Introduction to US Real Estate PDF

Introduction to US Real Estate Real Estate ​ Land along with any permanent improvements attached to the land, whether natural or man-made including water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences, and bridges. It is also a form of real property and is different from personal property where t...

Introduction to US Real Estate Real Estate ​ Land along with any permanent improvements attached to the land, whether natural or man-made including water, trees, minerals, buildings, homes, fences, and bridges. It is also a form of real property and is different from personal property where things are not permanently attached to the land (ex. cars, tables, toys etc.) 5 Main Categories of Real Estate ​ Residential - used for residential purposes including new construction and resale homes. Most common category is single-family homes. ○​ Other examples: condos, townhouses, co-ops, duplexes, triple-deckers, quadplexes, etc. ​ Commercial - used to produce income or exclusively for business purposes. ○​ Apartment complexes, grocery stores, hotels, offices, restaurants, shopping centers, etc. ​ Industrial - used for manufacturing, research, production, storage, and distribution of goods ​ Land - vacant lands, working farms, and ranches. ○​ Sub categories: undeveloped, early development, subdivision, and site assembly ​ Special purpose - property used by the public ○​ Cemeteries, government buildings, libraries, parks, schools, churches 3 Physical Characteristics of Real Estate ​ Immobility ​ Indestructibility ​ Uniqueness 5 Most Common Real Estate Legal Rights ​ Right of Possession - right to own the property ​ Right of Control - right to use the property as you please ​ Right of Exclusion - right to keep others out of your property ​ Right of Enjoyment - right to enjoy all the amenities or features of your property ​ Right of Disposition - right to sell the property Real Estate Terms ​ Buyers Agent ○​ Represents the buyer ○​ Schedules showings ○​ Alerts the buyers to homes on the market that match their needs ○​ Will advise clients on an appropriate price to offer and present it to the seller’s agent ​ Sellers Agent ○​ Listing agent ○​ Represents the seller ○​ Markets the property to different portals ○​ Presents potential buyers ​ Escrow ○​ A contractual arrangement in which a third party received and disburses money or documents for the primary transacting parties, with the disbursement dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacting parties, or an account established by a broker for holding funds on behalf of the broker’s principal or some other person until the consummation or termination of a transaction. ​ Pre-qualification ○​ Dry run of the loan application process ○​ Only takes minutes to an hour and can be done over the phone ​ Pre- approval ○​ Loan application process itself ○​ Verification of details is done ○​ Borrower can be charged for additional fees for the verification of credit reports and such. ​ Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA) ○​ Real estate purchase agreement ○​ A document which specifies the details of the purchase and the property. ​ Foreclosure ○​ Process of taking possession of a property when a mortgage has defaulted ​ Earnest Money Deposit ○​ A security deposit made to the seller showing the buyer’s good faith in the transaction. ​ Leads ○​ A prospective consumer of a product or service. ​ Title ○​ Refers to your legal ownership of a home or property ○​ Refers to a “bundle of rights” to a property that gets transferred from seller to buyer ​ Deed ○​ A document that conveys the title to the new owner when you sell your home ​ Home Insurance ○​ An optional service that the buyer can purchase from a Home Insurance Company.  ○​ Home Insurance covers damages to the property that’s caused by natural disasters. ​ Home Warranty ○​ Sellers are required to issue a home warranty to the buyer after a successful purchase. ○​ Home Warranty covers damages to the property that are not caused by natural disasters. ○​ The cost of the repairs are shouldered by the seller. Real Estate Agent vs. Broker vs. Realtor ​ Real Estate Agent ○​ Licensed to buy, sell, and rent real estate ○​ Responsible for bringing buyers and sellers together and are paid a commission ○​ Commission is typically a percentage of the property’s sale price ○​ Cannot work individually and must be operating their services under a brokerage firm. ​ Broker ○​ Continued education and has successfully received a state real estate broker license ○​ Can work independently or own a brokerage firm and hire real estate agents ○​ Earn money by taking a share of the commissions by the real estate agents ​ Realtor ○​ Licensed REA or Broker who is a member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) ○​ Licensed to use the realtor trademark as part of their name. Normal Home Buying and Selling Process Seller contact a seller’s Title search, property SA lists the property in the agent to represent them inspection, and valuation is MLS done SA and BA exchange offers RE Purchase Agreement is Escrow closes once a new and counteroffers signed. Escrow phase deed is recorded in the begins buyer’s name. Buyer searches for a Buyer gets a buyer’s agent property through various to represent them / assist in portals offers Buyer gets a loan pre-approval or obtain proof of funds Real Estate Offers Process What is “Offers Process”? ​ Process of a buyer sending out an offer to the seller ​ Describes how an offer is drafted, created, submitted, and signed ​ Outlines the different variables indicated in every offer. The Offer Process Variables ​ Property Financing ​ Offer Submission ​ Contingencies ​ Concessions ​ Multiple Offers ​ Response Time ​ Contract Addendum ​ Closing Time Frames ​ Ratification Property Financing Types of Property Financing ​ Cash ○​ Cold cash ○​ Buyer does not use any special financial services to pay for the property ​ Hard Money ○​ Specific type of asset-based loan financing through which a borrower receives funds secured by real property ​ FHA ○​ Federal Housing Administration ○​ US Department of Housing and Urban Development ○​ Requires 3.5% Down Payment ​ VA Loans ○​ Veterans Affairs Loans ○​ US Department of Veterans Affairs ○​ No Down Payment ​ Conventional ○​ Fixed in its terms and rate ○​ Any loan that is not issued by a government entity. ○​ Called as “portfolio” loans ○​ 10-20% (DP?) Offer Submission ​ Listing agent can expect an offer as soon as the property gets listed on the market. ​ LA then sends the offer to the seller in 24 hours ​ How to send an offer: ​ Fax with cover letter ​ Email as an attachment ​ Internet based tracking system / offers management system (OMS) / customer relationship tools (CRM) ​ Overnight delivery service (ODS) Contingencies ​ A provision in a real estate contract that makes a contract null and void if a certain event were to occur ​ Any condition in an offer that would allow the buyer to cancel or withdraw the offer. 2 Main Types ​ Suspensive Contingencies ○​ A type of contingency wherein if a certain condition happens, it could suspend the contract for a certain period of time ○​ Also known as suspensive conditions ​ Resolutive Contingencies ○​ A type of contingency wherein if a certain condition happens, it can cancel or terminate the offer immediately. ○​ Also known as resolutive conditions ​ Sub-categories of Contingencies ​ Mortgage contingency ○​ A type of contingency wherein if a seller accepts this contingency, the seller is to wait for the buyer to be approved for a loan ○​ Lasts for a minimum of 17 days ​ Inspection contingency ○​ Purchase of the real estate is contingent upon a satisfactory inspection of the real property revealing no significant defects ​ 72-hour Kick Out contingency ○​ A type of contingency wherein the seller asks the buyer to remove the contingency he placed on the offer. Only then will the seller move forward with the offer. Concessions ​ Any request coming from the buyer to make the seller responsible for something extra Multiple Offers ​ LA must notify the seller about the multiple offers ​ LA needs to notify the BA’s that there were multiple offers received so that the BA’s can advise their buyers that there is an opportunity to change their offer. ​ Some buyers may raise their offered price or remove their concessions ​ Seller would give 24-48 hours for the buyers to amend or change their offers. After this time, the buyers should send the offers to the LA Response Time ​ seller/client’s response time varies ​ LA informs the BA and the buyer that there will be a forthcoming response. Contract Addendum ​ A document attached to and made a part of the original contract ​ Can be explanatory, informational, or indicate other requirements of the parties that aren’t clearly spelled out in the contract. Contract Ratification ​ LA sends the contract package to the client within 24 to 48 hours. After the buyer has signed all the documents. ​ Once accepted, a contract is fully ratified as soon as the client/seller signs the contract/offer. This is called the contract ratification process. ​ LA will distribute copies of this to the BA, Buyer, attorneys, etc. Closing Time Frames ​ Cash = 15 days ​ Mortgage = 30 days ​ Renovation Loan = 45 days ○​ Closing dates should be observed to avoid “per diem” charges ○​ Counting the closing date starts the day after the offer has been ratified. (calendar days) ○​ If the final day falls under a weekend or a holiday, it rolls over the next business day. Other Important Notes ​ If the buyer does not comply within 17 days contingency (Loan/mortgage contingency), the seller can take the earnest money (initial deposit). ​ Allocation of cost is what the buyer and seller pay for ​ Seller pays for the home warranty. Basics of MLS What is an MLS? ​ Multiple Listing Service/System ​ Online platform that allows real estate professionals to view properties that are on the market ​ It houses listings. Listings are ads that are created for a specific property that helps in marketing the property to potential buyers. ​ Each city, state, or county has their designated MLS and only registered or licensed real estate professionals from a certain area can access it. ​ There are real estate companies who have their own MLS. ex. Keller Williams Realty uses KW Command What do you do with MLS? ​ Look for a for sale property ​ Post listings ​ add/remove an agent with your clients listing ​ Update an agent’s listing information Things to put in consideration ​ Only one person can log in at a time ​ IP Address usually are recognized ​ Be cautious when making changes ​ Log-in credentials are private/sensitive information Here are the details you can see in the MLS ​ Listing price (LP) ​ Selling price (SP) ​ Property