First American Title The Woodlands

If you have not created your 2010 business plan, then what direction are you heading?  All successful professionals start out with a plan in place and a direction where they are going.  I have created a simply, straight to the point Realtor business plan that is easy to use.  Please contact me if the below information applies to you.

• If you know in your mind where you’re going and haven’t put it in writing. 
• If you're lost and have no direction of your business.
• If  you’re not sure where to start.
• If you’re not sure what is working in your business or where your business is coming from.
• If you have no accountability or tracking system in place
  

January started out slower than what we were hoping for in The Woodlands however it’s finishing the way we are wanting.  The first two weeks of this month was creeping along and I know it’s not because I wasn't marketing and helping my customers. Everyone I was talking too told me they were working hard but they haven’t put anyone under contact yet.  Well, it’s caught up with us!  I just compared last years resale’s to this year and we are blowing it out of the water.  I want to tell all my customers to stay positive, keep working your leads/referrals and it will payoff!!!

By Brian Tracy

A satisfied customer will share “delight” or “amazement” with nine of his friends and relatives and associates, who will in turn pass the good news on to five others. In his book Word-of-Mouth Marketing, Jerry Wilson claims that the number of customers who will tell a positive story of their experience with you, your company or your product is one-tenth of the number who will share a negative story. In other words, while excellent customer service is essential in reducing or even eliminating negative word of mouth, you cannot rely on positive word of mouth to produce a stream of referrals.

By Brian Tracy

One of the most powerful determinants of the future success of your business is the little understood phenomenon of word-of-mouth communication. Fully 90 percent of dissatisfied customers will not do business again with the company that fails to meet their expectations. The same study also concluded that, on average, each dissatisfied customer will share his dissatisfaction with at least nine other people. What this means is that the dissatisfaction of just one disgruntled customer ends up poisoning the minds of forty five other people.

irst-time home buyers purchasing any kind of home—new or resale—areeligible for the tax credit. To qualify for the tax credit, a homepurchase must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April30, 2010. For the purposes of the tax credit, the purchase date is thedate when closing occurs and the title to the property transfers to thehome owner. A limited exception exists for certain contract for deedpurchases and installment sale purchases. See the IRS website for more detail.

However, the law also allows home sales occurring by June 30, 2010 toqualify, provided they are due to a binding sales contract in force onor before April 30, 2010.

Persons who are claimed as dependents by other taxpayers or who areunder age 18 are not qualified for the tax credit program.

I wanted to share with you some great insight about surviving in the current market.  Yesterday in our sales meeting we had a wonderful talk by Allen Tappe on “The Real Estate Industry Today and in the Future”.  Allen recently closed his real estate company in Fort Worth and we felt he could offer great insight and he did.  He explained that the real estate Industry is going thru a “Rebirth”.  Customers that we did business with in the past are falling by the wayside.  Here is a statistic he shared that is staggering:  In July 2007 NAR reported 2 million agent members.  As of July 2009 there were 900,000 members.  The reality is that the “seasoned” agents we depended on in the past will only continue if they dramatically change the way they are doing business by getting back to basics and working very hard.  Most agents will not do this.  As a matter of fact a co-worker shared with us that while she was presenting the RESPA Reform program to a real estate office a past producer stood and announced, “That’s it. It’s time for me to retire!”  My co-worker followed up and confirmed that at this point that is indeed this producer’s decision.  I challenge you to “go back to the basics.” Start by working on your database, follow up on expired listings, market to FSBO’s, and have open houses.  Another co-worker shared that one of her top producers were making these exact changes to assure their continued success.  Unfortunately, according to Allen, most will not.

If you need help getting back the the basics please feel free to contact me!

HUD is requiring that loan originators provide borrowers with a standard Good Faith Estimate that clearly discloses key loan terms and closing costs and that closing agents provide borrowers with a new HUD-1 settlement statement. New RESPA regulations were published November 17, 2008 and are scheduled to take full effect on January 1, 2010. The "New RESPA Rule FAQs" were comprised from industry questions and are posted to facilitate implementation of these new requirements.

RESPA is about closing costs and settlement procedures. RESPA requires that consumers receive disclosures at various times in the transaction and outlaws kickbacks that increase the cost of settlement services. RESPA is a HUD consumer protection statute designed to help homebuyers be better shoppers in the home buying process, and is enforced by HUD.

Even though The Woodlands Association is promoting this new township tax to be prepaid in 2009 for the fiscal budget for 2010, the tax still falls under the Texas Property Tax Code which says that no tax is prepaid. All taxes that are collected at the end of tax year 2009 will be used for the budgets for each taxing jurisdiction in 2010. It is unfair to the sellers who had already paid association dues for 2009 at the beginning of 2009, but, nonetheless, it is the only way to transition into a township.

If you close a Woodlands property in 2009, the seller will be reimbursed by their buyer for the balance of this year’s (2009) association dues, but, you will also prorate and collect all taxes, including the township tax, from the seller and then give them their prorated credit from the buyer for the balance of this year’s total taxes, again including the township tax.

After reviewing this years September performance for First American Title The Woodlands, I realized we had out performed the last three previous Septembers. I bebelieve The Woodlands market does not apply to what the media portrays to the public. People who move to The Woodlands move here for the lifestyle. Great entertainment, restaurants, shopping, schools and opportunities. If you know of anyone who is thinking of moving, check out The Woodlands. Its a great place to live, work and play.

The Houston Real Estate market and surrounding areas are still very strong! We are seeing more and more Realtors from other states relocating their clients to Texas. The Woodlands is one of the most popular cities in Houston for relocating because of it's proximity to Downtown Houston, Bush Continental Airport and the Houston Ship Channel. People are also moving to The Woodlands for the lifestyle. The Woodlands offers Movie Theaters, Shopping, The Woodlands Mall, Market Street, Restaurants, Lakes, Golf courses, Hike/Bike trails and great Schools. If you are a Realtor or you’re working with a Realtor and thinking about moving to The Woodlands, please choose First American Title The Woodlands or contact Scott Jones for all your title insurance needs.