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Recently, surveys show that there is a growing demand for upscale rental apartments. This presents a potential opportunity for real estate investors all over the country. Plan holders of Solo 401k accounts can also capitalize on this latest real estate trend, as it is also an opportunity to invest and grow their retirement funds.

Latest study shows that young professionals nowadays prefer renting to buying their homes. The reason is that credit market is now tightened and it is harder to qualify for a home loan. The shifting job market and the likelihood of changes in personal life such as marriage and divorce are also reasons for which young people are more hesitant to commit to a property purchase. Plus, upscale rental apartments can offer high-end amenities, such as a swimming pool or a gym. If a young professional were to buy her first home, it would be unlikely that she would be able to afford a property with such luxury.

Because of this growing trend, investors are now looking at this demand as a great investment opportunity. This demand can be capitalized by plan holders of Solo 401k accounts as well. A Solo 401k account, also known as an Individual 401k, is allowed to invest in real estate, including rental apartment buildings.

Investing in real estate with a Solo 401k, plan holders will enjoy many benefits over other retirement plan. The first benefit is the high Solo 401k contribution limit, which allows account holders to stash away up to $52,000 per year as of 2014. Plan holders who are over 50 years old can also make an additional catch-up contribution of $5,500 per year. The total annual limit for this group is $57,500. Since account holders can contribute more into this tax-deferred account, they can gather enough funds faster to invest in real estate.

If account holders do not have enough money in their retirement account even with the high contribution limit, they will still have other financing options. Unlike a traditional IRA account, a Solo 401k is allowed to use non-recourse financing for real estate purchases. If an IRA account obtains financing for their purchases, it will trigger an Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT). This doesn’t apply to a Solo 401k, however, and account holders can certainly leverage their investment. This is definitely a powerful advantage for upscale rental properties, which requires intensive capital up front.

Investing in rental properties is a good way to create steady passive income. The return is also more predictable, especially after the lease is signed. Not only that, with the introduction of the Solo 401k plan, now investors can use rental properties to diversify their retirement portfolio and capture the opportunities presented by this newest trend.

Real estate professionals have squandered a lot of money on bad "leads". That term - leads - has been burned into the vernacular of real estate agents because there are so many lead providers, and it's become an ugly term for far too many agents. 

Consider working a reliable set of data to generate your own leads. 

What's the difference between "leads" and data? There is more than a subtle difference. 

The common denominator among leads companies is they have some sort of lead capture device, where someone responds to ad ad, visits a landing page, fills out something, or otherwise raises their hand, thus becoming a so-called "warm lead". 

The problem with this, in our view, is three-fold: 

1. The company does 90% of the work for you, and you end up paying an exorbitant fee for marketing tasks you can do on your own. Our philosophy is you can paddle your own canoe and generate your own leads, by designing and implementing your own lead capture systems, rather than outsourcing this. 
2. From my experience and feedback I've received, leads are oftentimes not qualified. A good leads provider will separate the serious from the curious, but there's little economic incentive (in the short run) to qualify the lead. Better to sell the name of anyone that raises their hand, regardless of whether they are genuinely interested or have the ability to buy or sell. Thus, you can spend a lot of money on a warm prospect that is no prospect at all. 
3. Once these leads are generated, irrespective of their quality, they are oftentimes sold to multiple agents that cannibalize themselves and irritate the prospect, who is inundated with calls. 

Enter data, the building blocks to generate your own leads.

Unlike "leads", data is merely information on a group of potential buyers or sellers you want to reach. It is building a profile of the ideal prospect you want to reach. These people have a set of characteristics that give them a propensity to buy or sell. Some common examples are owners of luxury homes, absentee owners, ownersof vacant land, expired listings, homeowners with 2nd notes, homeowners in bankruptcy or divorce, and so on - there are nearly infinite possibilities. 

One set of data that has been very responsive has been a list of probate filings. The executor is often motivated to liquidate the property in order to pay for tax liabilities and estate-related expenses, satisfy creditors and distribute the remaining proceeds to the heirs. These heirs, by and large, don't want the house... they want the cash in the house. 

