes.
• Create a spreadsheet or pay an expert database designer to create a MS Access database that runs on queries. If you would like to create a secure online program, you will need to hire an expert programmer.
• If you are not ready to go paperless, I suggest using 3-ring binders and index tabs to keep your files sorted by banks and property address, and/or
• Use the correct folders so proper recording is maintain. Go to http://www.filesource.com/  for an assortment of real estate related folders, or use the classification folder with dividers, click here, and/or
• Use an online transaction management program for online storage and upload all pertinent documents to the BPO or bank system immediately and check off as completed.
• Upload your action plans online or use Outlook to track due dates and send out reminders.
• Only use one email address to communicate with the BPO Companies or banks. Multiple emails accounts increase the chance of mail being sent to the junk box or deleted. Include your full contact information in the signature line and account name section.
• If you find that you are always responding too late or missing the BPO orders, setup alerts through your Blackberry or a compatible email account such as Yahoo or Hotmail so you can receive your notifications via text message. You can also hire an assistant that will work as a backup to catch those that you have missed and begin the process of ordering photos, pulling comps, etc
• If you decide to go paperless, invest in a PDF converter that will allow you to extract documents, delete documents, sort pages, insert files, etc. As the transaction progress, you can add the new pages and/or delete the amended pages and more.
• Once the property has closed, remove all old and completed transactions. Archive each to CD or DVD. Make multiple copies if needed.
• Use the task reminder of you contact management program. Once you input a task based on a property, you will receive the alerts. This will increase your responsiveness to the bank and buyer agent.
• Use Microsoft Street & Trips to calculate proximity if you are looking for a reliable program.
• Keep an updated copy of all bank guideline at the front of the binder and/or store online within your OTM program.
• Store each property file separately on your computer and label each property using the property address. Example:  1234 Mockingbird Lane, Anywhere US 01234. Then create subfolders. One for the listing documents and the other for the closing documents.
• Add the full contact information for each bank, asset manager, accounts payable, etc to your Outlook contact file for the bank using categories. Print out the contact sheet and include it in your binder, folder, or online within the OTM program. This will provide quicker access to contacts when on the road and less searching on the PDA.
• Offer a fillable PDF of the Offer to Purchase and all bank documents on your website.  By doing so, this will give the buyer agent the opportunity to present a clearly written offer with all required fields completed. You can also include a check list as a part of the download. If the agent doesn't provide all of the check list items, they don't have a serious buyer.
• Learn how to improve your process. If one method does not work, move on to something better, not worse.
• Know what you have in inventory at all times. A simple spreadsheet can be used to track your inventory and the status.

How do you keep your files organized?

Carolyn Nelson, Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Phone/Fax:  877-717-4491

How many languages does your blog speak?

If your blog only speaks one language, you may be missing opportunities to diversify your client base. Think about it, if you are in a city where Spanish is, the second language, or perhaps it is a diverse area where there is a mixture of English, French, Spanish, Italian and German, your blog should speak the language.

How do you meet the needs of those individuals in your blog? Add a translator. By adding language translation to your website or blog, it is possible to reach more visitors out there. The visitors can translate your website or blog by simply clicking on the corresponding flag and reading your website in their native language. Visitors can be a source for referrals.

Once you add the image of the flag to your hosting server, start adding the coding to translate from English to Spanish, German, French, Italian, etc. Go to http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

The coding should follow the following format. The code in red should be replaced with the specific language (pulled from Google Translator). The code in blue is the location of your image source file on the server.

<a href="http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onlinerepa.com%2Fblogger&langpair=en%7Cfr&hl=en&ie=UTF8"><img src="<?php bloginfo('stylesheet_directory'); ?>/images/fr.gif" alt="French" title="Translate in French" /></a>

If you are not comfortable adding coding and/or customizing your blog, Word Press Themes have a wide variety of themes with the translation code already embedded.

Happy Blogging!

