How Agents Can Help Clients With Children

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, AUGUST 15, 2016

The home search for many households with school-aged children is still going strong into the fall, as many buyers are faced with low inventory and rising prices. In fact, a new survey from NAR revealed that finding the right property was the hardest task for 53 percent of buyers with children.

“In a fast moving market with fewer homes for sale and rising prices, more buyers find themselves in need of a real estate professional to help them find the right home and guide them through each step of the process,” says NAR President Tom Salomone. “Despite recent industry reports to the contrary, busy families require hands on attention and unparalleled transaction and local market knowledge and regularly turn to full-service agents, who provide a broad range of services and manage most aspects of a home purchase and sale.”With increased competition and the clock ticking for families to find the right property, it's important for agents to know how to assist this demographic of buyers.

A major factor influencing this type of buyer, not surprisingly, is the the location and quality of nearby schools. Fifty percent listed school quality as the most important neighborhood factor when buying, and 46 percent said that convenience to good schools was the most important thing when choosing a neighborhood. 

So what do buyers with children want from an agent? First and foremost they want easy access to mobile-friendly real estate information. They also shared these communication preferences:

• Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they want agents to update them with property information via text.
• 56 percent want to communicate with their real estate agent via email.
• Thirty percent of buyers say its important that agents have a mobile-friendly site where they can look at properties.
• Since many buyers are aware of the lack of inventory, they also expect agents to be proactive with property information. 77 percent of respondents said these activity updates were very important to them and wanted to be kept in the loop as much as possible.

For agents working with sellers with children, the top thing to keep in mind is the sense of urgency. A whopping 69 percent said they needed to sell their home somewhat or very urgently. These clients say they needed to sell within a specific timeframe (22 percent) and need help pricing their home competitively (19 percent). When finding their agent, 46 percent of sellers with children preferred to get a recommendation from someone they knew.

Source: NAR

The Worst Real Estate Advice Your Clients Hear

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | FRIDAY, JULY 22, 2016 - Click Here to read more

As a real estate professional, you sometimes have to compete with well-intentioned friends and family members offering your clients some not-so-great advice from the sidelines. Most of that advice tends to be aimed at the pricing of the home, which may hinder your client discussions.

“Price the house based on what you paid, plus a little extra for profit.”Realtor.com® recently highlighted some of the worst of that advice that real estate professionals say their clients recite to them, including:

• “Price the house based on what you feel is right.”
• “Add the cost of renovations you’ve made to your price.”

Sound familiar? It's important that you set your clients straight and let them know that pricing a property shouldn’t be based on what their gut says or what they think it should be. A home’s list price should come from comps and square footage. You may need to step back and carefully explain to your clients the importance of comps and why real estate professionals use them -- before just jumping right in to comp review mode and the price.

Also, beware that home owners may sometimes hear advice to price their home higher, despite what the comps say. For example, they may hear:

• “Price your home high because buyers will come in low.”
• “‘Not in a hurry to sell? Price the home high’'

Explain to them the dangers of pricing too high. “If a home is substantially overpriced, it’ll end up sitting on the market for a long time,” says Bill Golden with RE/MAX Metro Atlanta Cityside. If the house lingers on the market, buyers often start making low-ball offers. “In the end, these homes almost always sell for less than if they had priced it right to begin with.”

Indeed, Tracey Hampson, a real estate professional in California, says “if a home is priced correctly, you will get full-price offers and even over-asking-price offers.”

Source: “The Very Worst Home-Pricing Advice You’ll Ever Hear (and Why),” realtor.com® (July 21, 2016)

8 Real Estate Investing Tips You Should Know Before You Buy

Eight tips entrepreneurs need to know before investing in real estate. Great tips for even the most experienced investors.

#1 Create a Strategy and Plan Your Goals
One of the most important things to do when you start thinking about real estate investing is creating an overall strategy.

Begin by understanding your financial goals. Know what you expect your investments to deliver in terms of finances, while remaining mindful of the long-term and short-term advantages of real estate investing.

