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How would you like to know something that you can do to ANY PROPERTY right this very second that could potentially dramatically hike the value of your appraisal? Appraisers deny this, but one came out and admitted it recently and hundreds of happy homeowners swear by this easy technique. I’ll tell you all about it in today’s episode. I’m Carole Ellis. This is episode 94. ---- So, want to know a simple step that might take a little time but could dramatically increase your home value as stated by a certified appraiser? I’ve got the details today, including a CRAZY admission from trial court judges about what makes them “think positive” about their cases and what that has to do with your appraised home value. Let’s get started… We all know that getting a property under contract for a certain price is only half the battle these days when it comes to selling real estate. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard real estate investors at our local REIA groaning in frustration because they’ve found buyers for their properties but those buyers can’t get the FINANCING they need on the properties because the appraisals just aren’t coming back high enough. It’s really frustrating for everyone, and while we’ve all heard tips like “make a list of all the renovations you did and how much they cost,” the fact of the matter is that while these types of tips help, we all want to do everything we POSSIBLY CAN to boost the value of a property before a sale so that our buyers can get financing and we can get PAID MAXIMUM VALUE for our hard work. And that’s where this simple, elbow-grease-based trick comes in… According to the National Association of Realtors (that’s the NAR) more and more real estate professionals are finding that a truly spic-and-span home, one that is DEEEEEEEP CLEANED immediately prior to its inspection and appraisal, will usually bring back an appraised value in excess of a similar home that has not been deep cleaned and, perhaps more exciting, a value in excess of what said real estate professional had even been expecting. Here’s what one Colorado investor reported: “Having your house clean does make a difference, even though in theory it should not,” he said, adding, “Appraisers are people and they are swayed by smells and how a house feels even if they aren’t conscious of it.” Another California homeowner named Jennifer Chataeuvert insists that deep cleaning her home enabled her to land an appraisal that was much higher than what she predicted, even though her appraiser insisted that he didn’t care that the house was gleaming. “The appraisal came back much higher than we had even hoped,” Chataeuvert insisted, and our Colorado agent agrees that it probably had something to do with the major deep cleaning that went on before the appraiser arrived. So does that mean that you need to deep-clean every property before you get it appraised now? Not necessarily. It depends on what you need the appraisal for. If you’re hoping to help your buyers get financing, then yes, it probably won’t hurt. On the other hand, if you’re seeking a dollar value with which to negotiate or as a reference point, for example, that deep clean may not be that important. Now, I know that I promised you some information about trial court judges and how their hunger affects their sentencing patterns (and what it means for your appraisals) so here you go: In a 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, an Israeli professor and his research team discovered that judges were far more likely to allow lighter sentences and possibly parole requests right after breakfast and again right after lunch, with the odds of a request for a lighter sentence being granted fell sharply as the judges got hungrier. “And what is an appraiser if not a judge?” asked realtor.com, noting that since the effects of hunger are generally obvious to ethical, objective professionals, it’s unlikely that having something light to eat out will hurt your chances of getting a better “eye” on your property and it certainly can’t hurt your appraiser’s mindset. Now of course, for good, straight-up honest appraisers, none of these things should affect how they judge your home, but the most honest of us can be swayed by a number of factors subconsciously, which is where deep cleaning and something called “storyline” comes in. Get the details on how to maximize your home’s presentation via a good “storyline” in our report in the REI Today Vault at www.rei.today/vault. It’s labeled with today’s episode number, 94, and titled “The REI Today Storyline Report.” Not yet a member of the REI Today Vault? Get your access right now! Join right now by texting REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444. When you do, I’ll provide you with fast, immediate access to the report as well as a lot of other timely, insightful, PRACTICAL information that will help make your investing safer, faster, and more profitable. And folks, remember, when you join the Vault you join our community, which means you have the opportunity to network with me, my guests, and your fellow listeners across the country. So go ahead right now and text REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444 or visit us online at www.rei.today/vault. REI Nation, thanks for listening in and please always remember this: Your best investment is your own education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if your TWEETS are violating certain codes of real estate ethics and advertising that could put you on the LOSING END of a lawsuit? I’ll tell the latest in new Twitter-verse regulations for real estate professionals in today’s episode. I’m Carole Ellis. This is episode 93. --- Twitter may only give you 140 characters with which to express yourself, but that doesn’t mean that your local board of realtors is going to give you a pass if you tweet