Unlike "leads", data is not a group that has responded to an ad or clicked somewhere, and thus is much more affordable than so-called warm leads. Armed with data, you can reach out to people that match your criteria and generate your own leads in-house. 

As a data provider, the analogy I like to use is we are like a hardware store. We give you the tools to build the house - or in this case, buy, sell or list the house. We don't pick up the hammer and build the house for you. But we give you the tools to build your own house, by identifying your best prospects. 

Who is it exactly that you are trying to reach? Perhaps we can find your needle in a haystack. To bounce some ideas, call us at 800-307-9124 or send us an e-mail. 

Ironically, the only constant in business is change. 

Perhaps you've seen shrinking inventories, or found that it's taking longer to get a paycheck as banks hold onto REO's longer. With the housing market on the rebound, discounted deals are harder to come by. 

Against this backdrop, every serious investor or agent owes it to themselves to seriously consider probate marketing. 

Probates are unpublished. Unlisted. Unknown. 

With an aging boomer population, there will be an unprecedented transfer of wealth in the coming years. Literally trillions of dollars will pass from one generation to the next, and yes, that's trillions with a "t". Each and every year, over 2 million probate cases are opened, a number that will only increase with aging boomers.>View more numbers here.

Although there is a vast and ever increasing inventory of probates, these properties are "under the radar", and the executor of the estate is often motivated to sell them at a discount to cash out in order to pay for significant estate related expenses and pay the heirs their equitable share of the estate. 

Is Probate Marketing Ambulance Chasing? 

Some real estate are hesitant to working a list of probate filings for fear it strikes of ambulance chasing. This is a myopic view. The reality is, the executor oftentimes has an urgency to sell. Ironically, the only two certainties in live occur at the same time, and Uncle Sam wants their piece of the pie. In addition to the tax liabilities, there are other expenses that must be paid, be it funeral, medical, ongoing mortgage payments, utilities - every expense that a household incurs, must also be paid in a probated property. The preponderance of executors do not live in the county where the probated property is situated, so they do not want to be bogged down with property maintenance issues or playing landlord. 

In future posts, I'll delve more into the niche probate market and provide some ideas as to capturing your share of this low hanging fruit. Curious about working a list of probates in your area? Enter your criteria here and we'll go to the drawing board to see what's available in the counties you service. 

If you fail to keep up your homeowners’ association fees or complete the annual assessments, the HOA could end up foreclosing. Its par for the course these days that when you purchase a home, condo or town house, that happens to be a communal development, then you will most likely have to pay fees to a housing association.

Now what would happen if you simply ignored these fees or failed to meet the annual assessments? The Housing Association would apply to get a lien on your home and this then leads into foreclosure (assuming you still fail to settle up with your housing association).

The Homeowners’ Associations are a body that sets up to look after the communal garden areas, essential repairs in stairwells, cleaning, lighting for communal hallways and exterior electricity bills. All this maintenance costs and it recovers its cost from the lease holder. Failure to pay up means a service is being provided to you and you are essentially not paying for it.

Other work that the housing association must carry out includes removing snow, landscape gardening, fitting new communal windows and repairing roof tiling.  Some of the more-modern condo complexes have swimming pools, gyms, clubhouses and tennis courts which can be used by the residents. All of these amenities need regular maintenance and cleaning, so the fees required by the association are likely to be higher in these luxury blocks.

The housing association also has to enforce the rules within the community; if one resident happens to be playing music loud late at night and making life a misery for all the other members of the community, the association must act and the administration work to remedy anti-social behaviour can mount up in both time and money.

HOA fees can often spring a surprise one-off fee for those complexes that need work carried out on a one-off basis. An example of this would be that a condo complex may need new exterior windows and fascia repairs following a wild storm or even hurricane; these “special assessment fees” are an unfortunate but necessary payment that will land in the lap of the resident – but not as a regular payment but as a one-off fee and comes in addition to regular payments being made.

