Sales Process – Best Practices

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By Dan Harkey

Do you ever think that for some reason you are not getting the results you want in your sales career? Do you have feelings that you try, but it is just not working? Maybe you need a minor tune-up, or perhaps a major overhaul.

Let us review the sales process:

Some people think that sales are concluded by what is verbalized in some learned word sequence, and how those words are used to convince a prospect to purchase products, goods, or services. Some may even think the correct method is for the salesperson to use slick language, ask questions that require a certain type of answer, handle objections, and a sequential closing interaction with the potential buyer. Granted, knowing your product, a good prospecting system, and training about the sales sequence is important. No doubt!

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I subscribe to a bit of a different philosophy. “You locate a buyer, rather than create a buyer.” If you have a large enough group of prospects and keep yourself in front of their conscientious thoughts, they will most likely think of you if they need your services. Also, you should constantly work on developing and nurturing a like-and-trust relationship.

The first requirement is to develop a thorough understanding of your products, goods, or services with which you are involved. Thorough explanation of the technical aspects and benefits is a must. Handling questions about the function, usability, quality, durability, and pricing is important. What are the benefits of owning the product or purchasing the service, or investment?

Success in the sales profession is a learned proposition. What I mean by that is I do not believe that there are natural born, predestined successful salespeople. Some may start earlier than others, even in childhood, by gaining the personal confidence and developing characteristics that are required to be a successful salesperson.

80/20 Rule:

eighty-706881_1280The 80/20 concept applies to almost all sales endeavors. 20% of the salespeople account for 80% of the total sales volume in industries. Correspondingly, 20% of the salespeople make 80% of the available income. The remaining 80% of the salespeople receive a meager portion of the remaining 20% of available income. The 80/20 rule also applies to the quality of your “active” prospects. You will create 80% of your new business transactions out of 20% of your “active” leads. The salesperson’s job is to focus on the 20% and to convert member(s) of the remaining 80% into the upper 20% referred to as “active.”

Marketing Strategies:

There are various marketing strategies used in solicitation including face-to-face networking in groups, interactive relationships in industry-related groups, direct mail, email, and direct calling. Direct calling may either be cold calling, repeat calling to maintain contact, or to follow active leads. All are within the scope of solicitation and are for starting and nurturing an ongoing relationships. What do you have to offer that might have significant benefits to the prospective purchaser? All methods consist of a strategy to convert prospects into an active relationship with you, including establishing business relationships and friendships. “Active” consists of a group that has communicated with you and expressed an interest in your product, goods, or services. Of course, “actives” can become friends and friends do business with friends! Business success, as well as life in general, functions much better with many friendships. This includes happiness, mental health, self-actualization, and monetary gain.

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Developing a large network of leads and personal relationships takes a lot of focused time and effort. Merely locating and purchasing a list does little. A list should be created and maintained constantly for a large subset group that may be interested in what you have to offer. The list will need to be appended, which means it is sent out to an email marketing vendor who can verify whether the address and email address are still correct. The list will need to be imported into a customer relations software system to begin efficient daily management of the data. The list needs to be worked daily to convert people from “cold” or “warm”, into “active.” What I mean by daily is not to call the same people but to work your list by calling each person periodically such as every 60 or 90 days. Excessively frequent calls could be considered pestering.

Information contained in the list will need to be constantly updated and expanded because people move jobs, companies go out of business, show disinterest or disrespect, habitually fail to return phone calls or email requests, retire, change names, change email addresses, change business locations, a change in life circumstances, etc. The “active” prospects in your network are the only ones that you may reliably count on in determining the size of your network or lead base. Also, even with a sizeable “active” lead base, you will lose 20% to 30% of them per year for all the reasons stated.

After much time of consistent follow up without real response or success, such as 24 months, you may elect to drop the prospects from your “active” list and cease active follow up. Dropped leads will be replaced with “warm” leads that become “active”, and new relationships. The other option is to only call or email them occasionally, such as twice a year. The fundamental aspect of the process is that it is a sequential daily action system.

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Here is a suggested action that you should take for someone who routinely or habitually does not respond to your request to communicate; send an email that states “Fred, I have tried to contact you a few times, without success. Would you prefer that I do not bother you?” If Fred wants to continue the relationship, he will respond. Fred may respond politely and say “no,” or just not respond at all. If Fred does not respond, then you may demote him back to “cold” and keep him in your database email marketing system for future interest and referrals. “Cold” leads do not get active personal follow up. If Fred is disrespectful or belligerent, just delete his record entirely. A poor strategy is to follow up with the same group of prospects, even when they show non-responsiveness or disinterest.