While creating your investing strategy, think about the purchase price range, as well as the cash investment needed for each property. Also try to formulate a general holding period and exit strategy, while also deciding whether to work with industry experts to manage your properties and real estate investment portfolio.

#2 Educate Yourself with a View Toward Action
Educate yourself toward profitably investing in real estate, or else your education will turn into a hobby.

Attending seminars, buying books, and watching videos can help. However, these educational tools should be used with precise goals in mind. Don’t be caught in the trap of endlessly buying books and courses without putting your knowledge into action resulting in profiting from real estate.

#3 Look at Numerous Properties
When you start investing in real estate, you don’t have experience finding, buying, rehabbing, and flipping or leasing properties to tenants. So, take time to understand your local real estate market from an investing perspective.

Look at numerous properties before they sell, and observe them through the process of rehabbing, flipping, and leasing to tenants. In time, you will develop an eye for properties that meet your investing criteria, and you’ll be ready to purchase your first property.

#4 Don’t Postpone Investing by Looking for the Perfect Deal
Real estate investors are tempted to look for the perfect deal, especially when first starting to buy investment properties. But this idea of a perfect deal can paralyze investors to the point where they never buy a property.

Rather than trying to find the perfect deal, try to find deals that fit your investment strategy, while being mindful that no deal is perfect.

#5 Make Decisions Based on the Numbers
Your real estate investing strategy should include the financial parameters by which you determine if a property is worth purchasing.

Your strategy may include details about:

• Purchase price range.
• Investment cash needed for repairs and upgrades before leasing to tenants.
• Financing strategy for the short and long terms.
• Bargain purchase (the percent under fair market value a property must be purchased).
• Immediate value increase (the percent in increased value you expect after making initial repairs and upgrades).
• Geographic area.
• Net income.
• Cash flow.
• Net cap rate (annual net income/total value).
• Capitalization Rate: (Income/Rate=Value)

When you find a potential investment property that fits within the guidelines of your real estate investment strategy, you can pull the trigger based on the numbers rather than emotions and personal preferences.

#6 Don’t Buy from Unmotivated Sellers
Motivated sellers are usually willing to work with buyers, so focusing on finding motivated sellers can result in making great deals as a real estate investor. As a general rule, then, you don’t want to buy properties from unmotivated sellers.

Finding motivated sellers is not as hard as it may seem, though it takes some work. Great ways to find properties for sale by motivated sellers include:

• Real estate investors who are liquidating their portfolio, especially if they are having financial difficulties.
• Homeowners entering foreclosure.
• Properties that have been on the market a few months.
• Properties for sale that need repair.
• Buy from real estate wholesalers who specialize in purchasing properties from motivated sellers, then resell the property to investors at a discount from retail price.

#7 Don’t Neglect Your Other Businesses
Many real estate investors have other businesses. For them, real estate is an investment like stocks and bonds. They don’t work full-time in real estate, and focus most of their attention on existing profitable businesses.

Real estate investors who rely on other businesses for their livelihood must be careful not to become obsessed with real estate. These investors typically use industry experts to find, buy, and manage their real estate holdings. They can, therefore, focus on their existing businesses while starting and growing a real estate investing business.

#8 Get a Good Realtor
A good Realtor, like one from ERA or Coldwell Banker, is very well educated and trained about all aspects of real estate. Not only can they help you find great deals, Realtors can advise you, guide you, protect you and negotiate for you on your behalf. You wouldn't go to court without a lawyer. Why would you buy real estate without professional representation?

Realtors can also do Comparative Market Analysis and advise you on whether the price of investment properties are reasonable or not. And, a little known fact, the majority of the time you can get professional Realtor representation for free when you are buying properties.

Every offer and counter-offer on any property has to be negotiated. Realtors are very experienced with this process and are worth their weight in gold when it comes to negotiating contracts and sealing the deal. Once an offer is accepted, your agent will assist you all the way through closing. From inspections to title and everything in between, Realtors are adept at walking all the paperwork through to facilitate a smooth transaction.

