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WESTWORDS APRIL 2021

I AM

I AM TRAM CHU I AM SELF-MOTIVATED I AM KNOWLEDGEABLE I AM DIVERSIFIED I AM NETWORKING I AM HELPFUL I AM WEST USA

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING Tram Chu has been my only real estate agent for more than 10 years now. I personally have bought and sold a handful of properties through her. I have also brought her several buyers. My brothers, sister, sister-in-law and cousins have bought their first houses through Tram. Tram is a great agent to do business with. She is very helpful and knowledgeable in the real estate world. I would highly recommend her and her team, who always made our transactions all so easy and painless. Working with Tram Chu was such a great experience. Tram did an amazing job helping me find a home for my family. As I was also out of state, she made the process run smoothly and we were able to close the deal when I was ready. Overall, Tram was very accommodating, efficient and professional. I was very pleased with her work effort. I highly recommend Tram to all. I have the privilege of working with Tram Chu on numerous community projects over the past 10 years. Tram is known in the community as amicable, honest, generous, and pleasant to work with. As a real estate agent, Tram is very knowledgeable, professional, responsive, energetic, diligent, and dedicated to her work and clients. Her professionalism, expertise, and excellent interpersonal skills synergistically make Tram an exceptional representative for her client who is either purchasing or selling a home. She always meets her clients with a genuine smile and whole-heartedly helps her clients with wisdom, experience, and expert advice. Tram recently helped my aunt purchased a home in Phoenix. Her great communication skills have always made us felt comfortable and informed every step of the process. Her guidance and advice in real estate and loan documents were very much appreciated. We will definitely refer family, friends, and colleagues to Tram Chu for any assistance in real estate.

BROKER BLOG WITH BOB STEPHENS WHAT WOULD I DO?

IF I STARTED TO SELL REAL ESTATE AGAIN

I sold my last home about 30 years ago and then transferred into management! Prior to this time, I received many awards for being the top listing agent and the top salesperson. Now if I were going to do it again, how would I start in this different time and market?

have big subdivisions there. Then onward to Queen Creek which is unbelievable since we visited several years ago on their 2 lane roads which have expanded now to 6 lanes and shopping centers, freeways and good stuff like food etc.

I would also visit the west valley out to I have written many articles about the Verrado, Litchfield, Goodyear and Surprise. subject of real estate sales and would need My daughter and son-in-law moved out to to review all of them. Also remembering that Pleasant Valley Rd. which I had never seen I have only 1 product to sell and it is called and again was amazed. I have so much more COMMUNICATION! That means "speaking on to see and intend to do it; for no reason the phone." This is rarely done by ANYONE at all! And, of course, Scottsdale and the today in any business. BUT-- I WOULD! northeast areas and many more that I need to discover. A great place to start is on new homes. Get to know the inventory, models, prices This is a good way to do business BUT, it is and where the building is happening. Also, done in a different way to get buyers and become acquainted with all of the agents of course listings of your buyers. This then that work for the builders--this is a must and will bring forth the implementation of a they should be happy to see you knowing BUYER BROKER EXCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT that you are a specialist in NEW HOMES! AGREEMENT along with the many Always read the Friday AZ. Republic, to find advantages for the buyer in finding a home. out where they are all located. I have been This plan to begin selling real estate begins looking at new homes for about 6 months with a great web site that will include a lot now and was very amazed at the East valley of social media such as Facebook and other and Eastmark. It is huge and all builders methods that I need to evaluate.

QUESTIONS, CONTACT: Managing Broker, Bob Stephens 602-942-4200

WHAT IS PMI?

AND HOW TO GET RID OF PMI FOR CONVENTIONAL LOANS

BY ROBIN GRIVEL, SENIOR LOAN OFFICER FAIRWAY MORTGAGE

PMI is not as bad as you think, without PMI 2. Another way that PMI can be cancelled homeownership would be a lot more difficult. is through The Federal Homeowners For example, PMI allows home buyers to Protection Act (HoPA). This act makes it purchase a home with a low down payment. mandatory for lenders to automatically This allows homeowners to start building equity cancel PMI when the mortgage balance in their home versus renting. The significance of reaches 78% of the homes original value. No Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is to protect other action is required to cancel from the the lender. For instance, if the borrower stops home owner. making the mortgage payments then the lender 3. If the homeowner wants to use the is insured. On a conventional loan home buyers current value to cancel their PMI then the are required to pay for PMI if the down payment homeowner must meet the following: be is less than 20%. PMI cost varies on the loan current on their mortgage payments, have amount, down payment, and credit score. a good payment history, and the loan must When a borrower desires to cancel PMI there be 2-5 years old (This will depend on the are a few different criteria’s the home owner actual lender requirements some will only must meet: need 2 year but some could require longer). To determine the current property value of 1. When the homeowner has paid the the home an appraisal will be ordered. The mortgage down to 80% loan to value then homeowner will need to call their lender the following requirements must be met: be since their lender will more than likely current on their mortgage payments, have a require the appraisal to be ordered through good payment history, have no subordinate the homeowner’s current lender. liens on the property, and that the property value has not gone below the original value. The next step for the home owner is to notify with a written request to their lender.

