Posts Tagged ‘mortgage’
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
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Quite often when getting started as a real estate agent many think that getting their real estate agency will produce a secure financial fortune when, in actuality, getting your certificate is the first leap in a very long process towards financial independence.
While real estate is an impassioned occupation there is a lot work ahead once you get your agency. Practically with all online or classroom real estate academy schooling courses there is little information relevant to real world experiences that you will wrestle with. While each state has specific requirements almost every real estate academy has the same basic practical knowledge. Really, there are scarce courses nationwide that take into consideration even the basics of how to fill out your state mandated residential purchase agreement. Why is it that the Department of Real Estate expects new real estate agents to be able to successfully complete a agreement when the forecastable situations aren’t even covered? It doesn’t have to be like that.
While each state has different contracts there is one legal purchase agreement that is the same throughout the US, no matter where you hang your license: the HUD-9548 contract agreement. And, that form seems to be the one that is the most disliked.
First, let me dispel a myth: HUD owned homes are not lower income housing. HUD homes are one to four unit housing that had an FHA insured loan. Simply put, HUD owned properties can be a single family residence, a duplex, triplex or quadplex. The loan maximums for these homes in Los Angeles County California are as follows: single family residence-$729,750, two-family-$934,200, three-family-$1,129,250, four-family-$1,403,400. So, you can see that a nice residence can be purchased in those price ranges. Many newly licensed agents and brokers turn away HUD home sales from their efforts and that is not a tactical decision. Many licensed agents are overlooking profitable sales that could expand their bottom line tremendously but simply don’t take advantage of these sales because they aren’t familiar with the HUD process. By simply marketing an additional three to six HUD homes per year one can increase their revenue immensely. Nationwide, no real estate academy will educate you through the HUD 9548 contract and teach how to competently execute the contract. Until now.
While the HUD 9548 contract is the same where ever you are the U.S.A. few realtors take the time to learn how to properly execute these contracts because many are focused on short-sales or bank owned REO’s. Never again make that mistake and exclude this opportunity of a life time.
More about how to be a real estate agent, visit our site for a real estate tutorialtoday.
Tags: customer service, entrepreneurs, ethics, finance, home based business, insurance, investing, leasing, lending, Loans, mortgage, property insurance, public relations, real estate, sales
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
Are you stuck in the rut of having an office phone, cell phone, a fax line and a cell phone? Well, the days of having a home phone are going by the wayside and becoming an extinct dinosaur. And, not far behind that is the traditional office fax line and office phone.
When I started in real estate investing I worked for a guy that refused to give up his fax machine. I would walk in his office and see fax paper all over the place. He would constantly be looking for a document someone had sent him. I never got that guy moved in the “the real world” and he is probably still using a 1985 fax machine to this day.
Let’s fact it; we are all on our cell phones these days and rarely are they more than 3-5 feet away from us. So, why not just combine all of your voice and fax communication in to one device? It is here and has been for years unless you’ve been hiding under a rock.
We’ve been using Ringcentral for well over two years now. Initially, the dashboard was a bit confusing and frustrating. However, once we over came the initial learning curve we were well on our way. Their customer service is excellent. When I have called them I have received an email or return phone call within the hour.
There are a lot of cloud based business phone systems out there but we have only used Ringcentral and have never had a problem with their service.
If you don’t know what e-Voice / Cloud phone systems are then you definitely need to check RC out. There are many features with RC but the one that I like the best is that they send an email every time someone calls and also when someone leaves a message. So, you get two notifications via email when some calls. Good to have when often times some buyers are hesitant to leave a message. We’ve picked up a couple extra sales by calling back the numbers that didn’t leave a message. Good to have.
Also, you can set up what we call “Round Robin”. From within the RC dashboard you can have the service rotate the calls to different agents so that no one person gets all the great leads. And, that also eliminates the need to have a receptionist answer your phone. You basically just put it on round robin and, let’s say if you have 6 agents, if one is busy and doesn’t answer it just rolls over to the next person. And, you can set it for how many times it rings to each person before rolling over to the next.
For the tech-savvy agent you can also embed a button in your email that will allow a potential buyer to click on that button and it will dial you up direct from their computer or cell. Pretty cool feature. We don’t use that feature any longer as we were getting overwhelmed with calls. Now we just include our number on all of our mailers and advertisements. But, you can configure that within your outgoing email provider.
