Dale Simmons

Before I get into this article I wonder what the investment is by a Broker or employing agency for that new agent? I guess what I'm asking is, what is the new agent getting in return for the 40 to 50% of their commissions?

I heard the same question from many at a non-agency realtor training meeting. I also heard a familiar question as they went in and heard the same question when they left. Which is simply "NOW WHAT?"

You see announcements all the time from different Realty companies on training for the new realtor. Yes you do get the training on their specific company policy on filling out forms which is valuable. But for the new realtor they are looking for a lot more. As the hiring broker would it not be prudent to assist the new realtor get out of the blocks? As the hiring broker or well known real estate firm don't you think it would benefit you and your firm to provide the new agent with the tools on how to get their (and your) business profitable? Are we assuming that these new agents understand the concepts of business?

If I attend or present a business training session I do not want to hear nor do I deliver any rah rah sis boom bah stuff. I'm not there to hold hands and sing Kumbaya I'm there to learn or teach the actual "How-to-do-it" stuff. Now granted I know many people require that kind of stuff to keep them on point. But I can't do that.

So let me share a so called training session I went to. I get there and I was surprised to see some real training topic flyers posted on the wall as you entered the meeting hall. Like, how to close, prospecting etc. Wow, I thought there finally going to teach business issues other than the normal roo-rah. About an hour or so into this it is nothing but the rah rah stuff. Okay, I can deal with this for a while. So I do a little networking and observations of the audience. They bring up some heavy hitters to tell their story and announce to all the typical saying "If I can do it, anybody can". Have you heard that before? Generally just pump up the audience. Now don't get me wrong I feel that these successful people have a value at these type venues. You know the believability factor. But still, as always they don't really share with the audience how they accomplished their success. They don't give away those trade secrets. Have you ever asked yourself why?

I had only been in there a few minutes and wanted to yell out "hey enough with the BS help these people with the mechanics of how to build their respective businesses" This is what the word "TRAINING" means?. . . .I think. . .maybe I'm wrong. Then the announcement "lunch break". Be back quarter past one. So I depart still wondering, what the heck I am going to get out of this thing. I run some errands thinking about the first two hours I wasted and the thought of not returning crossed my mind. But I remembered the posted flyers on the entrance so decided to return and see how they trained for business 101 type stuff.

As I returned to the venue there were several people who came up and introduce them selves. I get the normal questions like how long have you been involved, stuff like that. Now you might ask yourself why these people were coming up to me to introduce themselves? I can answer that easily, "Perceived Value" as I was wearing a suit and making a general professional and successful appearance. You know, this business casual thing is totally out of control. It frustrates me when I see someone in cargo shorts and a t-shirt representing a multi-million dollar business and asking if I would be interested to listen to there respective business plan. First their approach was wrong as they are making the same mistake many make as they are selling their business instead of marketing their concept. Plus their appearance does not exude a million dollar business person. Then they wonder why their business is not growing. Anyway, I advise them that I'm a public speaker and professional growth counselor. There thoughts immediately went to "are you speaking today?" I told them no I was here to observe. This comment caught many off guard and inquired exactly what I did. My response was simple and direct, "I'm a Professional Growth, Marketing Strategies and Business Success Specialist." "I teach the actual How-To's , the mechanics of how to build these businesses." After this was stated, a gaggle formed all asking for cards, brochures and alike. I was amazed that so many people made inquiries at a venue that is supposed to be doing just that.

I had the opportunity to meet a lady that was scheduled to speak on prospecting at this venue, but she told me she was removed from the program at the last minute. That confused me as this is what this "Training Meeting" was all about. . . .I thought. She was apparently bumped by a famous business owner. Now granted that opportunity does not happen often so one should cease the opportunity. This person talked quite a long time on the respective product line and generated several interactions from the audience. Personally I felt it would have been more productive to have the lady I met make her presentation on her assigned training topic. Modify the program to also allow the VIP to also discuss what was discussed. They could have dropped one of the roo-rah speakers and replace it with substance.

Now understand these types of meetings are great for my specific business as I always generate leads and students for my program. But it just frustrates me when I see a scheduled "Training Meeting" used for everything other than its title and many attendees walk out with the same question they walked in with and that's, "OKAY, NOW WHAT?"

Somehow things have gotten turned around. A simple thing taught by parents, schools, colleges and general business practice. But where has it gone, what happened to it? I've had it up to here with this situation and I'm going to do something about it. I don't understand it, but I must regress.

Let me paint the scenario. This goes back to a previous article I wrote titled "The Ripple Effect Can Bite You" where I was addressing the credit card companies reducing your credit limit and/or raising your interest rate due to a short sale which had no impact on them or your payment record to the specific credit card company. Then I thought "how dare they assume there is a problem without the common courtesy of a inquiry phone call before they just take the action to lower the credit limit and/or raise the interest rate?" Yes it is their business and they can in fact do what ever they want and YES I CAN STOP BEING THEIR CUSTOMER! This scenario got me to thinking.

