VanEd Newslog

Using Your Contact Manager to Help You Be the Best Thing to Happen to Your Clients

A few weeks ago, I invited folks to participate in a survey about your opinions on being an Exceptional Agent. Here's a link to the original invitation if you missed it - and it's not too late to chime in if you'd like.

The results of the survey were fascinating (to me anyway, I really like this stuff) - you can see the results yourself here.

You might notice that one of the biggest discrepancies between what you thought was a critical factor in being exceptional and how you (as a group) rated yourself was #9 - Having Systems in Place to Manage Current Listings and Contracts (Checklists and Follow-up). As a group, you rated the importance of this a 9.5, but as far how "exceptional" you feel YOU are was only a 6.8 - which was the biggest spread in the survey.

In other words, as a group, you know that keeping track of your listings and contracts is important, but you aren't necessarily happy with how well you're doing it. 

If this applies to you, please consider joining us next Tuesday morning, January 17th for a webinar about just that -  using a contact management system to implement buyer and seller checklists so that nothing slips through the cracks... and so your clients will think you are (and tell everyone they know that you are) the very best real estate agent on the planet.

Sound like a good use of an hour or so? You can register for the show here -->  Click Here To Register.

It starts at 11am (EST) and may go up to 90 minutes... and it's free! 

Hope to see you there!

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored multiple books and courses designed to teach agents her Sell with Soul philosophy that centers on four interrelated principles: Respect, Competence, Confidence and Enthusiasm.  The latest release of her book is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com or attend one of her free teleseminars on a variety of topics of interest to the real estate community.

VanEd Presents: Nebraska GRI 104: Finance course ~ and don't miss NRA Legislative Days

VanEd is proud to be the online home for the Nebraska REALTORS^®Association GRI: Graduate REALTOR^®Institute program. The Nebraska GRI 104: Finance course has been approved in Nebraska for 12 hours of Continuing Education Credit and is being offered online to Nebraska REALTORS^® for GRI, Graduate REALTOR^® Institute credit. This course covers all aspects of Real Estate Finance, including The Monetary System, Sources of Money, the Lending Process and Insurance. The course also contains a downloadable glossary of Finance Terminology.

Students will receive both CE and GRI credit for completing VanEd's online Continuing Education course in Nebraska. For details, visit the Nebraska Graduate REALTOR^® Institute program online by clicking the link below. 

And don't forget to register for the Nebraska REALTORS^® Association Legislative Days - set for January 24th - 25th in Lincoln, NE. More info and registration can be found online at http://www.nebraskarealtors.com.

Nebraska GRI 104: Finance course ~ available online

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Congrats and Remembrance: Alabama wins BCS but doesn't forget tragedy from last April

During and following the Alabama Crimson Tide's BCS Bowl win announcers and coaches reminded us of the tragedy that struck that and neighboring states this past Spring. We thought it appropriate to re-run the following letter that was issued by the Alabama Association of REALTORS®: RE: Alabama REALTOR® Disaster Relief Fund & how you can help.

Thank you for the emails, texts and telephone calls since Mother Nature’s fury last Wednesday altered Alabama’s population and landscape with awful energy.

Yes, we need help. This email is in response to your expressions of concern and inquiries about how to help us. The most experienced FEMA and National Weather Service personnel report that the number (118) of tornadoes in Alabama, paths on the ground (one 238 miles and varied from ½ to 1 full mile wide and another for 110 miles and a mile wide), wind speeds and overall violence of the cells was unprecedented. There just isn’t a way or time for me to tell you what has happened and what IS happening on the bright and sunny Saturday.

Here are a few staggering Alabama facts. 250 deaths and thousands missing (500 is one county), 5 million plus dead poultry (Alabama 3^rd largest producer), Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant shut down as all outside power lines ripped away and no power production for weeks, 19 large power cable towers lost, bodies being found miles from tornado paths, thousands of business and industries totally destroyed (5,731 homes and buildings totally destroyed in Tuscaloosa alone), etc.  Go to http://www.al.com/  from time to time to get a sense of conditions here. We have one REALTOR® death confirmed and reports of two missing. There are 23 members whose homes are totally destroyed and until cell and internet communications are restored we can’t know of others.

We have activated the Alabama REALTOR® Disaster Relief Fund and we can accept tax deductible donations from members and non-members wanting to help. The online link is http://www.alabamarealtors.com/ or mail checks to P. O. Box 4070, Montgomery, AL 36104. Please post anyone wanting to assist in person should go to http://www.servealabama.org/ as this is the official site where volunteers are given options to help where the need is the greatest. Help is needed.

