pickford press - august 2007

8/14/2019 Pickford Press - August 2007

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The

Press

VOLUME ONE

ISSUE FIVE

AUGUST 2007

Marketing Challenges and How toOvercome Themll marketers facechallenges, and real

estate marketing is nodifferent. But sometimes wehave a way of letting ourchallenges grow "too big fortheir britches."

A

In our minds, hurdles canbecome impossibilities, whenin reality they're anything but

impossible.To overcome a real estate

marketing challenge, yousimply have to look at it with afresh perspective, ask theright questions, and thencharge ahead.

With that in mind, here aresome of the commonmarketing challenges I'veheard real estate agentsexpress over the years, as wellas ways to overcome those

challenges:Marketing Challenge #1 - Idon't know anything aboutmarketing.

Every marketerapproaches their first projectwith little or no practicalexperience. Practicalexperience comes from, well,practical experience. So inyour real estate marketingendeavors, start by gaining aknowledge base through

reading and research. Thenbuild on that base throughactual experimentation.

"Analysis paralysis" affectsa lot of would-be marketers.

This is the condition whereevery element of a marketingcampaign is analyzed,scrutinized and conceptualized-- to the point that nothingactually gets done.

Learn as much as you canabout a particular marketing

channel or tactic by studyingwhat others have done. Thenget out there and do it foryourself. Sure, you'll makemistakes. We all do. But that'spart of the learning process.Marketing Challenge #2 - Idon't know where to start.

If you're new to the worldof real estate marketing, start

with the basics. Firstdetermine your goals. This willmake the entire processeasier. Too often, I see peopledefine marketing goals thatare overly vague. "I want togrow my business," is not amarketing goal -- it'ssomething we all want.

Of course you want to growyour business. But to gain anydirection from this step, youhave to get specific. For

instance:"I want to create an

educational website with freedownloads and reports, andpromote the site with directmail. Using this system, I wantto capture 20 new leads permonth."

Now that's a goal --specific, measurable anddirectional.Marketing Challenge #3 - Idon't know anything about

technology.Technology. The word alonescares people. But in truth,marketing technology hasevolved to a point of user-friendliness that it never hadbefore.

Today's marketing tools --from website creation to listmanagement -- are moreusable than ever, even bypeople with little to notechnical skill.

And even when you can'tfind user-friendly technologyto help you with a certainmarketing task, you can betthere's a vendor willing to stepin.

When researchingtechnology, break the processdown into simple parts. First,refer back to your goals from

Challenge #2 above. Whattechnology can help youachieve those goals? Onceyou've answered this questionyou'll have taken an ocean oftechnological possibilities andnarrowed them down to achannel that best applies toyou.

And always remember:technology can deliver themessage, but it can't createthe message. It can help you

show the value of yourservices, but it can't createthat value in the first place.

That's your job.Marketing Challenge #4 - Idon't have time formarketing.

This one is simply a matterof priorities. If your marketingis a top priority, then you canmake time for it. Here's aneasy way to do just that:

Start small, with just an

hour a day. Spend 15 minutesreading up on a particularmarketing tactic, and 45minutes actually practicing it.

The 15 minutes of researchalso helps reduce Challenge#1 (not knowing anythingabout marketing).Marketing Challenge #5 -I'm new to real estate.

Every expert from everyindustry was the new guy orgal at some point. They
http://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/http://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/http://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/article25.phphttp://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/http://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/http://www.armingyourfarming.com/knowledge/article25.php


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THE PICKFORD PRESS VOLUME ONE ISSUE FIVE AUGUST 2007 PAGE 2

managed, and so can you.Even if you're new to realestate, you're still aprofessional, right? You'll findthat people judge you by your

personal behavior as much asyour credentials.

When it comes to yourmarketing message, thismeans being knowledgeableand professional. Properspelling, relevant information,professional design anddelivery -- these factors addup, and they'll help you makea strong impression regardlessof how long you've beenpracticing real estate.

Reprinted fromwww.armingyour farming.com,article by Brandon Cornett

PHIL CLARKAND

SONIA VIERAPickford Escrow Company,Inc.

