Getting Started As A Real Estate Agent

Success in Internet Marketing Is Not Easy - Don't Read This You Might Get Scared and Quit

2011-11-11T10:49:00.001-08:00

Success in Internet Marketing Is Not Easy - Don't Read This You Might Get Scared and Quit

If you are new to internet marketing and wanting to get your feet wet then you'll want to think twice about getting involved online. Most people fail within the first six months and leave the industry. Some of the most common mistakes are made over and over without ever knowing that you actually missed step one the first time around. Knowing what to do when starting an online business is essential to becoming successful.

You'll need to get an opt in list going like the one to the right. Give away something to your readers. Don't just expect them to just show up and not get anything. How often do you go to someones house to a party and not take a gift for them? Many of you may not do that at all but I know that I do. So, giving something away of value on your website is essential to building loyal readership and will keep your customers coming back for many visits.

Maybe before you begin you should consider getting a mentor. Many people online will often help you out if you just ask. Most in this industry that are creating informational products are happy to share their experiences. I know I am. Now, I can't always do it every time for free but I do give people that ask me to help a shot at helping them along. So, try to find someone to mentor you. You'll be much better off and save a lot of money.

You need to know who your competitors are. If you don't you are wasting your time. Spend a lot of time researching the market before you even build your commerce site or a membership site. You'll gain much insight to what is going on long before you launch your site or product.

Having some general knowledge of SEO is also helpful but not mandatory. Most of your SEO tactics can be learned by going to YouTube or finding a local expert for your market. Hell, email me. I'll give you some help. For FREE!

Also, when you get in to a market you are going to have to learn how to find profitable keywords. If you don't identify your niche and seek out the low hanging fruit keywords then you'll flounder and fail online. How to Get to #1 on Google isn't easy.
For example, I have a new site I am building called Southern California Golf Homes. I had to do extensive keyword research to find golf courses in Southern California that I could include in my content of my site.
Finally, you have to create not only a product or service but you'll need to create content to syndicate online. Not everyone is good at writing interesting, unique and informative content especially when you get started. For example if you are in real estate you may want to outsource real estate tasks over seas to get some of your content going. If you are trying to write articles on your own then you also may want to check out Jiffy Articles. Jiffy Articles makes it really easy to come up with unique content. They give you many templates to start with. You can see a Jiffy Articles review here.

Hope this helps and always feel free to contact me directly at our website. Especially if you want to get started in real estate and learn how to market real estate online. I am happy to help you with whatever you may need.

Just How Match Does a Real Estate Agent Make? - 3 Great Tips To Give You More $ In Your Pocket

2011-10-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

Just How Match Does a Real Estate Agent Make? - 3 Great Tips To Give You More $ In Your Pocket

How match does a real estate agent make truly depends upon what part of the nation the agent happens to reside. Below are some unique factors that work out how match a real estate agent makes; location, commission splits and the way frequently you wish to perform. For instance, a realtor in La, CA could possibly make a much more than 100K every year selling only a couple of properties as opposed to an agent within a further area of the country need to sell 10-20 households to generate a similar yearly revenue.

The internet has developed a community lacking limitations and, though in my opinion an agent can concentrate on one general area, I do think that's the old school thought process. Just growing your market is an effective way to get many more clients and increase your bottom line. Knowing ways to get this done may be problematic. Let me share some good instances the way a agent can easily enhance their revenue. So, precisely how match does a real estate agent make?

Tip 1: Explore a distinct niche. Finding a niche in real estate is reasonably quick to accomplish you just need to open your mind. Have a drive in your town or city. What tend to be the landmarks inside your vicinity? Industrial facilities? Pizza Joints? Chiropractic care offices? Precisely what is your city designed around? As metropolitan areas have been established they generally have been built around water thoroughfares and rail ways to be certain that moving merchandise to each city. For example, Pittsburgh - The Steel City. Detroit - could be a auto town. And so forth.

Learn how to find profitable keywords

Tip 3: Create a few diverse niches initially. Syndicate posts and tag them while using ideal keywords and phrases and meta descriptions within the body from the write-up. Once you have widely distributed just a few articles for the initial, small niche area then extend on that a little. Finally, you will acquire the title of the go to realtor and begin appearing all around the location when people google for attractions inside their area. Not that you're going to begin selling a lot of homes but, gradually, you'll have branded yourself and become show up in the search results and each time anyone googles something where you live your title will appear.

