Have A Great Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have been very busy blogging on Active Rain. Come and visit me there. In fact come and join active rain by clicking on my join active rain link on my blog.

It is a great place to network and meet other agents online. I started in June and as you can see I have been busy there blogging. I post coaching blogs as well as local real estate issues in our area in Wellington Florida.

So that is why I am not posting regurlarly here but I will be getting back to it next year. I am not the #5 top bloggers in Florida on Active Rain and # 20 nationwide top bloggers on Active Rain and out of over 60,000 members I must say that is good!

So come on over and check it out! It is FREE! Click here to join Active Rain.

I wish you and your loved ones all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I will see you next year here!

Real Estate Agent Survival Skills For Your Market Now.

For Real Estate Agents:

Imagine you take a flight on a small plane from sea to shining sea and in the middle of nowhere you get dropped out of the plane. You have no idea where you are except that you are in the U.S. All you have is the business suit you are wearing. Your money and credit cards were left on the plane.

Would you be able to start all over with nothing and become successful? Yes, you can if you have mastered the following 5 skills:

Learn your language. For the sake of this post we will assume that English, the United States version is your language. Language is the most powerful business survival skill you can master because it is with language that you can persuade others and express yourself. Study your language. Learn the history behind the language. When you hear words you do not know the meaning of jot them down and when you get home look them up and learn about the word. Subscribe to Dictionary.com's word of the day. I spoke 3 languages as a child and received straight A's in English all through school. When you learn what prefixes and suffixes mean it helps you to take the words apart and understand their meanings. My grandmother spoke fluent Latin and taught me how to connect many of the parts of words together to figure out what they mean. Get busy now to improve your language skills.

Learn about non verbal communication. It is not what you say but how you say it. The feeling you project and your body language you use when communicating are stronger than the words you say. Study body language. Record your voice and play it back to see how you sound and what you are projecting. Look in the mirror and talk to see what you are visually communicating. When I was 13 years old I read the book, 'The Art Of Body Language.' It was fascinating and most of it I have kept with me all these years.

Marketing is crucial to your success. Learn all you can about marketing. If you are depending on others to do your marketing you will never be as successful as you could be if you understand marketing yourself. You need to learn to write compelling copy for your letters, how to write direct response letters, how to successfully use ads to make the phone ring, understand Internet Marketing along with SEO, Web 2.0, building a list, etc. You need to learn how to tell your story so that others want to become a part of the Dream. Develop your PR skills. I will tell you from experience of successfully opening and running several small businesses and consulting and coaching others in their businesses that the single most important thing for you to master to be able to be a success in the shortest amount of time is to learn how to do your own PR work. This is huge and is overlooked all the time by business owners.

Get your sales skills in order. So many people tell me that they hate selling yet they are selling every day. Everyone sells. Your children are selling you every time they want a new toy. Your spouse is selling you when they want to go to a particular place to eat. If you do not feel comfortable selling it is because you are looking at it from the wrong angle. Sales is a communication process. Sales is finding what a person wants and then giving it to them. It is that simple. It is not about being pushy, nasty, hovering over them or telling them what they should do. The proper way to be successful in sales is to be a consulting salesperson. Ask lots of questions. Be up front and tell the person you are talking to that you will see if what you offer is a fit for them and if it is not then you will refer them to someone who would be a better fit for them. Learn about sales. Read books about how to build relationships with your prospects. The best book on the planet on this subject is Dale Carnegie's book,'How To Win Friends And Influence People'. It was written many years ago and still applied today. All the other books about this subject are spin offs. So read the original!

Public Speaking. This is the one skill that holds so many people back from becoming all that they can be. The most successful agents, writers and business owners are those who have mastered the skill of public speaking. Most people would rather die than get up and speak. But this skill is part of a necessary survival skill package. Why are people afraid of public speaking? Because they are afraid of rejection. I just heard about a study that was done on the brain. They said that when a person is rejected the pain that person feels is the same exact pain he/she feels when he/she feels physical pain. So the fear to get up in front of bunch of people and speak is like looking at the possibility that all those people may reject you and the pain that you would feel from that is like all those people stabbing you. This happens in the part of the brain that is still back in the primitive days of living in the wild. You feared being rejected by your group because that would mean you would be without the protection of the group and off to fend for yourself in the wild; not a good situation back then. I have always loved Public Speaking. It is a talent I think I was born with. In fact, for me I would much rather speak to a group of people than one on one. When I was in grade school I used to ask my teachers if I could do oral reports and when I was done with one I would ask them when could I do another one. Learning how to speak in public will elevate you to a different income bracket faster than anything else can. Just look around you and you will see the evidence of this. If you need help to develop this survival skill; join Toastmasters, BNI or other networking groups where you can practice your public speaking. The more you do it the less afraid you are. You gain confidence each time you speak and soon your brain will realize that this is not a life and death situation any longer.

When you master these 5 survival skills you can start all over again in a new place not knowing anyone. You can revamp your business by applying these skills if your business is stagnant. You can take your business and income to the next level in the direct proportion that you attain these skills. So get your business survival skills in order. There is no limit to what you can do and be and have!

If you are interested in taking your business skills to the next level contact me and we can set up an interview to see if you are a candidate for coaching.

Copyright © 2007 By Katerina Gasset, All Rights Reserved
The material herein may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed or published. All rights reserved. Plagiarism will be detected and is punishable by law. Get your Business Survival Skill in Order to be all that you can and should be!

To Market, To Market, To Get Your Listings!

What Are You Doing To Get Listings In Your Market Now?

As Real Estate agents you must always be marketing yourself. I do not mean the show offy type of image marketing that most agents and coaches tell you to do.

Image marketing is very time consuming, expensive and unless your are Coca Cola you do not have the kind of money it takes and the time it takes to make image marketing work.

You do need to be visable, approachable and people need to know you. You do that through relationship marketing. The kind of marketing you need to do to become famous in your area is a lot of giving of information. Solve a problem. Be there when someone needs to ask you a question. Be empathetic to your market's problems.