As the process becomes well lubricated through practice and experience, you can expect increasing momentum until you have so much business that you are forced to slow down marketing and personal contact follow-up in order to assimilate the additional new business, and/or new transactions.

Action Habits:

What size is your “universe of active possibilities.” Are there 10’s, 100’s, 1,000’s, or 10,000’s of prospects that you may be able to directly or indirectly follow up or market to? You have a current network size or number of “actives” and “prospects.”. Each person that you have in your follow-up system has a separate size of their own network. If you add the size of your network to the size of all the networks of each party that you market, you can establish a total, or “universe” of contacts. The question becomes, do you and each person that you follow up have a large enough network and a consistent daily action habit to develop a successful and sustainable career?

smartphone-1445489_1280Here are three different examples of persons that you may solicit in your “active” lead base. The distinction is whether both you and the person that you are following up with have their own separate and consistent daily action habit?

1) You have 10 “active” leads in your universe. Another person that you follow up with consistently has a total of 10 “active” leads in their network. If you communicated with your 10 each month or each quarter, and they in turn communicated with their 10 leads then the total universe of “active” possibilities would be 100.

2) You have medium-size networks such as 200 to 400 but fail to engage in a consistent daily action habit. Failure to engage may become your barrier. It will be necessary for you to change your action pattern. Calling, emailing and/or communicating consistently with at least 20 active prospects daily is a good start. 20 is not a magic number, but if you call and they enjoy talking to you, that may be all you can handle. Otherwise, you may be calling 20 to 30 “actives” per day including completed and non-answered calls and follow up with a polite “thank you” email.

3) You have 400 or more “active” leads in your network that you follow up each month or each quarter with a good action habit. The person you follow up also has 400 or more potential leads that they follow up consistently with a good action habit. 400 X 400= a total of 160,000 universes of possibilities.

The purpose of these examples is to serve as a reminder that if you want to be successful, then associate and follow up with other correspondingly successful people who also have large networks. Imagine having 1,000 different people who are receptive to taking a call from you, showing respect and enjoying the conversation, who also have a large network of their own. This, of course, is an example.

There will be a natural point that you will not be able to keep up with the pace, because you will have way too much business. You may need to hire an assistant to leverage your time and effectiveness. This assistant may be an employee or an independent contractor. The minute that you have spare time from handling all your new business, you will restart the process all over. The real magic will begin to occur when business acquaintances become friends. I have said this repeatedly, “friends do business with friends.”

Calling and emailing are not the only mediums of communication, but they are highly effective.

digitization-4813408_1280Remember that a prospect list can disintegrate over-night. In 2006 my company was primarily using direct mail, and we sent out about 1,000,000 letter form solicitations each month. Then by September 2007, the market crashed, and the lead base quality crashed with it. Hundreds of thousands of real estate agents, loan agents, investors, and builders/developers left the industry.

Over time when the dust and smoke cleared it was necessary to reconstruct a new list and start all over. Prepare for this event! If a crash in the quality of your lead base occurs consolidate down to your “actives” after verifying that they are still there. The entire process is a system that I refer to as a best practices action system.

Remember the concept “you locate a buyer; you do not create a buyer.”

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Dan Harkey
Business and Private Money Finance Consultant
Cell 949 533 8315
[email protected]

Premiums: How Much and For How Long

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By Gabby Darroch

Let’s talk about premiums, because, let’s face it, no one likes to pay them. But what if you began to look at them like deposits instead of payments? With The Money Multiplier Method, that’s really what they are.

How much does my premium (or deposit) have to be?

question-3838906_1280You are incomplete control of what you want your deposit to be. Now, in order for your policy to do what we want it to, which is to make you the bank and generate wealth over time, we do have suggestions on what it should be. That looks something like this:

(Your Age) x 10 = (Minimum Monthly Deposit Amount)

For example, Sally is 35 years old. So her minimum monthly deposit would be $350 (35 x 10). Again, we have it structured this way so you benefit the most from your policy.

Of course, you aren’t limited to monthly deposits. How often you want to pay is up to you as well. In fact, you can change your deposit frequency at any time. Most people opt for the monthly deposits, which is why we use that in this example. And who has ever really made “too many” deposits?

How long do I have to make deposits for?

In a typical policy, we will settle on what your premium deposit should be for the first five years. This premium deposit will include a paid up additions rider that accelerates the growth of the policy. In year six, you will then pay roughly forty percent less in premiums as the rider will have dropped off and no longer be necessary. For example, if you are paying a premium of $10,000 for five years, this includes a $6,000 paid up additions rider so in year six, you’ll only make a deposit of $4,000 for the remaining life of your policy.

