Market Trends

Don’t Stress It!

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As Realtors we often don't take enough time for
ourselves – letting our business take over.  The article below has some
great tips from agents and brokers, including myself, who have developed
systems that carve out space for everything they must do along with those
things they want to do.  

Who Ya’ Gonna Call? Stress Busters!
Overcoming Stress by Staying Organized and Fit

By Michele Lerner

Time is money, particularly for independent contractors such
as Realtors®. Unlike salaried workers, agents won’t continue to earn money when
they take a day off.
Under those circumstances, Realtors® may be tempted to work as many hours as
they can until they collapse from the lack of sleep and pressure. Yet some
agents do manage to stay on top of their careers while maintaining a satisfying
personal life. How do they do it?
Spending a day at the spa or a week at the beach may seem like the ideal way to
de-stress, but many busy Realtors® find taking that much time for themselves
impossible. Some agents and brokers have developed systems that carve out space
for everything they must do along with those things they want to do.

Organization and
Scheduling: The One-Two Punch For Fighting Stress
“There’s no one way to do business, and many agents have different systems that
help them, but I believe the best way to handle it is to be extremely organized
in your business and in your personal life,” says Maureen O’Hara, managing
broker of a Long & Foster Real Estate office in Reston. “I know that agents
have to be even more flexible than brokers, but they need to make a daily,
monthly and yearly plan, even if they have to change it later.”
O’Hara concedes that every day has to have an allowance for the unexpected, but
believes that certain things should remain consistent.  She stresses the
importance of having something related to business development on a Realtor’s®
daily to-do list, such as working on lead generation by getting in touch with
past clients and potential new ones.

“The real estate business is stressful when you are not in control of your time
or your clients,” says O’Hara. 


Staying organized and keeping a daily schedule with something planned for each
day to generate business can help agents feel less stressed.

“Anyone who tells you that you can balance your life is crazy,” says Derek
Blain, a Realtor® with Keller Williams Realty in McLean. “All you can do is
counter balance it.”

Blain uses time blocking and scheduling to handle stress. “I schedule lead
generation time and time for administrative tasks and vacations, too,” says
Blain. “I also schedule time for exercise.”

Scott MacDonald, a broker and owner of two Re/Max Gateway offices, including
one in Chantilly, says that setting goals should be the first step toward
handling stress.

“You have to know what you need to do to attain your goals daily, weekly,
monthly and yearly, and then you need to manage your time to get yourself
there,” says MacDonald. “I schedule my work time very tightly by meeting with
agents in the morning one-on-one, then doing other brokerage work from 11 a.m.
to 2 p.m., then working with clients in the afternoons and evenings.”

MacDonald also closes his door at the office when he isn’t meeting with staff
or clients so that he can focus without distractions.

Controlling your Clients and your Communication
MacDonald uses a BlackBerry for emails and sets priorities for the urgency of
every message so that he can set aside time to deal with each one.

 “I recommend that everyone remove the ‘sent from my BlackBerry’ signature
line from their emails, because once you have that, everyone expects you to
answer every email immediately from your BlackBerry.”

 MacDonald also pays about $30 per month for a service that automatically
turns every voice mail into an email.
 “Instead of listening to my voice mails, which can take a lot of time, I
can read them quickly and then forward them to someone else to answer if that
makes more sense,” says MacDonald. “The great thing about this system is that
you can keep your own number, unlike [other systems], which [require] an 866
number.”

O’Hara suggests that agents take control of their clients and their
communication.

“Recently I left someone a message whose voice mail said they return calls
daily between 3 and 5 p.m.,” says O’Hara. “That’s a great idea, because then
you don’t get caught up in this cycle of constant calls.”


She suggests that agents attempt to have their clients work with them on their
preferred schedule whenever possible, which allows the agents to have some
control over their time.

MacDonald coaches two basketball teams for his children in addition to
maintaining a complex work schedule, so he schedules his practices and games as
appointments.

“When I am working with clients and they ask to meet during a practice time, I
just tell them I have other appointments, and we schedule our appointment for
another time,” says MacDonald. “Actually, when you are working with clients I’m
not sure it’s so great to say you are wide open. People don’t want to work with
someone who doesn’t have any business.”