They also offer fax lines as well and their plans vary according to your office size/number of numbers/agents/etc. Every feature that you can imagine is offer for the mobile device as well.
Since we have streamlines our operation with E-voice/Cloud based phone communication we have noticed an upswing in productivity.
Read more e-voice-review-ringcentral. Stop by Len Dietrich’s site where you can find out all about evoice review ringcentral and what it can do for you.
Tags: cloud computing, entrepreneurs, finance, insurance, leasing, Loans, mortgage, online business, online marketing, property insurance, real estate, small business, VOIP
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Sunday, November 20th, 2011
Three good books on real estate are some of the most common ones but for unrelated, various reasons. Most books on real estate only give anecdotal information and, with the laws varying from state to state, can be difficult to apply to your career.
What I decided to do was to grab a few of these books, both hard cover and also on audio book. I picked up one from Gary Keller (of Keller Williams) Donald Trump & Dean Graziosi. I enjoyed them all but for different reasons.
First off, Gary Keller offers the most practical approach to any real estate agent getting started. He’s one of the most popular real estate agents on the planet and has, in my opinion, one of the most successful brokerages in the US. All the information he provided in his book was applicable to me when I was getting started. His book is really for someone that maybe is a part of a small mom and pop office where there isn’t much training. After one get’s their RE license then few offices offer ongoing training. For the most part, you will have to go to your local board or MLS to obtain any relevant on going training. However, Gary’s books are good and, like I said, give you valuable insight for getting started. I recommend his “The Millionare Real Estate Agent: It’s not about the money…it’s about being the best you can be!”
My next two favorites are Donald Trump and Dean Graziosi. Now, these are two polarzing individuals. Either you love them or you hate them. I happen to like them both.
For The Donald, I recommend “Trump Strategies For Real Estate”. Now, if you are in a small market you won’t find any real applicable strategies as most of the insight is from DT’s experiences in NYC. The one thing that does irritate me about his books is that, from what I can tell, he doesn’t put pen to paper and write the book. He co-writes with another author that he trusts. Now, nothing wrong with that but I want to hear the author talking to me. There was some valuable information in the book that I read and the insight gained from made me think in ways I had never thought of before. The way he structured and negotiated some of those deals is mind boggling. A very interesting read for sure.
Now, Dean is an interesting cat. If you look him up on line that guy is selling everything from cars to real estate. I like that he has a history selling informational products. One interesting thing I learned from him was that he shared with me how to buy tax liens. A very interesting concept and one that is easy to implement. Well worth reading.
All in all, none of these books gave a step by step process to getting started as a real estate agent and, honestly, I don’t believe any book on the market will give you those tips and tricks encompassed in one book. However, I have found that they are practical in the advice offered. If I had to pick the best of the three I would recommened Gary’s books as a first read. You really can’t go wrong. Especially for the agent that is looking to brush up on some fresh concepts or the new agent looking to get started. The Donald and Dean are good for the real estate investor looking for additional strategies. I enjoyed those for different reasons that I applied to my real estate investing career.
Looking to find the best insight on getting started as a real estate agent, then visit www.gettingstartedasarealestateagent.com to find advice on best books on real estate, realtor apps, outsourcing and more.
Tags: book reviews, entrepreneurs, ethics, finance, home based business, insurance, investing, leasing, lending, Loans, mortgage, property insurance, public relations, real estate, sales
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
A household is a place where we rest and enjoy the calmness within. In order to have a good rest our homes should be free from accident that results because of negligence. This is only possible by ensuring safety at home.
One common accident in our homes is that of falling down, this can be caused by dimly lit pass ways, or even falling off the stairs. This kind of accident can be disastrous in that it cause broken arms and legs and sometimes the injuries can be fatal. This occurs to both children and older people in the house. To prevent this all places should be given enough lighting especially at night.
Another most common accident in the house is fire related, these are caused by electrical faults. Fire is a good master when handled with care but it can cause destruction. All electrical appliances used in the homes should be switched off after use, again if there is any appliance is out of order, it is good to repair it soonest possible.
Homes should have a smoke detector installed to alert the owners in case of fire. Our properties are at a risk of being stolen by thieves and strangers, to keep them away the compound should have a good fence around with a good gate, shrubs around the compound should be cleared because they act as a hiding place for the thieves.
The doors and windows should be fitted with burglar proof material. The locks used should also be tamper-proof. Children should be educated on not giving information to strangers especially on the work schedule and routines of the family.
