Your home will probably be the largest investment you ever make in your lifetime. There are so many problems that could put your property title at risk. Here at First International Title, we want you–whether you’re a homebuyer or a real estate agent–to be prepared for anything that could arise.

There are several title issues that could cause a loss of your property, whether it’s a home or a business. “Hidden Hazards” are title issues not disclosed during a thorough search and review of public records. This may cause problems. Thankfully, there is a way to protect your investment.

An owner’s title policy covers you and your heirs from financial loss caused by title issues. The title insurer will defend you against a claim made against the title of your property – all without expense to you. With the owner’s title policy, the home-buyer pays a small one-time premium at closing in exchange for enormous protection.

Look out for these common title problems:

Forgery of deeds and records

Fraudulent Impersonation of the legal landowner

Documents executed under false or expired power of attorney

Undisclosed or unknown heirs

Prior owners who did not divest themselves properly

Deeds by persons of unsound mental capacity, minors, or illegal immigrants

Deeds by persons secretly married

Adoption or birth after date of will

Surviving children omitted from a will

Deeds delivered after death of a grantor or grantee or without consent

Mistakes in recording legal documents

Deeds in lieu of foreclosure given under duress

Claims of creditors against property

Easements not discovered by surveys

Tax record and report errors

Federal condemnation without notice filing

Corporate franchise taxes or liens on corporate assets

Undisclosed divorce of spouse who represents as an heir

Liens for unpaid taxes or homeowner association dues and assessments

Unreleased liens

If you have, or suspect you have, any of these problems regarding your or your client’s property, reach out to your First International Title professional today! We can talk you through the process and give you the correct steps in order to close. An owner’s title policy can protect you against title loss.

The owner’s title policy is effective for as long as the owner or their heirs own the property. It’s a small price to pay for a big peace of mind!

Questions? Comments? Reach out to your FIT rep today!

Real estate agents are constantly looking for new ways to gain leads and build business. This is necessary for those who plan to make a living as a realtor. Overall, there are two types of leads: paid and earned. Paid leads are exactly as they sound – you pay another person or online resource to find leads on your behalf. Although this saves an enormous amount of time and energy on the realtor’s part, these lead generation sources can end up costing a fortune.

Earned leads, on the other hand, are also highly effective and much less expensive than the paid ones. However, you will be paying for these leads, not with money, but with your time, energy, and dedication. How much effort you put into gaining your own leads generally corresponds to how much you will get in return.

Tom Ferry, a highly-ranked real estate educator, noted that in 2014, NAR reported 87 percent of real estate agents fail or quit within the first five years. We don’t want that to happen to you! We hope that with some of these tricks to earn your leads, our realtor followers will be in the 13 percent that are successful.

There are plenty of creative ways you can earn leads for free, but we’re going to focus on six to get you started: special events, networking, email newsletters, social media, taking advantage of resources already available to you, and thinking outside the box.

Through these six avenues, you should be able to expand your sphere of influence by a large margin. Your continuous goal should be to make new ‘touches’ every week and expand your influence in a way that makes people remember you.

Special Events
What is something you are passionate about? Take that and turn it into party! Begin hosting special events at your house, a local bar, in the park, or wherever you feel comfortable where the main attraction is something you’re really interested in. Regularly invite your family, friends, former colleagues, neighbors, members of your church or country club, and acquaintances.

For example, someone who truly has a taste for wine can have a Wine Share. He or she can invite their friends and family to bring one bottle of their favorite wine and everyone tastes and shares each other’s. They can discuss which ones they like, which ones they don’t like, flavors, texture, and notes they’re palate is sensing. Also, this is a way to save money as you only provide your one favorite bottle and maybe some cheese and crackers.

Special events are amazing opportunities to simply start conversations with those in your community. Host your events regularly enough that keeps people coming back and, hopefully, bring their friends to the next one. Eventually, you’ll get to the topic of real estate as you are consistently reminding these folks what you do: helping others buy and sell their homes. Always, always, always have information about yourself and your listings on hand to give out when the opportunity arises (and it will).

Networking
Strive to make new touches every single week by attending networking groups and other social events (that you’re not hosting). This can include art shows, charity events, book talks, happy hours, craft fairs, and networking groups that meet regularly. Network with both the general public and other real estate professionals.

Having a difficult time finding a networking group? Simply get on Google, Eventbrite, or Meetup and search for “real estate networking” or “real estate classes”. The amount of classes and events available to realtors is very encouraging. Seriously. Go look it up now!

Again, always have your information on hand and be ready to take others’ information as well.

Email Newsletters
Begin an email database, whether you use Excel or an online tool such as Constant Contact, where you can keep track of everyone’s email address that you come into contact with. Send out a weekly or bi-weekly email newsletter to these emails you have collected over time. This keeps you in the forefront of their minds as they see your name constantly pop up in their email.

Highlight your listings, upcoming open houses, your special events, recent testimonials or success stories from past clients, and anything else happening in your market or area. Try not to send out a newsletter more than once a week or else risk overwhelming your followers. But really, who has time for that anyways?

Social Media
Everyone talks about social media because of one reason: it works! By now, you should already have a Facebook page, whether it is a personal one or professional business page. You know the importance of being on social media, so we’re here to encourage you to engage your followers.

Simply having a page is not enough. Again, you want your followers to remember you. Do this by asking them to comment on your posts, promoting your special events, posting Facebook live videos, and asking them to share your content. You could even do a photo contest where the best photo wins a gift card or have your followers like and share a post to win a random giveaway. The possibilities are endless.

