WomenCo.

McKaren,  I'm not in real estate but the majority of my new clients are.  They are starting using our companies system to keep in touch with their former clients.  They want to make sure that if one of them is going to take advantage of the current market and upgrade their that their name is on their former clients mind when they decide to list.

I work in commercial real estate as the Property Accounting Assistant. From the commercial aspect of things, the owners still seem to be rich. They did however try to sell two commercial buildings, unsuccessfully.  The buildings are awesome, in the heart of downtown, but the market is doing so well, so they had no takers.

I will be relocating soon, and am not sure if Arkansas (or Texas) has a huge base of commerical real estate. So I may have to get into retail or residential real estate. So I'm a little nervous.

McKaren says ...

mzbrown - you can go online right now - google the town you are moving to, locate the county/city government page and check out what's happening.  I'd look at the economic development (should be a dept within the offices) as well as planning and long range use.  You can also check out some other sites that discuss commercial development only -- let me know how you do -- I'm happy to share my thoughts.  If you decide to stick a toe in residential real estate -- email me.

Thanks!

 I'll let you know what I come up with. My goal is to stay in real estate, because I want to get my RPA designation to become a property manager.

Iwould like to get into 1031 exchanges, does anyone know how to get a certification for this???

Real Estate Lady:   Regarding the 1031 Exchanges...   there are many Exchange Companies out there doing business- at least in California and I assume other states as well.    1031 Exchanges are transactions for Investment Property.  If you want to learn how to do the actual exchanges, you should get in touch with an Exchange Company and go to work with them to learn their business.  But since you have a Broker license, I guess you mean that you want to do real estate sales that are exchanges.  Most exchanges are done on commercial property, as the basic requirement is that the exchanged property be investment.   Residential property can be exchanged, if it is being used as an investment- Not owner occupied.     If you are going to specialize in commercial property, then you need to learn about exchanges.  If you are going to concentrate on residential property, then dont worry about exchanges for now.

If you have a seller that wants to exchange his investment property,  he should contact an Exchange Company and they can explain their terms and requirements to the seller.  Basically- the exchange company takes the proceeds from the sale at closing and holds all the proceeds.  Your seller then finds a replacement property and the exchange company deposits the exchange proceeds at closing of the replacement property.  Your client, the seller, cannot take possession of the funds at any time for the exchange to be valid.

My experience is with commercial escrow and I have closed many escrows with exchanges.  If you want to email me with questions.   Look for and join any real estate networking groups in your area that specialize in exchanges- they may have meetings you can attend.   Talk to tax people and get all the tax advise you can.

Carol

Thank you for that information! I want to join this organization called ICREW  (Industry Commercial Real Estate Women) I Think Commercial is the best way to go for me and I would love to attend a group or go to classes for Exchanges, there aren't any where I live

Hi I am a real estate broker, investor and trainer. If you want to specialize in commercial real estate and get a designation, you can check CCIM courses, Commercial Certified Investment Member at http://www.ccim.com/ they are part of the Realtor Family designations. One of the classes covers 1031 exchanges. They also have a book on 1031 exchanges.

I am a Realtor in Lawrence, Kansas. I've done several 1031 exchanges for investment properties. In Kansas, it needs to be stated within the context of the contract, upon presentation of, that the transaction will be conducted as a 1031 Exchange. The only other stipulation is that the investment property is being traded for a "like kind property". 

If you want to educate yourself specifically on 1031's I'd "GOOGLE" 1031 Exchanges and read up on it. If there are classes available for specific areas google "1031 exchange (your area)"

Good luck,

lisabullerman says ...

What are you doing to stay busy? I'm going crazy not having much to do. There are just so few buyers right now. And the ones that are buying are picking up the few foreclosures and short sales that are out there.

I am mainly a listing agent. I am an independent agent, which means that I pay for my own marketing and advertising. I receive a large portion of the commission when something sells, but when things aren't selling it is really tough. I tend to be very selective with my listings this time of the year. I can't afford to market a property for 4 or 5 months.

I started in real estate as an associate residential appraiser, but when real estate was booming, decided to get my real estate license. I've been in the business for over 10 years. Last year wasn't great, this year is really bad. Our economy here is fairly stable as is the housing market. There is just so much competition in my area that there aren't enough sales to go around. I've had to start doing "Broker Price Opinions" and just signed up with a company as a "Home Retention Consultant". The latter is counseling folks that are getting behind on their payments to see what their circumstances are and if they are able to re-structure their loan or if they will have to sell their home. Since the short sales are selling, I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't get involved. Not a fun way to do business though.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

Sounds like you are spreading your wings in the business pretty well with picking up bpo's and short sales.  Since it has slowed down, maybe it's a good time to earn a new designation or take a class on blogging, join a networking group.  Or volunteer for Holiday/Winter help somewhere.  Everywhere you go is a potential for a new contact.  Just some thoughts of mine.