Commercial Training from National Association of Realtor

NAR Commercial Education Connection




Prepare yourself and your business for 2010 by registering for the final two Top Dogs sessions brought to you by NAR Commercial. On December 17 and 18, Top Dogs is offering two webinars at a deeply discounted rate of $49 per session. The two hour sessions are regularly priced at $89, but if you use one of the following discount codes fhosuddnkr or rihequpimu, you will receive an immediate $40 discount. The Top Dogs webinars will give you the opportunity to learn from Peter Droubay and Bob McComb, the co-creators of the Top Dogs commercial real estate training programs.



The December 17 session Tools You Need to Have and People You Need to Get to Know covers the tools you need to have at your disposal if you are going to succeed as a commercial agent or broker. Top Dogs' December 18 webinar The Best Reputation to Have: How to Be A Take-Action-Today, Do it Now, Finisher is all about attitudes and strategies for personal productivity and will show you how to elevate your personal productivity. These sessions are a deal, priced at $49 per session for two hours of fast paced, ready to use information!





Webinar Session Description and Registration: December 17: Tools You Need to Have and People You Need to Get to Know (beginner level)


Webinar Session Description and Registration: December 18: The Best Reputation to Have: How to Be a Take-Action-Today, Do It Now, Finisher (expert level)




All sessions are first come, first-served and limited to 200 attendees. Visit the NAR Commercial Education web page to learn more about the education resources available to you from NAR Commercial and the Commercial Institute Affiliates. For Top Dogs webinar registration questions, contact Top Dogs at 888-894-5772. For general questions, contact NAR Commercial at 800-874-6500.

Are you ready to covert your IRA to a roth

In a recent email from Equity Trust Company (http://www.trustetc.com/) they have an article about moving your money to tax free investing by converting your self directed IRA's, to a Roth.

There are changes coming in 2010 that includes no restrictions, the Modified Adjusted Gross Income limited on a ROTH will be lifted for conversions - so just about anyone can convert an existing IRA to a ROTH.

Read More from Equity Trust by clicking here

It's an Online World: Are You Prepared

I recently attended a broker series class at KCRAR and wanted to share some of the notes I took about current marketing trends for real estate and beyond.

http://www.secondlife.com/:  were all very busy learning how to use Facebook and Twitter, but the next thing is SecondLife, and if you are really in to Second Life you may find yourself buying and selling virtual real estate in a virtual world and selling real stuff in a virtual world.

Google Maps for Real Estate  Google is allowing people to search for real estate for sale using their mapping feature.   You can get your listings on google maps through one of the syndicating web sites out there or load them yourself into google base.  If your properties are not on this, figure out how to get them there.

Neighborhoods:  we talked about buyers wanting to live in walkable neighborhoods, where they can walk to work, shop, and play, more urban and less suburbs.

Realtors:  buyers are looking for buyers (or home sellers) who are honest, good listeners, know the market, and can explain the process, and are connected to all the answers

Websites that consumers are going to get more information

• http://www.houselogic.com/   from the National Association of Realtors
• http://www.commercialsource.com/
• http://www.incredibleagent.com/  and http://www.incredibleagents.com/
• http://www.outrageousagents.com/
• http://www.homethinking.com/
• http://www.realestateratingz.com/
• http://www.agentrank.com/
• http://www.yelp.com/
• www.ziprealty.com/

Because it is an online world, we need to keep an eye on what other people are saying about us and our companies.  There are many tools that will monitor the web and report back to you based on key words you set up.  Check these out and set up an alert on your name, your company name, & your top competitors to see what they are doing.

• Google Alerts
• StepRep
• Trackur.com
• Backtype

There was a big to do a few years ago about IDX, and allowing competitors to put all MLS listings on their sites for their customers to see.  Now it is VOW which allows

• Immediate Responsiveness with comments going directly to listing agents email / smart phone
• Lead Management
• Relationship Managment Applications
• So now for example when a Realtor list a property through the Kansas City area's MLS, properties can be immediatly syndicated out to a bunch of web sites and may will allow the viewer to comment on the listing that will get back to the listing agent to act on very quickly

For Realtors who are a member of NAR, the following are all tools you can access and the general public can also access a great amount of the information on Realtor.org:

• Information Central
• ProQuest
• Field Guides on all types of topics
• Research Statistics
• Tool Kits
• Community Outreach Programs
• PodCasts and other training

And last we talked about Brokerages needing to develop a blog policy for their agents and staff to follow, this will also be very important for investors, mortgage people, and just about any business.

• We have posted a sample Blog Policy in the Business Management Section of the MAREI Library.  go to http://www.mareinet.com/ and log in to access.