Before taking out a homeowner association property you should read the terms and conditions on payment of fees should you default at any time, as some associations may charge interest on late payment as well as collection cost fees (if an agency was involved in the fee recovery).

Source: www.pamsvas.com

Real Estate REO and BPO Virtual Assistants

The Wisconsin housing statistics are in for September of 2014. Here is an excerpt from what the Wisconsin Realtors® Association (WRA) had to say:

Wisconsin’s home sales in September were nearly identical to one year ago, but prices were higher, according to the most recent analysis of the state housing market released by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA). Existing home sales in September were just 0.2 percent lower than September 2013, and median prices were 3.1 percent higher to $148,700.

“Although our home sales are slightly lower than last year, it’s important to recognize how far we’ve come since emerging from the Great Recession,” said Dan Kruse, the newly installed chairman of WRA board of directors. “Sales this quarter may be 2.1 percent below a very strong third quarter last year, but they are 20.7 percent higher than they were just after the recession ended in the third quarter of 2009,” Kruse said. Kruse noted that other housing indicators also paint a picture of a stabilizing housing market in the state. Seasonally adjusted housing inventories have ranged from about 49,000 homes to nearly 53,000 homes since December 2012, which is a far cry from the nearly 72,000 homes on the market in March 2010.

Below are the number of Home Sales and Median House Prices for the state of Wisconsin, Dane County, and Rock County. These stats include Janesville and Madison. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions pertaining to these figures. This month both Dane and Rock Counties showed increases in year over year home prices, approximately 3.3% in Dane County and over 11% in Rock County!

Thinking of purchasing a home before prices or rates rise any further? I'd be happy to show you any homes currently listed for sale. Feel free to visit either site below:

Real Estate Listings in Janesville, WI 

Real Estate Listings in Madison, WI.

With the recent home price increases, now might be the right time to sell your Wisconsin home. Take advantage of your increased equity! Feel free to take a look at our cutting edge Rock Realty Marketing Plan! If you would like some insight into how much your home is currently worth, I would be happy to provide you with a report that gives a close estimate to what your home might sell for in your current local Wisconsin real estate market. Click below:

What's My Wisconsin Home Worth?

Has your home value fallen below what you currently owe? Have you experienced a hardship like divorce or job loss? A short sale may be right for your situation. Visit our distressed property page for more information.

Wisconsin Short Sales

Housing Statistics for the State of Wisconsin:

Americans seem to push back their retirement further and further, and sometimes not by choice. Especially for self employed small business owners and independent contractors, many dedicated all their wealth and effort to grow their business. At the end of the day, however, people still need to figure out a way to be able to retire. Self employment retirement plans and rental income can be a viable solution.

What are self employment retirement plans?

Self employment retirement plans, or often called Solo 401k plans, are created for self employed individuals. Unlike traditional retirement plans, a Solo 401k allows investments in assets other than stocks and bonds. That means rental properties, among many other options, are allowed.

Rental properties to provide income during retirement

Plan owners of self employment retirement plans can certainly look at rental properties as an income source during their retirement. Rental income is also known as a source of passive income, which means investors do not have to keep working on the investment to generate profit. This allows them to earn income when retired.

This long term investment offers good passive income that can also guard against inflation. As landlord, you can adjust the rent every year to overcome inflation rate.

To ensure a good return, here are a few things to look for in rental properties:

- Location: As true with properties, a good neighborhood will attract more buyers and renters. As a retirement investment, however, it is also wise to choose a place closer to where you live. This way, managing and maintaining the property is not too much of a hassle.

-Size and build: Decide if you would like to start with a single family home, a duplex, or larger. The size and layout of the properties need to fit with your needs. Also try to invest in newer houses, to avoid high repairing and maintaining cost and hassle.