Subscribe to my blog today! Click Here

Carolyn Nelson | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Bus/Fax:  (877) 717-4491 | Blog:  www.OnlineREPA.com/blogger

Through a previous blog http://activerain.com/blogsview/177356/Best-Resources-for-Real , it was noted by several AR member that they often experience problems finding good topics. How about writing blogs that address the questions you are asked daily and include your response. Buyers and sellers often have unique questions that will make you think. Yes, some are so basic that you might assume that it should not be addressed. However, I think that if you answer those questions and provide helpful solutions, it will give viewers (potential clients) reasons to visit your blog, website, and contact you. All agents want to be known as the neighborhood expert. Creating a Q & A on your blog is a good way to establish ranking.

Regards,

Carolyn Nelson, NAR Certified Real Estate Assistant | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

How many leads do you receive on a daily basis and how many of those leads get your immediate attention? There is no secret that agents are trying to get more leads and quicker. When you do get those leads, what is your turnaround time and do you provide the information requested?

There are many lead generating programs on the market for agents to use. However, if you are not using each tool to the maximum and getting your money's worth out of each, you are wasting time any money. If you are using the programs and your ROI is poor, get rid of it!!!!

Here are a few suggestions for successful leads management:

• Incoming Leads - All leads submitted is a potential client. When you receive a lead, one of the first things you or your assistant should do is follow-up immediately via phone (if given) or via email with a person response and not a canned feedback. Be responsive to the needs of the lead. Let the lead know that you have received the request, in the process of compiling the information, and will send it shortly.
• Initial Contact - During the initial contact, take the time to confirm the correct spelling of the name, phone, email, and mailing address. If it is a buyer, request additional home-buying information. Kindly ask if he or she would like to receive automatic alerts of listings, how many, and how often. Also find out how soon they are looking to buy. Schedule your next follow-up.
• Add the lead to your drip campaign (if approved), Lowes Realtor Benefits, and send out your information packet.
• Separate your leads in to three categories (see example)

          Immediate (0 -  4 months)

          Short Term  (4- 10 months)

          Long Term (10+ months)

• Immediate Leads require your immediate attention. They are buyers and sellers that are ready now. They should be placed in the forefront and pampered. Follow-up weekly with those that are truly interested. Pull out all of the perks in your arsenal for the immediate leads. They are the ones that will bring you quicker closings and dollars. If you have an assistant, let him or her know that your assistant will be calling with follow-ups and that you want to make sure that he or she is 100% taken care off. If a buyer or seller is willing to give you his or her full contact information, he or she is serious.
• Short Term Leads are probably still thinking about their next step and probably trying to get last minute home repairs completed or last minute credit problems handled /cleared, or may be in the second phase of considering home buying as an option. You should add these individuals to listing alerts, campaigns, and follow-up at least twice a month. Send these leads your Buyer or Seller brochure, business card, listing alerts, campaigns, and add to your Lowes program.
• Long Term Leads are shoppers but still leads. Send your brochure, business card and add each to your Lowes program and drip campaign. Follow-up periodically by phone. As time past, your goal should be to move the long-term leads in to the short-term or immediate lead category. Just because the individuals in this category are long-term, does not mean that they are not a source for potential clients. They should also be treated with care.
• Create a task list/action plan to follow. Your task list/action plan should identify your entire process of follow-ups, mail-outs, alerts, etc.
• Be unique yet sensible in your drip campaigns and communication. Don't oversell your services. Buyers and sellers expect honesty.  Leave the fluff to the pillows.
• Create a comprehensive plan that you and your assistant can explain, and perform.
• Always thank the lead during each phone and face-to-face conversation. Thank you is becoming a word that will soon disappear.
• Personalize all mail out. Canned mail-out area samples. You should always add your own content.
• Offer the lead the opportunity to return to your website for additional information, subscription to resources, etc.
• By all means, respond quickly. If someone is looking for a home to purchase or would like to sell, your site is not the only real estate website on the internet. A lack of responsiveness on your part will send the buyer or seller to a competitor's website.
• If the leads request to be unsubscribed, please do so and follow-up with a phone call or email expressing how sad you are that he or she has elected to unsubscribe. Offer the opportunity for the individual to subscribe again in the future. Your feed back show never express disappointment, only an opportunity for future communication. Don't place the blame on the buyer or seller.

Regards,

Carolyn Nelson, NAR Certified Real Estate Assistant | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

Blogging! Blogging! Blogging!

