I also attend their Business Plan seminars in Vegas once a year. BusinessPlan2008.com

Yes, these things cost money, but if these two things I mentioned help you close 2 more deals a year, then they paid for them self.

Feel free to contact me for further information if you would like it.
References :

I would like to inform you what, possibly, NOT to do. THEN what you should do. THEN you should be able to make your decisions and proceed from there.

DON’T fax every agent in every office the same fax about rates and services. Its not necessary. Many offices have a bulletin board or the agents can go on-line to the brokerage web site OR YOUR web site OR YOUR lender‘s site.

DON’T text message agents for the same reasons.

DON’T use direct mail to promote your rates and services.

Some time ago, I read a statistic which may or may not be true today:
FOR EVERY piece of direct mail a company or an individual sends, ONLY 1 in 100 will respond to that direct-mail promotion.

At today’s postal rates – 1st class – that’s $41 you could use for other purposes. THAT’S the cost JUST for the response! This DOES NOT include the cost of buying the stationery and envelopes, toner etc.

JUST to get the appointment is 1 in about 250-500. Your costs are accelerating, aren’t they? AND you STILL DON’T have a sale!

It takes ABOUT 1 piece of direct mail to generate 1 appointment. It takes about 1,500 to 2,000 direct mail pieces to get JUST one appointment ALL the way to the closing/settlement/escrow.
That’s about $600 to $800+ before you see one dollar – not to mentin your time – "spinning your wheels", wasting your time.

((((You haven’t made the sale – yet.)))))

DON’T lease or spend [notice I didn't say "invest"] your hard-earned money for a piece of equipment with automatic phone dialing and recording/speaking features, telling agents about your rates and services.
Do you like getting those telemarketing calls?
Do you like or mind getting any telemarketing calls?

If I haven’t discouraged you, we’ll move on to the "grey area": "cold canvassing".
Its a terrific way to meet people face-to-face, one-on-one! It requires going to the same offices about once every two weeks – or even more frequently.

To save yourself some time, you MAY have to make a presentation in front of a group of agents – JUST for them to see you’re a real, live, breathing, cooperative, "knowledgeable" individual. You know your product. You know how to solve various situations ["problems"] which arise on a regular basis.

When you DON’T know how to solve those problems, you KNOW what hoops and hurdles you have jump over, under, around and through to speak with the right person to get the answers and solutions to get your deals to the settlemnt table/to closing/to escrow.

The above are the DON’Ts, here are a couple DOs:

AND what about the cost of your business cards? Do you think you can "cut corners" and make a good impression with those thin, flat, lifeless, computer-generated cards?

PLEASE DO yourself a HUGE favor: Invest your time to sit down and properly design your business cards. If you aren’t sure, please go to a professional printer or graphic arts store and ask for help and guidance. Those folks should amaze you with ideas and concepts. In the long run, good, professionally printed business cards with raised lettering and features, go a long way to show others you care – about yourself, about your business and about your clients.

When you leave, all your contacts and clients have left are two things:
1] Good, bad or indifferent – the impression you left.
2] Your business card.

Don’t you think it makes good sense to invest your money in a good, quality business card? Have your cards professionally printed.

Invest you time and money joining the local Board of Realtors® as an Associate Member. &&&&&&&&&&&&& BE ACTIVE!!!! Get on committees, get to be known as a "can do" type of person. You should have fun [and Yes, some aggravation, too]. You should make some friends and begin building your client base. You should get leads! AND look how much time, money and aggravation you’ll save! LOTS!

Find an investment group – or two – or more with professional real estate investors. JOIN it/them AND BE ACTIVE FOR THE SAME REASONS!

As the saying goes, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door."

What the saying doesn’t tell anyone or even mention is: YOU MUST get out there and let "the world" know about that better mousetrap!

Thank you for asking your question. I enjoyed taking the time to answer your question. You did a great job – not only for your information, but for every other person interested in reading my answer.

I wish you well!

VTY,
Ron B.
References :
In the real estate business over 33 years. Of all the mortgage agents who called on us, there was only a couple who impressed us enough to do business with. Can you guess what type of rep they were?

“The University of Hard Knocks”

We all know though that the "music has stopped" in the musical chairs game and not everyone got a seat. I would be wary and watch the pricing in the days ahead, it is not unusual to get 2 to 4 "price blasts" in a single day in a turbulent market, and that’s where we are. Should you see the market make a sharp move upward suddenly, say 200-300 rise in one day, it’s time to lock. I don’t think it’ll happen though, as the market is off to it’s worst start since 1991, and that was a recession year.

You’ll do fine, heck you were aware of pricing last week and that’s a good thing.
References :

This is the WORST possible time to start a career in the industry.
References :

Preventing, Detecting and reporting mortgage loan fraud
https://www.efanniemae.com/lc/publications/pdf/focuson/dec05issue.pdf

Free Foreclosure assistance – Homeownership Preservation Foundation
http://www.995hope.org/

Fannie Mae Loss Mitigation policies on Foreclosures
https://www.efanniemae.com/is/hcounselors/lossmitigation.jsp

Site #2
http://www.fanniemae.com/housingcommdev/resourceshomeed/lossmitigation.jhtml?p=Affordable%20Housing%20&%20Community%20Development

FHA Definition of terms used in Loss Mitigation on Foreclosures
http://www.fha.gov/sf/svc/faqmain.cfm

Government article and information on Foreclosures
http://www.occ.treas.gov/cdd/spring06b/cd/gsesusetech.htm
HUD: Servicing and Loss Mitigation on Foreclosures
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/faqnsctc.cfm

Site #2
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/nschome.cfm

HUD: Approved House Counseling Agencies includes foreclosure issues, by state
http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm

HUD: Article on Foreclosure Issues
http://www.huduser.org/Periodicals/ushmc/fall95/fall95.html

Best of luck on your new career
References :
http://www.realestateformnm.com/ResearchLink.aspx

That’s because there is a huge problem with "adverse selection", like flood insurance – if the government didn’t force ALL employers to buy it for their employees, then people who DID buy it, would have incentive to put in claims.

Your best bet, is to not overextend, when buying a house – don’t buy one, until/unless you can put down 20%, and make sure that the mortgage payment is less than 40% of either one of your incomes.
References :

I have put in 3 equations in my calculator and usually one of them agrees with the figures quoted by lenders.

The chaos is due to the fact that in the days before the introduction of electronic calculators, it was only practical to use approximate formulas which were easier to calculate. Some banks still use them while others have changed to the mathematically correct formulas.

The incorrect formulas survive because the Americans (who as you know are the most backward people on Earth, except in war machines) use them. Also Excel. As you know the Americans still use bushels and gallons and barrels etc.

(I suppose I had better get ready now for a flood of insults from the country of free speech, if it is not an oxymoron)
References :