Looking to Move into an Attached Home? Consider One of These 5 Types

Moving is said to be one of the most stressful events in a person’s life.  Because it’s so stressful, it’s important to do your homework before making any big decisions along the way.  Don’t let excitement or any other type of extreme emotion tempt you to rush through the process.  In order to help make this easier for you, I’m going to provide you with a list of five different attached homes for you to consider.  After reviewing this list, you should have a much better understanding of what will best meet your needs.

Before deciding which type of attached home you want, ask yourself, “What are my needs for a home?” If you are looking for something minimalistic and small, you may want a tiny home.  If you are looking for something elaborate, posh, and private, you may want a single family home.  If you are looking for something in between, you may want a condo.  In this article, however, I’m going to review just the five major different types of attached homes.  Regardless of your needs, there is something out there just for you that can make your living tastes come to life.

ATTACHED HOMES

These homes vary in style and use.  Attached homes usually come in the form of five different types of dwellings, which include the following:

Cooperative Homes: Cooperative homes, also known as co-ops, are used by people who possess shares in a business that owns the home.  This gives each of the unit-dwellers the right to live in a unit within the home.

Terraced Homes: A terraced home, also known as a row- or townhouse, are homes that are all a part of one long, continuous building that only has walls to separate each unit, not outdoor space.

Condos (Condominiums): Condos, which are akin to apartments and multi-family homes, are units within a building that residents have ownership of, not just units they are renting.  Condo setups can vary drastically depending on where the condo is located and what type of building the condo is in.

Multi-Family Homes: These types of dwellings are also similar to condos and apartments.  This is where someone rents a unit in a building that takes up an entire floor of the building.

Apartment Homes: Apartments are usually rented by residents and are housed in buildings that are specifically designated as apartment buildings.

Now that you’ve learned about attached homes, learn about semi-detached, detached, and portable homes here!

Do you want help with finding the right place for you? Reach out to me here!

What Home is Right for Me? Consider 1 of These 4 Types of Dwellings

Finding a new home can be overwhelming and stressful.  But, it doesn’t have to be that way! People often dive right into the ideas of where they want to live and what their home might look like before considering all of their options.  Never to fear, however.  I’ve provided four different types of homes you should consider before settling on any one specific type!

Attached Homes

Attached homes usually have multiple units and/or families in them.  Learn about each of the five major types of attached homes here.

Semi-Detached Homes

Semi-detached dwellings can usually be found in the form of a duplex (comprised of two units), triplex (comprised of three units), or quadraplex (comprised of four units).  Each one of these types of homes allows for people to either purchase or rent the units, while usually, people rent them.

Detached Homes

Single family detached homes are the main type of detached home.  They can range from mansions to small and almost portable homes.  Depending on the size of the home, the asking price vastly differentiates.  Sometimes, single family homes can be extraordinarily small, yet extraordinarily pricey.  Have you heard the common phrase, “Location, location, location?” You probably have heard that because that is usually what will draw and keep real estate agents’ customers with the agent and encourage the customers to purchase or rent a particular home.  The location is what will keep someone grounded in the process of finding a new home, and it usually is the tipping point for the customer between one home over another.

Portable Homes

The number of different types of portable homes are almost endless.  From mobile homes to tents, boat homes to tiny homes, each of these different types of homes offer unique, miniature amenities.

Mobile homes are usually the size of a trailer and are ranch-style, meaning that they are one story high.  They can be put on wheels and moved, but it is quite a hassle to do so.  Tents have ceilings, walls, and floors, but they are all made of some kind of fabric.  Boat homes usually float on water and can range from multi-millions of dollars all the way down to thousands of dollars.  Lastly, tiny homes are often built on trailers so that they can easily be moved.  They usually hook up to water and sewage lines in trailer parks, such as Kampgrounds of America (KOA), and moved anywhere you want, really.

Want help choosing the right home for you? Reach out to me here!

How to Win Business on a Sales Call

This blog was originally posted on here: W Darrow Fiedler's Business Development Site

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Whether this is your first sales call or two thousandth, there is always a sense of urgency in meeting a client where they are at when preparing for the call. Sometimes, it can cause butterflies to appear in your stomach as you prepare. “What if they ask a question that I do not know the answer to?” “What if they bring up a good point about purchasing from our competitor?” Like anything done right, preparing for sales calls takes diligence, strategy, a hard work ethic, and, the mother of them all, time.