address ​ Property details ​ Year it was built ​ Selling status ​ Tax property information ​ Property write-up ​ Pictures of the property ​ Listing detail ID # Important notes ​ Be cautious when changing details ​ Picture size is not automatically changed ​ Use pictures from royalty free site or pictures that are owned by your client ​ Best to add virtual tours/links ​ Arrange the pictures accordingly ​ Listing price is different from selling price ○​ Listing price is the price on how much the property is being sold for. ○​ Selling price is the price that the property was sold for MLS Listing Statuses ​ A - Active ○​ A listing is on the market and has not been tied up in a contract from another buyer. ○​ Days on market count continues during this status ​ CW - Contingent w/kickout ○​ Seller has accepted a contract. Contract is contingent upon the buyer getting a contract and closing on their current home. ○​ Kickout means a buyer who is able to purchase without first having to sell a home could make an offer as a backup offer. If the seller finds the second offer more attractive, he can give notice to the first buyer that they must firm-up their offer by waiving the contingency or be kicked out of the contract so the seller can proceed with the backup offer. ○​ Days on market count continues during this period. ​ CN - Contingent no kickout ○​ Seller accepted a contract and did not require a kick out period. ○​ Prospective buyers who wants to submit an offer on a listing with this status should know that while they can write an offer if it is accepted by the seller, it will remain in backup status. The seller is unable to kick his first buyer out. The second contract can become a primary contract only if the first contract falls apart on its own (building inspection, financing, etc.). ○​ Days on market count continues during this period. ​ CS - Contingent Short Sale ○​ Indicates that the listing has an accepted contract but it must be approved by the lender who currently holds the note on the home. ○​ Home is being sold at a price that will require the lender to accept less than what is owed. ○​ Prospective buyer should know that he may or may not have a chance to put in a second contract offer which may or may not be considered. ○​ This is a complicated situation and is best handled by a professional REA who has experience with short sale transactions. ○​ Days on market count continues during this period. ​ T - Temporarily Off Market ○​ Used on a short-term basis for a listing that needs to be out of the MLS briefly.  ○​ This is often due to the need for repairs or improvements that need to be completed. The home will not be shown to prospective buyers during this period. ○​ Days on market count is suspended during this period. Will resume when the home listing is activated again. ​ P - Pending ○​ Home is under contract and the buyer can no longer walk away from the deal due to building inspection results. While pending, a home will no longer be shown to prospective buyers. ○​ Days on market count is suspended during this period. If the contract falls apart and the listing becomes active again, all of the days on the market count to date are calculated and applied to the listing. ​ S - Sold ○​ Closing has occurred and property is no longer available ○​ Days on market count is terminated. ​ W - Withdrawn ○​ LA has removed the listing from the MLS but still has a valid listing agreement (contract) with the seller. ○​ House may or may not be able to be shown. ○​ LA would need to be consulted on a case by case basis under this status. ○​ Days on market count is suspended during this period. ​ C - Cancelled ○​ Listing contract between broker and seller has been terminated. ○​ Home is no longer for sale. ○​ Days on market count is terminated with this status. ​ Transaction Coordination Package Basic Forms in a Transaction Package RPA ​ Residential Purchase Agreement ​ Most important document in an offer package ​ Contains all the details and conditions pertaining to the sale of a property such as but not limited to: ○​ Price ○​ Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) ○​ Down payment ○​ Financing Terms ○​ Contingencies ○​ Possession terms ○​ Allocation of costs (which party pays which fees) Proof of Funds ​ Documents that serve as proof of the buyer’s financial capacity ○​ Pre-approval letter from a lender for financing ○​ Proof of funds for cash payment ○​ Bank statements ○​ Investment reports Lead Based Paint Disclosure ​ Form that notifies the buyer that this property may contain exposure to lead or lead-based products ​ Normally for houses built prior to 1978 because the federal govt banned consumer uses of lead-containing paint as it could lead to lead-poisoning Real Estate Agency Relationship Disclosure ​ Outlines the responsibilities of the agents to their clients ​ Required by state law to be given to the client by their respective agents before they sign an agreement to work with them ​ Help the client understand the scope of work and how the agents agency works and will work for them as a client Agent’s Visual Inspection Disclosure ​ Form that outlines the results of a property inspection done by an agent ​ Outlines the parts of the property that the agent will inspect, will show you also the limitations on what an agent can inspect Supplemental Statutory and Contractual Disclosure ​ Disclosure stating facts or events that happened in the property ​ A clear understanding of the history Buyer’s Inspection Advisory (BIA) ​ A comprehensive list of items that should be considered during the inspection period ​ Let’s the buyers know how important it is to consider having property investigations to determine the present physical condition of the property. Confirmation of Real Estate Agency Relationship ​ Form states on who will be representing who in the whole process ​ State the name of the BA representing the buyer ​ State the name of the SA representing the seller ​ Complete address of the property being sold is also included on the form Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement ​ Used by the seller and agents involved to disclose miscellaneous known and suspected defects of the property ​ List down the items included in the property purchase Market Condition Advisory ​ Form used by many realtors when negotiating a contract to advise both buyers and sellers about potential future market conditions ​ Would give the seller and the buyer an idea about the changing real estate market and on how this can affect in terms of selling or buying a home. State-wide Buyer and Seller Advisory ​ Form that would state your right as a buyer, seller, and an agent ​ Include things that you as buyer and a seller should be made aware of, like, you need to be advised for presence of moulds or pests, or if the previous owners have had pets. Water-Heater and Smoke Detector Statement of Compliance ​ Form that would state that the property is in compliance of having water heaters and smoke detectors installed as mandated by state law. Statement of Compliance Seller’s Affidavit of Nonforeign Status ​ Form that stated that the seller/buyer is a citizen of USA. RPA Dissection 1.​ Offer a.​ This is an offer from: First line is the name of all the buyers. Even if a buyer didnt have a time to sign it, all the buyers should be named here. b.​ The Real Property to be Acquired: Second line is the legal description of the property and APN or Assessor Parcel Number c.​ Purchase price: price of the buyer is willing to offer and it does not include closing cost. (Rule of thumb, closing cost is above 2% of purchase price) d.​ Close of escrow: i.​ Date when you are closing (some buyers take the date as important because they want to close before the end of a calendar year because of tax reasons ii.​ Number of days after acceptance. (usually 30 days after acceptance 2.​ Agency a.​ Disclosure: form before signing the offer is needed, buyer acknowledges receipt of the form (Real Estate Agency Relationship Disclosure) b.​ Potentially competing buyers and sellers: discusses that a broker may be submitting multiple offers on the same property and this is to make the buyer aware that one broker may compete about the same property. c.​ Confirmation: section that confirms a listing agent/broker represents the seller exclusively. Broker may also represent the buyer exclusively or in some instance, the listing broker is representing both buyer and broker (called a dual agent) 3.​ Finance Terms a.​ Initial deposit: can be 1-3% of the purchase price and should be deposited to escrow within 3 business days after acceptance b.​ Increased Deposit: can be used if certain conditions need to be fulfilled to increase the deposit. Ex. certain disclosures would need to be performed or an inspection before an increase in the deposit can happen c.​ Loans: if FHA Loan, buyer pays 10% DP and balance is financing, 4% max interest rate to move forward with this transaction d.​ Additional Financing Terms: cost that we have not increased the purchase price e.​ Balance of Down Payment: amount of DP will be placed to be deposited with Escrow holder f.​ Purchase Price (Total): total amount of the purchase price, with initials of the buyers and sellers. g.​ Verification of Down Payment and Closing Costs: seller will want this done within 3-7 days after acceptance to not waste any time as both are not part of the contingencies. Attached file of verification of the dp and closing costs shall be included. h.​ Loan Terms: process involves that the buyer will be pre-approved when submitting an offer, lender has done a written underwriting pre-approval and has run the credit report of the buyer to know that the buyer is able to perform. i.​ Default period in removing loan contingency is 17 days. When removed, appraisal contingency is also removed because it goes  together, should this happen, seller would come to the writ and an entitlement to EMD or any other legal remedies takes place, which depends on if the liquidated damages have been specified. In cases wherein the loan contingency remains in effect until the loan is funded, there is an option that allows you to do so. i.​ Appraisal Contingency and Removal: goes together with loan contingency. By default, 17 days is given to have a certified and licensed appraiser go out and appraise the property. If by any chance the property would not be appraised to the purchase price, then the buyer has a right to cancel the offer or renegotiate the condition of the price. j.​ All Cash Offer: buyer have 7 days to give the seller written verification of the funds in order to be able to move forward. k.