Agents can easily lose control of their time by being constantly available for
phone calls or other communication with clients.

“I prioritize my emails and my voice mails, because some are urgent and some
are not,” says Blain. “Anything that can wait, I will leave for the morning,
which is a great time to catch up on less urgent emails.”

 

Outsourcing and the
Team Approach
“I share an assistant with other agents so that I can pay her on an hourly
basis,” says Blain. “I also outsource as much as I can, such as direct mail and
brochures, which can be streamlined through my office.”


Hiring part-time help as often as possible to help with routine administrative
items and things such as direct mailing works for Mike Malferrari, a Realtor®
with Avery Hess Realtors® in Springfield, who does not have a full-time
assistant. 

MacDonald works with a real estate team and a team of managers for his offices.
“I really believe that you should ‘do what you do best and then delegate the
rest’,” says MacDonald. “I’ve been very careful to hire people who work well
together, and this has increased our volume of business tremendously.”

 MacDonald maintains that good time management begins with being able to
communicate well with everyone. All of his meetings have an agenda that is sent
to participants ahead of time, so that each meeting can be as short as 15
minutes if possible.

Diane Edwards, a Realtor® with Century 21 New Millennium in McLean, says she
relies on back-up support from her office, especially for brochures.

“One thing that helps me with stress is the ability to work from multiple
locations,” says Edwards. “I have a completely outfitted home office so that I
can relax physically while still getting work done. If I need help, I can get
online support from my regular office.”

Reaching out to your Broker and Colleagues
While some agents think handling the roiling real estate market of the past
few years may require professional mental health counseling, others rely on
their office mates for “talk therapy.”

“I work with all my agents to identify the problems that are causing stress and
possible solutions to the problems,” says Jo Anne Johnson, managing broker at
Westgate Realty Group in Falls Church. “For instance, recently an agent was
facing an extremely frustrating situation with a client, and we eventually
realized that they just could not get along. I took over the final steps of the
transaction instead of the agent, including the walk through and the
settlement. Agents need to see that one solution for stressful problems can be
turning to their broker.”

Johnson says that she tries to be available at every possible moment for her
agents, no matter the time of day.


“If someone calls and they are in the middle of a settlement or have another
urgent problem, I need to be there for them no matter what I am doing,” says
Johnson.

Johnson fosters camaraderie among the agents in her office with guest speakers
and frequent meetings. They know they can trust her and each other to help them
with difficult issues.

Edwards agrees. “We work hard to share our frustrations and problems because we
can help each other with solutions or just by listening,” she says. “We also
have an extremely supportive manager. No problem is too big or too small to
discuss with our manager.”

O’Hara says work can actually be a great stress-reliever for people with
problems in their personal lives.


“If you can get involved in what you are doing you can sometimes leave the
other stress in your life at the front door of the office,” says O’Hara.

A
Sound Mind and a Healthy Body
“Working out is very important,” says
Blain. “Your body is a multi-million-dollar-producing machine, so you have to
work at keeping it in the best possible shape.”

Malferrari runs three to four times every week, usually in the morning. “I find
that while I am exercising I am free to think away from the phone calls and
emails that normally interrupt my time,” says Malferrari. “I like to do it in
the morning because it helps me plan my day.”

Morning exercise seems to work best for many agents as a way to find time for
themselves physically and mentally.


O’Hara says, “I get up early and I am exercising by 6 a.m. at least five times
per week. While I am exercising, my brain gets in gear, too, and by the time I
am dressing for work I am working on my mental list of things to do.”

The Upside of Down Time
When it’s time to take a true vacation
rather than an hour or a day off, many agents opt to schedule a trip between
late October and early January to take advantage of real estate’s traditional
slow period. 

“Luckily my child isn’t in school yet, so we are able to take vacations at
non-traditional times,” says Malferrari. “We plan our vacations around the
quiet times in the market.”

Refreshed by time away from home, agents can begin the New Year with enthusiasm
and plenty of plans for a productive year. Whether it’s relaxing at the beach,
unwinding on the treadmill, or commiserating with colleagues, busy agents
should take advantage of opportunities to minimize stress. These personal
investments ultimately will yield positive business results.