How to finance a rental property

Start contributing to the self employment retirement plans as soon as possible. By doing so, you can take advantage of the high Solo 401k contribution limit, enjoy tax-deferred benefits, and to save up funds to finance the rental properties. Even if you don’t have enough in the Solo 401k account or do not want to pay cash up front, there are financing options available. With an IRA, the use of financing to fund a real estate purchase could trigger Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT). A Solo 401k, however, allows the use of non-recourse financing, tax-free.

Simple Things to Get Your Home Ready to Sell

Getting ready to sell a home involves a lot more than just the home. There are also emotions, schedules and other things to consider. Here are some tips to help you in getting ready for the day you hand over the keys to the new owners.

Remove Old Items

Over the course of time most people accumulate lots of things that are no longer needed. It is fairly common for folks to have clothes that they no longer wear, old books and magazines and other items. Go through the closets, cupboards and other storage areas to get ride of all the unnecessary items. Make sure to get things off the kitchen and bathroom counters too.

Separate Yourself from The Home Emotionally

Now is the time to make the decision to say goodbye to the home. It is important to realize that the memories and emotions you have from living in the home will always be a part of you. Moving away from the home is merely separating yourself away from the structure. Imagine how the new owners will enjoy the home and be able to make their own happy memories.

Get Things Organized

Since potential buyers will be coming through the home and inspecting every possible area it is a good idea to get everything as organized as possible. If you need some ideas, here are a few suggestions:

* Put spices in alphabetical order

* Arrange all coffee cups to face the same direction

* Put shoes in order

* Place dishes in nice stacks

Remove Personal Decor

Remove the photographs and items that may have your surname or initials. People who will potentially buy the house want to be able to imagine their own belongings and decorations in the new home. By having generic items in the house it will be easier for people to see themselves enjoying their new abode.

Take Care of the Little Repairs

Give potential buyers a great first impression by making sure all of the little items are handled. This includes

* Replacing light bulbs

* Applying oil on door hinges

* Add new filters to the air conditioner

* Tighten or repair any water leaks

* Fix any holes that may be present in windows, doors or walls

Add More Storage Space

It can be a good idea to find a nearby storage rental agency and get a contract on a small unit. The extra space can help you remove some of your belongings to make the home seem larger. Removing empty bookcases, taking out extra leaves in dining tables and extra chairs can free up space throughout the entire home. It can also be handy for storing seasonal items that you may not need when you are ready to move.

Once you have cleaned up the home and organized everything it will be much easier to sell and start your new life in a fresh new home.

The consolidation of information in the real estate market is ever increasing as we have noted with the Zillow/Trulia consolidation .. The next to come along is the Costar / Loopnet merger.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I clicked the"Subscribe to Property Comps"

Get full Access for $74.95/Month and got "Thank you for your interest! To learn more or to make a purchase, please contact one of our associates"  Well I dutifully call wondering why I need to call .. I end up getting a call back saying o no we have changed that you must now sign a contract for 12 months at $169 a month .. Like I explained I'm just doing a 4 Commercial BPOS at $100 a pop I don't mind paying the $74 to get access to the comps whichis all over your website  I dont need a $2000 a year plan ...  and secondly there is not even a mention of this anywhere on their site. But the answer was well we have to change the website but this is OUR PRICE take it or leave it

Costar now effectively owns Commercial data period .. We don't allow airlines to merge like this without going through hoops to prove its not "anti trust" from my 10ft level this is the same.  The small guys will continue to be pushed out of every Real Estate market it seems...

The net net .. You cant afford to accept commercial bpos ... Its not cost effective .. so these are my last I will battle through and get them done without Costar ...

In business and commerce circles, the big news just days into October is the buy-out of Move Incorporated by the newspaper and media giant News Corporation. So who are Move Inc and why did News Corporation decide to splash out an eye-watering $950 million for the business? In the United States, Move Inc stands as the third biggest online real estate listing firm. It helps home buyers and sellers to purchase a new home by providing them with tools, guides, information and professionals from the real estate industry to make that purchase run as smooth as possible.