Eventually, as consumers begin seeing your name turn up in the search results then consumers that will begin to come to be interested in who the heck you are.

How match does a real estate agent make truly is dependent upon just how wise you become. Get crafty. Make use of social network sites. You will have to be able to eventually make Hundreds of 1000's of dollars each year just in case you actually out think your competitors.

Tip 2: After you've made the decision on the priority near your home then google some search terms connected to, say, pizza joints in Columbus Ohio. Determine how many one of a kind searches display for the keyword and key phrase. When the level of competition is low then concentrate on some content articles discussed homes positioned near these pizza joints. After that distribute them on the net together with your search terms included like "An Incredible Listing Near Pizza Hut on fifth in Columbus". Now, any time a particular person orders pizza online your title will appear as the real estate broker within the area. Besides, everybody enjoys pizza and wishes to live near a common pizza shop proper? Just kidding.

Learn how to find profitable keywords

Tip 3: Create a few diverse niches initially. Syndicate posts and tag them while using ideal keywords and phrases and meta descriptions within the body from the write-up. Once you have widely distributed just a few articles for the initial, small niche area then extend on that a little. Finally, you will acquire the title of the go to realtor and begin appearing all around the location when people google for attractions inside their area. Not that you're going to begin selling a lot of homes but, gradually, you'll have branded yourself and become show up in the search results and each time anyone googles something where you live your title will appear.

Eventually, as consumers begin seeing your name turn up in the search results then consumers that will begin to come to be interested in who the heck you are.

How match does a real estate agent make truly is dependent upon just how wise you become. Get crafty. Make use of social network sites. You will have to be able to eventually make Hundreds of 1000's of dollars each year just in case you actually out think your competitors.

How To Become A Real Estate Agent And Prosper

2011-09-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

As you enter 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 cliental 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 initiate a nice earned income for new and experienced brokers. While with the old national HUD contract they offered a 5% commission that has now been decreased to 3% which is still pretty decent.

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.

Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent and being a successful real estate agent is becoming harder. Find the the best tutorials by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to’s and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

A Landslide Of FHA Foreclosures Are Creeping Upon Us

2011-09-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Last month I read a riveting article on The Wall Street Journal website. The article stipulated that mortgage default rates were declining for nearly most loan types with the lone phenomenon being FHA types of financing. Those default rates had actually amplified.

Why you may ask? Well, when the market crashed the government offered tax incentives for first time home buyers and countless potential new buyers engulfed the market. Many of those buyers were cash poor therefore most were forced to use Federal Housing Administration financing for the low down payment sales options. And, in most states, if a buyer used this financing there were programs for $100 down payments. Several states still offer this program while others have discontinued it. My mind started to rattle when I began to think about what actually has transpired over the past several years.

Here is my evaluation. During 2008-2010 the cash strapped buyers ran towards securing their piece of the american dream: home ownership. Many of those buyers didn’t consider the likelihood that they may not have a place of employment in three years. While most were poised and ready and could actually afford the 3.5% down what they didn’t account for was that the economic system was going to continue to descend. And, most first time buyers that took advantage of the first time home buyer tax options are now in the unemployment line. They are defaulting at an unprecedented rate.

Additionally I understand that the government is going to elevate the down payment for FHA types of loans. This is really going to bruise our industry. Federal Housing Administration financing was put in place to give a lift to first time home buyers when purchasing a house by offering low down payments. Elevating the minimum down payment for these types of loans will put the home out of reach for many home buyers. It is truly a catastrophe in the making. While one person’s catastrophe is another man’s opportunity this will open many new sales options for real estate investors. Essentially, less competition in the market place will empower investors to rush in and pick up awesome deals on homes.