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Of course, that paid up additions rider can still be of value. That $6,000 (or whatever your paid up additions amount is) can then be used, along with any other funds you have, to start another policy. Consider it similar to a “branch office” because you are the bank now. And don’t banks have multiple locations? Why shouldn’t you?

As we always say, there are specific situations with all of our clients and our Money Multiplier Mentors are trained to help you make the best decisions in growing your family’s wealth. When you meet with one of them, ask them about your options and what will work best for your lifestyle.

Can I make a lower or higher deposit if I want to?

Absolutely. What you pay towards your premium is entirely up to you. We have never and will never tell you how much money to put towards your premium. We do like to note that the higher the premium, the better the return in your cash account.

money-3219298_1280And if you have the means to deposit an additional lump sum of money (called “overfunding”) with your premium deposit this would accelerate the growth of your policy even more.

Keep in mind, if you take out a policy, you can always reduce your premium on that policy. You cannot increase your premium amount on the particular policy, but you can take out a new policy in addition to your initial policy. In fact, many of our members end up taking out multiple policies once they see the benefits of their initial policy.

Deciding on your premium deposit amount and frequency doesn’t have to be scary. On the contrary, we are with you every step of the way to make sure your policy fits your lifestyle in every way. As your life changes, so does your policy, as it should.

Your policy, your premiums, your way. This is what it feels like to be in control of your money.

To learn more about this method and what it can do for you, please visit www.TheMoneyMultiplier.com , scroll to the very bottom and click on “Member Area.” Enter the password “bankwithbrent” and watch the presentation that appears on the next page.

When you’re ready to get started on creating your financial legacy or if you have more questions, please email us at [email protected], or give us a call at 386-456-9335, and one of our mentors will be in touch with you.

The (Bad) Spend Trend

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By Gabby Darroch

Einstein once said, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” And when someone with a brain that powerful and with knowledge that brilliant tells me to pay attention, guess what I’m going to do–pay attention!

What he’s really saying is this: There is more to spending and earning money than meets the eye. We are taught (wrong) to think about money one way: Money is necessary to live. You must work to earn it, only to spend it on things you need. But once that money is spent, it’s gone forever, right?

It doesn’t have to be. Not with The Money Multiplier Method at work.

earn-3172501_1280Robert Kiyosaki, mentor to the millionaires and author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, has explained one crucial difference between the rich and the poor. He says, “The poor and the middle class work for money. The rich have money work for them.” Kiyosaki points out that the poor spend their hard earned money on expenses and liabilities, things that take money out of their pockets. The rich and the wealthy, rather, spend money on assets and things that bring them more money.

That’s what The Money Multiplier is. It’s a machine, or a process, that keeps your money in your pocket. The first rule of the wealthy that most people aren’t taught is that to be wealthy, you must buy assets first.

Here is what you’re doing: You have $1 in your pocket. Traditional financial knowledge tells you to spend that $1 on something you need and work for another dollar to spend on something else you need.

Here is what you should be doing instead: You have $1 in your pocket. You use that $1 on a contract that guarantees you 4% growth each year. And that 4% growth ensures that you can watch your money grow while still using it on what you need and leaving it to your family all at the same time. This is how true wealth is acquired. And this is exactly how The Money Multiplier operates.

money-2696234_1280It gives you a real place to put your money, guaranteeing at least 4% growth, while still having access to that money and creating generational wealth.

The Money Multiplier is an asset.When used as recommended, it can bring you lasting wealth without changing your cash flow, requiring you to work any harder, taking on any additional risk, or losing control of your finances.

It’s what the wealthy use and have been using for over 200 years. Maybe it’s time you saw what it can do for you, too.

To learn more about this method and what it can do for you, please visit www.TheMoneyMultiplier.com , scroll to the very bottom and click on “Member Area.” Enter the password “bankwithbrent” and watch the presentation that appears on the next page.

When you’re ready to get started on creating your financial legacy or if you have more questions, please email us at [email protected], or give us a call at 386-456-9335, and one of our mentors will be in touch with you.

Mortgage Defaults

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By Stephanie Mojica

With an unprecedented national and global economic crisis, real estate industry experts have varying opinions on how the situation will affect mortgage defaults.

group-2822423_1280“The pandemic-induced closure of non-essential businesses caused the April unemployment rate to spike to its highest level in 80 years and will lead to a rise in delinquency and foreclosure,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic in Orange County, Calif., said in a press release.

“By the second half of 2021, we estimate a fourfold increase in the serious delinquency rate, barring additional policy efforts to assist borrowers in financial distress.”

