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To understand the importance of setting the right price, you first need to understand the market place. When selling your home, your market place isn't a specific location, instead it's more of a worldwide economic system for exchanging goods and services. More specifically, the market place for home sales is more a figurative place than a literal place. None the less, in either case, the market place is where the law of supply and demand operates. Understanding how the law of supply and demand affects your home value in a competitive market place is key to setting the right price.

READ MORE: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Single-Most-Important-Factor-to-Consider-When-Selling-Your-Home&id=8608269

What makes a REO Agent different than your Typical Agent?

Our Personal Investment in Our Own Education: Most all successful REO agents are highly trained and heavily invested in their education. It’s not uncommon for a successful REO agent to have thousands of dollars every year go towards education or the maintenance of costly designations and certifications. Our clients demand that we make these costly investments to ensure they are entrusting the right kind of person with their portfolio of asset which could result in millions of dollars worth of transactions. Our investment in our education ensures our clients that we know what we are suppose to do.

Our Clients Investment in Our Education: Not only do we personally invest in our education and continuing education, our clients also invest by providing us with weekly white papers, weekly webinars, regular training / procedural updates, new regulation and statutory requirements, updates to local ordinances, etc. When our clients take us on, they expect to create a partnership where knowledge is relayed back and forth, seamlessly, without exception, protecting each other and keeping our mutual goals and interest in the forefront of our daily activity.

Performance Metrics and Standards: Unlike a typical agent, we are held to a higher standard. Our clients use measurable and calculable performance metrics to ensure that we are putting our education to good use.  Our client relationships are just about the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you talk about listing a home or meet a client for the first time. It’s about hard numbers. A REO agent has no choice but to perform and be at the top of their game otherwise, our clients know they can find someone else.

We Don’t Just Compete for a Listing, We Constantly Compete for our Jobs: We are different from other agents in the fact that we don’t just compete with other agents for a 6 month listing agreement on a single home. We are constantly competing to keep our client on every single transaction. Our performance metrics are many times written in stone. That is, we are only as good to our clients as our last closing so, if we aren’t closing the number of properties we are told to or if we aren’t maintaining them the way the clients wants them maintained, we are out. You see, our clients are setting on thousands of applications for our jobs, they have thousands of back up names they can easily just bring on and move our listings over to the “new” guy.  Our clients attend national conferences where they meet thousands of agents who want our jobs and these agents are cut throat and will do whatever it takes to knock us out and put themselves in so, unlike other agents, we are constantly in a state of competition….for our livelihoods.

Experience Like None Other: We are much more than just a listing agent. You see, our clients don’t live or work in the area we service so, we are truly the eyes, ears, hands and will of our clients. So, we can’t just list a property and forget about it till we get an offer. We have to visit the property weekly, walk through it, check for damage, report vandalism, make repairs, document everything and enforce our clients will. We come up with detailed analysis of the home’s value, we isolate marketing problems, we come up with sales strategies, we target potential buyers. We also work with evictions; negotiate relocations work with law enforcement and in some situations, we clear out homes. In essence, we aren’t just listing agents; we are property managers for our clients.

We Experience the Tragedy of Foreclosure Daily: As a REO agent, we are keenly aware that every new assignment allows us the opportunity and privilege, even if for nothing more than the briefest moment, to touch the human tragedy of losing a home to foreclosure. In this key difference, we stand out from most because no other segment of our industry can truly relate to having to talk to a single mother of three kids, all under the age of 12, working two jobs and having to tell her she is no longer able to live in the home her children have only known. In this situation, a piece of us dies every time.

To sum it all up, what makes us different than a typical agent, well….it’s actually really simple and it’s expectation. We are expected to perform at a higher standard than our non-reo counterparts because our clients are educated and experienced themselves and therefore, know what to expect. In this, we are blessed and cursed.

Advice About Purchasing Your First Rental Home/Property
(Investment Properties: Part 1 of 5)

Before buying that first piece of rental property it is important that you answer a single question. This question has nothing to do with your credit score, your experience with real estate or how much money you can gather for the purchase. The question is quite simple: WHY are you buying an investment home?

The answer to this question will guide you towards the right kind of property and the right type of financing. Let’s look at some examples to get a better idea of reasons people use to start investing in homes.

