VanEd - Real Estate School News

Prince Philip "Graduates" ~ Along with a few other notable people! Our Favorite Stories from May

All month issues surrounding both rulemaking and legislative issues were at the forefront of the real estate industry news cycle. We could hardly even glance at Instagram before we were drawn right back into the fray of policy and debate. 

Below are the top stories this month our staff spent time discussing. Whether we wanted to or........  well, you decide.

 

The ARELLO Mid-Year Meetings went off without a hitch. We were in attendance speaking with regulators from around the world on issues ranging from approvals to policies.  Many were focused on possible changes to the structure of the CFPB and tax reform issues. Also, look for coming changes in Washington's pre-license course outlines.

NAR holds Mid-Year... errr... Legislative Meetings in D.C.

Two years on and we still can't get the name of the Biannual Meeting correct. Oh well.

We posted the NAR 360 video before we saw the Internal News Service Special Report. We would have preferred that option first, and think you may as well. In the report, NAR discusses rule changes to MLS and IDX systems, as well as key issues surrounding UpStreamRE's new structure (and funding through 2018).  Our takeaway was the same as the only comment on the article - should they change the name to DownStreamRE? 

Click Here to Read the Internal News Service Special Report.

Click Here to watch the NAR 360 Video.

 

AdAge

Ad Age magazine reported on the new bill sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn called (ready for this?)  Balancing the Rights of Web Surfers Equally and Responsibility Act of 2017.    That's right.... it's the BROWSER Act.  After voting to remove the privacy rules for ISPs, it appears that this representative may have heard from constituents who wanted some protections put back in place.  Apparently, not without a catchy name for the Bill, which has not yet made it to a committee.

Click Here to read more in Ad Age.

 

Speaking of Bad Acts

In his piece in The Hill David Reiss, Professor of Law at the Brooklyn Law School, writes on the Financial Choice Act and how it will gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This will, in his words, "return us to the Wild West days of the early 2000s".  Hopefully, for Professor Reiss and the rest of us, legislators remember that history repeats itself before they make any changes that would allow predatory lending to again rise to the level of "commonplace".

Click Here to read more in The Hill.

 

Missouri GRI Launch Date Announced

One of our favorite things to do around here is announcing new programs, and this month was very cool!  The Missouri Association of REALTORS® and VanEd are proud to announce that the Missouri GRI program will launch online on June 1st, 2017!   

With the first wave of courses coming we will also be offering a 12-hour CE package that includes Core, Elective and Ethics renewal coursework.  All of us are very excited about the new program and the launch. You can learn more online below or contact us here for more information.

Learn More about the Missouri GRI Program by Clicking Here.

 

Real Estate Book of the Month

We currently have 7 books we are looking at right now, but this month we revisited Mark Leader's book, Mark of a Leader.  You can find his book online at LeadersChoice.com.  Back in 2008, this book became popular and now we are looking back at some of the insights. 

Learn more about when this was the book of the month in 2008 on Lisa Spaulding's Active Rain blog.

 

Graduation Announcements

Prince Philip declares he will retire from royal public duties at the age of 96 (quitter) and now we know more about what his "graduation" to private life will look like. The Sun reported this month that Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh has decided that he will no longer carry out public engagements from the autumn of this year. In taking this decision, The Duke has the full support of The Queen."   

We were pleased to hear that since we're just not settled on if the Queen can still order the Duke's head to be removed or not.  Learn more in this handy article from The Sun.  (Yep - Royal Watch is always on over here)

And then, in what is becoming an almost annual event, we here at VanEd are proud to announce another high school graduation. Congrats go out to Katarina, daughter of Managing Partner, on her recent accomplishment and graduation this month. We look forward to all your coming endeavors, and we even saved all those words of wisdom for the celebrities!

 

Q&A with Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn: Should a new agent focus on Buyers or Sellers?

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is a regular contributor to Realty Times and other real estate publications. This week she discusses "Listing to Last." 