​ Buyer stated financing: seller relies on the buyer’s representation of the type of financing specified. Seller has agreed to a specific closing date, purchase price, and to sell to buyer in reliance on buyer’s covenant concerning financing. Buyer shall pursue the financing specified in this agreement. Seller has no obligation to cooperate with buyer’s efforts to obtain any financing other than that specified in the agreement and the availability of any such alternate financing does not excuse the buyer from the obligation to purchase the property and close escrow as specified in this agreement. 4.​ Allocation of Costs a.​ Inspection and Reports: which party is responsible for paying for the inspection report of wood destroying pests (termite inspection not ant inspection). b.​ Government requirements and retrofit: discusses about the regulations for smoke detector and water heater bracing according to what is required by law and which party covers the cost. Discusses also the cost for compliance with any other minimum mandatory govt retrofit standards, inspections, and reports if required as a condition of closing escrow under any law. c.​ Escrow and Title: discusses which party will pay for escrow fees and title insurance policy d.​ Other costs: i.​ County tax: negotiable ii.​ City tax: covered by buyer and seller iii.​ HOA: buyer iv.​ HOA document preparation v.​ Private transfer fee vi.​ Home warranty 5.​ Closing and Possession a.​ Buyer intends (or does not intend) to occupy the Property as Buyer's primary residence: If the buyer does not intend to occupy the property, implications may result to lender taking the property as a form of investment. b.​ Seller-occupied or vacant: This section discusses the transfer of title and possession to be delivered to Buyer at a specific time and date. If unmet, a written occupancy agreement or a lease agreement shall take place. c.​ Tenant-occupied property: Discusses that the Property needs to be vacant at least 5 days before close of escrow in order to inspect the property.  Otherwise, it can be specified on the form where the tenant to remain in possession. d.​ At Close of Escrow: The seller is giving the buyer the warranty rights that are included and the copies of these warranties. e.​ This section discusses the seller to provide their buyer with keys to locks and mailboxes, and security, garage openers. But, if the property is located in a condominium, there are certain keys to HOA facility that the buyer may have to pay for and obtain themselves. 6.​ STATUTORY AND OTHER DISCLOSURES INCLUDING LEAD-BASED PAINT HAZARD DISCLOSURES) AND CANCELLATION RIGHTS a.​ Paragraph 6 talks about Statutory Disclosures and Cancellation rights. The seller has usually 7 days to deliver to the buyer the Transfer Disclosure Statement. The TDS talks about what is included in the property and then the material effects. The NHD, the Natural Hazard Disclosure talks about if the property is in a flood zone, in a fire zone, or in an earthquake zone. And this is important for the buyer to know, because there may be certain actions that need to be taken. If it's in a flood zone, he may need a flood insurance, and if it's in a fire zone, he may have to clear the property from debris etc. If these disclosures are given after signing of the contract, then the buyer has 3 days right of cancellation. The statutory disclosures that we are speaking about, they cannot be waived and the reason for that is that there may be certain actions that the buyer has to take to fulfill. b.​ Natural and Environmental Hazards: The Natural Hazard Disclosure, the natural and environmental hazards and earthquake disclosures will be given to the buyer in a form of an electronic booklet called combined earthquake safety and environmental hazards booklet. c.​ Withholding of Taxes. This is withholding of taxes that is federal in the state for the seller. And it is the buyer's responsibility to receive from the seller and an affidavit called FIRPTA(Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act). It's a form that will be signed by the seller that is given to the buyer. d.​ Megan's Law Database Disclosure: mportance to know that there is an available information on the web and then we can provide the website where it is to public knowledge any registered sex offenders in the area where you are buying. 7.​ CONDOMINIUM/PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DISCLOSURES a.​ Seller has within 7 days after acceptance to disclose to the buyer if the property is located within the planned development. He will then have to provide the C.A.R. the rules all the area the common areas and 12 mos of HOA Minutes. The HOA minutes are important to read through because they will disclose if there are some special issues or problems that the HOA members have discussed. The main thing, of course, is if there is any kind litigation or anticipated claim of litigation that the members have discussed 8.​ ITEMS INCLUDED IN AND EXCLUDED FROM PURCHASE PRICE a.​ Note to buyer and seller: Items in the MLS, Flyers or Marketing materials are not included or excluded in the purchase price or from the sale unless specified.  b.​ Items included in sale: If you want to include something, you have the possibility under 8B to check if the stove is included or refrigerator. If you want to add any items, you can add it under 8B3. And what should be mentioned is that if you're putting a washer and dryer you may want to put in its model and name. c.​ Items excluded in sale: The same thing goes if you are going to exclude an item like the chandelier in the dining room or the sofa bed in the living area. All of has to be specified in the contract (ex. If a TV is not mounted directly on the wall, then it is excluded from the contract. The bracket may remain but the TV will belong to the seller). 9.​ CONDITION OF PROPERTY a.​ The property has to be in the same condition when the buyer is closing escrow as when the contract is signed. The seller shall disclose known material facts and defects affecting the property, including known insurance claims within the past five years. That means that the seller cannot neglect the property during the escrow period. In turn, the buyer has the right to investigate and inspect the property in order to determine its present condition. 10.​BUYER'S INVESTIGATION OF PROPERTY AND MATTERS AFFECTING PROPERTY. a.​ The buyer has the right to inspect the property within the contingency period. He can offer up the inspection request repairs from the seller, which the seller can accept, refuse or cancel The buyer is not allowed to do any governmental inspections without the seller's written approval as this may come out as a red flagged property without the seller's notice. The seller is entitled to all reports without any cost and he's obligated to keep all utilities during the escrow period. The buyer has no right to harm the property or to cause any problems to the property even though he has the rignt to do inspections. 11.​SELLER DISCLOSURES; ADDENDA ADVISORIES; OTHER TERMS a.​ Any addendum or disclosures that you want to be included. So the seller property questionnaire is an expansion of the Transfer Disclosure Statement and more thorough and you may want to have that in an early stage for the buyer to see what has affected the property, what is included, and what is excluded. And of course, if it's a short sale, you would fill the short sale addendum and we are going to make another forecast about short sales. Here, we are emphasizing that we want the home to be vacant 3 days before close of escrow. 12.​TITLE AND VESTING a.​ This section discusses the preliminary title report. This report should be read at an early stage by the buyer in order to find out what liens, easements and other encumbrances are on the property. The buyer should also think about how he/she wants to take the title which is something that CPA will be able to advise about. 13.​SALE OF BUYER'S PROPERTY a.​ If the buyer has a property to sell he would then make it contingent and this box on paragraph 13B has to be checked. 14.​TIME PERIODS; REMOVAL OF CONTINGENCIES; CANCELLATION RIGHTS a.​ The seller has, by default, 7 days "After Acceptance" to give the buyer all the reports and disclosures. b.​ If by any chance, he's not doing it within the 7 days, then the buyer who has 17 days to review the disclosures and make his inspections, has at least 5 days after receiving all the disclosures to review them. So let's say that the seller is giving the natural hazard disclosure on the day 17 - this gives the buyer an additional 5 days to review those disclosures. Now the buyer has 17 days in this contract to review all the inspections and disclosures before removing his contingencies. Removal of Contingencies has to be done in writing and if after doing the inspections you are seeking the seller to make repairs, it has also to be done within the 17-day period. c.​ Seller Right To Cancel: If by any chance, the buyer is not removing the contingencies within the 17 days that they agreed about. The seller cannot cancel without sending to the buyer a form called Notice To Buyer To Perform - and that gives the buyer 48 hours to perform. If he's not performing then the seller has the right to cancel the agreement. d.​ Effect of Buyer's Removal of Contingencies: When a Buyer is removing the contingency, it means that the buyer has reviewed all inspections, reports and information and is willing to proceed with the transaction. e.​ Close of Escrow: Before Seller or Buyer may cancel this Agreement due to the failure of the other party to close escrow pursuant to this agreement, seller or buyer must first give the other a demand to close escrow (CAR Form DCE) f.​ Effect of Cancellation on Deposits: If the Buyer or the seller agrees to cancel the transaction then there will be a release of funds taking into account that this is done before the removal of contingencies. Release of funds will only be done on mutual signed release instructions from the buyer and the seller. 15.​REPAIRS a.​ Paragraph 15 speaks about repairs that are agreed upon during the contingency period. And they have to be completed before the final verification, the final walk-thru of the property. 16.​FINAL VERIFICATION OF CONDITION a.​ Buyer shall have the right to make a final inspection of the property within 5 days by default prior to close of escrow. This is the final walk-thru to verify that the property is in the same condition as of signing the contract. This is not a contingency and its not right to cancel under this paragraph. 17.​PRORATIONS OF PROPERTY TAXES AND OTHER ITEMS a.​ Paragraph 17, Proration of Property Taxes. This is to inform the buyer that they will come with a supplemental tax bill. The property taxes are based upon the property value up on the purchase price. That means that if you buy the property for 500k and the seller bought it for 150K then the property tax for the seller is much lower and you will pay the property taxes for the value that you bought it for. Which means that at the close of escrow they are making a proration according to the seller's property taxes. 