Alabamians are volunteering in person and collecting essentials to ship to north Alabama. An event on this scale causes those of us untouched to take action. The spirit of people is beginning to give a glimpse of what is ahead – rebuild, recovery and come back better than ever. Thank you for your prayers for all those whose lives have suddenly changed.

Danny Cooper
Executive Vice President
Alabama Association of REALTORS®
Office: 334-262-3808   Fax: 334-263-9650

 Alabama Association of REALTORS®

 Disaster Relief Fund

 CLICK HERE to donate by credit card. To donate by check mail to:

 Alabama REALTOR^® Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 4070, Montgomery, AL 36103

This is a fully tax deductible contribution to the Alabama REALTOR® Disaster Relief Fund. To view pictures of the disaster areas, click HERE.

Open Houses – Inspiring Visitors to Want to Hear From You - A Real World Success Story

I think back to the very first open house I ever visited, before I was in possession of my own bright shiny real estate license. One Sunday afternoon, I was driving around a neighborhood in my new home city of Denver, pre-approval in hand for a loan up to $119,000. Oh, it was an exciting time.

I stopped in front of a house with a big OPEN HOUSE sandwich board prominently displayed on the sidewalk. Walked in, was greeted by a friendly real estate agent named Monica. Monica gave me a brochure and invited me to look around. I did. I liked what I saw. I expressed my enthusiasm to Monica, who smiled. She agreed that it was, indeed, a fine house, but unfortunately there were already multiple offers on it; she was just holding it open because she’d advertised the open house in the paper and didn’t want to be a no-show.

Well, bummer. I really liked the house.

“Well,” said Monica, “have you seen the one at 3943 Valley? It’s similar to this one, but has a second bath. There’s another nice home in this price range at 4401 Clay and it has a garage! And my office has a new listing coming up this week sometime that has…”

My eyes lit up. All was not lost? There were other houses as wonderful as this one? And this magical all-knowing creature could help me get one for myself?

Oh, yes, Monica assured me. There were indeed other wonderful houses and she would be absolutely delighted to help me get one for myself.

I excitedly offered my name and phone number to Monica without her even asking for them. I was happy to do so and she, of course, was happy to take them. She said she had to finish up her open house, but would contact me later with more information.

(Keep in mind this was before the era of online MLS listings, so I was truly dependent on Monica for that information. It’s different today, obviously, but the philosophy is the same)

I raced home and literally waited by the phone to hear from Monica. And, lo and behold, the phone rang! It was her! As promised!

Monica showed me several houses and I bought one fairly quickly. Over the next two years I bought three more, using Monica as my agent.

So, how did Monica get my precious contact information and, later, my loyal business (before I got my own real estate license, that is)? Did she coerce me into providing it with promises of lovely gift baskets or free market reports? Did she risk offending me with a request to sign in “for security purposes”?

None of the above.

She inspired me to give her my contact information because she had something I truly wanted. Information. Expertise. Access. And we hit it off well enough during our conversation for me to be able to envision myself working with her.

Your goal when prospecting at an open house is not to pry conversation and contact information from an unwilling visitor; it’s to inspire him or her to want to talk with you today and to take your phone calls in the future.

So, how do you do that? How do you inspire a perfect stranger to think of you as someone they’d like to hear from again?

Well, first, having a conversational familiarity with the immediate neighborhood is huge. Projecting a confident, yet casual air of being a neighborhood expert is probably the best way to turn open house visitors into buyer clients.

It also helps to have a reasonable familiarity with other similar neighborhoods to offer as alternatives to visitors if they find that this particular neighborhood is too expensive for their budget.

So, how do you 1) acquire this conversational familiarity with the immediate (and alternative) neighborhoods, and 2) casually and confidently demonstrate your expertise?

Acquiring and Communicating Your Expertise

The best way to learn a neighborhood is to be out in it. To know the inventory because you’ve seen it, smelled it, touched it. There’s a big difference between the knowledge you’ll gain by physically seeing, smelling and touching the inventory versus simply studying the facts and figures of the inventory on your MLS. Yes, even though the MLS listing probably includes interior and exterior photographs in the listing, nothing beats getting face to face, so to speak, with the real estate in your market.

Once you’ve acquired your market expertise, it’s pretty easy to communicate that expertise to an open house visitor.

Demonstrating your market expertise is best accomplished by simply talking about other houses and neighborhoods that compare favorably with the one you’re holding the open house in. Casually, without any hidden agenda; just as a professional real estate agent who knows the market and enjoys talking about it. If, as Monica did with me, you can offer up a few other homes or neighborhoods that might work for the visitor (without sounding hopeful, pushy or desperate!), they might just decide you’re The One for them!

