All Forum Posts by: Jordan Decuir

Jonathan Greene Thanks for that input. I wouldn't have thought that having the big-name brokerage behind you would matter much when competing for listings, luxury or not. I guess that has been your experience then, correct?

Maya Clark Thanks. Why would the selling/competing broker be a key component in your opinion?

Eddie Egelston That's in line with my thinking so far. I would think that perhaps the national franchises may bring in a few more leads, but I won't be relying on my broker to generate leads for me.

I am interviewing brokers to make the decision around where to hang my license in a month or so. I have met with brokers from large franchises (Re/Max, KW, etc...) as well as small, local brokerages. Outside of commissions splits and desk fees, all of which I know now and can use to compare betweens brokers, What are the pros and cons of going with a large, nationally-recognized broker versus a smaller, lesser-known broker? Does the brand recognition that the big brokers tout matter that much in the RE business?

Loubert Antoine I Assume that you have this 401k thru your employer? If so, then I would recommend that you go to your boss or HR department and ask them about the policy on 401k loans in your plan.

Rudy Hernandez Any updates on any that you have attended? I attended the Houston REIA a couple years ago and it seemed very pitchy, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Were you able to attend the one that Shenice B. suggested?

Loubert Antoine You may want to look into taking a loan in your 401k account. I think that most 401k plans allow you to take out a loan up to the lesser of 50% of your vested interest or $50k. In your case, that would mean you could get a 401k loan for roughly $37,500 and put that cash toward purchasing your next property or properties. I believe that these "loans" generally have low interest rates, 4% to 5% or 6% in many cases from what I understand, plus, the interest that you pay goes back into your 401k account anyway so you would be essentially lending the money to yourself and paying it back to yourself anyway, with interest. One caveat being that if you were to leave your job, they may require you to pay back the full amount that you withdrew. I am BY NO MEANS AN EXPERT on the 401k loan idea however so if it is something you would consider then please talk to a CPA about the pros and cons of doing so. Best of luck to you!

Taylor Martel Thanks again for all of your responses here. I have the calling as the most-important piece of my overall marketing strategy and you have been extremely helpful. If you are ever in Houston look me up, I would like to treat you to coffee.

Taylor Martel Thanks again. I agree that I should be calling as well. I was thinking about having someone do some calling as well so that I would essentially be doubling up (or at least increasing) on the total number of calls that would be going out for my business. Totally agree as well on the point about being able to properly hire/train/advise on making the calls without having any experience doing it myself. I was thinking more about down the road potentially hiring some of it out to increase my exposure, after I get a few months of calling experience under my own belt. I have heard some chatter about the "Federal Do Not Call" laws putting a major hamper on the effectiveness of cold calling, if one is concerned about violating that law. In your experience were a large volume of potentially prospects on the list, and therefore you were not able to call them?

Jim Cummings Thank you. You are referring to calling folks who are on the "Do Not Call" list, correct? I would cross reference that list to ensure that I am not calling someone on the list. If you mean literally calling anyone (without regard to DNC list) then please let me know.