Today, more than ever, we need each other to grow in our lives.  We can’t do it alone…and who would want to?  I have 3 accountability partners in my life…one for spiritual growth, one for business growth, and one for health (not trying to grow outward anymore…).  Who are you accountable to?

FHA has recently released their guideline changes that will become effective April 1. If a borrower’s aggregate balance of any collections (including medical) is greater than $1,000, the all collections need to be paid in full prior to or at closing. The borrower could also have the accounts removed via credit repair or be on a satisfactory 90 payment plan with each collection account. This will affect millions of potential buyers who do have blemished credit from the past. It’s crucial that, as a Realtor, you check the validity of any pre-approval letters you receive from lenders you don’t know.

FHA will raise the up-front mortgage insurance premiums to 1.75% and the monthly mortgage insurance premium to 1.25% starting April 1, 2012. This stinks.
The government is hitting up the home buyer to cover the payroll tax extension that was passed last year. This is a direct increase of 10 basis points in the borrower’s mortgage payment and has the effect of a 10 basis point increase in interest rates. If you are a buyer on the fence…don’t wait for these costs and rates to go up.

The ‘robo-signing’ chaos may be coming to a head.  The National Mortgage Settlement was approved by the Federal Government and 49 states for $26 Billion.  The majority of this money is supposed to go directly to borrowers through foreclosure relief effort options, including principle reduction for qualifying borrower, short sales, anti-blight measures, and enhanced homeowner transition programs. 

Foreclosures will now be processed by lenders that have been holding on to them to wait how the Settlement played out.  To find out how these foreclosures will affect your area, please attend this FREE Seminar below

Free Seminar here

According to the great people over at KCM (keeping current matters), there are 3 strong reasons why deals don’t close

1. appraisal issues
2. lack of transparency
3. bad pre-approval letters (no reason for this one…if you have a good loan officer)

The guidelines for today’s mortgage lending remain tight. A borrower needs to be able to source the down payment money and paper trail the movement from one account to another. Whether it be Gift funds, 401K loan, IRA, proceeds from the sale of a home, or just from the savings account…any large deposits must be paper trailed and documented so the lender can know the source of the money.

Prospecting can be the biggest challenge for sales people. Today’s message is a tip that I picked up from a few years back. I have seen this form several times in several different ways. The idea is to fill out each section until you have 5 points. You get a point if you complete one of the 5 prospecting sections. Leads are bonus points so you can have more than 5 in a day.

Below is a link to the form for the Daily Action Sheet

Daily Action Sheet

Jim Camp’s book, Start With No, is a great read on negotiation.  It explains how the ‘win-win’ strategy in negotiation is NOT the best solution and often leads to bad terms. 

If you are looking for ways to get more ‘yesses’…then start with no.  It will blow up your business (in a good way)

Here’s a link to the book… Start With No

Asking questions are the key to being a great REALTOR, lender, insurance agent, or financial planner.  In today’s market, the more we know, the better we can serve you.  If you are currently working with an internet company or a person in one of these professions who is not asking you the questions, I would suggest you reconsider.  There is too much at stake to just chase the low ball rates or costs.

This weeks message is about business planning and not procrastinating.  Brian Tracy’s book “Eat That Frog” is an excellent tool to use to beat procrastination.  It’s very important to get a head start on planning for 2012 this month…this week…today.  Finish the year strong and already have your planning done as soon as you can.  This will help to have a productive first quarter next year.

Simple Business Plan click here