Article can be found here: 
http://nvar.com/PublicationsbrnbspampMedianbsp/UPDATEMagazine/2010UpdateIssues/JanuaryFebruary2010Issue/ArticleStressBusters/tabid/583/Default.aspx

The Market Is What the Market Is…

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Platinum
Group and Haymarket Real Estate Exchange in January

AMSHI
is charging $5,000 to buyers and $5,000 to sellers to negotiate short sales…short
sales are getting tougher – for example, Bank of America is taking forever and
in many cases sends you back to square one. 
Banks are setting unrealistic expectations for closing dates with
approvals on their short sales.  Banks
aren’t up to speed on lending rules and regulations when giving the approvals.  Employees at these banks are not educated –
fresh from college, calls are often outsourced, and they have not been trained
properly.  Bank of America is now using
Equator; therefore, there is no one person to speak with which makes the
process even more frustrating.

Foreclosures
are coming – it’s ground hog day – we keep hearing the same thing over and
over.  One agent has 6 in the pipe line;
another has 5 in the pipeline and 6 under contract and is getting about 1 every
2 to 3 weeks.  We are below the national
average as far as default rates and our inventory level is 33% distressed. 

We
discussed “shadow” inventory that we just don’t see, but the media continues to
talk about.  If banks are going release
foreclosures into the market, it will be a slow and steady release and not a
“dump” on the market scenario. 
Foreclosure filings were down 26% in Prince William County in 2009 –
stay tuned!

It’s
tough to find properties under $400,000.

We
are waiting on the FHA mortgagee letter to be released to hear about new
guidelines – increase in down payment with credit scores under 580, increase in
upfront mortgage insurance, reduced seller concessions, and the waving of the
seasoning requirements for flips – we shall see…

VA’s
max loan is now $758,000.

Inventory
levels are slowly increasing which give the appearance of things being slow,
but it really isn’t – especially in the lower price ranges.

Need
to build urgency in buyers – prices are affordable, interest rates remain
attractive, home buyer tax credit is still in place, and loan programs are in
place today that may not be available in the future.

A Real Threat?

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The
question surrounding our market lately is shadow inventory and how will it
affect us.  Well in my opinion, it is a
very good question as it is a question I have been asking myself and our agents
for several months.  Over the past 18-24 months we have heard about
foreclosure being released into the market – it hasn’t happened as of
yet.  The latest indication from asset managers is that properties will be
released in the 2nd quarter of this year.  We shall see if it
occurs.

 

The
question I ask is for agents to look around their neighborhood for vacant
properties not currently listed for sale, and ask their neighbors and friends
if they see many unlisted vacant houses.  The answer I typically get is
no, there aren’t that many. 

 

We
ask how many of your friends or neighbors outside of real estate are unemployed
locally.  The answer, not many.  We ask our agents if requests for
BPO’s (broker price opinions) are on the rise, steady or going down – here you
get a very mixed bag but mostly we hear they are going up, but only
slightly. 

 

We
run MRIS numbers Friday mornings in Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William,
Arlington, Fauquier, Alexandria City, Fairfax City, Falls Church City, Manassas
City and Manassas Park for resales only in the categories of actives, under
contract, settled the last 30 days, vacant, and rentals to help us determine
trends in the market.  As of this past Friday, there were 4,727 active
resales in these areas.  335 were listed as foreclosures, 931 were listed
as short sales and 41 were listed as undisclosed (which are more than likely
short sales) which represents 28% of the inventory.  These numbers are
below 2008 numbers when we experienced our foreclosure boom.  And, our
inventory numbers are down 54% from the same week last year and are down 70%
from 2 years ago.  Plus, we only have a 2.5 month supply of homes.