18.​SELECTION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS a.​ Paragraph 18, Selection of Service Providers. The buyer and the seller is entitled to choose any service providers that they want. 19.​MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE a.​ Paragraph 19 is speaking about the MLS. The broker is authorized to report to the MLS any change in status when the sale goes pending or when it is closed etc. 20.​EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY a.​ Paragraph 20, No discrimination according to the equal housing opportunity. 21.​ATTORNEY FEES a.​ Paragraph 21, Attorney Fees. In a dispute between the buyer and the seller, the prevailing party in most cases will be paid from the non-prevailing party. 22.​DEFINITIONS a.​ Acceptance: Acceptance of the offer is after the offer has been presented and the counter offer, if there any counter offers accepted. b.​ CAR Form: specific form reference or another comparable form agreed to by the parties c.​ The close of escrow means the day the property will be recorded. It is usually the day when you're receiving your keys. d.​ Copy: photocopy, NCR, facsimile and electronic e.​ "Days", the way that we count is in calendar days. With the exception of when you're putting your deposit in escrow that is business days after acceptance. Now if you're offer is accepted on Friday then you start counting on Saturday but because it is business days. Saturday and Sunday won't count. So you are starting counting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. By Wednesday the following week, your deposit has to be in escrow. Now when you speak about their contingency, 17 days of contingencies that's 17 calendar days after the offer has accepted If the offer has accepted on Monday, you'll start to count on Tuesday. f.​ Days after: after the occurrence of the event specified g.​ Days Prior: before the occurrence of the event specified h.​ Deliver, Delivered, Delivery: i.​ "Electronic Copy" or "Electronic Signatures": Signatures can be both a handwritten or electronic signature. And the advantage with the electronic signatures is that you are able to do a paperless transaction and it's easy for the buyer not to have to print and to scan back or fax back documents and they will come out much clearer. 23.​BROKER COMPENSATION a.​ Paragraph 23, The broker compensation is specified in a separate document usually in the listing agreement between the seller and the listing agent. 24.​JOINT ESCROW INSTRUCTIONS TO ESCROW HOLDER a.​ Paragraph 24, is Escrow Instruction. The purchase agreement provides instructions to escrow from the buyer and the seller. A copy of the agreement has to be delivered to escrow within 3 business days after acceptance which coincides when the fund is supposed to be deposited by the buyer. 25.​LIQUIDATED DAMAGES a.​ Paragraph 25, Both the liquidated damages and arbitration clause has to be initiated by both buyers and seller to be valid. Regarding the liquidated damages, this will protect the buyer for the maximum amount that he will be in default if he breaches the contract. So, liquidated damages is no more than 3% of the purchase price - assuming that his deposit was 3%. If his deposit is  2%, then it can be no more than 2% of the purchase price. Now, in case there is an increase deposit, for that increase deposit to be included in the liquidated damages, there has to be assigned receipt of the increased deposit. 26.​ DISPUTE RESOLUTION a.​ Mediation: Buyer and Seller agree to mediate any dispute or claim arising between them out of this Agreement, or any resulting transaction, before resorting to arbitration or court action. Mediation fees, if any, shall be divided equally among the parties involved, If, for any dispute or claim to which this paragraph applies, any party i) commences an action without first attempting to resolve the matter through mediation, or (ii) before commencement of an action, refuses to mediate after a request has been made, then that party shall not be entitled to recover attorney fees, even if they would otherwise be available to that party in any such action. b.​ Arbitration of Disputes: Initiated by the seller, with the buyer to agree to arbitration. Paragraph 26B is describing who the arbitrator will be - could be a retired judge or an attorney with at least 5 years of residential real estate law experience. Both parties will have to sign on this section for this to be valid. 27.​TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF OFFER a.​ Paragraph 27, Terms and Conditions of Offer. This is an offer to purchase a property. The Buyer can withdraw his offer as long as the seller has not communicated any acceptance. The seller, in contrary, can accept other offers as long as the buyer's offer has not been accepted. 28.​TIME OF ESSENCE; ENTIRE CONTRACT; CHANGES a.​ Paragraph 28. Time of Essence, Entire Contract and Changes. Any changes has to be in writing. If the seller does not accept this purchase contract in all, then he has to provide a counter offer with the changes he desires. 29.​EXPIRATION OF OFFER a.​ Paragraph 29, Expiration of Offer. This paragraph, we'll have the name of the person who is authorize to receive the acceptance and when the offer is expiring. 30.​ACCEPTANCE OF OFFER a.​ Paragraph 30, Acceptance of Offer. The seller can sign if he/she accepts it as it is. If there are any changes, they will have to check the "Subject To Attached Counteroffers" and there has to be a date. You also have here a confirmation of acceptance. This doesn't have to be initiated, it can be accepted otherwise also. But you have a valid contract when the seller has signed. REAL ESTATE BROKERS: a.​ The space for real estate brokers allows for the signatures of the brokers b.​ Confirms the agency relationship and that the broker honors parties' off of the transaction. c.​ Agent who submitted the offer for Buyer acknowledges receipt of the offer d.​ The broker's compensation is according to MLS providing that both parties are members of the MLS. ESCROW HOLDER ACKNOWLEDGMENT:  The escrow information, and here there may also be the date, which is the confirmation of the acceptance of the agreement. And from this date, all the timelines are counted - the date, the time in which the deposit has to be in escrow, the contingency removed, and the close of escrow. PRESENTATION OF OFFER: At the end of this form, you have the presentation of offer, sometimes it is the selling agent, the agent of the buyer would want to know when the offer was presented. REJECTION OF OFFER: And if the offer was rejected, there is a room in the form to fill out. ​ Transaction Coordination Process THE TRANSACTION COORDINATION PROCESS ​ The process of managing all the forms that need to be completed during a real estate sale ​ This begins as soon as the listing agent receives an offer and ends until the closing of escrow. ​ There would be several parties involved all of which has their own responsibilities. TRANSACTION COORDINATION (TC) ​ Oversee all aspects of buyer & seller transactions from executed purchase agreement to closing. ​ Coordinate title/escrow, mortgage loan and appraisal processes. ​ Coordinate inspections, assist in negotiations regarding repairs, and coordinate completion of repairs. ​ Regularly update & maintain communication with clients, agents, title officer, lender etc. ​ Submit all necessary documentation to office broker for file compliance. ​ Coordinate moving/possession schedules. ​ Schedule, coordinate & attend closing process. ​ Input all client information into client database system. ​ Schedule 30 Day, 90 Day & 120 Day client customer service follow up calls to assist with any home improvement THE TRANSACTION COORDINATION PROCESS 1.​ Acceptance of Offer ​ This is when the buyer and the seller has agreed with the offer. ​ The buyer's agent makes an offer and submits it to the Listing Agent. ​ The listing agent then notifies the buyers 2.​ Obtain a Copy of the Executed/ Ratified Contract ​ A ratified contract is a contract that has been accepted and signed by the seller. ​ Make sure to have a copy of the ratified contract as this is required to be compiled together with the other documents needed for the sale. 3.​ Enter the transaction into the Broker's System ​ Enter the information into your clients offer management system or CRM. ​ Make sure to enter the closing dates. 4.​ Assign a Campaign ​ Campaign is a step-by-step process that is logged on your Client's system to guide you on the next steps of the process. ​ This can also be a TC Checklist that your Client will give you. ​ This will also outline the tasks and documents that you need to gather on a specific day before the closing date. 5.​ Complete all Pertaining Documents ​ All forms must be submitted by all parties and must be signed. ​ Signature details must be present on all documents. (Date & time signed) 6.​ Order a Home, Termite and Roof Inspections ​ Home & Roof Inspections are mandatory to all purchases.  ​ Termite Inspection is only for Single-Dwelling Houses. ​ Check the RPA to know who will shoulder the costs of the inspections and confirm if there would be any preferred vendors for these services. 7.​ Open Escrow, Earnest Money Deposit and Preliminary Title Report ​ To "open" these, all you have to do is to send an email to the Escrow Company who will handle the transaction and let them know that Escrow is about to begin. ​ Make sure to send all necessary documents to the Escrow Company. 8.​ Submission of the Contract ​ Submit a copy of the ratified contract to all parties involved especially to the Escrow Company. 9.​ Order Homeowner's Insurance ​ Get the name and contact information of the vendor. ​ Contact the vendor and provide them with the buyers name and contact info, MLS#, complete property address and the year it was built. 10.​Order HOA Documents ​ HOA stands for Homeowners Association. ​ Only needed for condominiums and townhouses. 11.​Inspection Contingency Removal ​ A homebuyer can cancel the sale or try to negotiate repairs based on the results of a home inspection. In some situations, home inspections are conducted before entering into a contract to purchase. ​ Home and Termite inspections are already done by this time. ​ Notify the BA all the results have already been sent so they can discuss it with the buyer. ​ This is where the buyer discusses the necessary repairs that needs to be done to the property. 12.