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Building a Real Estate or Business Practice

January 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
counselling

To build a real estate practice first one needs to learn the basics.

At Keller Williams These basics are are taught in our two courses known as

1/Camp 443

2/ 36/12/3

Once you have completed these two courses the next best steps are

1/ decide which 2 or 3 items you will learn thoroughly inside out and backwards upside down and standing on their head.

2/ Choose ONE Mentor and contract with them to train you.  Listen intently and follow thru with them completely on all that you are asked to do.    If you don’t do not be surprised or upset when you don’t get the results you are hoping for.

When a person has become a Real Estate Millionaire such as myself there is a  reason for it.  If you do not have the same status  there is a reason for that also.  Don’t assume you know anything and don’t run around to everyone else trying to find out what everyone does to fix the  first persons system.  The system is not broken it takes time to work.   This also shows extreme rudeness and lack of respect to your mentor.  If you don’t respect this person  and aren’t prepared to listen you shouldn’t have chosen them in the first place.

Learning to Listen and being Coachable is the key.  If you do not make yourself Coachable eventually no one will be interested to Coach you.

You are not in a position to be creative  when you are brand new, you have not achieved anything in this field of endeavor yet.

Every field has it’s basics and it’s ground rules.  Learn them thoroughly.  If you want to work with watercolors and paint, watercolors have their ground rules.  They change entirely the day you decide you want to work with acrylics instead.

When you have made at least $100,000 in commissions  with one system you will be in a position to start becoming creative.  Often people do this and then the system starts to fail and now they say “ the system doesn’t work”.  Some things are they way they are because they work.

Expect to walk thru all the steps with your mentor and do not expect them to repeat themselves dozens of times to you or to put up with you constantly if you don’t follow through, if you don’t show up for coaching sessions or constantly cancel with one story or another or don’t do your work.  If this happens on a constant basis you will find yourself fired.

They are giving you a gift that can earn you millions of $  over a lifetime.  Value it, treasure it.  Revere what you do. If you don’t Revere your work you will fail.   You are dealing with the average persons largest investment of a lifetime.  Be respectful of your mentor, their space and their time.  Do not expect them to be your best buddy or even your buddy.  This is a business relationship.  Listen, learn and grow.  When you are in a position to be  a potential partner they will definitely let you know it.

Remember that the way you treat your mentor is a model of your behavior.  They are watching as they know that you are at your best at that moment.  You will also treat their clients, that they put you with in the same manner.  They know this.  If your language, speech or actions are inappropriate, illegal, go against rule of their profession  they will not want your working with their clients as this makes them look bad & can create fines and lawsuits.

This is the best way to learn any business.

Alternatively if a mentor is not available find a good real estate trainer or training system and buckle down and use it.

 Do not run all over the place gathering up everyone’s version of a system or spend time gathering hundreds of bits of information from all over.  Find one good coach  or coaching system and listen.  Do the system as the system says.  Work it until it works.  Do not cast your gaze everywhere else. Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus Focus.

Your goals need to be written out ( it is a kinesthetic action) this builds them deeper into your physical body. The need to be reviewed daily.  A PDA is not the way to do it.  A Goal journal or A 411 is good for this.  I also have a yearly written business plan.

My Jan 2010 financial goal is $20,000.  I wrote this goal mid December and started gearing myself to obtain it.

It is Jan the 5th  2010 in the last 4 days I Have written over $600,000 in business and earned almost $15,000. In commission. I have been completely focused as I probably have to fly out to Florida to inspect a home I am buying there and want to make my goal before I leave.  This way my month will be made.   Do you think I will make my goal?  You bet. This is the kind of focus you cannot see when you talk to me on the phone . It is critical for business success.

