Constantine Isslamow

The Home Tour

You’ve completed all of the initial steps before you start showing property, it’s now time to set-up your home tour and schedule showing appointments.

Here are the critical steps:

1. Less is more: The more homes you show a buyer, the more confused they get. Drill down to the specific wants and needs of your buyer. This information is gathered during your buyer counselling interview. Keep the tour between 3-5 homes, any more than that can create confusion and indecision.

2. Create a map: Provide the buyer with a map that details the location of each property that you are going to show them. Highlight the different schools and points of interest on the map.

3. Provide comparables: Educate the buyer and make them aware of the current marketplace. This will help the buyer better understand the market and make a realistic offer that they are comfortable with.

4. Meet at our office: Have the buyers meet you at our office so that you can sit down and review the homes they are going to see. Upon arrival back to the office, this is the best time to write up the offer.

Your next tip will be Showing and Selling Property. Until then I wish you all continued success.

How do I pay off my mortgage faster?

Paying off your home doesn’t have to take a lifetime. By planning ahead and sticking to the plan, you
have the opportunity to pay your mortgage off faster. Here are seven ways to pay your mortgage down
faster and decrease the amortization and interest costs off your mortgage:

• Choose a mortgage with a prepayment option - A prepayment option gives you the right to
  prepay specified amounts of your mortgage principal
  
• Shorten your amortization period - By shortening your amortization period to less than 25
  years you can create huge interest savings
  
• Increase your regular mortgage payment - Increasing your regular mortgage payment helps
  you reduce your mortgage principal faster, which means you save interest
  
• Increase your mortgage payment frequency - If you increase the frequency of your mortgage
  payments from monthly to accelerated bi-weekly, you are making one additional monthly payment
  every year, which will cut your interest cost over the life of your mortgage
  
• Invest your tax refunds and cash windfalls - If you find yourself with more money than you
  anticipated, you should consider making a lump-sum mortgage payment against the principal.
  Your mortgage principal will decrease and you won’t have to change your spending habits
  
• Invest your pay raises – If you find yourself with a pay raise, increase your mortgage payment
  amount. Increasing your mortgage payment helps you to reduce your mortgage principal faster
  
• Keep your mortgage payments high - When the time comes to renew your mortgage, keep
  your mortgage payments high even if you’re tempted by lower interest rates and a lower monthly
  payment. If you stick to your original plan, you’ll pay off your mortgage faster and enjoy huge
  interest savings over the life of your mortgage.
  

Try our CENTUM Pre-Payment Mortgage Calculator
Use our online Prepayment Analyzer Mortgage Calculator to calculate your mortgage payment. Discover
how many years you will shorten your amortization and how much interest savings you will realize by
making a prepayment (lump sum) on your mortgage.

Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will make. It’s important that you are making
an educated decision with someone looking out for your best interest. CENTUM Financial Group can
help.

GET THE MORTGAGE THAT MEETS YOUR NEEDS

With unbiased advice, fast, flexible service, competitive rates, and access to many lending sources, I can make sure you get the mortgage that meets YOUR needs. Call me today and SAVE!

Market Rate (%) Duration Our Rates (%)
4.35 1 Year 2.54
4.20 2 Years 3.65
4.65 3 Years 2.90
5.59 4 Years 4.44
5.49 5 Years 3.79
6.85 7 Years 5.55
6.90 10 Years 5.49
2.75 Variable 2.15

OAC. Certain conditions may apply. Rate subject to borrower and property qualification. Posted rate is the rate offered by the majority of Canadian financial institutions. Rates may vary provincially and are subject to change without notice. Independently owned and operated.

SHOWING THE HOME

Now it's time to get them into the car and start the homes tour .... ???

Of course, that will depend on your market-inventory knowledge.

Certainly you can convert all kinds of incoming buyer calls to appointments, but if you don't know the current inventory, you're going to waste a lot of your time, the buyers time, and look very unprofessional.

Knowledge is power, do you have market? Do you know the current inventory? How much time do you spend previewing new listings? This comes under Schedule management.s I'll give you some ideas on that further into this series.

You can qualify buyers, get their financing in place, but without up to the minute market knowledge, you're going to struggle to convert buyers into closings.

Your next tip will be building a home tour that fits the criteria of your buyer. Until then I wish you all continued success.

INITIAL APPOINTMENT

So congratulations, you have converted an incoming buyer call to an appointment. Now what?

* Are you going to charge right out the door and start showing houses? I sure hope not.
* Approach the buyer in the same fashion that you deal with a seller.
* Do you have a buyer presentation? Do you have a buyer qualification process that you use?
* Do you have a buyer questionnaire that you use? How do you determine the buyer's wants and needs?
* Do you immediately connect your buyer with a loan officer to discuss financing options and a prequalification letter?

Next tip I will discuss showing the home. Until then I wish you all continued success.