something that isn’t 100-percent ABOVE BOARD with their ethics regulations. Fortunately for you (if you’re a realtor, anyway, and honestly just in general to make sure you’re practicing good real estate business) the Realtors’ Code of Ethics, which tends to keep pace with other governing bodies’ regulations and ethics requirements, has recently been revised to accommodate the new needs of tweeting real estate professionals. There are three major changes that could mean great things for your Tweet promotions, but make sure you handle them correctly or you could find yourself on the losing end of a lawsuit. First, the issue of disclosure. Technically, until recently you were supposed to disclose your ENTIRE COMPANY NAME in every tweet, which, as you can imagine, made tweeting kind of a moot point for a lot of people. Now, however, you can simply link to a display containing information about your company, but make sure that link is in your tweets if you don’t want to find yourself facing ethics scrutiny. A lot of real estate professionals use their Twitter profile to publicize this information. It’s unclear from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) report on this subject whether or not that’s technically sufficient. Second, and this is more of a timeframe issue, but it’s been changed because of the dynamic nature of advertising these days, if you find yourself dealing with a grievance complaint in a realtor’s association setting, then you only have about a month-and-a-half, 45 days, to wait before you get a resolution. That’s great news for everyone involved, but it does mean you had better keep up with all your deadlines because there won’t be a lot of timeline flexibility. Thirdly, and this is important for your EMPLOYEES, ask that employees who may tweet about your business to add a disclaimer stating that their opinions are their own in their Twitter profile. This protects you not just from negative publicity if someone gets annoyed with you and tweets about it, but also protects you in the event that an employee tweets something about your company that could land you in ethical trouble. It may or may not completely cover your bases, but the NAR says it will certainly help. Want to know more about how to legally AND effectively use Twitter in your real estate business? Check out our compilation of Twitter Tips and Legal Tricks in the REI Today Vault at www.rei.today/vault. It’s labeled with this episode number 93, and it’s full of information that will make your tweeting more effective and help keep you within the bounds of safety and ethics while you Tweet as well. Not yet a member of the REI Today Vault? Get your access right now! Join right now by texting REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444. When you do, I’ll provide you with fast, immediate access to the report as well as a lot of other timely, insightful, PRACTICAL information that will help make your investing safer, faster, and more profitable. And folks, remember, when you join the Vault you join our community, which means you have the opportunity to network with me, my guests, and your fellow listeners across the country. So go ahead right now and text REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444 or visit us online at www.rei.today/vault. REI Nation, thanks for listening in and please always remember this: Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wouldn’t you want to know if YOUR CITY was the official WORST PLACE TO LIVE in the United States? I’ll have the identity of the metro area earning that dubious distinction in today’s episode, along with how you can turn that title to your advantage if you live or invest there. I’m Carole Ellis. This is Episode 92. --- So what’s the worst city to live in in the entire country? Well, it’s probably not where you’d think. This city beat out Milwaukee, Buffalo, and Detroit for the title, and the judges of the contest, such as it is, at 24/7 Wall Street cited income inequality, high rates of violent crime, and sky-high houses prices as the reason for their decision. Oh, and the city also was recently awarded the title “rudest city in the United States” by another news and tourism outlet. So there’s that… So what city takes the cake for unpleasantness on all sides? Well, I’ll give you a hint, it’s located in sunny southern Florida, has miles of sandy beaches, and nearly perfect weather. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, it may be hard to believe but MIAMI, Florida was named the “Worst City to Live In” in 24/7 Wall Street’s most recent awarding of the title. Now, many fans of Miami and Miami tourism locals have been quick to point out that words like “best” and “worst” are extremely subjective, and that’s fair. However, whether you LIKE or AGREE with the results of this type of study or not, if you choose to invest in Miami (or in any other area that has recently gotten a top-10-worst bad rap) then you are going to have to deal with them because your potential buyers are going to have read them: trust me. The best way to deal with this kind of negative publicity is to first become informed about it, then run with it. For example, in this instance, one of the main issues that the researchers cited for Miami’s low livability score is its terrible affordability when compared to other cities of similar sizes across the country. The city’s median income is about $22,000 less than the national average and housing is about $64,000 higher than the national average. Furthermore, according to the same researchers, about one in every four people in Miami live in poverty. They then went on to point out that the income gap in the city, that means the gap in earning power between the richest one percent and the AVERAGE of the other 99 percent of earners scored a 45, meaning that the top one percent earns 45 times more than the average of everyone else, making