What’s stopping you from putting in the effort?

BY TOM FERRY MAR 5 It happens to the best of us. We have a goal of achieving something, and then some way, somehow, we find every excuse to not take action. Simply put, your behaviors are not aligned with your goals. And this, my friends, is the difference between the rich and the rest. Effort, ambition, desire, determination — whatever you call it, the answer to unlocking your full potential lies in answering the following three questions. Warning: Answering these questions requires you to dig deep, to find the core of what drives you. And that’s the easy part. The hard part is holding yourself accountable to following through on the behaviors that get results. That’s why my coaching company exists and why members in the program achieve so much success. When you’re ready to fully commit to achieving the success you’ve always desired and deserved, we’re here to help. Why do you exist? That’s pretty deep, but seriously, what excites you to get up in the morning, exercise, make your calls, go on listing appointments — and do it all over again the next day? For most of us, the answer is financial security. But what does money really give us? A nice house, cars, and a specific lifestyle? Sure, but if you’re like me, it’s so much more than material possessions. It’s the security I can provide my family. Knowing that I am doing everything in my power to provide at the highest level, to give my family the best life possible. That “why” is what I need to keep pushing, even when I’m tired, even when I’m scared and especially when I’m unmotivated. Knowing your “why,” having it written down, up and visual in your house, wallet, office, is the first step toward unlocking your potential. If you feel like sharing your “why,” I’d love to know – hit me up on social @tomferry. What stamp do you want to make on the world? Achieving true success isn’t just about you. True success means you’re able to create a far-reaching impact — to improve other people’s lives, to shine hope and joy and light into the darkness, to leave a legacy. So who do you want to take care of? Where do you want to make your mark? Your parents? Your friends? Your church? Your community? Charitable causes? Find something so meaningful to you that you jump out of bed every morning determined to take one step closer to that goal. What’s your plan to achieve financial freedom? There’s a sad truth we must confront in our industry — while real estate gives us the ability to earn limitless income, it often doesn’t adequately prepare people for retirement. Do you plan to retire with gusto, or just fade away? Devising a successful retirement plan requires painting a picture of what you want with great specificity. Then do the math — figure out how much money you need and when. Only with a concrete plan will you ever achieve the retirement you desire. Real estate is tough! Over my 30,000 hours of coaching agents to fulfill their greatness, I’ve learned a thing or two about finding and activating ambition to achieve incredible results. And I’d be honored to help you find your success. Schedule a complimentary call with one of my coaching consultants today. Take the next step Answering these three questions is a crucial step our coaching members take to tap into their motivation and propel them on their journey to fulfill their vast potential. If you’re struggling to make your calls or do the things you know will lead you to success, I encourage you to sit down, dig in and answer these three questions. This exercise will supercharge your ambition by bringing your “why” to the forefront.

Yes, Interest on Home Equity Loans is Still Deductible by Robert Freedman on March 5, 2018

There’s been confusion since the big tax law was enacted over the deductibility of interest on home equity loans. NAR has been saying that the interest is still deductible for the part of the loan that’s used for home repairs, renovations, and additions. And that’s the correct interpretation, according to the IRS. The agency confirmed that in a memo about a week and a half ago. VRE 82 image The part of the loan that’s used on the house to fix something or improve it remains deductible under the new tax law. Loan proceeds that are used for personal living expenses or anything not related to improving the home is not deductible. The clarification is looked at in the latest Voice for Real Estate news video from NAR. The video also looks at an important vote in the House on so-called drive-by lawsuits. These are lawsuits filed by people who are using accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act to extract fees from small property owners. People are sending letters to property owners alleging they have an ADA violation and threatening a lawsuit unless the owner reaches a settlement with them. The person sending the letter typically doesn’t even say what the alleged violation is. The only way the owner can find out is by going to court. Most owners end up settling as the cheaper alternative and if there was ever any violation the owner never finds out what it is. The House passed a bill requiring people who send these letters to identify what the alleged violation is and to give owners a chance to correct the problem before taking them to court. It’s a solution that addresses a clear abuse of an important law and NAR supported its passage. The bill still has to be taken up in the Senate. Other topics in the video include NAR’s Commitment to Excellence initiative, which will roll out later this year, to give NAR members a chance to voluntarily assess how well they perform on key aspects of their business, including technology, the Code of Ethics, and the forms and contracts they use. The video also gives an update on home sales—they’re off to a slow start this year, mainly because of inventory shortages in many markets, especially among lower-cost starter homes—and what’s happening in commercial real estate. Briefly, transaction volume on small cap properties is doing okay but volume on large cap properties is slowing down.