December Meeting in Review

Many thanks to everyone who braved the rain, the ice, and the snow to attend the December 09 holiday meeting.  We had about space for 30 reserved and we were packed from about 6:30 to 7:30.  We had people from all over the metro as well as visitors from the Omaha group and an investor visiting from Florida.

Lots of business cards were changing hands, deals were being talked about, food being consumed and pool being played. 

Check out some of the pics . . .

Focus

At the networking last night we talked a lot about having focus.  Then this morning as I sit at my desk I have a window open on my computer to order a Christmas gift, a camera hooked up to download photos on a house, a house file on my desk to look up comps, the MAREI schedule on my desk to work on next years meetings. 

I need focus, and when I come back to what I did in a previous life it comes down to making a list.  Sit down at the end of the day and write out everything you want to accomplish tomorrow and prioriize.  Then the next morning, review, start at the top and mark off as you go.  Then at the end of the evening, go through your list, see what you accomplished, mark it off, and plan out the next day.

This really works well for me, but of course when life happens through out the day, you need to decide, do you write the new life issues on the list for tomorrow or deal with them as they come.  I am unfortunatly a deal with them as they come, even if they are interrupting something more important.  And I know I need to work on this, keep focused on the project at hand and add the little fires that need delt with to the list to look at at least after I am finished with my current project.

What do you think?  Please comment and let me know how you stay focused or not and what works for you.

Activities at MAREI this week

MAREI members:


We have a lot packed into the schedule this week, and hopefully we will have a 3 week break until we start marketing for January events.

First is our Virtual Food Drive running the whole month of December. We have partnered with Harvesters to raise funds for 10,000 meals. We currently have 550 meals in our donation pile. To find out more go to: MAREI's Food Drive

Second is our meeting. We have canceled the regular meeting at the Marriott and instead we are having a holiday networking "happy hour" from 5:30 to 8:00 at the Fox & Hound at 103rd & Metcalf. More info: 12/08/2009-2009 Holiday Networking Meeting - Happy Hour

Third is our webinar on Wednesday with Mark Klee & Caryn McKinney on buying houses from people in bankruptcy. Find out how you can turn misfortune into a win win for everyone. More info: 12/09/2009-Webinar - Turning Bankruptcy into Gold

Fourth is our webinar on Thursday with Dan Doran. He is going to share how to buy REO properties for pennies on the dollar and have all the work done for you. Check it out: 12/10/2009-How to buy REO’s without doing any of the work!

If you missed the December Newsletter, be sure go go to the web site to read: Current Newsletter

And last we will have a new meeting location starting in January, Sylvester Powell Jr Community Center at 6200 Martway in Mission (Johnson Drive and Nall north of Shawnee Mission Parkway, by the license plate and drivers licenses places sort of)

December Newsletter Sponsors

Realty Resource of KC . . . is a real estate brokerage for investors by investors. Our agents are investors themselves, so they know the ropes. They have bought and sold property, rehabbed, and managed rental property. They have the contacts and the know how to assist you with your real estate investments on both the buying side as well as the selling side. Find out more about our properties for sale and how our agents can help you by going to http://www.realtyresourcekc.com/




TuckerOneProperties, Inc. . . . and their partner company ROI Realty buys and sells houses through out the Kansas City metro area. Focusing primarily on Jackson County in Missouri and Johnson County in Kansas they buy houses and because of their line of credit, can pay cash and close fast. If you have a house that you need to sell, or a great buy on a house that you can't quite take down, give us a call. If you are looking for fixer uppers in better areas, check our site for current inventory. All properties are offered as is before we start rehab. Find us online at http://www.tuckeroneproperties.com/



Accurate Title Co . . . has over 50 years of experience in the real estate industry. Offering title insurance, ownership and encumbrances, closing and escrow, and 1031 exchange services. If you need it closed, the team at accurate can get it done. If you buy and sell in Kansas or Missouri, or do a little bit of wholesale selling, you need to call and talk to the staff. Find our more about their services at http://www.accuratetitleco.com/



YellowLetter.com . . . is owned and opperated by National Trainers John and Donna MacNiel, the investors of the original Yellow Letter marketing tool. They offer direct mail services with their Yellow Letter as well as Pre-NOD lead lists nationwide. Find out more at http://www.yellowletter.com%20and/ sign up for their newsletter to find out about their special deals and promotions.



Monthly Advertisers



T.O.T.L. Renovations with members Tony and Emily Culp offering full service renovation services. They are licensed and insured and accept most major credit cards. See their ad here .

Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors announces it's December Newsletter Is Posted

Stay up to to date with the activities at Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors, Kansas City Real Estate, and Real Estate Nationwide.

Read the current newsletter here: 

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