Some real estate companies also offer property management. Ask your Realtor if this option is available. Why stress over marketing to find renters, contracts and periodic repairs when someone can do it for you?

Conclusion
Investing in real estate can be one of the best ways to grow your wealth, while creating a steady income that can be passed to the next generation. Just be smart about it. Do your homework, educate yourself and get professional representation before you buy.

Brought to you by the Tracy Tidwell Team at ERA TEAM Real Estate in Conway, AR
http://www.tracytidwell.com
Tracy: 501-472-4709   ERA: 501-327-6731

Source: Homes for Income

ERA MDA Summer Camp Challenge

ERA REAL ESTATE REACHES MILESTONE IN COMMITMENT TO SENDING 1,000 KIDS TO
MDA SUMMER CAMP

MADISON, N.J. (April 5, 2016) – ERA Real Estate, a leading global real estate franchisor, recently
announced its latest milestone in the ERA MDA Summer Camp Challenge. Last year at the brand’s
annual International Business Conference, president and CEO Charlie Young challenged the
organization to rally together to send 1,000 children with muscular diseases to a Muscular Dystrophy
Association summer camp over the next three years. Now, just one year in, ERA’s community has
reached 67 percent of its goal.

“When introducing the challenge to our enthusiastic network of real estate professionals last year, I

encouraged them to pledge based on number of children they would like to send to camp, as

opposed to a dollar amount,” reflected Young. “The response has been exceptional. Not only have

we reached 67 percent of our pledge goal – or 673 kids.”

Dedication to community is at the core of ERA Real Estate’s mission, and ERA brokers and agents

have formed close relationships with MDA Goodwill Ambassadors and their families within their own communities. Thus, it was natural for brokerages from coast to coast to take a grassroots approach to fundraising – hosting events such as carnivals, golf tournaments, art shows and countless more.

At this week’s ERA conference, team members participated in a “Riber Run and Dance Party”

fundraiser for MDA, in honor of the late Jeff Riber Sr., raising more than $25,000. Riber was a longstanding and well-respected member of the ERA management team, and an avid runner and dance lover, who passed away last year.

“Our fundraising momentum is so great that, at our 2016 International Business Conference last

week, I challenged our team members to meet 100 percent of the pledge goal in two years rather

than three,” Young explained. “We are not just sending kids to camp. We are giving them the

opportunity to enjoy new experiences, make new friends, discover their strengths and passions, and

build the confidence to achieve their goals.”

MDA Summer Camps offer the amenities and activities of a traditional summer camp, but are

designed to meet the unique physical needs of children living with muscle diseases. For many

children living with these afflictions, camp is considered by them to be the best week of the year.

Over the past 35 years, ERA Real Estate has raised nearly $35 million for MDA. In 2014, ERA

introduced a new branding campaign designed to energize the network, and simultaneously, a

renewed dedication to the cause. Recently, ERA has been recognized for its ERA MDA Summer

Camp Challenge by the PR News CSR Awards and the Ragan Communications CSR Employee

Communications awards.

We've recently started a team for the MDA Muscle Walk in Little Rock and we're asking you to join us!

Our team is partnering with MDA to lead the fight to free individuals and the families who love them from the harmful effects of muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases that take away physical strength, independence and life.

By joining our team, you’ll be supporting the 100,000 children and adults who will be served by MDA this year alone. Our MDA Muscle Walk is scheduled for: May 7, 2016.

Click Here to join our team or donate to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

New Technology Allows True Virtual Tours With Virtual Reality

Changing the way clients view real estate with virtual reality

At ERA TEAM Real Estate, we've been ahead of the game for some time now. Virtual reality tours are standard for qualifying properties. They work with VR headsets as well as traditional monitors. The interactive virtual tours coupled with aerial photography and dynamic interior views on our property videos provides a varied selection of ways clients can view properties where ever they are at.