Where does it say that the consumer thanks the business for purchasing their product or service? This is a very important question. So I pondered this issue and deduced that many businesses I frequent I find myself thanking them as I complete the transaction and get nothing from them. But I have noticed how impersonal and complacent businesses have become and how they take their customer base for granted. As a result of this thought process and findings, I'm currently on a Quest.

Now if I frequent a business and they don't have the common courtesy and business sense to thank me for my patronage I will first bring that to the attention of the management. If the person is the management or owner I bring this issue to their attention similar to this; Excuse me do you appreciate your customers and respect your customer base? Normally I get the deer in the headlights look.

Then I politely say that I will no longer frequent their establishment based upon the apparent lack of appreciation of my patronage. Based upon their response I will take that action and no longer do business with them or they will right the situation and I will continue to do business with them. A simple thank you has so much power.

Here is the bottom line. If one does not take the time to thank someone for their patronage, I will take that business away from you. If you don't appreciate your customers, I will take them from you and finally if you have become complacent in your business I will help end it for you.

Dale Simmons

Realtor

There is a ripple effect on doing a short sale and all of your clients must be made aware. I was discussing options with a client who is a home owner who bought their home at the height of the market. I was asked to do a market analysis on their property and it was determined that their home may have depreciated over 50%. Now ,it was stated that a formal appraisal would determine its market value and this is only an estimate. They have to sell the home due to a domestic issue. So this couple is faced with a problem which is being experienced by many all over the country which is being "Upside Down" in their house. They can't sell their property for what is owed. There is no choice of riding out the market based upon the situation so they face a "Short Sale" option or just a "walk away" to foreclosure. I strongly discourage the second option. I recommended that they seek advise from a real estate attorney for the ramifications of a short sale.

One must also advise them that there is a ripple effect from a "Short Sale" above and beyond the short sale itself. Your FICO score will be impacted number one, but also your credit card companies will start sending letters reducing your credit line to the balance owed. It's irrelevant how long you have been a customer with the card company and your excellent payment history with them. Someones job in these companies is to just look at FICO scores and since you had a short sale it was hit. They don't take into consideration or the time to review the credit report to determine the cause nor do they call you to try and determine the cause of the reduction in your score they just reduce your credit line. They send you some flowery letter stating that based upon the credit reporting companies (the big three) they have reduced your line of credit and/or increased your interest rate or both. This will happen.

There is an action you can take. But first understand many of these credit card companies, banks and so on took "Bailout Money" from our infamous Government to try to open the credit market back to the consumer. However, their actions were to freeze lending and use the "Bailout" money to improve their bottom line. "Basically, the hell with the consumer!"

Your action is simple. Take the time to write them a letter and terminate them. You see, they have forgotten who the customer is. Now if the consumer is not meeting their obligations with the credit card company then so be it and they have every right to take this action. But if they are either reducing your credit line and/or increasing your interest rate because of the short sale action, fire them. Pay them off and close the account. But make sure you let them know why you took this action. Remember you are the customer and part of their customer base. Without the customer base any business will fail!

Dale Simmons

DSE Realty

With the advent of the internet, email and auto responders and regrettable exploitation of same has caused people to lose confidence in this media. Their skepticism level is at an all time high. With that in mind, the genuine business owners marketing strategies are being adversely affected.

It's unfortunate that this outstanding technology along with, how would you say, the less than honorable business practices are allowing people to secrete their identities thus enabling them to deceive unsuspecting people and abscond their monies promising them riches beyond their wildest dreams. Sure you might do a fast hit and run for your so called earnings but what is the damage being caused along the way? Those who fall into this unscrupulous category really don't care about you as long as they get theirs.

Recently as an exhibitor at a business expo in Southern California I had the opportunity to discuss just this issue with many of the attendees. It was determined as a result of this survey that people could no longer trust the internet and these so called business opportunities. Also addressed was the amount of email people received daily and the average was just over 100 which 85% was considered junk or unsolicited communications. In discussions with these people many stated they have on occasion inadvertently deleted email they should not have causing embarrassment, loss of real business and flat out anger. For those who fall into the unscrupulous category again really don't care.

Another inquiry was made during these discussions with regard to the actions taken and results of same. Many did not know what to do and wanted suggestions. Several have established "Email Trapper" systems that require the user to go into the queue and review each received email to determine if it is a valid email and white list it or black list the sender if it is not valid. This is a productive way to control this type email however it's not time value added. This spawned the question, "What can we do to control this?"

There are a few options and many were advised to set up a junk email address and use that to do their internet inquiries. When that inquiry is satisfied you can go back to your valid email for your normal business operations as that junk email address you set up will be flooded with auto responders and other unsolicited email. This option was well received and there are many free email hosts out there. Caution must be taken here also some of these email hosts set up a filtering system that will not allow many emails into your account. Also use your junk email address in your Meta tags on your website as there are many programs that can search your site to find an email address and extract it back to the person making the search. This is the process used to establish a huge email list and where a lot of spam is generated.

