VanEd Newslog

Use the BEST Tool or System or Program, even if you have to duplicate your work!

Jump Back in Time just a couple of years with us;

I had made the executive decision to throw my Palm Pre Smart Phone out the window (okay, not literally, but I was tempted) and go back to having two devices - a simple LG flip phone (that WORKS) and a Blackberry Curve (that WORKS)!  

Yes, I had two mobile phone bills every month (although it turns out it was only about $10 more) and had to tote around two different devices everywhere I go, but OMG! I was seriously deliriously happy that I have a phone that WORKED (I could actually HEAR people talking and they could hear me - what a concept!) AND a mobile data device that did exactly what I wanted it to do, perfectly!

The Palm Pre, while a fancy-looking little piece of machinery, did neither. As a telephone, it was barely functional and the email/data functions didn't always work right. Not to mention the fact that I was already on my 5th replacement device in 7 months, which has been enormously time-consuming and frustrating. I can't help but wonder what will happen to all these Palm Pre's out there on the market when their one-year warranties run out and their owners are stuck in a two-year contract...

Anyway, the lesson I learned was that was sometimes One Size Doesn't Fit All. That it might be much more efficient to simply find the BEST tool or system or program for the job, that does the job excellently instead of trying to find one tool or system or program that does it all, but does it all mediocre-ly.

For example - Contact Management. Most contact management systems claim to do everything a busy real estate agent could possibly need them to do. Manage contacts, monitor dates & deadlines, send out cards and letters, send out email and eNewsletters, create drip campaigns, provide a website, set showings, request feedback, do the dishes...

But I'm guessing that many of these additional features (beyond simple contact management) function marginally well at best. Or not even. Which is going to create enormous frustration for the agent who just wants to get the jobs done... and done well.

Not to mention the frustration the poor agent has just trying to figure out which system: 1) fits into his budget; 2) syncs with his particular smart phone, email program and/or operating system; 3) is relatively easy to learn; 4) allows hassle-free import or export of data; 5) offers good customer service; 6) is robust enough to grow with his business, while 6) being relatively easy to learn (yep, that's an intentional repeat) and 7) fits into his budget (ditto).

I wish I could close out this article with firm recommendations on the Best Product for Each of Your Needs, but I'm still on the hunt myself. So, I'll just leave you with this... don't try to be so efficient with your tools and systems that you end up with tools and systems that don't do anything you need them to do!

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored five books and multiple 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 (Rewind): CFPB offers online tool that spotlights mortgage trends

The CFPB had previously issued the following notice regarding a new online mortgage information tool. We are including the notice in its entirety below in light of recent rule changes affected by the data found in the HMDA. 

CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU SPOTLIGHTS MORTGAGE TRENDS WITH NEW ONLINE TOOL

Interactive Heat Map and Graphs Make Local Mortgage Information More Accessible to the Public

Washington, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) launched an online tool to provide consumers with easy access to public mortgage information collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The tool enables greater transparency by helping inform people of
trends in their local mortgage markets.

“Just as the real estate motto ‘location, location, location’ was true before the recent financial crisis, it was true for the crisis. Every community was affected differently,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Our tool puts valuable information into the hands of the public in an accessible way, so they can understand what is happening in their local mortgage markets. A more transparent mortgage market will lead to a better marketplace and better outcomes for consumers.”

The CFPB’s online HMDA tool is available at: www.consumerfinance.gov/hmda

In 1975, Congress passed the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requiring most mortgage lenders to make loan information available to the public. In 2012, there were approximately 18.7 million HMDA records from 7,400 financial institutions. This information includes the majority of the country’s mortgage applications and mortgages made – known as loan “originations” – by banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies. The public information is important because it helps show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of their communities; it gives public
officials information that helps them make decisions and policies; and it sheds light on lending patterns that could be discriminatory.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act transferred HMDA rulemaking authority from the Federal Reserve Board to the CFPB on July 21, 2011. While the CFPB has the rulemaking authority, other federal banking regulators and the Department of Housing and Urban Development still share other authorities. Each year, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), comprised of the federal banking regulators, releases the full public HMDA data set to the public.

The CFPB tool being released today focuses on the number of mortgage applications and originations, in addition to loan purposes and loan types for 2010 through 2012. It looks specifically at first-lien, owner-occupied, one- to four- family and manufactured homes. Using the tool, the public can see
nationwide summaries or they can choose interactive features that allow them to isolate the information for metropolitan areas. The public can easily explore millions of data points with these user-friendly graphs and charts.

