photo credit: Very Quiet

Most of us like to think that because we are an expert in a certain field we can handle our own issues or transactions, whether it be a legal issue for attorneys, medical issues for doctors (I hope they get help), or real estate deals for real estate agents. Sometimes ego gets in the way of reason. I know that may be a revolutionary concept, but its true, it does happen. I know, not to you.

Even if we are in the business, its still a good idea to hire outside help. At least have a colleague represent you or have them close to advise you. Remember, in negotiating its always good to have a higher authority to refer to, if the other side knows you have the final word, they will pressure you to make it.

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Posted in Education And Training, Giving Back, Seller Resources, GenX GenY, Online Education

photo credit: Luca Foppiano

So, youve decided to start your own real estate business. Of course youre excited and cant wait to have an office, a secretary, and a list of appointments. Maybe that will work and maybe it just isnt possible to start out that way. You can still start a business, but you dont have to start out so big, maybe you could use a virtual office instead of a full blown office with all the bells and whistles, and the cost of those bells and whistles.

There are alternatives to everything, and there are alternatives to traditional businesses too. Technology has allowed people to start a business that may have never been able to afford the start up costs of yesterday. It also helps operational businesses to save some money and streamline some procedures.

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Posted in Education And Training, Technology And You, Giving Back, Seller Resources, GenX GenY, Metro Brokers Agents

The number of contracts signed in April to purchase homes took another leap right up to the end of the home buyer tax credit, as explained by Diana Olick in this CNBC video.

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Posted in Education And Training, Buyer Resources, Seller Resources

The National Association of Realtors is offering a series of free webinars for agents and brokers dubbed the REALTOR® University Webinar Summit, on Wednesday, June 9, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT and running through the afternoon, with different sessions on the hour:

• Special Management Session: How to Build a Self Recruiting Office, 11 a.m. During this webinar you'll learn proven steps to transform your recruiting strategy from prospecting to receiving quality recruits from someone who has actually done it Rich Casto.
• 13 Powerful Real Estate Blogging Tips to Generate Business, noon. If you want to build a powerful brand on the web, then blogging can be a critical part of your overall strategy. Attend this session with leading technology expert Amy Chorew and walk away with a clear understanding of how you too can use your well strategized blog as a powerful marketing and communication tool to drive business.
• Seven Strategies to Increase Your Business Through Effective Communication, 1 p.m. Join speaker, author and coach Carla Cross in this fast-paced session on how to get your buyers and sellers "off the fence" and into a transaction with you. Learn specific strategies you need to know to build trust and create clients for life.
• Top Ten Closing Scripts of Today's Top Agents, 2 p.m. Join speaker and best-selling author Bernice Ross for this "power-hour" of proven-in-the-field listing, pricing and sales scripts that the continent's most successful agents are using to close more transactions.
• Seven Proven Headline Formulas That Show You How to Sell Like Crazy, 3 p.m. You have less than three seconds to get a prospect to decide to read your e-mail, blog, postcard, article or any other marketing piece. And if they don't read it, it doesn't matter how great your copy is or how compelling your offer is. Learn seven proven headline formulas that the pros use to quickly and easily write killer headlines.
• Five Lead Generation and Conversion Strategies That Work!, 4 p.m. Join web and marketing expert Tricia Andreassen as she shares the little-known lead generation secrets of the nation's top producers and how you too can generate high quality leads that result in closed transactions.

Get more details and register at the REALTOR® University Webinar Summit web page.

photo credit: The Hamster Factor

Posted in Industry Events, Education And Training, Technology And You, Marketing, Seller Resources, Online Education

Nationwide housing, bolstered by favorable interest rates and low house prices, hovered for the fifth consecutive quarter near its highest level of affordability since the series was first compiled 19 years ago, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) released in May.

The HOI showed that 72.2% of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2010 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $63,800, slightly higher than the previous quarter and near the record-high 72.5% set during the first quarter a year ago.

"Today's report is very encouraging because it indicates that homeownership continues its more than year-long trend of remaining within reach of more households than it has for almost two decades," said NAHB Chairman Bob Jones, a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "With interest rates still hovering at low levels, companies starting to hire new employees and the economy beginning to rebound, this should encourage more home buyers to enter the market and help further stabilize housing and the economy."

Read more in the official press release from the NAHB.

Posted in Education And Training, Buyer Resources, Seller Resources