We all could use a little good news now and then, and for everyone closing with a Florida Agency Network we have some... good news!
Using Alanna AI, our state-of-the-art virtual closing assistant, realtors and their customers are automatically signed up for a series of "good news updates" during the process of their closing. Below are some of the notifications you can expect, as we do our part to give you good news!
Our goal is to keep you informed automatically about the process of your closing. This way you are ready to take the steps for you and your customer while preparing and finalizing their transaction.
Of course, this also means we get to be the bearer of GOOD NEWS!
Be sure to download the PDF chart of automated good news updates and start chatting with Alanna AI today via text at 813-710-4126, by using the chat feature on our website, or by scanning the QR code below!
Florida Agency Network boasts its very own network of eNotaries that are all title professionals to handle your RON eClosing. With our network on your side, let's dispel some of the common myths surrounding eClosings:
With FAN’s title professionals ensuring you have a smooth and thorough closing, you can’t beat the convenience and safety of a RON eClosing, especially when FAN agents are available to communicate and troubleshoot your closing at every step of the way.
Be sure to download the PDF dispelling the RON eClosing Myths and share them with your clients.
For questions about eClosings and requirements, please contact your title professional or visit FANeClose.com.
Bye, 2020! There are certainly things we won’t miss about this past year. Looking back, however, one of the things we are thankful for is the real estate boom. In many parts of Florida and throughout the country, the real estate market has been hot!
That’s been due to record low mortgage rates, but inventory is lower than what is needed to keep up with demand. This means prices are moving up sharply, and many buyers are willing to offer more than the asking price.
This sounds like a great thing for sellers, but there’s a step that can be forgotten until it’s too late – *dun dun dun* - the appraisal.
Unless you’re paying in cash, the bank needs to ensure that they’re not giving too high of a loan for the property. Just because a buyer really wants to buy it for $15,000 more than asking doesn't mean the bank does.
Ways to Avoid a Low Appraisal
1. Don’t Be Zillowed - Price the home correctly. Avoid the urge to overprice because of the market. Find a comfortable price that has some room for negotiation - up or down.
2. Consider Upgrades – According to a local appraiser, the usual upgrades are always great ways to increase your appraisal value:
3. Prepare the Home for Occupancy – A home that’s ready to live in will likely earn a higher appraisal. Touch up walls and base boards with paint, pressure wash the exterior of the home and driveway, declutter every room, mow the lawn, and finish any incomplete projects.
“I Did All That, but My Appraisal Was Still Low! What Now?!”
Receiving a low appraisal can be stressful for the seller and buyer. The buyer thinks they are going to get a better deal, but they might actually lose the deal by staying with the original appraisal. The seller is not happy since they believe their property is worth more. So, how do you save the sale?
Our final piece of advice when dealing with an appraisal is to relax and let the system work. It’s in place to make sure everyone has a safe transaction.
For any additional questions about appraisals and staging, please call any of our offices to speak to our team.
It’s October, season of carving pumpkins and munching on candy corn. However, there’s something lurking just around the corner or hiding in the front yard creeping up on your customer, and if your customers are not careful – these monsters can jump out and KILL YOUR NEXT DEAL!
To help ensure your customers don’t unwittingly cast themselves as the victims in their own horror movie this season, check out the tips below on some of the biggest KILLERS of a real estate transaction!
After signing the contract for their new home, but before closing, some customers just get into a spending mood! It may be tempting to use a new line of credit to fill the new house with furniture or purchase a shiny new SUV for the driveway, but these transactions can QUICKLY change your lender’s opinion about your credit-worthiness and cause your deal to go down the drain!
Some homes look great on the outside and even through the buying process, only for the future homeowners to find out the home has not been properly upgraded throughout the years and is, instead, a mishmash of a lot of parts like Frankenstein’s monster. That home may not pass inspection, and when that happens, the sale is gone. Don’t let your buyers be sad. It’s a good thing to keep their family safe from plumbing, foundation, or electrical issues... as Frankie says – FIRE BAD.
