My business partner and long time friend, Scott Carson, and I were sitting in Starbucks in the Domain - Austin, TX today when a young man commented on my behavior.

Scott was in the process of relaying an email that he had just received, and I got rowdy in 0 to 6 (LOL) seconds.  I realized the the exuberance resounding in my voice and noticed I had a small audience, one of which was this "random" gentleman in a UT sweat shirt and ball cap. 

I proceeded to apologize for my rambunctiousness, and he asked me not to apologize.  He explained that it was refreshing to see someone inspired and passionate about what they do.  He seemed disillusioned with the reality that not enough people are excited about their everyday professional life. 

All this to say... that I love my life.  I experience everyday struggles, but I value my time with my family.  Real estate has given me that opportunity and freedom even as a single mother.  So, if you are not excited about what you are doing, please find what lights your fire!

-Hamburguesa Pistola

Chapter 2 | The Longing from The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.  I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

I HAVE FAITH IN LONGING, wherever it finds me...

It is the voice of the parts of myself I have left behind in the deals I have tried to make with life, trying to trade pieces of my dreams for promises of safety...

It is not the being, no even the doing that exhausts.  It is the trying: trying to be present, to be awake, to hold the whole world, to be better, more self-aware, more conscious.  My hopes for us are real: I want to help create a world where the very idea of toxic waste would raise such a cry of anguish from the people as to make it unthinkable: where we would move, pulled by the heart, to care for the poor, the ill, the dying and despairing without debating where they are deserving, without fear of contamination, seeing ourselves in each person...

I want to quit running from my own tiredness.  I want to be willing and able to move only as fast as I am capable of moving while still remaining connected of the impulse to move from deep withing, stopping when I have lost that slender thread of desire and having the courage and faith to wait, in stillness, until I find it again...

"What are you longing for?"

This is what I ache for: intimacy with myself, others, and the world, intimacy that touches the sacred in all that is life.  This ache, this longing is the thread that guides me back through the labyrinth of compromises I have made, back to my soul's desires.  And sometimes I am afraid of my desires - afraid of that they will ask of me, what vision of myself or the world they will offer that may demand a sacrifice of my carefully cultivated way of seeing.  If we are never consumed by the transforming fire of our desires, we risk falling in love with the sweet ache of longing, the daydream of "what if..." or "some day..."

Chapter 2 | The Longing from The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Chapter 1 | Accepting the Invitation from The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

I want to live with deep intimacy every day of my life...

• The first warning, then, is also the first promise: if this book succeeds in actually taking you into the territory of "The Invitation," you will experience, not just read about, the ache, the sorry, the joy, the courage, the peace...
• This, then, leads to the second warning and promise: the consequences of moments of deep intimacy with yourself, another, of the world are completely unpredictable.
• The third warning holds yet another promise: no part of the journey is wasted.

"Are  you ready to accept the invitation?"

I can tell you that it is possible to feel pain without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it, to dance with joy and feel the ecstasy completely, to live with the failure, to see beauty, to stand in the center of the fire... 

that the courage to go deeper is found by letting you desire grow larger than you fear; that strength is found in your longing to live fully, your willingness to settle for nothing less... 

I am compelled by some deep hunger of the soul, driven by a desire that will not leave me alone, to live life to the fullest...

It means tasting each mouthful, feeling each breath, listening to each song, being awake and aware of each moment as it unfolds...

Life lived intimately may not be easier.  But it is fuller, richer, and more open to everything: the confusion and the insight, the excitement and the boredom, the shadow and the light...

Did I love well?  There are a thousand ways to love other people and the world-with out touch, our words, our silences, our work, our presence.  I want to love well.  This is my hunger.  I want to make love to the world by the way I live in it, by the way I am with myself and others every day.  So I seek to increase my ability to be with the truth in each moment, to be with what I know, the sweet and the bitter.  I want to stay aware of the vastness of what I do not know.  This what brings me to the journey.  I do not want to live any other way....

Chapter 1 | Accepting the Invitation from The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Original content posted at http://austinrealestateandloans.wordpress.com

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hit or fade it of fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty, even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and buried to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Original content posted at http://austinrealestateandloans.wordpress.com

6 Rules to Boost Your Negotiating Skills

As billionaire entrepreneur Karl Albrecht once put it, negotiation is about starting out with an ideal and ending up with a deal. Learn what you need to do to get buyers and sellers moving towards closing.

 By Rich Levin January 2010

Negotiating skills are often minimized or overlooked completely in training and coaching programs for real estate professionals. Yet negotiating is a dominant facet of a successful practitioner's business.

