Welcome to the Liz Moore Insider!

Don’t miss this week’s Roundtable on POSITIONING YOUR LISTING TO SELL!  We’ll look at a variety of different angles to help you position your inventory to be the BEST value in its category.  If you have listings that have been on the market for more than 120 days, then come and get some fresh marketing ideas and recommendations for your seller clients!  We’re also going to discuss the pros and cons of Value Range Marketing.  9:30 Monday in Newport News, and 9:30 Thursday in Williamsburg.

Laurie Wagner, a local expert in reverse mortgages, will be the instructor for Monday’s Roundtable in Newport News at 9:30.  Did you know that your clients over 62 can purchase a NEW home with a reverse mortgage?  A great option for some SENIORS, reverse mortgages enable buyers/sellers to tap into the equity in their home and take out payments rather than making them.

Few local lenders or agents are aware of the benefits and qualifications of this program, so invest an hour, and learn a new financing program!

Brian Lytle has created a cheat sheet for us to help us remember who has the authority to contract when we our sellers are divorcing, when one has died, when there is a trust, or when they are a limited liability company or corporation.  This is posted under resources on the intranet, but you can click here to download and save your own copy.

Special thanks to Brian for always keeping us ahead of the curve!

Join us this week for a valuable roundtable that is designed to help us MAXIMIZE the potential from our sphere of influence.  Local financial planner Guy Manchester will share his secrets on how to capitalize on our personal networks.  If you’ve never had the opportunity to hear a seminar with Guy, then you should join us just for that!  An engaging speaker, and the Master of Networking, Guy is full of practical tips and suggestions that apply in any industry.

You don’t want to miss Monday’s Roundtable at 9:30 in the Training Center!! Liz and Brian will do an ARS presentation on common contract challenges (delivery and acceptance issues, missing initials, estates and much, much more!)…prizes for the most correct answers!

Note the time change to 8:30 on Thursdays for our eTEAM meetings!  This week we’re going to “move to Charlottesville” and do an online search through a prospective buyers’ eyes.  We’ll then analyze our findings to see if we can determine what’s working best from a google ranking perspective, as well as have a discussion on optimizing keywords and meta tags.  Homework for class is Online Dominance Clicks to Closes Lesson 10.  See you there!

Have a client interested in a custom home?  Then you need to understand the ins and outs of selling new construction.

This week’s guest speaker is Greg McDaniel, a local builder with a GREAT reputation, both for building a terrific product, and for sharing our commitment to outstanding customer service.

Roundtable will cover the following highlights:

1. Greg will review a set of blueprints, making sure that you can navigate a set of plans with your clients…detailing everything from roof pitch, to window height and fixture placement, to understanding which are load bearing walls and which can be moved.
2. We will walk paragraph by paragraph through a builder contract, pointing out each area that differs from standard residential resale contracts, and insuring that you are aware of all of the issues that are unique to new construction sales.
3. Greg will review builder allowances and the “tricks of the trade”…how to help your buyer client maximize their allowances and invest your money wisely.

Have a client interested in a deal?  Foreclosures just may be the way to go.  But, foreclosure transactions are not for the faint of heart!  We have assembled a panel of your peers, who are experienced in foreclosure and short sale transactions.  Come prepared to learn how to prepare a winning foreclosure bid, the advantages of selling foreclosure homes, what to watch out for when selling foreclosures, and much, much more!  See you at 9:30 (Monday in Newport News, Thursday in Williamsburg).

We’re hosting a series of courses for the public in our Oyster Point Training Center, on Thursday evenings in April and May from 7-8pm.  There is no charge to attend, but an rsvp is required to insure that we have space and materials available.  Light refreshments are served.

We are covering the bases of fundamentals for the residential real estate investor.  Last week, Liz did an overview of the state of the local market, what to look for in investment property, and we analyzed the basics of different investment objectives:  cash flow, long term equity growth, and profit from flipping…as well as some of the pitfalls of each.

Next week, local real estate attorney guru Brian D. Lytle, Esq., will present the basics of Landlord-Tenant law in Virginia.  It’s a great way for a prospective investor to get their feet wet, and a primer of what every landlord needs to know.

Future weeks include 1031 tax deferred exchanges and a variety of our preferred lenders presenting different non owner occupied financing strategies.  On the final evening, we plan to follow class with a “trade show” of some of our favorite local vendors and contractors.  One of the most valuable resources we can provide clients is access to our rolodex of preferred vendors; because we rely on them so heavily on an ongoing basis, we are privvy to those who are reliable, affordable, and can be trusted to deliver exceptional work.

This is a great reason for you to touch base with prospective “wanna be” investors, and invite them as your guest to our training series!  Bring a friend!