 

Question: Everyone tells me that you have to “List to Last” and that I should focus my prospecting efforts on finding sellers instead of buyers. But I prefer working with buyers! Will I fail if I don’t have a lot of listings?

JA: NO! As a new agent, you’re probably better off working with buyers, actually! Why?

·You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.

·When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy.  An active buyer will keep you hopping.  An active listing? Not so much.

·You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.

·When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.

·You will learn your market!

The reason experienced agents advise you to focus on listings is because once you get busy, you can only handle so many buyers, since buyers are more time-consuming than listings. And this is true. One agent, working alone, can theoretically handle dozens of active listings, while it’s probably not practical to try to handle more than a half-dozen active buyers at a time.

(Another reason given for “Listing to Last” is that when you have listings, you will generate calls from buyers, although I don’t buy that one. There are plenty of sources for buyers outside of a For Sale sign in a yard.)

Anyway, do you have to List to Last? Probably not. As you gain confidence in yourself, you’ll likely want to handle both buyers and sellers (which is the topic of my next article!), but for now, know that if you’re "only" working with buyers, you’re doing just fine!

   Subscribe to "Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents" (a free newsletter)

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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is a regular contributor to Realty Times and other real estate publications. This week she discusses "Listing to Last." 

 

Question: Everyone tells me that you have to “List to Last” and that I should focus my prospecting efforts on finding sellers instead of buyers. But I prefer working with buyers! Will I fail if I don’t have a lot of listings?

JA: NO! As a new agent, you’re probably better off working with buyers, actually! Why?

·You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.

·When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy.  An active buyer will keep you hopping.  An active listing? Not so much.

·You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.

·When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.

·You will learn your market!

The reason experienced agents advise you to focus on listings is because once you get busy, you can only handle so many buyers, since buyers are more time-consuming than listings. And this is true. One agent, working alone, can theoretically handle dozens of active listings, while it’s probably not practical to try to handle more than a half-dozen active buyers at a time.

(Another reason given for “Listing to Last” is that when you have listings, you will generate calls from buyers, although I don’t buy that one. There are plenty of sources for buyers outside of a For Sale sign in a yard.)

Anyway, do you have to List to Last? Probably not. As you gain confidence in yourself, you’ll likely want to handle both buyers and sellers (which is the topic of my next article!), but for now, know that if you’re "only" working with buyers, you’re doing just fine!

   Subscribe to "Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents" (a free newsletter)

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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

Identity Crisis: How to Protect Yourself against Identity Theft - Part 2

Prior to becoming a safety adviser for the National Association of REALTORS® Andrew Wooten had offered his expertise and information to our students. We are re-posting from his series of articles in memoriam of his exceptional service to us and the industry, continuing today with part 2 of one of his most popular posts.

In part 1 of this two part series, we discussed some of the ways that scammers will steal your identity. This time let's take a look at some ways you can protect yourself.

Lock Down Your Information from identity theives 
How can you protect yourself? Make these identity-protecting steps a habit: 

• Memorize your Social Security number and all your passwords and PINs.

• Sign all your credit cards upon receipt and never loan your cards to anyone.

• Save all your credit card receipts and match them against your monthly bills.

• Report all lost or stolen credit cards immediately, and notify credit card companies and financial institutions in advance of any change in your address or phone numbers.

• Order your credit report annually and inspect it for anything suspicious.

• When you make Internet purchases, be sure it's through a secure website.

• When you complete a credit or loan application, you only need to list the last four digits of credit cards. This is enough information for creditors to match up what's on your credit report.

Most importantly, protect yourself by leaving your "identity" at home, not in your wallet or purse. You should never carry around your birth certificate, passport, PINs or Social Security card. If you carry blank checks, carry only as many as you need-and do not print your driver's license number or Social Security number on your checks. Keep back-up records of all your credit card information in a secure place at home. Finally, don't take out your wallet until you actually need it. Never put it down next to a cash register, on a bar or even on top of your car.

If you become aware of anyone using your identity, immediately notify the creditor involved, law enforcement authorities and the major credit bureaus.

