Breaking News: Jack Cotton, real estate agent and author who was featured on the Book Scan last year, made it to the top of Amazon.com’s bestsellers list this month. On Oct. 6, his book Selling Luxury Homes hit number one in the real estate book category. His other two books, 12 Secrets Luxury Home Sellers Know That You Can Use Today and 12 Secrets Luxury Home Buyers Know That You Can Use Today, climbed to numbers two and three, respectively, in the category of bestsellers in the buying and selling homes book category.
“It was phenomenal to have three books hit the best seller list on the same day,” said Cotton. “In this challenging real estate market, the books are a resource not just for agents, but for buyers and sellers who need a competitive edge.”
Since the release of the three books, Cotton continues to work as an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty in Osterville, as well as speaking and signing books at events throughout the country. For the past two years, he has been a featured speaker at the National Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo. For more information on the books, visit www.jackcotton.com, follow him on Facebook or Twitter @jackcotton, or email jack@jackcotton.com.
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
The only way you’ll be winning the real estate game is if your clients are. Industry veteran Richard Steinhoff wants to help you help them. With more than 30 years under his belt, Steinhoff drew from his plethora of client-centric experiences to write his new book, Turning Myths into Money: An Insider’s Guide to Winning the Real Estate Game. He’s blowing open misconceptions and busting myths that may be tripping-up your clients’ real estate process.
Q&A with Richard Steinhoff:
How did you get your start in real estate?
Steinhoff: I had a friend who just got their real estate license and they needed some help getting a house sold. I already had a college education and I decided to get my broker license. We opened our own office and that’s how I got started. My specialty was in commercial, but our office dealt with both residential and commercial real estate and we grew to have about 40 agents.
I’ve wanted to write a book for years and my daughter always encouraged me. When the market took a turn and I started to see all this bad information out there, it became apparent that this was the right time to write a book that helps people by giving them good advice from someone inside the real estate industry.
You include 90 real estate myths in your book. Which ones, in your opinion, are the most important to understand?
Steinhoff: I originally write more than 100 myths, but we cut them down to 90. There’s a whole section on how to find a good agent. Also, the section on short sales and foreclosures are must-reads for people.
What do you cover in the short sale section of your book? Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Tax code is complex and often difficult to understand, including when it comes to the sale of a home. Help your sellers understand the rules and ways in which they can save money with Julian Block’s new book, Home Seller’s Guide to Tax Savings.
A nationally recognized tax attorney, Block outlines clear and easy-to-understand methods to lower one’s taxes. Specifically, Block’s book offers advice for home owners who profit more than $500,000 on a sale for married couples and $250,000 for single sellers (or couples who file separately). Those who profit below these respective amounts at closing are exempt, as they qualify for tax exclusion.
What was your main goal in writing this book and how can it serve as a resource for REALTORS®?
Block: My perception is there is a need for this type of book. It’s a way for the REALTOR® to reach out to their clients and provide them with a resource that clearly outlines tactics to reduce the amount of taxes owed following the sale of a home.
Maybe your client is operating a business out of a home. Maybe they’re going through a divorce. Or maybe they’re a widow or widower who is selling a home. Or they live in a vacation home-turned permanent residence. It’s all covered in the book. People can also make deductions to reduce their taxable profit if they’ve kept track of the improvements they’ve made to their home. More than 150 items qualify.
This book is really a way for the REALTOR® to point out this information to the client – including the fact that whatever commission the REALTOR® is receiving is tax deductible by the client. All of this will help the seller build up the cost and reduce the taxable profit.
How should real estate professionals respond when they get questions about taxes? Continue reading »
Starr C. Osborne, owner and founder of Tailored Transitions, a Philadelphia-based home staging, moving-management, and design company, has put together these 10 tips to help sellers prepare their home for the market. Her new book, Home Staging That Works: Sell Your Home in Less Time for More Money (AMACOM, 2010) offers step-by-step and room-by-room instruction for professional-quality makeovers that will wow potential buyers.
1. In this market, it is wise to get a pre-inspection. Based on the results of your pre-inspection, schedule appointments with reputable vendors to get professional estimates on what repairing any major problems would cost. You, and your buyer, don’t want any surprises.
2. Identify the demographic of your most likely buyer. Keep them firmly in mind as you prepare to put your home up for sale. Is it for young couples starting a family? Is it for baby boomers downgrading after their kids have moved out?
3. Buy new house or apartment numbers to replace your existing ones if they’re dated or damaged. This is the first thing that buyers look for (to make sure they’re at the right place), so of course it’s the first thing they notice. You don’t want to start off with a bad impression. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
Barb Schwarz
You can call Barb Schwarz the God Mother of staging. She is the creator of the staging homes concept, founded the home staging industry, and developed the Accredited Staging Professional courses and designations. Plus, she spent years as a top-selling real estate pro in the Seattle area. Now this professional speaker and industry leader has published her fifth book, Staging to Sell: The Secret to Selling Homes in a Down Market (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009), where she addresses REALTORS®, stagers and sellers alike.
Here’s what Schwarz had to say about Staging to Sell, and the field she loves:
You have been published many times. Did you change your approach at all with this book?
SCHWARZ: Yes, this is my fifth book and my third staging book. I felt it was really important to do a dialogue between a seller, a stager and a REALTOR®, to really lay out the roles each one plays and how they need to listen to and support each other. I laid out the positive ramifications of listening and how that can create a successful sale — as well as marketing, practicing their business skills, and the commitments each needs to make.
What are the top three pieces of advice you give stagers and real estate practitioners when it comes to educating sellers on staging?
SCHWARZ: Number one for me is communication. By saying to the seller, “pretend that you’re the buyer.” Ask them what they would want to see. Show them before and after pictures of individual staged rooms. Pictures are worth a thousand words. You need to communicate verbally, with body language, and with eye contact. Show sellers respect. Show them what they are paying you for. Open them up to the concept of staging right way. And when it is staged and priced right, you know in your heart it will sell.
Attitude Before Platitude
Becki Saltzman has arranged a threesome. It involves you, your clients, and her wacky self, and it takes place in her new book, Arousing the Buy Curious: Real Estate Pillow Talk for Patrons and Professionals (Oomau Media, 2013).
Author Becki Saltzman
While the book is peppered with what some may term naughty language and innuendo, perhaps the more shocking element is that she wrote a book that is aimed at practitioners as well as buyers and sellers. What? Didn’t someone tell her not to give up the secret codes?!
But after reading this compendium cover to cover, I can assure you that you can relax. In fact—once you read the client-focused chapter and the client tips scattered throughout the book—you’ll probably want to buy this for all your (not-so-uptight) buyers and sellers. Not only does Saltzman guide clients on how to pick good agents, but she teaches them a whole lot about how to be good customers as well.
OK, back to the naughty bits. This book is not for those easily offended by language. Still when Saltzman writes, “You might be appalled by some of what you read in this book, but I promise that the ideas my potty mouth spouts are valid,” she lives up to the promise. Indeed, her advice is novel as it is solid, and it spans everything from getting started in real estate, to transaction management (from both sides), to handling crazy market fluctuations with grace.
Arousing the Buy Curious, coming to bookshelves in September, is definitely useful. But it’s also hilarious. There are quite a few laugh-out-loud commentaries that I can’t print here. But here are a few that can sneak by: Continue reading »