Real Estate Marketing Success

I believe marketing for Real Estate Investors is the key to financial success. Whether you are marketing by direct mail, phone or email you have to organize and implement your message properly.At one point or another, you’re probably heard that “marketing” is the key to successful business. “If you’re not marketing, you’re not in business.” Or, perhaps more harshly . . . “If you’re marketing your business, you’ll soon be out of business!” But something you may not realize is that “marketing” is not just about advertising and sending out smoke signals to bring in customers. At the heart of it, marketing is simply about effective communication to get what your want. This is an essential skill not only for running a business, but also for being successful in all aspects of life. If you can effectively “sell” your ideas to the masses – or even just to your smug boss – you could stand to make a lot of money. Your ideas will earn more respect. Your confidence will grow, and as a result, your credibility among your co-workers will skyrocket.

Want to strengthen your relationship with your spouse? Communication + Getting What You Want = Marketing.

Need to train the dog not to sleep on the furniture? Yup, that’s “marketing” too.

Solid communication is essentially the key to the door of success – in all aspects of your life. But for now, “back to business,” so to speak. It’s agreed that in order to reach as many potential clients as possible, every business – large or small – needs to establish a well thought out marketing plan. There are as many ways to market as there are businesses. Just to mention the most general categories, there’s Internet/web, radio/TV, print ads (magazines, newspapers, industry journals, etc), and direct mail (postcards, flyers, etc). There are specific techniques and methods that apply to each of these methods, as well as different “tweaks” that would be employed for each type of business or product. Still, there are basic concepts behind marketing that always apply, regardless of the company type or marketing method. Take a good look at these established “do’s and don’ts” list. There are probably at least a few tips below that you can incorporate into your business practice immediately to increase your marketing effectiveness.

Grab Your Potential Client’s Attention

Perhaps more than ever before, people are distracted and have a short attention span. Use a compelling, involving image to your advantage. If you’re creating a marketing piece with text, make sure to “sell” the reader with your first sentence. The first sentence of anything you write – whether that is an email subject line, an opening to a promotional letter or the headline of an online ad – is the most important part of the whole piece. After all, if the customer never starts reading, they’re zero chance of them reading anything that comes afterwards! When there’s a lot of text, it’s not the reader’s job to stay interested and keep reading – it’s your job to grab their attention and keep it. When in doubt, cut text down! Never make it longer than it needs to be. Don’t overload your potential customer or client with extra information and data in a business card, post card, flyer, or radio ad.

Keep It Personal

“Dear Friend, I have to tell you a secret. People yearn for personal, one-on-one contact. I think they want to be treated as unique individuals.” Did the above statement hit you a little differently than the rest of this article? If so, you can see that in anything you write – even an Internet ad – you should make your potential customer feel special. There are many ways to do this. In email or letter correspondence you could use a personal greeting, or their name (if you know it). Or, you can make the customer feel like they’re part of a very special, small group. No one wants to feel like just another face in the crowd!

Make It Clear What You Want Your Customer To Do

While none of us are likely to admit we like to be told what to do, in reality, it works well for advertising and marketing. We like our advertising to tell us exactly what our best option is.It’s your responsibility as a marketer to command your reader. Tell them exactly what you want them to do.

“Order now by clicking here…”
“Get started today by calling…”
“Call your personal consultant right now…”

And, here’s a related idea. Americans love choices – in fact, we’re used to having too many choices in our land of plenty. Perhaps you have stood confused in the aisle of the supermarket, trying to decide which of the hundreds of kinds of cold medicines to buy. A similar “paralysis of analysis” can happen to your customer if you offer too many options in your marketing. Don’t risk confusing your customer by putting too many attractive choices in an ad. You run the risk of inviting your potential client to ponder which one is best, and the result in no choice/sale at all. Whatever it is that you want your reader to do, make sure you tell them - in plain English.

Be Accessible

Have you ever seen an advertisement or come across a website that promoted a service or product you were interested in? But, when you went to find a phone number, physical address, or email contact, it was hard to locate. If you’re the impatient type, you might have even gone to a competitor instead! Don’t be that “hard to contact” business. Always include an e-mail address, a phone number, and any other critical contact information in easy-to-spot locations on all of your printed documents, your website, or any other marketing pieces.