Miami’s metro area, quote, “nearly the most unequal of any U.S. city.” End quote. So all of that sounds pretty negative on the face of it, but the important thing for YOU as an investor is to consider how relevant this is to your target market, then adjust accordingly. For example, if you are investing in luxury properties in Miami, the entire study is probably going to be largely irrelevant to your buyers because it simply does not directly affect them. On the other hand, the other “99 percent” as it were, of buyers, may find the results problematic, but if you represent a solution to their housing affordability problem (maybe via creative financing or just offering really great rental opportunities) then you’ve at least muted the study there, too. Most people will be more concerned with their personal situation than in their city’s national ranking anyway, so appealing to their personal, specific needs will quite likely resolve those issues. The real fallout from this type of study tends to affect investors who work mainly with other INVESTORS, interestingly enough, because people with little personal interest vested in an area may opt to avoid it if they believe that it has too many negative connotations. In this case, you should simply rely on local housing TRENDS and your own personal experience, complete with evidence and case studies, to make your case for you. Investors tend to view their money without a lot of emotion, so if you can prove that your strategies work in a “top-10-worst city,” then you’ll probably be okay. Want to see exactly why Miami got such a bad rap in 24/7 Wall Street’s study? We’ve got a bullet-point list of exactly what the problems were in the REI Today Vault at www.rei.today/vault. join right now by texting REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444. When you do, I’ll provide you with fast, immediate access to the report as well as a lot of other timely, insightful, PRACTICAL information that will help make your investing safer, faster, and more profitable. And folks, remember, when you join the Vault you join our community, which means you have the opportunity to network with me, my guests, and your fellow listeners across the country. So go ahead right now and text REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444 or visit us online at www.rei.today/vault. REI Nation, thanks for listening in and please always remember this: Your best investment is your own education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wouldn’t you like to know the ONE THING that a truly GOOD LENDER looks for that will very nearly GUARANTEE YOU FUNDING for your real estate deals? I got on the phone WITH A HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL REAL ESTATE LENDER to get all the details, and I’ll tell you what she said in today’s episode. I’m Carole Ellis. This is Episode 91. --- So wouldn’t you like to know anytime you asked for a loan for a real estate deal that you already basically HAD IT IN THE BAG because you were giving the lender exactly what they are looking for? If you’ve always wondered how real estate money gets from underwriters to YOUR DEALS, then you’re going to love today’s episode. I got on the phone with Heather Dreves, director of funding for Secured Investment Corporation, a real estate lender present in 90 percent of the U.S. that specializes in real estate lending (so you’re not dealing with someone who doesn’t understand your business like you probably have if you ever tried to get funding from a private lender or a mega-bank), to find out exactly what makes her underwriters approve a loan. The answer was surprisingly simple, as you’ll see. Here’s what Heather told me: In the end, we’re looking at the “whole story,” she said, noting that a good loan not only will have a borrower with “skin in the transaction,” meaning that the borrower has a vested interest in making the deal work, but will also have some education under their belt. Here’s the interesting thing: just because Heather’s underwriters require education does not mean that if you’re not already a seasoned investor, you can’t get a loan. In fact, Secured Investment Corporation actually has training that they offer to investors to educate new investors about buying properties and rehabbing them. “That way, we know we’re dealing with someone who knows what they’re doing because, well, we know what we’re doing!” Heather told me. I like that: a lender who is going the extra mile to make SURE your deals are good and that they succeed instead of just assuming that they can foreclose on you and still make good if your deal falls through on your end. I asked Heather about credit as well, since we all know that real estate investors don’t tend to have the greatest credit because so many of us have multiple mortgages, have our credit pulled regularly as part of the financing process, or have more than one project going at once. “We do pull credit on most of our borrowers,” Heather told me, but she added that in her experience, using credit alone to evaluate a borrower is “skewed.” She said, “We’re not looking for a credit SCORE, we’re looking for a willingness to make payments and good payment habits.” That means that if you have late accounts all over the place going back 10 years or so, you may have a problem, but if you have good payment habits and just a so-so credit score, your borrowing “story” as Heather refers to it, is still a good one. “We call what we do storybook lending,” Heather told me, “because we really want to know the investor’s story. What’s going on, where you came up with the amount of money you need, and what your experience is.” She added that these things don’t all have to be perfect because they are looking at the total picture, the WHOLE STORY, instead of just a few isolated pieces. And here’s an interesting side note, folks: you can see that Heather’s company does some FANTASTIC