Dozen Deadly Secrets

Provided By: kw.com/careers

What are the Dozen Deadly Secrets? They are 12 fundamental truths that, believe it or not, most real estate professionals either don’t know or ignore when charting their careers. And, yes, they can be deadly—if you don’t realize their value.
Wherever you are in your real estate career, however successful, however driven, you owe it to yourself to think about the Keller Williams® advantage. As you read these 12 essentials, think about how your present situation stacks up to where your career could go with Keller Williams® . Then, get in touch with us — we want to hear from you!
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Secret #1

Your real estate career is about you, and your success, not your company’s.

A good realtor is the key to the business success. A consumer survey conducted by the National Associations of Realtors® determined that 86% chose a real estate firm because of the individual agent. That fact is proven time and time again, every time an agent switches from one brokerage to the next, their clients follow. The clients switch because of a good relationship with their agent. YOU are the reason people want to do business with you, NOT your company. You can build a successful career on that fact alone.
At Keller Williams®, we believe that a successful career in real estate is the result of hard work by a motivated realtor. Your image, professionalism and enthusiasm will drive your sphere of influence. In short, your career is up to you!

Secret #2

Your real estate career success is not democratic.

– This is your career, not a democracy.
– You have some great ideas for building business. But nobody’s going to listen.
– You’ll never build your career when somebody else is running your business.
Keller Williams® is more than a real estate company. Keller Williams® is a realtor success company. And Keller Williams®’ Agent Leadership Council seeks to empower everyone to get involved in the decision-making process of the company.

Secret #3

Successful teamwork can drive your career achievement.

The truth is, most realtors aren’t on a team. They’re in a group, and their careers suffer as a result. Yet unfortunately, few real estate professionals know the difference.
Teamwork is actually a high-level productivity concept that is only understood by like-minded achievers with a desire for everyone to win.
At Keller Williams®, we believe in TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More. More success, more listings, more closings, more earnings, more respect, more fulfillment. We believe that when we work in partnership, we benefit from each other’s success.

Secret #4

It’s your career. As a professional, you have a right to see ‘The Books.’

We believe honesty breeds success. Keller Williams® has paid out millions of dollars in profit sharing to its hard-working associates. The books are open to see. Because we believe that the financial stake will empower our associates to learn more about the business and make suggestions for our improvement.
At Keller Williams®, our associates might not be shareholders, but they are definitely stakeholders!

Secret #5

Your company doesn’t care about your long-term success, or future.

In fact, we’ll bet that nobody from your company has met with you about your long-term financial planning or wealth-building strategies.
Because the company’s success has little to do with your success, long-term.
Keller Williams® cares about your career, and your future. Keller Williams® has, over the past 14 years, built a proven system that enables participating associates to build their income portfolio. The system is proven; it works. However, since nobody else in the real estate industry supports their associates in the same way, one can only assume that they don’t care. Keller Williams® stands alone as the only real estate company that’s serious about helping their associates plan for the future.

Secret #6

A successful real estate agent deserves to share in the company growth.

Building financial wealth for a realtor must be a cooperative enterprise. It requires both the company and the associate to work together for success, in a mutual effort designed to maximize rewards. This is how the Keller Williams® profit-sharing system is designed.
Where’s your company going? Is it as successful as it should be? Because if it isn’t, it’s time to change companies.

Secret #7

You’ve worked hard. You deserve your fair share. But most companies don’t want to give it to you.

Smart realtors know, sooner or later, that they need to address the issue of equitable compensation. It’s not what you pay your company; it’s what you receive for your payment. It’s not what you gross or even spend; it’s what you net. But you can’t grow a business or career by cutting expenses. At some point you’ll have to invest money if you’re going to grow.
At Keller Williams®, you can truly be a ’100% real estate agent,’ you can actually take home more than the commission you earn. It’s the best career compensation program you can find.

Secret #8

Your company makes your decisions for you.

