Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
When the Focus is On Getting More Money:
Recently, I talked to an agent who, unfortunately, didn’t quite know where their focus should be. It can be really tough to know. If more agents did, they would be selling a lot more homes.
If you can learn these secrets, though, you could be consistently successful. As John Wooden would say it, “Skill may take you to the top, but it takes character to stay there.”
The agent who didn’t quite know their focus had many outside influences affecting them: They were doing a loan modification; their time was limited due to a new baby; and they stacked up a lot monthly bills creating a “higher lifestyle” for themselves in previous years. All of these things added stress, taking time and focus away from work, on top of less pay than previous years and too many bills.
But this particular agent figured the split with their broker was the cause of stress. They thought that if they got more money for what they were already doing, it would help.
So this agent went to the other agents in their office to see how they felt about getting a higher split. “A higher split?” some of the other agents asked. “Of course. But is that possible?” The agent wanting more money said, “Of course its possible. I mean, look at the broker and all the vacations they are going on. We are the ones struggling with a loan mod and the broker is in Cancun, we deserve more money and the broker can afford it.” Continue reading »
By Jessica Hickok
Jessica Hickok
Although selling real estate can be a very lucrative career, there can be some downtime when listings are hard to move, ultimately casting a negative cloud over that whole lucrative career thing.
That’s where residential property management can swoop in and save the day. Property managers typically charge a monthly management fee, which is usually a percentage of the collected monthly rents. It is also common to charge a leasing fee to the owner/investor. This leasing fee is a percentage of the first month’s rent in addition to the monthly management fee. This covers the agent’s expenses for the time it took to show the property and prepare it for lease. Not to mention, it gives you a nice profit. Of course, these fees are all agreed upon, up front, in the Property Management Agreement.
Don’t want to do property management for the long haul? Hate backed-up toilets?
No problem! Take on clients with overpriced listings. You know, the sellers that need to sell, but can’t? My company often gets phone calls from sellers who want us to rent out their property until it sells. Many times we don’t accept them because these types of properties are generally not long term.
So if you’re a little phobic of the rental property management scene, but still need a monthly paycheck, consider taking on some of the short term-rental properties mentioned. And keep in mind that a plumber is only a phone call away for the those backed-up toilets. This is a good opportunity for you to test the waters of managing rental property without a long-term commitment.
I’m excited to be co-presenting this idea with Paul Dizmang, aptly titled “8 Effortless Tips to Tackling Rental Property Management” on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 at the NAR Annual Conference and Expo. The conference is held in San Diego this year and you won’t want to miss it. Register online for this fantastic event by going to http://www.realtor.org.com/conference, I hope to see you there!
What are your suggestions that we, as REALTORS®, can do to find that extra income while still practicing what we love?
Jessica Hickok, a self-proclaimed blogging and twittering fanatic, is with Dizmang Properties in Springfield, Mo.
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