Realty World Pacific Coast Properties- Agent Careers

Hey agents! Here’s a great article that is well worth your attention as you prepare for the new year.  Banks are embracing and staffing up for the coming short sale boom. There will be more short sale opportunities 2012 than there were in 2011.  Read more about it here:  Short sales set to explode in 2012.  If you are looking for a great short sale team to join, I can think of no other brokerage better equipped to provide you with all you need to properly represent your short sale clients than Realty World Pacific Coast Properties.  Contact Steve Holderfield for a confidential interview. today: 925-930-3991 or 925-408-2911.

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Economists are predicting another year of slightly lower home values for the coming year.  Now id a perfect time for Realtors to stay in touch with their sphere of influence, hone their Short Sale skills and take a long look at their business expenses to make sure they have things at their most productive and affordable levels. It’s also a great time for any Realtors considering brokerage change to take a look at our great offerings for new associates. I don’t know of a more full service brokerage that an agent can associate with that offers more features at the lowest possible cost. We have 2 great plans an agent can choose from, 1.  100% commission with a $165 monthly technology fee and an $895.00 per transaction fee or  2. 100% commission with no monthly fee, and franchise royalty fee of 6% and a transaction fee of $960 per transaction.

Contact our broker, Steve Holderfield, for more information; 925-408-2911

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Steve Holderfield, Broker/Owner of Realty World Pacific Coast Properties in Pleasant Hill, is proud to announce that they have agreed to act as a buyer’s broker for The Schubb Group, also located in Pleasant Hill.  the Schubb group is one of the premiere REO Brokers in Northern California.  The agreement is a major benefit to both companies, but especially for the agents of Realty World Pacific Coast Properties.  We will be holding open our first open houses for the Schubb Group’s listings this weekend for example we will be holding this property open this Saturday: 123_Hawthorne_Court_Flyer2.  This new arrangement will serve both companies and their clients well, providing more market exposure and the opportunity to allow the public better access to these fine REO or bank owned listings.  REO/ bank owned properties are the first choice of many buyers in today’s market.  Fro more information, contact Steve Holderfield, Broker/Owner, Pacific Coast Properties, steve@realtyworldpcp.com or 925-930-3991 

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Many of you know that the CAR Real Estate Purchase Agreement that we California Realtors all use was built around paragraph 14 on page 5.  This paragraph entitled, “Time Periods; Removal of Contingencies; Time Periods”, establishes a time period for the buyer to perform whatever inspections they want and to potentially renegotiate the transaction based upon what has been discovered in the various inspections performed by the buyer.  Then, once that time period has elapsed, the buyer, once satisfied with the home’s condition and the deal that was stuck, decides to move forward by removing the inspection contingency provided for in this paragraph.

There is a step and form that I recommend that we all use prior to starting our inspections, but just after the initial offer is accepted.  As Realtors, we need to take the inspection period and the types of inspections that the buyer wants to do very seriously since the entire purchase agreement is built around these inspections.  We need to have a standard of practice established in regards to these inspections and discuss the various options with our buyers.  For example, my personal standard of practice on a residential 1 to 4 home purchase, I always have my buyer obtain and pay for 2 inspections: a Structural Pest Control Inspection and a Whole HouseInspection, and then based upon these inspections, I counsel my buyers as to what other inspections might be needed or advisable.

CAR form BIE, Buyer Inspection Elections is a form provided to us by CAR’s ZipForms 6 is a fantastic tool that does a few things for you as a Buyer’s Agent:

1. It gives you a list of various inspections that are available to you and your Buyer
2. It establishes that you are taking the inspection contingency in the contract seriously and that you a recommending to your Buyer that they do the same
3. It is yet another reminder to your Buyer to perform their inspections

Every Agent needs to develop a team of trusted inspectors in the various trades and disciplines.  This list of trusted team members will serve you and your clients well.

The goal should always be that we strategically place our buyers in the position that they will never be found saying to us, “If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have bought this house!’  Happy selling!

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Successful agents stay in touch with the sphere of influence, n0t to mention their past clients do so without pestering them.  Here are some ideas:

1.  Be useful… give them ideas and information that they can use.  the key is to deliver these things consistently.  I suggest a monthly mailer to your sphere of influence.  Sending them a monthly update of homes that have sold in their town or community is ideal information.  Fortunately this information is easily available to you through your local MLS, NAR, Zillow, Trulia and a variety of other sources.  Finding the info is easy, sending it consistently is the hard part.