My Step Approach To Becoming Visible So You Will Get The Listings:

• Start Blogging. If you do not have a blog start one about your area and about you. I have had great success with Active Rain. This is a great community of real estate related people, you get to network and have a free blog.
• Become the expert in your area. Interview businesses and places of interest like the library and write articles about them. Find out if you can be the Real Estate columnist for your newspaper.
• Whenever you go to a function, take photos and have photos taken of you with prominant people and then do a press release about it and send it to all the local papers.
• Always speak from the point of reference of the person you are speaking to and not about yourself. No one cares about how much you know until they know how much you care.
• Get testimonials from every client. Have the testimonials be about exactly what you did for them not about what a great agent you are. Again, this is not about you!
• Have a direct response website with reports that the consumer can get to solve their problem.
• Join online forums to learn more about your Real Estate industry and also so you can network with other agents and cultivate referral relationships.
• Meet your neighbors! Right in your own backyard you have prospects. Make sure your neighbors know what you do and ask them if they know anyone moving to the area.
• Send out an email newsletter and a physical newsletter to your sphere of influence. Ask for Referrals. We have heart stickers that say," I love referrals."
• Work your expired listing market. This is a great niche and I coach agents to become successful in this niche. This is the main focus of our business. We get all our listings through working expireds and through getting referrals.
• Get involved helping in your church, place of worship, schools and the community. This is a great way to get visibility in the venue of helping others.

You can email me at Katerinag(at)bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

What Are You Doing About This Market?

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

With all the gloom and doom new you are hearing on the news and reading in the newspapers what are you doing to deal with it all? Are you adding to the fuel by complaining about how bad it is? Remember, what you focus on expands! Are you agreeing with the papers and the news? Are you telling everyone you meet how bad your business is right now?

Nestor, my husband and my broker was working out at LA fitness this morning. As he was walking out the door he ran into an aquaintance of ours. She asked him how Real Estate is doing and how is his business doing and he says, " Business is good!" Well, she just about fell over on to the floor! She was so surprised by his answer. She said that everyone she has talked to has told her that real estate is terrible right now. All the agents she knows are getting second jobs or quitting the business.

You know by reading my blog that I believe that you attract to your life what you are talking, thinking and feeling about. If you listen and buy into this negative press and gloom and doom about the real estate market than you are going to create that in your life and in your business.

We have to stay away from all that negative stuff and people. Feel that you are successful, feel that you have clients and get to work on getting some leads. Be proactive in your actions. Don't be reactive.

This is just a normal real estate market. Buyers still need to buy and sellers still need to sell!
Leave your comments on how you are handling your real estate business now.

Active Rain Is a Great Real Estate Agent Tool

I found a great online community for you to join if you are a Real Estate Agent, Home Stager, Mortgage Broker or Home Inspector. The best part is that it is FREE. Just click on the box below and get started!

You can find great local Florida real estate information on Localism.com Nestor and Katerina Gasset is a proud member of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network, a free online community to help real estate professionals grow their business.

Secrets Of A Successful Real Estate Agent

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Secrets Of A Successful Real Estate Agent

Do you consider yourself a highly successful Real Estate Agent? Why or why not?

Are you trading time for money? Are you going from deal to deal just surviving and spending hours looking for your next buyer or seller?

The big secret of successful agents is that they have stopped trading time for money the way most agents continue to do.

If you are burning the candle at both ends, working 7 days a week, evenings and weekends, missing out on your children’s lives, not being home for dinner and being too tired to wash your face before you drop in your bed for 4 hours of sleep each night than you do not have a business, you have a JOB!

As long as you work like that there is ceiling placed on your head and you can not break through that ceiling. There is a limit to how much money you can ever make.

You either work so many hours to make the money you want to make but have no life or you don’t work all those hours and therefore you have a life but no money! Many Real Estate agents kill themselves slowly by working 80+ hour work weeks for very little compensation. They barely make enough money to survive.

According to the NAR, 80% of new agents never make it through five years. Too many agents discover that they are putting in way to much time to justify their pay.

If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you are getting.

Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result!

All top agents who are successful and own their own business instead of their business owning them have learned how to leverage their time by automating as much as is possible, taking advantage of technology and delegating tasks that can be delegated.

This is how I describe a successful career as a Real Estate Agent:

• You are respected by your clients and they value what you bring to the table
• You work a normal work week or less with plenty of time off to be with your kids, husband, wife, significant other and friends. You have time to pursue other interests.
• You have a healthy stream of clients who are seeking you out without you having to do any cold calling.
• You are set in your fee that you charge and your clients do not question your fee.

Stay tunes as we begin to explore this subject and in my next post I will tell you our story about how we reached that critical point in our Real Estate Business and what we did to turn it around.

E-mail me at Katerinag(at)bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Vision Boards To Apply The Law Of Attraction

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Do you have a vision board?

Is it prominently placed in your office where you can focus on it? And do you have one in a private place in your home like your bedroom or bathroom? For Real Estate Agents this can be a very powerful tool to help you reach your goals in business and in life.

In the hit DVD The Secret, John Assaraf tells a remarkable story of his dream board.

John Assaraf is a very successful business man. . He is a business consultant who helps businesses and individuals to reach their financial goals.

He lives and teaches the science behind the law of attraction and taking inspired actions towards one’s goals.

John started making his dream boards. He made several of them. They included all types of goals and dreams from a watch he wanted, vacations he wanted to go on, to this photo of a mansion in California. He posted all of these in a collage type style on foam boards.

You can get these boards very inexpensively at office supply stores like Office Depot.

He would look at his vision boards each day, close his eyes and visualize having all the dreams and goals on his vision board.

Then over the next few years he moved five times. Through all the moves he kept many things in storage and that included his vision boards.

His last move was to California where he and his wife bought and remodeled a very large home. It took them over a year to finish remodeling the house. After they were all done he brought all the belongings that they had in storage to their newly completed home.

When he unpacked all their belongings he rediscovered his vision boards. As he looked at each of the boards he came across the one with the photo of the mansion on it.

Tears came to his eyes as he realized that he was living in this exact house, not one like it, but this exact house! This was totally amazing to him.

That is when he truly understood the power of the Law Of Attraction.

If you are a broker you can have a sales meeting and encourage your agents to create their individual vision boards. Create some type of contest or incentive for the agents that follow through and post them at their desks.

When I consult small businesses I train them to have all their staff build their own vision boards at an end of the year party. Also, when I coach self employed people like attorneys and Real Estate Agents I have them and all their assistants do the same thing.

