I was in the Capital Village neighborhood of Rancho Cordova today and I snapped the following picture. I like the way the white sky in this photo blends with the background of the website. It’s been foggy and cloudy this week in Sacramento.
Get a Text Message Reminder About Property Taxes
www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com has a helpful free service for home owners in the Greater Sacramento Region. You can sign up to receive text message reminders for important property tax dates and deadlines. This free service will remind you when new assessments become available, the first day you can appeal property taxes, and the last day you can contest your assessed value.
The short video below shows you how to sign up for free. It’s so easy!!! We’ll only text you a few reminders. We will not call you. And we will never share your phone number with anyone.
This service is available to anybody located in the continental United States who owns property in the Greater Sacramento Region, Central Valley & Bay Area. Standard text messaging rates may apply from your carrier. Sign up now for free at www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com.
Business Tip: Remembering Facetime and Facebook
I buy into the idea of establishing a solid online presence as well as using techie tools to connect with people. That’s why I have multiple websites, a blog, Twitter account, YouTube page, and I’m on Facebook too (among other things). What I don’t buy into though is that having all these things alone makes a business successful or even more marketable. After all, you can look the part and play the game, but still reap no greenbacks, right?
Internet and social networking avenues are important (crucial) for many businesses, but nothing replaces face time with existing and prospective clients. I’m no expert, but getting in front of people and building authentic relationships is irreplaceable. Sure, I understand that relationships are built online. I know. I do it everyday and I enjoy it too. All I’m saying is that when all is said and done, there is still something special about contact in person with clients.
Business is about relationship, so if you are looking to drum up more work in 2010, then find ways to get in front of people both online and in person.
Higher Fees & Lower Pay: An Impact of HVCC
I heard of AppraiserSupport today, and this website is worth a look to see one of the core complaints about the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). Certain AMCs (Appraisal Management Companies) are charging Borrowers big money for appraisals, but then turning around and giving appraisers less than 50% of the amount charged, while pocketing the rest of the fee. Ouch!!
The AppraiserSupport website lists a handful of these AMCs – what they charge and what they pay appraisers. Don’t get me wrong though. Despite the “AMC” topic being a sore subject around many appraisers, there are definitely some upstanding AMCs out there who respect appraisers and pay them reasonable fees too (I do business with a handful of the “good guys”). It’s just unfortunate to see what some AMCs are doing because it hurts the consumer, the appraiser trying to stay afloat in this economy, and definitely the overall quality of real estate appraisals (HVCC only applies to certain types of loan appraisals).
Have a look at www.AppraiserSupport.com and let me know what you think. And just so you know, I did not build this website.
For more on HVCC, have a look at my “Talking to Appraisers in an HVCC World: Tips for Real Estate Agents” and “Can Realtors Still Talk to Appraisers After May 2009? (HVCC went into effect on 05/01/09)“.