Resolutions For 2010

A Written Business Plan

A Daily Journal

Written Goals and a Daily Review of Your Goals.
Get a Beta Copy of My 45 Page Guide to Creating a Great Business Life At http://www.riseandshine.com/products-at-riseandshine/

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Living Without Gluten

September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Gluten is a naturally occuring substance that is part and parcel of wheat, rye, barley and also on a smaller scale in many other grains that are commonly used for breads and baking. Gluten is very difficult for the human body to digest, it is not natural and easy. As a result many people become gluten intolerant. This can occur at a young age or over a lifetime. As we get older the digestive system and body in general is less strong so intolerance tends to build up.

A person who is totally gluten intolerant is generally called a Celiac. Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder. Auto-immune means that we ingest certain substances, in this case gluten the body attacks itself. As a celiac the body is attacking the small intestine and will ultimately destroy it if we don’t take action to avoid this. The only real action to take is to avoid gluten.

Gluten is a glue like substance. It is used in most produced products in boxes, cans and jars. You have to check the labels on everything you buy to see if it says gluten or wheat. Some products have such low levels of gluten added to them they don’t declare it. However, if you are a celiac even the smallest amount is too much.
Gluten is used in all salad dressings (unless they say gluten free). I discovered when buying orange popsicles for the kids that they are held together with guess what…. our friend gluten. So you have to develop your eagle eye to seek out the evil gluten that will make you sick.

The solution is to start eating freshly grown, preferably local produce at home. Eating in restaurants can be quite challenging and it is best to try out some of the better restaurants where you may find a knowledgable chef that can accomodate you.

The average celiac takes 7 years to get a diagnosis. This is because the medical profession is not properly trained in nutrition. Besides they can’t operate to fix it, you have to with your diet. So this leaves it of little interest to them. Personally I spent almost 20 years going to doctors several times per year complaining of the same issues over and over again. Not one could be bothered to take 15-20 minutes to look at my list of complaints & the list of common digestive disorders to see what the issue might be.

If you are a celiac I have found one useful online resource is to sign up on twitter with gluten free or celiac in your name. The other celiacs will come and find you and you can learn from their blogs, plus discover where great bread and baking type products are located. Today it is considered that about 1 out of every 130 people on the planet is in fact a celiac.

You can find me at http://twitter.com/glutenceliac.
To read more on this topic you can go to

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New Years Resolutions – Getting Off The Fence

December 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment


So here we are coming to the start of a New Year.  Have you started your New Years resolutions yet?

Are they random or laser focused.  Are your really clear on what your decisions should be?

The biggest challenge is that most people don’t make it past the 1st week.   

Was it the wrong decision or just plane laziness or inaction that caused it. 

 Some tips on making a decision and getting off the fence to do it.  

1/ Decide what the correct decision is and why you are making it.  If you want to lose weight simply for glamour reasons that may not be strong enough to keep you motivated.

So decide on a precise # of pounds, set a time frame but most of all know the real deeper reason for losing the weight.  A little internal checking will help you sort this out.  Maybe your doctor is concerned about your heart etc. and maybe you should be too.

2/What part of the decision concerns you most.  We all have things we are afraid of and we all gravitate to what is more pleasurable. 

3/ Break down all the unpleasant parts into small chunks.  Figure out how you can overcome each of these.  Is it the daily treadmill exercise that scares you off, find ways to deal with it.

4/Face up to the fear and admit to it.  Fear and uncertainty are main factors in procrastination. 

5/Talk to advisors who are experts in your area of concern or even friends or family members who have tackled such a problem . Ask for advice and support.  

6/  Accept the stress of making the emotional decision.

7/ What will happen if you fail.  Step into the future and see the failure.  Look back at it from a distance and decide how you will handle or restructure from the failure.

 8/ Take action. Start with baby steps.  Always remember nothing happens until something moves.  I think that is a book title but it applies here.  

Always remember that the difference in success and failure is often just movement or simply showing up.  Until you show up nothing can change.  Action is the most important success habit of all when it comes to determining how your life will play out.