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored multiple books and courses designed to teach agents her Sell with Soul philosophy that centers on four interrelated principles: Respect, Competence, Confidence and Enthusiasm.  The latest release of her book is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com or attend one of her free teleseminars on a variety of topics of interest to the real estate community.

Finance Friday: IRS Offers Top 10 Tax-Time Tips

At the start of each year we carefully watch for valuable tax information to share. For our first Finance Friday post of 2012 we share an article posted by the IRS on January 3rd.

IRS TAX TIP 2012-01, January 03, 2012

The income tax filing season has begun and important tax documents should be arriving in your mailbox. Even though your return is not due until April, you can make tax time easier on yourself with an early start. Here are the Internal Revenue Service’s top 10 tips to ensure a smooth tax-filing process.

1. Gather your records Round up any documents you’ll need when filing your taxes: receipts, canceled checks and other documents that support income or deductions you’re claiming on your return.

2. Be on the lookout W-2s and 1099s will be coming soon; you’ll need these to file your tax return.

3. Have a question? Use the Interactive Tax Assistant available on the IRS website to find answers to your tax questions about credits, deductions, general filing questions and more.

4. Use Free File Let Free File do the hard work for you with brand-name tax software or online fillable forms. It's available exclusively at www.irs.gov. Everyone can find an option to prepare their tax return and e-file it for free. If you made $57,000 or less, you qualify to use free tax software offered through a private-public partnership with manufacturers.　If you made more or are comfortable preparing your own tax return, there's Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic versions of IRS paper forms. Visit www.irs.gov/freefile to review your options.

5. Try IRS e-file IRS e-file is the　safe, easy and most common way to file a tax return.　Last year, 79 percent of taxpayers - 106 million people - used IRS e-file. Many tax preparers are now required to use e-file. If you owe taxes, you have payment options to file immediately and pay by the tax deadline. Best of all, the IRS issues refunds to 98 percent of electronic filers by direct deposit within 14 days, if there are no problems, and some may be issued in as few as 10 days.

6. Consider other filing options There are many options for filing your tax return. You can prepare it yourself or go to a tax preparer. You may be eligible for free face-to-face help at a volunteer site. Give yourself time to weigh all the options and find the one that best suits your needs.

7. Consider direct deposit If you elect to have your refund directly deposited into your bank account, you’ll receive it faster than a paper check in the mail.

8. Visit the official IRS website often The IRS website at www.irs.gov is a great place to find everything you need to file your tax return: forms, publications, tips, answers to frequently asked questions and updates on tax law changes.

9. Remember this number: 17 Check out IRS Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax, on the IRS website. It’s a comprehensive resource for taxpayers, highlighting everything you’ll need to know when filing your return.

10. Review! Review! Review! Don’t rush. We all make mistakes when we rush. Mistakes slow down the processing of your return. Be sure to double check all the Social Security numbers and math calculations on your return as these are the most common errors. Don’t panic! If you run into a problem, remember the IRS is here to help. Start with www.irs.gov.

Links:

Information on e-file

Forms and Publications

Real Estate Insurance 101

Insurance requirements have become such an integral part of the real estate and loan transaction, they must be included in any comprehensive discussion of real estate finance. Every purchase transaction will require title insurance, and every mortgage will require homeowners insurance. In some situations, lenders may also require flood insurance and/or mortgage insurance. Even purchasers of condominiums and townhouses will have other insurance options to consider.

Title insurance was devised to eliminate most of the problems created by abstract attorneys and the abstract opinion. Title insurers examine all the recorded documents pertaining to a specific property to produce an insurance policy that covers the purchaser, the lender, or both, from any defects to the title. Title insurance policies are now fairly uniform, and the insurance companies have the financial resources to defend and compensate their insured.

Owner's Policy

The owner’s policy insures a purchaser that the title to the property was transferred free of any defects, except those which are listed as exceptions. The settlement agent will obtain and record the documents required in the title commitment. In most real estate transactions, the seller will pay for the owner’s policy. The buyer pays for the lender’s policy and endorsements.

The owner’s policy is valid as long as the ownership of the property remains the same. Transferring ownership of the property to another ownership entity, such as a family trust or a spouse by a quit claim deed may void the title policy. Whenever possible, the owner should use a special warranty deed instead of a quit claim deed to facilitate changes in ownership. This will keep the title insurance intact.

Lender's Policy

Often referred to as a loan policy, this is issued to mortgage lenders to protect their interest. Typically, lenders require standardized forms be used. The lender’s policy will guarantee the validity of the loan documents, and will follow the assignment of the mortgage or deed of trust when the loan is transferred.