You could even have your sellers make a small one about their home selling, photos of where they are moving, a sold sign in front of their house when you take the listing; use your imagination on how you can set the intention of their home selling.

I have 2 vision boards that I use. I have one in my office and one in my bedroom.

I use my vision boards to help me visualize my dreams and goals.

Tell me about your stories with your vision boards in a comment below. It is easy to post comments on my blog and I welcome your input and comments.

You can also email me at Katerinag(at)bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

The Secret On Squidoo, Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

The Secret On Squidoo!

My coaching is based on applying the law of attraction into your business as a Real Estate agent.

I use many of the principle you will find in the hit DVD movie, The Secret.

What you think about you bring about.

What you focus on expands.

In this market of real estate right now you must be focused on the outcome you wish to receive in order to survive.

You also have to distance yourself from all the naysayers, dreamstealers and the negative Nellies that are very abundant right now because they are not making any money in this market.

I started a great Squidoo lens for you at:

http://www.Squidoo.com/TeachersOfTheSecret

Here is a lot of information about applying the law of attraction in your life which includes your business. Go back often to see new content as I update the lens.

If you go to your toolbar in your Internet Explorer 7. you can click on the orange square which is called an RSS feed. This way you can know whenever a new post is placed on my blog or new content is placed on my lens. This saves you time because you won’t have to keep coming back to check for new content.

There is also a Free Talking E-Book that you can get from my Squidoo lens with interviews in audio and pdf formats from the Teachers of the Secret.

This is a great book for you to listen and to read through. I listen to it over and over again so that I can internalize the information and apply it into my life and business.

When the market gets like this agents will either sink or swim.

Many agents are leaving the market to get other jobs and changing careers.

It is your choice whether you sink or swim.

The press is not giving us any slack either. Every morning people are waking up to headlines and news stories about how bad the market it, the prices are dropping, sellers are not budging, buyers are fence sitting , yada, yada! The press is not your friend right now!

Figure out a way to put a spin on all of this bad press.

In my market the truth is that homes are still selling, people are still buying and loans are still closing. Those are facts.

Perhaps for you all you need is that gentle push that a business coach can offer you to help you through this uncertain market.

Please email me if you are interested in finding out if coaching is right for you.

You can also email me at Katerinag(at)bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Please replace the (at) with the at sign, @. That is done above just so I do not get so much spam. Thanks.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Commitment From Your Sellers, Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Commitment Is Crucial To The Deal.

• Do you have listings that just sit and do not sell?
• Does the seller make it hard for you to show their home?
• Is the seller making excuses?
• Does your seller insist of having yesterday’s price today?
• Is your seller playing games with you?

If your seller is being unreasonable than it may be time to let him/her go.

You also have a mortgage payment that needs to be made, you also have bills to pay. Each hour you spend with unreasonable sellers and buyers is another hour wasted.

Time is the one thing you can not get back. Once it is spent, that’s it, it’s gone!

To be successful as a Real Estate Agent in today’s market you must first learn how to say “NO”.

Next, you must learn to turn down unreasonable clients, buyers and sellers.

They are a waste of your time. You are not being productive when you are spending your time working for them.

Do not operate your business from a perspective of lack. There are plenty of listings out there for you. You can be selective. After all ,you do need to get to the closing table!

You want sellers that are willing to make a commitment to the deal.

Make sure the seller is aware of the market and is willing to play ball on this field.

Here are some great questions you can ask the seller to see if they are committed:

“Why are you selling?”

“ How much did you pay for your property?”

“ How much do you own on your mortgage?”

And

“ When do you need to move by?”

If the seller hesitates to answer any of these questions than he/she is most likely not motivated to sell and is going to play games.

I love this quote, “Some Will, Some Won’t, So What, Next!”

You can email me at Katerinag(at)bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

When emailing me put the at symbol where I have the (at) word. I just did this because I learned that is how you can avoid spam. I have been getting a lot of spam because I post my email address in my posts.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Tax Reform On It's Way In Florida.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Tax Reform Is On It’s Way In Florida

Thank you to all the Real Estate Agents who called, emailed or wrote to their state legislatures and congressmen and women about Property Tax Reform in Florida.

In just a couple of days in their special session the House and the Senate came to an agreement and now most of what they agreed upon will be taken to the voters in the January 2008 Primary Election.

Now is the time for the big fight to start for the cities to keep money they do not want to lose! They will use all kinds of scare tactics especially the ones of losing police and fire services to get the voters to turn down the amendments that will save the homeowners money on their property tax bills.

So you as a Real Estate agent can make a difference in your community which will build you credibility by getting educated on this subject and then getting your opinion out to your farm areas, your prospects, your clients and your neighborhood.

You can post your comments on your blog and your website.

Send everyone on your list an email about getting out to vote and what the amendments say and why you think that the property tax reforms need to be voted in to law.

This is a great opportunity for you to build relationships, network and get into your farms with a benefit to offer. Let me know how you are doing with this.

Post your ideas on how you can get the word out!

You can me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Be A Servant First, Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Be A Servant First

As a Real Estate Agent your objective is to be a servant first. Put the needs of your client first. Let them know by your actions that you are happy to serve them. This is what you get paid to do.

You get paid in direct proportion to how well you serve your clients. Finding out what their needs are and then filling those needs will result in higher pay and more referrals for you.

Zig Ziglar said, “If you help enough people get what they want you will always get what you want.” That is one of my favorite quotes ever. It is reality. It is truth. Apply this to your business and watch your business grow.

When you are focused on the sale, on how much you need the sale, on how you need to pay your bills, how much you ‘need’ this person to list their house with you, and other self thoughts this is projected onto the other person and actually makes them move away from you. I know I wrote about this subject in a previous post but this is so important it bears repeating.

I know from experience so much about this. When I was going through a really ugly divorce Real Estate income was my only source of income and it was tough times because all my focus was on the next court hearing and a mean custody battle over my children. It was really a bad time in my life. But I was also so happy to get out of an abusive and nightmare of a marriage. Still, I had to depend only on me to take care of 5 children physically, emotionally and financially.