I’m really not sure how all of this is going to wash out in the foreseeable future but I can say that we are in uncharted territory. My best forecast is that troubling times are advancing. If the home buyers that purchased homes between 2008-2010 and used fha financing continue defaulting there is going to be a tidal wave of FHA foreclosures coming on the market. This will amplify the inventory of HUD owned homes coming on the market place. I’m guessing HUD will slowly cut loose these homes a little bit at a time as they will not be in any hurry to liquidate. IF they did rush it then it would crash the market. So, look for HUD sales to be the new gold standard in real estate of the future. No doubt about it!
Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find the the best HUD 9548 Contract Tutorial by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Real Estate Academy: What They Don't Teach You

2011-09-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

When getting started as a real estate agent scores believe that getting their real estate license will provide a sure financial future when, in actuality, getting your accredit is the first course of action in a very far-reaching approach towards financial freedom. While real estate is an fascinating profession there is ample work ahead once you get your certificate. Essentially with all online or classroom real estate academy teaching courses there is little information suitable to real world experiences that you will be exposed to. While each state has specific requirements almost every real estate academy has the same basic knowledge. In reality, there are few courses nationwide that cement 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 licensed real estate agents to be able to successfully finish a business deal when the core educational facts aren’t even covered? This doesn’t have to be like that.

While each state has various contracts and procedures there is one contractual residential home purchase agreement that is the same in the US no matter where you take up residence the HUD-9548 contract contract. No real estate academy nationwide provides even one course on how to effectively sell hud homes or even fill out the contract. And, that form seems to be the one that is the most misconstrued and misinterpreted.

First, let me clear away a myth: HUD owned homes are not lower income housing. These homes are one to four unit housing that had an FHA insured loan. Simply put, HUD owned homes 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 home can be purchased in those price ranges. Many new agents exclude these homes sales from their efforts and that is not a wise move. Many agents are missing out on some profitable sales that could increase their bottom line tremendously but simply don’t take advantage of these sales because they don’t understand the Housing and Urban Development’s process. By simply selling an additional three to six of these homes per year one can increase their revenue tremendously. Now wouldn’t that help with you child’s college education fund? I think it would.

While the HUD 9548 contract is the same throughout the United States no real estate academy offers training or tutorials on how to properly execute these contracts as many academy’s are focused on short-sales or bank owned REO’s. The same goes for real estate offices; no one considers selling hud owned homes. Never again make that mistake and exclude this opportunity of a life time. With home prices dropping many more homes that had FHA lending on them will fall in to the category of a hud sale. You can find out how to become successful with HUD sales by visiting http://www.hudsecrets.org.

Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent is becoming harder. Find the the best real estate tutorial by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to’s and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Top 5 Uses for QR Code For Realtors

2011-09-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

The top five uses for QR code for realtors are probably 5 of the best I’ve used thus far. But, first, what is a QR code? QR stands for Quick Reference Code and is basically like a bar code. The technology was created in Japan by an auto manufacturer. So, think of it as a bar code, if you will. Here is how we use them in real estate.

1. On your real estate sign: If you aren’t using a QR code on your signs then you are way behind the curve. Putting a QR code on your sign is relatively easy or you can order a sign from a QR code sign company and have the code embedded on your sign. The upside to having a QR code on your sign is that they really cut down on the amount of phone calls you receive from “Lookey Loo’s” that waste your time. Anyone that is interested in the home you are listing can simply download a QR reader and then scan you the code and get all the information on the home in one simple swipe. There are many services out there that will provide a QR code for you then direct them to a site where the interested party can get all the info they need without picking up the phone and bothering you, the listing agent. Plus, any company that will provide to you the code embedded in the sign will also provide to you a mobile optimized website that is easily readable on a mobile device. A big plus for any mobile user to have access to.

2. Add the code to your flyers that you are distributing or the advertisements you are running on Craigslist, newspapers etc. You can embed the code with a youtube video and then direct them to your YouTube channel where they can get pictures or even a video of the property. Basically, YouTube is now doing the work for you while you spend time with your family.

3. Put the QR Code on your website. The code will link to your bio, your listings, etc. Anyone with a QR code reader can be sitting in front of their computer, scan the code and be directed to your bio info.

4. Put the same QR code on your business cards. This one is a no brainer. You can embed the code with whatever information you want a potential client to know about you; your bio, current or past listings, your philosophy, etc.

5. Link a QR code to your Facebook page! Doesn’t get any simpler than that. If you aren’t using Facebook then you must be living on another planet.

Simply put, if you are a real estate agent and you aren’t using a QR code then you truly aren’t taking advantage of all the useful tools available to you in this current social media thriving world we are living in. You need a competitive edge in this market and you need to be able to go to a listing appointment and show a potential client you are using every resource available to market their home.
Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find our recommendation for QR Code For Realtors by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

HUD 9548 Mysteries And The Most Common Mistakes

2011-08-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

Often when a real estate broker is selling a HUD home they don’t comprehend there are completely different contracts to fill out. Knowing this is imperative in equipping your buyer with the most efficient contract review process. HUD has specific contracts that are distinctive to your state standard forms.