2.  Items of Value… Consider personally delivering some sort of item of value on a monthly basis to your best clients in your sphere of influence database.  Yes, you need a database of your sphere of influence that is sorted by A,B,C and D or considering deleting.

3.  Write personal notes to your sphere of influence database.  A personal note is nothing more than a hand written note that says hello, I was thinking about you and I wanted to stay in touch.  And, if I can steal from Brian Buffini a little, “Oh by the way, if you know somebody who needs to buy or sell, please remember that I’m never to busy for your referrals.”

4.  Remember to call behind your mailers and especially your personal notes.  The act of taking the time to personally call makes all the difference in the world.

5.  Make a social networking connection with your sphere of influence.  I personally like Facebook, but Twitter, Linkedin and many others work.  Find the right one you like to use and make those connections.

6.  Have a get together… client parties or educational seminars or even taking some friends out for lunch or a movie are great ways to cement your relationships with your sphere of influence.

Whatever you do, it needs to be creative, but more importantly consistent.  The biggest mistake agents make is to do these things only for a month or so and then give up.  Make a commitment and stick to it.  The rewards are there if you do!

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We Realtors, while not technically a tax professional and we need to make that reality clear to our clients, should stay aware of the available tax benefits for home owners, so that we can help our clients make better decisions about owning real estate.   I read a recent article in Realtor Mag that clearly outlines the tax benefits for home owners:

While renting offers zero tax breaks, buying a home offers several tax benefits that can make homeownership more affordable. Real estate professionals need to be careful in providing detailed tax advice to clients to avoid lawsuits, but you can ensure clients have the information they need to understand the all of the tax benefits of home ownership.

“The following is a few of the tax benefits to home ownership, according to Stephen Fishman, an author and lawyer who specializes in small business, tax and intellectual property law.

▪ Home mortgage interest deduction: Home owners can take an itemized deduction on interest paid on a mortgage or mortgages of up to $1 million for a principal residence and/or second home. This deduction could potentially reduce the cost of borrowing by one-third or more.
▪ Property tax deduction: Home owners can deduct from their federal income taxes the state and local property taxes that you pay on the home.
▪ Deductible home buying expenses: Several closing costs in a home purchase are also deductible, such as loan origination fees (points), prorated interest on a new loan, and prorated property taxes paid at settlement.
▪ $250,000/$500,000 home-sale exclusion: Home owners who have lived in their home for two of the prior five years prior to its sale do not have to pay income tax on the majority of their profit — $250,000 for single home owners and $500,000 for married homeowners who file jointly.
▪ 14 days of free rental income: Home owners can rent the home up to 14 days during the year and pay no tax at all on the rental income.”

Successful Realtors should create a relationship with a tax professional so that they have a competent resource to refer their clients to for advice.

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Somebody once told me that the only thing you can count on in the world of selling real estate is that things change all the time.  One of the things that we all commented on a few years ago was that rental values as compared to what it cost to buy a home were really out of whack.  In just about every market it cost way more to buy than to rent.  We all had the attitude that we better buy now because it is only getting more expensive.

Well now it seems that this is changing.  There are many markets today where is is actually cheaper now to buy than to rent. 

It’s cheaper to buy a home rather than rent one in 72 percent of the 50 largest U.S. cities, according to Trulia’s rent vs. buy index, which compares the total cost of home ownership to the cost of renting.

“Since the start of the ‘Great Recession,’ many former home owners have flooded the rental market,” Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia, said in a news release about the index. “Following the principles of supply and demand, renting has become relatively more expensive than buying in most markets.”

The index compares the median sales price of homes with the median rent on two bedroom apartments, condos, and townhomes that were listed on Trulia as of Jan. 10, 2011.

Here are the top 10 cities where it’s best to buy than rent, according to the index:
1. Miami
2. Las Vegas
3. Arlington, Texas
4. Mesa, Ariz.
5. Phoenix, Ariz.
6. Jacksonville, Fla.
7. Sacramento, Calif.
8. San Antonio, Texas
9. Fresno, Calif.
10. El Paso, Texas

Things continue to change.  We Realtors need to keep up with these changes or the market as we know it will disappear and morph into something that looks nothing like what we had seen before.

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Well, here we are facing a new year.  We are a week into 2011.  One of the big mistakes I see many real estate agents make is to fail to set some written goals for themselves.   January is an ideal time to take stock of how you did the previous year, but if you didn’t have any written goals, how would you measure your progress?