 

So
where will the shadow inventory come from is the question and I believe it is
foreclosures and unapproved short sales.  What dictates
foreclosures?  Unemployment is one of the biggest factors.  The job
loss to foreclosure ratio is 6 – 1.  I understand that unemployment in
Northern Virginia is around 4.2% which is very low.  Job relocation and
subsequent inability to sell.  Well national unemployment is over 10% and
companies are relocating here so we are seeing fewer relocations out of the
area.  Divorce is another factor – it is my understanding that they are
down because people are under water with values and can’t afford to finalize
divorces.  So it seems unlikely we will see a huge influx on inventory
from these areas but we do have two real threats in our future – Prime loan ARM
readjustments and the eventual unapproved short sales inventory being reentered
into inventory.  The only issue is we are unsure of the true number we
have here in our area and if it will have any significant impact.

 

We
will have “shadow” inventory but I don’t believe it to be a real threat to our
market as our inventory level is low and we should be able to absorb it with
the pent up demand we are experiencing with the home buyer tax credit expansion
and extension coupled with low rates and reduced valuations of properties.  Get it? 
Got it?  Good!

 

Now,
go sell something!

Time Flies…

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Time flies – it’s an amazing phenomenon.  As many of you are contemplating your plan
for the New Year and what success is going to look like for you in it – think
about this – 5% of the year is already gone. 
Have you attained 5% of your yearly goals?  Are you working a specific plan or are you
muddling through each day “hoping” things will come together for you this
year?  Each day that goes by without
direction is a lost day in your life and before you know it, another valuable
year is gone. 

It is time to begin to live a purpose driven life with you
as the pilot – not a passenger.  Start to
map out your daily activities, find an accountability partner to hold you and
them to a higher standard, write down the objectives you want to attain, and
set your course for success.  One of the
best ways to attain a goal that is a SMARTY (Specific, Measurable, Attainable,
Realistic, Timeframe oriented and Yours) is to break it down into smaller,
measurable and manageable pieces to help you achieve them.  In order to help you better achieve your
goals is to write them out on paper. 
This critical step cannot be overlooked!

As we all know, time is precious and once it is gone, you
can’t get it back.  So get busy getting
busy and map out your pathway to success. 
We are here to help.  Get it?  Got it? 
Good!

Now, go sell something!

The Clock in Running!

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While you’ve probably heard a lot in the media about the government’s efforts
to rejuvenate the housing market with the first-time home buyer tax credit, you
might have missed the fact that the most recent expansion of the legislation
also includes a $6,500 credit for current homeowners who want to purchase a new
home…commonly referred to as “moving up.”

As a Member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network®, I’ve worked with many
homeowners who have wanted to move to a new home over the past year, but have
stayed put due to a lack of confidence in the market. Now, however, thanks to
the tax advantages of the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of
2009, these homeowners are moving off the sidelines and purchasing the homes
they’ve always wanted.

But the time to act is now—there is only a short window of opportunity! The
move-up buyer credit expires in April of 2010, which means you must contract
and close on your home purchase by June 30, 2010. As you know, selecting a home
is not a simple process, so start your search now so you don’t miss the
deadline.

For
starters, here are the key facts you need to know about the move-up buyer tax
credit:

1. A qualified current homeowner who wishes to move
to a different home (a ‘move-up’ buyer) must have owned and resided in their
residence for five consecutive years out of the last eight. It’s not enough
that you have been homeowners for five years—you must have been in the same
home for five consecutive years.

2. Single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and
married couples with a joint income up to $225,000 qualify for the full tax
credit. According to Goldman Sachs, these income limits make approximately 70%
of current homeowners eligible for the credit.

3. The maximum credit amount for current homeowners is $6,500. Under the new
legislation, a tax credit may only be issued for homes purchased for $800,000
or less.

4. Even though the term “move-up” is used to describe these buyers, the credit
is not predicated on buying a home of higher value than your current home.

5. Move-up buyers are not required to sell their current home to qualify for
the credit. They must reside in the new home for at least three years, but they
can keep their existing home and either leave it vacated or use it for rental
purposes.