Be Honest

We humans are funny creatures… we won’t do much of anything if we don’t trust someone. You need to build that trust through your advertising, through your communication and through your support. But you don’t always have the ability to build a lot of trust in one specific marketing piece. So, you need to work extra-hard to establish this critical “relationship” between your company and the customer. Your claims should always be believable. You simply can’t trick someone into buying something (well, you don’t want to at least). Most savvy consumers can sniff out a scam. If you’re going to make claims in your marketing, back them up with facts or proof.

Get Emotional

We’d all like to think of ourselves as highly rational and intelligent beings. But . . . the fact remains that its our emotional side that often spurs us into action. Design your marketing to invoke your target customer’s emotions. Firing up feelings of desire, curiosity, hope, fear, surprise, respect, humor, or even anger can make your message (or what you want them to do - #3 from above) that much more powerful and memorable.

Show Them How You Can Improve Their Lives

A related way to really connect with your potential client in marketing is to show them how your service can make their lives better. It all comes down to a “problem – solution” approach to ad creation. Before starting any marketing campaign, you should first consider these simple questions:

• What are my customers’ problems?
• How does my service solve those problems?

Remember, you’re still relying on basic human emotions. We all have real problems, and we carry them with us through our day. So by employing the “problem – solution” marketing method, you appear to present a perfectly rational argument. But, when the customer sees the benefit, it produces an emotional response of “wow, that would be really great!” or “that’s just what I need at the end of a long day . . .”, etc.

Don’t Self-Promote Yourself and Neglect the Customer

It’s fine to give the client compelling reasons to spend money with you. But if your marketing campaign brags about the size of your operation, how your product blows away the competition, focuses on your company growth, and doesn’t once mention how much your product or service benefits the customer, you’re possibly ignoring – and insulting – the very people your ad is targeting.
Consumers typically want the following two things in order to spend money:

• Be shown a solution to a problem they have, (or make them aware of that problem)
• Be offered an attractive solution to that problem.

Provide compelling reasons that your business provides the best way to address that problem, and acknowledge the customer’s belief that they are the most important part of the business transaction. Do this well, and your marketing efforts are sure to be a hit.

Follow Up!

Don’t assume that a customer remembers what you discussed last week, or that they received (and actually read) that pretty sales flier you mailed out a month ago. If your business deals with a limited number of clients with highly personalized service, consider calling them a week later. Or, if you have hundreds or thousands of people in your leads list, mail a follow-up marketing piece or email that reminds them of the special offer you made previously. One of the cornerstones of marketing is repetition. And, you will often be rewarded for going the extra step to remind a customer of what an incredible offer you extended to them previously.
Sometimes, that additional contact is all it takes to convert a consumer who is on the fence with a “hmm, I like this, but I’ll decide later” mindset into a “I shouldn’t put this off any further – I need to do this now” customer. Use the above eight tips to make your “pitch” compelling – then help your customer to take the next step in completing the buying process.

Monitor and Adjust Your Marketing

You’ve invested both time and effort you’re your marketing strategy. Maybe you’re convinced it’s the best campaign possible. But don’t be “sold” on the merits of your own work and ideas. Take a hard look at the results, track how your marketing performs over a period of time (don’t make a decision to change things too quickly) and be open to making adjustments if necessary. It might be worth hiring an outside consultant to review your campaign and results. It’s better to have to spend more money retooling your marketing program into something that brings positive results than to keep pushing out a weak or ineffective message, or the right message by the wrong channels of communication.

Article by Russ Dalbey

How to get a good mortgage and where to get it from? This is the dilemma that many buyers and borrowers think about when they start researching for a home loan. Most home buyers finance real estate when they purchase or refinance, which means almost all home buyers will need to get a real estate loan. So what are your lending choices? Where can you get a real estate loan? Which type of real estate lender is best?

Unfortunately, there is no pat answer because the best choice for you depends on your personal situation, the type of property you want to buy and how the lender’s rates compare within the lending community. You can get a loan from a variety of sources such as:

Mortgage Brokers

More than half of all the real estate loans made in the United States originate from mortgage brokers. A mortgage broker is a middle-person who brings together lenders and borrowers. Mortgage brokers each work with different lenders, sometimes 200 or more. It’s important to ask about the variety of products offered as this will vary from broker to broker.