A surprisingly common issue when someone is selling their home is that their legal spouse has gone as invisible as Claude Raine. When people move away from each other without filing the correct legal documents, they may forget that technically BOTH parties still own the home, and there’s been instances where the former spouse cannot be found in time – bringing the closing to a screeching halt.
Imagine getting excited about your new home, only to find the solar panels that you thought were a nice addition come with a $20,000 lien on the property. Just like Dracula – that sucks! Make sure you ask your title company for a comprehensive title search so that these kinds of liens don’t suck the life out of your customers' bank accounts!
As you can see, it may seem like there’s danger lurking around every corner, but with a little bit of preparation - and choosing a title company backed with the power of Florida Agency Network - you can help your customers avoid turning their experience into a horror film!
To share this information with others, we have a downloadable PDF.
Happy Halloween!
Facebook has introduced its newest feature, Messenger Rooms, to help people get together digitally while social distancing. While this feature is a great option to connect with friends and family during the COVID-19 pandemic, it also has the potential to help real estate professionals' businesses - during and even after a pandemic.
To get started on Messenger Rooms, create a room in the Messenger App or on your Facebook feed. You're given a link to share with anyone you wish to invite into the room - even if they don't have a Facebook account! Since Facebook is always improving its features, Rooms will soon be able to hold up to 50 people with no time limit. Each Room can be shared on your feed, in events, or with Facebook groups.
Showcasing a House to Potential Buyers
Creating a Messenger Room for showings cuts down the number of people going in and out of a home. Not only is this useful in preventing the spread of germs during a pandemic, but it also helps ease the concerns of sellers who are careful to prevent damage to their homes. Also, this is an excellent option for out-of-state buyers looking to see a home soon.
Hosting Virtual Meetings with Current and Potential Clients
We've learned connecting with people can be easier than we imagined. If you have clients out of your area or with a busy schedule, set up a Messenger Room and connect virtually!
Meeting With Other Real Estate Professionals
Beyond having virtual happy hours, you can utilize Messenger Rooms to meet one-on-one with other real estate professionals. Take your monthly conference calls and virtual meetings up a notch by creating a Room for your team. Then, invite everyone to your Facebook Room and network any time - day or night.
Conducting Exclusive Training
Want to hold an exclusive online training event? First, create a private Facebook event. Next, create a Messenger Room in that event. Those who have been invited to the group will be able to access your Room, and ta-da! You have your very own exclusive event in a matter of minutes!
With an estimated 2.6 billion users, Facebook is the largest social media network in the world. There’s a high probability that your current and potential clients, colleagues, friends, and family are Facebook users. As a real estate professional, take advantage of Facebook’s size and features for your business.
Every real estate agent understands that buying a home is overwhelming for many clients. There's a mountain of paperwork to sign and different fees associated with the closing process. All of these things can confuse even an experienced buyer.
Title insurance, or an owner's title policy, is often misunderstood by home buyers at closing. Buyers, especially first-time home buyers, look to real estate professionals as experts in the industry. It's important to be the advisor to your clients and help them understand the value of an owner's title policy and the risks that can arise without it.
Title insurance, or an owner's title policy, is a policy that protects the home buyers’ property rights. For the same reasons that the bank requires a lender’s insurance policy, a home buyer obtains an owner’s title policy to protect their legal rights to the property.
Here's an example: Your client purchased a new home from a builder, but the builder failed to pay the roofing company. That roofing company wants to get paid, so it files a lien against the property. Without an owner’s title policy, your client is responsible for paying that debt. This is just one example of how an owner’s title policy protects a home buyer from a variety of significant risks, such as unknown heirs, illegal deeds, forged documents, and much more. With an owner’s title policy, a buyer's property rights are protected while they own the property.
The good news is that an owner’s title policy financially protects home buyers for as long as they own the home. For Florida buyers, the price of an owner's title policy depends on the sales price of the home. Florida's promulgated rate is $5.75 per thousand, up to $100,000, and $5.00 per thousand thereafter, up to $1 million.
The party that pays for the owner’s title insurance policy varies from state to state. In Florida, the seller typically picks and pays for the owner's title policy. However, that can change depending on which county/area the property is located.
