Real estate investors, in particular – whether they’re licensed or not – are big users of these readily available and often free online tools. A complete financial analysis is often the only way to separate the best real estate deal from a herd of what seems to be similar offerings. A calculator worth its salt can help sellers and buyers alike avoid long-term financial problems.

Here’s a list of Polley Associates‘  favorites, current as of March 4, 2019, and assembled for your convenience:

• Mortgage amortization calculator at HSH Associates.
• Mortgage calculator at BankRate.com.
• Home affordability estimator at HSH Associates.
• How much house can I afford?, at BankRate.com
• Private mortgage insurance cost calculator at HSH Associates.
• Mortgage refinancing calculator at HSH Associates.
• Mortgage annual percentage rate (APR) calculator at LocalLender.info
• Mortgage early payoff and extra payment calculator at LocalLender.info
• Mortgage loan tax deduction calculator at LocalLender.info
• Home equity loan calculator at LocalLender.info
• Credit grade calculator at HSH Associates.

If there are online calculators you particularly like, and they’re not listed here, let us know where to find them! Just drop a note into the comments section here on the blog, or send us an e-mail to polley@polleyassociates.com. We’d love to look at and add them to the list!

Photo from Google Images

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E-mails and texts often are the lifeblood of a real estate licensee’s business. Nearly nine of every 10 U.S. residents use the Internet, according to January 2017 statistics from the Pew Research Center. Seventy-seven percent of the population relies on a smartphone to reach the web, it added.

That means a large number of clients and prospects probably e-mail or text their agents, regularly or frequently, for buying or selling status updates and other relevant communications.

Responding to a constant flood of e-mail and texts ranks among complaints most frequently heard from busily working licensees. How can they pursue new property transactions and feed deals through the marketing pipeline, they ask, when they’re pressured just to stay abreast of their current message load?

Taking Time Off From E-Mail And Texts

Some cutting edge companies outside real estate recognize the problem.

Three years ago Daimler AG, the German-based manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz vehicles, gave its employees the ability to automatically delete all incoming e-mail while they were on vacation. The company called it a “Mail On Holiday” program.

A year later, in 2015, newspaper USA Today reported on seven companies – General Electric, Grant Thornton, GrubHub, Netflix, LinkedIn, Virgin Group and HubSpot – that offered some or all of their employees unlimited paid vacation time. Getting the work done, and not measuring the time needed to do it, was all that mattered, employers said. During vacation absences, apparently someone else minded the e-mail traffic.

How Do You Cope?

It’s different with Pennsylvania licensees, of course. The state considers each as an independent contractor, not a brokerage employee. Consequently, no holiday is available unless licensees give one to themselves, and it’s unlikely many – if any! – agents are willing to see a deal slip through their fingers by letting e-mail go unopened.

What successes have you had in managing e-mails and texts? Do you have a strategy to automate e-mail or text responses, and if so, what? Do you set limits or times on accepting or responding to digital communications? When? Use the form below to tell us and other Polley readers how you cope with the “crush of communications.”

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Homes that were built after the 1980s have experienced an increase in leaking stucco systems that can cause deterioration of the building envelope, resulting in a potential reduction in property value and increased health risks from possible organic growth inside the home. Understanding why this happened; what are the signs, symptoms and clues; what the testing process is about; and how to interpret a stucco report are the primary topics of this course.

It intends to review basic inspection concepts, as well as more complex issues that apply to understanding how stucco systems function, and the inspection process.

Understanding Septic Systems, Mold Testing and Evaluations

In Pennsylvania, more than 40 percent of homes are located in a rural area with no access to public sewers. Current on-lot waste water systems are getting older, and inspection of these systems is key to the sale of a home. Newer technologies have come into play during the past 10 years, and these will be reviewed also.

This course reviews basic inspection concepts in addition to the more complex issues that apply to understanding how septic systems function and the inspection process, as wells as mold testing and evaluations. In short, the course attempts to cover everything a real estate professional needs to know about septic systems and mold testing and results. These environmental issues play an increasingly larger role in real estate sales.

Course State Approval: Continuing education for Pennsylvania real estate broker and salesperson license renewal.

This is a one-day, 7-hour, live classroom course consisting of two state-approved topics. No post-course exam is given. It is approved by, and meets 7 hours of continuing education requirements set by, the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission. It can be combined with other courses to fulfill all 14 hours of continuing education required by the Commission for a real estate salesperson’s or broker’s biennial license renewal during the 2014-2016 cycle that ends at midnight on May 31, 2016.

Price: $75

Student Material: This course may be accompanied by in-class materials distributed by Polley Associates.

