Written By: Karen Deis, Editor
Most of us have a favorite teacher whose name rolls off the tip of our tongues when we are asked this question. Before you read the rest of this article, I would like to ask you to think about what you liked about him or her; what subject they taught; what made them so special.
I remember mine. His name was Mr. Clauss and the subject was Civics. He made us feel special. He made boring topics interesting. You could ask any question (it did not have to be about Civics) and he would answer it with a slant on how it related to Civics. He taught real-life lessons about what concerned us at the time--not some pre-determined lesson plan.
Early in my mortgage career, my mentor, Mike Hannigan, recognized the power of becoming the Realtors'® and builders’ favorite teacher. He created a basic training course (for new agents) and held it on the 3rd Thursday of each month, from 9 am to noon. He took them to a fancy restaurant for lunch. The agents/builders could come back and “audit” the class as often as they wished (some came back 2 or 3 times—were they slow learners or did they just want lunch?). When the closing numbers rolled in, our company had a 42% market share in a town of 100,000 people.
Danny Poulos, President of Elite Lending, holds regular Realtor® seminars on the newest trends in the real estate and mortgage industry today.
His latest seminar is called “Turbo charge Your IRA with Real Estate” and it’s about teaching Realtors® about Internal Revenue Code Section 408. The basic concept is that people can use their IRA’s to invest in real estate (as opposed to traditional stocks, bonds, or mutual funds). The benefit to the real estate agent is that a client with substantial IRA assets may ALWAYS be in the market to buy real estate. Or better yet, why not use their (the real estate agent) IRA’s to purchase real estate for themselves? He provides them with a link to his website www.EliteLending.biz and click on IRA Wealth Building Secrets and they can order a free CD from a financial planner.
Not very many financial planners or stockbrokers are educated enough to turn their clients’ IRA accounts into real estate investment opportunities. There are hardly any real estate agents who know it exists (or financial planners) — let alone thinking about the possibility of using their IRA’s for that purpose.
The point is that he is their "favorite teacher". He holds seminars to teach realtors:
- Working with Clients who are Newly Divorced.
- Deceptive Internet Practices by Big Lenders.
- NegAm Loans.
- Reverse Mortgages.
- Buying Rental Properties.
We can’t simply hope to know EVERYTHING about the latest trends or mortgage programs. However, what you can do is become the facilitator—that is bring in guest speakers - to give them an overview and show them where to get more information.
There is an old saying: Give a person a fish and they will eat for a day. Teach them how to fish and they will eat for a lifetime.
Teach your real estate agents and builders how to sell more homes. Teach them about the latest trends. Educate them on how they can use the techniques themselves.
Teach them how to fish and YOU will eat for a lifetime.
Karen Deis,