​Home/ Roof Repairs and Termite Treatment ​ The contract allows buyer to inspect the property, and requires seller to repair items that are not in working condition (up to a repair limit). ​ The seller is responsible to pay for all the requested repairs. ​ As a VA, you would need to request for all the receipts of the repairs done 13.​Loan Processing ​ If you have any questions about the loan you need to clarify these issues with the Loan Officer before moving forward ​ The buyer must obtain a copy of the pre-approval letter ​ Lender then requests for a copy of the purchase sale agreement, escrow instructions and title report ​ Lender then orders an appraisal ​ After which, the lender sends the loan package and appraisal report to the underwriter ​ Underwriter give final approval and sends it to the title and escrow company ​ Title and escrow company calls the buyer and signs the document ​ Escrow Company sends it back to the lender; the lender reviews the documents and proceeds with the financing 14.​Review the Title Report ​ The title report contains all of the legal information you need to know about the property you are buying - not the house - the property.  ​ This report is typically emailed to the buyer within the first couple of days of the home-buyer transaction ​ Escrow and title insurance officer will work together to research the title ​ This is to ensure that the title is clear and free from any claims from previous owners 15.​Appraisal ​ Only ordered after the Inspection contingency removal ​ Agents do not have contact information of the appraiser ​ Appraiser checks the property and coordinates with listing agent 16.​Order a home Warranty ​ This is required to be given by the Seller to the Buyer after a successful purchase. ​ This covers any damages to the property that are not caused by natural disasters. 17.​Obtain a HUD 1 Settlement Statement ​ A standard government real estate form that itemizes all charges imposed upon a borrower and seller for a real estate transaction. 18.​Schedule a final walk thru and closing ​ Make sure all requested repairs are completed. ​ Make sure to have the final walk-through form filled out. 19.​Close of Escrow ​ Ensure that all documents are completed ​ Ensure transactions have been met and the title is transferred to the buyer. ​ The deed is updated with the new seller's name and is given to the lending institution financing the transaction. 20.​Ensure that the MLS is sold under the Agents name Facebook Terminologies Basic terms: ​ Algorithm - massive amounts of data from user demographics and behaviors in order to perform a particular function such as to determine who to show ads to. ​ Geotag - attaches the location or coordinates to a post. On Facebook, you can also set up a location for users to “Check-In” at. ​ Follow - a way to hear from people you’re interested in, even if you’re not friends. Follow button is always a way to fine-tune your News Feed to get the types of updates you want to see. ​ Like - this is the number of times your Facebook page was liked. People can like your page using the like button on your page or from page suggestions, ads, and stories about others who have liked your page. ​ Groups - FB groups make it easy to connect with specific sets of people, such as coworkers. They’re dedicated spaces where you can share updates, photos, and documents as well as message other group members. ​ News Feed - constantly updating list of stories in the middle of your home page. It includes status update, photos, videos, links, app activities, and likes from the people, pages, and groups you’re associated with. The news feed is essentially the homepage of facebook. Both organic posts and paid ads can show up in user’s news feeds. ​ Notifications - updates about activity on Facebook. For example. You can be notified when an update is made to a group you belong to or when someone accepts your friend request. ​ Timeline - where you can see your posts or posts you’ve been tagged in displayed by date. Part of profile. ​ Timeline review - a tool that lets you approve or reject posts that you’ve been tagged in before they go on your timeline. When people you’re not friends with tag you in a post, they automatically go to timeline review. ​ Facebook pixel - piece of code that enables you to leverage actions taken on your website to create better FB ads. ○​ Facebook ID Pages Terms ​ Page - FB pages helps businesses, organizations, and brand share their stories and connect with people. ​ Page Admin - creating a page automatically makes you the page admin, which means only you can change how the page looks and posts as the page. You can assign roles to other people to help you manage your page. ​ Page roles - any person assigned to these roles will log into their own personal accounts and work on the page from there. Only an admin can assign or change roles ○​ Admin ○​ Editor ○​ Moderator ○​ Advertiser ○​ Analyst ○​ Jobs manager  ​ About section - contains basic information that’ll help visitors quickly learn about your FB page. Different types of info will appear in your page’s about section depending on your page’s category. ​ Activity log - helps you manage your page’s timeline. It shows you a complete lists of posts and comments by your page, including posts you’ve hidden. Only people who help manage your page can see the activity log. ​ Boost post - boosted posts appear higher in the news feed so there’s a better chance that your audience will see them. You can boost any posts you create on your page, including status updates, photos, videos, and offers. Costs depend on how many people you want to reach. ​ Post attribution - your posts, likes, and comments on your page’s timeline will be attributed to the page itself - even if you’re logged into FB as yourself and not the page. Whether you’re creating a post or scrolling through news feed, you can choose to act as a page or as yourself from a convenient drop-down box. ​ Verified page - some pages and profiles are verified by FB to let people know that they’re authentic. These can include celebrities and public figures, global brands and businesses, and media. Blue badge. Content, Engagement, and Insight Terms ​ Campaign - a series of ad sets and ads that aim to accomplish a single objective, such as generating leads or increasing the number of app installs. Campaigns contain one or more ad sets. Ad sets contain one or more ads. ​ Objective - your campaign objective influences the bidding strategy, ad delivery, and creative options available to you. It includes brand awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, conversions, and more. ​ Page insights - provide information about your business page’s performance, such as audience metrics and times of day when your page sees the most engagement. ​ Impressions - number of times a post from your page is displayed, whether the post is clicked or not. People may see multiple impressions of the same post. For example, someone might see a page update in the news feed once, and then a second time if their friends shares it. Impressions are counted any time your ad is on screen, even if the user doesn’t actually see them. ​ Reach - similar to impressions in that it calculates the number of times an ad is viewed. But unlike impressions, reach is the total number of different users who saw your ad. It’s important to note that a view is counted whenever the ad is on-screen, even if the user did not see it. It is the number of people who received impressions of a page post. Reach might be less than impressions since one person can make multiple impressions. ​ Organic reach - number of unique individuals who saw a specific post from your page on their news feeds, tickers, or directly on their pages. ​ Paid reach - number of unique individuals who saw a specific post from your page through a paid source like a Fb ad or promoted post. ​ Post reach - number of people who have seen your post. Post counts as reaching someone when its shown in their news feed. Figures displated in insights are for the first 28 days after a post was created and include people viewing your post on desktop and mobile. Facebook Ads and Campaign Structure What are Facebook Ads? Facebook Ads are paid posts that businesses use to promote their products or services to Facebook users. What is an Ad Campaign? A Facebook Ad Campaign is a series of ad sets and ads that aim to accomplish a single objective. Simply, a campaign is a planned series of advertisements. Creating a campaign allows you to choose your objective. Once chosen, you can start making ad sets with your target audience, ad placement, and budget. 3 Levels of a Campaign Structure 1.​ Campaign 2.​ Ad Sets 3.​ Ad Campaign Level Campaign is the first level of a campaign structure. This is where you can select your campaign objective. Here you have a choice of objectives aligned to business goals for awareness, consideration and conversion, which guide the campaign setup options available to you. Ad Sets Level Ad Sets allow you to determine your targeting strategy. This is where you can set your target audience, ad placement, allotted budget, and choose your scheduling option. Ad Level This final level is where you'll customize the creative elements of your ad. At this level you'll determine your Ad Creative, including visual elements such as copy, photo or video, and set an action button. ​ A campaign is where you choose your objective. Once chosen, you can start making ad sets with your target audience, ad placement, and budget. ​ There can be multiple ad sets under a campaign if you want to target different audiences and use different placements under one single objective. ​ And an ad is where you decide on imagery and messaging. There can also be many ads under an ad set if you want to split test what creative elements work best for your ad set. For campaigns, you can: ​ Modify the campaign name ​ Set campaign spending limits and change budgets ​ Switch the campaign on or off ​ For ad sets, you can: ​ Edit the ad set's name  ​ Modify the start and end dates ​ Set minimum and maximum spend amounts ​ Edit your audience ​ Change ad placements ​ Edit the optimization and delivery For ads, you can: ​ Edit the ad name ​ Change the destination (i.e., the Facebook Page where your ad is coming from ​ Edit the creative elements of the ad image, text, link, call to action) ​ Specify URL parameters 3 Categories of Facebook Marketing Objectives 1.​ Awareness 2.​ Consideration 3.