News Corporation is essentially a newspaper publisher which began its business from South Australia and later moved into New York to become the second-largest newspaper and media organization in the world. It now want to increase revenue and expand its business beyond just selling papers and promoting a media front and real estate is seen as a pretty good sector to get the turnover and extra revenue it now seeks.

As for Move Inc, the buy-out could see the online real estate listing agency become a real giant and a major player in the U.S. online home retail market. Robert Thomson is the Chief Executive Officer at News Corporation these days and he predicts Move Inc will soon become the United States’ biggest online real estate listing firm, thanks to News Corp’s influx of cash and support.

News Corp needs a change after the scandals of 2011 when the company was forced to close down its best-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK, News of the World. Allegations of phone hacking seriously depleted the organization’s reputation both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Mr Thomson also believes that online home buying and internet real estate business is a growing market that has not yet taken off to the heights he believes it could reach. News Corp are convinced this sector is still in its infancy and is at the early stage of development. If it is right then the prospects for extra revenue could be huge in years to come.

There is no doubt that more and more people are now using the internet to buy their next home. Many Americans have actually purchased real estate by using self-help tools and become their very own real estate agent, just like many have booked their vacations online without using a travel agent.

Only time will tell if this was the best move for News corp and to see what direction Online Real Estate Listing Services will take.

pamsvas.com - Real Estate Virtual Assistant Services

The Power of a Comparative Market Analysis When Selling Your Home

Most of the general public has access to various price lists when trying to sell an object. Online automobile databases offer average prices for used cars, auction sites can list recent sale of various electronics and even boats have a value listing guide. However, when selling a home it is better to get a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a local real estate agent or Realtor®. Here are some of the ways a CMA can help you.

Price Trends

The most obvious benefit is the ability to see current price trends. The CMA report will list out homes that have sold in the past 12 months in your immediate area. By organizing the transactions by date it is possible to see if home prices are on the rise or falling.

Value Placed on Square Footage

Since the homes will be listed with the square footage of each home sold, potential sellers can find out how much their home is worth based on the usable square feet in the property. In addition, if any of the sold properties had a basement or attic that was finished then sellers can also determine how the market values additional square footage. While it is common for basements to have a slightly lower price per square foot some areas may place it higher than others due to demand.

Value of Accessory Items

Most people usually feel that particular features of their home will bring more value to their home than the market will warrant. For example, expensive hardwood floors, custom paint finishes and high end bathroom fixtures may be quite expensive when purchased but their overall impact on the price of a home is not as high. Instead, things that improve usable square footage, more lighting or outdoor items like pools and decks will do more to bring up the price of a home.

Expected Time of Sale

A comparative market analysis will also show when a home was listed for sale and when an offer was made on the property. This gives prospective sellers a realistic expectation for how long it will take before receiving an offer and how long it takes for the home to actually sell once the offer is accepted.

Avoiding Unrealistic Prices

Along with homes that have sold your real estate agent can also provide a list of homes that either withdrew from the market or the listing simply expired. If the home did not sell within a time period that multiple other properties sold then there are a couple of explanations. Obviously, the most common issue is the price was too high for that particular market. Another common problem is the presence of a major repair issue with the home that the seller is unwilling to fix prior to sale. Having this information should help you do a better job of picking a price for your home.

Getting a detailed CMA report from your real estate agent will provide you with the best source of realistic information to help you decide if your can sell your home for your anticipated price and if it might sell in the amount of time you had hoped for.

Original Blog Post: What's a CMA? Comparative Market Analysis

Preapproval Letters, A Security Measure for Realtors

It’s about 10:30 am and the phone rings, it’s a potential buyer for a property I just listed. He says he has been waiting for a property in this neighborhood to come up on the market and is ready to put down an offer today but, he needs to see the property first. As a faithful, good Realtor, I offer to meet him out at the house in 30 minutes or 11:00 am. He says fine, he will see me there.

I pull up, formally introduce myself, open up the house and start walking him through. He tells me his wife is on her way but, she is running late. We get towards the back of the house and, well….I don’t remember anything else after that.