This seems to be one of the top buzzwords in real estate these days. Everyone wants a blog for one reason or another. For most agents, blogging is another media used to get leads that can be converted in to clients. However, how can an agent get leads if he or she is not targeting a local market in their blogs? To a certain extent, blogging should be kept local and pointed toward those that are in your local area and filled with information that will be helpful to buyers and sellers. Your blogs should be about people and places. Information of interest to those relocating to the area and for those interested in relocating to the area. Your blog should make you the source for solution and not identify you as a ball of confusion spiraling downward on a roller coaster of varying topics unrelated to local readers. It is not a bad idea to keep abreast of national news. However, agents should consider keeping most of their personal blog content local. It will also give you a higher ranking in the search engines for your area, draw more visitors to your site, and produce more leads.

When you get a new listing, write a blog about the listing area. Instead of identifying the features of the home in your blog, identify the features of the neighborhood and area. Talk about the local events and places to see in the area. Talk about the benefits of relocating in that area. Once you have completed your blog, add a simple link to the new listing as a featured property in that area, and at the bottom, add the verbiage, "PS:  Don't keep us a secret. Refer us to your family, friends, and co-workers!"

If possible, use a language switcher so the readers can switch between various languages. This option will enhance your services to other communities.

Keep your blogs positive. Potential buyers and seller really should not interpret anger in your blogs, they will not return. Nor will they see you as a potential agent. Would you hire an angry agent to represent you? Communicate disagreements in a calm manner on your blogs it works.

Finally, since so many people love widgets, create a neighborhood widget for your blogs. Take pictures of the neighborhood parks and recreational areas, popular malls, event areas, schools, etc. Give the viewers an insight to the neighborhood.

Regards,

Carolyn Nelson, NAR Certified Real Estate Assistant | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

I am always asked by agents that maintain their own blogs, "where to go to find content and how to find frequent content." Over the past year, blogging has hit the net by storm and the number of bloggers grows by the thousands every day. When I first join Active Rain, I think there were less than 2,000 bloggers on the site. Now the number has grown to 43,554. I joined in August 2006.

The best places I have found for blog content can come from individuals we work with on a daily basis or the sites we visit frequently. These individuals are filled with information and would love to have their content added to your blog.

Where to find topics?

1. Transaction Vendors - with the assistance of your transaction vendors, you can get at least one blog per month and a regular basis from your Title Company, home inspection company, pest Inspection Company, preferred lender, appraiser, bank contact, etc. You will receive at least five blogs for your site giving you a new blog at lease every six days.
2. Home Stagers - Team up with a home stager. Home stagers provide a lot of helpful home selling and buying ideas for seller and buyers. I am always looking for new decorating ideas. One or two blogs per month will benefit each of you.
3. Subscribe to other Blogs and Community Newsletters - Subscribe to other blogs and online newsletters on topics of interest. Often and article written on a topic will generate a fresh new review or generate new content for a new blog on the same topic. Avoid plagiarism and avoid blogging to criticize the information the other person discussed. It will make you look like the bully on the playground trying to attract attention. Your post should always respect the views of others even when you don't agree.
4. Ghost Bloggers - If you do not have time to blog or would like to have additional content added to your blog site, consider hiring a Ghost Blogger.
5. Company News - Blog about the latest company news. If you or your team have made great stride, achieved a goal, will host a seminar, have a new listing, etc., write about it.
6. Google News - I like to use Google News to find targeted content on topics that I am ghost blogging about for agents. I even subscribe to Google news feed in the specific areas of the agents.
7. Your Assistant - Involve your assistant in the writing process. Your assistant sees and hear a lot of information and can provide a lot of insight to what buyers and sellers would like to know.
8. Forums - Watch the forums for topics. What are others talking about, complementing, complaining about, etc.
9. Buyers and Sellers - What type of questions are they asking during your presentations, showings, and contract phase? Create your blogs based on those questions. One question asked and answered will often provide an answer to hundreds or thousands of buyers and sellers.
10. New Listing Area - Just picked up a new listing? Blog about the area surrounding the listing (Park and Recreation, Mall, community events, etc), and add a simple link about the listing in the blog. Don't use the entire blog to talk about the listing. That should be kept separate.
11. Yahoo News - Like Google news, subscribe to news in your target area.
12. Topix.net - Subscribe to Topix.net and receive update national and local news stories.