The fact is, most real estate companies are designed so that their realtors work for the company, really, and are essentially treated as an employee.
Most real estate agents don’t have say in how their company operates. But this isn’t about telling you what you can or can’t do. The issue is that there are company decisions being made daily that could dramatically affect your career! You may not even be aware of these discussions and decisions.
As a successful realtor, we believe you want to be in an independent relationship within a supporting organizational structure. At Keller Williams® Realty, we provide a clear path for you to build your own business career within the company, with substantial income opportunities available to everyone.

Secret #9

It’s your career, but you’re probably building wealth for others.

At Keller Williams®, we put the agent’s career first. Because the company is best served by building the agent’s career first, and putting the agent’s image ahead of the company’s. In this way, we all profit.

Secret #10

Your company’s training may not be designed to bring out your excellence.

The fact is, most realtor training is geared toward mediocrity. Most companies are out of touch with the needs of top aspiring agents. They don’t take the steps necessary to help them compete effectively in today’s market. Most are not keeping pace with what the top mega agents are learning and sharing. And, sadly, most companies are reluctant to invest in the career training of their agents because they have no business opportunity for them. Because of this, they fear they will eventually lose their agents, which they do.
At Keller Williams® , we provide a training and education program unparalleled in the real estate industry. Through Keller Williams® University, you will receive the skills and tools to develop your career and reach your goals—and helping you do that is our goal.

Secret #11

Choose your business partners wisely. Your real estate career depends on it.

In this ultra-competitive business world, a successful realtor must know the answer to one basic question: “Who’s on my side?” Sounds easy to know, doesn’t it. Yet if you don’t look closely, you’ll never know the answer.
In today’s real estate industry, who speaks for the hard-working agents? Where are the “agent’s rights” organizations? Do you belong to a realtors’ union? What this all means is that you’ve got to be your own organization. You’ve got to seek the best opportunities for your career. (Which, by the way, you’re doing right now.) You need a real estate organization that you can trust for support and resources. You need Keller Williams®.
Further, Keller Williams® believes that in the real estate business, your money is a vote for the direction you want your career to go. The commissions you pay had better be to an organization that cares about your success, as much as they care about theirs. After all, it’s your money. That’s what Keller Williams® believes. That’s the Keller Williams® difference.

Secret #12

Your real estate company doesn’t want you to discover Keller Williams® Realty.

As with all businesses, the real estate business is experiencing massive change. The trends are clear. Successful companies will treat their agents as stakeholders, and give them a say in how the business is run, as well as a decent share of the profits.
Most real estate company owners know about Keller Williams®, its innovative strategies and nationwide growth. Some, perhaps, have discussed changing their company to meet this new competitive force. Yet most have discovered they can’t compete! They’re boxed-in by their old thinking and business decisions. Therefore, they’d prefer you not discover Keller Williams® superior training, consulting, leverage, profit sharing, agent support and overall team environment.
Most people, realtors included, find a time in their lives when their current situation is no longer working for them. They have grown beyond it. It’s time for a change. Time for success, for a career with real growth.

Outfront Magazine

Provided By: kw.com/careers

Keller Williams OutFront Magazine is Keller Williams Realty’s quarterly publication, focused on the Keller Williams Realty real estate career advantage. The greatest advantage of running your real estate business at our company, is that there is an actual incentive for our real estate agents to share ideas and mastermind with eachother.  In every issue of KW Outfront Magazine, you will find this culture of sharing manifest itself in the many articles of top KW associates discussing  how they do business in their market at the highest level.

It is a simple idea, TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More!!    Each issue of KW Outfront Magazine is distributed quarterly to all of our Keller Williams Realty associates in the United States and Canada.  Whether you are just considering starting a real estate career or an experienced real estate agent looking for proven strategies to grow your real estate business, understanding how the most successful and innovative real estate agents are doing it right now,  is invaluable.

 

It's all about YOU!

Provided By: kw.com/careers

The Best Technology

Gain the high-tech edge! As technology continues to transform the ways in which buyers search for homes and real estate professionals communicate with their clients, Keller Williams Realty’s, agent driven technology development group is on the forefront of advances that continue to sharpen our agents’ competitive edge.
Read about our latest technology initiative, eEdge, the real estate industry’s first and only complete lead-to-close agent business solution, and the winner of the 2011 Inman Innovation Award!
“Keller Williams is determined to stay ahead of the curve to provide the most services and  support in the industry to our entire network – especially in today’s real estate climate."

-Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty

Get an inside look at Technology

The Best Training and Coaching

Tap into the real estate industry’s brightest minds and top producers! A commitment to training and coaching at every level is at the heart of what sets Keller Williams Realty apart. Keller Williams University provides an industry-leading curriculum addressing every aspect of success in real estate. Multimedia training is offered online, via KWConnect, the real estate industry's most innovative distance learning program. Among the industry’s top tier coaching programs, MAPS Coaching, led by Dianna Kokoszka, is having a profound impact on the careers of thousands of real estate professionals.
Complimenting this powerful trio is a focus on industry trends and data. Based on Gary Keller’s 2012 Vision Speech and the latest trends and data from studies conducted exclusively by KW Research, the KW Market Navigator is an agent’s guide to navigating this every-changing environment. Learn more. 

The Best Wealth-Building Opportunities

Spread the word and create another stream of income
In keeping with the philosophy that agents are partners and stakeholders in the success of the business, Keller Williams Realty has created a distinct profit sharing program in which approximately 50 percent of every market center’s profits every month are returned to those who have contributed to a market center’s growth by attracting productive associates to the office. To date, 14 Keller Williams associates have earned more than $1 million in profit share and fully 23,769 associates are participating in the profit share program.
Read the White Paper on profit share and Read the White Paper on growth share.
Find out how profit share is changing lives.

A Culture of Caring

Become part of something bigger Keller Williams Realty is a company that changes lives. The culture is as diverse as the countless ways in which associates and market centers commit themselves to finding and serving the higher purpose of business, and is united by cohesive understanding of our Mission, Vision, Values, Beliefs and Perspectives.
During our first, annual RED Day, which is now a companywide tradition, 22,000 associates participated in a coordinated effort to give back with their local communities.
At the heart of Keller Williams culture in action is KW Cares, a public charity created to reach out and support each other during times of extreme and unexpected hardship.

Realtor.com® Rentals App’s Most Popular Markets

Provided By: http://www.realtor.com/news/realtor-com-rentals-app-popular-rental-markets/?iid=rdc_news_article_editors-picks

Over the past year, we’ve seen a ton of folks download the realtor.com® rental app for either Android or iOS. Once installed, the app has become the hub of on-the-go rental hunts and helped plenty of happy renters find their perfect home.
To celebrate the app’s first anniversary, we looked at where we helped the most consumers connect with the right rentals. The most-searched cities within the app provided an intriguing cross-section of the U.S. rental market.
Following up on those results, we located a choice rental oppurtunity in each of the top 5 cities. If you’re interested in the general rental market, just click the city name for more information. If you find yourself drawn into the pretty picture of a cool rental, just click the photo to learn more.

1. Chicago — Burnham Pointe, rents from $1,776 to $6,628.


2. Las Vegas — Chandler Apartment Homes, rents from $870 to $1,259.




 3. Atlanta — The Residences at Vinings Mountain, rents from $842 to $1,535.




 4. Dallas — Brownstones Townhome Apartments, rents from $1,055 to $1,770.



 5. Orlando, FL — La Palazza at Metrowest, rents from $895 to $1,700

Mortgage Rates Continue to Hover Near Year Lows

Provided By: http://www.realtor.com/news/mortgage-rates-continue-hover-near-year-lows/

Mortgage rates for most U.S. home loans remained mostly flat again this week, remaining below the levels of this time last year.

The average for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage slipped to 4.12% from 4.13% last week, according to the latest survey from mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. The popular loan averaged 4.39% a year ago.
The 15-year, fixed-rate average also dropped to 3.23%, from 3.26% last week. It averaged 3.43% at this time a year ago.