 

These are just a few of the key facts surrounding
the move-up buyer tax credit. If you would like to find out more, including
whether or not you are eligible for the credit, please leave me a comment! Be
sure to forward this to all your homeowner friends so they can take advantage
of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It’s the Little Things That Make All the Difference

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As I reflect on our Toys for Tots event Saturday, it made
me realize – it’s the little things that make all the difference.  We collected over 270 toys for
underprivileged children and those toys, no matter how small they are, will
make a huge difference in their lives. 
When we collected food and money to buy food for the Society of St.
Vincent de Paul and delivered a shed full of food to provide just a meal or perhaps
two to a family in need, you realize that giving just a little makes a big
difference.  Someone didn’t go to bed
hungry one night because of our efforts. 

How or what does this mean to you?  Take the time to do the little things for
others and you will receive more in return than you give.  You get satisfaction, pleasure and enjoyment
out of helping others.  In addition, it
gives you a more optimistic outlook in all that you do – and even a little more
confidence in yourself knowing that you have done a little more than the others
you encounter in life. 

Philanthropy is defined one way as a desire to improve the
material, social, and spiritual welfare of humanity, especially through
charitable activities.  It only takes a
little effort and a little time but it reaps big rewards – not just to you but
the others you touch.  Start to make an
impact in other’s lives and you will feel the difference it makes in your life.

How does this concept of doing the little things make all
the difference correlate to business?  Do
the little things everyday and you will see big results there as well.  Make one extra phone call to a past client to
see how they are doing.  Make one
additional call to a business to develop a new relationship for establishing
referrals for each other.  Write one more
note to let someone you know you are thinking of them.  Read one additional article, blog or magazine
in real estate to learn something new or reinforce a thought you may have on a
particular subject.  Attend one more
training, get another designation, or attend another seminar to learn a little
more than other agents.  Get in a little
earlier and work a little later. 
Basically just do a little bit more than the next person in the business
and you will reap more rewards more quickly. 
The law of reciprocity will take care of you – guaranteed!  Get it? 
Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

A Perfect Storm

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I was
recently interviewed for the Washington Examiner newspaper about the extension of the tax credit of home
buyers – here is a synopsis of our discussion:

 

The
extension of the home buyer tax credit will definitely spur housing sales and
here’s why.  It brings into play move up buyers as well as extends the
first time buyer credit.  On the move up buyer side, you have to have
owned and lived in your principal residence 5 consecutive years out of the last
8 years to qualify but it will bring “new” buyers into our market place. 
Over the last year, we have seen little move up buyers as a result of lost
equity; uncertainty of perceived value in the market as a result of
foreclosures and short sales, and consumer confidence has been low because of
reports on unemployment and news on the recession.  Therefore, our market
has been primarily first time buyers and investors with a few relocation buyers
and even fewer move up buyers thrown into the mix.  It is a matter of
education on the REALTOR’s part as well as the media to get the word out on to
our move up market on what an advantage this is to them and why they should
jump on this tax credit.  We have a perfect storm for buying real estate
right now – the tax credit, historically low rates, and prices are affordable
in many areas – especially in the move up buyer price range.  There are a
few restrictions that apply but not many.  The purchase of the new home
must be a principal residence that would qualify for the capital gain tax
exclusion of $250,000 for singles and $500,000 for married people
definition;  the purchaser’s income cannot exceed $125,000 for individuals
and $225,000 for a couple filing jointly on their tax returns; the home’s
purchase price cannot exceed $800,000 and the tax credit is equal to 10% of the
purchase price up to $6,500; you cannot purchase the new residence from a
family member;  the tax may have to be repaid if you sell the acquired
property or cease to use it as your principal residence in less than three
years of acquiring the property; and lastly, it is for contracts written
between November 9, 2009 and April 30, 2010 that must close by June 30,
2010.  The contract and settlement dates will also help builders or people
who wish to build on land they already own if people react quickly as most
builders don’t have inventory/spec houses available and the typical timeframe
to build locally is 4 – 6 months.

 

The
extension of the first time buyer tax credit has been modified slightly but it
is for the better.  The main difference of the previous tax credit and the
new one is the income qualifications – they have been increased to $125,000 for
singles and $225,000 for married couples.  The tax credit is 10% of the
purchase price up to $8,000 so it applies to homes purchased up to
$800,000.  The tax credit applies to homes that are purchased between
January 1, 2009 and April 30, 2010 and they too must settle by June 30,
2010.  There is no repayment of the credit unless you sell with three years
or cease to use the property as your principal residence within the three year
time frame.  If you purchase in DC, you can only use the tax credit and
cannot piggy back the with the District’s first time buyer tax credit –
sorry!  As a clarification, a first time buyer is anyone – including
spouses – who have not owned a principal residence in the previous 3 years.