Paul Cooper is manager of the Kansas-based Totes of Notes. The company buys and sells distressed real estate debt throughout the United States. In a recent email interview with Realty411, Cooper said mortgage defaults have significantly increased.

“In fact, April 2020 had the highest rate of mortgage defaults for any given month on record,” Cooper said. “It took the last recession a long time to hit its peak, which was lower than this April.”

chart-5061484_1280Cooper added that many of his real estate notes have not been paying regularly for the last few months.

“It’s going to get much, much worse before it gets better,” Cooper said.

However, Jay Tenenbaum, founder and president of the Arizona-based Capital Development of Scottsdale Rei, LLC said in a recent email interview that mortgage defaults are not on the rise. His company is a private equity real estate investment firm that specializes in acquiring assets nationwide.

“Based upon information and articles I have read, mortgage defaults are not on the rise — at least not yet,” Tenenbaum said. “The multitude of mortgage forbearance relief, has, at least for now, prevented the dramatic increase in defaults that we saw in 2008.”

While Tenenbaum emphasized that he does not wish to downplay the economic and social impacts COVID-19 has had on the country, he said there are people taking advantage of government programs to the detriment of real estate investors.

“The local, state and federal programs are/were necessary,” Tenenbaum added. “Having said that, these programs, etc. allowed many others to take advantage. We have all heard stories of furloughed employees who’d rather collect unemployment than go back to work.

“With regard to the issue of mortgage defaults, the federal/state forbearance programs were intended to minimize the risk of foreclosure, i.e. avoid a repeat of 2008, etc.

“Yet, a recent article stated that only 5% of those receiving mortgage forbearance relief did not have sufficient income to make their mortgage payments. Conversely, 95% of homeowners who were approved for forbearance relief can make their mortgage payments.”

percent-226314_1280Fuquan Bilal, CEO and founder of NNG Capital Fund of New Jersey, echoed similar sentiments.

“A lot of people, even if they didn’t suffer from COVID, still took advantage of not paying the mortgage or going into some type of deferral program,” Bilal said. “And then there were people who were genuinely affected by it. So, you have a mixture of that.

“Plus, people who are not working — even though they’re collecting unemployment, some people are still going to try to opt to see what programs the banks have and/or push the banks to see what they can get out of them.

“We saw the same thing happen with loan mods. When the market crashed, a lot of people strategically defaulted. So, you have a lot of strategic defaults that are happening.”

What does all this economic chaos, whether intentional or unintentional on the part of borrowers, mean for real estate investors?

“If you’re looking to buy distressed real estate notes, then all this is music to your ears,” Cooper said. “Because this means there will be plenty of inventory for non-performing note investors.

“You could also look at offering loans to people that are out of work. This would be riskier, but you could charge higher interest rates.”

According to Cooper, opportunities will also increase in the coming months and years for tax lien/deed/certificate investors as well as those interested in short sales and foreclosure deals.

banner-1165975_1280However, Cooper emphasized caution — especially during a global economic crisis.

“If you’re looking to invest, then I’d sit on cash until really good deals come around.

“If you don’t know what you’re doing, then I’d spend a lot of time trying to find somebody you can trust that you can invest with and learn from. More fortunes are made during bear markets than bull markets. You need to know how to protect yourself and take advantage of the situation.

“Be careful shelling out big dollars for an investing or real estate education. There are all kinds of con men coming out of the woodwork who have only done a handful of deals and only know how to sell you a course.

“Most successful investors are happy to teach you the game if you get in a deal or partner with them. It’s a good way to earn and learn. This way if you don’t understand the investment or like it, then you have a professional to handle it for you.”

Tenenbaum noted that when mortgages default, it creates a buyer’s market because of the increased supply of available inventory.

“Investors are nimbler and more equipped to obtain access to distressed homeowners and seek to acquire such properties. Also, in a distressed market, acquisition price is at a greater discount, thereby allowing investors to achieve greater profits.

“Last, banks and hedge funds are motivated to sell their assets as maintaining non-performing assets on their books puts their balance sheet and lending capabilities at increased risk.”

bad-19907_1280According to Bilal, unemployment is the number one indicator of an abundance of opportunity for note investors. However, he believes opportunities are scarcer now than they will be in the coming months.

“I believe that the banks really don’t want to take a position of foreclosing on people,” Bilal explained. “So, they are going to try to work it out; they are going to try to come up with modification programs.

“We’re seeing some of the defaults now, but I believe we’ll start to see some of the foreclosure activity maybe nine months to a year from now. They (the lenders) will probably run them (the borrowers) through a process to try to work it out, and if they’re not able to work it out they’ll start the foreclosure process.”