In addition, be extremely wary of companies (even well-established, legitimate companies) that are selling monthly protection plans, there is no 100% guarantee! But, following these guidelines can help decrease the possibility of you becoming a victim of identity theft. For more information, contact S.A.F.E.

 

Guest author Andrew Wooten (August 19, 1962 - February 26, 2013) was the President of Safety Awareness Firearms Education (S.A.F.E.), and had been in the safety and security industry for the past twenty-six years. His platform successes led him to the creation of Crime Awareness Prevention Seminars (C.A.P.S.). He is a recognized expert in safety and security and speaks to thousands of professionals every year. You can find out more online at http://www.justbesafe.com.

Did you know VanEd also offers the course "Stolen Identity from A-Z"? It's one of the courses in our non-credit Professional Developement Series. Those can be found online by clicking here.

VanEd Presents: Nebraska GRI 105: Real Estate Investment and Management ~ Now Available Online!

VanEd is proud to be the online home for the Nebraska REALTORS^®Association GRI: Graduate REALTOR^®Institute program. The Nebraska GRI 105: Real Estate Investment and Management is being offered online to Nebraska REALTORS^® for 15 hours of GRI, Graduate REALTOR^® Institute credit. This course covers all aspects of Real Estate Investment including comparing investment properties, understanding profit and risk potential, and analyzing individual investment opportunities. The course also discusses tax and management issues in investment real estate.

Topics covered in this new GRI course include:

• explaining the basic factors affecting investment in real property
• description of tax liabilities commonly associated with investment property
• analyzing techniques used to determine quality investments
• how to assist an investor client in understanding financing options for investment property

Students will receive GRI credit for completing VanEd's online course in Nebraska. For details, visit the Nebraska Graduate REALTOR^® Institute program online by clicking here. 

And don't forget to register for the Nebraska REALTORS^® Association 95th Annual Conference and Expo ~ Get in the Game ~ the 95th Annual Convention & Exhibition. This years conference will be held April 2nd - 4th at the Embassy Suites Hotel in La Vista, NE. Don't miss out on one of the great annual conferences anywhere. More online at http://www.nebraskarealtors.com/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3494

FBI Annual Report on Mortgage Fraud

The number of pending investgations into cases of suspected mortgage fraud increased by 12% last year over 2009 numbers, according to the FBI's recently released annual report on mortgage fraud.

The report also notes that data collected from Core Logic indicates that more than $10 billion in total loans were closed last year where fraudulent application data is suspected of being used.

The report, just like last year's, concludes that mortgage fraud remains widespread due to the depressed housing market and overall economy. The most common fraud schemes involve the falsification of application data used to qualify borrowers, and inflated appraisals used to increase prices.

The FBI report says that mortgage fraud remains prevelent due to the potential for high profits and the low risk of being caught. They also point out that licensed brokers, loan officers, appraisers and real estate professionals in many cases use their knowledge of the system to find vulnerable areas where they themselves can commit the fraud.

To learn more, take VanEd's recently updated Mortgage Fraud course online anytime!

Q&A with Jennifer Allan - "Should a New Real Estate Agent Focus on Buyers or Sellers?"

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is a regular contributor to Realty Times and other real estate publications. This week she discusses "Listing to Last."  

Question: Everyone tells me that you have to “List to Last” and that I should focus my prospecting efforts on finding sellers instead of buyers. But I prefer working with buyers! Will I fail if I don’t have a lot of listings?

JA: NO! As a new agent, you’re probably better off working with buyers, actually! Why?

· You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.

· When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy.  An active buyer will keep you hopping.  An active listing? Not so much.

· You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.

· When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.

· You will learn your market!

The reason experienced agents advise you to focus on listings is because once you get busy, you can only handle so many buyers, since buyers are more time-consuming than listings. And this is true. One agent, working alone, can theoretically handle dozens of active listings, while it’s probably not practical to try to handle more than a half-dozen active buyers at a time.

(Another reason given for “Listing to Last” is that when you have listings, you will generate calls from buyers, although I don’t buy that one. There are plenty of sources for buyers outside of a For Sale sign in a yard.)