 

In both
instances, buyers may claim their credit on their tax returns by filling out
IRS form 5405 and documenting the appropriate deductible amount on line 69 of
the 1040 for 2009 tax returns or line 67 for 2008 tax returns.  They must
also provide a copy of the HUD – 1 form proving the completed purchase within
the appropriate timeframes allotted by the guidelines.  Additionally, the
homes purchased must be a principal residence and do not apply to investment
properties or second homes.

 

Today,
our biggest challenge is inventory.  As an example, inventory levels of
existing homes are down 57% from the same week last year in Northern
Virginia.  Our inventory levels are at April/May of 2005
levels– lots of buyers and not many homes to choose from make buying a home
tough in today’s market.  The reasons for the number of buyers in the
market match the aforementioned perfect storm for home buying – the tax credit,
low rates, and affordable housing prices.  We expect the credit to
continue to encourage buyers to enter the housing market through the extension
dates, then the typical spring market should take hold and the housing industry
will help carry us further out of the recession if conditions remain
stable.  There are questions lurking on the horizon in the housing market
that question stability – not everything may be so rosy.  The uncertainty
is over; rate constancy after the government purchasing of mortgage backed
securities ends at the end of March, 2010 and housing prices being suppressed
by the implementation of the HVCC and lastly, the effect of foreclosures moving
forward on housing prices.

 

It is our
job to get the word out and help our clients take advantage of this
unprecedented opportunity.  Get it?  Got it? 
Good!

 

Now, go
sell something!

Where are we today in Residential Real Estate?

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Existing home sales were up 10% in October over last year’s
sales pace.  Why?  One of the main reasons is that prices are
down.   In many price points and
locations, prices are slowly increasing but in others, they continue to
fall.  In a recent poll by Zillow, home owners responded to a question
asking about their property values…here are their answers:  26% thought their property values went
up;  25% thought their value had remained
unchanged and 49% thought their values went down.  Well, the truth of the matter is that 72% of
the country has lost value in their homes this year and only 18% had seen an
increase.  Unfortunately, as we all know,
perception isn’t reality – too bad for us. 
Why are we having value issues? 
As we have discussed in the past, a lot of the problems stem from the
Home Valuation Code of Conduct and the ramifications it has had on our
appraisals lately – let’s hope this gets reversed soon!  Another reason for the increase in sales is
interest rates.  Rates are at historic
lows and have been for several months. And lastly, the first time home buyer tax credit and the subsequent
extension has generated additional sales. 
The extension of the credit also includes a component where home owners
who have been in their principal residence greater than 5 years can sell and
move into another principal residence and receive a $6,500 tax credit under
certain conditions.  See the link above
for additional details.

So, you ask, what does this mean to me?  Well, you need to get busy finding first time
buyers and move up buyers who have been in their homes for more than 5 years!  You need to become proactive and seek out
people wanting to be educated on the market and take advantage of the
opportunity available to them.  Why?  If you aren’t being proactive and you are
sitting back waiting for people to come to you or you are lucky enough to be in
the situation where you are taking orders – like many did from 2003-2006 – you
will be out of business in 2011!  History
repeats itself as we all know.  Don’t sit
back and wait for it to happen – make it happen.  Get it? 
Got it?  Good!

Now, go sell something!

Numbers, Short Sales and Taxation…oh my!!!

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ScottsCam 001

Wow!  Lots of great info was shared today at training
– numbers, top ten questions ready to be answered, short sales in any market
and then Aronson & Company notes on taxation of debt forgiveness.

 

Numbers (in Northern Virginia)

 

  • Active (Sales)                                      5414
  • Vacant                                                 1597
  • % of Market                                         29.5%
  • Month Supply (For Sale)                      1.8
  • Month Supply (For Rent)                     2.2
  • Month Supply Sold                              2.1

 

 

Top Ten Questions – ready
to be answered!