Sad but, this type of story happens and all too often Realtors are victims of horrible crimes while showings homes to strangers. Unfortunately, too many of us are more concerned about doing the best for our clients that we sometimes put our own health and safety at risk. The story above is inspired by countless true stories of Realtors who have been abducted, raped, robbed or even murdered.

One of the simplest things you can do as a Realtor to mitigate your exposure and risk is to ask buyer that you don’t know for a preapproval letter. It may sound very simple, in fact, you were likely taught in real estate school to never show a home without a preapproval letter because, who do you know they can even afford the home you are showing them but, too many of us don’t do this, we don’t require a preapproval letter.

When a buyer calls into my office and wants to see a home, one of the very first questions I ask are, “Have you been preapproved?”. If they say no, then I inform them, before we schedule a showing through my office, we require a preapproval on file. I do this because when I get my copy of their preapproval letter, I call the lender and ask some simple questions…..

                A: Did the buyer come in, sign and submit his loan application?

                B: Did you verify identity and get a copy of an acceptable picture ID?

                C: Did you verify employment, income, debt, credit and tax records?

I hope that at this point, you understand what I am doing by asking these questions. Sure, I am verifying if the buyer can actually purchase but, I am ensuring that the buyer’s identity has been verified. If I know that the lender has done these things, I can be confident that not only is the buyer able to purchase but, we know who the buyer is in case something doesn’t go as planned.

Finally and maybe the most important piece to my personal security and that is a schedule. So many of us, almost all of us I assume, don’t keep thorough showing schedules. Again, it sounds so simple but, so few of us actually do it. Sure, we may plan out our showing route and sure, we call the appointment desk or the other agent if we are running late or early but, how many of you print a copy of your showing schedule out, with a copy of the buyer’s pre-approval letter and verified contact information, place it on your desk in a file titled, “Today’s Showings”. This additional little process gives investigators a place to look and who to look for in case something goes bad. My staff know that Jesse has his showing schedules and buyer list on his desk in his “Showing Schedule” file so, if they ever need to know where I am and when I am suppose to be there….they just go grab the file. Best of all, it has a copy of my planned route via map quest, the times I expect to be at each property and who I am meeting there. On the outside of my folder are my emergency contact numbers and other vital information about myself.

I know chances are, before the year is out, we are going to hear another story about another Realtor who has been victimized and that breaks my heart. I really hope that more and more of us would do more to take care of ourselves and remember, we can’t be a great Realtor …….. if we aren’t here to be one.

Be safe friends, be smart…..get that preapproval letter.

The Wisconsin housing statistics are in for August of 2014. Here is an excerpt from what the Wisconsin Realtors® Association (WRA) had to say:

Home sales fell for the second straight month in August whereas median prices rose by modest margins. Wisconsin’s existing home sales dropped 5.7 percent in August compared to August 2013, and median home prices were up 3.3 percent to $157,000 over that same period, according to the most recent housing market report released by the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA).

“Home sales continue to lag behind 2013, and while it’s important to remember that 2013 was a strong year for sales, there are a number of other contributing factors that also explain relatively lower sales,” said Steve Lane, chairman of the WRA board of directors. “Inventories are tighter in our metropolitan areas compared to rural areas, and some buyers may be having difficulty finding homes to buy in those markets,” Lane said. Metropolitan counties had 7.7 months of available inventory in August, and their sales were down 8.1 percent compared to August last year. In contrast, rural counties have 16.6 months of inventory, and their sales were essentially flat, falling less than 0.2 percent.

Below are the number of Home Sales and Median House Prices for the state of Wisconsin, Dane County, and Rock County. These stats include Janesville and Madison. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions pertaining to these figures. This month showed a decrease in the number of home sales statewide and in Dane County, but a solid increase in home prices! Rock County remains one of the better recovery stories with significant increases again in both median price and the number of home sales in August! 

Thinking of purchasing a home before prices or rates rise any further? I'd be happy to show you any homes currently listed for sale. Feel free to visit either site below:

Real Estate Listings in Janesville, WI 

Real Estate Listings in Madison, WI.