Trends and highlights from the information shown by the tool include:

•  Heat map shows that mortgage applications and originations were up: One way to measure the strength of a local mortgage market is to look at the number of mortgage applications and
  originations. The CFPB tool contains a nationwide heat map showing that applications and loan originations increased in most local mortgage markets in 2012. This tool allows users to drill down to see this information by metropolitan area. The data shows:
  • Nationwide, loans for home purchases increased by 13 percent from 2011 to 2012.
  • In most counties across the country, mortgage applications were down from 2010 to
    2011, but they rebounded in 2012.
  • Of the nearly 13 million applications in 2012 for home purchase loans, home improvement loans, and refinancing, more than 8 million resulted in loan originations.
  • The number of loan originations increased by about 2.4 million, or 39 percent, from
    2011 to 2012.

• Interactive graph shows that mortgage volume increased, driven by refinancing: A significant driver of the increased mortgage numbers in 2012 was a rise in the number of refinancings. An interactive graph in the CFPB tool, which breaks down the number of loans by
  purpose and by metropolitan area, shows:
  • The number of refinancing applications increased from 6.6 million in 2011 to 9.3
    million in 2012.
  • The number of refinance loan originations increased from 3.8 million in 2011 to 5.9
    million in 2012, representing a 54 percent increase.
  • Refinance origination activity continues to vary by location. For example, Cincinnati,
    Ohio experienced a 47 percent increase while Las Vegas, Nev. saw an increase of 205 percent.

• Interactive graph on loan type shows the prevalence of FHA and VA lending: Since the housing crash, homebuyers have been heavily reliant on mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). An interactive graph in the CFPB tool, which breaks down the number of loans by type and by
  metropolitan area, shows: 
  • In 2012, FHA- and VA-backed loans accounted for about 15 percent and 7 percent, respectively, of home purchase, refinance, and home improvement loans combined. In 2011, thes figures were 18 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
  • Areas with large numbers of military families often have a higher share of VA lending, as seen in metropolitan areas such as Gulfport, Miss., where 21 percent of loans were VA, and Fairbanks, Alaska, where 29 percent of loans were VA. 

The CFPB is committed to further enhancing the functionality of its online HMDA tool and plans to release additional features over time.

The FFIEC also publishes the full set of HMDA data today. For more information, go to: http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda.

VanEd Presents: Real Estate Marketing ~ Our Newest TREC Approved SAE Course

VanEd is proud to announce that our newest online course, Real Estate Marketing - No. 0511, is now approved for 30 hours of SAE credit for Texas REALTORS and Licensees.

This course covers all of the TREC required elements, including real estate professionalism and ethics, characteristics of successful salesperson, time management, psychology of marketing, listing procedures, advertising, negotiating and closing, financing, and the Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act.

To help prepare the student to understand and work with the  principles of marketing within the rules and regulations of the  profession, this course will endeavor to see that at the end of the  course the student will be able to:

• Identify rules relating to professionalism and ethics

• Discover the characteristics of the successful salesperson

• Recognize good time management practices

• Discover some aspects of the psychology of marketing

How do we decide what to do in any particular situation we encounter where a decision has to be made? What influences act upon us to help us decide on a course of action? Where did you get the guidelines or the inner voice that tells you which way to proceed?

In this course we will examine these important questions in order to create opportunities for students to demonstrate success in their own Real Estate Marketing.

 

Click Here to view the full course details or to register for this course today!

 

From the VanEd Mailbag: Interview the brokerage & other tips for new Real Estate Professionals

Dear VanEd: I am just about to finish my real estate pre-licensing course online and wanted to know if you have any tips on how to decide where I am going to hang my real estate license? There are lots of companies out there! -- Glen M.  

You are right, Glen, there are a ton of companies, many business models and an almost overwhelming number of ideas on what an Employing or Managing Broker should do for new licensees. Don't even get us started on best practices! And while we have some considerations that you may want to take into account, remember that your license is a commodity and you should be interviewing the brokerage firm and managing broker as much as they are interviewing you! 