When I was working with buyers and sellers inside of my head and heart I was begging for them to buy a house from me or list their house with me. And then I wondered why each deal was a fiasco or the home inspection went bad or the seller and buyer could not come to terms on a price and the deal would die. One thing after another happened that was negative. I did manage to just get by however the results were less than desirable. This is after I had been working in Real Estate for 15 years and I could not understand why this was happening to me. Even on the deals that did close, the sellers and buyers ending up complaining about one thing or another. Not a good way to get referrals and testimonials!

It would take years before I would discover what really happened during that time in my business.

I started dating my present husband and my business started to take off again. I was happy, less stressed and more focused on my clients.

I began to implement Zig Ziglar’s quote again in my business and we started attracting good clients, listings that sold quickly and for top dollar, good buyers who closed on their transactions. We began attracting developers and investors and the luxury home market.

For 15 years I owned and ran Tae Kwon Do schools. In that marketplace you really had to show genuine love and concern for the needs of your students or else they would go elsewhere. We had some of the highest retention rates in the country due to the fact that we put our students before ourselves and we served our students and their parents who were paying their tuition payments.

Real Estate Agents can very well use this principle to multiply their results in their businesses.

In November of 2006; when our Real Estate Market here became quite slow here, I met a a Realtor who happened to have more business than she could handle. She had a great attitude. While Real Estate Agents all around here starting dropping out of the business like flies she was looking for people to refer business to.

I asked her what she was doing that was different. She said the only thing that was different is that she had watched a DVD movie called ‘The Secret’.

Well, of course I went home that day, went online and ordered the DVD of The Secret.

My husband and I watched it each night for 30 nights in a row. Each time we watched we learned something we had not heard the other times. It really has changed our lives…

Stay tuned….

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Our spring is gone! Where did it go? We enjoyed the most gorgeous and coolest spring all the way through the end of May. Now we are in June and here in Florida that means the hot and humid weather is back.

While in most places in the country people go outdoors in the summer it is the other way around here in Florida. We go outdoors in the fall, winter and spring! Summer is for indoors and air conditioning!

In spite of the heat coming on, I woke up this morning thinking how blessed I am to live on this beautiful blue planet, in this wonderful country of America. I love America. Each morning I count my blessings and think about what I am grateful for that day. It makes it a great way to start my day. Being in focus of your gratitude will bring richer blessings still. God is good to me and my family.

I enjoy the blessing of listening the birds chirping as I start each new day. What a miracle that is in and of itself! Just take a moment right now to ponder all your very many blessings. Savor the moment of gratitude. Carry it with you throughout your day.

My coaching practice is a huge blessing in my life. Helping others to see their greatness and facilitating my clients to reach beyond their perceived limits is so emotionally charging. I am so blessed with the gift of being able to help others.

I focus on helping Real Estate Agents but I have clients from all walks of life.

My business in Real Estate Sales and Coaching is mostly done through referrals.

The best compliment that I can receive is for a satisfied client to recommend me to one of their friends. Thanks to all of you who have given me referrals.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Online Marketing For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Online Marketing For Real Estate Agents

One of my online colleagues, Jinger Jarret made a comment to me that Real Estate Agents lack behind in making use of good online marketing.

This is an understatement. With Real Estate being one of the most searched keywords in all the major search engines and with over 80% of all buyers starting their home search online it is amazing to see how few Real Estate Agents are making the most of this unlimited stream of income.

I have some tips throughout my blog to help you in this area.

If you would like to see how a direct response website looks like you can visit our website at;

http://www.NestorGasset.com

This is our main home page. You will see our listings on the right with featured listings there. We have affiliate pages for home loans and house staging. The most important feature is the newsletter and the opt in forms on all the direct response pages.

We are very well known in our area so therefore we have my husband’s name as our domain name but for advertising to people who do not know us we use other domain names that we own. For instance when we market sellers we use the domain name;

http://www.27-Home-Seller-Tips.com

This of course is for people who do not know us yet. The prospect who does not know us does not care about our name or who we are at first. It is all about what is in it for them. So we have domain names that have benefits to the prospect in them.

Now there are things that I like and I don’t like about our site. I am constantly working on improving our site and starting new sites with new themes and keyword related pages.

There also may be free websites that your MLS or Realtor Board offers. Check into all of those. Every little bit that you do will help in the long run.

Remember getting results from your online marketing takes longer than offline marketing and you need to develop patience for it, but let me tell you it is so worth the wait.

What you will see happening in the future is that you will get your leads online and transform those leads into clients resulting in much less time spent in getting leads than from the traditional methods. Online marketing does not replace your offline marketing. It is just an additional form of developing income.

We will talk more about what all goes into your online marketing programs and strategies in future posts on this blog.

There is a lot more to it than just putting up a website.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Voice Mail Tips For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Voice Mail Tips For Real Estate Agents

Do you know what your voice mail sounds like?

As a Real Estate Agent I hope you have a great professional voice mail message.

Is your message boring and meaningless or is it exciting and compelling?

Call your voice mail and listen to the tone of your message, the message itself and the content of your message.

What is the goal of your voice message? It should be to have the caller want to leave you a message.

Do not say; “Your call is important to me” . That sounds so condescending to me. If your call was so important to you why aren’t you answering the phone personally when I call you?

Some other things you should not say in your message are things like, “I am not at my desk right now.” Or “I’m sorry I missed Your Call.” These statements are overused and are a waste of your precious few seconds to get your message across.

Avoid using the same boring statements that everyone else says on their messages.

Make yourself stand out in the voice mail crowd.

I suggest to my coaching clients to always have a big smile on their face when they are recording their message. For some people standing in looking into a mirror helps them to use their best voice.

Write down what you are going to say so that you can follow your script. That will help you avoid using “uhm” and “ah”, etc.

Remember that you can re-record over and over again until you get it right so don’t worry about it when you goof up.

I always leave my email address on my voice mail and my website address. I also leave my tagline to get them to my website.

At the end of the message I like to say, “Make it a great day.” You can leave another call to action at the end of your message, make it memorable.

People always compliment me on my voice mail messages but more importantly they leave a message or email me.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agent

3 Biggest Mistakes Real Estate Agents Make

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

3 Biggest Mistakes Real Estate Agents Make

We finally started to get some rain. It started with Tropical Storm Barry and has continued. The drought has put a large strain on South Florida’s water system. So we are very thankful that it is raining.

