6 Tips for First-Time Home-Buyers

When people are faced with the unknown, they will often choose inaction.

Why?

Because inaction is the default--it's inside your comfort zone to do what you've always done. 

That's why so many potential first-time home-buyers often bite on the first house in their price range or simply choose to continue renting. 

Here's how you can handle the unknown of buying your first home.

1. Decide if buying is right for you

So often, people talk about renting as "throwing money away."

Is it really? 

You need a place to live, don't you? So you pay money in exchange for a roof over your head.

Just because you're not building equity with a rental like you would with your own property doesn't mean the rental is a waste of money. 

Think about it this way: it might be cheaper to grow your own food rather than buy groceries every week, but does that mean you're "throwing money away" at the grocery store?

Does that mean you should buy a farm? 

Consider your long-term goals and ask yourself if owning a home fits with your personal, professional, and financial future. 

And try out this excellent interactive "Rent Vs. Buy" calculator from the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/upshot/buy-rent-calculator.html

2. What you're approved for is not necessarily what you can afford

If you've decided that home ownership is right for you, then getting pre-approved for a loan should be one of your first steps you take. 

A mortgage loan originator will look at your financial situation and determine your buying power.

You might be pre-approved for, say,  a $350,000 mortgage, but does that mean you need to find a $350,000 home?

Absolutely not. 

And not every loan originator will be created equal. They are an integral part of the home-buying process, so you should shop around for the best one the same way you would for your real estate agent.

Your agent and her brokerage may have a relationship with a loan originator, but do your due diligence and see if there are other options in the area. 

3. Find a great agent

The agent who comes recommended by your aunt or your best friend may not be the best agent for you.

Your needs in an agent may be different from the people who recommend them. 

And the best agent may not be your friend. It's a nice thought to help your real estate agent friend by giving him your business, but a lot of friendships have ended when money came into the equation. 

Working without an agent is an even more treacherous road to wander down. 

An individual may sell their own home as a for sale by owner listing (FSBO) in an effort to save on the agent commission.

In some rare cases, these FSBO sellers may request that you purchase without an agent, just as a way to keep agents out of the transaction.

Not a good idea.

Find an agent you trust and who can serve as your expert on a potential neighborhood or a certain property type. 

4. Try to be objective

Of course you should have some sort of emotional attachment to the home you eventually purchase. However, there are a handful of factors that can emotionally sway your decisions.

For example, you might be in a pinch for time and need to move in fast on a purchase. Or maybe a certain property just hit the market, or there are other offers on the property.

Utilize your agent in these situations. They will be able to provide you with more objective information, such as recent purchase prices on comparable homes. 

5. Consider the true cost of ownership

When considering the monthly costs of home ownership, there's more to it than just insurance, taxes, and the loan. 

Routine (and not so routine) maintenence can add up quicker than you think. And deferring maintenence costs a lot more than routine maintenence.

There's no landlord or property manager to save you now: it's all coming out of your wallet.

Set aside money every month for maintenence--not only for routine fixes, but for emergency stuff as well, so these extra costs don't come at the wrong time.

Also, consider how much will your utilities cost. Find out if there is reliable internet and cell service in the home as well.

6. Don't bank on funding your retirement

When you buy your home as a place to live, it's best not to think of it as an investment.
It's not important what your home is worth at this moment, all that matters is that you're happy with it in this moment.

When it comes time to sell, all that will matter is how much it will be worth then.

And even if you take a loss on the sale, consider the years of use and happiness you got from the property.

Sign up for classes by visiting us at LarsonEd.com.

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. #44

Fort Myers, Florida

33907

239-344-7510

LarsonEd.com

Breaking: Home Prices Hit 32-Week High

Good news: according to the National Home Price NSA Index, home prices have hit a 32-month high! Time to pop the bubbly, right? 

Maybe not. David Blitzer, the Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee, says that real estate professionals may need to curb their enthusiasm.

"New home construction is now close to a normal pace of about 1.2 million units annually," he says. "Most housing rebounds following a recession only last for a year or so."

Just like any other change in the market, you're better off staying consistent rather than out-thinking yourself with (relatively) short-term market fluctuations.

Or, perhaps you can use this information as a motivation to push through the end of a tough month. It's your choice. Like so many things in life, your results will be largely dependent on how you process the information you're given.

Is this a negative or a positive? The call is yours.