Start by interviewing with at least three firms in your area, even if you think you already know where you are going to start your new career. This will give you ideas on commission rates, splits and current licensing fees as well as how the firm can help you get started. We suggest to new brokers that the following items should be considered when considering hanging their license at any brokerage. Employing/Managing brokers should be prepared to answer questions on these topics:

• The Company - Image, Location, Convenience, Environment, Size - is camaraderie important in your firm? In your local sales area?
• Franchise vs. non-franchise - fees associated
• Training and supervision provided
• Office Support - Clerical, equipment such as telephone system, voice mail, copier, fax, scanner, personal computer, access to the Internet, Board membership(s), personal assistant Off-Hours services - answering service, setting showings
• Broker Support - assistance in review & preparation of market analysis, listing presentation, drafting contracts, etc. vs. a competing/selling broker or buddy system? Team approach?
• Earnings/Commissions: Traditional splits, 100% concept and/or associated fees, desk fee and transaction costs, other creative programs
• What might the Agent's Personal Expenses be, including:
  • Licensing Fees
  • Association Memberships - Local, State, National Dues, MLS membership fees/books
  • Monthly computer access fees
  • Office supplies & equipment (Palm pilot, Day timer, organizer, computer, Top producer software, calculator, cell phone, etc.)
  • Marketing Materials (Farming, Promotion)
  • Business Stationary & Cards
  • Signs, Riders, Lock-boxes, Key-Pads
  • Training - Continuing Education, Graduate REALTOR® Institute programs, Seminars
  • Personal Appearance and Image
  • Vehicle
  • Other? _____

Don't exclude any question - remember, take charge of your interview and you will find the perfect fit when selecting a company to start your new career with.

Wondering what to do in the first few weeks? Go through the "Getting Started and Staying on Track" professional development course online. All VanEd pre-license students are given this course for free so that they can get off on the right foot! It's online in your new CE Account so you can see exactly what steps need to be taken in the first five weeks as a real estate professional.

Also, NAR put out a list of 10 Tips for new REALTORS® - check that out online here.   

Have questions or comments?  Let us know! Send us an email at info@vaned.com 
And don't forget to follow the VanEd NewsLog, fan, like and link with us online!

The most successful people in Real Estate use VanEd.  See what they say by clicking here.

 

The Confident Rookie Series: Secret #1 - Know your Systems

How comfy are you with your systems? Specifically, your MLS and your contract software? For me, if I'm not proficient with my tools of my trade, it's easy for me to shy away from using them. Well, in OUR trade, shying away from using the MLS or your contract software is pretty much fatal to your chances of bringing in a paycheck. KWIM?  

After two years away from the trenches, I re-activated my real estate license. The RE/MAX office I joined had a new fancy-schmantzy contract software program I'd never used before. Well, the heavens smiled on me and I got a buyer off my blog literally the first day back. We went out looking at houses and they found one they liked and wanted to make an offer on it.

YIPES! I had no idea how to even fire up the program, much less navigate through it, so... get this... I put them off with some stupid excuse until two days later so I could get a crash course on the software. But even with the crash course, I was a bit of a basket-case writing up the offer, from a technology perspective.

For a new agent, I imagine this would be doubly or triply unnerving! At least I'd actually gone through a purchase contract with a buyer a couple hundred times, so I wasn't nervous about that... but the actual technology of it just about shut me down.

So, the first step is admitting you have a problem. When you run an MLS search for a buyer, do you trust your results? When you're looking for comparables to price a home for a prospective seller, are you sure you found them all? No? Then practice practice practice. And get some training, either from the local MLS provider/board or from another agent in the office. Do 5 practice CMAs* on 5 office listings. Do a CMA on your own house. Search for homes Just Like Yours and go preview them.

If you use contract software (as opposed to handwriting your contracts), GET SOME TRAINING. These systems are not intuitive and you'll be a basket-case like I was if you're sitting down with a buyer to write an offer and can't figure out how to print it out. Or how to auto-populate the fields from contract to contract. These programs are typically pretty powerful and can do a lot of things for you... LEARN THEM.

Yeah, yeah, I know that Learning your Systems isn't nearly as sexy as learning how to prospect, but unless you're a master fake-it-til-you-make-it-er, those prospects you bring in won't be worth much to you without a decent knowledge of your systems.

Next time: Secret Two - Practice with Your Printer (more important than you might think!) 

Take a look at  "Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents" (free online) 

 

 

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored five books and multiple 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.

 

IRS Hosted Webinar: Spotlight on the Home Office Deduction

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service will hold a free webinar this week designed to help individuals, especially owners of home-based businesses,  see if they  qualify for the home office deduction.