TIPS FOR CREATING VALUABLE LANDING PAGES BY WISE AGENT Landing Pages have several uses in Real Estate Marketing, but their primary use is for lead generation. Landing Pages prioritize the call-to-action (CTA) or a form that encourages the user to submit their information to move forward. What aspects should your landing pages incorporate to ensure they are doing their job? Call to Action A call to action is a specific action you want your audience to take after visiting your landing page. This action can be a contact form that they fill out or a link that directs them to your website. If your landing page is advertising a specific property, your call to action could refer them to a virtual tour of that property. Without a proper call to action, your visitor may leave your landing page without giving you any of their contact information, which leaves you with no new leads. Visually Inviting Your landing page should be inviting to the viewer. You should include images that draw the reader's attention. The right pictures will not only intrigue your audience, but it will also make them feel something. Emotions often lead to a conversion, so if you can evoke some positive emotions, you are more likely to gain a new lead or even conversion. According to HubSpot, 84% of video marketers feel video has been effective in generating more leads. How can you implement videos into your landing page? With platforms such as Wise Agent CRM, you can add videos that automatically play when someone visits your page. Adding videos is a great way to capture attention and evoke emotions in your audience, which increases the odds that you convert them into paying clients.

Simple is Better Keeping your landing page simple is a must. If your visitor has to filter through excessive amounts of information or a crowded space, they will more likely just exit out of your page. Keep everything to the point. Introduce yourself quickly and get right to the point. You want your visitor to visit your page and know exactly what they are looking at and what their next steps will be. Lead Magnets To give your visitors a little extra motivation to provide you with their contact information, you can also utilize lead magnets tools. A lead magnet is an offer that you can promote to prospective clients in exchange for their email addresses and other contact information such as name and phone numbers. Some examples of lead magnets in the real estate industry may include home buying or selling guides or home valuation. Lead Magnets allow you to obtain a lead’s contact information by making a ‘trade’ for the valuable information they want in return. A good lead magnet should have a high perceived value. It should incentivize the lead to submit their information, which will only happen if they feel the trade-off is worth it. The value should be of high quality to your lead, so they don’t have to think twice about giving you their contact information. The magnet should offer instant gratification for the lead and highlight your strengths to increase your credibility as a real estate agent. Landing pages are built for specific leads and conversions, which is why they can be so successful, but only if created well. With Wise Agent, users have access to multiple landing page templates that are customizable to fit their needs and aesthetics. Get started with Wise Agent today!

HOW CAN YOU INCREASE THE PROBABILITY

OF YOUR SUCCESS IN ANY MARKET? WITH TODD MENARD COVID and SUCCESS During the past year, we saw two drastically different perspectives on real estate and a licensee's business. Some stuck their heads in the sand and used COVID as an external reason for not being successful, while others found a way to help consumers sell and buy real estate. Ironically, 2020 proved to be the best sales market in decades. If you did not achieve at least a 14% increase in your unit sales over 2019, then this article is for you. "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"? The reality is that most people who create business plans still fail to reach their desired goals. Why? Well, for one thing, it's not that simple. Starting a business plan is not the only step in this process. In this article, you will learn the different aspects you must consider to increase the probability of a successful outcome and live your life on purpose. Personal Behavioral Assessment: Have you ever been assigned a task, and when you were given the job, you said to yourself, I hate this, or if they think I am doing this, they are mistaken? This is because the activity does not line up with your behavioral assessment. An assessment does not categorize you as a success or failure. Instead, it discloses to you how you wired, what you will and won't do, and why! Visit www.westusadisc.com and complete the DISC assessment. When you receive the email report, read about your characteristics, and ask yourself if this sounds like you. It should. Speak with your coach if you desire to learn more about how your assessment reveals which lead generation activity you should be performing and which ones to stay away from. Business Plan: A business plan is similar to getting directions on Google Maps. Input where you are starting from and then where you want to go, and it will give you a set of turn-by-turn directions. The navigating voice should be considered your coach's voice alerting you that you need to do something before you miss the turn. If you miss the turn, it takes longer to get where you're going,