25909 Pala Drive, #150Mission Viejo, CA 92691Phone: (949) 586-2700

Fax: (949) 206-1259E-Mail:

[email protected]

Real Estate Tax Tips for Sale ofResidenceINCLUDEPICTURE

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ou may qualify to excludefrom your income all or

part of any gain from the saleof your main home. Your mainhome is the one in which youlive most of the time.

Y

Ownership and Use TestsTo claim the exclusion, you

must meet the ownership anduse tests. This means thatduring the 5-year period

ending on the date of the sale,you must have:

Owned the home for at

least two years (theownership test)

Lived in the home as

your main home for atleast two years (theuse test)

Gain

If you have a gain from thesale of your main home, youmay be able to exclude up to$250,000 of the gain fromyour income ($500,000 on a

joint return in most cases).

If you can exclude all of

the gain, you do notneed to report the saleon your tax return

If you have gain that

cannot be excluded, it

CCALLINGALLINGAALLLL

BBUYERUYERSSAAGENTSGENTS

Todays market providesyou the rare occasion tobe able to ASK FORASK FORSERVICESSERVICES when yourerepresenting a Buyer intheir pursuit of the

American Dream.

With the current state ofthe marketplacepronouncing that theBuyer has the control,theyre now providedwith the uncommonability to dictate servicesthat have customarilybeen chosen by theListing Agent or Seller.

With this, you have beengiven the PERFECTPERFECTOPPORTUNITYOPPORTUNITYtoutilize your in-houseescrow company onpurchases, thus ensuringthe level of service thatyouve come to knowand trust. The next timeyoure preparing anoffer, remember to writein PICKFORDPICKFORD

ESCROW - PHILESCROW - PHILCLARKCLARK in Section
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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The

Press

VOLUME ONE

ISSUE FIVE

AUGUST 2007

is taxable. Report it onSchedule D (Form

1040)Loss

You cannot deduct a lossfrom the sale of your mainhome.Worksheets

Worksheets are included inPublication 523, Selling YourHome, to help you figure the:

Adjusted basis of the

home you sold

Gain (or loss) on the

sale

Gain that you can

excludeReporting the Sale

Do not report the sale ofyour main home on your taxreturn unless you have a gainand at least part of it istaxable. Report any taxablegain on Schedule D (Form1040).More Than One Home

If you have more than onehome, you can exclude gainonly from the sale of yourmain home. You must pay taxon the gain from selling anyother home. If you have twohomes and live in both ofthem, your main home isordinarily the one you live inmost of the time.Example One:

You own and live in ahouse in the city. You also owna beach house, which you useduring the summer months.

The house in the city is yourmain home; the beach houseis not.Example Two:

You own a house, but youlive in another house that yourent. The rented house is yourmain home.Business Use or Rental ofHome

You may be able to excludeyour gain from the sale of a

home that you have used forbusiness or to produce rental

income. But you must meetthe ownership and use tests.Example:

On May 30, 1997, Amybought a house. She moved inon that date and lived in ituntil May 31, 1999, when shemoved out of the house andput it up for rent. The housewas rented from June 1, 1999,to March 31, 2001. Amymoved back into the house onApril 1, 2001, and lived there

until she sold it on January 31,2003. During the 5-year periodending on the date of the sale(February 1, 1998 - January31, 2003), Amy owned andlived in the house for morethan 2 years as shown in thetable.

Amy can exclude gain upto $250,000. However, shecannot exclude the part of thegain equal to the depreciationshe claimed for renting the

house.Information taken from theInternal Revenue Servicewebsite, www.irs.gov
http://www.irs.gov/http://www.irs.gov/


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THE PICKFORD PRESS VOLUME ONE ISSUE FIVE AUGUST 2007 PAGE 4

i ve Yea r Perio d Us ed a s Ho me Use d as Ren tal2/1/98-5/31/99 16 months

6/1/99-3/31/01 22 months

4/1/01-1/31/03 22 months

TOTAL: 38 months 22 months

pickford press - august 2007

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