With the recent home price increases, now might be the right time to sell your Wisconsin home. Feel free to take a look at our cutting edge Rock Realty Marketing Plan! If you would like some insight into how much your home is currently worth, I would be happy to provide you with a report that gives a close estimate to what your home might sell for in your current local Wisconsin real estate market. Click below:

What's My Wisconsin Home Worth?

Has your home value fallen below what you currently owe? Have you experienced a hardship like divorce or job loss? A short sale may be right for your situation. Visit our distressed property page for more information.

Wisconsin Short Sales

Housing Statistics for the State of Wisconsin:

Real estate investors are often drawn to this market by its earning potentials and security. Many investors have successfully built their wealth upon real estate, one property after another. But what about their retirement funds? Many investors assume that retirement funds can only be invested in stock and mutual funds, and they leave it all to their custodian to manage the portfolio. This, however, is not necessarily true, as now innovative retirement solutions such as Solo 401k Plans can help real estate investors take charge of their future.

Is real estate a wise choice for retirement funds?

Most real estate investors are in for the long haul, not expecting to cash out until years later. This actually makes real estate a perfect fit for retirement planning, which often holds investment for years until account holders make withdrawals. Many investors choose to add properties to their portfolio. With these, they can collect rental payments as a steady return, while waiting for the value to appreciate over the years.

Investors who prefer fast return can also attain that with real estate investments, by engaging in house flipping. In this case, investors would purchase a property, remodel it, and sell for a profit. It involves more risk and more effort from the investor, but can potentially generate much larger returns.

The biggest advantage of adding a property to any investment portfolio is its security. Investors can always recover their initial investment by selling the property itself, so they are less likely to lose everything.

Solo 401k Plans Allow Real Estate Investment

As much as real estate professionals know about the industry, why do they still have nothing but stocks and funds in their retirement accounts? The answer is simple: not a lot of people know that retirement plans can hold other assets.

For some traditional retirement plans, it is true that investment choices are limited. However, there are innovative solutions, such as Solo 401k plans, that allow virtually any legally available investment. Plan participants can invest in real estate, including commercial and residential properties, trust deeds and notes. The plan allows high contribution limit and self-directed option, giving plan participants even more control.

Self-directed Solo 401k plans give full control to plan participants as they can now act as the trustee of their accounts and make all the investment decisions. In order to succeed however, investors need to have a good understanding of the investments they choose.

For real estate investors, obviously, real estate is the best investment choices, as the account holders have the knowledge and experience required. In these cases, adding real estate to a retirement portfolio can potentially secure and grow the portfolio more effectively. 

Submitting your Broker Price Opinion two hours before the 24, 48, or 72 deadline is very important!! The reason: if the BPO Company/Outsourcer has Quality Control Department has issues with your BPO for accuracy, distances from the subject or whatever the reason may be. If you submit your BPO early, this will give you time to fix any issues and then send it back before the BPO Company flags you for being late!!

REOCertified @ www.BrowningRealEstateSchool.com

What do Real Estate Agents do to Sell a Home?

Outside of the legal and medical professions, most industries are filled with people that work their tails off without the general public understanding their line of work. This is quite common for people that work in the real estate industry. Here are some of the many things that an agent does to sell a home for a new listing.

Extensive Photos

As the old saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Real estate agents will take lots of pictures to show off the best aspects of the home. When prospective buyers have an opportunity to see multiple pictures of a place before they view the property it helps to get the buyers more familiar with the property. It also reduces the number of people who are certain they will not buy a home based on the presence, or lack of, certain features.

Social Media Announcement

With multiple pictures of the property in hand, an agent can post to the various social media sites and alert all their friends and connections that the home is now available. With the multiple interactions found on most of the social media sites this is a great way to spread the word and let potential buyers know about the home's availability and best selling points. Good agents post to multiple sites like Facebook, Google +, Twitter and even Pinterest.