In a recent article, I offered the top 10 rules for successful negotiations aimed specifically at real estate pros who might have difficulty for five reasons:

1. Practitioners are in a difficult position as third-party negotiators.
2. They frequently have little or no formal training in negotiating.
3. Buyers and sellers are usually inexperienced at negotiation and often fearful and jaded toward it.
4. Buyers and sellers are usually negotiating over their largest and most important asset and investment.
5. Buyers and sellers are going through a life experience that can make them feel insecure.

I have some rules that will help you add confidence and strength to your negotiating skills in thorny situations. They will make your business and your life less stressful, more satisfying, and more productive.

Rule 1: At your presentations, prepare the seller or buyer for how the negotiations are going to go.

You might say something like:

"May I go over what happens when a buyer is interested in purchasing your home? The buyer and agent write an offer that they deliver to me that I then present to you. Here's a copy of an offer and the additional paperwork that goes with it. There are more items than just price that have to be negotiated. I like to prepare you for all of it so that you can be more comfortable and confident when we're actually negotiating with the buyer. May I take a moment and go over it with you?"

Then, as you review it, explain all the items that might be negotiated in your market. The language is similar for a buyer.

Rule 2: Prepare the seller or buyer for the worst case.

Describe the best-case and the worst-case scenarios. Suggest that their experience will be somewhere in the middle but probably closer to the best case because you have worked hard to help all parties feel like they have won while you're getting the most for them.

When you prepare your client this way, you create their expectation for how it will go. This gives them tremendous peace of mind and confidence in you. It makes them much calmer during what is probably a very stressful time for them.

Understand that if you don't prepare them, once the negotiations begin they may try to control how it will go. They become tense, stressed, less cooperative, and distrustful of you.

Rehearse the words you'll use to prepare them for the negotiation. You'll find your business runs more smoothly, and you'll bring far less stress into your own home.

Rule 3: Research, Prepare, and Plan.

Gain information from everyone and anyone you can, including your client, the other agent, the other party, tax records, and past multiple listing records.

Specifically, you want to get answers to the following questions:

• Who's moving? Why? Where? When do they have to be there?
• Have sellers had any offers?
• Have buyers seen many properties?
• How long have they been looking or on the market?

When getting this information, be sure to respect ethics and laws. Also, instruct your sellers and buyers to be careful of what they say about where they're moving and why to ensure that they don't put themselves at a negotiating disadvantage.

Rule 4: Gain the respect of all the parties with simple courtesy and integrity.

When people realize you keep your word, it gives you additional influence in the negotiation. This entails:

• Showing up when you say you will.
• Calling when you say you will.
• Doing what you say you will.

Pretty straightforward, right? Yet this level of integrity is uncommon. If you can follow through on your promises, it will set you apart in the marketplace.

Rule 5: Maintain objectivity.

Do not talk about one party to the other except to say they're interested in the property or that they're obviously interested in selling. Very often when negotiations break down or get difficult, it's because the practitioner has shared his or her own opinion or inappropriate information about the other party.

This can also happen if the buyer talks directly to the seller. Don't bring the buyer and seller together at inappropriate times. They may say something that's misinterpreted and offend one another somehow.

Rule 6: Write an offer that you believe will be accepted.

Going back and forth more than twice makes the buyer and seller crazy. Include everything you think is important to get the deal together. Prepare buyers and sellers for this in your initial presentation.

These rules are a basis on which you can work to boost your skills to become a master negotiator.

Good luck with your future negotiations!

http://www.austindomainproperties.com 

Splits:  $250 annual fee - Sales (90/10) and Leases (80/20)

Services Included:

•·         RELAY transaction mgmt membership ($99/yr) www.rebt.com

•·         Text message marketing service and signage ($360/yr) www.textmymls.com

•·         800 phone number on signs for lead rotation ($250/yr) www.gosolo.com

•·         800 efax number ($120/yr) www.fax.com

•·         Weekly Coaching & Mastermind meetings ($8,400/yr) www.maxavenue.com

•·         Unlimited support from your broker (PRICELESS)

•·         Dedicated Page on the Austin Domain Properties website www.austindomainproperties.com

•·         E&O Insurance (Business Risk Partners underwriting Lloyd's - $720/yr)

•·         For Sale Signs ($1,000 value)

Optional Services:

•·         Discounted automated feedback for your listings ($10/mo, $25/mo value) www.proagentsolutions.com

•·         Discounted CRM tool that synchs with Outlook ($15/mo, $40/mo value) www.proagentsolutions.com

•·         Personal Assistant through Open to Close to enable you to leverage your time and do more business (list to close, contract to close, short sale negotiation) www.myopentoclose.com

Preferred Vendors:

•·         Business Cards- www.123print.com

•·         Handyman- Gabriel Garcia 965-9090

•·         Signage-jonas@dirtcheapsigns.com

•·         Home Warranty-HWA (bwelhausen@hwahomewarranty.com)

•·         Inspector-Steve Jordan 484-8998

•·         Independence Title-Kelli Burns (kburns@independencetitle.com)

•·         Loan Officer-Nicole Lahti (Nicole@nicolelahti.com)

•·         Appraisal-Jason Garcia (Jason@digitalappraisalservices.com)

Short Sale Process: Script for the Homeowner

How to handle the short sale process of dealing with distressed sellers and setting up short sales in three (3) steps:

1.  Pop the Question
2.  Gather Information
3.  Set Up a Face-to-Face Meeting

Step #1:  Pop the Question

Your first questions in the short sale process are what determine what route you'll take with helping the homeowner solve the problem. The first questions should be:

"What would you like to see happen?"
"What if that plan doesn't work?"
"What are you willing to sacrifice to keep your home?"
"On a scale of 1-10 how bad do you want to keep your home?"

The short sale process begins here if they are interested in selling.  In most cases, homeowners who want to sell have either made up their minds that the property is no longer wanted and they simply wish to sell, or they have tried some of the more popular means if solving their problem by either attempting to refinance or selling through a real estate agent.  If, on the other hand, they want to keep the house, this is a good place to discuss whatever workout options they may have and help them explore those. Share with the homeowner that they have basically eight (8) options to handle the foreclosure.  They are:

·    Renegotiate the loan

·    Reinstate or redeem the loan

·    Give a deed in lieu of foreclosure to the lender

·    Seek a legal delay

·    File for bankruptcy

·    Sell the property

•    Do nothing

Other "workout programs" (designed to help the homeowner keep the property) are available but cost the homeowner money that they may not have.  For example they can renegotiate their loan but that costs money to get the loan current. If they want to hire an attorney and seek a legal delay, that also costs money.  If they have the time they can sell the property, but their debt swells with late charges and penalties.

At this point in the short sale process you can be assured you've demonstrated you know more about the foreclosure process than they can ever hope to know.  You've positioned yourself as a trusted adviser, and potentially a solution to the problem.  Now it's time to offer a creative solution.  Advantages to the short sale for the homeowner:

•·         Their credit is only damaged for 2 years instead of 7 years with a foreclosure.

•·         They are able to stay in their home "rent free" for an extended amount of time, waiting for the short sale process to take place.  This could take anywhere from 45 days to more than 12 months.  The homeowner is able to stash cash to get back on their feet once all of this is over.

•·         The stress of the situation is relieved.  With an experienced team backing them up, they no longer have to live everyday worrying about what they will be doing about their home. 

Step #2:  Information Gathering

After you determine that the homeowner wishes to dispose of the property, it's time to get the necessary information to begin the short sale process.  It begins with the simple question:  "Will you be willing to sell the property for what you owe?" If the answer is yes, you keep going. If the answer is no, ask these questions in this order:

·    How much above what you owe will you sell for? (Don't be worried about unrealistic numbers. Just accept their number and move on. You won't be able to tell if it's in the ballpark until you've gathered more information).

·    What will the house appraise for?

·    What repairs does the house need?

·    How many payments are you behind?

·    What's your interest rate?

·    How much are your monthly payments?

·    Who's your lender?

·    How old is it?

·    How long have you lived there?

·    Have you made any repairs or updates to the house since you moved into it? (If they've lived there a long time then the answer to repairs is going to be yes, even if they stated no).

·    Square footage?

·    Does it have a garage?

·    Does it have a basement?

·    Size of the lot?

·    Is the house currently vacant? If not, how soon will you be moving?

·    Is the insurance up to date or do you have force placed insurance? (Force placed insurance is placed on the property when the homeowner fails to keep it insured. The lender will then put insurance on it and that insurance is typically two to three times higher than if we got it ourselves).

·    Is it listed? Can the listing be canceled? How long have you had the listing?

·    When is your foreclosure date?

·    Why did you call me? What are your needs? What are you looking to do?

Once you get all of this information, then you set an appointment date and time to go see them.  Your purpose on that visit will be to convince them of the good sense of giving you their headache and just leaving the mess behind for you to clean up.  In other words you'll get them to complete some paperwork including deeding the house to you, giving you written permission to talk to the lender and commencing the short sale procedure.

Step #3:  Have a face-to-face meeting

As you know, nothing in real estate is done on a handshake.  If this short sale process is going to happen you'll need to get some paperwork signed.  That's the purpose of a face-to-face meeting.

