Book Review: 5 Minutes to Maximizing Real Estate Technology, A Desk Reference for Top-Selling Agents. By John D. Mayfield
Reviewer: Mark Nash
John Mayfield's latest title in his "5 minutes to" real estate agent-broker series is technology. Offering both new and experienced practitioners a functional overview of how technology and real estate consumers have merged to create a new and required skill-set for those looking to grow in the marketplace. Mayfield, a proficient techie, pens articles's for the Hewlett Packard's Web site. An added bonus is a ROM that offers sample information from the text version, to illustrate in a technology format, how top producing agents have embraced their clients call for them to be pro-active in blog-sphere, podasts, e-mail, virtual tours and computers.
5 Minutes to Maximizing Real Estate Technology, A Desk Reference for Top-Selling Agents, By John D. Mayfield. Thomson/ South-Western, 2006, ISBN 139780324539271, 0324539274, Paperback, 184 Pages, $29.95 is written and designed to be results-driven.and as a textbook for brokerages to offer as a real estate technology course. Each chapter offers learning objectives, review exercises and web resources. Photos help both the reader or an educator see the actual computer or web graphic to illustrate one of Mayfield's excellent points. But never does the text get bogged down in tech-speak, something many readers and students will appreciate.
Chapters in this book feature: Which computer is right for you?, Developing a Technology Budget for Your Real Estate Career, Software Applications, New Technology Tools for Today's Tech-Savvy Real Estate Agent, Printing Options, Cellular Phones and Smartphones, Digital Cameras and Other Multimedia Resources, New Marketing Trends in Real Estate, Web Site Tips for Real Estate Professionals, Creating a Paperless Filing System, Folders, Files, and Backing Up, Building the Perfect Database, E-Mail, Using Microsoft PowerPoint, Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts, Technical Help, How to Become a Mobile Real Estate Professional,and Broker Technology Issues. Also included are acknowledgements, a forward, an introduction, a summary and conclusion.
This book is an excellent resource for any agent or broker looking to ramp-up their business technology, without being over-whelmed by geek-speak. Perfect for new or experienced agents, real estate educators, trainers and a must-have for every real estate brokerage's professional development library.
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Savvy Home Buying Tactics; Financing Exposed from the Inside by Thomas L. Dussault.
Review By Mark Nash
First time or move-up home buyers and investors will find Thomas Dussault's new book a timely, worth while resource when considering the right mortgage option. The author brings a hefty twenty-five years of financial and investment management experience to the reader, but his writing style reflects a long history of boiling down mortgages to the average home buyer. Important information is bolded and chapters include several short essays on related topics, boxed tips, tables, related resources and a summary. The summaries might portray a textbook, but when you're new to very specific and new information, making sure you have the right take-away will save you time and money when managing your mortgage experience.
Mr. Dussault's chapter on refinancing highlights savvy points to take into consideration regarding this recent hot topic. He does a thorough job illustrating with easy-to-read text and shaded boxes highlighting different interest rate scenarios that you could be presented with by a zealous mortgage loan professional. The tables force the reader to determine if a refinance is in their best financial interest, and in most cases if you've held your mortgage for at least five years, the long-term cost of refinancing typically doesn't warrant the lower interest rate offered unless you're dropping your interest rate substantially. New home buyers, investors, and those seriously considering refinancing, should study this nuts and bolts book on important residential mortgage and financing options.
Savvy Home Buying Tactics; Financing Exposed from the Inside by Thomas L. Dussault. Published by Thomson/ South-Western June 2006.
ISBN:0324378637, Paperback, Non-Fiction, Business 155 Pages
© Copyright 2006 Mark Nash
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Book Review: Real Estate Brokerage: A Guide to Success.
Reviewer: Mark Nash
Owning a business of your own is the American dream. Real estate agents or those considering opening their own residential real estate brokerage should read Dan Hamilton's new soup-to-nuts book on establishing a successful brokerage.
