Being an Agent and an Investor - Can you do it?

Does anyone out there have hard facts to prove that people don't want to sell their house to an agent? As an agent, we are held to a higher standard, that is true. We should be, we are considered "experts." Funny how after a few classes, a test, paying some fees, finger printing, background check, and you are right up there with legal binding contracts and representation.

Does that make you an expert? By no means! But people believe you are. Don't lie to them. If you don't know the answer, tell them you will get the answer for them. Then find the answer and get back to them.

Does your liability go up? Yes! You are liable for more things. So disclose everything and have someone help you if you need it.

Higher Expectations? Yes, people expect you to be morally sound, do the right thing and represent them when you have agreed to do so.

Trust? You are to be trusted - DON"T GIVE THEM A REASON NOT TO TRUST YOU! If you are in this short term and to screw people - just get out now, you will get caught!

My recommendation is that if you are going to disclose in your letter that you are an agent, don't do it in a small, fine print way, put it out there and own it. It is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. I don't know who spread the lie that people are afraid of agents. This is a people business and if they like you, they will do business with you. The regulations that state that you have to have full disclosure is so that Mr. Seller knows that you are "an expert." You need to prove to them why you are buying the house at the price you are buying it at. Disclose it! Don't hide it! It's no secret! We are in the business of buying equity, the sellers know they are walking away from equity.

Today I worked a bit on PB Next. Used our SnowBall microphone to record some greetings. Wow, that is a nice microphone. The sound is beautiful, nothing like the cell phone recordings you get for your messages, or even the greeting you make for your home phone. The room I was in was echoing and the recording sounded great! I'm wondering how I can get a recording from my computer as my cell phone and home phone greetings. Makes me want to do podcasting! If only I were a talker! I need to get Jennifer Hernandez over here to record some podcasts about the mortgage industry and finance, she is great at that!

PBNext offers a nice way to track which marketing campaigns your calls are coming from. It allows you to transfer calls to numerous locations - recordings, live people, different people at different times, different days, choose your on-hold music. If you are working this business with a partner, you owe it to yourself to get PBNext! You can share the leads more easily. The pre-recorded messages make it easy to have lots of information available to your clients without you having to do any of the work. The tracking capabiltiies are incredible - Doug can call me up after his Blackberry wipes out his memory (for the third time) and ask me for the phone number to anyone who has called our PBNext phones. Or, if he is in the office, he can do it himself, even better!