ALTA Lenders Title Policy

ALTA LENDERS POLICY

The ALTA Lenders Policy is for institutional lenders only (such as banks and savings and loans). It insures lender priority and the fact that it is marketable. It covers both recorded matters as well as unrecorded matters such as:

Encroachments
Unrecorded easements
Access
Loss of priority
Unrecorded liens and encumbrances.
The coverage on this policy is quite broad. A survey or inspection is often required before a policy is issued This policy can be issued on all types of real property.

ALTA Residential Title Policy

ALTA RESIDENTIAL POLICY

The ALTA Residential Policy is an owner’s policy insuring owners of 1-4 family residential lots or condominium units. In addition to the basic coverage provided by the CLTA policy, the ALTA residential policy protects the insured against losses caused by:

Mechanic Liens (labor and material liens) arising out of work done on the property which the insured did not agree to or agree to pay for
Major encroachments – The insured is protected against forced removal of an existing structure (other than a boundary wall or fence) because it extends onto adjoining land or onto an easement
Unrecorded interest arising from off record leases, contracts or option
Zoning Compliance (as long as property in question and zoning are both residential) CC&Rs compliance
Most title companies will insure a seller carry back deed of trust under an ALTA residential policy by endorsement (an addendum to a title policy with a small additional cost). This is the only type of deed of trust that may be insured under this policy.

What Happens when Mortgage Loan is sold to another Lender?

Follow My Blog to find answers to commonly asked Questions pertaining to the Real Estate Industry, Title Insurance, and Escrow services. Remember is it always wise to consult with a licensed professional in your area for the best more current laws and regulations. Sara

10 Tips for Telephone Success

The telephone is an often under-appreciated and much maligned piece of office equipment. Have you stopped to consider how much business you conduct over the telephone? These 10 tips will help you improve your telephone presence and presentations.

1. You are the “Manager of First Impressions” for your business. Whenever you pick up the telephone, put a smile on your face first. It will enhance your vocal quality and you will sound pleasant and relaxed.

2. Listen attentively to the person you are speaking with. Recall why your dog is such a good listener: listen actively and in the moment. Multi-tasking is the enemy of effective listening.

3. Let other people talk! Make sure your caller has completely finished speaking before responding. Remember: sometimes they aren't done talking; they are just coming up for air.

4. Use open-ended questions to get people to speak more freely. You should always talk less than the person you have called. It makes others feel more comfortable, particularly if you are asking them to make a decision. The more they talk, the easier it is for them to “buy into” what you are proposing.

5. To create affinity with your callers, speed up or slow down your speaking voice to better match theirs. They won’t realize why they feel comfortable, they just will.

6. Use your words for best results. Keep in mind you can phrase anything positively, negatively or neutrally. Phrasing your words positively will help you get better results more easily.

7. Voice mail can be your friend. Avoid leaving voice mail messages but if you must, think of it as a 30 second commercial on a highly rated radio program. You have the opportunity to get your message into the “ears” of your most desired audience. Your message should reflect this.

8. Plan your telephone presentations in advance. Think out all the various scenarios you might be faced with and write it out. This is called pre-call planning.

9. Tape yourself for self-improvement. Listen to yourself carefully and decide what areas you want to improve.

10. Make an action plan. Focus on only one area at a time. When you feel comfortable, move to your next area and repeat.

We use the telephone as our primary form of personal communication. People who are good with this medium increase their opportunities for success.

Southern California home prices rise on low supply

— Southern California home prices rose in December as investors made cash offers to compete
for slim pickings, and sales grew in pricier coastal regions, according to reports released
Tuesday.

The median price for new and existing houses and condominiums reached $323,000 in
December, up 19.6 percent from $270,000 during the same period of 2011, DataQuick reported.

The median rose $2,000 from November to December to its highest level since August 2008,
when it hit $330,000.

There were 20,274 homes sold during the month in the region, up 5.3 percent from the same
period last year.

Supplies remained tight. The California Association of Realtors index of unsold inventory in the
Los Angeles metropolitan area stood at 2.8 months in December, down from 4.8 months a year
earlier.

The figure represents how long it would take to sell all existing single-family homes in the
region at the current sales clip. Supply in a normal market is considered to be six to seven
months.

Josh Martin, a retired Marine who was approved for a $260,000 Veterans Administration home
loan, said he was outbid on four homes in the past two months in the San Diego area.

"It's been really tough," said Martin, 25, a prospective first-time home buyer. "Each time it's
people paying cash and flipping homes or (the sellers) get turned off by a VA loan."