Source: Inman.com

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd #44

Fort Myers, Florida

33907

239-344-7510

larsoned.com

Are we the best family-owned business in SWFL?

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN, FOLKS!!!

Gulfshore Business Magazine is doing their "Best of Business" issue, and we are once again nominated for Best Family-Owned Business.

If you still think we're the best family-owned business in southwest Florida (or in the whole dang universe, for that matter), then click the link below and fill in "Larson Educational Services" at #20.

Spread the word!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bestofbusiness17

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/bestofbusiness17

We got WHAT over the weekend??

Did you hear the news? The Larson Bunny delivered some passing test scores over the weekend!

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd #44

Fort Myers, Florida 33907

LarsonEd.com

239-344-7510

5 Tips for Health Insurance Client Retention-Part 2

When too many of your clients are cancelling their health insurance policies, you start to feel the impact at all levels of your business—lost clients could increase administrative costs and you could also see issues with debt management if you’ve already budgeted certain commissions that are no longer coming in.

And acquiring new clients is not cheap.

Here is part 2 for our tips on how to choose clients who will stick around:

(Read part 1 here.)

3. Use Stories

People respond to stories. You can demonstrate the value of a certain policy or package by telling a story about how the policy has worked for an unnamed client in the past and the benefits it provided them.

Insurance consultant Keith Leech likes to use a 4-question process to further drive the point home in a prospects mind. You can use these questions yourself:

1. "Who do you know who has suffered a heart attack, cancer, or stroke?"
2. "Were they expecting it to happen?"
3. "Did they suffer financially or emotionally?"
4. "Would cash have helped?"

Everyone has been affected by heart attack, cancer, or stroke in one way or another. By relating your products to a personal experience of your client's, they will better understand the immediacy of their health insurance needs.

4. Maintain Communication

To keep your clients on board with you, it's important that they not only hear from you at renewal time or when a premium is late, but other times as well.

Show your clients appreciation and they will stick around. 

Remember: you and your client are business partners.

The best way to maintain contact is to create a repeatable communication schedule that you replicate for every client. 

No, you don't want to send any "Dear, client" emails. But when your client signs on with you, you may want to send yourself some Google alerts to remind you to ask them questions to head off common conversations you may have in the first 30 days of partnership. 

"Did you receive your insurance cards?"

"Do you have any questions or concerns with your coverage so far?"

Make sure some of these are phone calls as well. 

Don't inundate them with phone calls and emails. However, you can use special insurance events as a good reason to contact them. For example, May is national disability insurance awareness month, September is national life insurance awareness month, and June 28 is national insurance awareness day. 

Also, around the new year they may need to renew their policy. Your best practice is to see if they've had any life-changing events in the past year such as a wedding or a child. Find this out from your client and suggest some options to better suit their new needs.

5. Assume You'll Be Their Agent for Life

Building a long-lasting relationship with your clients isn't about selling products, per se; it's about selling your services. It's about being there when they need you.

A truly great health insurance agent will get referrals from parent to child. 

As your relationship extends over the years, consider offering life insurance. Many people are under the misapprehension that life insurance is expensive. Like most people, they may simple have whatever plan they were offered through their job and have left it at that. 

If you are always looking out for your clients needs in their interest, you're sure to continue these long-lasting relationships. 

(Read part 1 here.)

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. #44

Fort Myers, Florida

33907

239-344-7510

LarsonEd.com

5 Tips for Health Insurance Client Retention--Part 1

When too many of your clients are cancelling their health insurance policies, you start to feel the impact at all levels of your business—lost clients could increase administrative costs and you could also see issues with debt management if you've already budgeted certain commissions that are no longer coming in.

And acquiring new clients is not cheap. 

Here are 5 tips to make sure you choose clients who will stick around:

1. Pre-Qualify

The road to client retention starts before your relationship with a client even begins. First, you want to discover if you and a particular prospect are a good fit for each other. 

In all industries, the best salespeople ask the right questions. 

You may also benefit from a shift in thinking: rather than focusing on acquiring clients, think about it in terms of finding out if a prospect is a good business partner. Ask yourself, "Is she a good fit for the services I offer?"

You must be willing to say no to certain clients if you think you cannot provide them with the services they need. Or you may say no if you foresee this prospective client requires a larger investment of time than you can afford.

