by admin on December 8, 2010
10 Reasons to Buy
Courtesy of Realty Times Online News, by Carla Hill, Published: December 8, 2010
Owning a home has been a part of the American Dream for decades. If you are still unsure, however, whether or not homeownership is the move for you, be sure to read these ten reasons to buy.
1. Low Interest Rates. It’s true! Interest rates are currently at historical lows. This means over the course of your loan, you’ll pay less interest. And it also means monthly payments will be a smaller, more manageable amount.
2. Mortgage Interest Deduction: While this deduction may not be available for much longer, for now you can still use this great tax advantage!
3. Stability: Studies have shown that homeownership not only increases community involvement, it also leads to safer neighborhoods, and higher graduation rates.
4. Affordability: Coupled with the low interest rates, affordability is the highest it’s been in years. Prices fell in many areas and median incomes rose — meaning you can get more bang for your buck.
5. Paying Towards Ownership. Instead of paying a landlord, you are making an investment in your future. Every month your payment goes towards something you’ll eventually own and that will have worth and value. Renting only makes the landlord richer!
6. Appreciation: Average appreciation rates vary widely depending on the condition of the local market and demand, but anywhere from 4 to 6 percent annually is considered average. This means the longer you stay in your home, the more your home will be worth.
7. Home equity: This building of worth over time (see number 6) means that if you need to make improvements to your home, you will be able to tap into its equity to finance repairs and additions.
8. Gardening: Many households are embracing the organic movement, and families have begun again to raise their own food. Even the White House has its own victory garden. Owning your own home (in most cases) means you will have your own land to cultivate.
9. Roots: Young and old alike seek out places where they belong. Owning a property, and taking your first steps towards putting down roots, can mean the difference between a house and a home.
10. Monthly Payments: Once your home is paid off — you won’t have monthly payments anymore. Apart from insurance, property taxes, and repairs, monthly expenses are minimal. In today’s market, many buyers are finding, as well, that their monthly house payments are less than what they’d pay in rent!
by admin on December 1, 2010
I need to fine tune my 30 second elevator pitch, 3 minute story and boiler plate. I know a few of my sales minded friends need to as well so I thought I’d quickly post something to open up dialogue on the topic.
Even though I have been prospecting, marketing and selling real estate in a high volume for 15 years I am learning a lot from reading Kyle Sexton’s blog. Kyle is with the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce and their website is fabulous. If you are not currently a chamber member you need to be! Sign up and we’ll network together! He is teaching me a lot about business, whereas all my previous time was spent in technology and sales.
Elevator pitch – In an age of information overload and sound bytes, the reality is you have less than a minute to grab someone’s attention and give your sales pitch. This is often referred to as the Elevator Pitch. Selling yourself, your business or product to others – fast. It needs to be brief, accurate, sincere and enthusiastic. (B-A-S-E)
3 minute story – A longer version of the 30 second elevator pitch. I write a 3 minute sales pitch for every listing. Now that we use video tours in our marketing it works perfect as the verbal narrative of our video presentation. I ask the seller for information about their home on our first appointment. I use that information to create their 30 second and 3 minute sales presentation to a buyer. I need a seller to sell me their home so I can sell it to others accurately. No one knows a home better than its owner. I also use this as the sales script when a buyer calls in on a listing. Anyone in marketing will agree you need a 3 minute success story and a 3 minute sales pitch for every product you sell.
Boiler plate - a boilerplate is a statement that is placed at the end of a press release, blog site or any public relations document. It simply and quickly covers the 5 W’s of your business, products, and services and lets the general public know what your business has to offer. Kyle wrote a great blog on boilerplates. The 5 W’s are Who, What, Where, When, Why. Focus on those briefly.
It is important to have it at the end of all blogs and media to get better SEO (Search Engine Optimization) commonly referred by realtors as Google juice.
These items aren’t easy to rattle off the top of our heads. We get rusty. So fine tune and re-visit yours, practice it, tweak it, and present it like you are up for an Academy Award! If you are ahead of the rest of us in social media, then yours is uploaded on your You Tube channel and I want to see it so send me a link!
~Have a profitable and productive day!