The rain made me think of that old adage Realtors use to explain our business. It is either feast of famine in our business.

But it does not have to be that way.

The first mistake I think many Real Estate Agents make is that when they get a house sold they spend the next month doing all the things that need to get done to make sure the closing happens and lose sight of going on to the next deal.

You need to work on the contract that is closing as well as marketing for new listings.

The second mistake is forgetting about your clients after closing. This is by far the most common mistake I see happening in my Real Estate Agent coaching program.

Most Real Estate Agents send a thank you card, give a closing gift and then go on to finding the next customer.

Do you ask for a referral and a testimony right there at the closing when most clients are the happiest with your services? That is the time to really get your next customer without spending a ton of money advertising for the next customer.

Keep in contact once a month for at least 2 years. See my post about building relationships that I posted yesterday.

The third mistake that I see most Real Estate Agents make is that they spend a lot of money on programs, books, audios, trainings without working on themselves first.

All of that motivational stuff only works for a few days after the event and then people return to what they are used to doing, back to habits.

Motivation wears off because it comes from the outside. The only self development that works is that which comes from the inside. Work more on yourself than you do on your business and you will attract the people that will help your business to grow.

If you are looking for someone to keep you on the right path, whatever path that it is you choose to take, think about enlisting in the services of a coach.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Are Referrals In Your Real Estate Business?

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Are Referrals In Your Business?

The NAR just came out with a report that says that 93% of the business being done in Real Estate is being done by only 7% of the Real Estate Agents.

That is pretty shocking taking into consideration that there are over a million members in the NAR.

So much for the 80/20 rule!

As a consultant and coach, I ask you;

Are you in the 7%?

Do you want to be in the 7%?

What type of marketing is the 7% doing that other agents are not doing?

Well, it is networking.

Most of the business these Real Estate Agents get is from referrals.

That should not surprise you.

When buyers and sellers are asked how they chose their Real Estate Agent between 70-80% of them responded that they knew their Real Estate Agent or one was referred to them by someone they knew.

People do business with those they know, like and trust. Pure and simple.

Yes, you can get to build relationships through door knocking and cold calling but that is definitely taking the most difficult approach. I do not like to door knock or cold call. And I find that we as people will find a reason not to do the things we don’t like to do. So then excuses take form and we get stagnant and do not produce thus placing us in that 93% of the Real Estate Agents not getting the results they had hoped to achieve.

So are you doing business by aiming at the wrong target?

Networking is the way to go in boosting your business and creating the loyal following up clients who will refer to those they know need your services.

Target your sphere of influence. That is the key to effective marketing.

Real Estate Agents I coach start out by telling me that they don’t know anyone, that they don’t have a sphere of influence.

If you are in that situation I can show you how you DO have a sphere of influence and no matter how small it is I will teach how you can make that small influence become a large influence very quickly.

The key to building your referral market is by building relationships and then maintaining those relationships over a lifetime.

How do you develop a relationship?

*Stay in touch on a consistent basis through a variety of mediums.

*Give something of value each time you communicate.

* Nurture your relationship.

* Call them on their birthday to wish them a happy birthday.

* Monthly contact is just right.

* Go beyond the regular real estate info and assist with day to day needs.

* Ask what you can do to help them.

* Give important tips in a postcard like reminding them to change their clock back.

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Online Marketing Tips For Real Estate Agents

Online Marketing Tips For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Online Marketing takes some time but it will pay off for you in the long run.

Real Estate Agents tend to work on things that will bring them money right now.

We get into this mode of getting the listing, selling the listing, getting the listing, selling the listing and so on.

You must, as a Real Estate Agent do some work each day towards your future financial security and building your business with income that will come to you in the future.

That is why ‘farming’ is the best method for long term results. Most Real Estate Agents do not have the patience to farm an area. So if you stick it out, planting those seeds and watering them you will benefit for the time you put into it. Your rewards will be financial as well as creating loyal clients who will refer you over and over again. While other agents give it up, you will reap your rewards!

There are many different types of ‘farms’:

• Geo farms
• Social farms
• Niche farms
• Professional group farms
• Online Farms

Today, we will go over online farms.

Having a website presence online today for any Real Estate Agent is a ‘must do, must have’.

However, just putting up any old template site is not going to work anymore.

You need to do some homework.

When we first went on line back in 1998, we made a lot of mistakes. We fell prey to all the different bells and whistles different vendors were selling. A lot of the tools, software and products we bought went on our shelves and were never used or did not fit our market.

We had a website with Realtor.com, Know Your Neighborhood, Advanced Access, Re/Max sites and a few others. We spent literally thousands of dollars on these websites each year and we never got a buyer or seller from all of that!

So naturally we became disillusioned with online marketing and we dumped all of our sites and went back to our direct mail campaigns and personal networking which has always done very well for us.

Now, we are back online again. What changed this time around?

Well, this time I said that I was going to make sure that I understood what I was doing. That began a project of research before building our web sites. Learning how to rank in the search engines was another area that I felt I had to understand before making online decisions regarding how much money and where we are going to be spending it.

Each night for about 3 hours before I went to sleep I studied online marketing from internet resource, books, tapes, etc. When I felt like I had a handle on the knowledge we started to implement the strategies. Lo and behold, it works! And we are no longer throwing arrows in the darks.

One of the websites that I recommend you visit that has lots and lots of Free information on building your business online is Jinger Jarrett’s web site:

http://www.askjingernow.com

Make sure you visit her blog and learn all you can a little at a time to help you make the important decisions of how to market yourself online.

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Short Sales- Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Short Sales

Real Estate Agents need to understand what a short sale is and how to help their seller’s with the process.

In today’s market you are most likely finding sellers who owe more money on their mortgages and home equity loans than what they could get for their house.

It would give you as a Real Estate Agent in your marketplace an edge over agents who do not know how to assist in a short sale. This could be a great niche for you!

Do you know what a short sale is?

When the net proceeds from a sale of a property are less than the mortgage, taxes, real estate commissions and other closing costs and the seller can not or will not come up with the difference you have a short sale.

Just like when people buy cars for zero down and need to trade that car in they find themselves upside down, meaning they owe more on the loan for their car than what the trade in value is.

