Market Smarter, Not Harder and Reflect and Plan Ahead!

As the year comes to an end, I always take the time to reflect and plan ahead. Your friends at Bizintros.com recommend that you do the same.

We know how you are feeling. We watch the news too and with top officials and even the president-elect saying things like, “It gets worse before it gets better,” you might feel like the panic button has already been pushed, but not so. The key to 2009 will be to market smarter not harder.

The following tips and suggestions will help you keep your business on track or get it back to where it needs to be.

1. Audit yourself: Document everything and anything that lead to business in 2008. Keep this information handy as it will help you to determine your strengths and weaknesses. Then, if you don’t already have one, establish a system that will help you keep track of where your prospects/leads and sales come from. It could be as complicated as using ACT or Excel or as simple as biz journal/notebook. The point is to audit yourself. Make it part of your daily, weekly or monthly routine and make adjustment accordingly.

2. Set short term, monthly goals. Each business day, plan income producing activities i.e. prospecting (calls, emails, direct mail, asking for referrals, ppc advertsing), presentations and demonstrations. Anything that puts you or your brand in front of potential clients is an opportunity for you to convert. Once you convert, you move on to servicing and following up. That’s the second, part of your day. Then, prospect some more. Prospecting is the most important facet of any SBO’s business. Without it, you’ll have no one to sell to.

Continue Reading for tips 3-5

Top 5 Reasons to Buy a Home in this New Jersey Market

Having in the real estate business for several years now, I have seen several changes in the market that make buying a home the smartest investment one could make at this specific moment. Here are my top five reasons to buy. I could list 10 reasons, but if you are not excited by the top 5, reasons 6-10 might not excite you.

1. It is cheap to borrow money. Most resales are financed through mortgage dollars. Just this past week rates opened up at 5to 5 1/2, which is the lowests they have been in the past 4 years. If it is cheap to borrow money you can afford more house or buy the same house for less money monthly.

2. You are in the driver seat. The market conditions favor you. Most sellers are only getting one opportunity to sell; one offer and you have the ability to choose from a wide array of properties: New construction, resales, short sales, banked owned (REO), Rehab properties. You have your pick of the litter and now more than ever sellers are more willing to negotiate. But, be aware that homes that are priced right are selling fast. Ask me how i can put you in a position to great a great deal.

3. On top of getting the pick of the litter, being able to negotiate, buying homes at a sunstantial discount, if you are a first time home buyer, meaning you do not presently own real estate or have known real estate in the immediate past three you, you can qualify for a tax credit of up 10% of the home’s purchase price to $7500. Tax credit applies to the year you purchased the home and can be repaid over the next 15 years or from the proceeds if you decide to sell before then. It’s almost too good to be true. It is a no-interests loan from the government but it has an expiration date. You have to close on or before 06/30/2009 to benefit to exercise this credit.

4. So, let’s recap. You can borrow money at low, low rates. You have lots of properties to choose from. You might be able to negotiate and even ask for more than just the house like the appliances, furniture, closting costs, and a closing date of your choice; you might qualify for a tax credit and you have an opportunity to buy a home at 12% or maybe even an 18% discount from years ago and their are less qualifed buyers in the market making you a hot commodity. So what on earth would be reason 4? Well, if you are renting now, you could theorically pay something similar monthly in rent as you would mortgage, except as a homeowner, you’d get tax deductions form annual interest paid and taxes.

5. Finally and more importantly, you get a chance to live the American Dream. Peace of mind is priceless. Imagine having parking when you come home. A driveway, garage, basement for storage. A backyard for Summer fun and BBQs. Imagine being able to have a pet and not have to pay a pet deposit. Imagine have a home threater system, a game room, a home office, a privacy fence. Imagine having the Holidays at your house. But don’t imagine it. Live it. Call me now for a free buyer’s consultation. We are a one-stop shopping, full service brokerage. Not only do we have the ability to find you the house of your dreams, but we can help you find financing, insure it, protect it with a home inspection plan, do your title search, change your locks, clean up the house after the old owners leave, connect your cable, phone lines, transfer over your mail. . . We have it all at Weichert, Realtors. With over 40 different service partners, we aim to make your home buying experience as carefree as possible so that you sleep better at night. Call me now for a free Buyer’s consultation and let’s get the ball rolling. 973-715-6210.