PS: See Bobby Carroll's comment below. He has included several great add-on resources. 

Of course, there are many other resources available online that will help you locate content for your blog and I am sure others will provide additional information.

Regards,

Carolyn Nelson, NAR Certified Real Estate Assistant | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | http://www.onlinerepa.com/ | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

It is very important that your home shows well. Buyers are aware that it cannot always be perfect. After all, you and your family must live there too. Develop a routine that will allow you to pick up and be prepared for show in a reasonable period without duress - a 45-minute countdown, for example.

This means that certain things must be done in advance. For example, beds should be made up first thing in the morning and dirty dishes placed in the dishwasher after use so that you don't need to rush around attending to those matters at the last moment. This way, you can prepare for each showing in an organized fashion.

Below is the list of what you should do before each showing:

• Pick Up Every Room - check counters, floors, halls and stairs. Straighten up or remove newspapers, magazines, mail, toys, clothing, recreation gears, snack glasses and dishes.
• Turn On All Lights - Even those in toilets and storage rooms. Electric lights have an amazing capability for creating an illusion of lightness, airiness and largeness.
• Open All Drapes, Shades and Blinds - Do all that you can to create a bright and light ambience.
• The Bedrooms - Make up the beds, neatly and attractively, early in the morning. This is a job you don't want to have to do when you learn that the buyers will be there within the hour.
• The Kitchen - Be sure all countertops are clear and "squeaky clean". Wipe down appliances. Be sure all dishes are in the dishwasher or cleaned and put away. The sink should be clear and clean.
• Remove all drawings and magnets from the face of the fridge.
• Clean Air - Keep air fresheners in toilets, bathrooms and kitchen. Be especially careful to keep kitchen odors fresh:  coffee brewing or a cinnamon coffee cake baking in the oven has a lasting, inviting effect.  Tape a stick of cinnamon over the exit vents.
• Music - Perhaps you cannot have something baking in the oven every time, but soft, pleasant background music may be very effective.
• Fireplace - A warm, cozy fire may be just the extra touch that turns the trick.
• Air Conditioning - If the weather is warm and sultry, have the air conditioning operating.
• The Bathrooms - Keep a set of fresh attractive towels in each bathroom that you can change instantly.
• The Entryway - It is the first and last impression that your buyers will have of your home. Make it a good one. Check it regularly for sharpness.

Other Helpful Tips

• Clean and repair windows
• Replace burned out lights (interior and exterior)
• Repair cracked plaster (interior and exterior)
• Cut lawn and shrubs and pick up litter
• Touch up chipped paint (interior and exterior)
• Repair gutters and eaves
• Oil squeaky doors (interior and exterior)
• Clean and tidy entrance

Carolyn Nelson, BSBM, NAR Certified REPA | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | www.OnlineREPA.com | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax:  866.590.2269

Avoid having to perform double entries of your transaction activities by exporting the activities from Transaction Point to your Outlook or Outlook Express using the iCalendar feature.

Instructions:

Step 1

1. Open Transaction Point
2. Select Calendar from the link on the upper right side
3. Select export
4. Select the iCalendar option
5. Click OK

Step 2

1. On the pop-up screen, select the option to download the file. If you have a pop-up blocker, you will not see this screen.
2. Choose where to save the file. Save the file to your desktop or the My Document folder.
3. Go to Outlook or Outlook Express
4. Select File from the upper left side of your screen and then the Import/Export option.
5. Select next and then browse for the file name on your desktop or the My Document folder.
6. Double click on the file name.

All activities and events listed in Transaction Point will appear in your Outlook or Outlook Express calendar. Now you don't have to log in each time to find out what task is next or what task has to be completed. Since most PDAs and Pocket PCs synchronize with the client mail system.  Any new activities that are added will appear after syncing.

Carolyn Nelson, BSBM, NAR Certified REPA | Carolyn@OnlineREPA.com | www.OnlineREPA.com | Bus:  877.717.4491 | Fax: 866.590.2269