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As CDPE You Help Families In Distress

February 7th, 2009 by Ruth Ann Macklin

The Certified Distressed Property Institute (CDPE) has just reported the most recent distressed property statistics from the Mortgage Bankers Association and I’ll tell you folks, “they ain’t pretty!” 

The statistics below are based on 45,000,000 mortgages for the 3rd quarter of 2008: 

All Mortgages:
            2.97% are in foreclosure
            6.99% are in default
            9.96% total in default 

Prime Mortgages:
            1.58% in foreclosure
            4.34% in default
          5.92 total in default 

Sub-Prime Mortgages:
          12.55% in foreclosure
             20.02% in default
            32.57% total in default 

FHA Mortgages:
           2.32% in foreclosure
             12.92% in default
            32.57% in default  

VA Mortgages:
          1.46% in foreclosure
            7.28% n default
         8.74 total in default 

As you can see, 10% of all mortgages were in default. Not just subprime mortgages but all mortgages! A number that has doubled since January 2007. These numbers are not only overwhelming, but also heart breaking knowing they represent 4.5 million families in crisis. 

The real estate industry has the ability to help these families avoid foreclosure and regain stability in their lives. Most families in distress don’t know they have options and think foreclosure in inevitable once they get behind on mortgage payments. CDPE training provides you with the tools you need to assist families in distress. As real estate virtual assistant who is CDPE certified, I can assist you with implementing the tools CDPE provides, growing your distressed property business, marketing distressed property listings and progressing to a successful closing. 

Give me a call. I’d like to work with you helping families in need.

Real Estate Virtual Assistants Cross Finish Line

May 22nd, 2008 by Ruth Ann Macklin

A real estate Virtual Assistant takes the projects you don’t have time for over the finish line.

finish lineHave you ever attended a real estate seminar, bought the product that was being promoted, only to return to your office, put it on a shelf and never open it? Or maybe you have started to create a new marketing program, only to get bogged down in the middle of it and never complete it? You are not alone! Many of your fellow agents have done exactly the same thing and are now making promises to themselves never to let the same thing happen again. 

Cynthia Morris in her e-book, Cross the Finish Line! Five Steps to Leaping Over the Hurdles to Completion, provides us five steps to help us finish what we start. I have a sixth option…hire a real estate virtual assistant, but more about that in a minute. Take a look at the advice Cynthia Morris has for us: 

1. Identify Your Motivation

Start becoming a great finisher by doing some soul-searching. In a notebook or computer file, write out an answer to this question:

What is important about becoming someone who finishes?

Understanding your unique motivation for staying through the entire process is an essential piece of the puzzle. Get clear on what’s important about finishing.

You may come back and add more as your motivation becomes more apparent to you. You may craft that motivation into one sentence that you keep nearby when you’re creating. A single affirmation or reminder of your commitment can do a lot toward achieving the finishing line. Develop your own version of the Little Red Engine’s mantra: “I think I can, I think I can!”

Read the rest of this entry »

What Is A Real Estate Virtual Assistant?

April 21st, 2008 by Ruth Ann Macklin

What is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant?

The first question most people ask is, “What is a real estate Virtual Assistant and what can you do for me?”

First, a real estate VA, or Real Estate Virtual Assistant, is an independent contractor providing administrative, creative and technical support for real estate professionals. I work off site…at my own computer in my sweatpants. Believe me, this is one VA who will never use a webcam!! Thus, saving you overhead costs. You don’t provide space or equipment for me.

And because I am an independent contractor, you don’t pay benefits, vacation time or employee taxes. I’m the best of both worlds! I offer the benefits of outsourcing along with the dedication of a valued Team member. You can find a more detailed explanation on my website, myREassistant.com.

What can I do for you as your real estate Virtual Assistant? My specialties are systems development, marketing, listing coordination, Internet marketing, lead coordination, and blogging. The only thing I can’t do for you is make copies and put up signs & lock boxes.

If you are wondering if you need a real estate VA, ask yourself how much time you spend sitting in front of a computer or fooling with paperwork instead of being in front of Buyers and Sellers. If your answer is “too much”, then you need my help.

Learn more about me and my services by clicking here. Then e-mail me or give me a call and we’ll figure out how I can help YOU!

The Ten Systems of Success in Your Real Estate Career

April 18th, 2006 by Ruth Ann Macklin

For agents at every level, from those still waiting to complete their first transaction, to those closing hundreds of transactions each year, success in your career is comprised of ten systems. Overcoming every challenge and all growth in your business only occurs through your skills and application with these ten systems. They are:

1. Planning – You need a simple way to set goals and manage their completion. We call our method “Goals and Measurable Results.” Our client’s annual goals are broken into initial appointments weekly and production in three categories recorded monthly.

2. Lead Management – Successfully managing the generation, capture, conversion, and retention of your leads is an ongoing challenge. Whether you use contact management software or three by five cards and a paper calendar we coach a lead follow-up system and habit that relieves the pressure of all those loose leads in your life.

3. Marketing – Most agents miss the boat on Marketing, even those spending thousands of dollars on it. What are your markets? What message do you wish to convey to those markets? And, what is your best method and media to convey that message to those markets? How do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing and do you get a minimum 400% return on your investment?