Angie Perez

TOP 5 Buys for the Busy Sales Professional

Treat Yourself to Something Nice!
Top 5 Buys of the Holiday Season for the Busy, Busy Professional

1. AutoExec File Tote
2. Livescribe 2GB Pulse Smart Pen
3. Targus RG0315C Pulse Backpack for Notebooks
4. Personal V8 Business Card Scanner
5. Contact Manager Pro

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Bizintros.com Benefits

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New Benchmark for Real Estate Appraisals

If you are purchasing an owner occupied residential 1-4 family home and financing the purchase with a mortgage, your bank or mortgage broker will require an opinion of real valued often refered to as market value of the home. Property valuers, appraisers, often use the sales comparison approached when evaluating 1-4 family owner occcupied homes, which is to say they look for comparable sales of similar homes up to 1 year or 18 months in the past to determine value.

Now the new benchmark number is 3 or possibily 6 months in the past depending on the bank/broker. These days, it’s typical to hear that this “comp” (comparable sale) is too old.

What this means to you and me is that the mortgage market is making what some argue is a necessary adjustment to correct the ailing housing market. Rather than assess property at last year’s prices, banks are crutinizing each mortgage application and price opinion.

What this means for you the seller and you the buyer is that in order to have a meeting of the minds, if there is a mortgage involved, you have to satisfy the property valuer as well with the most recent information.

No two properties are identical and location is always different yet style, number of rooms, bedrooms sizes, number of bathrooms and where bathrooms are located in the home can play a key role in determining value. For example, assuming you have two similar homes suchs as 3 bedrooms, 2 baths each, bathroom location can make one home ore valuable than another. Consider this:

Home 1 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one on the 1st floor entry level and one on the second floor landing.

Home 2 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, except one of the full bathrooms is in the basement.

An appraiser might suggest that house number 1 is more valuable than house number 2 because house number 2 has a below grade bathroom, which is less likely to be used.

How MyFax Supports Me in My Real Estate Business

As most people know, I am a huge supporter of technology and more importantly MyFax.com.

MyFax.com was introduced to me by a fellow colleague. As a real estate agent, you can accumulate a lot of paperwork quick. One of the challenges I had when I first started the real estate business was how to get myself organized in a way that would make me more efficient. The following are the top 5 ways Myfax helps me to stay organized and keep me tech savy in the world of real estate.

1. Privacy Matters. As a listing agent, when multiple offers are a concern, even though we see less of them now, we still have one or two listings that might experience more than one contract. As such, privacy matters in this situation, especially when your office fax machine is exposed and your faxes can be viewed by other agents in your office. Having all written contracts submitted to my fax 1-800 number ensures privacy because copies are send to my email account. Contracts are not sitting unintended by the fax machine and as a bonus, you can reduce the number of times you have to go to the office to retrieve contracts, which saves you gas money. With MyFax, you can simply log on to your email account and there it is: your document scanned as a pdf file, which could the be email to the seller or buyer for their review.

2. Myfax allows me to create an electronic file(s) of transactions. When conrtacts or other forms are signed by clients, I can fax it to myself to create a electronic copy for me to keep on my desktop or in a file folder, which means that I don’t have to worry about filing away the paper copies, although some hard-copies are necessary and must be collected by my broker.

Continue Reading. . .

Link Exchanges: Are they worth your time?

Subject line: Let’s Exchange Links! If you are a website/blog owner/publisher, you’ve probably received an email with with the above subject line or a request more than a couple of times. But are link exchanges or exchanging links worth your time?