Your choices are dependent on the broker’s number of working relationships.

• Fees are paid by the buyer or lender or both.
  
• Loans at “par” mean the buyer is not paying a fee.
  
• Yield-spread premiums (YSPs) are typically disclosed at closing and paid by the lender.
  
• Mortgage brokers can also operate as “up-front” mortgage brokers, meaning they will negotiate a fee directly with the buyer in exchange for shopping for the lowest (wholesale) interest rate & fees.
  

Mortgage Bankers

Mortgage bankers, as you may have guessed, work for a bank. They may represent more than one bank but the loans they make are bank loans, funded by the bank.

• Fees are generally not negotiable and are set by bank policy.
  
• Loan products are limited to those the bank offers.
  
• The banker may not be licensed.
  

Commercial Banks

Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo are good examples of well known commercial banks. Commercial banks offer a wide variety of services. In fact, you probably have a bank like this in your neighborhood.

• Primary source of business is not making mortgage loans.
  
• Bank rates are competitive.
  
• Your bank may offer a discount or incentive on your loan if you maintain a checking or savings account at that institution.
  

Savings & Loan Associations

Savings and loans accept deposits from customers into savings / money market accounts and pay interest on those accounts. To prevent a relapse like the S&L crisis in the 1980s, President Bush in 1989 signed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). Many savings and loans are now regulated by the Department of U. S. Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision.

• Primary source of business is making real estate loans.
  
• Savings and loans do not make business or commercial loans but lend for construction, purchase or home improvement purposes.
  
• The process for obtaining a mortgage is a bit easier than going to a commercial bank.
  

These institutions are regularly under attack by lending competitors because credit unions do not pay federal taxes and enjoy certain taxable advantages that other lending institutions do not. They are formed by a group of individuals with a common interest such as state government and community education employees or religious groups.

• Customers must meet qualifications to be eligible for membership.
  
• Interest rates and terms are typically very attractive and competitive.
  
• Many credit unions do not sell their mortgage loans on the secondary market.
  

Private Individual

Anybody with money in the bank can make a real estate loan to you as long as they comply with federal and state regulations regarding such items as interest rates, fees and charges, and provide legally required disclosures.

• The seller can carry back common financing instruments such as a mortgage, trust deed or land contract.
  
• No
  appraisal or title policy may be required, but you should still obtain an appraisal and title protection.
  
• Owner financing works best on properties that are free and clear because an existing loan will most likely contain an alienation clause.
  

Stock Brokerages & Online Lenders

You might be astonished to learn that the company handling your IRAs or mutual funds or online savings also makes mortgage loans. A few easily recognizable names are INGDirect, Charles Schwab, and Ditech.

• If you need to shake hands with your loan officer in person, an online lender might not be for you.
  
• Internet lenders seem to work best for sophisticated borrowers with great FICO scores who know exactly what they want.
  
• Contact only reputable and known companies with secure sites, and stay away from fly-by-night operators.
  

This article was written by Elizabeth Weingtraub.

Why Home Buyers Like Land Contracts

Land contracts, Installment Sale Contracts or Contract for Deed are all the same. What is a Land Contract? Well, they were very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Back then, installment sale contracts, sometimes called contracts for deed, offered more attractive financing terms over the higher rates and rigid qualification standards of institutional lenders.

Land contracts began to disappear when loan requirements softened and rates dropped below 8%. But they have not vanished all together and, in fact, tiptoed back into the market in 2006.

What is an Installment Sale Land Contract?

• Land contracts or contracts for deed are a security agreement between a seller, called a Vendor, and a buyer, called a Vendee.
  
• The Vendor agrees to sell a property by financing the purchase for the Vendee.
  
• The Vendor retains legal title and the Vendee receives equitable title.
  
• The owner-carried financing can include an existing mortgage balance or the property can be free and clear.
  
• Upon payment in full, the Vendor hands the Vendee a deed to the property.

All-Inclusive (Wrap-Around) Land Contracts

• Wrap-around contracts contain an existing mortgage.
  
• The Vendee makes one payment to the Vendor.
  