Pesticides and chemical are things we cannot avoid in the house, however they can cause an accident and deaths if swallowed or sprayed on different parts of our bodies. To avoid this kind of accidents they should be well named and kept in closed closets away from reach of children. It is advisable to make sure that all bottles have safety caps on them.
Lastly bathroom in the household is a place where accident occurs if they are neglected. Accident in the bathroom occurs due to slippery floors, it should be kept clean and free from any slippery liquids like soaps and detergents. Another cause is the electrical devices used in the bath room, they should be kept away from water because water and electricity do not go together and can result in serious electric shocks. For safety at home we need to observe all this tips to make sure that no accident occur, this will not only reduce accidents but losses too.
Check out our site for complete details about the advantages of hiring electricians, now. You can also find information about reliable electrical contractors, today.
Tags: business, business and finance, environment, family, finance, home, houses, insurance, investing, investments, money, mortgage, property, property insurance, real estate
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Friday, November 18th, 2011
As you begin your journey towards your real estate career, you may be amazed what it takes to become comfortable. Just knowing enough to pass the state licensing examination isn’t enough. Many rich licensed brokers attribute their prosperity to determination, superior training and mentoring. This will come in the form of resourceful books on the web, participating in training seminars and, above all, practicing at an office willing to allocate leads and share their knowledge with you.
Most licensed agents and brokers assume to earn thousands of dollars their first year. While it is possible, it is unlikely unless you have good mentoring and teaching materials. Since it takes time to produce a clientel to get listings there is one specific type of listing you can present as your own: HUD Owned Homes. Anyone can show, sell or advertise a hud-owned home.
HUD owned homes can return a nice take-home pay for new and experienced licensed agents. While in the former national HUD contract they offered a five percent commission that has now been decreased to three percent which is still pretty favorable.
Many affordable hud deals peter out on the market because new and experienced real estate agents don’t seize the HUD sales process. Just getting started as a real estate agent is rough so don’t throw away hud sales from your portfolio. As others are ignoring them, you can excel with them.
Second thing you can do is catch a hud agent training course of study. Many are offered every month nationwide. Check with your local realtors association for class scheduling. If you are not able to attend then visit our site below and you can download a free ebook for bidding strategies and learn more info at our real estate academy.
More about how to be a real estate agent, visit our site for a HUD 9548today.
Tags: customer service, entrepreneurs, ethics, finance, home based business, insurance, investing, leasing, lending, Loans, mortgage, property insurance, public relations, real estate, sales
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Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Congratulations on picking your new home! Before you close, you are going to want to take a look at the best home insurance options that may protect your new investment. Regularly the closing company will have somebody write you up a policy that you won't even know what is in it. Take the lead and check for insurance on your own for comparison.
1. Customise Your House Insurance
All householder's insurance plans will have the same 6 coverages: Dwelling, other structures, private property, loss of use, private culpability, and medical payments.
For the main part, you can adjust many of these coverages to provide more protection or wider protection, so even the cover names are the same, you continue to wish to go over the options for each coverage.
In addition, there are many coverages you can add to provide more protection and broaden the cover.
Some of the extra coverage, endorsements, or riders include water/sewer backup protection, quake coverage, itemized personal property, identity theft, ordinance or law, debris removal, landscape coverage, fire dept surcharges, collapse, sinkhole, mine subsidence, and many others.
Work with an agent or company willing to debate all the options and work with you on the costs as you customise your policy.
2. Should you elect Basic, Broad, or Special Form house owners?
This would not be anything you would ever know about because these are industry terms, but you should understand the difference. If you are comparing many different quotes and one seems to stand out to be really cheap in comparison, before you jump at it, find out which form it is. If they are providing you a basic form, you're being cheated out of 100% replacement cost and likely getting a Real Cash Value (ACV) policy which only gives you cash value for your place minus depreciation/wear.
Broad Form (sometimes called Named Perils) coverage is the commonest sort of insurance, and it's fairly standard.
Special Form (often called All-Risk) coverage extends coverage for your house for more reasons of loss. Additionally it provides you more detailed coverage on your private property. It also provides little benefits that vary from company to company.
Special Form is more expensive, but you continue to need to customise your policy and then ask the difference in cost between broad form and special form. If you have great credit and no prior loss, it may only mean the difference of a few dollars a month.
Bottom line is don't allow others to make your house owner's calls for you. You have invested too much to leave your protection to risk.