  

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Closing A Florida Home

July 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment
DSC02068

First bit of info is knowing about occupancy.  If you are Canadian you can stay in your Florida home for up to and 1 day less than 6 months without incurring a need for permission from the U.S. authorities and without both tax and health care ramifications in Canada.  One day more than 6 months and you could lose your OHIP  benefit if it was discovered you were out of the country. Pretty easy to do when you know that your comings and goings are recorded at the border.

  To purchase a Florida property you will need to write an offer and give your deposit money, called earnest money when you cross the border to an escrow agent (usually a lawyer)or a realtor.  They have a legal obligation to hold your deposit until one of 2 things can happen 1/ the seller hands him or her a deed conveying title and a “GUARANTEE” that they in fact do own the property. 2/ The deal falls through, in which case your deposit money comes back to you. 

If the lawyer determines you get what you are meant to get then there will be a closing where your money is exchanged for the title and you will get the keys to your property.

  So who is making the “Guarantee”? In Florida as here in Canada now there are Title Insurance Companies. So your lawyer would supply you with a policy issued by a big well –known insurance companies that have been in business for decades and that are highly solvent. They do research to make sure the seller owns the property and to make sure there are no others claims or liens against the property. 

If the title is clear then the lawyer will issue you an insurance policy.  There is a clause in this policy that insures the insurance company will pay you the price you paid for the property in the rare occurrence that despite their research the seller did not own the property and that if he did and there was a lien that wasn’t found then the insurance company will pay off the lien.  It’s a good system that works well.

  If you have heard that property insurance and property taxes in Florida are higher than elsewhere then you are correct. They are higher than states that have income tax and death tax.  However, there are ways to reduce some of these costs plus the savings on the purchase cost at the moment should substantially offset these costs, plus of course the lack of other taxes and the generally lower tax brackets that exist in Florida. 

If the property insurance costs seem high it is quite simple buy something that was built after 1992 and that is not right on or next to the beach. Property insurance is much more reasonable for these properties as the building codes changed in 1992 and were much improved plus beach front is of course more subject to winds and hurricanes.

  Properties built after 1992 perform much better in high winds and this is why they cost less to insure. 

Currently as of today’s date property taxes are running about $1600.00 per year for every $100,000 of property value. Taxes are market  value assessed yearly. So your taxes will be based initially on your purchase price.  However depending on how you take title  if you rent the property then it can be arranged so that your expenses including interest are deducted from your income on the property.  That lower net figure will not be taxed by Florida (the state) only by the U.S. Federal government at rates much lower than in Canada.

  So it may be time to grab your beach towel and sun block and check out living part of the year under the Florida Sun.

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A Place In The Florida Sun

July 23, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Fort Myers beach


You’ve probably been hearing all about the serious mess in the U.S. real estate market due to the sub prime mortgage debacle.  Thousands and thousands of people are losing their homes. There are new home subdivisions sitting vacant completely built and ready to go.

If you have ever considered escaping Canadian winters and I am sure we all have especially after this past winter with it’s 5 months of snow; this may be your time to consider buying a Florida getaway.

Given a 10 year time frame from now to say 2018 this will most likely be your best price opportunity ever. If you can see yourself doing  business on the patio in shorts and a  polo shirt with a cool drink in your hand greeting your business associates or family and friends then it’s time to learn about Florida real estate.

What stops most people from making a move is not knowing about the buying and closing process and the tax implications.  Buying, getting a mortgage, Income Tax, Death Tax, and Property Tax.

So here on these next few pages you will find most of the info you need to get started with real estate in Florida. 

Always remember to get proper Legal Advise from lawyers who deal in cross border real estate and planning.  Also a knowledgable tax advisor is appropriate. Do not construe the information here as legal or tax advise.  Also Florida Laws and Revenue Canada can change their minds whenever it suits them so you should make sure you get current advise at the time of your real estate purchase, not relying on this. 

We have simply put this together from workshops and information sessions we have attended with a view to simplifying the process for you and removing some of the fear of the unknown.

With Canadian real estate at an all time high it is hard for investors to make numbers work on properties here. So if you are an investor this may be a great opportunity for you to build up your portfolio as well.