How Will Your Buyer Be Taking Title? Line Item #2 on the Housing And Urban Development form asks for how your buyer will be holding title. While in the past this often could be left barren until your buyer reconciles, this has changed and the best approach is to analyze this with your buyer prior to submitting your contract and enter in to the agreement how they’ll be holding title. Common ways of holding title can by calling your local title .

Repair Escrows On Line Item #4 This is a commonly misinterpreted area. Most newly licensed brokers think this is the cost of escrow but it has nothing to do with the “cost of escrow” at all. I’ll make it basic. If using FHA financing you’ll need to check the HUDHomeStore website to see if the real estate you are bidding on requires a repair escrow. Repair escrows are necessary when using FHA lending. Any imperative repairs under $5000 require a 203b repair escrow. Any repairs mandated over $5000 are a 203k repair escrow. If you aren’t using Federal Housing Administration lending then the 203b or 203k area doesn’t apply. ONLY if you are using Federal Housing Administration financing do you need to fill this section out. Even if the property has a repair escrow on it and you are using non-FHA financing then you need not worry about this section. Check the box “seller is paying cash or applying for conventional or financing not involving FHA” and proceed.

Earnest Money Procedures on Line Item #12. This line corresponds to the processes and rights HUD to your EMD when your consumer fails to perform. The most misconceived part is that there are two lines on which call for initials and those lines are confusingly close to one another. Time and again, if there are married purchasers on the contract, an agent will have one consumer initial a single line and the other on the following line to the right. Wrong. Confusing for sure. Correct, no! One is a “buyers initials” line and the other is reserved for HUD’s “authorized agent”. Execute both of your buyers initials on the first line set aside for “purchaser”. Be cautious as this will get your contract rejected if you fail to execute these lines properly.

What are some everyday mistakes you see other newly licensed brokers make?

Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find the the best HUD 9548 Contract Tutorial by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Tips To Outsource Real Estate Tasks

2011-08-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

With all the real estate tasks an agent is encountering it is important to learn how to outsource these tasks. Many agents are a part of a small real estate office or may be in a small market and therefore have to do every tedious detail for every transaction. To be honest, most of your time should be devoted to getting listings or meeting with prospective clients and canvassing your area of expertise. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to be able to outsource some of the menial office tasks so that you can focus on getting new work?

Outsourcing is a hot topic. So, oftentimes, outsourcing isn’t looked upon in a favorable light. However, in this current downswing in the real estate market we must learn new ways to lower our overhead and increase our profits.

There are several websites that offer outsourcing resources. One of the more popular ones is Elance. I’ve used this site for well over a year and I have never had a problem with the service. However, you must be careful who you outsource to. Another great resource is ODesk. I have not used their service but they get rave reviews for service. So for the purpose of this article we will only talk about Elance.

I have found a lot of success outsourcing to the Ukraine. Other friends of mine, such as Tyrone Shum, have found much success in the Phillipines. I have, on the other hand had some problems when I outsourced to companies in Pakistan and India. It may have just been the service provider but, either way, it left a bad taste in my mouth. They didn’t rip me off or anything but they were really tardy delivering their tasks on time.

Now, this is going to shock you. I have paid as little as 3$ an hour for adminstrative office tasks to be performed by a service provider. it almost seems wrong but the wages that are acceptable in certain areas are far below what they are in the US. I have 2 girls in the Ukraine that work about 40 hours a week for me. That is $120 a week or $480 a month. That basically gives me a full time worker for an entire month for under $500. Pretty amazing if you ask me. And, like I said, these providers are more than happy to work those hours for what we consider a minimal amount. It’s just economies of scale. I have heard that providers in the Phillipines work for as little as $2 an hour.

Some of the tasks we outsource are: returning emails, posting properties to social media sites, tweeting out our new listings, updating Facebook and research. We never outsource financial tasks that may contain a buyers or sellers financial information. That is just too risky and, honestly, isn’t ethical if you as me. I would be very upset if I found out my agent was outsourcing their tasks and my financials were traveling across the world and back.