Fees can add up during the closing process, but this one-time fee gives home buyers peace of mind. After all, the home may be new to your buyer, but every property has a history.
Each state regulates its title insurance costs, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulates closing and settlement services to protect consumers from unfair practices. Established in 2011, the CFPB educates consumers about making smart financial decisions and holds companies accountable for any abusive or discriminatory procedures.
Title insurance can be confusing and seem like "just another expense" during the closing process. But, what's the price of your buyer's peace of mind? As a real estate professional, educating yourself and your clients on title insurance, the protections it provides, and the risks of going without it is vital.
If you’ve been living under a rock, you probably haven’t heard the latest buzzword in the real estate industry: iBuyer. Even if you have heard about it, you may still have some questions or concerns.
What is an iBuyer? Is it the right choice for sellers? Are iBuyers taking over real estate agents’ jobs? I-Buy who?
No fear! We’ve gathered all the information you and other real estate agents need to know about iBuyers.
WHAT IS AN IBUYER, & HOW DOES IT WORK?
iBuyer services take a modern, technology-based approach to the real estate market and those looking to buy or sell homes. iBuyers use a strategy similar to companies like “We Buy Ugly Houses” by giving you the option to sell your home quickly for cash. However, unlike the “We Buy Ugly Houses” approach, iBuyers focus on homes in good condition. Typically, an iBuyer isn’t looking to flip a property or take on anything that needs extensive repairs.
To get started with iBuyer, a seller visits the website, plugs in the address of the home to be sold, and fills out a questionnaire about the property. Within 24 -48 hours, the seller receives an offer on the home. iBuyers base these offers on technology like the automated valuation model (AVM) to get the quickest “comps” for the property. From there, a seller can decide to move forward with the iBuyer and set a closing date.
PROS TO USING AN IBUYER
According to realtor.com data, the median home spends 58 days on the market. However, selling to an iBuyer can take only a handful of days (or longer if the seller prefers). This arrangement would be ideal for an out-of-state property inheritance or a sudden job change resulting in a quick change of living arrangements. It’s also perfect for sellers who just wish to have the control of the time frame. Let’s face it. Selling a home can be somewhat of an inconvenience. Between keeping your home tidy, having the listing agent come in to stage, and leaving at a moment’s notice for a showing, selling your home can become a hassle, and iBuyers can help decrease the time a seller has to deal with these stressors.
When selling with an agent, there’s a certain level of uncertainty. Potential buyers could back out for different reasons, at which point the seller and listing agent are back at square one. When selling with an iBuyer, though, transactions almost never fall through. The only problem a seller may run into is getting a lower appraisal than expected, which may result in a lower offer from the iBuyer.
CONS TO USING AN IBUYER
While convenience is nice, a seller will pay for it. Typically, iBuyers charge a service or convenience fee that can range from 6-9.5% or more. In fact, one MarketWatch study of 26 home sales to iBuyers found that these sellers average around 11% less than owners who sell to a traditional buyer. Granted, traditional home sales have the 5-6% commission fee, but a recent study from Collateral Analytics found that home sellers will pay an average of between 13% and 15% more in fees to an iBuyer than they would to a traditional listing agent.
Currently, iBuyers are in select major markets only. And while iBuyers are expected to expand, they’re not something available to every home seller. There are some iBuyers that are even more selective than others about buying homes and the condition of each home.
HOW TO STAND OUT TO POTENTIAL SELLERS
For the home seller who’s on the fence about whether to use an iBuyer, you must show them the value of using a listing agent. If a potential seller wants to get as much value as they can for their property, remind them part of that value is the expertise you bring to the process. An iBuyer can’t put a price on the beautiful ocean view or the impeccable 19th-century hardwood floors of a home, but a listing agent can and knows how to use those unique and sometimes intangible selling points.
A great agent knows the amount of work that goes in to preparing comps, creating a marketing strategy, staging the home perfectly, communicating and negotiating with potential buyers, and so much more. Communicating this value is key to putting yourself above an iBuyer.