Anyway, do you have to List to Last? Probably not. As you gain confidence in yourself, you’ll likely want to handle both buyers and sellers (which is the topic of my next article!), but for now, know that if you’re "only" working with buyers, you’re doing just fine!

   Subscribe to "Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents" (a free newsletter)

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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is a regular contributor to Realty Times and other real estate publications. This week she discusses "Listing to Last."  

Question: Everyone tells me that you have to “List to Last” and that I should focus my prospecting efforts on finding sellers instead of buyers. But I prefer working with buyers! Will I fail if I don’t have a lot of listings?

JA: NO! As a new agent, you’re probably better off working with buyers, actually! Why?

· You typically develop closer relationships with your buyers, thus increasing the potential for referrals.

· When you work with buyers, you work harder. And that's good? Oh yeah, that's good. When you're new, you need to stay busy.  An active buyer will keep you hopping.  An active listing? Not so much.

· You learn more about the overall home-buying process when you work with buyers. You're intimately involved in almost every step of the transaction, from showings to offers to inspections to loan approval. This knowledge will serve you well when you act as a listing agent.

· When working with buyers, if you're observant, you'll see most (but certainly not all) of what a listing agent does. You'll learn a lot about both sides of the deal, where when you list you don't see much of what the buyer agent is doing.

· You will learn your market!

The reason experienced agents advise you to focus on listings is because once you get busy, you can only handle so many buyers, since buyers are more time-consuming than listings. And this is true. One agent, working alone, can theoretically handle dozens of active listings, while it’s probably not practical to try to handle more than a half-dozen active buyers at a time.

(Another reason given for “Listing to Last” is that when you have listings, you will generate calls from buyers, although I don’t buy that one. There are plenty of sources for buyers outside of a For Sale sign in a yard.)

Anyway, do you have to List to Last? Probably not. As you gain confidence in yourself, you’ll likely want to handle both buyers and sellers (which is the topic of my next article!), but for now, know that if you’re "only" working with buyers, you’re doing just fine!

   Subscribe to "Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents" (a free newsletter)

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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

Earn your Nebraska Real Estate License online with VanEd

Van Education Center is proud to offer the course Real Estate Finance in Nebraska. This 30 hour course, combined with VanEd's Principles in Real Estate (30 hours), will meet the Salesperson education requirements in Nebraska. Both are included in the Nebraska Real Estate Salesperson Licensing package.

Package price includes all books & our popular "Getting Started and Staying on Track" course FREE

VanEd is the leader in Distance Education, including Pre-License education in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. VanEd also offers Continuing Education online. For more information on our Nebraska Pre-License education, visit us online at www.vaned.com.

The Nebraska Real Estate Licensing program has been online at VanEd for three years and is the most successful online real estate education available. See why the most successful people in real estate choose VanEd! Visit us online today at www.nebraskarealestatelicensing.com.

The Confident Rookie Series with Jennifer Allan - SECRET #2 - Practice with Your Printer!

Picking up from my last installment of the Confident Rookie Series about how important it for rookies to Master Their Systems before they need them; today I'll add just a little bit more to that project.

Practice with Your Printer. This may sound silly, but when you're writing an offer for a buyer, it's nerve-wracking if you can't get the printer to work. Seriously.

I wrote my very first offer back in 1996 at 6:00 pm on a Friday night in my Coldwell Banker office. I called my broker away from Happy Hour to help me. I'd had training on the contract software and was pretty comfy there, but had never actually printed a contract.

Using my own brand new contract software (registered under my name & all!), I created the contract with my broker's help, and then went to print it out. Oops.Great big DRAFT watermark across every page. Hmmmmmm. Tried again. Same thing. My buyer was sitting in the conference room waiting for me, but neither I nor my broker could figure out what was wrong. And, being Friday night, there wasn't much chance of finding any customer service at the software company.

I was a mess and felt like an idiot. I ended up re-writing the entire contract on pre-printed forms and life went on. Turns out that I needed some activation code to remove the DRAFT watermark.