Saving for College Tuition

This type of goal usually involves a term over a few years. Couples with young children will buy a home in an area that has shown signs of appreciating. A year or two before the child enters college the family will sell the home and use the profit to pay for tuition, books and other expenses.

In this particular scenario the couple is not concerned with making a large profit each month on the rent. They simply want to break even while keeping the home in tip-top shape to maximize the potential appreciation.

Using Cash Flow to Increase Monthly Income

Some individuals invest in rental homes because they want to earn a profit each month from the rent. In these cases it is extremely important to buy a home either for all cash or at a deep discount from the market price. Foreclosures and vacant homes are common for this example. Buying the home for cash or at a deep discount allows the landlord to charge a fair rent based on the current market conditions and pocket most of the money each month as profit.

Speculation about Future Values

Sometimes people simply buy a property at a slightly discounted price in hopes that the property value will escalate quickly due to a future event. For instance, a new shopping mall, new school or a new factory can greatly improve the value of homes in the immediate area. Buying a home in such a location and holding on to it for a few months to a year can yield a high profit.

Career Change

Some people want to begin their property investment as a means to escape their current full time job and start a new career. It is possible for people to invest in real estate as their main source of income. However, it is not a get rich quick scheme.

The most successful investors have clear goals and follow a proven formula. They buy homes in particular areas that exhibit desirable qualities. They only buy when the price is discounted heavily and they have favorable financing for the transaction. They also understand the rental rates for the area in comparison to the financing costs.

Buying a rental home can be lucrative and lead to good fortune. However, it must be approached with diligence and hard work, not pie-in-the-sky dreams.

Investment/Rental Properties (5 Part Series)

• Preparing to Purchase that First Rental Home (Part 1 of 5)
• Adding the Title of Landlord Behind your Name (Part 2 0f 5)
• Rental Property is Still a Safe Investment (Part 3 of 5)
• How to Pick Profitable Rental Properties (Part 4 of 5)
• Success Plan for Investing in Rental Property (Part 5 of 5)

If any of you are wanting to get into REO but don't really know what to expect....well, I have a story for you.

Saturday morning, January 21, 2012 I get a call from my field services agent telling me that they have gone out, secured one of my listings however, put their lock box on the front door because they didn't know who placed a lock box on the front door. Well, after a little investigation, come to find out, the lock box on the front door belonged to no one....it was a rogue lock box. None the less, I call my field agent back, tell her I am heading out to do my personal property evaluation and that I would cut the front lock box off and move her lock box to the front door. For some reason, her team doesn't carry bolt cutters on them...but, I DO!

Well, it's a busy Saturday morning, people are everywhere in this neighborhood, walking dogs, doing some yard work...you get the idea. In fact, the neighbors angry little miniature overweight dachshund was harassing me the moment I drove in the drive of my property. None the less, I get out of my car, open the trunk, grab my bolt cutters, walk up to the front door and cut the lock box off. My partner walks around to the back, opens the back door (with the key), walks to the front door through the house and lets me in. Well, I grab my camera, start walking through the home, taking pictures. As I walk into the master bedroom upstairs, I hear a booming voice yell, "HANDS UP, STEP OUT OF THE HOUSE, KEEP YOUR HANDS UP". I look out the Master Bedroom door and I see my partner with his hands up, walking down the steps. He is telling the officers at the door that he is with me, the Realtor and we are doing a personal property evaluation. Well the officers sees me step out of the bedroom, orders me to put my hands up and to walk out of the house. Now...as many of you know, I have my conceal carry permit and the first thing out of my mouth is, "I am armed"...telling the office I am packing my gun. All of a sudden, I notice that 4....yes, 4 officers have their guns trained on me as I am walking down the stairs, out of the house. I repeat myself because none of them confirmed they heard me so as I am walking down the stairs, I am yelling, "I AM ARMED". Finally, one of the officers says, "We hear you, we see it, keep your hands up".....so, as I am walking down the steps, I am telling the officer that I am the Realtor, that's my name on the sign in the yard, that's my name on the occupancy notification on the door, and my real estate license and my ccp are in my wallet in my back right pocket. So....here I am, 4 loaded guns, trained on my chest, I have a gun on my hip....officers don't know who I am, what I am doing there and all they know is they got a call from a neighbor saying someone was breaking in......ROFLMAO!