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Mortgage Shopping For Your Florida Home

July 20, 2008 By Leave a Comment
fsbo

Mortgage Shopping For Your Florida Home

It’s a great time to buy a second home in Florida with the market so soft, particularly for Canadians . A lot ot the concern with doing this results from not understanding how to finance a property and how to take title and manage taxes.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Florida seminar and glean some more info on this which I will share with you here. Please don’t construe this as legal advise. You will need to talk to a lawyer and or accountant who deals with cross border issues to determine what to do in your situation.
This is meant to alleviate some fears and concerns about the process only.

With the loonie about par with the American dollar, interst rates low and a huge inventory of even brand new homes available ofttimes sitting vacant there has not been a better time to buy in the last 10-15 years.

So first off you don’t have to pay for the property cash. You can get a mortgage on your home in the sun without a social security number or a credit history.
Centura Bank which is a fully owned subsidiary of Royal Bank with over 45 branches in Florida has developed a bank lending program for Canadians which is called ACCESS.

It has a number of financial solutions & takes into account your Canadian Credit History. They have a team of financial professionals specially trained to assist you with region banking and home lending requirements. Banking & Mortgage laws and regulations & terms are quite different in the U.S. when it comes to banking getting a mortgage.

While we can get a mortgage in 2-3 days here in Canada and sometimes in only 24 hrs. in the U.S.it can take up to one month.

So if you qualify here this can save you time and help you to bargain for a better price in the current buyer’s market.Being pre-qualified is a much stronger position to be in than having to buy conditional.

Canadians are used to this and have no idea how much more challenging this is in the U.S. and just how much power and leverage this can give you. Mortgages generally give the mortgagee (that’s you and me) the option to pre-pay at any time without penalty… Another big difference and great advantage as you can knock it down every time the exchange rates are favourable and you have some extra cash. you don’t have to renegotiate your rate every 3 years or 5 years. You can get a fixed rate for 30 years. All the more reason to buy now while the rates are historically low.

When you mortgage in the U.S. the bank will give you a “good faith” estimate which will itemize all the charges involved in the transaction. This way you will know all the cash you need available. With RBC Ventura you can finance up to 80% on a second home loan providing that you qualify. You will need make sure your will or trust covers your asset and to seek proper cross border advise in that regard. More on that coming up.

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Tax Planning For Your Florida Home

July 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

When planning your Florida purchase you want to also plan for the eventuality of a personal disaster, death; or necessary disposition of your home.

 

Probate

 

When a property is owned by the deceased alone, the property will be subject to Florida probate. This is a legal process which allows for a property to be transferred to an owner\s beneficiary. 

 

Probate is costly, time consuming and freezes your estate. Probate can cost up to 3 percent of the market value of the property at time of death.  And can take between six to 12 months.

 

How to Avoid Probate

 

To avoid probate you will need the deed to be in the name of a Cross Border Revocable Living Trust (CBRLT)..  This works if you are in the process of buying or if you have already purchased the property. 

 

There are two main steps and here they are.

 

1/CBRLT.  This will be drafted with specific clauses for Canadian residents.  The client is the grantor and trusteed.  /she has full power and authority to lease, mortgage or sell the property.

 

2/ A deed transferring the ownership from the client’s name to his new CBRLT is prepared and recorded.

 

What This Does

 

1/ Property is exempt form Florida Probate.

 

2/ Beneficiary whether surviving spouse, children or others, is designated as such in the trust with as many scenarios or provisos as are appropriate in any well thought out estate plan.

 

3/ Creditors cannot seize the beneficiaries interst in the Florida property or the proceeds if it is sold.

 

4/ If the beneficiary divorces, the exspouse will have no right to shre in the benficiary’s inheritance.

 

5/ If the property owner becomes mentally incapacitated, he is replaced by the successor trustee named in the trust . This will avoid Florida guardianship procedures.

 

6/ No annual filing requirements to the IRS or Canadian tax authorities.