Real Estate Brokerage: A Guide to Success by Dan Hamilton, Thomson/ South-Western, 2006, ISBN 0324379463, Paperback, 380 Pages, $46.95 is written by an experienced real estate broker and instructor. Hamilton readily admits that the brokerage business is going through a permanent shift in how they will continue to be financially successful and remain the first point-of-contact for residential real estate consumers. Admission is one thing, but the author provides deep and clear ways to reorient your brokerage from agent compensation,recruiting and retention, business planning and development, to effective new-age brokerage marketing. All ideas are explained in great detail, with an added benefit of bolded topics and bullet points, for those who want a pick-up-put-down desk reference.
Chapter titles include:The Real Estate Industry, The Real Estate Broker and Owner, The Real Estate Brokerage Office, Real Estate Brokerage Operations, Real Estate Marketing, Additional Marketing Ideas in Real Estate, Real Estate Brokerage Compensation Structures, Real Estate Brokerage Staff Relations, Recruiting Real Estate Salespeople, Recruiting Interview, Retention of Real Estate Salespeople, Real Estate Business Development, Real Estate Business Planning, Financing a Real Estate Business, and Starting Up a Real Estate Business.
In addition to the chapters there is an appendix and introduction. Chapters are presented in an easy-to-understand format with review questions to help the reader assimilate the chapter information and it's relevance. Boxes highlight important definitions or statements. One benefit I especially liked was the use of relevant definitions adjoining text instead of the usual back-of-the-book glossary
This book is recommended to current managing brokers, real estate franchise operations managers, brokerage educators and trainers, and those contemplating starting up their own brokerage.
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Book Review: Refi-Bust: Mortgage Brokers Gone Wild! by David Lawrence
Reviewer: Mark Nash
Many mortgage lenders and bankers are upstanding professionals, some though like any business are not. Finding your way to the right one is explained by short-hand in a new book by David Lawrence. Peeling back the facade of an industry in the fore-front of the real estate boom, a no-holds-barred perspective brings to light the growing mortgage refinancing hangover.
Refi-Bust: Mortgage Brokers Gone Wild! by David Lawrence, BookSurge 2006, ISBN 1-4196-3581-6, Paperback, 150 Pages is written by an experienced professional in the mortgage industry. Featuring an keen eye for looking at his own peers and seeing through the fancy offices to the dark side of an industry that has run out of steroids and is coming off record years in the origination and refinancing of residential mortgage loans. Laying out the foundation for troubled waters ahead for home owners who didn't complete their due diligence before signing on the line, Lawrence's style makes you think twice about your own experience. Hopefully you'll read this book before contacting your mortgage loan officer.
Chapter titles include: The Crazy Times, A New and Noble Career, The Window, The Esteemed Telemarketing Department, Let Nate Close It, The Blow-Out Appraisal, What Credit Score Do You Want?, The 10-Point Credit Line, Maximizing Your Fees, A Closing Agent's Perspective, Can We Underwrite Our Own Loans?, Are You Sure This 1% Loan is Fixed For 30 Years, Foreclosure, Foreclosure, Foreclosure, Enough with Deceptive Advertising!, A Real-Life Financial Free Fall, Hope on the Horizon?
In addition to the chapters there is a preface, foreword, introduction, conclusion, afterword, glossary and informative resources for state mortgage divisions and an explanation of The Ohio Mortgage Broker Act. As a residential real estate broker, I found the book alarming, but educational. Though I must say I have met and respect many mortgage professionals, this book does cast a light on the seamier side of the business.
This book is a solid eight and recommended to home buyers and owners, mortgage and personal finance editors and educators, and real estate agents and brokers.
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House about it.By Sheri Koones.