In the end you really must do your research but good places to start are Elance and ODesk. Both of these outsource providers are trustworthy. Plus, any reputable outsource agency keeps a tab on their providers along with encouraging the employers to post rating for each provider as they complete tasks. And, of course, never choose anyone with a low score. It just goes without saying.

The best way to decide is to get a good reference from someone that has used a service provider. If you don’t know anyone that has outsourced then you can find our contact information in the resource box and we’ll be happy to refer a trustworthy provider that we have used ourself. Good luck!
Hello. I’m Len Dietrich. If you’d like to learn more about how to successfully outsource real estate tasks visit our site for more information on how to outsource real estate tasks.

Three Most Common Mistakes When Filling Out The HUD 9548 Contract

2011-08-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Often when a agent is selling a hud home they don’t appreciate there are completely different contracts to fill out. When getting started as a real estate agent knowing this is essential in advising your client with the most productive contract review process. HUD has specific contracts that are unique to your state standard forms. Many agents do not realize this. Often times agents send in their state mandated forms to the listing agent for that property when, in fact, all the bidding for HUD homes is done on line. After an accepted offer those contracts are executed and then sent to the marketing and management contractor assigned to that listing. So, this is different all together. The listing agent doesn’t receive the offers the marketing and management company is in charge of reviewing the contracts once an offer has been accepted. There is no real estate academy that has tutorials on line or in the classroom for hud deals.

How Will Your Client Be Taking Title? Line Item #2 on the Housing And Urban Development form asks for how your client will be holding title. While in the past this often could be left clear until your buyer decides, this has changed and the best procedure is to analyze this with your buyer before submitting your offer and enter in to the contract how they’ll be holding title. Common ways of holding title can be found by faxing your local title association.

Repair Escrows On Line Item #4 This is a commonly unpopular area. Most realtors expect this is the total cost of escrow but it has nothing to do with the “escrow” at all. I’ll make it simple. If using FHA financing you’ll need to ascertain the HUDHomeStore website to see if the home you are bidding on requires a repair escrow. Repair escrows are called for when using FHA lending. Any repairs mandated under $5000 require a 203b repair escrow. Any repairs called for over $5000 are a 203k repair escrow. If you aren’t using FHA lending then the 203b or 203k area doesn’t apply. ONLY if you are using FHA financial support do you need to fill this section out. Even if the property has a repair escrow on it and you are using non-FHA financing then you need not worry about this section. Check the box “seller is paying cash or applying for conventional or financing not involving FHA” and begin.

Earnest Money Procedures on Line Item #12. This line is relevant to the processes and rights HUD retains to your EMD when your buyer fails to perform. The most misunderstood part is that there are two lines on which authorize initials and those lines are parallel to one another. Usually, if there are matched purchasers on the form an agent will have one client initial one and the other on the following line to the right. Wrong. Confusing for sure. Correct, no. One is a “buyers initials” line and the other is authorized for HUD’s “authorized agent”. Put both of your buyers initials on the first line reserved for “purchaser”.

What are some most frequent mistakes you see other newly licensed agents make when getting started as a real estate agent?
Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find the the best HUD 9548 Contract Tutorial by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Texting For Real Estate Agents And How You Can Use It In Marketing Your Properties

2011-08-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

Texting For Real Estate Agents And How You Can Use It In Marketing Your Properties

Many have asked; which is better, texting for real estate agents or using a QR code. Both offer distinct advantages and it really depends on what your desired, end result is. Fact is, they are similar but remarkably different in the way they work. We will discuss the benefits of text marketing and how you can implement texting in to your real estate career.

How a real estate agent/broker can use text marketing. Within the dashboard of a text marketing account you configure your text auto-response to send out a text immediately upon someone texting in the keyword you choose. In that text you embed the link to that property. What I did was I created a YouTube channel then created a slide show of the property, uploaded to YouTube then copied the URL in to the auto-responder text. That way when someone text’d “Len1″ to 41242 it automatically sent to them the link to view the property. Pretty handy hey? With QR codes you can’t do that. If a person scans the QR code then they are redirected to the QR code providers site where the profile/information on your property resides. Also, with QR codes you can’t capture the inquirer’s cell phone info.

What service to choose? There are a lot of text messaging services out there. Most are fairly competitive and basically do the same thing as the others. There really is no great difference. The texting service I have used is called Yep Text.