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Tags: home insurance, home insurance tips, homeowners insurance, mortgage
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Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Whenever you experience an issue in looking for Dawsonville real estate homes and properties, why don’t you try asking for help from specialists? Specialists like Dawsonville GA real estate agents who definitely are always there to assist you at times you do not know what you are specifically searching for.
Discover Dawsonville GA Real Estate Agents to Assist You!
Buying houses isn’t an easy task. You must look deeper into the whereabouts of a particular home you’d want to purchase. You have to look at the number of rooms, the place exactly where the house stands, and property details which you should take into consideration. All of these can be very boring on your part especially to those 1st time home buyers. That’s why, Dawsonville GA real estate agents are actually the most effective people to hire for the house hunting task. Why? For they know the entire location just like the back of their hands.
They know which property you should be investing in and which you shouldn’t. But you should also do your own personal study for possible Dawsonville houses. It’s nice to have people assist you during your search but you can’t be too lax in selecting and purchasing the said house property. A little bit of knowledge isn’t a bad idea. At least you’ll know that these people aren’t swindling you.
Look for Legit Dawsonville GA Real Estate Representatives
In the real estate business, there are always those individuals who will aim to trick you and earn money by acting all professional like but in truth they’re just scammers. Scammers who’s going to do everything in their power to have your money without even actually helping you. They’ll only going to make you believed that you’d benefit from them but in fact it’s the other way around, they’d benefit you and that is definitely not a good idea.
So if you are choosing for Dawsonville GA real estate agents make sure that you hire those individuals who are legit and reputable. You wouldn’t want all those hard earned money to suddenly go to complete waste, right? Search for these real estate agencies online or scan through the yellow pages. I’m certain that you’ll spot these legit agencies in no time.
When you are in a complete bind of investing in a Dawsonville property, look for help! Dawsonville GA Real Estate agents are always ready to help you in property purchasing situations!
Tags: Dawsonville GA real estate, Dawsonville real estate, family, finance, home loans, Homes for Sale, household, insurance, investments, mortgage, properties, properties for sale, property insurance, real estate, sales
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Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Our day to day lives are filled with risks and the unexpected we cannot run away from. As a result many people have resorted to taking insurance so that they will be covered in the event that something unexpected happens. Put simply, insurance is a means of risk management. It is important to note that any risk which is quantifiable can be insured. There are various forms of insurance nowadays.
Firstly, there is health cover, which is an important type of insurance. If you have health cover it means that your policy covers you for medical treatments costs. These policies cover you for things such as expenses you incur as a result of treating physical disabilities, custodial care and nursing.
This is one of the most important policies because health emergencies can arise at any moment and you need to be prepared for them. The other type of cover is motor vehicle cover. Many of us own a vehicle of some sort. However, you can never know if and when you might be involved in an accident. That is why it is absolutely essential for you to be covered in the event that something happens to your car. If your vehicle is damaged or it gets stolen, your insurer will take care of all the expenses.
It is also import for you to have your home covered. You never know when you might incur some losses as a result of damage to your house or even theft. If you incur some losses, your insurer can cover the losses. It is also recommended to get life insurance. This is the type of policy which will benefit your family in the event that you die.
If you are the breadwinner of the family, you must obtain this cover because if you die, the family will be sustained for a while after you die. With this policy, the insurer and the insured enter into an agreement where the insurer agrees to pay out a sum of money when the insured dies. If you pay a lot for your premiums, the family will receive a large sum of money as well.
The policies mentioned above are some the most necessary ones. Once you decide to take out insurance you have to be prepared to pay a certain amount in premiums to the insurer. Normally, the premiums are paid every month. As long as you are doing your part by paying you premiums, the insurer has to do its part as well by covering you where necessary.
A good example is where you get involved in a collision and your car needs to be fixed, the insurer will basically take care of all the expenses so that the car can be fixed. Another example is of a break in. If there is a break in and thieves steal your possessions, the insurer has to cover those losses. All that you are required to do is to contact the insurer soon afterwards.
There are terms and conditions regarding the situations that the insurer will be able to cover you. There are other types of insurance that have not been mentioned in this article. The fact of the matter is that any quantifiable risk can be insured.