Check out this 3D interactive virtual tour of one of our properties and tell us how you like it.

100 Highland Park, Conway, AR 72034

Be A VIP | Save On Sports and Events Tickets

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Understanding the Rules of Capital Gains Taxes On Real Estate Sales

Regardless of whether you completed various higher-return renovations following moving into your new piece of real estate or you have been lucky enough to move into an area proper prior to the upswing in residence values, walking away with a profit on your household sale is an exciting proposition. But there’s one thing that can suck the excitement right out of such a good financial move: the threat of taxes on your investment gain — otherwise known as the dreaded capital gains tax.

Fortunately, the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 helps quite a few property owners hold on to the gains earned on their residence sale. Pre-1997, home owners could only use a once-in-a-lifetime tax exemption of up to $125,000 on a dwelling sale, or they would have to have to roll their earnings into the purchase of yet another house. These days the guidelines aren’t as stringent. As with all tax-connected factors, there are plenty of exceptions and loopholes to be aware of. So let’s break down a few misconceptions about capital gains and household sales.

Tax therapy: Home flippers vs. property owners

One prevalent misconception when it comes to capital gains tax on real estate is that all residence sales are treated equally. However for property flippers, that’s simply not the case. To acquire the best tax treatment on your gains, you will have to have applied the dwelling as your principal residence for two out of the 5 years preceding the sale. If the household was not used as a primary residence for the allotted time, profit on the sale is taxed as capital gains. Even so, for those who flip houses on an ongoing basis, homes are considered inventory as an alternative of capital assets, and the profit earned is taxed as income. Long-term capital gains tax is 15% for most persons, 20% for those in the prime tax brackets. Even so, if the gains are taxed as  income, rates could vary from 10% to 39.6% based on the rest of your income. In addition, house flippers aren’t allowed to simply steer clear of the tax by rolling earnings over into their next property purchase.

Exemption limits: Filing married vs. single

Even though the Taxpayer Relief Act did away with the once-in-a-lifetime tax exemption of $125,000, exemption limits haven’t absolutely fallen by the wayside. Now you can pocket up to $500,000 of every household sale profit tax-no cost if you’re married, or up to $250,000 if you’re single. But for some newly married couples, claiming this exemption can be a bit tricky. If a single individual owned the home for the previous two years, but their companion wasn’t added to the title till, say, the final two months, that’s OK. However, each parties need to have lived in the residence for two years prior to the sale — even if only one person was on the title before were married. In addition, if one particular person sold a previous residence within the last two years and cashed in on an exemption, the couple will have to wait until they are both out of that two-year window ahead of pocketing any gains from their shared property.

Type of home: Primary residence vs. vacation home or rental property

If you aren’t flipping homes, but you do have a second home or a rental property you’d like to sell after living there for the required two years, it won’t be treated as a primary residence for tax purposes. Second homes and rental homes no longer receive the same tax shelter they did before a 2008 shift in the tax code — even if the home becomes your primary residence for a time. Instead, when tax time comes around, you will owe a prorated amount based on the number of years the property was rented out or used as a second home after 2008. If, for instance, you used your vacation home as your primary residence for five years starting in 2010, but you used it as a vacation home for 15 years before that, only 10% of the gains would be taxed: The two years post-2008 when it was used as a vacation home equals 10% of the total 20 years of homeownership. The rest of the profit wouldn’t be taxed as long as it fell within the exemption limits.

Profit: Large sale price vs. small sale price

Another common misconception is that the more a home sells for, the larger the tax bill will be. However, for tax purposes, what you owe doesn’t depend on the sale price — it’s based on how much profit you make from the sale. In fact, you could sell your home for $5 million and not owe a penny in taxes — as long as you didn’t make more than the allowed exemption amount on the sale.

Another important thing to note: Capital gains tax on real estate isn’t necessarily an all-or-nothing proposition. If you’re nearing the cap on exemptions, you could still qualify for a partial exemption — just be sure to consult a tax professional before you make any big moves.

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