May the beauty and peace

of the season stay in your heart

all through the year,

The Corcoran Consulting & Coaching Team
“Our Systems Are Your Solution”

Picture in your mind a bucket - not an ordinary bucket. Think of this bucket as one you must keep full - full of leads so that your real estate business doesn’t dry up.

The good news - directly above this bucket are 10 faucets. We can call them “lead faucets.” The bad news - many agents don’t use them. That’s unfortunate because each lead faucet has powerful potential. A little bit of tinkering can mean a steady gush of leads that will keep your bucket filled to the brim. Let’s look at these 10 ‘faucets’ and how to create a fire hose-strength flow.

For additional information and guidance on this topic we have posted an article on our website entitled “10 Killer Lead Generation Ideas” for you to review.

Commitment for the Week:

Make A Commitment: I will review my Lead Generation Systems and know how much business I get from each one.
Deadline: _________

Bob Corcoran

A past Corcoran Consulting client, Robert Radcliffe, sent out a blast e-mail with the below information.  His preferred Lender, Rick Ellis with CS Private Mortgage Banking prepared the information for him.
A Summary of the Monetary and Fiscal Stimulus by the US Government to Date:
1.        BEAR STEARNS - The Federal Reserve assisted a major Wall Street firm in its 3/16/08 purchase of Bear Stearns by providing up to $29 billion in loans (i.e., a backstop) in the event that the buyer suffered losses on subprime assets acquired in the transaction.    
2.        HOUSING RELIEF - President George Bush signed a housing bill on 7/30/08 that will insure up to $300 billion in mortgages.  The bill allows up to 400,000 homeowners to refinance their existing mortgages into new 30-year fixed rate mortgages backed by the government.  A qualifying homeowner has to be spending more than 31% of his/her monthly income on the mortgage payment and be currently living in the house.      
3.        HOUSING TAX CREDIT INCENTIVES - The 7/30/08 housing bill had $15 billion in tax cuts, including a first-time home buyer tax credit of up to $7,500 for home purchases between 4/09/08 and 7/01/09.  The bill also contained $4 billion for cities to buy and renovate foreclosed properties in hard-hit neighborhoods.      
4.        FANNIE AND FREDDIE - Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced a plan on 9/07/08 where the government took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The Treasury Department acquired $1 billion of preferred stock in each company, warrants for 80% of their common stock and pledged up to $200 billion of financial support as a result of potential mortgage defaults.     
5.        TARP - The $700 billion “Troubled Assets Relief Program” (TARP) was signed into law by President Bush on 10/03/08.  The $700 billion was divided between $250 billion to be allocated by the Treasury Department into bank purchases, another $100 billion to be directed by President George Bush (as needed) and $350 billion to be allocated by our next president (i.e., Barack Obama) in 2009 and beyond.    
6.        TARP + PORK - In order to win Congressional support of the TARP bill, $150 billion of tax incentives were added to the legislation, including changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax law.    
7.        TARP + BUYING BANKS - Half of the $250 billion TARP money designated for bank purchases went into 9 banks.  This $125 billion bought non-voting preferred bank shares with a 5% dividend.  The Treasury also acquired $18.75 billion in warrants (15% of the $125 billion) to buy common stock of the banks.      
8.        TARP + MORE BANK PURCHASES - The other $125 billion allocated for bank purchases will be used to take equity positions in smaller US banks, i.e., not the original 9 big banks.    
9.        COMMERCIAL PAPER FUNDING FACILITY - The Fed announced on 10/07/08 that it will buy short-term commercial paper through 4/30/09.  Eligible issuers of the short-term debt have $1.3 trillion of outstanding commercial paper.    
10.     TEMPORARY LIQUIDITY GUARANTEE PROGRAM - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced on 10/14/08 the “Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.”  The plan allows banks and other firms that have been approved to participate and issue up to $1.4 trillion in government-guaranteed bonds with maturities of more than 30 days.  The bonds must be issued by 6/30/09.  The guarantee lasts no longer than 6/30/12.    
11.     MONEY MARKET INVESTOR FUNDING FACILITY - The Fed announced on 10/21/08 that they would lend $540 billion to corporations, a plan (“Money Market Investor Funding Facility”) designed to unclog the commercial paper market (source: WSJ, Barron’s).    
12.     AIG - The original bailout of the nation’s largest insurance company (worked out on 9/16/08) involved an $85 billion loan and warrants that would give the government an 80% ownership in the firm.  On 10/08/08, a $38 billion loan was added to the agreement.  That deal was reworked on 11/10/08 to a $60 billion loan, a $40 billion purchase of the insurance company’s preferred stock (using some of the $700 billion TARP money), and $52.5 billion to buy other mortgage-backed assets of the firm.     
13.     GOVERNMENT SPONSERED ENTITIES PURCHASE PROGRAM - The Fed announced on 11/25/08 a program (“Government Sponsored Entities Purchase Program”) to buy $600 billion of mortgage-backed securities and debt from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks.    
14.     TERM ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES LOAN FACITITY - The Fed launched on 11/25/08 a new program (“Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility”) to lend up to $200 billion to private investors who would in turn buy securitized assets that are backed by auto loans, credit card loans, student loans or small business loans.        
15.     GM, FORD & CHRYSLER - The 3 largest auto makers in the USA delivered their request to Congress for $34 billion of loans and lines of credit on 12/02/08.  
 

It boggles my mind. We know, as surely as the sky is blue, that consumers choose agents who respond first to their inquiries. It is a plain fact. Research has proven it and yet, lead management remains the single biggest problem in real estate. I know this from personal experience.

When my wife and I went house shopping in Southern California three years ago, we visited 11 homes and I left 11 messages. Do you know how many agents returned my calls? One and it came two days after I left the message.

What’s equally surprising to me is this: the solution to the lead management problem is simple. Yet, few have caught on.

For additional information and guidance on this topic we have posted an article on our website entitled “The 5 Easy Steps to Turn Leads into Customers” for you to review.

Commitment for the Week:

Make A Commitment: I will be consistent in my lead follow up.
Deadline: _________

Bob Corcoran

You know what a gas guzzler is - a big clunker that gulps gas like a thirsty old dog. And if you have been in real estate for more than a month you know what a time guzzler is too - a prospect that drinks up your time.

Can you imagine how much more productive (not to mention richer) you would be if you could just convert more of those time guzzlers into buying clients?

The good news is you can, and here is how.