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Tags: auto, business, car, family, finance, home, home insurance, house, insurance, life, money, mortgage, planning, services, vehicles
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Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Why New Real Estate Agents Should Use Real Estate Marketing Letters
Answer me this; When you started in real estate did you have a mentor to show you the ropes? Did the office you started at offer any type of training? Well, if you are anything like I was my broker didn’t offer any type of training. He basically threw the agents in his office to the wolves. Years later I realize he couldn’t have been dumber. It’s a wonder there were never any lawsuits that arose from some of the transactions that went through that office. I am sure, with all the new agents that were there when I was there that there were a few that dropped the ball on some disclosures or blurred the line with ethics. But, that is another topic.
The fact is, I passed my test with one of the highest grades in the class. However, passing the RE exam didn’t prepare me to understand the everyday common language of a real estate agent. In fact, it was a test and no real life examples. I actually realize now that the test was a little outdated for the time.
One thing is for sure; real estate is a competitive market and few will help you getting started. No one in the office I started at would share a lead and, rarely, would anyone offer any insight to me unless I cut them in on the deal. Which is fine but, there has to be some sort of jump start to give a new agent insight, right? Yes, I know the Keller Williams of the world and Coldwell Bankers offer trainings but what if you were like me in a small office or somewhere in a small town in Utah? What then? Well, you would probably do as I did and buy some books. I bought some Donald Trump, Dean Graziosi and Gary Keller books when I started and they were useful. however what these books didn’t tell me is the basic, every day terminology that is necessary to communicate with other agents, buyers and lenders.
However, one resource that helped me when I started was that I bought some packaged marketing letter tutorials that gave me the types of letters that I would need to send to buyers, lenders and other agents. Really, what I wanted to see was how people corresponded with one another and be able to see, in front of me, how the language/dialog was happening. I bought several packages and all of them were under $75 dollars. The way I look at online tutorials and packages like this is that if I can glean yet one idea from whatever it is that I bought then it was worth the money.
Now I know every state is different and the rules and regulations differ from state to state but one thing remains consistent from state to state; the language that realtors speak to one another is the same and being able to see examples for all types of situations really is beneficial.
There are packages online that offer a full library of pre-drafted letters that will suit any situation that you are in. Check out our site. We offer a lot of free advice and also in-depth reviews on many of the most popular marketing tools for real estate and mortgage marketing letters.
Read more about real estate marketing letters, or the best mortgage marketing letters you can use.
Tags: customer service, entrepreneurs, ethics, finance, home based business, insurance, investing, leasing, lending, Loans, mortgage, property insurance, public relations, real estate, sales
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Wednesday, October 26th, 2011
A landlord insurance policy has been specifically designed for protecting the investment of the landlord. The most important investment is the house/ building that is being rented for the generation of the income. Any losses that may occur due to the lawsuit or any income loss due to the tenant can be easily covered by buying the insurance comparison policy that covers these losses.
The landlord insurance policies are of two types. The first one is a peril policy and covers only those losses that have been stated in the insurance policy as a covered peril. For example: if there is any loss due to the blackout that occurs outside the house and is not listed in the policy, it will not be covered.
The second type of landlord insurance policy is called open peril or the comprehensive insurance policy which covers a specific loss unless it has been specifically excluded from the insurance cover. This simply means that if you suffer some loss and it has not been excluded from the landlord insurance, then it is fully covered. This policy is quite comprehensive and easy to manage but would cost more to the buyer.
Majority of the landlord insurance policies cover the buildings. This includes any damage due to wind, hail, fire, explosions, smoke, damage due to vehicle, riots and so on. You should therefore evaluate each cover accordingly.
Some endorsements can also be added to the landlord insurance policy in addition to the basic coverage provided by the policy on the payment of the extra premium. Some essential endorsements in the landlord insurance policy are earthquake, riots, medical payments, personal liability and so on. If your landlord insurance coverage in the declaration page, then it is for sure that you don’t have any of them in your cover.
Landlord liability is also an important coverage provided under the landlord’s insurance policy. It protects the landlord from any lawsuits that many arise due to any damages or injuries to the tenant or some outsider who gets injured on the premises. Such an injury is not limited to the physical one but can be emotional as well. Liability coverage will cover all the legal expenses and damages if at all they are awarded. This protects the landlord from paying to the aggrieved party if they win the case in the court.
The landlord policies cover the buildings on the actual cash value or the replacement cost basis. In case of actual cash value coverage, the provider pays for the actual cost of the property minus any depreciation. In the replacement cost basis coverage, no depreciation is taken into account, so this is a more expensive cover.
Find out how does landlord insurance work at the authors website insurance comparisons.
Tags: business, family, home, home insurance, house, insurance, landlord insurance, loan, mortgage, real state
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