So....as exciting as the start of the ordeal was, the end of the ordeal was actually pretty funny. As I step out on to the porch, with 4 guns pointed right at me, the officer in charge reaches for my hip, grabs my gun and ask me who I am. Now, during this whole time, no one has touched me other than to take my gun, yet.....I have now, 5 guns trained on me...so, I guess they were confident that they were in charge...lol. I tell him I am the Realtor, I am here doing my personal property evaluation and I didn't break in. Well, during this whole time, I see a officer at my car, running my plates....which by the way is a National Association of Realtors plate that says, SELL....lol, yes...it says SELL. Well, by this time, the officer at my car motions to the officer holding my gun and before I know it, all the guns are in holsters and I am talking to the officer in charge having a polite conversation about how I obviously listened in my CCP class because he was impressed that I announced I had a weapon on me and that I had my license on me. He thanked me for cooperating, we shared some jokes about how I carry 10+1, which means I carry 10 rounds in my magazine, which is it's limit and then I carry a round chambered. He was impressed and said it was smart to do so.

All in all, I ended up talking to these five officers (one I didn't see, till I stepped out on the porch, he had a gun pointed to my back the whole time. ) having a cool conversation about how I was a good steward of my CCP, I was a good steward of my weapon. They packed up and left....they only stayed with us for about 10 minutes at most.

So....just one of my experiences as a REO agent.....it's always fun!

This would be my suggestion to anyone starting out. There are many emails I receive everyday about buying a domain name for any of the listings that I currently have.I would say before you think of buying a website like this, go to a domain name register and look up your area that you cover.

It may be more difficult if you are in a larger city but this might suprise you if you are in the burbs or in a rural area. I was writing this post and as I was writing it I went to a website register site and looked up what was left in my area I found www.NicevilleREO.com was still available so I secured that name tonight.

What spurred this post was a call I recevied this week on a new listing I received from a pre marketer at a company I have been trying to get in the door with for awhile. I was told she checked out the agents for my area and looks for someone who is easy to find. " I went to CrestviewREO.com" this stuck in my mind and if it was something that was pointed out I know this helped my foot in the door.This triggered a quick google search I was told by the assigner which found my www.LinkedIn.com and my REO qualifications and pushed my name to the asset manager and preservation task were sent over shortly after.

Take the time look up your area REO.com and see if it is available.

Most companies are looking for the best, inexpensive ways to advertise because they don't have millions, or even thousands, to spendon advertising. Make the most out of the ad dollars you do have, nomatter how limited you are. These cheap ways to advertise give you avariety of options to choose from when you're on an ad budget diet whilegiving you a good return on your advertising investment:

Create a Flier

Creating your own flyer to advertise your business is simple, inexpensive and it's a great way to generate buzz about your company. Ifyou really want to make your flyer an effective advertising tool, offerincentives or discounts to people who bring in your flyer. This alsogives you an informal way to track how many people are coming in justbecause they saw your flyer.

Advertise on Cable

Wait! Before your eyes skip over this section, thinking it's just for those who can afford a TV commercial, keep reading. You canadvertise on cable through crawls, full screen ads and above programlistings. These alternative advertising methods are very affordable.Crawls can cost under $10 a day.

Use Your Web Site to Advertise Your Business

Many business owners think they only need a Web site if they sell products online. No matter what type of company you have, you need a Website. Potential customers hit the Internet looking for companies intheir local area. If your competitor's online and you're not, guess whohas the advantage. Build a Web site that's beneficial to customers,though. You want to make a positive, lasting impression and having apoorly built Web site is a terrible way to advertise your company.

Post Your Commercial on YouTube

If you do have a TV commercial, get more shelf life out of it without having to pay for more air time. YouTube is an often-overlookedadvertising vehicle. It costs nothing to post your commercial on thesite and you can promote it on your own Web site so customers in yourarea can watch your commercial(s) online.

Cross-Promote Your Business Through Partnering

National companies partner every day because it's an excellent ad tool to reach new customers and cut the advertising costs at the sametime. But partnering isn't just for corporate giants. Going in withother businesses helps you save advertising money while increasing yourexposure to customers.

