Member agents on Top Agent Network recently hotly debated a reported “3.8% home sales tax” that is supposedly included in the Obamacare Health Care Bill. One concerned agent posted, “If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax.” 

Can this be true? 

The answer is it is NOT true! 

TAN member agents quickly blasted out 20 replies.  As factcheck.org explains it (full article),

“The truth is that only a tiny percentage of home sellers will pay the tax. First of all, only those with incomes over $200,000 a year ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly) will be subject to it. And even for those who have such high incomes, the tax still won’t apply to the first $250,000 on profits from the sale of a personal residence — or to the first $500,000 in the case of a married couple selling their home.”

While TAN should not be used for political messages, it is a great place for member agents to inform one another on important real estate information and dispel rumors. That is exactly what the discussion did. Many people were/are confused about this very issue but Top Agent Network’s collective knowledge got it right!

So keep those posts and replies coming!

David Faudman, Founder/CEO Top Agent Network, Inc.

A HILARIOUS (AND TRUE) MUST SEE FOR ALL:

1. LISTING AGENTS
2. HOMESELLERS

You and your clients want every edge in this market. Just knowing about MLS properties is no longer enough. You need to the inside scoop on pocket listings and homes BEFORE they go on the MLS. 

Top Agent Network’s Off-Market Report is a searchable/sortable catalog of all Non-MLS/Pocket listings posted by member agents. This report now also includes “Pre-Announce MLS Listings”. 

Please keep your Off-Market listings current for your fellow top agents by clicking the update link in the weekly email or on the report itself. 

• Expected on MLS Date is now required when you post. Listings fall off the report automatically at their MLS date. Listings without an MLS date fall off in 90 days unless you update or re-confirm them.
• Optional Open House date and time. Open Houses are specially identified with a “House” icon on the listings.
• Easily update your listings – Change availability status, price, photos, open house and remarks.
• Display photos on topagentnetwork.com public website – You must opt-in to post your listing photos. Automatic Twitter “tweet” of your listing also available soon. 

So…post your Non-MLS and Pre-MLS listings on TAN and use the Off-Market Report.  

You and your clients will enjoy the inside scoop – and you’ll keep more hair on your head!   

 David Faudman, CEO/Founder

Top Agent Network member agents are some of the most experienced and highest producing in their market areas; providing their clients a competitive advantage. Use TAN marketing materials to credibly verify your real estate success.  

Available online now: 

• Personalized Client Version of Off-Market Report - Include it in your listing or buyer presentation package. Excludes the address or listing agent information.
•  NEW TAN logos – Use them on your business cards, brochures, email signature or personal website (click “My Account” in upper right hand or site).
• Your name and profile listed on the public-facing membership roster - Provide this link on your website and in your email signature.  

Available at support@topagentnetwork.com (online soon): 

• Personalized Membership Certificate - Include it in your listing or buyer presentation package.
• “About TAN” Client Flyer - Quickly explains the benefits to your clients of your TAN membership. 

Sing your own praises without uttering a sound.

David Faudman, CEO/Founder

I just got off the phone with the assistant to one of San Francisco’s top agents.  This assistant creates BEAUTIFUL marketing pieces for the SF agent, who is a member of Top Agent Network.  The assistant and I were chatting about posting practices on TAN in general, our new Off-Market report (which he really likes).  I was reminding him that where TAN works hardest for agents is in the Off-Market arena… that private swirl when properties are coming on and agents are buzzing about who’s got what listing, who’s got what buyer, no it’s not on the MLS yet…

The assistant said, “Yes, but I can’t post until I get pictures, and often I don’t get those until just a day or two before we go on the MLS.”

As I told him, this is truly a case where less is more.  Agents, post whatcha got, when you’ve got it, as SOON as you’ve got it.  Text conveys plenty, certainly enough to tell an agent whether the listing might fill a client’s needs.  The “pretty” part can come later (and certainly will, knowing you guys).  We even have an edit function on the application to let you add photos easily once you have them.  But by posting AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE, well before you go on the MLS, you get the benefit of all those trusted TAN connections—and everyone on the network looks great in their clients’ eyes because they have the inside scoop.

We at TAN have seen the network yield lots of almost uncannily easy transactions for agents, sellers and buyers when a listing—headed for the MLS—never got there because TAN matched the sellers and buyers up in advance.

So as soon as you’ve got anything to share - a buyer need, a listing - get it on the network in just plain words.  Less is more! —Suzanne Crawford, Membership Director

David Faudman, CEO/Founder writes: I am asked all the time, “Why would any seller not want to put their home on the MLS?”  

Often called “Pocket Listings”, here are 6 reasons why a seller would want to avoid the MLS and list their home as an Off-Market/Non-MLS listing: 

1. Seller wants privacy. Divorcing and high profile people often have privacy concerns. Unlike the MLS, Off-Market listings don’t require the posting of a street address.
2. Test the pricing without getting stale on the MLS. Sitting too long on the MLS kills a home’s marketability.
3. Attract the most serious buyers. Real buyers work with a connected real estate agent.
4. House still being prepped for sale. An Off-Market listing allows the agent to pre-screen for buyers who are able to see through the clutter.
5. Provide sellers with something special. Off-Market listings have a certain elegance.
6. Provide buyers with something special. Buyers want to know about the “secret” homes for sale as well as those on the MLS. 

In some markets, Off-Market/Non-MLS listings account for 15% or more of the homes sold.

Here in the SF Bay Area, especially San Francisco and the Peninsula, we’ve been waiting for this heat all winter, I mean summer. Now that it’s arrived there is a mad rush to get the “Jet Engine” fans and super duper portable A/C units, seeing as how most homes in the area are not equipped for handling temperatures over 80F. All of which will come in handy for the next couple of weeks while we get to experience our summer, but can cost a small fortune in these budget tight times.

As much as I like having a home office, it’s just too darn hot to stay in. Other than two weeks out of the year where we get blazing heat, I prefer not to have to make such large purchases and get little use out of them. So my economical solution has been to get out of the home office and into air conditioned venues such as Borders.

So remember, for an economical solution to summer: If you can’t stand the heat get out of the home office and enjoy a break from the usual routine.