Cooper echoed similar sentiments about long-term plans paying off better for investors.

“The next 6 to 12 months could be rough as far as seeing good returns,” Cooper said. “However, there are good deals that are currently available that will pay off within a year or so. So, make sure to get a good price when you buy and patiently work through the investment.

“If you need money within the next 90 days, then you need a job not an investment.”

Differences Between a Policy Loan and Withdrawal

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By Gabby Darroch

I know many people have had the concern when it comes to taking a loan from their policy. Typically, loans have a bad connotation. But that is because taking a loan from your neighborhood bank ends up losing you money. Taking a loan from your policy, however, ends up doing the exact opposite. So around here, we encourage you to take loans because we love making you money!

atm-1524870_1280You may be wondering how that is even possible, or why, since it’s your money, you can’t just withdraw the money you need from your policy. The answer will require you to train your brain to think differently about money than you ever have before. But that’s okay. This is where the shift happens and this is where your journey to financial freedom can begin.

How Traditional Financial Institutions Work

You work, get paid, and deposit some of your income into your bank account. And for convenience sake and for some perks like online access, you’ve got yourself a system that you’re happy with.

Now, when you’ve got something you need to purchase or finance, you take some of that money out in the form of a withdrawal.

Look at this example to see why that system doesn’t make sense when you have your policy as an alternative:

Let’s say you have $1000 in your bank account and you withdraw $500 to pay some bills. Now you’ve lost all the perks and benefits (such as interest earning potential) of having that $500 still in the bank. You’ve interrupted the compounding interest. And essentially lost money by utilizing the typical withdrawal method.

The Better Alternative: Your Policy Contract

When you pay your premium deposits, your money is safe in your policy’s cash account. Then, when you decide you want to take money out of your policy to pay for something, the insurance company sees that you have the collateral of your policy to back up your need. Because of this, they loan you some of their money.

umbrella-2891883_1280That’s right. You’re not withdrawing any of your money, so you’re not interrupting the compounding interest. Your money in your policy is still earning interest, even while you take out a loan. And the minimum guaranteed growth rate is 4%. So not only is your money earning more in interest than it would in a traditional banking system, you also never lose the money within your policy, even if you take a loan.

You haven’t stopped your dollars from growing!

Rest Assured

Like I said before, this concept will take some getting used to. It’s not often that something that is “too good to be true” is actually TRUE. But this, my friend, is one of those times.

Your money in your policy is still your money. You can use it whenever you like, just as you would use money that’s been deposited into your bank account. But with The Money Multiplier Method, you can borrow that money, while never taking away it’s ability to earn 4% interest within your policy.

interests-4786422_1280And the market trends? They no longer matter. Your policy keeps growing steady at a 4% minimum. So go ahead, take a loan from your policy. And watch the money keep flowing.

To learn more or get started, please visit www.TheMoneyMultiplier.com . Scroll to the very bottom and click on “Member Area.” Enter the password “bankwithbrent” and watch the presentation that appears on the next page.

When you’re ready to get started on creating your financial legacy or if you have more questions, please email us at [email protected], or give us a call at 386-456-9335, and one of our mentors will be in touch with you.

Family Wealth: 5 Vital Steps For Ensuring Your Succession Plans

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By Fuquan Bilal

One of the most pressing concerns, and what keeps us up at night more than anything else is taking care of our loved ones. We can work hard, save money, and spoil our kids while we are around, but that may not be able to really see our biggest wishes for them for the long term realized. Whether it is a cause you are passionate about, or your concern is putting your kids at the helm of your estate and you’d like them to flourish, what essential moves should be made to see it come about?

1. Get A Clearer Vision

vision-2372177_1280In order to make it happen, we really need a clear vision of what we want. Not just “I want to make millions, donate to charity, and give my future generations an empire.” Define that. What type of cause are you going to support, and what should my they be accomplishing? How much money do you need for your lifetime? How much do you want to leave to the next generation?

2. Set Up Retirement Income

There is a good chance that we’ll either live decades longer than we expected, or we’ll be forced to retire many years earlier than expected. Having a solid plan for retirement income in those years will be vital for not becoming a financial burden on those we love, and not ravaging any nest egg before it’s time to pass it on. Establish passive income streams now, so that isn’t an issue.

3. Put The Right Structures In Place

Wills, trusts, and inherited IRAs and income properties can all be a critical part of a family estate which avoids being eaten up by taxes, poor transitions, and courts.