​ Conversion Awareness Brand awareness Increase overall awareness for your brand by showing ads to people who are more likely to pay attention to them. Reach Show ads to the maximum number of people in your audience while staying within your budget. You can also choose to reach only people who are near your business locations. Consideration App installs Drive more installs of your app by linking directly to the App Store and Google Play Store. You can also choose to target high-value users. Traffic Grow the number of people whore visiting your site, app or Messenger conversation, and increase the likelihood that they'll take a valuable action when they get there. Lead generation Make it easy for interested people to learn more about your business. Encourage them to sign up for more info or spend time with your app or website. Messages  Prompt people to open more Messenger interactions. Scale your ability to have personal conversations with them - so you can answer questions, collect leads and boost sales. Engagement Get more people to follow your Page or engage with your posts through comments, shares and likes. You can also choose to optimize for more event responses or offer claims Video Views Show your videos to people who are most likely to be interested in them and watch them to completion. Conversion Conversions Increase actions on your site or app. Whether you want purchases, leads, registrations or other types of conversions, this objective prompts people to do something. Store visits Bridge the gap between people's enline and offline shopping journeys by driving store visits, sales and other valuable actions at your physical store locations. Catalog sales Move more inventory by automatically promoting the most relevant products. Simply upload your catalog and set up your campaign - and it will show the right products to the right buyers. Ad Campaign ​ A series of ad sets and ads that aim to accomplish a single objective. Simply, a campaign is a planned series of ads. ​ It allows you to choose your objective. Once chosen, you can start making ad sets with your target audience, ad placement, and budget. Facebook Ad Types ​ Image ○​ Most basic ad format. They let businesses use single images to promote their products, services, or brand. ○​ Can be used across different ad types, placements, and aspect ratios. ○​ Good fit for campaigns with strong visual content that can be shown in just one image. Could be made from illustrations, design, or photography. ○​ Can be limiting - single image only to gey your message across. If you need to display multiple products or show how your product works, the single image ad format isn’t the best choice. ​ Video ○​ Single video to showcase their products, services, or brand. ○​ Especially helpful for product demos, tutorials, and showcasing moving elements. ○​ Can be up to 240 minutes long, but does’nt mean you should use that time, Shorter videos are usually more engaging. FB recommends sticking to videos under 15 seconds. ​ Carousel ○​ Showcase up to ten images or videos that users can click through. Each has its own headline, description, or link. ○​ Each image can even have its own landing page that’s specifically built for that product or service. ​ Instant Experience ○​ Also known as Canvas Ads, mobile-only interactive ads that lets users engage with your promoted content on FB. ○​ Can tap through a carousel display of images, shift the screen in different directions, as well as zoom in or out of content. ○​ It suggests five to seven images and videos in each IE ad for the best chances of engagement. ​ Collections ○​ Mobile window-shoppinh experiences where user can flick through your product lineup. More customizable than carousels, they’re also full screen. ○​ Kind of like immersive carousels - taking the user experience a step up ○​ Can purchase products directly from the collection ad. ○​ A great choice for large businesses that sell a variety of products and services. Smaller businesses with a more limited product line may be better suited to other ad types like carousels. ​ Leads ○​ Available for mobile devices ○​ Specifically designed to make it easy for people to give you their contact info without a lot of typing  ○​ Great for collecting newsletters subscriptions, signing someone up for a trial of your product, or allowing people to ask for more info from you. ​ Slideshow ○​ 3-10 images or a single video that plays in a slideshow. ○​ Great alternative to video ads because they use up to 5 times less data than videos ○​ A top choice for markets where people have slower internet connections. ○​ Great way to get started for people without video-making experience ​ Stories ○​ Mobile only full-screen vertical video format that allows you to maximize screen real estate without expecting viewers to turn their screens. ○​ Can be made up of images, videos and even carousels ○​ Provide more creative freedom than regular image or video ads. ○​ Businesses can play around with emojis, stickers, filters, video effects, and even augmented reality. ○​ Drawback of FB stories is that they’re not placed in FB feeds, so users may not see them as much as other FB ad formats. ​ Messenger ○​ Show up in Fb messenger tab. Appearing among the conversations on the app, users can tap the ad to start a conversation with your brand. ○​ Great way of getting people to interact with your brand. For smaller businesses promoting local products or services, messenger ads can help start the conversation. ○​ Since its where people spend time chatting with friends and family, it feels more personal than scrolling through image or video ads. How much does it cost to post a FB ad? ​ Auction style format ​ The cost of FB ads is determined by several variable factors ​ ​ It depends. ​ Cost - depends on what industry you’re in, who your competitors are, the time of year, the time of day, how your target your audience, your ad content ​ Auction-style format - specify a budget and fb automatically bids on each ad placement, attempting to get you the best results within that budget. ​ Facebook Ad Cost ​ Average cost-per-click varies between different fb ad campaign objectives ​ On average, an awareness campaigns costs $1.85 per click, while a campaign with a conversion objective costs $0.87 per click ​ Choosing the right objective for your campaign is key to reaching goals while lowering costs. Factors affecting an ad cost ​ Industry and competitors ○​ Some industries are more competitive than other for ad space, which affects the cost of advertising. Your ad costs typically go up the higher your product price is, or how valuable the lead you’re trying to capture is.  ○​ Financial services are a lot more competitive than t-shirt businesses ​ Time of Year and Time of Day ○​ Ad costs can fluctuate during different seasons, holidays, or other industry-specific events. Timing is everything. ○​ Black friday advertising ○​ Some brands spend up to $6 million on digital ads on black friday alone ○​ Time of day, bids tend to be lower from midnight to 6 am, since there is usually less competition at these time, but not always and would also depend on which timezone you a re in ​ Campaign Objective ○​ Setting the correct campaign objective is the most important thing you can do to control fb ad costs (and ensure success). Choosing the right objective for your campaign is probably the most important thing you’ll do all year. ​ Audience targeting ○​ Usually costs more to put your ads in front of a narrower audience as opposed to a broader one. ​ Ad format and ad placement ○​ Ad formats can have a huge positive or negative impact on your FB ad costs. Video, image, carousel, etc. - one ad format doesn’t necessarily costs more than the other, but it will cost you more than it needs to if it’s not the best fit for your campaign objective. ​ Location and duration ○​ Average costs per country range widely. For example, reaching 1,000 americans with fb ads cost about $40, but only $1 to reach 1,000 people in many other countries. ​ The number of days and hours a campaign lasts impact the final cost 1.​ Create an ad campaign 2.​ Choose your objective 3.​ Name your campaign 4.​ Set your budget and schedule 5.​ Target your audience 6.​ Choose your fb ad placements 7.​ Create your ad 8.​ Publish your ad Instagram Instagram a free photo and video sharing app available on iPhone and Android. People can upload photos or videos to our service and share them with their followers or with a select group of friends. They can also view, comment and like posts shared by their friends on Instagram. Anyone 13 and older can create an account by registering an email address and selecting a username. Metrics Instagram metrics are measurements of performance that let you in on how your Instagram content is doing and how your audience is responding to it. Instagram metrics tell you things like how many people viewed or interacted with your content. Ad campaigns Instagram ads are posts that promote a business's products or services. The posts can appear in multiple ways, such as an Instagram feed, stories, or both. They can include images or video along with copy and a link to the web page of the company's choice. Organic Messaging is the use of the free services and tools that each social media platform provides to its users. This includes posting status updates, links, and images with captions for your audience. Instagram Insights Use your Instagram insights to learn more about overall trends across your follower and your content's performance with your audience. You can also view insights for specific posts, Stories, videos, reels, and Live videos you've created to see how each one performed and how people engaged with them. Insights are free and available only for business or creator accounts. You can view these Insights from your profile in the Instagram App: ​ Recent highlights ​ Insights overview, which includes Accounts reached, Accounts engaged and Total followers ​ Content you shared In the insights from your profile you'll have access to a summary page, as well as tappable metrics that lead to different screens with more details. On each of these screens, you can tap the (i) in the top right corner to see definitions for each metric listed on the screen. You can also tap the drop-down at the top of the screen to select a preset or custom timeframe, within the past 90 days, for when to view insights. You can also tap View Insights under individual posts, videos, and reels, or swipe up on your stories and IG Live videos, to view insights specific to that piece of content, including: ​ Accounts reached ​ Accounts engaged ​ Content interactions ​ Ad ​ Plays Recent Highlights This section announces any notable increases in account performance in your selected preset or custom timeframe within the past 90 days. Overview This section showcases the number of accounts reached, accounts engaged, total followers and approximate earnings if applicable) for your selected preset or custom timeframe within the past 90 days. Aggregated demographic data is based on a number of factors, including information users provide in their Facebook and Instagram profiles. You can tap on each of