Take Advantage of Your Resources
There are countless resources already available to you simply for being a real estate agent. You could not even have made one sale yet, however, classes, events, mobile apps, and other software are there for you! It’s up to you to seek out these opportunities.

First International Title offers real estate courses every month and other various events. Seek out your local office for upcoming classes and other resources available to you!

Think Outside the Box
It’s time to get creative. Ask yourself some questions. What are some local businesses you could potentially partner up with? Is there a divorce lawyer nearby who could refer their clients selling a home to you? Are the local banks willing to work with you with buyers applying for a home loan? What are some other ways you can get creative with the opportunities at your doorstep?

Leave Your Fear at the Door
Don’t be afraid to go looking for new ways to gain leads and don’t be scared to ask others for help. Every First Western/International Title office has a business developer dedicated to helping you find ways to grow your business. Reach out to us with any questions and we would be happy to help you brainstorm!

Use a variety of these tactics and others that you come up with to grow your business. Don’t focus on one idea because it can only get you so far. Your earned leads can be highly effective but will take a large amount of time, energy, creativity, and your dedication. Are you dedicated?

Questions? Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com

Are you ready to save money on your holiday parties this year? This time of year can already be so expensive with travelling, buying gifts, decorating your home, and finding a big enough ham for Christmas dinner. It’s also a great time to get together with friends and family for your annual holiday party.

If you’re lucky enough not to care about how much you spend during the next month or two, then this article isn’t for you. For those who budget holiday spending, here are a few tips to throwing a fantastic party – and impressing your mother-in-law at the same time – without spending next month bills.

Less Really Is More
The theme to keep in mind this Christmas season is that less is more when it comes to hosting people. It starts with your mindset. Unfortunately, like most big events, your guests are not really going to notice all the little extra things you went out of your way to do to make your party special. No matter how cute they are, you do not need to individually place everyone’s silverware is those mini red stockings!

Save yourself some time and money by deciding not to ‘go all out’ on every detail of your evening. Not only will it cause you to stress over the little details, you’ll also feel disappointed and, possibly, a bit irritated when your guests don’t notice all the work you put into it. Plus, it’s more expensive and that’s why we’re here in the first place. So, take a deep breath. Put down all the burlap. And let’s get to work to make this year’s holiday party the best and cheapest one yet!

Let’s Start at the Beginning
There is no need to spend an unnecessary amount of money printing off individual invitations. Do people use print invites anymore? We don’t know. But opt for email invites or a Facebook event instead. It gives your guests the opportunity to RSVP easily online instead of having to call you and go through the awkward small talk. That’s what your party is for anyways, isn’t it?

Don’t Go Crazy with the Food
You will automatically save money in one of the biggest areas in party planning–food–just as long as you don’t overdo it. Keep the options light and easy for your guests. Too many choices can be overwhelming. They don’t need a 5-course meal to have a good time and, chances are, they won’t eat as much as you’re planning anyways. No one loves a heap of leftovers and after guests politely say, ‘No, thank you’ to your offer of bringing home the dip, that’s exactly what you’ll be left with. You have a lot going on during this time of year. Why not make it easier on yourself?

Finger food is gold. Instead of hand-wrapping those garlic butter prosciutto wrapped asparagus that you found in a fancy magazine, stick with some cute Grinch-themed kabobs using grapes, strawberries, and banana slices on a stick. You could also throw together some popcorn with red and green m&ms to make a festive and generally enjoyable snack.

Finally, head over to Aldi or another discount grocery market and buy off-brand food products to save even more dough. After all, this food is basically only going to last one evening.

Definitely Don’t Go Crazy with the Drinks
Similar to what we discussed about food, you should also try to limit your drink choices – especially if alcohol is involved, which can be outrageously pricey if you’re not careful. A bar for hot chocolate is cute, easy, and includes a beverage that’s loved by almost everybody this time of year. If you plan on having alcoholic drinks, stick with one signature cocktail or a punch.

Also, keep it down to two or three wines and one beer. Generally speaking, people who like wine can either enjoy a simple red or white. In the same way, most beer-drinkers aren’t all that picky either. If you have a picky guest, then maybe they’ll have to accept their role as Designated Driver.

Party Décor and Entertainment Doesn’t Have to be a Chore
Thrift stores and discount stores such as Big Lots, TJ Maxx, and Walmart are the place to go if you want to find relatively inexpensive but simple and attractive decorations. If you’re a part of those families who put up bigger-than-your-house inflatable snowmen and Christmas minions well, then, there’s no help for you here. But we bet your house looks amazing!

Another good tip when it comes to decorating is not to buy all new serving dishes for one party. Work with what you got! You can tie some holiday ribbon around serving bowls or silverware. You can use those mason jars piling up in the top cabinet with cotton balls for fake snow and tea lights for a warm Christmas glow.

Finally, instead of getting favors or goodie bags for every guest–which we know you’re going to spend too much time hand-tying ribbon across the top of every single one–stick with one grand gift or prize. Play a holiday game with your guests and the winner gets the prize. You can also do a gift exchange, still only causing you to worry about one gift.

Have fun!
The choices are endless and there are countless ideas all over the internet if you want to spice up your holiday parties this year without taking out a small loan to do so. But whatever you decide to do, whether it’s a massive gathering or a small get together, all of us at First International Title wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Questions? Comments? Email shannonw@firstwesterntitle.com