As the old saying goes, “If You Fail to Plan, Then You Plan to Fail”

All of your goals should be measurable.  The purpose of this is so that you can’t kid yourself about your success or lack of success.  Monetary goals are particularly helpful and useful to real estate agents.  Here’s a few goals for you to consider:

1. # of transactions for the year?

2. # of outbound calls you will make on a weekly/monthly basis?

3. # of personal notes you will write daily/weekly/monthly?

4.  # of vacation days you will take?

5.  # of dollars you will spend on marketing in your business?

6.  # of new clients you will add to your sphere of influence?

7.  # of open houses you will hold?

8.  What will your average sales price be?

9.  # of personal client “pop by” visits you will make weekly/monthly?

10.  How many expired listings will you contact?

You can see how goal setting with specific goals will set you up with a basis to grade your success next year.  Knowing the averages that most agents produce for the goals you ahve is helpful. these averages are available through your local .state and national associations and other sources online.  So take a positive step in your own business and make some written goals for yourself.

Then once you have written your goals, read them everyday and a reminder of what you have committed to accomplish.  Another great help in accomplishing the goals you have established is to share these goals with someone you trust… Your Broker, your spouse or some other trusted close friend are good choices.  Having written goals to look at over several years will give you a perspective of how your are doing over time.  So, take a chance and write some goals down… Can’t hurt and might help!

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Bank of America has temporarily halted foreclosures in all 50 states. Here’s a link to an article that explains the background on this recent decision: Article.  So how will this affect the real estate market that we find ourselves in?  It depends.

It depends because it is unclear how many other lenders will follow suit.  If most or all other lenders make the same decision that B of A has made, this could adversely affect the supply of homes we have in our market.  Foreclosures account for roughly 25% of the available homes for sale in most areas throughout California.  If the banks stop foreclosing on homes this will adversely affect the current supply of homes for sale bringing upward pressure on prices due to a low supply of homes for sale.  There is  a low supply of listings currently in reality.  The only sellers, for the most part, are people who really need to sell as the prices are down about 40% in most markets.  If we get a 25% reduction in homes for sale it might help sellers, but we will be back to multiple offers and competing to get our buyer’s offer accepted.  Remember those days?  Those days could be back with the weird twist of the fallen values that we have.

It depends also on what new revelations will come to light from the congressional investigation into how banks have been handling or maybe mishandling their foreclosure actions in the past.

It also means that this thing will continue and more and more people will fall behind in their house payments and now, if they have a B of A loan, they don’t have to fear a imminent foreclosure action.  Guys, this is not good news for lenders.  How many more hits can these guys take?  I fear they will stop lending and wait for things to get better or just find other places to put their money.  My opinion is that the quicker we get to the other side of this thing the better.  We should encourage the banks to foreclose on people who have not made their house payments and move them on.  So many people bought homes that were not qualified for their purchase.  The quicker we process through the mess from 2000 through 2006, the better.   Slowing the foreclosure process will lengthen the time of this recession and adversely affect home values.

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Someone once told me that the only thing you can be assured of in the real estate business is that things are constantly changing. This has certainly been true in regards to the policies and procedures of bank’s review and approval of short sales.

I have probably helped in the processing of around 200 short sales for my agents over the last 3 or 4 years. The shortest one I ever did was approved in 14 days and the longest one took a year and 2 months. When we all first started attempting to get short sales approved, the banks were also learning to do this. Their staff was largely inexperienced and their policies were not well established. Since that beginning, the banks have become much more efficient in assisting with the process of reviewing and approving short sale requests and more importantly, they have established more defined guidelines and policies that have helped us all to better assist our clients through this complicated and stressful process.

Bank of America re cently announced that they will be investing $10 Million dollars in their short sale and foreclosure departments over the next year. More staff and better technology to move these requests through the system faster and more efficiently. they say their goal is to get their clients to the other side of this problem with their integrity intact as quickly as possible.

Another change recently came from Wells Fargo, who announced that they will no longer delay foreclosure proceedings in hopes that a short sale deal will come through. At the requests of its mortgage investors, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank has stopped granting extensions for distressed homeowners to complete short sales. Going forward, borrowers must close on short sales by the date quoted in their approval letter. The policy change will allow the bank’s foreclosure proceedings to advance, even if a short sale is already in negotiation.

Today’s Realtor needs to keep themselves informed of these ever changing events to be able to serve their clients.  Education is the key to staying on top of and adjusting to all the changes that we encounter.