It should be self-evident that putting together all this paper work and getting the proper signatures will require the cooperation of the homeowner.  So this first meeting is vital in assessing and establishing that cooperative relationship. Having a plan in mind for this meeting is important.

We are living proof that it does.  This is a service that we offer to our clients as part of the "list to close" package.  Our goal is to make Realtors more efficient and productive!

Features of text message marketing service- BENEFITS TO THE SELLER

•1)    They get more exposure to the home because realtor is getting the leads to at least walk through the house.  We all Know that the more people that see the house, the faster they will sell the house and the more they will get for it. 

•2)    They get a Realtor with a leg up on technology, the best.  Prospective buyers are actually tracked where they couldn't possibly be with flyers that are grabbed with no phone call to the listing agent.  The Realtor can use in conjunction with the flyer by putting text instructions on the flyer if the seller insists on paper fliers as well. 

•3)    The homeowner and the Realtor can even add the text instructions to their email signature all other personal info to get more hits.

   Instant property Information and pictures
sent to Your buyer's cell phone!
**Call capture technology**

The Powerful Little Lead-Boosting Tool I Bet Nobody Has Ever Told You About

What kind of tool am I talking about?

It's a tool that will allow you to never again wonder how to get all the leads you need (and get them in the least expensive way possible)...track every penny spent on advertising...warm up your prospects before you even talk to them...and even allow you to make an immediate profit in less than 30 days.

You might even work less. A lot less. Live a balanced life and have a successful real estate career.

The Secret to Positioning Yourself in the High Income Zone

After working with agents for nearly ten years, I've found that most agents do work hard. They work very hard-in fact, too hard.

But rarely do agents position themselves to be in the 'high-income zone.' Winners stay ahead of their competitors. Listings are competitive. Sellers want to know what you can do to sale their home faster than the other real estate agents. When a new listing tool is available for your seller's property the sellers want it. Staying ahead of your competition is the key to success!

How do you do that?

By using technology that reaches prospects FIRST-before your competition. Then, once you've reached them, use a little clever psychology to compel those prospects to respond.

In the process two things happen.

First, by reaching the prospect first, you gain a 3 out of 4 advantage over your competition automatically. See, according to a recent NAR survey, 74% of prospects do business with the first agent who contacts them. So it's a clear advantage for you to be the first agent a prospect talks to...agreed?

Then second, it completely eliminates any Do-Not-Call list issues. When a prospect calls you, you can call them back as many times as you like within the next 90 days, regardless of whether they're on the national Do-Not-Call list or not.

So you kill two birds with one stone. It's a powerful one-two punch.

What's the key to delivering that one-two punch?

ANSWER: By shifting all of your marketing to "Instant property information and property pictures" offer. (This is the psychological part.) Instant home information and pictures of property delivered to their cell phone. This is also stored on the cell phone, with your contact information.

Features of text messaging service for listings- BENEFITS TO THE REALTOR

Where else can you invest 10-15 hours and earn $4,000 to $6,000 or more?

A recent study showed the average listing took just over 10 hours of actual time spent with client from point of contact to closing-for buyers it was a little over 15 hours.

Work smarter not harder.

So many real estate agents market for sale by owners and spend THOUSANDS on print advertising. The industry is overwhelmed with competition duplicating efforts. Every minute you spend "prospecting" you could be making three to five times as much money with about 1/100th the stress! Prospecting is the biggest, most painful, least profitable, burn-yourself-out task each of you have done! That's why there are so many real estate casualties. The turn-over rate for new agents in real estate is over 50% per year! Work smarter not harder. No more getting phone calls from your seller asking where their flyers went, who called on their house, and when you're coming out to refill l the boxes! And the Realtor is "going green"! 

Stay ahead of your competitors. Chances are if you are reading this your competition is too. Get to the buyers first with instant text messaging. You will get a copy of the cell phone caller id and they will receive a description of the property, pictures and your contact information.

Sell More Homes Faster

Can you imagine how many buyers will want more property information and to see more pictures as they flip through a local real-estate magazine?

•1.  Sign up and register your property listings online.

•2.  Type in up to 160 characters description of your property.

•3.  Upload your pictures ( not all carriers will support pictures)

•4.  Add the Text code to your listing sign and on your print advertising too. Now you will receive email notifications of the caller id of each text sent to an interested homebuyer.

Now the buyer may access listings the same way they do on the broker's website or MLS, but now the home buyer is mobile. Buyers can drive neighborhoods and shop for homes from their car or while they stand in front of any home for sale.

Don't forget the value of using text messging service with your print advertisements too.