 

  1. Is the housing market getting better?
  2. When will housing bottom out?
  3. What signals should I watch to determine
    whether my local market is improving?
  4. How can I figure out the value of my home?
  5. Does it matter whether I’m ‘under water’?
  6. If I lose my home to foreclosure, how long
    will it take to repair my credit record?
  7. If I’m renting, is now a good time to buy a
    house?
  8. Can I get a tax credit if I buy a home now?
  9. Can I get a mortgage on attractive terms?
  10. Should I invest in foreclosed homes?

 

 

Aronson & Company
Notes

 

·       
Cancellation
of debt is a taxable event

·       
Bankruptcy
does protect from tax liability from a tax liability that occurred prior to
bankruptcy.

·       
Deed in Lieu
of Foreclosure – similar to short sale – selling to third party with bank’s
approval. 

·       
Loan
Modifications can also result in cancellation of debt and the modifier may
receive a 1099 from the lender – be aware this is could possibly happen!

·       
The discharge
of acquisition debt secured by the taxpayer’s principal residence is excluded
from income up to $2,000,000 until December 31, 2012.  This date is subject to change.


For a complete chart of
the implications of the Taxation of Debt Forgiveness handout we received call
or email me and we will get it to you. 
As is always the case – you learn more by listening, taking notes and
reading the materials than you do by reading my synopsis – get to training
yourself to internalize it more!  Get
it?  Got it?  Good!

 

Now, go sell something!

Determine Your Good to Great Moment!

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Our Accelerent meeting
featured another outstanding speaker Don Yaeger
– the former editor of Sports
Illustrated.  In over hundreds of
interviews and encounters with athletes over the years he developed his 16
Consistent Characteristics of Greatness.

Don-headshot_web

 

Qualities that those who
demonstrate greatness possess

  • Hate losing more then love winning
  • No excuses. 
    Excuses keep you from going from good to great.  Basically make it happen.  Determine
    what is your good to great moment!      

 

Three themes of Greatness

  1. Greatness is a process – no one is born
    great.  You must work at it
    consistently and persistently.
  2. Not one single characteristic requires
    physical skills; you must be mentally, emotionally and spiritually
    disciplined.
  3. Great ones understand they are not perfect – they
    must continually work to get it done.

 

Other
thoughts that were shared

  • Get help if you need it – never too big never
    too small.
  • Something will happen that will affect your
    life – it is destine to happen – will you be better or bitter?  Use adversity as the fuel to motivate
    yourself – this is your inner fire! 
  • Value education

 

If you can’t change the people
around you, change the people you are around – seek to get better!

 

Determine what you will
get out of every situation you are in – yearn to learn! 

 

So here are the 16 Consistent Characteristics of Greatness

 

How They Think

  1. It’s Personal – They hate to lose more then
    they love to win.
  2. Rubbing Elbows – They understand the value of
    association.
  3. Believe – They have faith in a higher power.
  4. Contagious Enthusiasm – They are positive
    thinkers…They are enthusiastic…and that enthusiasm rubs off. 

 

How They Prepare

  1. Hope for the Best, But…They prepare for all
    possibilities before they step on the field.
  2. What Off-Season?  They are always working towards the next
    game…The goal is what’s ahead, and there’s always something ahead.
  3. Visualize Victory – They see victory before the
    game begins
  4. Inner Fire – They use adversity as fuel

 

How They Work

  1. Ice in Their Veins – They are risk-takers and
    don’t fear making a mistake.
  2. When All Else Fails – They know how and when to adjust their game plan.
  3. Ultimate Teammate – They will assume whatever
    role is necessary for the team to win.
  4. Not Just About the Benjamins – They don’t play
    just for the money.

 

How They Live

  1. Do Unto Others – They know character is
    defined by how they treat those who cannot help them.
  2. When no one is watching – They are comfortable
    in the mirror…They live their life with integrity.
  3. When Everyone is Watching – They embrace the
    idea of being a role model.
  4. Records are Made to be Broken – They know
    their legacy isn’t what they did on the field.  They are well-rounded.