But there are all sorts of things that can go wrong when printing from new software, aren't there? Especially if you're in a networked real estate office.

So, as you're practicing with your contract software, be sure to also practice printing out the contracts. Please don't hesitate to waste paper. If your software requires legal paper, be sure you know where it is and how to load it. If you have the option of either legal or letter, be sure you know how to select the one you want. Know how to "insert" or "remove" n/a's and such.

And... always have a back-up plan. Here's mine:

• Plan A:  Business as usual - use the regular office printer
• Plan B:  If that fails, try the other printer at the office (we have two)
• Plan C: If both of those fail, email the contract to the receptionist to print out
• Plan D: If I'm really crashing & burning, know where the pre-printed contracts are and write it up manually.

Again, I know this sounds trivial and even silly, but just wait until YOUR buyer is sitting in the conference room waiting to sign his offer and you can't produce anything for him to sign!

The Confident Rookie Series:

1. Know Your Systems
2. Practice with Your Printer
3. Preview, Preview, Preview
4. Drive Your Route Ahead of Time
5. Cheerfully Waste Your Time
6. Find Your Handyman
7. Let Your Seller Prospect Do Most of the Talking
8. Get Comfy with Your Commission
9. Admit that You're New
10. What to say when you don't know the answer

Stay tuned...

Subscribe to "The Daily Seduction: Tips & Inspirations to Generate Business from Your Sphere of Influence." (a free newsletter)

Guest Author Jennifer Allan 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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. Visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

Attention Appraisers - End of year deal on USPAP courses - deadline approaching!

Need USPAP?  Make it easy on yourself—our 7-hour USPAP course is online and on sale!  

Enroll now and receive the already discounted course -- only $99 for the 7-hour online course -- and we will INCLUDE a hardcopy of the 2008-2009 USPAP MANUAL!  The course can be done completely at your pace and a certificate will be available in your student account immediately upon completion.

 Best course, best price!  www.vaned.com  Find out why the most successful appraisers choose VanEd.

 CLICK HERE to select your state and sign up for USPAP today!  The 15 hour USPAP course is also available online for those who need it!

 Feel free to contact us with any questions at [email protected].  Note: The 2008-09 USPAP course will only be available until the end of this year! Stay on track with your education requirements! Complete the course today!

Q&A with Jennifer Allan - How to Compete with a Minimum Service Real Estate Company, Part II

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is also a regular contributor to Realty Times and other industry media outlets. 

“Dear Jennifer,

“I seem to be competing with flat-fee or minimum service agencies more and more these days. I understand the appeal of such arrangements to an equity-poor seller, but I’m having trouble explaining why a seller might want to consider a contingency-based agreement, even though on paper, it appears to cost significantly more.

When the seller says something along the lines of: ‘I'm sure you're worth your fee, but I simply can't afford you,’ how can I respond?”

JENNIFER’S RESPONSE:
First, as I discussed in an earlier Q&A, you should never argue with a seller about your commission or your value. Arguing makes you look insecure and somewhat desperate. And it doesn't work. So don't do that. Neither should you put down your competition - that will only subtly criticize the seller's judgment; after all, he chose to consider going to minimum service route.

But how about saying something like this?

"I hear ya and I understand. You have a tough decision to make. On one hand, you can pay this other company a much lower fee upfront and hopefully retain more of your equity. On the other hand, you can hire a full-service agent, whether it's me or someone else, and due to the increased exposure and marketing expertise, you might end up with even more of your equity. Either way, there's no guarantee that your house will sell for what you need it to. I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Do you have any questions for me that might help you in making that decision?"

The fact that you're sitting there in the seller's home means that he hasn't ruled out paying a full-service company. In fact, he probably wants full-service; he's just not convinced of its value. But if you first show him that you care about his situation and you trust his judgment, he'll probably give you the opportunity to persuade him.

Subscribe to "The Daily Seduction: Tips & Inspirations to Generate Business from Your Sphere of Influence." (a free newsletter)

Guest Author Jennifer Allan 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 Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.