these metrics for a more detailed breakdown. Accounts reached Number of unique accounts that have seen your content on screen at least once and demographic information on the accounts you've reached, including top countries, top cities, top age ranges and gender breakdown. To view audience demographics, use preset timeframes and reach over 100 accounts. If you can't see audience demographics for the Last 7 Days, you can try choosing a longer reset timeframe such as Last 30 Days, Previous Month or Last 90 Days. For reels, accounts reached is the number of unique accounts that have seen your reel on screen at least once, whether or not your reel was played. Reach is different from impressions, which may include multiple views of your reel by the same accounts. Note: These metrics are estimated and in-development. Accounts engaged Number of unique accounts that have interacted with your content and demographic information on the accounts you've engaged, including top countries, top cities, top age ranges and gender breakdown. To view audience demographics, use preset timeframes and engage over 100 accounts. If you can't see audience demographics for the Last 7 Days, you can try choosing a longer preset timeframe such as Last 30 Days, Previous Month or Last 90 Days. For posts, stories and Instagram Live, you can see the Accounts engaged metric broken down into followers and non-followers. Note: These metrics are estimated and in-development. Total followers View trends across your followers when you have at least 100 followers. These insights include: ​ Growth (number of followers you've gained or lost) ​ Top locations of your followers ​ Age range ​ Times they're most active on Instagram  Note that the total followers metric is in-development. This means that the total number of followers you see may change, even within a short time. Content you shared The content you've posted and boosted across feed, stories and video for your selected preset or custom timeframe within the past 90 days. If you want to see all the posts, Stories, videos, reels, and Live videos on your account, you can tap under each content type to go to the media library. Here, you can view and filter all your content by media type, reach, interactions and time frame. Content interactions Actions people take when they engage with your content, such as likes, comments, saves, shares and replies. Ad This section provides more information on your post if it's been boosted. Plays Number of plays, which are counted when a video starts to play automatically or because someone clicked to play the video. In some cases, such as when people see your reel on the web browser of their mobile device, your video may not play automatically. Estimated and in- development When you look at a metric's definition, you may see language that says, "This metric is estimated." An estimated metric is derived through statistical sampling or modeling, rather than a straight count. These metrics help you measure activities that are hard to count due to the number of people who use Meta technologies and the data processing required to calculate them. Estimated metrics can also be helpful when measuring actions or events where data is partial or missing. How Does Instagram Help Realtors? Before you start to use social media for networking, you must choose the right social media network. Instagram has a reputation for being young and fashionable, while Facebook is a noisy, crowded place and Linkedin is more buttoned down. However, of all social media channels where homebuyers or home sellers might be active in mass numbers, it is safe to say that Instagram is the most engaging social network today when we look at average engagement rates for content published Try publishing the same image on your Instagram account and Facebook page with similar follower counts and compare the numbers. In a majority of cases, Instagram content will get you the most eyeballs. Instagram helps you reach a demographic that's buying real estate Here's the thing. Instagram is a newer social network than Facebook, and it has a reputation for being popular with younger people. In particular, Millennials and Generation Z love their Instagram. And if you think that this demographic is too young to buy a home, you'd be wrong. In fact, the National Association of Homebuilders did a study on homeownership. They found that nearly 90% of Millennials would love to be homeowners, but that instead of building a custom home they often wait longer to find the perfect existing house. Instagram helps you think visually - and home selling is visual! Finally, Instagram will force you to think visually and create the social media content that will help you be successful repurposing it elsewhere on social media, in emails, or on your website. Think about it this way: when people look for houses on Zillow or other home showcase sites, they flip through the pictures which are available. It's one thing to rely on the old-fashioned single picture and price/description of a newspaper article, and another to see multiple full-color pictures. As you probably already know, the typical real estate client wants to picture themselves - and their furniture - in a house. One of the great things about Instagram is that you can use pictures to tell a story about them in their dream home. When potential buyers see this kind of creativity in a real estate agent, they're more likely to pick up the phone (or PM you). People work with PEOPLE they know, like, and trust When done right, your Instagram profile can be a magnet to showcase who you are and how you support your community through your work. With every Instagram post of you or together with your family, you are building a type of digital know, like and trust that can accumulate to the point that when you meet someone, they will already like you just from your social media presence. How to Start an Instagram Account for Real Estate? Ready to try out Instagram as part of your networking efforts? Your first step is to create the right account. This account should take your goals into account, and project your professional persona. Although Instagram accounts are free to use, there is one important thing to consider. What Should I Post on Instagram for Real Estate? First, don't make the mistake of only publishing professional content: Your content should be a mix of the professional and the personal to attract people and not repel them by posting content that looks like one advertisement after another. One of the biggest advantages of Instagram is the opportunity to connect with people. Second, your market and strategic focus will determine a lot of content you will post from a professional perspective. If you only market to a beachside community, your followers expects a lot of your content will be about the beach lifestyle. Also, if you focus on first-home buyers venus FSBOs, your content should reflect that. Third, consider that your personal branding will determine a lot of the content you will publish from a personal perspective. For example, my Instagram profile showcases a love of Japanese food and culture. This lets you get to know me, and at the same time builds a connection with my clients in Asia. Fourth, when creating your content strategy don't forget to think how you can incorporate video into each aspect of it. This works especially well with real estate. In fact, one study determined that adding video to a real estate listing resulted in 403% more inquiries than those which lacked video.  Finally, following other real estate agents who are already doing well on Instagram will give you some great content ideas to inspire your content creation. In particular, you'll learn what works well and what doesn't just by examining the engagement that each one of their posts gets. The 7 Instagram Content Buckets for Real Estate Agents 1.​ Listings / events / promotional activities 2.​ Collaboration content 3.​ Strategic content 4.​ Community content 5.​ Real estate company content 6.​ Personal passion content 7.​ Holiday content Don't Forget Your Hashtags One of the common ways people find new content creators on Instagram is by discovering their content. This can happen through a friend's feed, but it also results from organic search. On Instagram, search is often done with hashtags. For this reason, it's unsurprising that Instagram posts featuring a hashtag receive 12.6% extra engagement compared with untagged posts. We also know that Realtors achieve similar results through the effective use of hashtags. Consider these popular real estate hashtags: ​ Locale: #county #city #neighborhood so that users searching in your community can find you ​ Professional: #realtor #realestate #realestateagent #yourbrokerdgename so that those looking for agents or your brokerage can find you ​ Transactional: #forsale #justlisted #newlisting #homeforsale #openhouse to help those looking for new properties find yours FAST! ​ Property Style: #beachfront #bungalow #victorian #modern #dreamHome #starterhome to be found by those looking for specific types of homes ​ Luxury: #luxuryrealestate #luxuryliving #luxurylife #milliondollarlisting #luxuryhome #luxurylistings #luxurylifestyle if your property style is that of a luxury home ​ Hybrid: #cityrealestate #cityrealtor #cityforsale #cityopenhouse for those searching for something more specific Don't Forget to Location Tag! The other kind of tag on Instagram is the location tag. These simply identify where a picture was taken. Studies done on location tagging indicate that these tags boost engagement by as much as 79% for the typical post. Considering that real estate is location-specific, you can imagine even better results in this sector. Instagram is More Than Just Photos: Instagram Stories, Reels and IGTV When most of us think of Instagram, the classic photo post comes to mind first. After all, Instagram was originally designed as a photo sharing site. However, nowadays there are several kinds of content that you can post. Let's take a look at each one.  ​ Instagram Stories allow you to engage daily when you don't have content to put on your Instagram Feed and short videos and photos make it easy to be engaging. How can you do this? By using existing photos and repurposing them into this new content. Instagram Stories also allows you to do engaging content such as Questions, Polls, and Instagram Live. Often these items are fan favorites. ​ Instagram Reels is a content format that comes from TikTok but will get you the most eyeballs. People just love the short videos, and they can absorb information quickly. Consider putting your Stories on Reels and see what happens. ​ IGTV is for longer videos more than a minute. If you post videos to YouTube i have longer videos of your listings, they will be stored in IGTV when you post them to your feed. This is an efficient way to share and repurpose content across platforms. Consider using it for video home listings. How Often Should Realtors Post on Instagram? Especially since Instagram posts can take time to create and post, most people want to know how often they should do this. Most Realtors want to post often enough to keep people's attention, but not so much that they spend too much time on it or bombard their followers. There are 3 levels of involvement: Beginners post once a month to get used to it, Intermediate users once a week, and Experts daily. As you increase your familiarity with Instagram and your following, it's worthwhile to post more often. You'll also find it takes less time to produce each post. How Do I Get More Instagram Followers for Real Estate? No matter how well you plan ahead, one thing's for sure: you must start at zero with followers. However, with proper account management you won t be at zero for long. Here are some tips to help you get started. ​ First, remind everyone in your network that you are on Instagram in your email signature, newsletter, and other materials. This will encourage them to check out your profile. ​ Second, find and follow your family, friends, clients, and business partners on Instagram. Many will follow you back. Then, as they interact with your content many of their followers will also see it. You never know when someone needs a Realtor. ​ Post frequently and use hashtags generously so people interested and/or subscribed to those hashtags can follow you. Arguably this increased visibility is the most important reason to use tags. And by posting frequently you show that the topic is important to you. ​ Engage! Not only with people you follow in your feed, but also go out and virtually network with people that you don't know in your community. Then, engage with their content as part of your daily routine on Instagram. Once again, this gets you noticed and followed. Instagram For Real Estate FAQs Is Instagram good for real estate? Yes, Instagram is good for real estate, especially when used properly. Instagram is the best place if you want to get more engagement in your business. Consumers love to follow their favorite brais on Instagram. 80% of users are following at least one business account. Meanwhile, 200 million of them visit a  business profile every day. So if you want to get more traffic, visitors, and followers, it's time to utilize Instagram! What Should I Post on Instagram for Real Estate? The decision of what to post on your Instagram for real estate depends on your content strategy. However, the general content you can post is your past deals and clients where you can share their success stories, some FAQs, properties for sale, anything about your real estate company, or a post that ci direct to the blogs on your website. Which social media is best for real estate?Real estate companies nowadays have been leveraging social media. According to the National Association of Realtors report findings, 77% of realtors actively use social media for marketing their business. And 47% of them notice that they get the highest quality leads from social media compared to other sources. It's hard to specify which social media is the best, but NAR reported that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are realtor's top picks. Tiktok What is TikTok? ​ TikTok is the premier global destination for shortform mobile videos-where audiences make every second count. ​ It enables everyone to be a creator, and encourages users to share their passion and personal creative expression through their videos. ​ TikTok was created by Chinese tech giant ByteDance and was first released in September 2016 under the name "Douyin", which was marketed as a video-sharing social networking service similar to Facebook and Instagram. ​ The app was launched as TikTok in the international market in September 2017. On 23th of January 2018, the TikTok app ranked first among free application downloads on App Stores and Google Playstore in most countries. ​ In January 2019, TikTok platform combines short video and traditional e-commerce, producing an innovative business model. Creators were allowed to add the product from shops in merchandise windows could be embedded into their videos. ​ TikTok's mission is to capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge, and moments that matter- directly from the mobile phone. Global Audience ​ TikTok tends to appeal to younger users, as 41% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. These individuals are considered Generation Z or Gen Z and this audience is part of the generation that grew up in a world filled with internet. Since they grew up surrounded by the internet, social media has become a part of their daily life. ​ Among these TikTok users, 90% say they use the app daily. TikTok's geographical use has shown that 43% of new users are from India. As of the first quarter of 2022, there were over 100 million monthly active users in the United States and 23 million in the UK. The average user, daily, was spending 1 hour and 25 minutes on the app and opening TikTok 17 times. ​ In September 2021, TikTok reported that it had reached 1 billion users.In 2021, TikTok earned $4 billion in advertising revenue. ​ In October 2022, TikTok was reported to be planning an expansion into the ecommerce market in the US, following the launch of TikTok Shop in the United Kingdom. The company posted job listings for staff for a series of order fulfillment centers in the US and is reportedly planning to start the new live shopping business before the end of the year. Engagement ​ A variety of trends have risen within TikTok, including memes, lip-synced songs, and comedy videos. Duets, a feature that allows users to add their own video to an existing video with the original content's audio, have sparked many of these trends. ​ Another TikTok usage that corresponds with engagement and bonds people in society is the use of "challenges." These could be on any related topic such as dances or cooking certain meals. People see other people doing something that is trending and then it continues to spread until it is a viral trend that connects people from all over.  ​ Trends are shown on TikTok's explore page or the page with the search logo. The page enlists the trending hashtags and challenges among the app. ​ While TikTok has primarily been used for entertainment purposes. TikTok has taken over paother use. that of a job resource with the idea that prospective employment seekers would send in videos rather than traditional resumes. The form would most likely be a job search add-on. TikTok has had favorable results in the past with people using the site to find jobs and may be expanding that need, especially in the newer generations. TikTok Business Perspectives Advertise on TikTok TikTok offers businesses various ways to advertise even though they do not focus on selling ads. These ads blend in with TikTok's platform. Here are the different types of ads on TikTok. 5 Core Ad Products 1.​ Hashtag Challenge 2.​ Brand Takeover 3.​ In-Feed Video 4.​ Branded Lenses 5.​ Top View Hashtag Challenge What is it? An ad type that encourages UGC (User-generated Content) by asking users to record themselves completing a specific action or following a set of directions to participate in the "challenge". Why this ad format? High potential for the baked-in virality features to increase brand awareness and engagement. 35% of users participate in challenges. 16% of all videos on the platform are tied to challenges Hashtag challenges capitalize on our audience's natural tendency to create and share content. TikTok thrives on challenges, and they tend to go viral as users try to be extra creative. To capitalize on this, organizations can create a branded hashtag challenge that is a three- to six-day campaign to encourage user-generated content. Businesses should set goals to determine the challenge, such as selling a new product, promoting an event or increasing brand awareness. These goals help determine the challenge, and it can be subtle or straightforward Brand Takeover What is it? A Brand Takeover ad appears upon opening TikTok and it is the first interaction users will encounter. Why this ad format? Can drive users to click through to an external or internal destination  Category exclusivity - only one advertiser per day Guaranteed 5,000,000 impressions per day Affordable eCPM Low cost reach / unique reach When a user opens the TikTok app, brand takeover ads appear. The format includes three-second photos or videos. They are typically more expensive than in-feed ads, and advertisers can only run one takeover ad per day based on interest. It can be a 3-5-second long GIF, JPG or Video. In-Feed Video Ads What is it? 5-15 seconds long, full-screen, auto-play, audio-on immersive video experiences. Why this ad format? Can drive users to click through to an external or internal destination Opportunities for amplification and earned impressions via sharing functions. Available in auction ad format Users see these ads while scrolling on their feed. In-feed ads are short and last up to 60 seconds but can link to a website or app store. These ads also enable users to like, comment and share as they are more native content. TikTok makes these ads appear as native as possible (profile pic, user name, all functions that organic contents have - like, share, comments). Branded Lenses What is it? Produced in-house, we can create 2D & 3D lenses, to radically transform our audience's environment. Why this ad format? 4% of our users have used face filters or lenses. Encourages deeper engagement, with longer time spent, sampling and product discovery. Pair with a Challenge, to encourage continued use and exposure. TopView Ads (new) What is it? TopView ads are full-screen videos that appear first in the user's feed. The typical length lasts up to 60 seconds. Why this ad format? High impact video ad - first thing that users see Category exclusivity - only one advertiser per day First-to-market opportunity - will come out on TikTok US in May There are no distractions in this view. 72% of people surveyed preferred this ad version, according to a TikTok survey, Participants of this survey also said that they liked its natural platform placement. Learn the Algorithm  Factors that influence the algorithm include the following: ​ Location ​ trending hashtags and sounds ​ user interactions Factors that do not influence the algorithm include the following: ​ performance record ​ age of videos ​ number of followers On the For You page, TikTok creates streams of videos determined by an algorithm based on users interests The For You page is the homepage - or feed