Homeowner’s Insurance

Also referred to as Hazard Insurance, homeowner’s insurance provides protection against damage to real estate improvements, damage to contents, and liability coverage. Every time a home is purchased with a mortgage, the lender requires the owner (borrower) to obtain property insurance as a condition of the loan closing. This insurance must be maintained until the home is paid off. This is a comprehensive policy that provides coverage for most available perils, including full replacement of improvements, liability, temporary living expenses, outbuildings, and contents. The contents coverage extends to losses away from the premises, such as in a car or storage unit. The insurance premiums are usually included as part of the mortgage payment (the ‘I’ in the PITI payment).

Flood Insurance

Prior to 1968, flood insurance was virtually unavailable through either the private sector, or the federal government. Until then, the Federal Government attempted to control coastal and river flooding through re-channeling of water, and using dams and levees to restrict the flow of water. The dams had the added benefit of producing hydroelectric power, and providing storage for irrigation. But the increasing cost of these projects, as well as the high cost of flood- related damage, influenced the government to explore offering flood insurance to reduce the disaster related payments. Typically, floods affect entire communities or towns, so the local leaders often looked to the federal government to provide disaster relief for the victims. The question debated by the Federal Government was whether they were better off using their limited funds to provide disaster assistance to flood victims, or to provide federally sponsored flood insurance coverage. Congress realized the government could not keep absorbing the escalating costs to taxpayers for flood disaster relief. This led Congress to establish the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968.

Lenders Mortgage Insurance

Mortgage Insurance is provided to enable lenders to close loans with small down payments. It is usually required when the down payment for a purchase is less than 20%. Mortgage insurance is strictly for the benefit of the lender. In the event of a default or foreclosure, the mortgage insurance company will pay the loss suffered by the lender. Typically, when properties are foreclosed on, the sale price at the auction is less than the current loan balance. This difference (along with the foreclosure costs) is the loss suffered by the Mortgage Insurance Company. Depending on the situation, the MI Company may attempt to recover this loss from the borrower. They can file for a deficiency judgment in court. Mortgage Insurance is provided by both government agencies (FHA) and private insurance companies.

Condominium insurance is a master policy that protects both the condominium association and each individual owner.

Credit Life Insurance

This is insurance that pays off the loan with the death of the borrower. This is basically Decreasing Term Life Insurance, where the benefit amount decreases at the same rate the principal balance of the loan decreases. The beneficiary is the lending institution. Very few mortgage lenders offer this type of insurance, and even less require it as a condition of the loan. However, deeds and deeds of trust are recorded and become public information. Many insurance companies ‘fish’ this information, and send notices to all listed borrowers. They will send out official looking documents trying to entice the owners to purchase insurance. These offers are not a good value and should be avoided.

Summary

Title insurance protects both the purchaser and the lender for hidden defects in the ownership of the real estate. There are many endorsements that provide the lender additional protection that are charged to the buyer. Even though the seller provides the buyer with clear title, it is the buyer’s responsibility to pay the necessary premium to have the lender included in the coverage when purchasing a property.

Landlords and tenants have special insurance needs that should be addressed. Owners of condominiums and townhouses need to purchase contents insurance.

Mortgage lenders do not require credit life insurance. Companies that promote this coverage are predatory companies that should be avoided.

Learn more about Insurance in Real Estate by taking the VanEd CE course on this topic. Click Here for more information.

IRS announces April 17th is deadline to file tax returns in 2012. Why?

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today opened the 2012 tax filing season by announcing that taxpayers have until April 17th, 2012 to file their tax returns. This is because April 15th falls on a Sunday and on Monday, April 16th, Washington D.C. celebrates Emancipation Day (we didn't know about it either, but you can learn more by clicking here).

The IRS encourages taxpayers to e-file as it is the best way to ensure accurate tax returns and get faster refunds. The IRS also announced a number of improvements to help make this tax season easy for taxpayers. This includes new navigation features and helpful information on IRS.gov and a new pilot program to allow taxpayers to use interactive video to get help with tax issues.

It's a New Year - Start Choosing the Perfect Prospecting Strategies for YOU

“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” - Buddha

Buddha said that back in the mid 5th century, B.C., and while he probably wasn’t talking about prospecting for real estate business, his words apply perfectly to prospecting for real estate business!