 

7/No deemed disposition upon transfer of title to the trust

 

8/ No annual accountant or attorney services required.

 

9/ U.S. estate tax payable upon death of first spouse deferred by Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) in the CBRLT

 

Minimizing U.S. Estate Taxes

     

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What Can You Accomplish In Five Years?

July 15, 2008 By Leave a Comment
realtor_table


Thought For The Week

We greatly overestimate what we can accomplish in one year. But we greatly underestimate what we can accomplish in five years. * Peter Ferdinand Drucker

After many years of living I have discovered that life is often best lived with moments of looking backwards.

The challenge with looking backwards is that as humans we tend to look at what went wrong instead of what we have accomplished.

Particularly when we are young we tend to set goals that are mammoth and often difficult to achieve particularly on the short time lines that we expected. This often causes us to lose site of our Bigger Picture and let go of our dreams.

Right now I am in a huge process of change in my life again. Letting go of the big home and all the possessions and moving into much smaller space in order to free myself up to do what really counts and a bit of travelling to boot.

So in going through bits of 4 generations of stuff in this house I am looking backwards again.

Looking backwards here are some things that I have uncovered about my life.

In five years I was able to marry, buy a home and have a child or create a family.

In five years I was able to invest in a few properties, maintain and manage them and ultimately become a millionaire.

In five years I was able to build a sustainable business at least 80% based on repeat and referral customers.

In five years unfortunately, family members die and depart us and force us to face more change & challenges.

In five years marriages can come to an end and families can be split apart.

In five years health can change radically both for the worse and for the better. I could go on…..but you get the idea.

So what is important about all this? That life is a process and not an event.
That we have to stay the course for the long term.

That both good and bad will happen but in the end with reasonable management most things come out okay.
That we need to set big pictures and big goals but realize that things will shift along the way and we must make changes with the shifts.

That it won’t always be rosy and there will be some tears. And yet we survive and mostly thrive in the end.

Most important is that effort is often cumulative.

That one year builds on the next one.

That efforts pile up one on top of each other and before you know it something of substance has been created.
That substance may be financial, family a business success and ideally a little of all three.

Hope this Helps.
Aeriol

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Five Great Cell Phone Tips

July 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

I bet you didn’t know you could do
Most of These With Your Cell Phone.
I sure didn’t.

Cellular phones seem to be one of the most used technology items over the past few years. It is very rare you know a person who doesn’t have a cell phone or hasn’t had one in the past,

Here are 5 great things you can do with your cell phone. 

1/ One of the first things I discovered really interesting that could be done on my phone is when I was travelling over in Europe I didn’t know what their Emergency Number was. I discovered that if you type in 112 on your phone you would be given a worldwide Emergency Service.

This works perfect even when you are out of your networks coverage area. It will find a network that is working in the local zone and allow the call to be connected.

Now your probably thinking, what if my phone is locked and I am in such a panic I can’t even function to get it to unlock?

Don’t worry; this function will even work when your keypad locked. I’d say test this out, but you could be making a false emergency call so just remember this for your next vacation it may come in quite handy.

2/If you are really forgetful this will be useful.
Do you have a vehicle that has one of those fancy remote keyless entry options? Did you leave your keys in the vehicle and can’t get in?

 Do you have an extra set with someone else? Well you are about to be amazed. Now you can stay with your vehicle while unlocking it. 

Call the person who has your extra set of remote keyless entry keys, tell them to put the extra set to the phone pointing the signal to the microphone, turn your cellular phone towards your vehicle, press the unlock button, BAM!

Your vehicle is now unlocked.

Trust me this actually does work. I am one of those people that forget my keys in my vehicle all the time so this comes in quite handy. It doesn’t even matter how far away the other person is.

Now save yourself time trying to get someone to bring you your extra keys when they can just unlock your vehicle from home.

3/Don’t you hate it when you are in a middle of a conversation and your cell phone’s battery is getting real low?

This third useful thing will come in very handy especially if you need your phone for a short period of time till you can get it to a charger.