In the “old days,” formal or informal link exchanges/requests worked out well for both parties that were in agreement with reciprocating links. However, search engines have gotten more sophisticated and now they give more weight to one way link exchange(s), which is where site A links to B, but B does not link to A. You might be wondering, what’s in it for A to link to site B? Good Question! Site A might get more credibility by making endorsement without any immediate benefit. Therefore, the best way to increase your page rank and get more traffic to your site is to do the following in this order:

1. Write articles on subjects that you are most familar with and submit to popular article directories. If you know a subject/topic well enough, you’ll find that it is easier to commit to writing about your choose subject over and over again.

2. Join a relatable forum and post frequently with a link in your signature. Some forums frown on this type of linking building, but as long as you add something of value to the discussion, you might be able to slide.

3. Post comments or become a guess writer on another blogger’s site; assuming they have high visability or even if they are just starting out, you can certainly get traffic if you consistently visit their site and post. Again your post has to add something of value.

4. Become a member of our site for free; meet local pros and share your expertise. In Exchange, we’ll add a link from our site to yours, but only after you have your profile up. Check us out at Bizintros.com

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So does it pay to participate in link exchange? Absolutely, Yes! But only if you do the above as well  

Rumor has it. . .NEW FHA Guidelines after October 1st.

I don’t know if this is true, but it’s something to think about if you are a current house-hunter with little to no down payment money. According to an undisclosure source, the new FHA guidelines will require a minimum downpayment of 3.5% as oppose to 3% starting October 1st. Generally, if you had a middle credit score of 580, maybe as low as 540, depending on your downpayment and you ability to prove income, you could qualify for a loan. Now, that same credit rating may be much higher. How much higher? We are not sure yet.

More on Mortgages at this site: FHASecure: Did It Really Do That?

Marketing on Social Media Sites

The following are tips you can implement on Bizintros.com or other social media sites that you might be apart of. If you are using Web 2.0 tools i.e. Twitter, Bizintros.com or other sites to connect with people to generate more business for you, consider the following tips to convey your business personality.

1. Beef Up Your Profile: A bare profile can send mixed messages for those users who click on your name. A business or professional should spend some time thoughtfully building a profile with attractive photo(s), background and contact information. Your intro should convey your value story and leave the reader with something to start a conversation with you.

2. Be Yourself: Every Business has a Personality. I said it once, I’ll say it again. People Buy People Before They Buy Products and Services. The social-media world is about engaging customers on a more personal level. Share your expertise through atricles, forums, groups or video uploads. And guess what? The more you share, they more opportunity you create for yourself. Each article on our site or anywhere else gets index. Google, the number one seach engine in the U.S., loves fresh content. Share and share alike and your efforts will be rewarded.

Read more at Bizintros.com

How to Choose a Contractor

This is a personal story and a real experience. There are some lessons I learned as a result, which is what I am about to share with you.

Last week, my mom called me frantic and upset.
Mom: Angie, listen can you help me out, you being in real estate and all? I need a new furnace. I had ******* come and clean it. The guy found that the furnace was rotted from the inside. He told me that I needed to replace the furnace and it going to cost $6500. Is that a “good” price?

Angie: It sounds a little bit expensive. How many estimates did you get?

Mom: Just the one from my oil company.

Angie: Mom, you should really get three estimates so that you can compare. How old is the furnace?

Mom: It’s not that old. We replaced it 8 years ago.

Angie: 8 YEARS AGO AND IT NEEDS REPLACING? That doesn’t make sense. Those things last 20-30 years at least. Ok, well I’ll get my coworker’s husband to take a look at it. He’s a general contractor and I’ll ask to if he knows anyone that can take a look at the furnace.

Fast Forward two days later, the general contractor found that the furnace was in great condition. In fact, the rotting that the other contractor found was actually red clay from the chimney. It turns out that my parents needed a new stainless steel liner and not a “new” furnace.