Book Review By Mark Nash
Houses have been my other spouse for as long as I can remember. Buying and selling residential real estate, educating real estate consumers, building spec homes, and consulting with those who want to build a home are my professional specialties. To take some of the mystery of of what some perceive to be a daunting task, a book that just recently came to my attention is a definitive book for those who are planning on building or remodeling a home. House about it by Sheri Koones, Gibbs Smith, 2004, ISBN 1-58685-377-5, Paperback 350 Pages will become a desk-reference for first-time and experienced homeowners who are building or remodeling, interior designers, architects, and contractors.
House about it is designed and written in a format that includes examples of residential building components in photographs and drawings, handy resource tables adjacent to relative details, quick definitions and explanations of terms, advantages and disadvantages, and safety tips. In-depth web resources, and an unusual but important related books appendix, make this a one-of-a-kind gift from an experienced builder, renovator, and seasoned author.
Chapter titles include; Architectural Styles and Construction Techniques, Exterior Components, Interior Components, and Environmental Health and Safety. Don't think that these are cursory overviews, Ms. Koones drills sown to the nth degree. She covers considerations, design, durability, material options, technologies, terminology, and controls in enough detail to understand and make informed decisions, but without getting lost in a subject. An important benefit that is included is the authors awareness of green building, a growing variable for those building today.
House about it is one of the first one-stop desk reference books that should be required reading for anyone related to residential homes. A perfect gift for friends embarking on a remodeling or home project, real estate agents, appraisers, decorators, and architects. This book rates a 10 plus. Ms. Koones next book Modular Mansions is now available.
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Book Review:Every Landlords Guide to Finding Great Tenants by Janet Portman
Reviewer: Mark Nash
Multi-unit investors are the bread and butter clients of experienced and successful real estate agents. 1031 exchanges are one of the many options for landlords-to-be. After the closing or escrow though is when the real work begins and offering ways to smooth the operational transition for new or repeat owners of rental properties, can be a great source of future referrals for real estate agents. A new book released in 2006 should be a required closing gift from the selling agent to the buyer of any multi-unit building or complex, with two or a thousand units.
Every Landlords Guide to Finding Great Tenants by Attorney Janet Portman, Nolo, 2006, ISBN 1-4133-0413-3, Paperback, 455 Pages is designed in an reader friendly format, full of icons, shaded call-out boxes, sample forms, and checklists. Easy-to-read tables outline state-specific laws on returning security deposits and showing notices, to name a few. From apartment marketing programs, how to show a rental, fielding and screening calls, and checking references, no step in the process is left out and all procedures are drilled down to the bottom line.
Ms. Portman brings an experts perspective on the law, but don't think that this is a dry read. Engaging text sprinkled with bullet points, graphics, and clever caution points, make this the best desk reference for any landlord. Perfect for the experienced but exasperated landlord to the freshly minted, this is a must-have rental resource.
Every Landlords Guide to Finding Great Tenants comes with a handy CD-ROM, for on-the-go landlords. The CD has files of all forms featured and discussed in the book, as well as sample landlord-tenant conversations. Nothing has been left out of this complete guide and the format makes it simple to focus on a particular theme, and revisit others on a when-the-time-comes basis.
Chapter titles include; Choosing Good Tenants Makes Good Business Sense, Complying with Discrimination Laws, How to Deal with Current Tenants-Before You Look for New Ones, How to Advertise Effectively, How You Should Show Your Rental, Preparing Your Rental Application and Screening Materials, Fielding Initial Questions and Phone Screening, Prepare Your Rental for an Open House or Showing, Face to Face: Showing the Rental and Negotiating with Prospective Tenants, evaluating Rental Applications, Checking Applicant's Credit Reports, Checking Landlord, Employer, and Personal References, Checking Applicants' Criminal Backgrounds, How to Choose and Work With a Tenant Screening Agency, Choosing Your New Tenant, and How to Reject-What to Say, What to Write.
This book is a solid ten and highly recommended to building owners, 1031 Exchange Qualifying Intermediaries, real estate editors and educators, leasing and rental managers, real estate agents and brokers.
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