This same thing happens in the housing market. You may have a seller who is going into foreclosure, a seller who is transferred due to work or someone is getting divorced. These are all reasons that the short sale may be forced to happen.

You can check with a title company even before you take the listing and ask them to do a preliminary HUD closing settlement statement so you can have the numbers correct. The title company can also run a check for you about how much they owe.

Sometimes when you ask the seller he or she will give you the amount for their first mortgage but not for their equity lines. I always ask them for all the loans that may be tied to the house.

Have the sellers write a letter to all his/her lenders giving them permission to talk to you. They will not talk to you unless they have express permission from the seller.

Once you get an offer on the property contact the lender’s loss mitigation department. Do not talk to the people at customer service. They are not trained in this area and they will not approve any offer unless they are collecting all the past due payments, etc.

Gather up the seller’s W-2 forms, a letter of explanation if the seller is unemployed, bank statements, two years of tax returns, and other financial documents relating to income, asset and debt obligations.

You should have the seller write up a hardship letter explaining why he/ she is in this situation and why it is impossible for the seller to pay off the loan in full. Most lenders will require true hardship. If the lender sees the seller has stocks and other assets it is likely the short sale will not be approved.

One thing to be especially aware of is what did the seller say when he got the loan initially. For instance, if the seller obtained a stated income loan stating his assets, it may be a trigger for mortgage fraud if he no longer has those assets, unless he can prove the loss somehow. Just be aware of this.

Most lenders use a formula of what losses they are willing to incur. It is suggested that this figure may vary from 8 % to almost 20% .

It is important for the buyers to understand that the lenders will not give away properties.

It takes two weeks to sixty days to get an approval from the lender to do a short sale.

It is very important for the buyer to understand this process and that this may take time.

Please make sure that if you are the Seller’s Real Estate Agent that you put a clause in the contract stating that the seller does not have to close on the property with this buyer if the lender does not approve the short sale. Otherwise, the seller would still be liable to close and come up with money for the difference.

Doing short sales can be very time consuming. However, it may be a good niche for you since not many Real Estate Agents have the patience to do them nor the knowledge.

E-mail me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Marketing with Post Cards

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Marketing with Post Cards

If you have a web site, and hopefully you do; drive people to your web site with your Post Card Campaign.

Make sure you have a reason for sending the prospect that receives your post card to your web site.

Always use a tag line with a benefit to encourage prospects to visit you on the web.

With so many web sites out there especially in Real Estate markets; why would a prospect sit down at his or her computer and actually type in your web site address into the address bar?

Give them something to go to your web site for! And I don’t mean to search the MLS or to look at your listings!

They can do that on anyone’s site these days.

Think of things that your prospect is looking for or a need that is not being filled when they go to other Real Estate Agents’ sites. If you get stuck; ask your prospects.

Take a survey of your prospects. Ask them what they would like to see on your web site. What can you provide them with they are not yet getting?

Create direct response guides for your buyers and sellers.

Like: “12 Ways to Improve Your Curb Appeal”.

Send out a postcard to your data base or farm telling them to go to your web site to pick up their own copy of the direct response piece you are doing like the example above.

Post cards work great as direct mail pieces. We use them all the time in our Real Estate business.

Remember to have a call to action on your post card. Always put value on your offer. Make your offer something your prospect really wants and knows he/she needs and is ready to act on it. The more value you place on your offer the better response rate you are going to get.

Testimonials are also great to use on your post cards.

Word of Caution: Do not use the Free Consultation line. Everyone in the U.S. knows that they can get a Free Consultation with any Real Estate Agent. That is worn out, old and should not get recycled.

We ran a post card campaign with a great offer and to go to our website to get it; we had an overwhelming successful response of visitors to our web site. In fact, from one mailing we received 112 unique visitors with 112 separate IP addresses. When we looked at our web stats we saw the direct correlation of when our data base received the post card and the dates of their visits to our web site. It works! Do it!

Submit your ideas here of what Post Card ideas you get great results with. Tell us what you have tried; what works and does not work in your market. It is great to learn from each other. Pay it forward!

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

5 Best Marketing Ideas For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

5 Best Marketing Ideas For Real Estate Agents
That get results and save you money!

1. Slash your costs of newspaper advertising.

Most buyers start their search on the internet. This is where you need to redirect your marketing dollars. You will get more bang for your buck.

2. Hand address your envelopes.

People are much more likely to open your mail if you hand address the envelope.

It is a nice touch. People feel special that you took the time to hand write their name and address.

3. Use E-Mail instead of paying for postage to send out your listing fliers.

E-Mail is free and you save the postage which can get quite expensive.

Convert your fliers to PDF format so everyone can open them.

4. Use your own Web Site to promote your listings.

Make sure that your website address in on all your business cards, fliers, brochures and on any ads you are running in any media form.

Drive your prospects to your website. This is the most cost effective marketing that you can do and saves you time and money!

5. Don’t buy into every lead generation program out there.

Be aware of what your comfort zone is. No matter what someone promises you their program can do, if you are not going to follow through and do it, don’t buy it! That is a complete waste of your money! You get sold on something you are not going to use effectively. I see more Real Estate Agents with tapes and programs and software that sits on the shelf unused. That is good money spent. Really weigh the benefits of each program to and evaluate if you are going to benefit from that particular expense.

If you implement the above 5 items, you will find that you will be more effective, get a better response to your message and save a lot of money.

If you would like to be coached or consulted in this area of marketing please read my profile to see my qualifications in this area. Marketing is my strength in business.

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

CBS 60 Minutes Does Not Do Real Estate Agents Justice!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

60 Minutes Does Not Do Real Estate Agents Justice!

In case you did not get the letter from NAR president, Pat Combs, I have included it here below:

Dear Fellow REALTOR(R):

I am disappointed and dismayed at the biased story that "60
Minutes" aired on Sunday evening. I want to let you know that
we've been working to stay on top of this story.

One of the most difficult challenges we face is educating
the news media about today's real estate industry. There's
no better example than this "60 Minutes" show. For more than a
year, NAR worked with the producers who put the segment
together and offered several spokespersons to be interviewed
for the show, including myself. Yet, NAR's voice was
strangely and noticeably absent from the segment though CBS
gave time to two critics who disagree with our policies on
the display of listings on the Internet.