Of course I called ******* and I reminded then that my parents havebeen with them for 18 years. In a not so polite way,  I explained to them that I was disappointed to hear that they were preying on my parents, who are retired and inexperience with home repairs. Of course, the oil co’s representative apologized and offered to send the tech to clean the furnace again for free when the liner was replaced.

Three new liner estimates later, one for $2400, one for $1800 and one for $1700, we settled on the third estimate because the contractor offered a lifetime warranty; he took his time with my mom and explained the entire process of what needed to be done and he didn’t try to inflate his estimate. Also, he had his license number on his business card and he offered to work within our time frame.

How to choose a contractor?
1. Ask for a referral from a friend or coworker as I did or try an online service; sumbit the project description and local contractors will call or email you. Find Quality Contractors at National Contractors.com

2. Get three estimates minimum.
3. Compare Pros and Cons of each estimate.
4. Go with your gut; choose the one that meets your criteria whatever you set that up to be. It turns out the that cheapest contractor was also the one that we connected with.

Lastly, tell the contractor that you are interviewing and never give the price of the other estimates, unless you want them to the other contractor to match your lowest offer.

BONUS: Some key questions to ask.

• Is this the best you can do with the price?
• Are you serious about doing the job?
• Do you carry insurance?
• What methods of payment do you accept?
• Do I have to sign a contract?
• Do I have to buy an materials or are they included in price?
• If its a long project, will we set up milestones?

First Impressions are Worth a Thousand Dollars.

May 2009: First Impressions are Worth a Thousand Dollars.

So, I’m a clutter freak. I can admit it. I collect all types of things and when I go home, I think about how much I would have to put away if I ever put my house on the market. As a realtor, I see a lot of houses in different shapes, sizes, and in different locations, yet one thing remains constant in my industry: A Clean House Sells. I cannot tell you how important it is to put your best foot forward when you are thinking about listing and marketing your home. A buyer’s first impression is often the impression he or she relies on when making a decision to buy.

Let’s start with curb appeal: Trim the hedges; keep the lawn trimmed, remove garbage, clean the windows, power wash the siding, plant new flowers, and brighten up the door with seasonal themes. Do whatever it take to welcome the buyer. It almost feel like this is a no brainer, but I say it day in and day out to more than one seller. Yes, selling your home is a daunting task. That’s just one of the reasons you hire me. To make things easier on you.

Second, remove the clutter. Since I am a clutter prone, I know what it looks like: mail stacked up into neat piles, folded clothes outside of the closet, shoes around and underneath the beds, big furniture, book busting out of bookshelves, or simply not enough walking space and too much stuff everywhere and anywhere that doesn’t exactly go together like the clock from your trip to Iceland next to your African collection of dolls. It just doesn’t go together. Even if your organized mess makes sense to you, it may not appeal to the next person looking to buy your home.

Then, remove the furniture that overwhelms or prevents easy flow. These are the furniture pieces that even you have to maneuver around or if you’re like me, you’ve crashed your baby toe one or to pieces one too many times. You’re supposed to be moving, so pack up only what you need to survive (Space Balls) and put the rest in storage.

Some people overreact when they hear the word staging. They think that staging encompasses a lot of work and for some people it might depending on what they do and how much atmosphere they are trying to create that doesn’t already exist. De-cluttering is a form of staging. It’s the one that I recommend because it is simple and cheap to do. De-cluttering won’t break your back. But, if you want top dollar for your home, start with a clean home. Remember first impressions are worth a thousand dollars.

Values Changes Based On Market Confidence: 3 Months is the New 6 Months

Values Changes Based On Market Confidence: 3 Months is the New 6 Months

Is it 3 months or 6 months? If you are purchasing an owner occupied residential 1-4 family home and financing the purchase by mortgage, your bank or mortgage broker will require an opinion of real value often refered to as an appraisal, which could be different tha market value of the home.

