Some of Arizona’s most Successful Agents call John Hall & Associates home.
Monthly Archives: May 2011
iPad apps for REALTORS®: SignMyPad
Next up on my iPad apps for REALTORS® list is SignMyPad. This app allows real estate agents to capture signatures directly on the iPad. Since screenshots don’t do this app justice, I put together this video demonstration.
I know some real estate agents may prefer to offer their clients a stylus to sign their iPad so here is link to a 3-pack for $20.
Remember, time is of the essence to enter our Win an iPad contest. Entries that are submitted after May 15th will not count.
Real Estate Technology Training: Twitter and Hootsuite
This Friday we’re continuing our real estate technology training with a lunch and learn about Twitter and Hootsuite. You’ve probably heard of twitter, but you may not know about tools available that make it easier to stay up to date with your social networking sphere. Cue the class on hootsuite.
Twitter basics:
- Vocabulary
- Completing your twitter profile
- Finding folks to follow
Hootsuite basics:
- Creating Tabs and Streams
- What the heck is geolocation searching?
- How the Hootlet helps
- Shrinking and Scheduling
Our techno lunch and learns are hands-on so bring your laptop, iPad, iPhone, or Android smart phone. If you don’t have an iPad yet, don’t forget to enter our contest to Win an iPad – entries must be submitted by this Sunday!
You are invited to join us
If you’d like to attend, please RSVP to psexton@johnhall.com. We’ve only got room for 20, so if you’re interested, speak up. There is no cost for our lunch and learns, and they are open to all REALTORS® – not just John Hall agents.
This is a hands-on session at our Phoenix Real Estate Office. Class is from 11am – 1pm and lunch will be provided thanks to the generosity of Bryan Jones from Clear Title and Stacey Gross from Old Republic Home Protection.
Scottsdale & Paradise Valley Home Tour
The John Hall & Associates home tour departs Wednesday May 11th from the Paradise Valley real estate office @ 9am (back by noon).
This month’s homes are located in McCormick Ranch & Pinnacle Reserve.
- A/C Limo Bus
- Roundtable Discussion
- Sales Off The Tour
- Sneak Peek Listings!
It’s not too late to email or call and RSVP to join us!!
Amber Eilers
PV & Scottsdale Tour Director | John Hall & Associates
Team Lead | Eilers Real Estate Team
C: 602.540.7777 | E: amber.harryman at gmail.com
iPad apps for REALTORS®: OpenHomePro
OpenHomePro is an iPad app for REALTORS® that increases agent productivity. In the iPad for Real Estate class that I attended last week, Desiree Montgomery talked about the benefits this app has over paper sign-in sheets.
Before OpenHomePro…
To capture prospects contact information REALTORS® had to find, open, and print open house sign-in sheets. They would leave them by the front door and ask people to sign-in. Some would, some wouldn’t, and some would write so sloppy they might as well have declined.
Once the open house ended, said REALTOR® would take the list back to the office and start the data entry to keep in touch with all the new prospects. You remember those days.
After installing OpenHomePro…
Now REALTORS® have a renewed sense of excitement for open houses. Instead of asking prospects to sign a paper sign in sheet, there’s an app for that. When a prospect arrives at the home they are handed an iPad to “play with” aka sign-in. Prospects immediately notice you are different than all the other REALTORS® they came in contact with that day. The iPad even breaks the ice; starting conversations about how you run your business. Mission accomplished.
Of course I’m just having a little fun telling this story, but I don’t think it’s far from the truth. After the open house is over, the app allows you to export the day’s prospects. No more data entry. Also, in the event you change the price on the home, it’ll send an email to all the people that signed-in. Way slick.
The best part about this iPad app for REALTORS® is the cost = $FREE.99. Now go win yourself an iPad so you can start impressing prospects that walk in your open houses!
The guys over at 1000 Watt Consulting wrote a great article about this app back in September.
4 Ways to Control Company Emails
Mind map made with SimpleMind+ app on iPad
John Hall & Associates has four possible email addresses for every REALTOR®. Half of them the office staff will change upon request and the other half you control.