At times, NAR and REALTORS(R) have often been the subject of
less than accurate news coverage. Your association and its
professional staff is making every effort to get the
REALTOR(R) message out to the news media. The result is that
only a fraction-less than five percent-of the vast news
media we receive is negative.

We encourage all of you to contact CBS:
(http://go-to.realtor.org/t/LSJ6C/52A9C/T3/D4TQDQ )
to voice your concerns -- maybe have some of your satisified
customers do the same.

Thank you for your support.

Pat V. Combs
President

Please express your opinions to CBS.

Also, if you want to see the replay you can go to CBS and click on 60 minutes and get the full replay.

Defend your livelihood!

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- Florida Real Estate Issues

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Please contact your legislator today with the following message, adding your personal comments and powerful stories - such as describing the lock-in effect of Save Our Homes or lost homeownership dreams due to high property taxes.

Click the link below to log in and send your message:
http://votervoice.net/target

Get your voice heard today, time is running out! Get your message in before the June special session begins!

I am back from vacation now. We took a time out for a long weekend. We went up to Orlando and took our 4 year old to Sea World. The weather was wonderful, cool and breezy. There were no crowds so we did not have a problem seeing all the mammals, feeding the dolphins, seals and stingrays. The Shamu show is the best ever; Believe.

Watching the grace and beauty of the Killer Whales and the story the narrator told about living and believing in your dreams touched my heart.

I was on a little vacation yet learning more to improve my coaching. I am able to take what I learn and apply it to my coaching for Real Estate Agents. It always amazes me to be a part of all of life's lessons.

Always remember your dreams and do not ever give up on them.
I am building a website to help you live your dreams and apply the secret to your life.
I will post this when I have it up and running.

Feel free to email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for information on coaching you to reach your level of success in your Real Estate Career and also in your personal life.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching Updates For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching Updates For Real Estate Agents

I am going to be going on a mini vacation for a few days so I will not be posting on my blog for the time I am away.

I will be starting a Real Estate Blog when I get back for Buyers and Sellers. I will post important information for buyers and sellers in this market. I will be recommending that they do use a Real Estate Agent so you can feel free to have them visit the blog for information.

You can also link to the blog from your web site. I am in Florida and there will be regional information as well as National and International information on the blog. It does not matter where you are living there will be important information for your clients and prospects.

I love doing business by referral. If you know anyone coming down to South Florida and they do not have a Real Estate Agent already we would be happy to service your clients.

Also, our website is packed with special reports that your prospects can download and use to help them with selling and buying.

Our website is: www.NestorGasset.com

As soon as my seller/buyer blog is up I will post a link to it for you to see here on this blog for Real Estate Agents.

Feel free to post your comments. I look forward to your feedback.
Thanks for being a part of the Real Estate Community where you help people with the most important buying decision most of them will ever make.

Email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for information on giving us a referral or coaching information.

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Coaching For Real Estate Agents- The Secret Law of Attraction

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

The Secret from A Real Estate Agent

I first heard about the movie, ‘The Secret’ from a Real Estate Agent colleague.

When the market was turning down here most Real Estate Agents were complaining about how bad things had become. I was at an event where one of the Real Estate Agents said she was so busy that she was referring her business out! That was unheard of at this time!

I asked her what was the secret to her success and she said she was not sure. She said that the only thing that really stood out in her mind was that she had been watching a movie called, ‘The Secret’ a few months back prior to all of her success and living the movie’s principles. She said it had changed her life.

As soon as I got home I told my husband about what she had said. We went online to google the movie and found the home page and ordered the DVD of the movie straight away.

We bought ‘The Secret’ in November of 2006 and it truly has changed our lives too.

In my coaching for Real Estate Agents, I ask each one of my clients to watch this movie.

If you have done so; please do! It might just change your life too!

Now, what happens after you watch the movie? If you have already watched the movie you know what I am talking about. And if you have already watched the movie read on further in this post.

I just came across a website that contains complete audios and transcripts of special interviews after The Secret was produced with all the teachers that were presented in the movie. I bought the package and it is more than I ever expected. These men and women are so knowledgeable in regards to the law of attraction. I downloaded all the audios and burned them on cds that I play in my car when I am driving around town or traveling.

So are you prepared to slide into The Secret's rabbit hole ?

(Just in case you have not seen ‘What the Bleep Do We Know?’; another great way to understand The Law Of Attraction and The Secret.)

Anyways, the program that I found is:

The Masters of The Secret Audio / Transcript Platinum package.

Not only will this multimedia resource help you dive DEEP into the principles behind "The Secret"... it will also reveal why they might not be working for you the way you had hoped.

"The Secret" seems to be all over the media these days... they're talking about the movie, they're talking about the book, they're interviewing the featured teachers on major talk shows...

And it's pretty cool that the Law of Attraction is making that kind of splash finally, and reaching people who would have never otherwise had the chance to experience these amazing results that some of us have had.

But then, a lot of us are asking...

"What's next?"

"Where do we go from here?"

"Why do I STILL not have what I want?"

Well, it's not your fault. The format of the documentaries, and even more so the talk shows, don't allow any of the mentors and guests enough time to really make it clear what needs to be done.

They're looking for sound bites. They're looking for flash and glitz. But the Universe doesn't pay attention to that.

So if you're ready to go beyond the glamour and discover what you really need to succeed go to this page immediately:

http://www.mastersofthesecret.com/?join=24896

The founders of this site are dedicated to searching, sorting, and selecting the success and manifestation mentors who can give you DEEP insight about the mind, real-world success principles, and the mysteries of manifestation.

Today, they're celebrating their grand-opening day and they're practically bribing you - with amazing no-fluff bonus gifts - to access the recorded conversations they've compiled.

They want you to open your eyes to the truth and have you ready to embrace the next part of your inner-world journey.

I highly endorse this package and practically command you to go to the link below now.

You'll be glad you did.

http://www.mastersofthesecret.com/?join=24896

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate,

Coaching For Real Estate Agents, Blogging

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

I subscribe to an RSS feed that I find very helpful in building your Real Estate Business.

As a Real Estate Agent you really need to have a blog for your clients, your buyers and sellers. Hey! It’s also a great way to share your experiences, rant and rave a bit in good taste of course!