The same insurance product won't fit every potential client. Determine their budget. 

If, for example, you run into a prospect who qualifies for high subsidies, it will be important for them to know the value of supplemental products, though they may not have the budget for these voluntary products.

Work together with them to find the best potential options to fill in the gaps created by high-deductible ACA plans, for example.

2. Find Your Niche

You will need to project professionalism and trustability to potential clients. If they have any qualms whatsoever about your ability to serve their health insurance needs, assure them that you specialize in this field—you are the content expert. 

Oftentimes, you can put an apprehensive prospect's worries to rest by letting them know what others in their situation are purchasing. Decisions of any kind are difficult, let alone when healthcare is involved.

Make the decision easier by providing them with a road map of previous clients' experiences.

The language you use may sound like this:

"This is our most common package."

"Many of our clients are happy with this package, and here's why."

"This is our most popular package."

Again, you don't want to sell them something they can't afford—sure, you won't be able to retain them as a client, but more importantly their needs won't be met.

Read part 2 here. 

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. #44

Fort Myers, Florida

33907

239-344-7510

LarsonEd.com

Could a real estate school double as an artist colony?

Perhaps your listing photos could use a little update...

Check out some of our real estate photography tips here: 

Larson Educational Services

1400 Colonial Blvd. #44

Fort Myers, Florida

33907

239-344-7510

larsoned.com

Should real estate agents buy a drone?

Drones, also known as quadcopters, are becoming a staple in the real estate industry.

Not too long ago, getting high quality aerial photographs of your properties required helicopters, airplanes, and thousands of dollars in fees. Sure, you'd get a quality final product, but you wound up feeling like you paid to shoot a scene from Terminator. 

Let's hope you didn't spend any extra money on this guy (photo courtesy of Wikipedia).

Drones have made aerial photographs and videos accessible to even the smallest of real estate agents.

These remote-controlled flying devices may have a large initial cost and a learning curve, but you can save money over time the more you use it.

In other words, instead of pumping your photography budget into a helicopter or airplane service to get a small number of properties photographed/videoed, you can put that money toward buying a drone that allows you to get a larger number of properties photographed/videoed—even the lower priced listings.

Are real estate drones a short-lived gimmick?

It doesn’t seem so. As of June 2016, approximately 39 percent of drone permits went to real estate professionals: https://www.zillow.com/agent-resources/trends-and-data/tips-and-advice/drones-real-estate-photography/.

Look at it this way—drones are simply the latest technology that people are using to solve a problem: how to get aerial photos of real estate.

Before, the solution to that problem was expensive and complex. It just so happens that this is the newest solution.

How can drones help with your real estate business?

Drones can help potential buyers get views of the entire property or land for sale.

If the property is near an amenity like a public pool or a golf course, you can use aerial footage to create a visual representation of the proximity to those features. 

Or maybe the property is near a school for the kids or close to a gated community entrance—it’s all perfect for showing off on a drone.

As drones become more and more popular, sellers may expect aerial photographs as part of your standard service package.

Now, there may be reasons not to include aerial footage as well, such as undesirable features that would be in the shot, like a close-proximity freeway, for example.

"Do I really have to buy a drone?"

If the idea of purchasing and learning to fly a drone feels overwhelming for you, then you may want to outsource the job and only use the service for larger, more expensive properties. There are several drone photography service providers in southwest Florida that you can hire to provide this service.

Outsourcing aerial footage may be more expensive in the long-run, but as your business grows it may make more sense for you to spend a bit more money in order to save time.

Sidenote: take a look at some of the amazing real estate footage people are grabbing with drones. Video courtesy of Utah Aerial Imaging

(Don't think that you have to make some fancy video like this to make aerial footage work—start with taking still images and work your way up to videos, even if they're not as amazing as this one.)

Or perhaps you’re new to real estate and don’t want to put in the initial investment for a quadcopter along with your other start-up costs. That makes sense.

In that case, you may want to wait until you get more clients and start selling more expensive properties before you invest in a drone.

If at that time you feel the need to get more aerial photographs, then go for it. There are lots of tips and tutorials online to help anyone learn to fly.

Either way, aerial footage is cheaper and more accessible than ever for real estate agents, and that's a good thing for everyone, including your clients.

Larson Educational Services
1400 Colonial Blvd #44
Fort Myers, Florida 33907
239-344-7510
LarsonEd.com