Buyers paying cash accounted for 33.8 percent of December sales, up from 29.8 percent a year
earlier and well above the monthly average of 17.3 percent since 2000, DataQuick said.

The San Diego-based research firm said the high percentage of cash purchases reflected
difficulties getting home loans and investor interest in real estate.

Foreclosed properties — a major driver of sales until recently — continued to dry up, further
limiting supplies.

DataQuick said homes that were foreclosed in the previous year accounted for 14.8 percent of
existing home sales in December, down from 32.4 percent a year earlier and 56.7 percent in
February 2009.

The Inland Empire, which had been buoyed by foreclosure sales, was the only part of Southern
California to see sales drop. San Bernadino County, the least expensive county surveyed with a
median sales price of $180,000, saw sales tumble 11.7 percent from last year. Riverside County
witnessed a 9.4 percent sales decline.

The Inland Valleys Association of Realtors, which represents large parts of San Bernadino and
Riverside counties, recorded 51,797 sales listings last year, the lowest since it began keeping
track in 2001, said Paul Herrera, director of government relations and communications. Yet there
were 43,587 homes sold, which is about average, suggesting there is enough demand to support
more sales.

Herrera said listings will increase when homeowners who bought properties in the past two or
three years decide to take profits.

"The demand is there, but the supply has to match it," he said. "It has to come from new
construction ... or hopefully gains in value."

Pricier, coastal regions posted the strongest sales gains. Orange County, the most expensive
county with a median sales price of $470,000, saw sales jump by 19.4 percent from last year. San
Diego County, with a median sales price of $366,000, had the second strongest sales growth, up
13.5 percent.

How to Get Real Estate Leads by Door Knocking

You can generate real estate leads through door knocking!

Going door knocking is often a scary concept for real estate agents. The misconception
is that your presence will be unwelcome. On the contrary, this can be more effective than
direct mailing or calling. There are a few rules to follow that will make even the people
who don't like solicitors enjoy your visits. All you really need to know is how to do it right.

Visit an area where you or your office has a listing or just sold a home.
Don't just find a house and start knocking. Start with homes close to the
listed home, then fan out.

Create an address log containing a list of every house you intend to
visit.Your log should have each address listed one after another. Leave
a little space for notes, such as: "Never answers the door," or, "Growing
family may be ready to buy a another house in June."

Ring the door bell and then take a step or two back. People sometimes
feel a little scared when there is a stranger standing too close to the door.
This is especially true if you are male. Put a soft smile on your face and
enjoy the uniqueness of their porch and yard instead of waiting anxiously
for the home owner to answer.

Ring the door bell and knock on the door, then wait 30 seconds.There may
be an elderly or disabled person inside who can't make it to the door in
less than 30 seconds. If no one answers, knock again and wait another 30
seconds before moving on.

Come bearing gifts. You can buy calendars, refrigerator magnates, pens,
notepads and other convenient goodies for a nominal cost with your name,
phone number and address on them. Something useful with your name on
it is less likely than a business card to be thrown away.

Introduce yourself. Let the homeowner know who you are and what you
do, but don't jump in and ask if she wants to sell her home or knows
anyone who does. Instead, start by explaining that you just listed/sold
a house down the street and want to get to know the area. Give the
homeowner your card and the gift and let her know if she ever needs your
services, or knows anyone who does, feel free to contact you anytime.

Find out a little bit about the homeowner if she seems receptive and keep
track of it in your log. Some people will be glad to tell you what neighbors
might need your services, how happy they are living in the area or if there's
a certain house you might want to avoid.

Continue visiting houses for three months. Then start back at the first
house again. Bring your handy log and return bearing gifts. By then you'll
get an idea who is happy to see you and what leads are going nowhere.
After they've seen you four times in the past year, some will know and trust
you. So when they want to buy or sell a property, or know someone who
does, they're going to call you.

Cold Calling Success

Top 10 Tips For Cold Calling Success

At some point or other every sales person has to cold call. Whether it’s ringing totally new
clients, chasing leads, gaining referrals, networking or following up on a conference card handed
in it’s not something that many salespeople are that comfortable with.

Being able to cold call confidently, professionally and effectively will not only open up more
potential business for you it will also allow you to feel more in control of your own destiny and
much more empowered. Here are my top 10 tips for cold calling success…

1. Plan and prepare your opening statement.

The more individuals I train the more important I think this is. I have made tens of thousands of
calls and listened to far more. Whether cold or indeed warm calling the biggest problem by far is
lack of client engagement. This can be down to several factors but by far the most significant is a
failure to plan and prepare a decent opening statement.