4. Train Your Beneficiaries

The most important thing you can do is to train your beneficiaries to manage money well. If you leave them a little, they will still be able to multiply that. If you leave them a lot, they can do even better. Educate them about money and proven principles. Empower them with better ways to think about money. Give them entrepreneurial skills.

5. Connect Them With Help

mentor-2443788_1280All too often essential conversations about inheritances never happen. Then heirs get lumbered with cash, a mortgaged home, or investment tools they don’t understand. Then they have to find and turn to strangers for advice. Isn’t it better to introduce them to your contacts who you trust to manage your wealth now? Then they already have a proven partner for success.

Investment Opportunities

Find out more about investing in secured debt and real estate, go to NNG Capital Fund

Fuquan

Fuquan Bilal

Fuquan Bilal founded NNG in 2012 with the principal mission of capitalizing on the growing supply of mortgage notes in the interbank marketplace. Mr .Bilal utilizes his 17 years of residential and commercial real estate success to identify real estate opportunities and capitalize on them. To date, he has successfully managed three private mortgage note funds that primarily invest in singlefamily performing and non­performing mortgage notes. His financial acumen and proprietary set of investment criteria enable him to purchase underperforming real estate assets at a deep discount of face and market values, thereby increasing the value of the assets. This, coupled with his ability to maximize the use of leverage, enables him to build strong, secured portfolios with solid passive income flows.

The Influence of Age and Longevity on Residential Assisted Living

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By Gene Guarino

As we age, health and longevity become a prevalent topic. People want to know how to increase their longevity. They want to live longer and live better. How well you age, and your longevity is a projection of your health. There are some genetic factors to consider when talking about your health, but in many cases, it’s based on the choices you make. It’s a reflection of what you do to your body and what you put in.

One of the most important things you can do for your health is to pay attention to the food you eat.

Food is brought into the body then it’s converted to energy. Think of food as fuel for your body. Is it good or is it bad? Is it high octane or is it low octane? It’s important to get the right amount of fuel. If you’re taking in too much, you won’t burn it off and your body stores it instead. If you don’t take in enough, your body won’t have the energy it needs to function properly. A diet of a variety of fresh foods like vegetables, fruits, lean meats and whole grains are delicious and provide our bodies with the vitamins and nutrients it needs. Diets that are high in sugar, fat or salt can seriously impact the health of that individual in a negative way.

salad-2756467_1280You’ll also want to focus on the amount of water you consume daily. Your body’s systems require hydration in order to function properly. Though just about every liquid contains water, like soda or juice, many of these also contain sugars, salts, or other ingredients that can actually dehydrate you.

An active body is a healthy body. Get your body moving and working. Action is imperative to your health and works in conjunction with what you put into your body. Take up an activity like hiking or yoga. Get up so that you aren’t just lying in bed or watching TV. Your activity level has a direct impact on your health and therefore on your longevity. The more active you are, the healthier you are. The healthier you are, the longer you will live.

The third component to health and longevity is social interaction.

elders-401296_1280Humans are social creatures and need to keep company with others, not just being a lone wolf, staying at home sitting in front of the TV or computer. Really interacting with other people, whether its a quiet activity together or something a little more boisterous, can spark life and invigorate you. Increase your health and longevity by getting out there and connecting with people!

When it comes to aging and longevity, good health is the key.

For good health, what you put into your body, your activity level, and your amount of social interaction are all important factors to consider. A diet rich in good foods and drinking plenty of water is just as critical to your well-being as exercising, or being active regularly, and connecting with others.

Be sure to subscribe to our iTunes podcast to listen on the go! [CLICK HERE]

gene

Gene Guarino
Founder/CEO
Residential Assisted Living Academy™

Gene is the President, CEO & Founder of RALAcademy.com. Gene has over 30 years experience in real estate investing and business. Today, Gene is focused on just one thing… investing in the mega-trend of senior assisted housing. He has trained thousands of investors/entrepreneurs throughout the United States how to invest in and operate residential assisted living homes. For over 25 years he has been educating people on the strategies of successful investing, business and self-employment. He now specializes in helping others take advantage of this mega-trend opportunity.

4 Reasons You Should Always Repay Your Loans

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By Gabby Darroch

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know you are not required to repay your policy loans. And if you’ve ever wondered, “If I don’t have to repay my loans, why should I?” let’s set the record straight.

The Caveat

In the initial stages of using your policy it’s important to note that we don’t recommend repaying your loan payments back into your actual policy. Instead, we encourage you to put those payments in a totally separate checking account. This is simply because why pay back money you’re just going to use again and again for things like paying off debt, financing a car, or buying a house. And a checking account is a bit easier to access than the money in your policy.