Property valuers, appraisers, often use the sales comparison approached when evaluating 1-4 family owner occcupied homes, which is to say they look for comparable sales of similar homes up to 1 year or 12 months in the past to determine value.

That’s how appraisals were done 1 maybe 2 years ago, not so now. Now the new benchmark number is 3 or possibily 6 months of sold inventory (houses) depending on the mortgage company. These days, it’s typical to hear that this “comp” (comparable sale) is too old or no longer applies or it can no longer be used to establish value.

What this means to you and me as real estate professionals is that the mortgage market is making what some argue, a necessary adjustment to correct the ailing housing market. Rather than assess property at last year’s prices or even prices from 6 months ago, banks are crutinizing each mortgage application and price opinion.

What this means for the seller and the buyer is that in order to have a meeting of the minds, if there is a mortgage involved, you’ll have to satisfy the property appraiser as well with the most recent information. No two properties are identical and location is always different yet style, number of rooms, bedrooms sizes, number of bathrooms and where bathrooms are located in the home can play a key role in determining value.

For example, assuming you have two similar homes suchs as 3 bedrooms, 2 baths each within reasonable distance from each other and in the same side or section of town, bathroom location can make one home ore valuable than another. Consider this:

Home 1 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one on the 1st floor entry level and one on the second floor landing.

Home 2 has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, except one of the full bathrooms is in the basement.

An appraiser might suggest that house number 1 is more valuable than house number 2 because house number 2 has a below grade bathroom, which is less likely to be used. Morale of this story is market value changes and when it does, banks will make adjustments.

Who is Buying What? The Types of Buyers are in Today’s Market

It’s me against the media! I am on a mission to save the economy one house sale at a time. As such, I work open houses (meaning I host property open on Sunday with intensions of selling it on the same day) to see what types of people are coming out to see different types of properties.

As I type this, I am at an open house in Union. 211 Buchanan Dr. , which is a 2 family beauty. So, as you can imagine to be able to type this, there is some down time at open houses, which is when I take the time to follow up with emails, blogging and so forth. In any case, back to my original thought: the people who are coming to open houses are “serious” buyers. They must be serious buyers for them to spend a Saturday or Sunday previewing property and thinking about buying even though there’s so much negative media on the housing market.

In truth, I wish I had more money. I would snap up a few houses myself. If I were a buyer today, I would be jumping for joy. Why? Well, quite frankly prices have come down 8-25% percent and sometimes more depending on the city or town in New Jersey. And guess what? Interests rates are still historically low. Just last week, on Friday, we hit 4.6% on an FHA 30 year fixed rate loan.

So, if houses are cheaper and it’s cheaper to borrow money, what types of people are coming to open houses? The answer: People who have gainful employment. Maybe gainful is the wrong word to use. It might be more appropriate to say: long lasting employment. I can give you specific career types, but that’s probably not necessary. Point Blank: If you have a job and you think that you’ll be employed for the next few years, this is the market for you. There’s less competition on certain houses; you have more inventory to choose from; you have the ability to negotiate when the property is not priced right or not price to sell; you have up to an $8000 tax credit for those individuals who have not owned in the immediate past three years; you simply have more options.

Then, you have the investors looking for rental income; your bargain basement shoppers who might also be first time homebuyers looking to “steal” real estate. And let me tell you their are some steal on the market today that would blow your mind away. But with these short sales and foreclosure comes a different type of real estate transaction, one that is not as predictable as if you were buying from an owner in good financial standing and with equity in their home.

If you are thinking about buying or selling, contact me for a free buyer’s consultation or free market analysis of your home. The decision to buy or sell is something that has to be evaluated on a case by case bases and I would love to help you evaluate if now is the right time for you.

Visit my site for more details on how to reach me: http://www.forsalebyangieperez.com

Oh boy, there goes the door bell. TTYS (Talk To You Soon).