Related:

• PA Continuing Education: What’s That Course About?
• PA Continuing Education: Live Course Attendance
• PA Continuing Education: License Renewal And Reactivation
• PA Continuing Education: License Renewal Online
• PA Continuing Education: First-Timer Requirements
• PA Continuing Education: Re-Activate A License In Escrow

Find Courses For:

• Pennsylvania Real Estate Salespersons and Brokers CE
• Pennsylvania Real Estate Salespersons’ First-Timer CE
• CE For Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate Practitioners

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Technology has its place. It can help “create a seamless home buying, home selling, and lending process,” Daniels wrote.

Bud real estate licensees also “must realize there are people on the other side of the technology” who “expect and deserve a great experience” in the purchase or sale of a property. And a great experience, she contends, demands “a personal touch and feel.”

Daniels describes how a flurry of automation mutates the process into something a tad too robotic. She worked with one lending partner whose back-office technological overdrive left clients with unanswered questions, poorly explained documents, and few accompanying instructions.

“From first touch to closing and beyond,” Daniels concludes, the client experience must be personalized and “about more than just getting the job done.”

Read Kathleen Daniels’ blog article, titled “When Too Much Automation Depersonalizes The Process” and published Monday at Active Rain, here.

Photo from Google Images

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April, according to the Trulia.com Pro Blog, is one of Pennsylvania’s two biggest months for online home-hunting. Big Month Number 1, by the way, is March. During each, the real estate website reported, online traffic searching houses for sale is 10-percent higher than the state’s annualized monthly average. As a sales licensee, Trulia asks, what are YOU doing to ensure your real estate practice benefits from all those additional searchers?

If you don’t know, or you haven’t yet gotten started, there’s no time like the present to learn. Trulia writer Jovan Hackley, in an article posted Tuesday (April 2, 2013), makes these suggestions:

• Step up your online prospecting. It’s a prime opportunity to improve your online presentations of yourself, the homes you’ve listed, and the way you and your own website appeal to potential clients.
• Make your homes-sold history available. Owners who plan to sell real estate in the future may be doing research now to learn how many comparable properties in their area have sold, and at what prices. This is valuable information to offer prospective sellers. It also creates a perfect forum to describe how you, the expert in your neighborhoods, marketed a property to get the best result for its sellers.
• Feature your listings. It’s been said before: the more you show and tell, the more you sell. Take a critical look at your online listings. Are they accompanied by 20, 30 or more photos? Are they paired with walk-around, walk-through, walk-in-and-about videos? Are there street views, yard views, overhead views? Is there an embedded map that shows not only the listing’s location, but its proximity to stores, schools, parks? Make every listing stand out to those who are interested.

AND IF YOU’RE IN NEW JERSEY … double this advice. Like Pennsylvania, your state’s buyer activity is peaking in March and April. Unlike Pennsylvania, however, Jersey sales people enjoy two additional months – June and July – when online home searching also is 10 percent or more above the state’s annualized average.

The post In ‘Big Month Number 2,’ Are You Selling 10 Percent More Homes? appeared first on Polley Associates School of Real Estate.

Remember you can make a difference and green your lifestyle with a simple step that will also save you money. Changing your traditional incandescent light bulbs or CFLs (compact fluorescent lamps are often recognized by their spiral design) to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs will save  energy and dollars off your electricity bill. The bulbs feature longer life spans than traditional light bulbs, while still emitting warm tones to make your home cozy with illuminating, comfortable light.

Because LED bulbs consume far fewer watts to deliver the same level of brightness as traditional bulbs, they can save you money daily by reducing that light’s energy use by up to 85 percent, the Energy Department said.

Samsung, a major supplier of LED bulbs, contends that switching to them in your home is easier than you think. Quality LED lighting products offer average life spans between 15,000 and 40,000 hours depending on the bulb. This can amount to an approximate average of 25 times longer than traditional bulbs. Both energy- and cost-effective, these bulbs are the perfect solution when transitioning from traditional bulbs to the highest-quality, affordable and long-term lighting.

Five reasons to switch to LED lighting now:

• Energy Savings. Some LED bulbs use 75 to 85 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs, which means savings for your energy bill and extra cash in your pocket.
• Convenience. Long-lasting life spans of 22 to 36 years means you will only have to change the bulbs a few times in your lifetime. You won’t be bothered to replace a dimming bulb for decades at a time.
• Versatility. LEDs come in all different shapes and sizes to fit any room or fixture in your home. The bulbs create a warm, natural illuminating light that set a comfortable ambience of your choosing inside, and many can be controlled by a dimmer to cascade any amount of light within your rooms.
• Save Money: According to the Energy Department, replacing just 15 bulbs in your home with more energy efficient versions can save an average of $50 off your energy bill annually – or up to $1,800 on your energy bill over the course of your LED bulb’s lifetime.
• Instant Lighting: Instead of waiting seconds or minutes for your lights to reach full brightness, LED lamps light up immediately to full brightness to illuminate your space.