Newsletters

Many real estate agents connect with their past clients and prospects by sending out a monthly or quarterly newsletter. The newsletter can be sent via email or the old fashioned way of postal mail. This gives the agent a chance to pass along helpful information, such as home maintenance tips, energy saving advice as well as all of their new home listings. This is an easy way to reach people that may not be active on social media and still give them a chance to see the home in pictures.

Emails

Some agents aggressively market their listings by sending out emails to their prospective buyer base. These email lists are built over time from a multitude of different sources like, previous clients, internet leads and people that have signed up via their website. Since some home buyers can spend many years searching for a home, this large database of previous contacts can be a key component to selling your home.

On top of that, most agents will present any new listings to their own personal buyer clients who might be interested. Since they have in-depth knowledge of the home, it's much easier to explain the benefits. They will also share the new listing with other agents in their office/company in hopes they promote it to their buyer clients.

MLS Listing

One of the most important things an agent can do is list a home with the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). This service is accessible by local real estate agents and to Realtors® across the country via certain home search websites. When a buyer comes to an agent and asks for a list of potential homes, the agent will use the MLS service to find all available homes in the area. Agents pay yearly to have access to this database in order to be ready when either a buyer or seller is in need.

Showings

When a potential buyer wishes to see a home the real estate agent is the one that meets them at the home and gives them a tour. This is where the real estate agent can show off the home and brag about the top features of the property. Agents often make themselves available day or night for showing to accommodate the schedules of both the buyers and the sellers.

Open Houses

Agents often hold open houses on the property. These typically occur on the weekends, most commonly on Sunday. Occasionally, open houses are held on weeknights as well. An open house provides a 'no pressure' forum for people to tour the home. Many times the attendees are not actively looking to purchase at that moment and many visitors will actually be neighbors. Either way, getting your home in front of the largest audience is key. Any open house visitor could know someone 'in the market' for a home who they may tell.

An experienced real estate agent will put together a complete marketing plan for any new listing to give their client the best chance of selling the property at the anticipated price. Click the following link to see how Rock Realty can successfully market and sell your house: Rock Realty Home Marketing Plan

Over the past few years, REO supply has fluctuated almost constantly. The REO Brokers/agents and suppliers who work with agencies like HomeSteps, see this everyday and understand the seasonal and demographical reasons behind these fluctuations. These REO Brokers know how to adapt and change with the low supplies of inventory.

Three tips to ensure BPO Photo Accuracy

1. Size
   1. Ensure that you read and understand the bpo site’s photo requirements.
   2. Many times bpo companies cannot handle uploading photos over 1 MB. This slows down the uploading of photos tremendously. Make it easy on yourself and set your camera to take smaller photos. This saves time and frustration!

2. Positioning and layout
   1. Bpo companies have different guidelines regarding this topic. Some are very specific. For example, some do not allow white space around the photo perimeter. It may get kicked back to you and affect your score in a negative way. Ensure that you inspect photos for this before uploading them. You can also use the crop feature to eliminate white space.
3. Labeling
   1. If it is not obvious as to which room is which, just take a few seconds to label it with something that is fast and easy. It can be as simple as L for living room, D for dining room, etc. Sometimes if you have to take a lot of photos, and get back to the office late, this can come in handy.
   2. Also if you don’t want to label, have a system in place. Such as always taking a photo of the living room first, the dining room second, kitchen is third. This way if you don’t want to label you can still know what room is what. This can especially help when the subject property is abandoned, and is very trashy.

• a.      For exterior bpos, all photos can begin from right to left or vice versa.

I hope I was able to help you obtain better bpo photo accuracy with these tips.

To your business success!

I received an email from CRES insurance advertising their E&O coverage http://www.cresinsurance.com/solutions/e-o/, the quote came out to half of what I am paying now. This seems to be too good to be true, since I have really shopped around before I found the insurance that I have now, and I thought it had very decent rate.

Have any of you heard of this company CRES? Have you ever dealt with them? Are they for real? Thank you for all your help in advance.