Here is the link to the feed:

www.rsspieces.com

Rebloggirl is full of great ideas. She is doing a Real Estate idea for each day of the year in rsspieces blog right now. Head on over there to view some great ideas you can apply to your Real Estate business straight away.

You can get a FREE blog from:

www.blogger.com

This blogger is run by Google® and is very simple to use. You don’t even need to know HTML to use this blogger.

If you are intimidated to start your Real Estate blog I suggest that you start a personal blog for your friends and family to get used to blogging.

You don’t need to be a famous author or have received A’s in your English class to be able to blog. The beauty of blogging is that it is for real people talking about real things! Just write from your heart; that always works! Write as though you are talking to the reader.

When you write from your heart you can connect with your reader. Remember:

No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

Show you care by writing from your heart and what moves you. This is always felt through your writing.

As a Real Estate agent you have a lot to write about from your heart. You can tell wonderful stories of people you have helped get into the house of their dreams and the obstacles they overcame. These types of stories resonate with the reader. Some will relate to the story and you may even develop a relationship with you over the story and end up being one of your clients.

So take an action step this week to get yourself moving along in your Real Estate business by starting your own blog!

E-mail me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

For Real Estate Agents, Property Tax Relief

Coaching For Real Estate Agents

Legislature 2007 update for today

The most important thing on our minds right now is still:

Property tax relief.

Save Our Homes portability, rollbacks and other tax reform proposals will meet again for a special session for ten days.

"We're going home to continue to work on it," said House Speaker Marco Rubio
(R-Miami). "We would not call dates (for a special session)...unless we were
confident that we would come up with something that would not just pass but
work. But drafting something to go on the ballot (can't be rushed).''

“30 days to talk the talk
A one-month waiting period leading to a special session of the Florida
Legislature gives Realtors an opportunity to meet their lawmakers locally and
push for substantial property tax relief. It also gives lawmakers time to
consider the focus exclusively on the issue” Florida Association of Realtors® 2007(r)

Special session at a glance:
When: June 12-22

Original House plan: Rollback taxes to 2001 levels; replace property taxes
with a 2.5 percent state sales tax increase (constitutional amendment.
Projected savings: $50 billion over five years.

Original Senate plan: Rollback taxes to 2006 levels; allow for Save Our Homes
portability; $25,000 exemption on intangible property; double the homestead
exemption for first-time buyers. Projected saving: $14 billion.

So again, in case you missed my last two posts; get your voice heard.

To send an email to your legislator go to : http://floridarealtors.org.
Click on the legislative center.

The special session will take place June 12 – 22^nd.

So as you can see they are pretty far apart if you ask me. As I said in my last post I like the house plan. I don’t understand why they can not agree but then again, I am not a politician!

The following information is the results from the last session that is from the Florida Association of Realtors ® website:

Progress report: Realtor issues advanced this session

Property insurance: Legislators made is easier for certain property owners to
obtain insurance from Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and raised the ante
for others. Citizens, the state's insurer of last resort, is now Florida's
largest insurer with 1.3 million policyholders. SB 2498 by South Florida Sen.
Rudy Garcia (R)would allow property owners into the Citizens pool if the only
insurance they could obtain on the private market was 15 percent more
expensive than what they would pay Citizens. The current threshold is 25
percent. The measure would also prevent private insurance companies from
setting off their Florida operations in a separate, Florida-only company
(known as PUP companies), and freeze Citizens rates through 2008; effective
Jan. 1, 2009, Citizens would again be allowed to raise rates. Legislation
passed during the special session on insurance last January freezes rates
through the end of 2008.

Another bill, HB 7057 by Rep. Trey Traviesa (R-Tampa), requires homes valued
at over $750,000 and located in high-risk zones to install opening
protections
effective July 1, 2008, if they seek a building permit for work estimated at
$50,000 or more. By Jan. 1, 2009, all homes valued at over $750,000 in high-
risk zones must be fitted with opening protections to remain eligible for
property insurance coverage through Citizens. The goal is to "harden" homes
insured by Citizens (which all policyholders in Florida support financially),
thereby helping reduce some of the risk in the event of a devastating storm.
The plan also calls for free inspections of 400,000 single-family homes and
provides grants and loan to certain homeowners so they can make improvements
that strengthen their home against storms.

Housing trust funds. More of the money generated by a portion of documentary
stamp taxes for the William E. Sadowski Affordable Housing Trust
Funds will be
allocated to state and local programs. The state budget provides $393.4
million for housing programs- down from $433 million set aside last year but
still $150 million more the cap imposed by the 2005 Legislature. Unfortunately, legislators failed to remove the $243 million cap on
the funds,
a move sought by affordable housing advocates, including FAR, citing a lean budget year.

On a related note, lawmakers approved HB 1375 by Rep. Mike Davis
(R-Naples), a
long-time advocate of full funding of housing trust funds and other statewide
affordable housing programs. Among other things, HB 1375 would require local
governments to adopt by July 1, 2008 a workforce/affordable housing plan into
the local comprehensive plan. Failure to do so would prevent the local
government from receiving state housing grants.

More staff positions at the Division of Real Estate.The state budget also
appropriates money for seven new employees at the Division - four full-time
and three part-time. This should go a long way toward improving services to
Realtors and protecting the public.

Also approved this session:

SB 2234 by Sen. Steve Wise (R-Jacksonville), which requires home inspectors,
mold remediators and mold assessors to be licensed by the Department of
Business and Professional Regulation. Effective July 1, 2010, if
signed by the
governor.
-HB 1277 by Rep. Pat Patterson (R-DeLand), which limits the financial penalty
a landlord can collect when a tenant breaks a lease to two months of
rent. The
bill only affects leases of less than a year. Effective immediately if the
governor signs it.
-HB 7163 by Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R-Miami)which allows real estate
licensees to earn 3hours of CE credit for attending a Florida Real Estate
Commission meeting.Effective immediately if the governor signs it.
-SB 1824 by Sen. Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), which places numerous
disclosure and education requirements on mortgage brokers and lenders to help
protect consumers during the mortgage loan application process. More
importantly, the bill includes additional enforcement and investigative tools.

You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

Coaching For Real Estate Agents