1. JHA Admin Database
This is the main system we use for billing and paying REALTORS®. Emails sent using this database include office bills, weekly events, and occasional corporate messages. Talk to your office staff to edit.
2. JohnHall.com Agent Directory
We’re talking about the find a REALTOR® search on JohnHall.com. When future/past/current clients visit JohnHall.com to contact you, they have an option to fill in a contact form. Even though the email address is not displayed (to protect against spam) the contact form is sent to your email that is in the system. Let us know if you’d like to modify that address.
3. Article Subscription
All the articles on our blog are automatically sent to our email subscribers. To modify which email address receives the articles, you can unsubscribe the old email address then re-subscribe the new one. Subscribe the new email right here. To turn off any unwanted subscriptions, click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any of the emails.
4. John Hall Intranet
REALTORS® often turn to the private company directory on our intranet to find contact information of other agents and to participate in intranet discussions. To edit this email address, log into the intranet and click Members -> My Profile -> Edit my Email.
If you need any help modifying your email for any of these, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’re here to help!
Graphic made on the iPad with the SimpleMap+ app. The deadline to enter our Win an iPad contest is May 15, 2011.
iPad for Real Estate
I attended a great iPad class this week at Buy and Sell Smart taught by Desiree Montgomery. She did an awesome job of breaking down the differences between the iPad and the iPad2, showcasing a plethora of accessories, and highlighting different iPad apps for REALTORS®. The class was recommended to me by Surprise real estate agent Elise Fay and for that I am thankful. After Desiree explained her corporate technology background and her converted love from Windows to all things Apple, she got down to business.
She started with how she justifies any new technology purchase. It has to accomplish one of three things;
- Increase Client Satisfaction
- Increase Productivity
- Increase Revenue
She originally purchased the iPad to increase productivity.
iPad vs iPad 2
Bottom-line: Most REALTORS® wouldn’t even notice the difference. Yes the iPad 2 has a dual-core processor, but any sluggishness on the iPad is more likely due to your internet connection, not the A4 processor. The iPad 2 does have a front and back facing camera, but chances are your mobile phone does too.
If you want to display your iPad screen onto a television or projector, then the iPad 2 is a better bet. Out of the box, the iPad 2 has video mirroring capabilities. The original iPad only projects photos, youtube videos, and Keynote (Mac’s powerpoint competitor).
So unless you’re able to Win an iPad 2 (hint, hint) an iPad 1 will work just fine.
iPad Accessories
Don’t buy accessories in a store, but them online. Buying online is usually cheaper if you can wait a day or two. She mentioned amazon.com half a dozen times during her show and tell presentation of various holders, styluses (styli?), and cases. Also, be aware that many people buy the iPad because it is lighter and less-bulky than a tablet laptop. If this was one of your reasons, don’t turn around and buy a heavy/ bulky case.
The second part of the iPad for real estate class covered specific real estate apps she finds useful. Stay tuned as I’ll start writing about those next week.
Have a good weekend!
Property Management 101: Trust Account Breakdown Sheet
Welcome to the next episode of our Property Management articles! Today we’re talking about getting money in and out of the John Hall & Associates trust account. To do this, we use 8.5 x 11 deposit/withdrawal slips aka Trust Account Breakdown Sheets.
Trust Account Breakdown Broken Down
Our breakdown sheets have 4 main sections; Identification, Deposits, Disbursements, and Miscellaneous Bills.
Identification:
This is the only section of the Trust Account Breakdown sheet that MUST be filled in every time! Please take an extra second to make sure the address is correct.
Deposits:
Please note that personal checks clear in 8 days, and out of state checks clear in 14. We hold checks because even with the speed of information technology today, an occasional check will come back NSF after we’ve paid bills, commissions, etc.
The Owner Deposits is ONLY used when the owner contributes money to the trust account. This is mostly used when accounts are first opened or when the account is short of money to pay bills.
Also, please make note the deposit section also determines which money is taxable vs which is not.
Examples of Other Deposits include; reimbursements, late fees, and rent overpayment. Reimbursements for things like utilities, HOA fees, and legal fees are non taxable. Late fees and rent overpayment are taxable. If you include money in Other Deposits, but do not include a description it will be considered taxable.
