June, 2014

  • In today's Newsletter we are going to cover a very important change to our Program and how it will affect you.
  • We will also explore some thoughts on the value of time.
  • Lastly we present a Sales Brochure about Corona del Mar or "Crown of the Sea" and include a copy of an authentic 12 page sales brochure dating back to 1937.  I think you'll like this one.

First Let's Tackle the New Changes.

For fifteen years we have been offering our service as a one year subscription in a digital format.  Two years ago, we converted from a CD-ROM based product to our current online version.  This change has been met with resounding success.  You are able to get the information on your cellphone, tablet or computer.

With the Online subscription you order a set number of Premium Reports. You have twelve months and or the number of Premium Reports, whatever comes first to use them.  Initially our policy was not to roll over the unused credits. That policy has changed.

Our goal is to do everything we can to keep the cost down for our current subscribers.  So, our new policy will be as follows: If your subscription expires, you have credits remaining in your account, and you renew within 90 days of that expiration date, we WILL roll over your unused credits.  If your account expires and you do NOT renew within 90 days, any unused credits will expire.

A few weeks ago we sent out an email regarding this change to those subscribers whose subscription had expired earlier this year.  This is the final reminder to those individuals that the effective date for the new policy is June 15th, 2014.  From this date on, all current subscribers will have 90 days after their expiration date to renew in order to preserve their unused credits.  If your account expired prior to March 15th of this year, you have until the 15th of June (about one week) to renew in order to keep your credits.

Some Thoughts about Time Management

We have all heard the expression that time is money.  Commission sales people, are in a sense self-employed.  As business people, it is prudent to put a dollar value on our time.  Let's assume that you want to make $120,000 dollars per year.  This amount equates to $1.00 per minute.  ($1.00 x 60 minutes x 8 hours x 4.3 weeks in a month).  In essence your time is worth $500 per day – whether you earn that or not.

Successful business people have their days planned out - by the hour for a week or more in advance.  Yet when I speak to many customers, they really don't know what they will be doing next Wednesday between such and such an hour.

Allocating your time is essential.  Since you have 480 minutes in a day, what amount would you spend on farming?  Open Houses?  Previewing?

To those of you who think $120,000 per year may seem like a stretch, consider this:  The first $20,000 would go to your Real Estate Expenses.  That includes automobile, MLS fees, advertising, web design and more. The next $10,000 goes to your retirement. That leaves you with $90,000 before taxes.  After taxes you are left with maybe $5,000 or $6,000 per month to pay for a home in Orange County, buy groceries, and provide for an education for your children, personal vacations and more.

Now think about this;  the average Premium Report that we offer costs $1.50.  That is everything we have on a specific project, Floor Plans, Maps, Site Plans and the detail pages, not just one Floor Plan.  In the earnings example above, it takes less than 2 minutes of your earning power to get all of the Floor Plans and documents for a project.  Not bad huh?

Would you buy a home in Corona Del Mar for $3,950?

In 1978, I purchased a real estate office from Jim Wood.  Jim was one of the best REALTORS® in Corona Del Mar and even beyond.  He and his wife Nikki founded COAST Magazine.  Jim's now in Tiburon publishing a similar format called Marin Magazine.  He was a savvy guy when it came to marketing.

Our office was called Unique Homes, Inc. and as a marketing piece, Jim reproduced a twelve page sales brochure showing lots and homes for sale in the Newport Area in 1937.  We thought you might enjoy some of these old photographs and prices.  Click on http://www.insidetract.net/documents/cdm_brochure_1937.pdf to view it.  This is a large file so please be patient.

Sincerely,
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