We real estate agents are bombarded with tips, tricks and strategies to prospect for business, much of which makes very little sense if we really think about it. We’re encouraged to assault others with sales pitches that would irritate the heck out of us if we were subjected to them. We’re taught to use cheesy scripts and pushy closing dialogues that we’d see coming a mile away. We’re told that we should Just Do It when it comes to prospecting, even if the “it” we’re supposed to be doing is something that makes our skin crawl, our eyes roll and our stomachs churn, all in the name of generating business.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to do anything to generate business that makes you feel uncomfortable, silly or even a little icky!

You CAN choose the methods you’ll use to build your business. As an adult human being, you can and should pick and choose among all the various strategies out there and select a few that suit you the best. The ones that suit YOU – wonderful, extraordinary, one-of-a-kind YOU who has unique strengths, talents, interests, goals and lifestyle!

And you know what else? You don’t have to try everything that’s suggested to you. If something doesn’t sound quite right to you – for whatever reason – you can and should reject the notion outright or tweak it until it does sound right and feel good.

When evaluating any prospecting activity to see if it’s right for you, just apply these three “tests” and see how the activity fares. If it fails any of the three, it’s not a good strategy for you. If it passes all three – you’ve just discovered a perfect prospecting strategy for YOU!

Is This Strategy One I’m Proud of and Excited about? Sometimes it seems we assume that by signing up for a program or hiring a coach, we’ll suddenly become a different person—someone who tomorrow will be excited and comfortable doing things that today seem kinda silly and cheesy. Even if our common sense is in there whispering to us that the approach we’re signing up for is wrong (for us), we insist on giving it a try, just in case we’re wrong about being wrong!

Bad plan. Before implementing any prospecting strategy, be darn sure that it’s something you’re jazzed up, revved up and fired up to do. And not because some superstar guru promised you the earth, moon and stars if you’ll just sign on the dotted line and turn over a chunk of your precious marketing budget. Only YOU can make the determination of whether you are proud of and excited about something; no one else can (or should) do that for you.

Is This a Strategy That Would Work on Me? If a particular strategy wouldn’t be effective with you, you probably won’t be able to pull it off with others. Never prospect for business using a strategy that you’d see right through. Show your prospects the respect that they are every bit as smart as you are and therefore deserve to be “prospected to” intelligently.

Does This Strategy Make Me Feel “Icky?” While feeling “icky” about a prospecting strategy goes along with doing things that wouldn’t work on you and that you aren’t proud of, it’s in a league all its own.

Feeling icky about any activity should be a clear indication that there’s something wrong with the activity (for you). But, often we’re told that that what we’re really feeling is fear, not ickiness. However, there’s a big difference between being reasonably nervous about something you haven’t done before and feeling icky about it. Your gut knows the difference. Trust it.

When you choose and use the right prospecting strategies for you, you’re proud of and excited about your prospecting efforts. You don’t feel like you have to apologize for, explain or defend them. You can’t wait to implement your latest approach and are looking forward to feedback from your audience. You have no real doubt that your audience will be receptive and responsive to your prospecting; in fact, you’re pretty sure they’ll get a kick out of it.

That’s how you know it’s right. When you’re excited about it. When you’re proud of it.

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored multiple books and courses designed to teach agents her Sell with Soul philosophy that centers on four interrelated principles: Respect, Competence, Confidence and Enthusiasm.  The latest release of her book is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com or attend one of her free teleseminars on a variety of topics of interest to the real estate community.

VanEd Presents: The 2012 Colorado CREC Annual Update Course ~ Available Online

 

The 2012 Colorado Real Estate Commission Annual Update Course for real estate brokers is online and available at VanEd. This year the DRE sought input from no only the education task force but also E&O Insurance providers (including RIC, the state's group policy carrier). This years course covers advertising on social media, new forms and contracts that real estate professionals must now use and a host of new position statements. Van Education Center is an approved provider with the Colorado Division of Real Estate and the course is live and available online today.

In any three-year license renewal cycle brokers need to take this course annually (3 times) to equal 12 hours of Update Course credit as part of the 24 hours of total education required.

This course is presented without modification as required by the Colorado Real Estate Commission (CREC). This will be the only CREC Annual Update course offered by the CREC in 2012. If necessary, updates will be made to this course during the year as required by law changes, regulatory changes or the CREC.

Students will also be introduced to various concepts, including:

• compliance issues for real estate brokers 
• general practice issues
• new and proposed regulations
• and of course the ever popular Consumer Tips section

Don't let the year slip away this time... take the CREC Annual Update Course early so that the information is most valuable. Log on today to learn this timely and valuable information and to prepare yourself for future success.    >>> Click Here for more information!   You can also find this course in our Real Estate License renewal packages for Colorado Brokers.

Have questions or comments?  Let us know! Send us an email at info@vaned.com 
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