Disbursements: Commissions and Owner Capital
Miscellaneous Bills
This section is for property managers to pay bills directly from the trust account.
Note: Commissions and owner capital checks will be paid first, then miscellaneous bills.
The order in which the bills are listed on the breakdown sheet determines the order in which the checks will be printed. This will only affect you if the trust account balance is too low to pay all requested bills. Checks will wait in queue until the balance increases high enough to pay them.
To Submit:
All Trust Account Breakdown Sheets are processed by the trust department which is located at the corporate office. It is up to you to get them here.
If there is no money to deposit:
You can fax (602.953.4048), email (trustac [at] johnhall.com), or drop them off at any branch office for our daily runner to pick up.
If you are making a deposit:
You can either drop the sheets off at a branch office for the daily runner, or mail them to our corporate office. Just be sure the funds are attached (ideally with a paperclip or in an envelope – staples holes make it hard on the bank scanner) to the breakdown sheet so we know what money goes with what deposit slips.
Hopefully this helps answer your questions about this common Property Management form. If you have any others, please post them in the comment section. Thanks!
MARS Disclosure Update – 5/4/11
Hot off the presses…all the way from MARS!! Here’s the update we’ve all been waiting for…or not?
From:
K. Michelle Lind, Esq.
General Counsel/Asst. CEO
ARIZONA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®It appears that we made the right call regarding advising our members to continue to comply with the MARS Rules. Below is an email that I just received from NAR attorney, Finley Maxson:
“We have heard back from the FTC, and there is good news and bad news.
The good news is that the FTC continues to agree that the parts of the rule do not make sense in a real estate brokerage context. The FTC has said that they are working on a solution that they will inform us of “in a few weeks” (not sure what that means in actual time).
The bad news is the FTC pulled out of our Midyear forum, has decided not to release modified disclosure language, is not endorsing our Q&A, and is taking the position that for right now, real estate professionals need to comply with the rule as written. We will release a modified version of the Q&A early next week on realtor.org.
We will continue to advise the members to comply with the rule as written for the immediate future, but recommend that they monitor the status of our discussions with the FTC on realtor.org.
We will continue working with the FTC and will let you know as soon as we hear from them. We remain optimistic that there will be a good outcome to this process, but it is taking longer than it should.
Please let me know if you have any questions.”
I’m glad I followed Michelle’s advice at the end of March to fully comply with all 4 MARS disclosures for the time being and wait for written retractions/instructions from the FTC themselves before changing our company’s requirements. I now need to change the forms my agents are using, to incorporate some of the ‘best practices’ I have found concerning these disclosures. Stay tuned.
Interesting Phoenix Real Estate Statistics
Recently I sat in on an ARMLS class about the Cromford Report that showed agents where to find useful Phoenix real estate statistics. It was interesting and I learned a few things and found a few reports which I’ve included here. The instructor stated that most users find their ‘favorite’ reports and always go to those. As a creature of habit, I’m guilty of that, so having someone else navigate the site and point out a few different reports gave me some different insight into the market.
For example the chart Foreclosures per Month, shows a dramatic trend with the number of completed foreclosures (Trustee Deeds) catching up with number of new notices. What that means is that the number of homes in Foreclosure will continue to trend downward. It appears that we may finally be working our way through the Foreclosure issue.
The next chart/trend that caught my eye was Sales to Landlords/Investors. This chart also gives you the last 10 years tracking not only the number of sales to investors but the percentage. Understand that this is the ‘honor’ system since the Affidavit of Value is being used to determine Owner Occupants from Landlords, but @ 25% of all sales and over 2000 for the month of March (Maricopa County only)you can see how many buyers are buying to rent.
The final chart describing a trend of today is the percentage of homes purchased for cash. It’s interesting to note that the percentage didn’t top 20% until 10/8 and didn’t cross over 40% until 12/10, but has stayed above 40% since then.
I hope you find these specific Phoenix real estate statistics interesting and informative and agree they present a slightly different view of today’s market. The Cromford Report contains many similar ‘hidden gems’. If you get a chance you may want to check it our for yourself or attend a class to better find your way around the website.
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