Post about "Real Estate"

Real Estate Marketing – Getting Focused

The single biggest question I get from people getting started in real estate (and experienced for that matter) is “how to find deals?” They say, “I don’t know what to focus on in real estate. Should I focus on rehabbing? Should I focus on finding absentee owners? Should I focus on direct mail?”The problem with those questions is that the real estate investor is confused about the whole business of real estate and the marketing plan behind finding the deals. I understand that you go to a three-day real estate training, or you buy a home-study course, and every angle of real estate investing is attractive. You can see the potential in all these different markets.First things first, you have to get focused! This is the only way to get good at overcoming objections and solving problems unique to different types of motivated seller markets.Let’s simplify this whole real estate marketing game and boil it down to this:
Who, What, When, Where, Why & How (And How Much)! Who:
Who is that we are going to be talking to? Who is that we are going to be trying to purchase homes from? You may want to work in one or two of the following markets: foreclosures, absentee owners, our probates, divorces, for sale by owners, tired landlords. This is your market – the who.What:
What are you going to say in your marketing? This may be a real estate marketing script that you follow, a direct mail postcard system that you roll out, or specific copy in your advertisement. Understand, that you are looking for motivated sellers to take action. If you’re taking the time to write a letter, place an ad, etc you want your prospect to do something like call you or email you or listen to a recorded message!When:
When are your prospects going to receive your marketing message? Timing and consistency is everything to your real estate marketing campaign. You need to be the single person (or company) they think of when the moment strikes at which they realize they are, in fact, a motivated seller!Where:
Where are they going to receive your message? Obviously if you’re door knocking, you’ll meet them at their home. But if you are marketing to personal representatives of an estate, the attorney may receive the letter and pass it on. It’s important to think about where your potential seller is going to “see” your message because this will affect the action they take.Why:
This is where your real estate investing exit strategy comes into play. What are you going to do with the property once you’ve gained control? Are you going to wholesale it to another investor? Are you going to fix it up and flip it yourself? Are you going to hold on to it for rental?As you grow into your real estate business, you’ll have a number of options for each deal depending on what’s most suitable for the piece of real estate. You may have properties that you can assign, rehab OR rent. But, initially, decide where you are on your real estate investing scale and work within those parameters. If you are asking: “Should I focus on rehabbing houses or should I target probate?” you’re asking two different questions.How:
The next thing is the communication method. That is ‘how are we going to talk to our potential motivated sellers?’ So let’s suppose your market is foreclosures or pre-foreclosures (the who). The next question is how? There are basically only four methods that we can use to communicate with our target market.1. Driving for Dollars (or door knocking)2. Telemarketing3. Direct mail4. Mass marketingHow Much:
I toss this in because this is going to affect your real estate marketing strategies. How much can you afford to spend? Understand for a few dollars a day, you can have an extremely profitable real estate investing business. It doesn’t take a lot of money to bring in home run deals!Here’s a quick real estate marketing business plan that you can implement immediately using the Who, What, When, Where, Why & How approach:Who: Pre-foreclosures within 2 weeks of sale at the courthouse (note how specific this is) What: Yellow legal pad lettersWhen: Two weeks prior to the saleWhere: Prospect’s HomeWhy: Seller is more motivated and has run out of optionsHow: Hand-written, hand addressed, first class postage and return address labelHow Much: Based on a budget of $100/month, I will send 59.5 letters each week (remember to figure out your marketing budget down to the penny – stamps, ink, paper, envelopes, etc.)And there you have it! 7 Simple Steps for your real estate marketing plan.

8 Reasons Why a Rushed Real Estate Deal Still Requires Disclosures

With the recent spike in home sales, buyers and sellers alike are feeling the pressure to quickly close on their purchase transaction before mortgage rates go up and demand for new homes slip. But before rushing to “ink the deal,” understand that real estate professionals are required to provide written disclosures to their clients on a variety of important items necessary to the transaction, as they directly affect the buying or selling decision. Here are 8 areas where written disclosure should be or are required:1. Affiliate Disclosures. These days, it’s common for a mortgage company to have a business interest in a title company or a real estate brokerage to also own a mortgage company. These are called “affiliate” relationships, and the relationship must be disclosed to the potential end users of these services. For instance, a mortgage company must disclosure in writing to its loan applicants that is also owns a title company that will close on the mortgage and purchase transaction. A loan applicant is not required to use the “affiliate” title company and can use another suitable title provider instead. Most importantly, a home seller or buyer cannot be pressured to use an affiliate service or be prevented from seeking a loan or making an offer on a home, just because one chooses to do business with an “unaffiliated” business.2. Third- party services. Similar to the above paragraph, a home seller and real estate agent cannot require someone to use a third party service in order to purchase a home. A third- party could mean a lender, a title co, an appraiser or inspector. However, one can give better pricing to a buyer who uses their services. For example, a lender can waive fees if the buyer uses one of their “affiliates,” however, they cannot prevent you from making a loan application or denying a loan for refusing to use their business affiliates.3. Real estate agent disclosure. If a real estate agent is selling a home that they own, they must disclose that they are a licensed real estate agent. Some states limit this disclosure to only an agent’s primary residence. Other states require the disclosure for any properties that the agent owns.4. Dual agency. A seller’s agent or “listing agent” represents the seller. The seller’s agent does not have any professional duty to a buyer who is not represented by their own agent. The buyer should hire their own agent. A dual agent is an agent or real estate broker that represents both parties in the transaction. Agents must provide written disclosures to both a parties when they act as dual agents. In theory this disclosure is supposed to make a dual agent in a transaction neutral. However, a real estate deal is never without some controversy and give and take, and therefore this writer suggests that a prospective purchaser hire their own “buyer’s” agent.5. Title agency. A title company’s function is to insure that the ownership to a specific property is valid according to public property records so that a lending institution can provide a mortgage on the property or a purchaser can take proper title from the rightful owner. Title agents represent the insurance companies that provides this coverage. They do not dispense legal advice to buyers or sellers. They do not represent lenders or real estate brokers. Title companies must disclose when they have an affiliate relationship with a property service provider, meaning that they are owned by the lender or real estate brokerage, or even an appraiser.6. Provide all offers. A real estate agent is required to provide its sellers with all offers. Unless a seller specifically instructs an agent not to bring certain offers, say one below a certain price or time frame, the agent must present the offer. Therefore, if a buyer feels that an offer was not presented, they should contact the agent’s broker. In some states, it’s customary for a buyer or their agent to present the offer directly to the seller. But nothing prevents an enthusiastic buyer from directly speaking with a seller, it’s just not commonplace.7. Terminating a real estate agent. It is a common misconception among sellers that they cannot fire or terminate their listing agent. They can. However, the best way to still market one’s property without bad feelings is to approach the agent’s broker and have the broker assign a new agent to the listing. Understand that the agent and broker still have a “protection period” that protects them against the seller closing a transaction with a buyer that the agent, through their business efforts, had previously procured. The period is usually for 180 days, but at time of listing a property this period can be negotiated down to 90 or even 60 days. Regardless of the time limits, it is wrong for a seller to take advantage of the agent’s efforts and is grounds for legal action.8. Attorneys. Like a property agent, an attorney cannot represent a buyer and a seller in a transaction unless the attorney discloses the conflict in writing and both parties sign the disclosure. If two parties to a transaction have completely different versions of a transaction, then it’s time that one party hires their own attorney.In a residential real estate transaction written disclosures comprise most of the real estate package. For those new to real estate, hire the right adviser to guide one through a successful transaction. But make sure to read and understand the disclosures and how they apply to one’s deal, as they are there for the buyer or seller’s benefit.