due diligence on their lending investments, and YOU can benefit from that due diligence in another way if you have money you want to INVEST in lending with someone who clearly takes care of their lenders’ interests as well as their investors’ interests. You can learn more about how to get involved with Heather on the lending side by checking out the show notes in the REI Today Vault. Let’s just say they’re basically the “Amazon.com of real estate lending” when it comes to full service for their lenders… Now, I think you’re probably starting to see what an INCREDIBLE ADVANTAGE it is to have a real live lender on speed dial, as it were, to talk to you about your deals, your borrowing, and your strategies. This is only the tip of the iceberg, folks. Heather told me SO MUCH MORE than I could ever fit into a single podcast, so I strongly recommend that you read the entire, uncut interview in the REI Today Vault and check out a special REI Today Report on Secured Investment Corporation that lays out, in three EASY POINTS, the three BIGGEST MISTAKES Heather encounters investors making on a DAILY BASIS that cause them to lose out on funding for deals that SHOULD be good ones. We’ve also got an exclusive training from Heather and her colleagues at Secured Investment Corporation in the vault, it’s called “6 Steps to Getting Your Money to Outlive You,” so head over there right now to claim yours at www.rei.today/vault. Don’t delay, and if you’re not yet a member, don’t worry! You can become one right now by texting REITODAY no spaces, no periods to 33444. When you do, I’ll provide you with fast, immediate access to these reports and trainings as well as a lot of other timely, insightful, PRACTICAL information that will help make your investing safer, faster, and more profitable. And folks, remember, when you join the Vault you join our community, which means you have the opportunity to network with me, my guests, and your fellow listeners across the country. So go ahead right now and text REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444 or visit us online at www.rei.today/vault. REI Nation, thanks for listening in and please always remember this: Your best investment is your own education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wouldn’t you want to know if a certain word that YOU thought was covering your bases in your marketing materials was actually setting you up to pay MAXIMUM FINES AND PENALTIES if your buyers know to sue you over it? I’ll tell you the word and the court case in today’s episode. I’m Carole Ellis. This is Episode 90. --- So a certain word is very popular in real estate marketing materials, and although you’d think it would protect you, in reality it could land you squarely on the losing side of a lawsuit if your buyers opt to sue. A recent case out in California set the precedent when a judge awarded a buyer the maximum amount he requested (and probably would have received more) when the seller of a certain property used the word “approximate” to describe the size of a condo in a listing. While the seller believed that the use of the word approximate covered his bases when it turned out the condo was 78 square feet smaller than advertised, a small claims court judge did not agree and said that the seller made a quote “material misrepresentation about the property’s square footage” end quote and the seller had to pay the buyer exactly what he demanded, $4,999, for the error. The judge would have fined him more but that is all the buyer asked for, erroneously assuming that was the maximum amount he could demand. Here are the details so you don’t make a similar error: A homeowner in Glendale, California, paid cash for a condo in the area when he bought it in 2011. Later that year, he discovered that the condo was not, as he had believed and had been advertised, 1,338 square feet, but rather 1,260 square feet. He had not been aware of the discrepancy earlier because he did not have the condo appraised before he made the purchase (he didn’t have to because he paid cash, but I think you guys can maybe see a bit of a lesson here as well…) Anyway, later in the year a neighbor trying to finance a condo discovered HIS unit was smaller than advertised and so the plaintiff in the case checked out his own unit and discovered a similar issue. He then took the seller, developer Americana, to small claims court over the issue and received the response that square footage in sales materials had been labeled as “approximate” and there was no issue. The judge in the case, however, sided with the plaintiff, who says now he overpaid more than $30,000 for that extra 78 square feet. He could have gotten right at a third of that from small claims court if he’d realized he could ask for it. The condo owner told the Los Angeles Times that he’s not so upset about the money he didn’t get in his case as he is glad about his “moral victory,” which he says will protect other consumers from the misleading advertising. Want a list of other potentially problematic words that could hurt your marketing? We’ve got in the REI Today Vault at www.rei.today/vault! Not yet a member? Become one! join right now by texting REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444. When you do, I’ll provide you with fast, immediate access to the report as well as a lot of other timely, insightful, PRACTICAL information that will help make your investing safer, faster, and more profitable. And folks, remember, when you join the Vault you join our community, which means you have the opportunity to network with me, my guests, and your fellow listeners across the country. So go ahead right now and text REITODAY no spaces no periods to 33444 or visit us online at www.rei.today/vault. REI Nation, thanks for listening in and please always remember this: Your best investment is your own education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.