Pricing: Depending on how many texts you want to send each month determines the plan you want to choose. Prices range from $9 a month to $149 a month and there are additional, higher volume packages as well. The $9 a month package allows you 150 texts per month + one yep word and $149 package allows 4000 messages a month + 3 yep words. Additional Yep words can be purchased and added to any package for $8.

Billing: You are only billed for outgoing texts and that rate is about 5.3 cents per text.

What is a keyword for texting? Texting services have a dedicated 5 digit number associated with their service. For example, Yep Text’s designated number is 41242. You don’t own the number, they do. What you would own is what they call the “keyword” or “Yep Word”. Essentially, your Yep word is your keyword. So, let’s say you have a listing on East Broadway. Then you would enter that “yep word” in to the dashboard and see if that keyword is available. If so, then you now own “East Broadway” for the 41242 number.

What keyword do you choose? We’ve all seen something like this before: “text the word Subway to 41242 to receive our weekly specials”. You create your key word and add the word to your website, business cards and, what I did was that I even created a sticker to attach to my signs. I wouldn’t recommend using a specific name or number associated with each property. I would use something like “YourName1″, “YourName2″, etc., for each of your properties and here is why. Once that property sells you want to reassign that Yep word to your next property. And, if your keyword is something like “East Broadway1” and your property is on East Broadway then once you sell that property and reassign the keyword to a property say, on 7th Street, then you’ll be stuck with the sticker on your sign saying “Test East Broadway1” to 41242. That may become confusing to your potential buyers.

Benefits: Text marketing allows you to capture the inquirer’s cell phone number so that you can re-solicit to them a property that meets their criteria at a later date. Much like an email data base, you are creating a “text data base” which is the most important thing in real estate; a list. QR codes, at this point, do not allow you to capture information.

So, the jury is out on this one. Really depends if you want to create a list and re-solicit later or if you want to just offer QR codes so that the customer can gain access to the relevant information for the property.

Find the benefits of texting for real estate agents along with realtor apps for iphone by visiting our site http://www.gettingstartedasarealestateagent.com

Evoice Tips And An EVoice Review-Ringcentral

2011-08-24T19:26:00.000-07:00

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.

Hello. I’m Len Dietrich. If you’d like to learn more about how to successfully use evoice review ring central then visit our site for more information on how to the best apps for realtors

Best Apps For Real Estate Agents

2011-08-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Best Apps For Real Estate Agents

With Apple formerly blowing away the all the competition Android is now quickly on their tale with many more app developers developing apps for realtors for the Android. How do you decide? Which ones are the best? Well, it really depends on which smartphone you are using and what problem you are looking to solve.

Here are some of the best apps for real estate agents in the iPhone format. We will have Android apps reviews in the future but for now we will just focus on iPhone apps.

CalcsFree: Have you ever been showing a property and the buyer asks you how much the payments will be? For those that aren’t good at math, this is a great app for you. When I started out I really had no clue how loans worked and, honestly, I still don’t. Too much detail and too many variables considering the market that fluctuates so much. It is hard to keep up with what is happening. I’m more focused on getting well-qualified buyers and cultivating relationships with them more than I am interested in keeping up with loan BS. My buyers expected me to know the going rates for loans. I’m not a lending specialist and, I am sure, you probably aren’t either. A good app and it is free!

Evernote: This is a simple program that is great for archiving and organizing your goals, thoughts and images. You can access your files from anywhere 24/7. Easy to navigate and it is also free!

HomeFinder.com: If your local newspaper is one of the 130 that HomeFinder.com services, this is a handy tool. Agents who subscribe to HomeFinder.com are able to enter open house information to appear on their newspaper’s website, and this app lets you search for those open houses. On the home screen you have three very simple options – look at open houses coming up this weekend, look at open houses going on today, or look at homes for sale. If you aren’t getting results with the default options of 5 miles surrounding your current location, then you can hit the Refine Search button to expand your search radius, or choose a different location by entering a city and state or ZIP code.

A couple other apps are quite helpful as well. Trulia and Zillow. While I don't believe they have the most current and up to date information available for agents and homeowners I do believe they offer a glimpse in to some data that you may find helpful in your search for your client a home. Zillow I believe is the most inaccurate of the two you can still grab some helpful info from Zillow. Trulia is a bit more accurate and I trust their data much more.