There may come a time in your life where most of your immediate financial needs are met (ie. debts are paid off). It is at this point that we encourage you to put all money stored in that separate checking account back into your policy to repay your outstanding loan balance. And here’s why:

Repaying your loan to your policy means:

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  1. You’re rebuilding your available cash. You have a cash account for the purpose of financing your needs in life at any moment. But when you Repay your loan to get more moneytake loans from your policy, you deplete the amount you can take on a loan. So by rebuilding the cash value in your account, you’re allowing your future financial needs to be met with a loan later on. This keeps your money in motion and working hard for you.
  2. You’re replenishing your death benefit to the full amount. Remember, when you take a loan, your death benefit covers all your existing unpaid loan amounts and whatever is left goes to your beneficiary after you “graduate.” Repaying your loan means that you are replenishing the full amount of your death benefit that will be paid to your beneficiary.
  3. You will restore your full dividend earning potential (if your contract is with a direct company). Direct companies don’t always give you the full dividend depending on your outstanding loan balance. When you repay your loan, you’re able to collect the full dividend amount that is owed to you.
  4. You reduce the charge on your interest payment. If you recall, when you take a loan you are actually being loaned the insurance company’s money. They charge an interest rate of about 5% for this privilege. So paying back your loans to the insurance company will result in a lowering of your interest rate on subsequent loans. This frees up more money for you. (To learn more about the interest you are charged on your policy loans, check out this article.)

The Gist of It

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So yes, you don’t have to repay your loans. But it benefits you most to do so, if done at the right time in your life. Just remember, you do always want to pay the interest on that loan back to the insurance company. That is required.

To learn more or get started, please visit www.TheMoneyMultiplier.com. Scroll to the very bottom and click on “Member Area.” Enter the password “bankwithbrent” and watch the presentation that appears on the next page.

When you’re ready to get started on creating your financial legacy or if you have more questions, please email us at [email protected] . Or you can give us a call at 386-456-9335, and one of our mentors will be in touch with you.

VA and FHA Mortgages & the Housing Boom (Part 2)

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Military Experience Eligibility for VA Loans

How does a retired or active military personnel member qualify for a VA loan based upon their military experience?

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* An earlier discharge date for a service-connected disability may still qualify you.
** Officers who separated from service after 10/16/81 may be eligible.

For more details, please visit The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ website to learn about VA mortgage loan eligibility benefits:
https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/eligibility/

Once an active or retired military person meets the minimum qualifying guidelines, he or she will be given a Certificate of Eligibility that’s issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA mortgage loan applicant will then send a copy of the VA Certificate of Eligibility (VA Form 26-1880) to their mortgage broker or banker. For VA loan applicants who do not have a copy, they may complete a form entitled Request for a Certificate of Eligibility (Fillable) that’s linked here:
https://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-26-1880-ARE.pdf

The Evolution of VA and FHA Loans

veterans-day-4653841_1280Near the end of World War II, the VA home loan program was created in 1944 as part of the original Servicemen’s Readjustment Act that’s also referred to as the GI Bill of Rights. The VA loan benefits were signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A portion of each funded VA mortgage loan was guaranteed by the federal government in the event that the VA borrower later defaulted on the loan and lost the home in foreclosure. This way, each bank that funded the 100% loan for qualifying VA borrowers had much less financial risk.

Specifically, there were two types of government-backed or insured mortgage loans that stimulated the housing market and helped the U.S. economy prosper and rise up out of the previous negative Great Depression (1929 – 1939) years – VA and FHA (Federal Housing Administration) loans. These more flexible residential mortgage loans were part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal plan and the National Housing Act of 1934 that were designed to create more jobs and boost home values and the economy once again.

Since 1934, FHA has insured over 34 million home mortgages nationwide. As per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), FHA has active insurance on over 8 million single-family mortgages. In total for both residential and commercial real estate properties, FHA’s insurance portfolio exceeds $1.3 trillion.

To learn more about the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), please visit HUD’s website:
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/fhahistory#:~:text=Congress%20created%20the%20Federal%20Housing,workers%20had%20lost%20their%20jobs.

VA and FHA Loans for Buyers, Sellers, and Owners

calculator-723925_1280The main difference between FHA and VA is that the government insures a portion of the FHA loan while guaranteeing a portion of a funded VA loan. The vast majority of home loans funded nationwide over the past 10 years, directly or indirectly, were either government-backed (VA) or insured (FHA) and/or purchased in the secondary markets by other government-sponsored or federal entities named Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae.

