I have been in business for 10 years and I have made a lot of contacts in regard to contractors, lawn services, excavators, glass installers, etc. It has been very valuable to my clients over the years as I have referred so many. I make sure I use each and every one of my contacts prior to referring them to my clients. Their work reflects on my judgment which I take very seriously. 

Before you refer a worker to your source of bread and butter, make sure you have experienced or someone you value has experienced the work of the contractor. I am amazed at how many talented people there are out there and how valuable it is to me and my clients to keep in touch with them. Not only do you maintain valuable friendships and contacts, you earn their respect and discounts which are forwarded onto you when needed. If by any chance you can't refer someone that is needed, nor can you find someone who is reliable through other sources, be honest with your client and let them know. You certainly don't want to be responsible for a job NOT well done. 

Also, give your contractors the respect by putting their name and service on your web site. This offers them recognition, future references for your clients and a Rolodex per say for anyone to refer back to. 

In this current buyers market, I have shifted my advertising to attract more buyers. At this point, I am busier than I have ever been. But no matter how slow or busy I may be, I have always found the truth to breed more business. There are a lot of homes on the market, small...big...old...new...contemporary....modern...traditional...etc. The buyers I work with seem to know what they want but veritably always pick something different than what they started out looking for. Here is an example...I recently worked with an out of state buyer that was looking for homes picking your traditional 4 bed 2 bath colonials. Over time, they all started to look alike. We found a home that was entirely different than what he was looking for and he fell in love with it. A modern, contemporary home located in an area that wasn't a valued as the others we were looking at. The home was over priced but according to him was just right. I made sure he understood that he understood that the owners who were local new the value, that the appraisal after an accepted offer probably wouldn't come in near the offer price and that we would either have to depend on the inspections to bring the offer down, or negotiate the price or even worse....walk. He loved the house so much he didn't care if it was over valued. I explained the area, the circumstances and the value according to others that make the difference in an accepted mortgage. I also made him aware that the home will not gain value as the others due to it's type. We happen to live in an are of new construction 4 bed 2 ba colonials which always seem to increase in value due to the new construction that is forever going on. Even though I could have lost the sale, I made sure the client was well aware of the circumstances, the location in regard to the surrounding area and the value as well as the circumstances that he may be facing. All did turn out well and he was very thankful for my honesty. We were able to negotiate the house $40k under asking price, close in 30 days and move in without a hitch. He's happy, Im happy he is knowledgeable and educated. 

If there is anything that I could ever stress, it is to be blunt, to the point and honest. Don't sugar coat anything as you will truly loose in the long run.  

Asset Protection for Real Estate Investors   by Gerald Romine

The first 10 years of my real estate investing I ran my business as a sole proprietor because I really didn't know any better. Luckily, I survived with only minimal damages, but there comes a point when it is time to assess the best legal structure to use for real estate investing.

If you ask 10 experts you are likely to get 10 different opinions. With that in mind, I'll share my opinion and experience. Remember: free advice is always worth what you pay for it.

If you are a beginning investor, it's probably best to not worry about asset protection until you actually have a few assets to protect. Why spend time and money setting up a business entity and creating tax reporting requirements unless you need to? It's like buying full coverage auto insurance on a beat--up Gremlin...what's the point?

Once you have assets and something to protect, then it's time to set up your business structure. Question # 1: what is your net worth? Question # 2: do you have assets that are at risk? If the answer to either of those questions is, "Yes," then you need to take the next step.

Assuming you want to set up an entity for wholesaling properties, the most popular are an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation) or a C Corporation. There is much debate about which one is better, but I prefer the C Corporation because the first $50,000 is taxed at 15% and you can have a kick-butt employee welfare plan to write off many expenses. With an LLC, the income is passed through. If you start making money, you'll wish you could pay only 15% on some of it! Trust me on this one.

Why is the tax issue such a big deal?

Here's a simplified example. If you make $100K personally you are taxed on the full amount (35%) and have $65,000 left. Anything you buy for yourself comes from after-tax dollars. However, with a C Corporation if you could make the same $100K on paper, but have $50K in allowable expenses that you can write off. So you get taxed on that $50K at 15% and only have to pay $7,500 in taxes compared to $35,000 on your personal income.

What type of expenses can you write off in a C Corporation? It depends on how your Company is structured (see your accountant/attorney for details), but you can often write off basic expenses of things like a bed or even a swimming pool. You're thinking, "No way!" Let me explain how it's done. If you have an employee welfare plan that covers your medical expenses and your doctor gives you a prescription for aqua therapy, it's possible to write off the cost of the swimming pool. Yes, it's crazy, but I don't make the laws. Another more common example is a prescription for a new bed if you have a bad back. I have a "Sleep Number" bed myself, just like Paul Harvey. J.

