Real Clues

[RealClues] #327: Buy Now (part 1)

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New for May 19-31, 2008, at www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com
(See Featured Products for detailed descriptions)
*Help--I Need Two of Me! Five Myths that Decrease Productivity
*Four Top Producer Tips for Taming Your Cell Phone
*Six Easy Steps to Creating a Profitable Business Plan
*The Top Ten Strategies for Dealing with First-Time Buyer Syndrome

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: Get Your Buyers to Buy Now!
2. Welcome Notes: The Ultimate Secret to Real Estate Success
3. Reprise: Unleashing the Power of Testimonials
4. Create a Better Life: Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time
5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg): The Truth about the Latest OFHEO Numbers
6. New this week at www.LuxuryClues.com: "Billionaire's Row Sets Another Record," "Destination Clubs," plus "Bloggers, a Must Have Tool"
7. Featured Products:
*The Easiest Way to Get Caller's Phone Numbers
*What's New for May 19-May 31, 2008 at www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com
8. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
9. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
10. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: Get Buyers to Buy Now! Part 1 of 2
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Are you ready to get your buyers to buy now? If so, today's article will show you how.

Many agents are lamenting about how bad the market is. Most people who were in business in 1998 will remember that it was a pretty good year. NAR is projecting that in 2008 there will be over 5 million home sales or 10,000,000 "sides," the same number as in 1998. Assuming that there are approximately 1,000,000 active Realtors(reg) today, that's 10 sides per agent. The question is how can you capitalize on today's market conditions to increase your income in 2008?

1. Target active market areas
Regardless of where you work, there are some locations and price ranges that are more active than others are. Watch the sales board in your office as well as the Multiple Listing Statistics. Focus your marketing efforts on those areas that have the most business. If you do face-to-face prospecting such as door knocking, calling on For-Sale-by-Owners, prospecting owners of expired listings, or holding open house, make active areas your first priority. If you normally work the $400,000+ area and the sales are currently active in the $250,000 to $300,000 price range, shift your efforts there. Also, be sure to carefully monitor activity each month. If you observe a shift, follow it.

2. Put pressure on buyers who are negotiating by doing a simultaneous price reduction
Whenever you issue a counteroffer with a lower price, ask the seller to reduce the list price. When the buyers realize that the seller is lowering the price, it places additional pressure on the buyers to take action.

3. The Best Buyer's Market in 35 Years
If you use print or web marketing, use your marketing pieces to proclaim, "2008--the Best Year to Buy a Home in 35 Years!" Here's how to back up this claim. In April of 1973, Mortgage rates were about the same as they are today. Since that time, we have only had mortgage rates this low during 2001 and 2002, the height of the seller's markets where there was little inventory. In the last two major buyer's markets, one in the early 1980s and the other in the early 1990s, the rates were much higher. When I started in the business in 1978, interest rates were at 9.75 percent, en route to 18 to 21 percent in 1980. In the early 1990s, the rates were hovering in the 11 to 12 percent range. Thus, today's buyer's market, with exceptionally low mortgage rates plus a substantial supply of inventory, is the best time in decades to purchase.

4. Show first time buyers the cost of waiting
There are several different ways that first time buyers lose money by waiting to purchase. The first is loss of tax deductions. In most cases, people who lack a mortgage pay more Federal and State Income taxes than those who qualify for a mortgage deduction. You can use a mortgage calculator to illustrate this point. For example, assume that a buyer is currently paying $1,500 per month on a rental. If the buyer purchases a $300,000 property with $30,000 down and a fixed rate 30 year mortgage of $270,000 at 6.25 percent, the buyer actually nets $24,262 more, assuming that appreciation keeps pace with inflation, the buyer owns property for 8 years, and is in the 28 percent bracket.

Another way renters lose money is through wealth accumulation, generally in the form of creating equity by paying down the loan and through appreciation. According to the Federal Reserve, the average homeowner between 1995 and 2004 had a net worth of $184,400, of which approximately $60,000 was due to home ownership appreciation. To account for the difference of $60,000 of wealth accumulation, a $200,000 house would have to decline by 30 percent. Thus, each year a buyer waits to purchase a median priced home, they lose $6,000 in potential wealth accumulation.