There are many apps for realtors coming on the market every week. The market is in need of some more thorough applications for both Android and iPhone. Do you have any favorites that you are using?
Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find the the best realtor apps for iphone by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Best Books On Real Estate

2011-08-20T19:19:00.001-07:00

Some of the best 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 Millionaire 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 polarizing 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 recommend 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.
Hi my name is Len Dietrich. Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and getting started as a real estate agent or becoming a better one has never been more difficult. Find our recommendation for the best real estate agent books by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews, how to outsource real estate tasks and recommendations for the tools you will need to improve your real estate marketing efforts.

Texting For Real Estate Agents And How You Can Use It In Marketing Your Properties

2011-08-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

Many have asked; which is better, texting for real estate agents or using a QR code for realtors. Both offer distinct advantages and it really depends on what your desired, end result is. Fact is, they are similar but remarkably different in the way they work. We will discuss the benefits of text marketing and how you can implement texting in to your real estate career.

How a real estate agent/broker can use text marketing. Within the dashboard of a text marketing account you configure your text auto-response to send out a text immediately upon someone texting in the keyword you choose. In that text you embed the link to that property. What I did was I created a YouTube channel then created a slide show of the property, uploaded to YouTube then copied the URL in to the auto-responder text. That way when someone text'd “Len1″ to 41242 it automatically sent to them the link to view the property. Pretty handy hey? With QR codes you can’t do that. If a person scans the QR code then they are redirected to the QR code providers site where the profile/information on your property resides. Also, with QR codes you can’t capture the inquirer’s cell phone info.

What service to choose? There are a lot of text messaging services out there. Most are fairly competitive and basically do the same thing as the others. There really is no great difference. The texting service I have used is called Yep Text.

Pricing: Depending on how many texts you want to send each month determines the plan you want to choose. Prices range from $9 a month to $149 a month and there are additional, higher volume packages as well. The $9 a month package allows you 150 texts per month + one yep word and $149 package allows 4000 messages a month + 3 yep words. Additional Yep words can be purchased and added to any package for $8.

Billing: You are only billed for outgoing texts and that rate is about 5.3 cents per text.

What is a keyword for texting? Texting services have a dedicated 5 digit number associated with their service. For example, Yep Text’s designated number is 41242. You don’t own the number, they do. What you would own is what they call the "keyword" or “Yep Word”. Essentially, your Yep word is your keyword. So, let’s say you have a listing on East Broadway. Then you would enter that “yep word” in to the dashboard and see if that keyword is available. If so, then you now own “East Broadway” for the 41242 number.

What keyword do you choose? We’ve all seen something like this before: “text the word Subway to 41242 to receive our weekly specials”. You create your key word and add the word to your website, business cards and, what I did was that I even created a sticker to attach to my signs. I wouldn’t recommend using a specific name or number associated with each property. I would use something like “YourName1″, “YourName2″, etc., for each of your properties and here is why. Once that property sells you want to reassign that Yep word to your next property. And, if your keyword is something like "East Broadway1" and your property is on East Broadway then once you sell that property and reassign the keyword to a property say, on 7th Street, then you'll be stuck with the sticker on your sign saying "Test East Broadway1" to 41242. That may become confusing to your potential buyers.

Benefits: Text marketing allows you to capture the inquirer’s cell phone number so that you can re-solicit to them a property that meets their criteria at a later date. Much like an email data base, you are creating a “text data base” which is the most important thing in real estate; a list. QR codes, at this point, do not allow you to capture information.

So, the jury is out on this one. Really depends if you want to create a list and re-solicit later or if you want to just offer QR codes so that the customer can gain access to the relevant information for the property.

Real estate is changing in to a social media MONSTER and marketing homes has never been more competitive. Find the benefits of texting for real estate agents along with realtor apps for iphone by visiting our site where we will provide a real estate one-stop-shop with reviews and recommendations for all the tools you will need to improve your real estate endeavors.

Get Our FREE E-Book "HUD Secrets Bidding Strategies"

2011-01-23T18:21:00.001-08:00

For a limited time, we'll be giving away our free e-Book "HUD Secrets Bidding Strategies. Get the free ebook by signing up now and get exclusive info on HUD Secrets - Understanding the 9548 Contract - 100% Success Rate". You can also find some of the best books on real estate by visiting our site Getting Started As A Real Estate Agent where you'll find product reviews about realtor apps, real estate marketing letters and other real estate tutorials to get your real estate career started.