An opening statement needs an introduction, a hook (what’s in it for client) and a bridge to your
questions or your close. Without these it’s impotent. Make sure that the benefits you offer are
a) really benefits and b) relevant to the person you are speaking to and not just you! My top tip
would be to imagine your self in your client’s shoes and then ask, “What will this call potentially
do for my business and why should I care?”

2. Get into the right state of mind and expect success.

Unmotivated people to not make good salespeople. Let’s face it, who would buy off someone
who didn't appear to believe it themselves. When I train teams I am constantly amazed at the
number of salespeople who pick up the phone expecting rejection. It doesn't seem to matter
whether they are making cold calls, customer care calls or follow up calls … only a small
percentage of top performers absolutely expect success.

Attitude and mindset are infectious. Clients know within seconds whether you are congruent
with your message or not. I once did a verbal survey with my clients asking them why they
bought from me in the first place. The overwhelming (and surprise at the time) answer was, “It
felt like the right thing to do!”

Expecting success is a crucial part of your success.

3. Know WHY your need to do this.

On a day to day basis most of us forget WHY we are doing certain things. We find ourselves
cold calling because we have to or because we are told to. If you want to make change in
your cold calling habits then it is going to require some commitment, some focus and some
persistence. The best way of leveraging these attributes from your self is to ask yourself, “Why
is cold calling important to me? What does it do for me? How does it link to my goals and my
dreams?”

When coaching individual sales people on teams I can usually tell who will act and who will not
and it’s usually down to whether the individual has a need or a want or not. Holding your self
to a higher standard is hard if you have no reason to so spend some time and work our why cold
calling is important to you right now.

4. Practice delivery focusing on pace, pitch and tone.

When I listen to sales calls I am frequently shocked by the message within the message. In face
to face sales 55% of the message is non-verbal. On the phone, this element is missing and this
means that the message consists only of the words and how you say them. Whilst the words are
vitally important the way you say them will be directly linked to your success or ultimate failure.

Having listened to thousands of calls I can honestly say that the message behind the message
for most calls is … “I’m bored, tired and putting in the numbers and you’re probably tot say no
anyway!”. Would you buy from someone was saying this to you?

Get someone you trust to listen to your calls and give you feedback on pace, pitch and tone.
What message are you sending out?

5. Plan and prepare relevant questions.

Questions and client interaction are paramount for selling. Most salespeople think that they are
good at questioning. Most are wrong. Planning and preparing good questions is something that
all salespeople should do regularly.

Questions are incredibly important because they focus the mind. This is as true when talking to
others as it is when talking inside your own head! Most of us put the focus in the wrong place
both internally and externally by asking the wrong questions.

Imagine ringing a new client, introducing yourself and giving a few benefits. They’re listening
but they’re not on board yet!! Now imagine asking questions such as, “Does that sound like
something that would be of interest to you?” and “Would you be interested in meeting up then?”

These questions are an absolute waste of time and the resounding answer that you get will be,
“No!”.

Questions need to focus the client’s mind on something that you would like them to think about
such as, “Have you ever had any difficulties…?” or “How do you currently…?”

6. Have your support tools to hand.

Part of being professional is being prepared. When you get on the phone you need your diary,
notes, paper and pens to hand. I cannot count the number of times I have watched a sales
“professional” start to close for a meeting and then realize they don’t have a diary open on the
desk or on the computer. One long pause later… rapport and meeting lost!

Expect success, work out what support tools you need to be successful and make sure that they
are to hand.

7. Divert calls and minimize disruptions.

A recent survey studying working habits suggested that the average worker actually works for
less than 3 hours in an average working day. This seems quite high to me! Most people seem to
find so many extraneous and irrelevant tasks to do that it’s a wonder they ever get anything done.
To be a sales superstar you need to work out what activities bring you success and then set aside
time to do them.

Work out your ratios and then work out how many calls you need to make to achieve your
personal goals. Once you've done that get on and do it. Most salespeople actually spend too
much time “on the phone”… the problem is that they’re not focused enough when they are on
the phone. Try turning off your mobile, diverting all calls and asking not to be disturbed. Get
your self energized and prepared and then make 45 minutes worth of top quality, proactive calls.

You’ll be amazed by how much you can achieve in ¾ of an hour!