There is hidden battery power in your phone. Now you probably never even thought this was possible, but it is!

Simply type in the following into your cell phone “*3370#”, now your phone will then restart and when you turn it back on you’ll see that your cell phone’s battery has increased by approximately 50%.

This comes in real handy when you need a little extra charge to get you through a little longer till you get your cell phone onto its charger finally.

4/Are you always worried about having your cell phone stolen, but are not entirely sure where to get your serial number from for your phone.

 I’ll explain to you how you can get your cell phone’s serial number. Keep this number in a safe place just in case your phone is ever actually stolen.

 To get your serial number type in the following code into your phone ” *#06# “, once you type the code in a 15 digit number will display on your cell phone’s screen and you will now have your serial number.

 Give your cellular phone service provider this code and they can block all access to it making the phone completely useless even if there is a swap out of the SIM card.
5 /Are you one of those people who always tend to be in desperate need of a phone number, but never have a phone book near you?
You probably tend to use the service 411 and always get charged, correct? Well stop!

No longer pay for your 411 calls that seem to be costing you $1.00+ per use.

Instead dial this number into your phone: (800) FREE-411 or (800) 373-3411. Works in the U.S. only.

You may still be charged your regular cellular phone minute charges, but that is much better then spending your regular cellular phone minute charges plus the $1.00 or more to get a phone number.

There you go Try these five interesting features out and see if they make your cell phone use more efficient.

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Canadians Mortgage Shopping For Your Florida Home

May 14, 2008 By Leave a Comment

 

It’s a great time to buy a second home in Florida with the market so soft, particularly for Canadians . A lot ot the concern with doing this results from not understanding how to finance a property and how to take title and manage taxes.

 

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Florida seminar and glean some more info on this which I will share with you here.  Please don’t construe this as legal advise.  You will need to talk to a lawyer and or accountant who deals with cross border issues to determine what to do in your situation.  This is meant to alleviate some fears and concerns about the process only.

 

With the loonie about par  with the American dollar, interst rates low and a huge inventory of even brand new homes available  & ofttimes sitting vacant there has not been a better time to buy in the last 10-15 years.

 

So first off you don’t have to pay for the property cash. You can get a mortgage on your home in the sun without a u.s. social security number or a U.S. credit history.

 

RBC Centura Bank which is a fully owned subsidiary of RBC Royal Bank with over 45 branches in Florida has developed a banking & home –lending program for Canadians which is called RBC ACCESS USA. It has a number of financial solution & takes into account your Canadian Credit History.

 

They have a team of financial professionals specially trained to assist you with U.S. banking and home lending requirements.

 

Banking & Mortgage laws and regulations & terms are quite different in the U.S. and RBC’s team knows the difference between the U.S. and Canada when it comes to banking & getting a mortgage.

  

While we can get a mortgage in 2-3 days here in Canada and sometimes in only 24 hrs. in the U.S.  it can take up to one month.  So if you are looking to buy state side in the near future you can pre-qualify the same as you would here .  This can save you time and help you to bargain for a better price in the current buyer’s market.

 

 Being pre-qualified is a much stronger position to be in than having to buy conditional.  Canadians are use to this and have no idea how much more challenging this is in the U.S. and just how much power and leverage this can give you.

 

U.S. mortgages generally give the mortgagee (that’s you and me) the option to pre-pay at any time without penalty… Another big difference and great advantage as you can knock it down every time the exchange rates are favourable and you have some extra cash.

 

Also in the U.S. you don’t have to renegotiate your rate every  3 years or 5 years. You can get a fixed rate for 30 years.  All the more reason to buy now while the rates are historically low.

 

When you mortgage in the U.S. the  bank will give you a “good faith” estimate which will itemize all the charges involved in the transaction.  This way you will know all the cash you need available.

 

With RBC Ventura you can finance up to 80% on a second home loan providing that you qualify.

 

You will need  make sure your will or trust covers your U.S. asset and to seek proper cross border advise in that regard.   More on that coming up.

  

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