Related (to energy use reduction):

• LED Bulbs Easy Way To Save Energy And Money
• Energy Star Awards, Recertifications Presented To Brandywine
• Area Commercial Developer Wins Energy Use Award
• Next At Google: Helping Consumers Read Their Electric Meter

Photo from Getty Images

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Liberty was honored with the “Leader in the Light – Gold Award” for small and midsized companies (under $4 billion) from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program. The award was presented at the association’s annual convention in Dallas TX.

The competition is judged by sustainable energy use experts from government, business and academia. Liberty Property Trust is headquartered in Malvern PA.

Since 2002, Liberty said it has invested $1.5 billion in sustainable development. Its portfolio includes more than 10 million square feet of buildings certified as energy efficient by the U.S. Green Building Council, and more than 60 Energy Star-certified buildings spanning nearly all of its 20 US markets.

Related (to energy use reduction):

• LED Bulbs Easy Way To Save Energy And Money
• Energy Star Awards, Recertifications Presented To Brandywine
• Area Commercial Developer Wins Energy Use Award
• Next At Google: Helping Consumers Read Their Electric Meter

Photo from Liberty Property Trust

The post Area Commercial Developer Wins Energy Use Award appeared first on Polley Associates School of Real Estate.

There could be a huge difference between the two and, if so, you may be missing business opportunities. Worse yet, you may be opening the door to competitors.

Ten years ago, the only point of contact most agents or brokers needed to distribute to the world at large was their office telephone number. Then things began to change.

• The office phone wasn’t enough. To better serve clients, agents also began publicizing direct office numbers, fax numbers, home numbers, and cell numbers.
• After that, phone contact seemed antiquated. The Internet was The Next Big Thing, and e-mail was its killer application. Agents offered up their e-mail address, then multiple addresses (some agents have three or four for different purposes), then the subscription for an e-mail newsletter.
• Soon after, agents began supplying web addresses too (technically known as Universal Resource Locators, or URLs) for individual pages on our brokers’ websites, then the domain names for personal websites, followed by web addresses for sales teams, for listings (a page for each property), and for communities.
• Gripped by blogging fever, agents ensured everyone also had URLs for blogs they wrote individually, blogs they published with others, and blogs at real estate information portals in which they participated.
• Web-based messaging came along. To the mix they added IM addresses for Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Meebo, AOL Instant Messenger, and Google Chat. Cell phone text messaging took hold as well, extending the life of cell phone numbers for a wholly different reason.
• And now, with Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, MySpace, Tumblr, YouTube, Flickr and a whole host of other social networking media sites, potential points of contact have expanded once again.

Were you keeping count? At a minimum, 29 contact references were mentioned in the space of six short paragraphs, above.

One of the biggest problems plaguing licensees today is managing all these contact nodes. They’ll eat up a lot of valuable time among agents who lack discipline; who are enamored by technology rather than by what it should be doing for them; or who haven’t mastered the shortcuts to communicate quickly.

On the other hand, being inundated by client and prospect queries from multiple contact sources can be a success problem you’d be happy to have. A certain percentage of that contact traffic should be real business that makes you money!

It won’t earn you a dime, though, unless people know you’re available at points of contact of their choosing. The lesson here is simple: in all your marketing materials, on all your websites, and with anything distributed to the public, find ways to list as many of your pertinent points of contact as possible. It’s the way to tell the world, “I’m ready to do business with you, no matter how you get in touch.”

Related:

• Offer Contact Any Way Clients Prefer
• Put Your Real Self Into Real Estate Messages
• New To Social Media? See This Webinar
• Selling With Social Networks

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“We are pleased by the large and bipartisan support to remove this costly and unnecessary mandate,” said Jim Eichenlaub, executive director of the Builders Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh, told reporter Sam Spatter.

The House voted 154-39 for HB 377, which calls for the repeal of the law that covers only one- and two-unit houses. The mandate remains in effect for multi-family houses containing three or more units, he said. If the Legislature approves removal of the sprinkler mandate, that doesn’t stop home buyers from including sprinklers in a new home if they wish, Eichenlaub said.

The sprinkler requirement went into effect Jan. 1.

Related (to multi-family dwellings):

• Commercial Investors Face Years Of Trouble, Expert Claims
• Market’s Now Looking Better For Multi-Family Housing Units
• Pennsylvania Home Builders Applaud Sprinkler Repeal Vote

Photo from Google Images

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