A very wealthy man once told me "It's very hard for a C Corporation to make any money!" What he was trying to illustrate was that C Corporations can expense pretty much everything and look like there is little or no profit. You still can buy the same stuff, but you are taxed less if you structure things correctly.

More often then not, the keyword in the real estate industry is "sell" rather than "represent". Far too many brokers and agents appear to have an undeclared mission statement that reflects "salesmanship" rather than "representation" of Buyer or Seller. The California Department of Real Estate unwittingly reinforces this by identifying the licensee as a "Broker" or a "Salesperson". A "Salesperson" should be more properly identified as a "Broker Associate" or "Broker Affiliate" to more properly identify the responsibility inherent in this role.

First and foremost, ethically and legally, a real estate agent should be continuously aware of his fiduciary responsibility to the client. "Fiduciary" simply means handling funds on behalf of another. Integral to that definition is the element of trust which is as much a responsibility, as it is a privilege. Real estate breeds the most litigation of any industry, a fact that could very easily be a thing of the past if more agents would faithfully execute their fiduciary responsibility to their clients. It would reduce litigation significantly.

There is an adage in this industry that says, "20% of all agents make 80% of all sales". Is this a measure of success? Perhaps, but a better measure of success would be one that measures character and responsible representation.

 

This was written by William Greene which I think should be read by all, agents and clients. 

Women are the CPOs (Chief Buying Officers) of American households, and are rapidly gaining in gender status as the nation's top wealth holders.

According to Tom Peters and other experts monitoring the American marketplace, women now make 83 percent of all consumer buys, including 94 percent of home products, 89 percent of vacations, and 75 percent of all decisions regarding the purchase of the largest investment most of us will ever make -- a house.

As women have increased their earnings, built their own businesses, weathered divorces, widowhood, and taken charge of family bequests, they've grown more independent and wealthy. IRS data indicates women comprise 39 percent of the top wealth holders in the U.S., a category defined as adults with total assets of $625,000 or more. That adds up to some 2.5 million women with combined assets of $4.2 trillion. Significantly, 42 percent of the women in this group will be single or widowed, according to the IRS, by the year 2050.

The IRS notes that this will result in the transfer of an estimated $41 trillion from seniors to the next generation composed mainly of Baby Boomers. Since women tend to outlive men by an average of 5 to 7 years, according to the US Census Bureau, even more wealth will be concentrated in female hands.

But the newest wrinkle in female buying power is young, single women across the country who are fueling a new wave of home buying that is far ahead of their male counterparts. Evidence of this trend recently surfaced in a story in the New York Times that described a boom in the purchase of condos in Brooklyn by young, single women.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR), in a study released last month, reported that young women in the 25-34-age bracket bought 1.76 million homes in the period from July 2005 to June 2006, accounting for 22 percent of the market. That's up from 14 percent a decade ago. The number of single men buying homes stayed flat at 9 percent during the same period.

The median age of single women buying a home for the first time is 32, according to the NAR study. The median income for all single women buyers (including those who have owned before) is $47,300. Their median age is 42, a figure pushed higher by divorcees or widows.

Reasons for this buying trend -- according to various research experts and confirmed by my own experience in the real estate business -- include:

• Women are surpassing men in higher education degrees (According to the U.S. Department of Education, 57.4 percent of women enrolled in colleges eligible for federal student aid in 2003-4 compared to 42.6 percent of men.)
• Women are already successful in their chosen careers, and their earning power is higher than it's ever been. “Among 25-34-year olds -- key home-buying years,” says Peter Francese, a demographic trends analyst for Ogilvy & Mather in New York, “these women have good jobs and they make money.”
• Young women are more concerned these days about building an early nest egg and becoming financially independent in the event Mr. Right doesn't come along.

Equally important, in my opinion, is that women are also more willing to trust their instincts and “go for it” when they see a smart investment than they have in the past. A February 2004 study of 1,134 women by Prudential Financial reveals that one in three respondents finds herself more involved in financial decision-making than five years ago.

However, during my years in the real estate business, I've witnessed a behavior pattern in women that I find ironic and counterintuitive. Despite their increased education, discretionary purchasing power, and instinct for what constitutes a wise investment, many women -- particularly those in the 34 – 45 demographic -- feel compelled to discuss their buying decisions with men in their lives.

And women are frequently dissuaded from going ahead with what later proves to be a good investment, often to avoid bruising the ego of a spouse, Significant Other, or other influential men in their lives.

Nevertheless, I'm encouraged that women, led by their younger cohorts, are finally getting over that emotional bump in the road to profitable real estate investment and financial independence -- needing a male opinion. This is a refreshing sign in such an active real estate market filled with rich, new opportunities.

From my perspective, I believe we are about to enter a new wealth building period in the U.S. real estate market and, armed with growing financial power and a new independence, women will lead the way.