8. Set clear objectives for your session.

Many salespeople make calls without any objectives or goals. This is a complete waste of time.
You need to plan and prepare for all proactive sales sessions. Pre-determine on your activities and
how you are going to measure them. Set realistic objectives and targets and stick to them. Only
this way will you be able to improve and grow.

9. Don’t put your phone down.

Whether cold or warm calling it’s important that you keep the energy flowing when you are
making proactive calls. It’s too easy to get distracted, start doing something else or take ever
increasing breaks between each call.

One very effective way of achieving shorter break time and therefore more proactive energy is
to not put the telephone down between calls. Not only does this work but you also save on the
psychological energy of having to pick the phone up again every call!! I also recommend that
wearing a headset increases the work rate of nearly all telephone sales people

10. Master your physiology.

Your physiology is the way you use your body… your posture, movement, facial expressions
and breathing. Changing your physiology changes your state. If you were to walk into a room
full of salespeople on the phone you would instantly know if they were “up for it” or not by the
way they were sitting, moving, talking and so on.

Take a moment to think about your physiology now. Think about the best telephone call that
you've ever made… How were you sitting / standing? How did you move? What were your
facial expressions? Voice patterns? How did you hold your head? How was your breathing? Did
you use a headset / handset?

Get your log-book and make a note of your findings. Over the next week I want you to
concentrate on starting all of your telephone sessions from this physiology and maintaining it
throughout. If you find your physiology changing then get yourself straight back into the right
physiology. Remember that doing this in front of the others in the office at 8:30 am in the morning
could feel unnatural… and so will the extra commissions when they roll in but I think you can
cope with that!!!

So that’s it. 10 top tops for being a great cold caller and a better salesperson. If you want to know
more about cold calling or develop any of these strategies in more detail then have a look at my
website…

Home buyer tips

4 Steps to Take When Preparing to Buy a

Home

1. Find out how much home you can afford. Before you do anything else, find out how much
home you can afford. To do this, look online for a quality mortgage calculator (Zillow has one
that works well). Mortgage calculators show you how much home you can afford based on your
income, an average interest rate, and the length of the loan.

You also need to calculate your debt-to-income ratio, which shows the amount of your income
that goes toward paying your debts. The higher your ratio, the less likely you will qualify for a
home loan. Find out if you can get a mortgage before you begin searching for your dream home.
If your debt-to-income ratio is more than 36 percent, you should think about getting out of debt,
or at least reducing your debt immediately.

Your credit score also plays a role in your loan eligibility. If you have a higher credit score, you
will be eligible for better loan rates. If you have a low credit score, on the other hand, you should
first learn how to improve your credit score before you get pre-approved for a loan.

2. Get pre-approved. Take the time to get pre-approved before you begin looking at homes. In
fact, many real estate agents won’t work with you until you have received pre-approval for a
mortgage. Regardless, you should look to get pre-approved anyway. You might find the perfect
home, and then find out the bank denied your loan application. This heartbreaking scenario
wastes your time and your agent’s time, too.

Going through the mortgage-approval process can be a frustrating experience, so be prepared. In
addition to all of the paperwork, you have to answer a lot of very pointed questions about your
income, net worth, and credit worthiness. If you have a 20 percent downpayment, a high credit
score, and a steady job, then you have a better chance of being pre-approved for a loan.

3. Find a real estate agent. Once you’ve improved your credit score and you know how much
home you can afford, you need to find a great real estate agent. Your agent acts as your
representative, provides you with information about market prices, and helps you find a home.
Finding a real estate agent you can trust can take time. Talk to friends, family, and co-workers
for potential referrals, and use your intuition. If you feel uncomfortable with a real estate agent,
keep looking.

4. Take stock of your financial situation, again. By the time you get ready to buy a home, you
may be sick of thinking about money. After following each of these steps, look at your available
income one more time, and review your short- and long-term financial goals. Ask yourself: Do I
really want to invest $100,000 or more into a home? Do I want to stay in this neighborhood, or

state, for the next several years? Or do I want to put that money towards some other dream?

Final thoughts. We’re currently experiencing a buyer’s market. You can find wonderful deals
on homes, and you may qualify for a low interest rate. However, this also means that if you buy
a home in the next year, you may need to stay in it for several years until home prices begin to
significantly appreciate. Review your short and long-term goals carefully to make sure buying a
home is right for you. Follow the steps outlined here, and when the time is right, get ready to buy
your home.

5. Use Nations Title Company for all your title and escrow needs