| December 2008 | Weekly Motivational
Ideas! Inspirations that I hope will help you make more $$!! |
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Dear
Sam, Come on down! Gas and mortgage
rates now at or near a 5-year low!
Gas was only $1.36 a gallon in SC and $1.45 a gallon in NC last week and
projected to drop even lower! And for us, mortgage rates are almost as low as
the historic low we hit in June 03 that set the record then for interest rates
at that time.
"..guys riding around on those little scooters have gone from being
cost-effective and environmentalists to just looking like dorks
again!" Joke about the gas prices by Jay Leno last week.
Now people can get out of their house again and look at great home values
too. With the tax credit, super low rates and great values, the stars are all
aligned for them!!
So, if you are working with a buyer that needs a new mortgage, let me
know!
________________________________
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Keep reading because I have 2 great ideas for your prospecting and for your
listings this week...
Also, if you are sitting on a mortgage at or above 6.25% and want to
refinance it, let me know. You can save around
$70/month for every 1% drop in this range for every
$100k of loan amount but you need to factor in the closing cost to make sure the
breakeven point makes sense too.
Thanks for your business.
 Senior Mortgage Advisor President's Club Member 2007 Carolina Mortgage
843-230-7929
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Want to sell your listings faster? | |
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 Make it 'Wheelchair
Friendly!'
More and more people are getting motorized wheelchairs like
the "Jazzy Chair" in the picture above like my father-in-law recently
purchased. Since more people are getting these, now's the time to promote your
listings that are 'wheelchair friendly'. You can also offer to help
them get a ramp built for access into the home, if needed from one of your
service providers too.
For the homes that are not designed for a wheelchair to get around, now
might be the time to do some remodeling to those to make it better for this. If
this can be done practically, then your chances of selling the home will be much
greater and this can usually work for one story ranch-style homes.
Click on the link below to see more about
that.
For example, here is a floor plan that I found on the internet that I
modified to show how this can be done for a typical ranch home in our area. In
my revision (bottom view), I added a new wheelchair ramp and removed the tub and
added a new flat floor walk-in handicap shower, moved the commode and sink and
made the door bigger that now swings out into the hallway so it is not in the
way inside the bathroom. Also, the sink was replaced with a wall-mounted, easy
access sink.
Not shown are the hand rails in the bathroom mounted onto studs so that
they can support a large adult.
To accomplish this, one walk-in closet in the master bedroom was eliminated
and the hall closet was moved into the new bathroom. This home had an open
floor plan which made this conversion practical in other areas and since the
master bedroom already had a closet, eliminating this closet is not a problem.
Keep in mind that appraisers cannot call a room a bedroom without an
adjoining closet.
If you want to know how I did the drawing above, give me a
call.
What I like about this plan is that the existing master bedroom with it's
own master bath is perfect for a caregiver to use giving them their own privacy
too. The key in picking the most convenient bathroom for making the changes is
just that. The closer to the living area, the better for the one in the
wheelchair.
Also, to make the remodeled bathroom more accessible to the bedroom with
the larger door, I moved the bathroom door directly across the hall; another
selling point for the buyer.
You can get a contractor to work up a quote for the work and then you can
promote the home as "wheelchair friendly plans available and work can be
done prior to close" or you can get it converted and then promote
"recently remodeled for wheelchair use".
The cost for a conversion like this would cost around $2000 depending on
the shower selection. My brother and I did something similar ourselves for my
parents in around 4 weekends. Our project was only around $600 and was a lot of
fun and a learning experience too.
Since most walls in a one story house are not load-bearing walls, it is
usually not too expensive to move them like I showed above like they do on all
of those remodeling TV shows!
Beyond the changes made above, kitchen changes might be needed too as
mentioned on the linked website.
If you are working with an elderly buyer, you can help them see that a
listing like this is going to come in handy if they ever need a wheelchair or a
walker. This extra attention to detail is going to help them see that you are a
true professional.
If you get a lead with this idea, give me a call and I'll help
you close them!
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Tip of the Week: Self-Storage Prospecting! | |
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 These doors could belong to
your next clients!
Ever wonder why those self-storage businesses are popping up all
over the place? It's because demand is high for people that are in a hurry to
store their household furniture and belongings and there's usually a future real
estate transaction in the future of many of those using these for you.
With any economy but especially this one, people are having
challenges making ends meet and this causes marriages to fail and people to move
in search of a better job. In addition, our population is aging which is also
creating many to seek quick storage solutions.
Here are several things I thought of that may cause someone to
use a self-storage unit:
So, since many people using these storage units might be
entering the real estate market soon, why not start networking with the owner
and managers of these facilities in your area?
Take them to lunch and sell yourself and also express that you
want to start referring clients to them too! This relationship will be a
win/win and help their business grow.
Another thought I had regarding self-storage is to use these
units to de-clutter one of your listings! This added service for your sellers
could help their house show a whole lot better and by having this new
relationship with the self-storage manager or owner, you are sure to get the
seller's a "special rate".
Think about self-storage warehouses and how they can help your
business and start networking with these guys starting today!
Just add these self-storage guys to your 'service provider
network list' along with the plumbers, electricians, landscape guys,
interior decorators, roofers, flooring guys, carpenters, handymen, etc. When
you do, you'll start to see your business take off with tons of new
referrals!
Make sure you tell the
self-storage guy about your mortgage advisor too!
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Weekly Mortgage Commentary Snippet | |
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Rate Lock Advisory - Sunday, Dec 14th.
 This week is moderately busy in terms of the number of economic releases scheduled for release with four on the agenda, but the biggest news will likely be the last Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of the year Tuesday. Only one of the four economic reports is considered to be of high importance, so the data may not be the biggest influence eon the markets and mortgage rates this week. November's Industrial Production data is scheduled to be posted mid-morning tomorrow. It gives us a measurement of manufacturing sector strength by tracking output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities. Analysts are expecting this report to show a 0.5% decline in output. A larger than expected drop would be good news for bonds, while a stronger than expected reading may result in slightly higher mortgage pricing. The week's most important economic data comes Tuesday morning when November's Consumer Price Index (CPI) is posted. |