Produce a Newsletter

A newsletter helps you keep in touch with your current customers and tap into a market of potential customers. Your newsletter shouldn't beused to send ads to your customers, though. Use your newsletter toprovide your customers with valuable information that makes you thecompany they remember when they're ready to buy.

Lately, more than ever, I have been getting calls from agents who are all asking the same question and, that is, “are you working any offers on 666 Money Pitt Lane”

Well, before I tell you my typical response, I would like to share some insight and see if you agree.

Per Realtor.com,

“An agent is bound by certain legal obligations. Traditionally, these common-law obligations are to: Put the client's interests above anyone else's; Keep the client's information confidential; Obey the client's lawful instructions; Report to the client anything that would be useful; and Account to the client for any money involved.”

So, here are my questions.

1. Is it in your clients interest to reveal to other agents that you are or are not working other offers?

My argument is NO, it is not in your client’s interest to reveal that you are or are not working other offers.

Simply put, when answering the question, you don’t know the motivation behind the person who asked it. We can get into a bunch of “what if” questions but, ultimately if by answering the question the agent decides not to show the home or not put in an offer then, you just hurt your own client. Ultimately my job is to get as much for my client as possible in the shortest amount of time and that means, getting as many offers in the door as possible. I could be wrong but, I suspect that the main reason Realtors ask this question is because they want to avoid being in a multiple offer situation or they want to be in better negotiating position. I guess that’s all fine and good but, it’s not my job to make that so for another agent and their buyer.

Now, let’s flip the script a little here.

Do you think my argument is valid for bank owned properties? What about Fannie Mae properties? HUD properties?

I won’t answer that question for you, I would love to get your responses.

This week’s Ask the AM really spurred me into action. I hear moans and groans all the time from agent s who just don’t like social networking. They gripe about how time consuming it is or they were never successful or, it’s too monotonous, or……….whatever else and all I got to say is, SO BAD, SO SAD, AINT YOU GLAD YOUR MOMA AINT YOUR DAD!

As Ned points out in the article, someone is using Social Networking and taking your business. This mysterious agent has become savvy enough to create a LinkedIn profile or Facebook page and is now using it with maximum force.

You see, while your setting back, accepting those listing assignments, this mysterious agent is sharing tweets or swapping emails or learning about your Asset Manager’s terrible weekend because they lost their dog Sparky (thanks Ned). Before you know it, this agent and your Asset Manager are developing a friendship vs. a business relationship. So, when the next assignment get sent out, who do you think is going to get it?

Granted, I know social networks take time to create…..I created REOPro for goodness sake however, I can’t stress to each of you, your lack of involvement is at your own detriment. Now, you may never have a social network of a thousand or more or ever have a goal to reach twenty five thousand but, a well oiled social network of a few hundred and make a huge difference.

Here is the stark cold truth. Asset Managers are loosing their jobs, getting re-assigned or simply dropping out and all this is happening because the business is changing so, what do you think these Asset Managers are doing when they are no longer Asset Managers? Well, let me tell you, they are getting real estate licenses and taking over territories for their friends back at the Bank or Asset Management Companies. My point is, if you aren’t on a first name basis, dirty joke telling, birthday card sending, meet up at the conference having drinks relationship………………..someone else is or is trying to be.

Now, as many of you know, I try to adhere to a high standard of morals and ethics so, don’t misconstrue what I am trying to say. No, you don’t go put in hardwood floors at your Asset Manager’s vacation home or send them a Visa Gift Card worth $5,000.00 to their P.O. Box , hopefully if you did they would refuse it but, you do call them regularly if nothing more to just shoot the breeze or say “Hi”.

Let me put this another way, hopefully it will ring true to you. REOPro currently has over 18,000 invites to join our network that are outstanding. In other words, these are members who downloaded their address books in to our system and REOPro system each person an invite to join. By now, we should have blown though our goal of 25,000 member however, I am still only getting maybe 15-20 new members a day. This is contributable to the fact that many of the people who received an invite never got a follow up saying, “check out this network”. Social networking is a lot like that follow up. If you don’t follow up and say “Hi” or learn about people, then why would anyone want to invest in you?

I will leave you with a quote, who it came from, I have no idea but, here it is…….

“A lead will make you some money, a follow up will make you rich”, I like to change that around a bit and say……

“A lead will make you some money, a active social network will ensure your kids don’t have to work”