Preparing for the Call

To prepare for a sales call, you want to make sure you understand the following items in a comprehensive, up-to-date manner (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Your product or service,
• What gap in the market your product or service fills,
• How you are marketing that product or service (i.e., are there any promotions you are running to draw in clients?)
• Who your competitors are and what they sell,
• How your competitors are marketing and pricing themselves,
• How your customers receive a better value using your company over competitors,
• What the average cost is for customers in your industry who are looking to purchase your type of product or service; and
• Your strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

Executing the Call

Here are four steps to executing a flawless and profitable sales call with a potential client.

1) Let them know you care.

When entering a sales call, it’s important to make it personable yet professional. The way to go about this is to share with your caller what you would like to cover on the call. Make the first thing you wish to cover a dedicated time to get to know your potential client’s (1) issues needing solutions and (2) goals and hopes for the future. Here are some questions to get you started:

• How did you hear about our company?
• What made you want to speak with me today?
• What issue do you have that we could potentially solve?
• What are your hopes for the future in this area of need?

Having a connection with the client will enable you to have a much smoother conversation, one that is relaxed and relieved of pressure for both parties.

2) Drive home your company’s message.

At the end of the day, the phone call’s main goal is to close on a sale, while simultaneously meeting a demand of a client. So, you need to make sure you study before going into the call. What is your value proposition? Make sure your words are clear, concise, and hit home how this person could greatly benefit from purchasing your company’s products and/or services.

3) Give them an idea of what is in store for them moving forward.

What will day-to-day operations look like for them, now that they have your product or service? What will their new workflow look like? How will it make things wildly easier and more efficient for them? Tell this story with descriptive and enticing words that impact their five senses. Make this not just a company selling a product or service; make this a sensory experience that will deeply impact them in all areas of life.

4) Bring the call to a nice close.

Start off by thanking them for their time and interest, as their time is exceedingly valuable. Remember, they did not have to give you the time of day, but they wanted to because they saw something potentially useful for them in your company. Tell them you will follow up with an email, reciting what you discussed on the call and any action points you both agreed upon for each of you to take.

Following Through

Lastly, if you do not follow-up in some way after the call, you will most likely lose the customer. Being timely, courteous, and thorough is vital. Send a follow up email right after the call and then another one a week later. If it is appropriate, give them a phone call at that time, as well. This will help you to win the client over, showing them you are serious about their business, trustworthy, and organized enough to hand you their business.

The Ultimate Real Estate Investment Guide for Beginners: Must-Read Books

"The Ultimate Real Estate Investment Guide" is a series of blogs focused on providing resources to people who are new to real estate investing.

For any beginners out there, this particular blog post discusses five books you should get your hands on if you want to become well acquainted with real estate investing.

These books cover a vast array of topics, including but not limited to strategies used by multimillionaire-real-estate investors, incorporating properties into your investment plan, working with property valuation, accumulating wealth is any kind of market, what types of niches exist in real estate, myths that hold potential investors back, negotiating, and investing with little to no money down.  Find this blog here.

The Ultimate Real Estate Investment Guide: Comprehensive Resource Guides

"The Ultimate Real Estate Investment Guide" is a series of blogs focused on providing resources to fresh faces in real estate.

For any beginners out there, this particular blog post in the series focuses on a conglomeration of comprehensive resource guides that numerous websites provide.

By giving you access to all these guides, I hope to encourage you to sift through not only my blog, but other blogs out there, as well.  This will help you to gain real estate insights you never thought you could have, as you will be searching through the blogs of people who have various perspectives on the market place.  With this first blog, dive in and dive deep.  There is plenty to discover!  Find this blog post here.

Developing the Most Audience Engagement on Your Real Estate Website in 7 Steps

Here are two beautiful examples of optimized home pages for real estate companies. They are simple, functional, and captivating to look at. There is plenty of rich information above the fold, which I will explain in a moment, and they help people to have user-friendly experiences, while on their websites. It is important to optimize your page as a real estate agent in order to get the most leads and develop the most traction from your audience. Here’s seven steps on how to do so with ease.

1) Ace the Homepage Look
Display pictures of real estate or neighborhood attractions as your head image for the site. Keep them rotating every three seconds to keep the attention of your viewer. Have your contact information at the top of the page with your social media sites there, as well. Make sure to keep these images up to date and fresh so that guests do not tire of your websites look. Keep them intrigued with newer and better properties and things to do in the area. If someone does not get what your company is about and who you are by looking at the content above the fold (all the information at the top of the page before having to scroll down), then you need to make changes to your site.