FHA loans allow borrowers to qualify with 3.5% down on average (96.5% LTV) with lower FICO credit score options near 580 and easier overall underwriting allowances. FHA also allows seller credits and gifts from family members toward down payments that can effectively make a purchase loan become near 100% LTV also. However, borrowers will have to pay an additional monthly insurance premium along with their mortgage payment that can reach a few hundred dollars per month, depending upon the borrower’s FICO credit score, loan amount, debt-to-income (DTI) ratios, and LTV (loan-to-value). There are more flexible FHA Streamline refinance programs available as well that are similar to the VA Streamline.

For qualified VA borrowers, there is perhaps no better mortgage loan option available while FHA loans might be the second best option for high LTV loans. This is especially true as 30-year fixed mortgage rates continue to hover at or near all-time record lows while making many mortgage payments more affordable than rent even when the home is financed up to 100% of the purchase price.

To date, VA and FHA have guaranteed or insured over 58 million mortgages for homeowners. Home sellers should welcome any VA or FHA buyer prospect who has a pre-approval letter from a mortgage lender. This is because the lender is prepared to provide up to 96.5% LTV for FHA or up to 100% LTV for a VA loan. Amazingly, both FHA and VA loans can close in a few weeks or less due to expedited online application processing options.

 

Rick-Tobin-Professional-Pic-sharperRick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

VA and FHA Mortgages & the Housing Boom (Part 1)

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By Rick Tobin

The most flexible and easiest qualifying mortgage loan product in America is the VA (US Department of Veteran Affairs) mortgage loan. Between 1944 and 1966, approximately 20% of all single-family homes built or purchased were financed by the VA home loan program for active military or retired veterans of World War II (1939 – 1945) or the Korean War (1950 – 1953). From 1944 through 1993, the VA mortgage loan program guaranteed almost 14 million home loans. By 2013, the VA had guaranteed over 20 million loans. As of 2019 in the VA’s 75th anniversary year, VA had surpassed 24 million loan guarantees for borrowers.

investment-4737118_1280Did you know that there are 100% LTV (loan-to-value) mortgage loans available to qualifying active or retired military personnel up to $1.5 million dollars for owner-occupied homes as of 2020? Yes, a qualifying VA mortgage applicant has the option to purchase a home priced as high as $1.5 million with no money down. These 100% LTV loans have no additional monthly mortgage insurance payment requirements like required for most other mortgages with a loan-to-value range above 80% of the purchase price or appraised value.

VA Loan Guidelines

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Mortgage loan underwriting guidelines are subject to change and may have some exception allowances for mortgage borrower applicants due to factors such as credit scores, income, job history, debt-to-income ratios, and property types. However, these are common VA loan terms or guidelines that were available as of June 2020:

  • No money down up to $1.5 million for owner-occupied borrowers (not second homes or investment properties)
  • Historically, a debt-to-income ratio of up to 41% DTI* was typical for VA borrowers. However, some VA loan programs allow up to 60% DTI or higher
  • No monthly mortgage insurance premium requirements
  • FICO credit scores as low as 620

* Debt-to-income ratio (DTI) = Borrower’s proposed mortgage payment plus monthly consumer debt obligations that are divided by monthly income. A borrower with $2,500 in monthly debt payments and $5,000 in monthly gross income (before taxes) will have a 50% debt-to-income ratio ($2,500 / $5,000 = 50%).

VA Loan Refinance

percent-226357_1280For existing VA mortgage borrowers under newer 2020 rules, VA borrowers can pull cash out of their property up to 100% of their property value. For example, a homeowner with an existing $250,000 mortgage loan secured by a property valued at $500,000 could apply for a new $500,000 cash-out loan that gets them upwards of $250,000 additional cash-out that they could use to pay off credit cards, student loans, automobile loans, business debts, or use the funds to make new property or stock investments.

A mortgage borrower in a non-VA loan can refinance from a conventional bank loan or an FHA loan with costly monthly insurance premium (MIP) payments into a new VA loan if one or more of the borrowers has VA eligibility.

Another easier qualifying VA refinance loan option is generally referred to as a “VA Streamline” (IRRRL – Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan). With some non-credit qualifying VA Streamline loan programs (subject to change), the borrower’s application process includes:

  • No minimum credit score
  • No appraisal required
  • Primary and non-owner occupied properties may be allowed
  • Must be current on existing mortgage loan about to be paid off
  • Manufactured homes attached to the foundation may be eligible

To learn more details about qualifying for VA refinance loans, here is a link to VA Pamphlet 26-7, Revised, Chapter 6: Refinancing Loans

https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin26/pamphlet/pam26_7/Chg_17_ch_5.pdf

 

Rick-Tobin-Professional-Pic-sharperRick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.