• Upon receipt of the payment, the Vendor pays the underlying lender’s payment and keeps the rest.
  
• If the existing mortgage has a lower interest rate than the rate on the contract, the Vendor earns extra interest on money that does not belong to the Vendor.
  

This is how it works.

1. Say the sales price is $100,000.
   
2. The Vendee puts down $10,000.
   
3. The Vendee agrees to make payments on $90,000, bearing interest at 6.5%, payable $567.
   
4. The existing underlying loan is $50,000, payable at 5% interest with a payment of $268.
   
5. The Vendor earns 6.5% interest on $40,000 of equity, PLUS 1.5% interest on the existing mortgage of $50,000 and pockets $299 a month.
   

Straight Contracts

There is no override of interest in a straight contract. The Vendee can agree to pay the existing lender directly and make another payment to the Vendor, or the Vendee can send one payment to the Vendor, and the Vendor will disburse payment to the underlying lender. Let’s look at the previous example on a straight contract:

1. Sales price of $100,000.
   
2. Vendee puts down $10,000.
   
3. Vendee makes one payment of $268 on the existing loan balance of $50,000, bearing interest at 5%.
   
4. Vendee makes a second payment to Vendor on $40,000 owner-carried financing, bearing interest at 6.5% and payable at $253 per month.
   
5. Total of both payments is $521, which saves the Vendee $46 per month over the wrap-around.
   

Power of Sale

• Some title companies draft and insure land contracts that contain a Vendor, a Vendee and a Trustee.
  
• Like a trustor in a trust deed, the Vendor and Vendee assign right, title and interest to the trustee for the purpose of securing the Vendor’s and Vendee’s obligations.
  
• In the event the Vendee stops making payments, the Trustee has the power to foreclose under the power of sale.
  
• The process of filing a notice of default varies from state to state.

To save attorney fees and draw up a legal Land Contract Click on Do-it-yourself Land Contract

Acceleration Clauses in Underlying Loans

All loans today contain acceleration and alienation clauses. Lenders have had a long history of calling loans immediately due and payable if buyers took title “subject to” to the existing loans. That’s because lenders wanted the buyers to qualify, pay loan points and higher interest rates.

Sue Heimbichner, an escrow officer at Chicago Title in Sacramento, has been in the business since 1976 and has watched the popularity of land contracts come and go. One of the biggest lawsuits from that period evolved from buyers taking title subject to existing mortgages held by federal savings and loan associations. Congress passed the Depository Institutions Act of 1982, effectively wiping out the ability to take over existing loans.

Heimbichner says lenders today tend to look the other way. “Some lenders are glad to have their payments made,” she said. But don’t try to take over government-backed loans. “You don’t want to mess with the government,” Heimbichner warns, “because you’re going to get slapped.” If your land contract contains an existing mortgage, you should seek the advice of a real estate lawyer.

Vendee’s Bundle of Rights

For all practical purposes, the Vendee owns the property and has the right of:

• Possession.
  
• Quiet enjoyment and use of the property.
  
• Exclusion, forcing others to leave the premises.
  
• Resale.
  

Benefits to the Vendee

• No qualifying, although the Vendor could ask for a copy of the buyer’s credit report.
  
• Down payment flexibility. The amount is negotiable.
  
• Length of land contract term, interest rate and payments are negotiable.
  
• Low closing costs. There are no lender fees to pay.
  
• Fast closing. Transactions can close in 7 days or less.
  

Benefits to the Vendor

• Typically higher sales price and no appraisal. Although buyers are advised to obtain an appraisal.
  
• If taxable, possibly can qualify for deferred gain.
  
• Monthly income.
  
• Often a better rate of return than money market accounts.
  
• If property is non-conforming, it’s an easy way to sell.
  
• Fast closing.
  

Buyer Tips

• Get an appraisal.
  
• Obtain title insurance.
  
• Engage the services of a holding company to retain possession of an executed deed and the original documents.
  
• Talk to a real estate lawyer.
  

Seller Tips

• Pull the buyer’s credit report.
  
• Include both Vendor and Vendee names on the existing insurance policy.
  
• Hire a disbursement company to handle contract collection.
  
• Talk to a real estate lawyer.