Averages for hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages were mixed. At 2.99% a week ago, the five-year ARM is now trending at 3.01%. A year ago, it averaged 3.18%. The one-year ARM dipped to 2.38% from 2.39% a week ago. It averaged 2.64% at this time last year.
“Mortgage rates were little changed this week with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate at 4.12%, just a basis point lower from the previous week,” Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac, said in a statement.

“Meanwhile, on Wednesday afternoon the yield on the 10-year Treasury surged as data showed gross domestic product for the second quarter at a 4.0% annualized rate, above expectations.”
Mortgage rates are slightly lower than they were at this time last year, having fallen recently after climbing last summer when Federal Reserve announced it would curb its monthly bond purchases.
Looking ahead, experts predict we can see more of the same.

In the latest Mortgage Rate Trend Survey by Bankrate.com, 82% of the analysts polled believe averages will remain unchanged over the next week. Another 18% of analysts polled say rates will rise.

None of the analysts polled predict rates will drop.
“Rates seem to be ignoring all the factors that normally affect them,” said Polyana de Costa, a senior mortgage reporter at Bankrate.com. “They will probably ignore Friday’s jobs report, too.”

Apartments, more single-family homes coming to Joe Pool Lake community

 Provided By: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/commercial-real-estate/headlines/20140730-apartments-more-single-family-homes-coming-to-joe-pool-lake-community.ece


Developer Hanover Property Co. will build a $43 million apartment community on Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie.

The project is part of the Mira Lagos master-planned community, which Dallas-based Hanover is developing with Alpha-Barnes Real Estate Services.

Work on a new single-family-home community is also underway in Mira Lagos, which is on the peninsula at Joe Pool Lake on Lake Ridge Parkway and has 2,000 houses.
“This addition of luxury apartments in Mira Lagos introduces another high-end product for those who prefer to rent rather than own in a master-planned community,” Dick LeBlanc, president of Hanover Property, said in a prepared statement.

The Enclave at Mira Lagos apartments will have 310 units; 199 will be built in the first phase. Demarest Architecture designed the buildings.

The apartments will also have a clubhouse, a fitness center and a large resort-style pool.
Located south of Interstate 20, the 1,000-acre Mira Lagos will have 171 lots in the next phase of single-family homes. Houses are planned by Grand Homes, Bloomfield Homes and First Texas Homes and will be priced from more than $300,000 to almost $700,000.

The Keller Williams Story: Who's Who in the Field

Best places for vacation home deals.

Provided By:dallasnews.com





Dallas-area home sellers are raising their sights on what they expect properties to fetch at sale.
In June average asking prices for Dallas-area homes were up 8.1 percent from a year earlier, according to a new report by Trulia Inc.
That’s the same annual increase found when it looked at home list prices in the 100 largest U.S. cities.
Some markets are still seeing bigger jumps in home asking prices.
Average home list prices in Riverside, Calif are up 16.9 percent and they are 15.7 percent higher in Atlanta than in June 2013, according to Trulia.
“But despite this national slowdown in price gains, price increases continue to be widespread, with 97 of 100 metros posting year-over-year price gains – the most since the recovery began,” says Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko.
So far in 2014, median home sales prices in North Texas are running 8 percent ahead of where they were in June of 2013.

D-FW new home prices soaring thanks to higher costs

Provided By:dallasnews.com

New home prices are soaring in some North Texas neighborhoods, thanks to rising construction costs and higher land prices.

Metrostudy Inc. reported Friday that median new home prices in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have risen 24 percent since 2011 to $269,400 at midyear.

In popular areas, prices have gone up even faster, the housing consultant reports.

New home prices have risen 86 percent in North Dallas, are up 43 percent in Frisco and 36 percent higher in McKinney over the last three years, according to Metrostudy.

“Only 25 percent of the new home closings in the second quarter were for homes priced under $200,000, down from over 40 percent in 2011,” the new report says. “The higher prices are forcing many buyers to the nearby submarkets of Melissa, Anna, Celina, Little Elm, Oak Point and unincorporated areas of Denton and Collin counties.”

Median new home costs in North Texas are now more than a third higher than the median sales price for a preowned single-family home.