Buyers send a text message to text messaging service with a property code. Within seconds, the search results are sent to the consumer's cell phone along with the property details including address, price, beds and baths.

Now you can...Convert More Leads with legitimate phone numbers!

Keep a Personal Touch Online

Social Networking Tips for Authors

By L. Drew Gerber

Have you ever had someone tell you they were slammed with work, only to find their Facebook page full of frequent frivolous activity?

Or maybe you have been surprised by a rude, off-the-cuff remark on Twitter?

Social networking offers boundless potential for authors and writers to promote their works to a wide audience online. Just remember to avoid some common etiquette pitfalls.

Keeping a personalized touch makes all the difference. Let the Golden Rule govern your behavior online and treat people and situations as you would face to face:

Share - Provide valuable information that people can use. When I am networking online, I offer great content for free, whether it be seminars, newsletters or even articles that I find that would be interesting for the community.

Don't just promote yourself - Engage with people online just as you would if you were building a business relationship in person. If someone comes in and all they want to do is promote, promote, promote, that approach is likely to go nowhere.

Be polite - People have a tendency to say things online they would never say face to face. I have seen instances where people on Twitter have a personal beef or a problem with a person and tweet it out publicly. Don't say anything you would be embarrassed for your loved ones to read.

Don't lower yourself - With electronic communication, whether email or social networking, there is no way to read facial expressions or body language. If there is a question about a person's intentions, give them the benefit of the doubt rather than calling them out for being rude.

Be responsible - Not only for what you say, but for your time and your image. It will hurt your credibility if you tell people how busy you are and they see you taking those "Who am I?" and "5 Favorite" quizzes on Facebook everyday. When you are online you should assume everyone is watching and behave accordingly.

Don't butt in - If you are participating in an online discussion, let other people have a chance to share their ideas and perspectives. Wait your turn and you will get your chance.

Have fun and be creative - Think of ways you can share information about your article, book, writing service or yourself that are fun and make people want to follow you.

These tips work because social networking is all about building community. Just like in the community you live in offline, the people who have credibility online who are those who engage others and provide value for the community.

IRS Balm for Short Sales of Homes by Julian Block

Congress continues to make changes in the tax code in response to the housing crisis. A key change helps millions of homesellers who owe more on their mortgages than their dwellings are worth. These sellers have negative equity - a condition known colloquially as being upside down or underwater. Legislation that went on the books at the start of 2007 significantly benefits some upside downers and does absolutely nothing for others.

This is how the break works. Suppose Sela Sellers disposes of her residence in a lender-okayed short sale that erases the unpaid part of her mortgage. Or suppose the lending company forecloses on the dwelling, subsequently sells it and cancels a portion of her debt. Generally, the tax code calls for Sela to report partially or entirely forgiven amounts on her 1040 form. Not any more. The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 includes a provision that allows homesellers like Sela to exclude as much as $2,000,000 of canceled debt.

Sela excludes (sidesteps) taxes only if she satisfies two stipulations. First, the security for her mortgage is her principal residence, meaning the place she ordinarily lives most of the year. Second, she incurs the debt to buy, build or substantially improve her principal residence. There is no relief for Sela's home equity loans or cash-out refinancings, except to the extent that she uses the proceeds to make improvements. Other fine print prohibits relief if her lenders forgive debts on vacation homes and other second homes or rental properties.

Long-standing rules generally require debtors to report all forgiven debts on their 1040 forms, just the same as income from salaries or investments. The Internal Revenue Service taxes forgiven amounts at the rates for ordinary income from sources like salaries. Some forgiven debts sidestep taxes. The law specifies several carefully hedged exceptions. They include bankruptcies and insolvencies.

The exception introduced in 2007 benefits people whose debts are reduced or cancelled in arrangements that are known as loan modifications, foreclosures, deeds in lieu of foreclosure and short sales. This last category is the term for an owner who -- with lender approval -- sells for a net sales price (gross sales price minus legal fees, broker's commission and other costs) that is insufficient to cover all of the outstanding debt.

In tax lingo, the exclusion is for income from the discharge of QPRI, short for qualified principal residence indebtedness. This means mortgages taken out by owners to buy, build, or substantially improve their principal residences. And the residences are the securities for the debts.

There also is an exclusion for debt reduced through mortgage restructuring, as well as for debt used to refinance QPRI. Here, there is relief, but only up to the amount of the old mortgage principal, just before the refinancing.

Another constraint is that the exclusion does not help homeowners who took advantage of the run up in real estate prices to do "cash-out" refinancing, in which they did not use the funds for renovations of their primary residences. Instead, they used the funds to pay off credit card debts, tuition charges, medical expenses, or certain other expenditures.

Published: October 8, 2009