According to statistics, 25% of all HUD deals submitted get canceled due to real estate agents incorrectly filling out the contract or failing to file for an extension. Why is this? How are you going to justify to your customer that they did not get their dream home because you, as their licensed real estate agent or broker, didn't know the process? In this down market getting started as a real estate agent has never been more difficult.

Throughout the US, HUD contract processes aren't covered by any real estate academy currently offered. Here is some of what you need to know. Most licensed real estate agents do not understand that the bidding and contract process is completely different from your standard real estate deal. Frequently we have had agents email their state documents when submitting a proposal when, in fact, all the bidding is done on the internet. These deals aren't difficult. They just require a little extra attention to detail and you must be well versed in how to not only fill them out but also be aware when certain deadlines are and what forms are dictated by HUD to be provided.

Why are HUD repo sales are the new gold standard for opportunities? Statistic: About 9.1% of FHA borrowers had ignored at least 3 payments as of December 2009, up from 6.5% in 2008, the agency's figures account for. The FHA does not make loans but insures lenders against losses. And, claims have already elevated. The agency had to pay out on 47% more loans in October and November 2009 than in the corresponding period a year preceding, according to an FHA probe. The year 2010 will be even higher according to some analytics.

Why are Housing And Urban Development transactions the new Gold Standard for realtors? 2 reasons:

• The banks engaged unfit, untrained Robo-Sign'ers to speed up foreclosures through the system. Trends show lawsuits are developing for these deals with attorneys jumping on the bandwagon to represent the former homeowner that was foreclosed upon and those lawyers are asking "Who really owned the note?" Former owners are suing the institutions, the title company, the lender, escrow and even the new current owner and their agent. Why does this matter? Because we are in uncharted air space and for years to come no bank selling an reo will be able to ensure that their property has a clear and marketable title. Be cautious of dealing with an reo as you may find yourself in legal procedures for years to come.

• Housing and Urban Development assures a clean and marketable title. How? Because all insured lenders have been paid, FHA reclaimed the property and assigned the Housing & Urban Development to re-list the property. And, simply, because they are the federal government and, you have to ask to sue the federal government. The title company contracted by Housing and Urban Development is insuring the interest of the federal government. Need we say more?

If you want to know more about getting started as a real estate agent feel free to visit our site for real estate academy tutorials. You can also find some of the best books on real estate by visiting our site Getting Started As A Real Estate Agent where you'll find product reviews about realtor apps (android apps for realtors and realtor apps for iphone), real estate marketing letters, QR code for realtors and helpful resources to get your real estate career started.Good luck and always email if you have further questions.

Getting Started As A Real Estate Agent

2011-01-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

Quite often when getting started as a real estate agent or broker many conclude that getting their real estate certificate will yield a self-reliant financial fortune when, in reality, getting your license is the first action in a very long process towards financial bounty. While real estate is an energizing specialty there is much work ahead once you get your license. Remarkably with all online or classroom real estate academy schooling courses there is little practical knowledge suited to real world experiences that you will happen upon.

While each state has diverse requirements almost every real estate academy has the same basic knowledge. In reality, there are few courses nationwide that comprise 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 agents/brokers to be able to successfully execute a transaction when the forecastable situations aren't even covered? This doesn't have to be like that.

While each state has particular forms there is one binding single family residence purchase contract that is similar throughout the US no matter where you hold your license: the HUD-9548 contract. And, that agreement seems to be the one that is the most misinterpreted. So, when getting started as a real estate agent don't skip this important resource.

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 homes 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 home can be purchased in those price ranges. Many new agents pass up HUD homes sales from their practice and that is not a wise decision. When getting started as a real estate agent many agents are overlooking profitable sales that could increase their bottom line tremendously but simply don't take advantage of these sales because they are unable to learn the HUD process. Or, in making an attempt to procure a HUD home for their buyer they wind up getting their deal canceled because they miss an important deadline. By simply marketing an additional 3-6 HUD homes yearly one can increase their revenue tremendously. In the US, no real estate academy will educate you for the HUD 9548 contract and teach how to competently execute the contract.

While the HUD 9548 contract is the same all over the United States few agents take the time to learn how to properly execute these contracts as many are interested on short-sales or bank owned REO's. Never again make that mistake and exclude this opportunity of a life time. You can find out how to become successful with HUD sales by visiting our real estate academy and view our tutorials.