Entrepreneurs Stuck at the Starting Gate By Kurt Lefteroff and Mark Speno

Every year our neighbors gather for a holiday party. We look forward to the evening as our chance to check in with the many commercial real estate developers and executives who live nearby. This year, we expected to hear tales of woe and frustration, and we were not disappointed on that account.

In small groups and in one-on-one conversations, we heard about tenants asking for rent reductions, development projects getting delayed, and borrower-lender relationships turning sour. Not all of the conversations were negative. One conversation in particular stood out. A former mortgage broker, I will call him Sam, told us about how he is buying foreclosed single family homes from banks, making repairs and selling to ready and able buyers. He said the key to his strategy was to keep the final price below $100,000 and to deliver a home in fully repaired condition. Sam?s experience told him that while buyers could make the required down payment and could afford the monthly mortgage payments, they could not afford to bring the homes into livable condition. As it turns out, many foreclosed homes need substantial repairs.

January 9th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »

Affinity Partners Create Perpetual Referrals by Tom Ninness

Any sales professional depends on the loyalty of their clients to stay in business. Keeping clients happy, addressing their needs and keeping in touch leads to those precious referrals on which every sales person relies. The mortgage and real estate industry is more competitive now than ever and it is imperative that past clients are kept in touch, through newsletters, emails, phone calls and face to face opportunities.
Affinity partners or Professional Referral Sources are equally as important in generating leads. Affinity partners are those outside your own business sphere services for your client and have the ability to generate leads and referrals for you. For the real estate and mortgage industry some of those potential Professional Referral Sources include CPAs, financial planners, human resource directors, insurance agents, attorneys, credit unions, private bankers, etc. In order to make any affinity partnership work, the partners will expect you to provide impeccable service for the referred clients if you are to become their trusted advisor for the client?s mortgage and real estate needs.

January 9th, 2009 | Posted in Articles | Read More »