right? Ask your office coach to help you complete your business plan using West USA Realty's Excel Business Planning Spreadsheet. This sheet already includes the National statistics and conversion ratios for each step of the process. This business plan automatically calculates what you need to do based on your desire for production/income goals. Lead Generations Techniques: There are many different lead generation techniques like managing your database (sphere of influence), open houses, geographic farming, prospecting, working with sellers, working with buyers, working with new home builders, events/seminars, local/civic organizations, internet leads, referrals only, door knocking, etc. Each activity has a different set of expectations, scripts, and different percentages of conversion success. For instance, why would you hold open houses? NAR statistics indicate that 48 out of every 100 buyers (48%) tour an open house. This same report suggests that you should be working with 4-6 sellers and 5-7 buyers out of every 48 sets of visitors. Following the open house, if you are working with the average number of sellers or buyers indicated above, it was successful; if not, it wasn't! If you are not averaging these numbers, then it's either you have not learned how to hold an effective open house or not implement all the aspects of what is necessary to have a successful open house. You may want to consider taking a class on Mastering the Open House. Take a look at these percentages: Sphere of Influence - 5:1 Ratio - For every five contacts you remain in contact with 12 times per year, you should receive (1) sale/yr. If you have 50 people in your database, you should receive ten (10) referrals per year. Open Houses - 48:100:12 Ratio - 48 out of every 100 buyers tour an available home. It would be best if you worked with 2-4 people who want to sell their home and 4-6 people looking to buy a home you met at your open houses. That means 12-25% of all visitors should do business with you!

Direct Mail – 1600:32 Ratio – For every 1600 homes you send monthly direct mail, it should result in 32 closed transactions per year. This will cost about $800 per month; however, do the math! As a past coach, I know what a person will do and what they won't do, even when they tell me they will, simply by their assessment. However, the individual typically cannot identify this by themselves. A coach, for instance, will help someone self-discover what lead generation systems to implement based upon their assessment. Action Plan: Now that you know the laws of averages (conversion ratios), you can begin to build your Action Plan. Look at the top of your business plan, identify how many people you need to find who tell you they are interested in selling or buying a home now or soon. The objective is to determine what lead generation activity you will do to discover that many interested people. Then look at the percentages of success (ratios) and what you have to do to achieve that. Then write into your calendar what activity (action) you will do every day to hit the number you need. If you did this correctly, then you will realize it's not all that difficult! This should be exciting because you have already identified who you are, what you are willing and not willing to do, and based on what you ARE ready to do, how much of it you MUST do to hit the numbers you need. If all this aligns, then you will be on purpose with all your actions. And you will be using the laws of averages to guarantee your success. Remember, this is only being 'average'… not a superstar. So, if you are just average at these activities, you will achieve your business plan. Imagine if you found an activity that you were better than average? Cheers to meeting and exceeding all your desired goals!

MARCH MARKET STATS

AWARENESS

MONTH FEBRUARY 1 - 28

THANK

YOU! TO EVERYONE

WHO DONATED ARROWHEAD

CHANDLER

NORTH PHOENIX

AHWATUKEE

MESA

M O N DAY

T U E S DAY

W E D N E S DAY

APRIL 2021

T H U R S DAY

F R I DAY

Facebook Basics for Real Estate Professionals w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:30am / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 3 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar

West USA Agent Orientation 10:30am - 12:00pm / Webinar Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 3 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom Broker Round Table w/ Susan Herber 10:00am - 11:00am / Zoom

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Mastering the ARMLS ER Listing Contract - 3Hrs Contract Law 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

Canva Basics for Real Estate Professionals w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:00am / Webinar

Transaction Desk Class 10:00am - 11:00am / Zoom

CoStar Deep Dive to Prospecting 1:00pm - 2:00pm / Zoom

Creating Real Estate Wealth w/ Michael Douville 10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

Company Wide Office Meeting 10:00am - 11:00am / Zoom

Creating Real Estate Wealth w/ Michael Douville 10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

Creating Real Estate Wealth w/ Michael Douville 10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

26 Prostart Training Session 2 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

West USA Weekly Webinar 9:00am - 10:00am / Webinar

Creating Real Estate Wealth w/ Michael Douville 10:00am - 10:30am / Webinar

• CE- Continuing Education Renewal Training • Luxury Division Event

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Duties to Clients and Customers 3Hrs Commissioner Standards 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS Agency and Industry Related Issues 3Hrs Agency Law 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

Instagram Basics for Real Estate Professionals w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:00am / Webinar

LinkedIn Basics for Real Estate Professionals w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:00am / Webinar

Prostart Training Session 1 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

Prostart Training Session 2 9:00am - 4:00pm / Zoom

Don’t Do Dat w/Broker Bob Stephens 2:00pm - 2:30pm / Webina

FREE REMOTE CE CLASS To Be or Not To Be Paid - That is the Question! - 3Hrs Contract Law 9:00am - 12:00pm / Zoom

Go West USA Marketing Spotlight w/ Keith Flynn 10:00am - 11:30am / Zoom

Broker Round Table w/ Kyle Fouts 10:00am - 11:00am / Zoom

• Commercial Division Event • Office Meetings