4. Service – There is more business for you in great Service than there is in great prospecting. Our clients prove that, year after year. What are the service systems that make you the most money? Do you maintain consistent, scheduled communication with every listed seller and pending client? Do you use a checklist or whiteboard for your pending actions and actively manage it daily? Most importantly, do you keep your word?

5. Presentations – A Real Estate career in which you have complete confidence requires mastering your Seller Presentation, Price Reduction Presentation, Buyer Presentation, Offer Writing and Negotiating, and Property Showings. Each of these has a structure, scripts, and a mindset for you to learn. Learning them takes time. The reward is confidence, skill, and results that make you a highly successful professional.

6. Quality of Life – We say that your business should serve your life not your life serve your business. Days off occur when you schedule them. Putting your health or your loved ones first occurs because you choose it that way. One of our leading coaches and top Agent Rusdi Sumner says that once you are licensed everything is an appointment. You turn your choice into your life by putting your health, happiness, and loved ones activities into your calendar, then keeping your word to yourself and others by honoring those appointments.

7. Assistants and Teams -Between thirty and sixty transactions you reach a limit to your ability to grow your business by yourself. To get past that point you either add assistance or your business and/or your quality of life decline. To grow past your transaction limit you are challenged to learn and master hiring, training, delegating, and supervision. These are the early skills of leadership. Do you hire part or full time, for how many hours? When do you consider a buyer specialist? Should your assistant have client contact? There are many decisions for high producing Agents that lead them to the next level and beyond.

8. Financial Freedom – We discovered that people in the habit of being broke stay broke regardless of increases in their income. For those with this affliction you have to work directly to challenge and break the struggling mindset and habits so that as your production and income increase, your financial stability and freedom follow.

9. Technology – Every Agent faces technology challenges; choosing a mobile phone or new computer hardware, choosing your level of web presence and web vendors, plus a myriad of hardware and software choices. Every one of the above systems includes and is impacted by your technology choices. We are constantly challenged, as you are, to seek the technology tools and services that preserve your time and increase your profitability. We are constantly discussing these tools and services with our clients and among our coaches to keep our knowledge up to date and offer the best possible suggestions to you.

10. Self-Esteem – In our “Rich Levin’s Hierarchy of Success” model, Self Esteem is displayed as the foundation. Success in your business and in each of the individual systems rests on the strength of your self-esteem. We work indirectly and sometimes directly on how you think and feel about yourself personally and professionally. We teach two basic affirmations.
Try these in the privacy of your own mind. “I like myself, unconditionally.” And, “I completely trust my own judgment.”

Each time you improve a skill in one of these ten systems that comprise your business, your career improves. As you work continuously on one skill after another you watch your results improve and your confidence reach new heights.

About the Author: For more information on how you can implement the ten systems and ?Rich Levin’s Hierarchy of Success? into your business, call or visit us on the web at RichLevin.com. You can register for ?The Rich Levin Success Club? and receive tips, articles and other information to take your career to the next level and beyond.

Rich Levin is a nationally recognized Coach, Trainer, and Speaker. His specialty is working with top producing Real Estate Agents and Brokers taking them to their highest levels of production and performance in their business and in their lives. Rich Levin is President of Rich Levin’s Success Corp. Contact Rich at 585-244-2700 or rich@richlevin.com.

As a Real Estate Virtual Assistant, I can assist you with planning, lead management, marketing, service, presentations, assistance, and technology. This assistance allow you the financial freedom and the quality of life you desire. Give me a call, 757-271-6047 or visit my website, www.myREassistant.com. I’d enjoy being a part of your success!

WOW Your Real Estate Clients and Get Referrals With Closing CDs

March 22nd, 2006 by Ruth Ann Macklin

Your clients will be impressed when you present them with their own personalized real estate Closing CD which includes the documents of their transaction from listing/contract through to closing…contract, inspection reports, HUD deed, survey, etc., as well as, multiple photos of their home. Your clients can visit your website and send you a referral right from the CD.

Your real estate Closing CD will be branded to your business and set to music. Templates will be designed for both buyers and sellers. After closing, you email me the photos and scanned documents. Then I mail you your CD. What could be easier?

This is a great gift for your real estate buyers and sellers. Adopt the buyers of your listings by sending them a CD, also.

Click here to view a sample and order your CDs.

As your real estate Virtual Assistant, I’d like to help you get more referrals, so visit my website, www.myReassistant.com or give me a call, 757-271-6047.

Think You Have Too Many Real Estate Balls In The Air?

March 16th, 2006 by Ruth Ann Macklin

If you think you are juggling too many real estate balls in life, you’ve got to see this video. Crank up your speakers and take a look. It truly is awesome.

http://marketplace.espeakers.com/movie.php?sid=5290&aid=10558

If you still feel overwhelmed, give me a call. As your Real Estate Virtual Assistant, I can help, 757.271.6047.

Real Estate Virtual Assistant

Ruth Ann Macklin
Anne Shoemaker

Office: 757.271.6047
Fax: 866.826.4334
Email: Info@myREassistant.com

 

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