2) Have an IDX
An IDX (Internet Data Exchange) is needed above the fold. Matthew Bushery from Placester states, “[IDX] integration, which allows you to add listings in your area via your local Multiple Listing Service (MLS), is paramount for your real estate website.” Making this the focal point of your website is key to success, because most people coming to your website will be looking for a property dependent on the criteria that they bring to the table. This is what an IDX allows for them to search.

3) Feature Homes or Neighborhoods
Show off your most popular homes and/or neighborhoods on the home page. Keep your audience enticed by the good looks, great statistics, and great prices.

4) Give Your Audience Access to Your Blog
Blogging is the main focal point of your online brand. You must blog to show people you are a resource for the knowledge they seek and that you are active and have something to say. Syndicating this content across your social media profiles is important to getting your audiences to share and interact with your content. Show a featured image from the blog with a small blurb about it on the home page. Let your captive audience explore your blogs from there.

5) Allow Your Audience to Contact You
Make sure to keep a contact form on each page of your website so that interested buyers and sellers can reach you with ease. This will generate leads for you.

6) Share Testimonials
You will want to do anything ethical that you can do to earn the trust of your potential clients. Steadily grow your client’s or potential client’s trust as they surf your website by sharing testimonials on each page.

7) Designate a Page for Staff Members
Keep your entire staff on a page of your website with a photograph, biography, and contact information for each person. This will make your audience feel more comfortable with reaching out to and speaking with you, as this makes them feel welcomed to do so.

Keeping your website optimized is essential to your website’s success in developing leads for you, reeling in potential clients, and making your company the top source of real estate information for your audience. Follow these steps, and you will be well on your way to engaging a captivated audience.

How to Become a Fair, Reasonable, and Profitable Landlord in 6 Simple Steps

Owning and managing rental properties can be exhilarating. From working with tenants to keeping the landscape fresh and clean, there are numerous ways of managing a property that can bring joy and profitability to not only you but your tenants, as well. You will profit financially, while they will profit from the value added to each property you lease to them. Becoming a landlord is no small task, but it is highly rewarding. Here are a list of ways to prepare to become a landlord.

1) Live Near Your Properties
Make sure you live near the properties you are interested in. If you purchase and manage properties that are far away from you, you will have a more difficult time keeping up with maintenance and making sure the staff is doing things correctly. Make sure to check the property regularly for any needs it may have.

2) Know the Law
There are many laws governing landlords and tenants and they vary from state to state. According to Laura Agadoni from Trulia.com, “Most states have specific landlord-tenant provisions that cover issues such as security deposits, level of access to the property, and how much notice you need to give your tenants when you want them to leave. There also are federal laws you need to know, such as habitability and anti-discrimination laws.” Knowing the law will keep both yourself and your tenants safe and sound.

3) Research, Purchase, and Prepare a Property for Lease
Make sure to find a property that has inherent value, whether that value is in its ability to be renovated and used or move-in ready. Find out ways to research properties in my blog on real estate investment here.

4) Review Each Potential Tenant
Make sure to run a background check on each tenant, as well as check their credit score. You should not hire a tenant based on these two factors alone. Get two character references and two previous rental references from each tenant. Interview the potential tenants, as well. These vetting tactics should help you to have a broader idea of who the tenant is and what they are about. You will have a better idea of if they will be caring tenants who treat your property with respect and pay rent on time.

5) Make Tenants Pay Rent
If you are too chummy with your tenants, they can start to be “flexible” with when they pay the rent. Instead of paying the rent on time, they may slide back a few weeks. It is important to A) keep a professional relationship with tenants and B) enforce tenants to pay rent on time. One can enforce timely payment by making tenants pay late fees.

6) Make Specific Leases
If you are going to have leases for each rental property, it is important to hire a lawyer who can create the language for your leases. This will keep you safe financially and legally in the event that a tenant takes legal action against you or you need to take legal action against him/her.

These are simple steps you can take to become a landlord that is fair and reasonable with tenants and profitable at the same time. They are logical steps that make sense in the process of managing and maintaining properties. Make sure to keep in mind that owning and leasing properties do not make your rich fast, but in the long haul, they will richly pay off.