There is another option for which I have incorporated into DSE Realty which is bearing fruit and I would like my readers to put on there "think outside the box" hat. Email and auto responders have become so impersonal, as mentioned in other writings, you can place a specific code in the body of your writing and it will automatically place the recipients name in the document. Now this process works great where you are using this form of media to manage a group of clients with a broadcast message or general correspondence that you want all your clients to receive but for a follow-up process this is a bad practice. Recently I came across a follow-up process that is time value added, cost effective and puts the personal touch into your professional relationship building process. This process allows you to create tangible customized postcards, bi-fold and tri-fold cards to be sent to your prospects, current clients and previous clients. These are high quality cards customizable to your specific business and also allow you to control the whole process via the internet. There are also some 20,000 premade cards you have access to. The company takes care of the printing addressing and mailing of your cards. Turn around time is fast. What is so great about this process it is something your clients receive in their mailbox that is personalized to them and only addresses them. It's tangible and allows you to hone in on your target market.

So lets recap, as you are well aware, email and the internet marketing has a 2% return rate and from that, a 2% sales rate. Email and auto responders have become impersonal and the savvy person and business person is well aware of abuse of this process. Advertising and marketing is the highest recurring cost in your business and unfortunately the personal touch between the business person and client is almost non existent. A national study has shown that 68% of business loss is due to little or no follow-up. This process takes today's technology and brings back the personal touch in business.

For details on this process go to http://www.socreview.com/teamprovision or contact me directly.

Dale A. Simmons, President/CEO
DSE Consulting Inc.
(888) 515-6143

Our Government could easily contribute to the stabilization and upturn of our housing debacle if they choose. Our maybe they are so "Hell Bent" on bankrupting our nation they just don't care. They are so focused on this health care issue everything else is put on hold or is being used as a smoke screen. But this is a simple fix with minimal capital. First some facts.

Are the Democrats like Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Pelosi & Congress the past to blame for our financial mess? Who championed homes for everyone even if they couldn't afford the mortgages? Who furthered the government subsidizing impossible mortgage assured to leave homeowners upside down if appreciation didn't continue as planned? Let us not forget Obama. He sued banks, mortgage companies and other financial institutions to force them to give no credit check, no down payment, and no collateral loans on grounds that such requirements were racist. Finally the Republications gave a detailed report to the Barney Frank Federal Housing Commission in 2002 on the impending collapse of Freddie and Fannie. However it was quickly dismissed and it was stated that they were sound. Well we all know what happened and the hundreds of fingers started pointing in all directions. This is not a political bias here, just facts.
The United States has seen a 112% increase in the number of foreclosures in the past 12 months. This is an indicator that most of the American citizens are not in a position to pay their mortgages in time hence they are evicted out of their houses.

There are expectations that if the economy in the United States does not improve there will be an increase in the number of foreclosures and the percentage may hit 150%. This is because more people are becoming bankrupt each day. This is as a result of a survey that shows that over 1.1 million homeowners will face foreclosures at the rate that the economy of the United States is moving.

The current statistics show that 286000 out of 44 million mortgages result to foreclosures. This is a very large figure when it is translated to the total number of mortgages that people are taking up. The result could be a great number of people losing their hard-earned money on foreclosures and they are left homeless.

As a result there has been a glut of "Short Sales" processed and being processed in lieu of foreclosure. Depending on which state you are in the ramifications of such could be costly. But this is not the reason for this writing. However, it is important that these statistics should be brought forward. Also, note this information shows what is coming down the pipe, not what has already happened.
As we all know much of the housing collapse was a result of FredieMac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) and FannyMae (Federal National Mortgage Association)

As you know the government gave $8,000 in tax credit for "First Time" home buyers. That makes the market directly focused on the first time home buyer. But what about all these others who either made bad decisions, get a bad loan or was granted a loan for a home the lender knew they could not afford?
Then you have these other people who bought their home at the peak of the market and within a short 2 years they devalued some 50%. These home owners had to think about what they could do as they were and are throwing their money in a black hole. They can't sell them as they are upside down. So what are they to do?

There are four options:
1. Try to ride it out
2. Try to get a loan modification
3. Short Sale
4. Walk away (Foreclosure)

But with decision 2,3 and 4 your FICO score will be impacted taking you out of the market for a new home or any major purchase. So many of these stimulus programs out there you can't qualify for.
But there is a simplistic answer to this problem. I can't understand why this has not been proposed. The cost for this would be so small it would not even come close to the $30,000,000 earmark to save a turtle in San Francisco.

So here is the Bill. I will even let Barney call it the Barney Bill. It would be not 1000+ pages but one.
Anyone who had a foreclosure or a short sale from 2005 to the end of 2009 would make application providing all required information of their lender, loan numbers and other pertinent data to the Fed (an agency of their choice) to have a onetime "forgive" from the three major credit reporting agencies Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion removing any record of the lender and payment history of same that was involved in the foreclosure or short sale. This is a onetime only action.

This Bill if written would be a simple fix to a complex problem. This would immediately place 100's of thousands back on the market and with repaired FICO scores and with the new lending regulations their prospects of being a home owner again could be realized and at the same time stimulate the housing market and other markets.

I told you it was simple. I know many families who's FICO score was in the high 700's and low 800's who lost their homes and their current FICO score is low 500's to low 600's thus taking them out of the market.

I am sending this blog to my Senator I would ask you to do the same.

Dale Simmons

DSE Realty