 

Metrostudy reports that home starts in the D-FW area were up 2 percent from a year earlier.

“We are expecting a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in starts during 2014, with the largest share of the increase coming from the first quarter,” Metrostudy’s David Brown said.

Metrostudy found that fewer than 3,000 finished available new houses were on the market in North Texas at the end of June. That’s down 12 percent from a year earlier.

Leasing kicks off for Victory Park apartment tower

Provided By:dallasnews.com

Atlanta developers who are building a highrise apartment in Dallas’ Victory Park are opening a leasing center and are ready to show off the building.
Novare Group said Tuesday that it begins previewing the property next week from a marketing center at 2308 Victory Park Lane.
The 24-story SkyHouse Dallas apartment tower is under construction on Woodall Rodgers Freeway on the north edge of downtown Dallas.
The first of the 336 units will be available for move in starting in November, Novare Group says.
Novare Group and Simpson Property Group built SkyHouse Dallas. They have just opened a similar SkyHouse Austin building and will SkyHouse Houston later this month.

How Long Does It Take to Buy a Home?

Provided By: Realtor.com

Consumers considering a home purchase often want to get a handle on how long the process takes.80411222

The problem is that it’s a surprisingly subjective and multilayered question. Answers tend to focus on the typical time it takes to close a home loan once you’re under contract, which is usually 30 to 45 days.

That’s an accurate response, but it’s a vantage point that leaves little room between the starting and finish lines. The home-buying journey— from financial preparation and finding the right home to getting under contract and through closing—tends to take a lot longer.

The reality is there is no stock answer, mostly because everyone’s journey is different. Here is a closer look at some stages and steps that can shape your home-buying timeline.

Building Credit & Savings

Signing a purchase agreement to buy a home is a key step, but it doesn’t mean much if you don’t have the credit and assets necessary to secure a mortgage.

You might need to spend time burnishing your credit profile or stockpiling savings in order to qualify for a home loan. Credit-score and down payment requirements can vary depending on the lender and the loan type. (Checking your credit scores before you begin your home search can help you determine if you need more time to build your credit. There are various services that allow you to check your credit scores for free, including Credit.com.)

Borrowers looking at a $300,000 home would need at least $15,000 in cash for a minimum down payment on conventional financing (5%) and at least $10,500 for FHA financing (3.5%).

The average conventional borrower in April had a 755 credit score, while the average FHA borrower had a score of 685, according to mortgage software company Ellie Mae.

Paying down debt, correcting mistakes on your credit report and other steps can help boost your score, rapidly in some cases. But some blemishes can take longer to clear up than others.

How long it takes to build that down payment nest egg depends on the borrower and their budget. Scraping together enough cash to simply meet those minimum requirements can take considerable time, especially for first-time buyers.

Finding the Right Home

Last year, homebuyers typically looked at 10 homes over 12 weeks before getting under contract, according to the National Association of Realtors.

But there’s no game clock on your home search. You can tour 50 homes over 50 weeks. You can buy the first showing.

It’s obviously the most personal part of the process, but it’s also a time when perfect can truly be the enemy of good. First-time buyers especially have to learn to balance wants and needs with the realities of their housing market and what they can afford.

That’s not always an easy—or quick—lesson to learn.

Loan Processing

For mortgage lenders, the home-buying clock starts once they get a copy of your purchase agreement. From there, work starts on getting the property appraised and all of your financial documentation in order for an underwriter to review.

Like credit and underwriting requirements, appraisal time frames can vary depending on the loan type. For example, most appraisals on VA loans are back within 10 days, but it might take longer in more remote parts of the country.

That 30- to 45-day window from contract to close is a good ballpark for most purchase loans, unless you are trying to buy a short sale (think more like 90 to 120 days). But understand it’s not uncommon for underwriters to require additional documents once they begin scrutinizing your loan file.

Borrowers can help speed the process along by returning those documents as quickly as possible. You don’t have a ton of control once you are under contract on a home, but this is one key area where your swift action—or lack of it—can have a big impact on your home-buying timeline.