The webinar, entitled Business Use of Your Home, will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 10 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern Time.  Topics include the new simplified  and regular methods for claiming the home office deduction, qualification requirements and types of eligible expenses.

This webinar may be particularly helpful for small business owners and their tax preparers who are planning ahead for tax-year 2014. To register or view archived versions of past webinars, visit the Webinars for Small Businesses page on IRS.gov.

IBHS Advises Home and Business Owners to Prepare for Disaster during National Preparedness Month

Tampa (Sept. 2, 2014) – The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) joins with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Ready Campaign to encourage home and business owners to take time during National Preparedness Month to reduce risk and be ready before natural disasters strike.

“This year’s theme: “Be Disaster Aware, Take Action to Prepare,” zeroes in on the importance of planning in advance of a natural disaster – whether it is a tornado, hurricane, earthquake or wildfire,” said Julie Rochman, IBHS CEO and president. “Being prepared can mean the difference between a quick recovery and being displaced indefinitely from a home or business. Take measures today to create a plan and share it with family and employees.”  

Now in its 11^th year, National Preparedness Month is a nationwide effort to increase awareness and encourage individuals and communities to prepare for emergencies. Before making a plan, it’s important to know which natural disasters and severe weather events affect certain areas of the country. Use IBHS’ easy-to-use ZIP code tool at DisasterSafety.org to learn which areas are at risk for tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfire, floods, or hailstorms. The ZIP code tool also offers links to free disaster preparedness resources for those specific risks.

Next, create a plan using free resources from the Ready Campaign. Owners of iPhone, iPad, or iTouch, can use the Know Your Plan app to create customized checklists and share them with family and friends.

Lastly, sign up for severe weather alerts and to stay informed during an emergency through the local government’s emergency management department.

 

# # #

 

About The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)

IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry. The organization works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other risks on residential and commercial property by conducting building science research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparedness practices.

What to do when clients say "This is our best offer - take it or leave it!"

This is Our Best Offer—Take it or Leave it!
By Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn

“The seller countered at $435,000 and said that’s his bottom line.”

Well, shucks. I guess the deal is done, then. The buyers said they won’t go above $415,000, so there’s no point in wasting any more time on this negotiation.

Uh, HUH?

Never, ever, ever believe that anything is anyone’s bottom line! Not saying that they’re lying or even that they didn’t mean it when they said, “this is as low (or high) as we’ll go.”

They probably weren’t lying and they probably did mean it.

But that doesn’t make it true!

No one knows what the bottom line is until they reach it. Not the listing agent, not the buyer’s agent, not even the buyer or seller. And chances are that any proclamations of a bottom line (or top offer) are thousands of dollars off from what the seller would be satisfied taking or the buyer satisfied paying.

As the representative of the buyer or seller in a negotiation, never, ever allow the negotiations to die on your side of the table. Always counter a “final” offer, even if you “know” the parties involved are as low (or high) as they’ll go.

Because you don’t know. And, frankly, neither do they.

On a related note, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an agent on a real estate reality show push her OWN client to accept an offer or counteroffer because “the other agent says this is their bottom line.” Nonsense!

Never, ever advise your buyer or seller client to pay any attention to such proclamations, and push them to accept a “final offer” just to save you the trouble of drafting up yet another counter-offer. If your buyer or seller wants to push a little harder, just write it up! I think you’ll be surprised (pleasantly) by how many times a “dead” deal will come together if you don’t accept anyone’s “final offer!”

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored five books and multiple 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.

Did You Know: September Is REALTOR® Safety Month

Over the course of the month VanEd will be reminding all REALTORS® about safety issues surrounding real estate professionals. We will be posting the information and videos that discuss safety and tips to help keep you, and your clients, safe when you are in the field.

Every day real estate professionals are at risk when working in the field, so awareness is critical. Make sure to listen to that litte voice inside yourself that tells you when something isn't right. And remember, you are your own best defense!

 

To get us started we suggest that you view the 8 minute video below to get ideas on how to be safe on the job. You can also find more information via the REALTOR.org website by clicking here where you will be able to access articles and information that can help you stay safe.  VanEd continues to post safety information here on our NewsLog as well, which can be accessed through a search or by clicking here.

 

Finance Friday: Housing Reports show slight increases across the country

RealTrends monthly housing report for showed 6.6 million new and existing unit housing sales, an increase over last year. Watch the video for the entire report.