An additional way that renters lose money is through increased interest rates. For example, on a $200,000 mortgage, assume that interest rates increase from six to seven percent. By waiting, the buyer's payments increase by $1,578 each year causing a total loss (in payments and wealth accumulation) of $7,578. If interest rates increase from six to eight percent on that same loan, they will pay an extra $3,221 per year resulting in a total loss of $9,221.

Using the numbers that clearly illustrate the costs of waiting to purchase will help to get many reluctant buyers to take action. If you need more help getting buyers to buy now, then don't miss next week's article.

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

I've just started reading a wonderful new book by Bob Burg called the Go-Giver. Bob's Endless Referrals Program is absolutely the best training I have ever seen on power networking and building your business. In the Go-Giver, he explains the secrets of stratospheric success. One of the secrets in this book is to create more value than you are charging for your services. This is what Jennifer Cummings in her program, The Simple Secrets of Creating a RICH Life (http://realestatecoach.com/training/potato_chip.html) calls "give-to-get marketing." If you haven't picked up Bob's book or ordered Jennifer's DVD, you're missing a wonderful opportunity to experience success at the highest possible levels.

One of the best ways to employ give-to-get marketing is by having a blog. If you have been considering adding blogging to your business, Joeann Fossland and Frances Flynn Thorsen are starting a No Blogger Left Behind Class (http://www.joeann.com/nblb-berniceross.htm) that begins on June 25, 2008. If you're worried about missing a class due to vacation or other travel plans, they will be recording each session so you can listen at your leisure. Joeann's grand daughter starting blogging at age 5. If she can do it, you can too!

Make it a great week.

Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: Hot Niches--Unleashing the Power of Testimonials
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Testimonials from raving fans are one of the best ways to build your business. Are you taking advantage of this powerful tool?

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20051128.html

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4. Create a Better Life: Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time
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Time management is a myth. We all have the same 24 hours per day. The question is how well do you manage your energy and your activities in the time allotted each day. This article shows you the power of managing energy rather than trying to manage time.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20031020.html

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5. Positive News for Positive Realtors(reg)
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Sometimes I feel like the lone ranger when it comes to reporting what's going on in terms of the market. The latest rash of negative reporting is about the most recent report from www.OFHEO.gov. Their index says prices dropped 1.7 percent during the first quarter of 2008, the largest drop since they started tracking the data. Of course, the negative media picked this up with more references saying that prices will decline another 20 percent. This is hogwash. According to CNN, new home sales actually increased last month for the first time in many months. Click on the link below to hear the good news that should have been reported in the OFHEO numbers.

http://listenandlearnrealestate.com/news.html

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6. This Week at www.LuxuryClues.com
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*Another New Record on Billionaire's Row
*A $100 Million Tear Down?
*Cool New Blogging Tool--this is a Must Have
*Destination Resorts at a Fraction of the Cost

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7. Featured Products
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**The Easiest Way to Get Caller's Numbers
Call capture technology has been around for over a decade. It is still one of the top two or three tools you should be using for lead generation. When someone calls your 800 number, you immediately receive their phone number, because you paid for the call. Because they initiated the call, there are no issues about the Do Not Call List. Best of all, when you demonstrate this to sellers, they will normally agree to sign up right on the spot. It is also a tremendous tool to use to convert both expired listings and FSBOs. To learn more, http://www.realestatecoach.com/marketing/proquest.html

**New at www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com Six to eight new audio broadcast training modules EVERY month for only $29.97 per month or $147.00 for six months. Here's what's new for May 19-31, 2008:

*The Top Ten Strategies for Dealing with First-Time Buyer Syndrome
Most challenges with first time buyers come from their fear. If you're interested in how to calm those first time jitters, this session tells you how.

*Help--I Need Two of Me! Five Myths that Decrease Productivity
Is your production as high as you would like it to be? If not, check out the five myths that can hamper your success.

*Four Top Producer Tips for Taming Your Cell Phone
"My phone never stops ringing." "I don't have time for all these text messages." This session gives you four top producer steps for taming your cell phone plus Bernice's top tip on how to respond quickly, whether by email, text, or voice.

*Six Easy Steps to Creating a Profitable Business Plan
Yes, no one likes business planning, but writing down your plan increases the chances of succeeding from under 10 percent to over 90 percent. This session makes business planning as easy as 1-2-3.

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8. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true. Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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9. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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10. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2008, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy, or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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