There is something about a listing agent who’s transparent and helpful to a seller that ensures agent security. Educating your seller and consumers will help them understand the value of each option and give them the opportunity to choose what is right for them. Not every seller will want to use an iBuyer and some won’t want to use a listing agent. Every seller is unique. However, giving consumers their options builds trust with them, and it’s another point on your scoreboard.
What good is all this information if you can’t physically show a real-world example based on their own situation. Our free FANAgent ONE app gives agents the opportunity to compare a potential seller’s net profits with a click of a button. With the iBuyer Comparison Calculator, agents can plug in the information and calculate an instant comparison to show their seller.
FINAL THOUGHTS
New technology and processes will always shake up any industry. iBuyers are simply one of these “shake ups.” As time passes, consumers will become more educated on the differences between iBuyers and traditional selling techniques, and not every seller will want to use an iBuyer.
Remember these words: DON’T PANIC.
iBuyers, such as Opendoor, Offerpad, Zillow Offers, and others, are expanding into major markets rather quickly. However, iBuyer transactions make up for a small percentage of real estate transactions. In 2018, 620k homes were sold to iBuyers, compared to 5.5 million homes sold without iBuyers. In fact, Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM Data Solutions, a nationwide property database, predicts iBuyers will only account for about 15% of the real estate transactions in the long run.
So, don’t panic! There is still value and will always be value in a seller hiring a listing agent.
What’s one way you can communicate the value of using a listing agent today?
Florida Agency Network (FAN), a conglomerate of independent title agencies, settlement service providers, and innovative technology companies within the State of Florida, announces a new partnership with Notarize to perform remote online notarization within the FAN title insurance offices. This partnership marks a historic shift in the title industry and how it handles the ever-changing needs of the consumer. FAN is the first title insurance operation in the nation that will leverage the Notarize platform to perform their own remote online notarized closings, using its own title agents and notary closers.
The partnership was announced on stage in front of 300 attendees representing 200 companies at Notarize’s conference, REWIRED, in Miami this week.
“Today, we couldn’t be more excited to announce that Florida Agency Network will be the first company to leverage what we’ve built at Notarize and perform their own closings on our platform,” said Notarize Founder and CEO Pat Kinsel. “The real estate industry is ultimately local, and we’ve heard from title companies and closing agents that they want to be able to use this technology to deliver a better closing experience. What the industry has been asking for over the last four years, today, is becoming a reality.”
Since meeting Pat Kinsel, CEO and Adam Pase, COO of Notarize, in June of 2017, Aaron M. Davis, CEO of Florida Agency Network, knew working together would evolve into a broader partnership over time. What started with achieving Florida’s first fully digital closing, expanded to a much larger-scale goal of overhauling Florida’s title insurance landscape for the better.
“We completed the first online closing in the state of Florida in 2018 and have done hundreds with Notarize since,” said Davis. “By being the first partner to work with Notarize on a platform to help our title agents use this technology to perform their own closings, we’re changing the title industry and the way that our agents serve customers. We’ve seen first-hand the impact Notarize has had on the real estate industry, and we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the next chapter.”
Backed by Notarize training, support, and technology, Florida Agency Network will work closely with Notarize on the development of a platform that both empowers its agents to close completely digitally, while still leveraging Notarize’s staff and notaries during off-hours, weekends, and for added assistance during heavier volume closing days.
While iBuyer programs may offer convenience, it doesn’t equate to more money in your pocket. Consumers must be AWARE.
On Monday, October 21, Zillow launched "Zillow Offers" as a new way for consumers to sell their homes. The technology allows a consumer to go onto the APP, answer some questions about their home, and receive an instant cash offer.
But is it really the best way to sell a house?
10Investigates' Courtney Robinson spoke to Joe Locicero, owner of 54 Realty and the Zillow agent for the Tampa Bay area. Robinson also had our very own Aaron Davis weigh in on what's to come of future iBuyer technology.
"While it takes away stress and offers sellers convenience, there is a cost. On average, sellers pay a 7 percent fee. Traditional real estate agents charge between 5-6 percent," Robinson advises.
To read the full story and learn the pros and cons, click HERE.
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