Facebook housing fund gets cash boost, now ready to start backing projects

Visitors visit the sign outside Facebook headquarters at 1 Hacker Way, in Menlo Park, Calif., Friday, May 27, 2016. Tech tourism has become prevalent in the past few years at Silicon Valley icons. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group) (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group) Visitors visit the sign outside Facebook headquarters at 1 Hacker Way, in Menlo Park, Calif., Friday, May 27, 2016. (Patrick Tehan/Bay Area News Group) By MARISA KENDALL | mkendall@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: March 6, 2018 at 6:00 am | UPDATED: March 6, 2018 at 6:28 am More than a year after becoming one of Silicon Valley’s first big tech companies to commit to creating more affordable housing, Facebook said Tuesday that its Catalyst Housing Fund is a step closer to backing new units. The fund has reached a key milestone by landing its first outside investor — local nonprofit The San Francisco Foundation, which is adding $1 million to Facebook’s original $18.5 million contribution. “We’re ready to go,” said Facebook global mobility manager Menka Sethi. “And I think you’ll see us fund projects hopefully very early in this year.” ADVERTISING The move comes as the booming tech economy has flooded the Bay Area with high-paying jobs, driving up the cost of renting or buying a home, pricing out many local residents, and leading many in the community to demand that tech companies like Facebook do something to combat the problem. After East Palo Alto-based community coalition Envision, Build, Transform threatened to sue Facebook over its expansion in Menlo Park, the tech giant in December 2016 pledged $18.5 million to fund affordable housing construction in the area. A handful of other large tech companies have taken similar steps. Google is working with Mountain View officials to add nearly 10,000 new homes and apartments to North Bayshore. While building its new “spaceship” campus in Cupertino, Apple gave $5.85 million to that city’s affordable housing fund. And last year LinkedIn invested $10 million in Housing Trust Silicon Valley’s Tech Fund. But there’s pressure for cash-flush tech companies to do more, and some housing advocates hope the Catalyst Fund will inspire other tech companies to step up. “More and more companies are recognizing that it’s a crisis,” said Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group trade association, “and those that have the capacity…to also be a part of the solution, more and more are stepping forward. Do we need more to step forward? Absolutely.” Facebook’s goal is to back affordable housing projects within a 15 mile radius of its Menlo Park campus — with $10 million specifically going to development in East Palo Alto. Facebook in August brought on fund manager Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), which intends to take the nearly $20 million in the fund and grow it into $75 million by collecting outside loans. “The San Francisco Foundation making that $1 million investment is a huge momentum-builder for us,” said LISC CEO Maurice Jones. In a blog post, The San Francisco Foundation said its contribution to the Catalyst Fund, which is a low-interest loan, will help finance the development and preservation of more than 500 low-income housing units. Facebook intends to reserve about one-third of the units it funds for families making 30 percent or less of the area’s median income, one-third for families making 30 to 50 percent, and one-third for families making 50 to 80 percent. Like most projects related to home-building, Facebook’s Catalyst Fund has run into some delays along the way. In August, the company said it planned to begin investing in affordable housing projects by the fall of 2017, but that date was pushed back after it took longer than anticipated to get LISC nailed down as fund manager and approved by the city of East Palo Alto, which is partnering with the Catalyst Fund, Sethi said. And though teaming up with outside investors has been the stated goal from the time Facebook launched the fund in December 2016, it’s taken more than a year to land the first investor. The Catalyst Fund held its first meeting last month with community members and potential developers, and Sethi said there will be more to come. The fund is researching potential projects for investment, she said. Whatever projects they choose may be further delayed in waiting for city approval. Related Articles Fund manager hopes to quadruple Facebook’s $18.5 million housing fund Facebook commits $20 million for affordable housing, other assistance Tameeka Bennett, executive director of East Palo Alto-based nonprofit Youth United for Community Action — one of the groups that threatened to sue Facebook and now is involved in the Catalyst Fund — said the nearly $20 million initiative is encouraging, but it’s just a “drop in the bucket” given the Bay Area’s housing shortage. “No, this isn’t going to solve the problem,” she said. “And I think Facebook and other tech companies…they have to think about things like housing. They can’t just build and not be intentional about that.”

Realtor’s ‘Not-Haunted’ for-sale signs draw laughs, boos

Realtor’s ‘Not-Haunted’ for-sale signs draw laughs, boos Houston-based Realtor Ellis Young is also attracting attention with his 'Gluten-Free House,' and 'Harvey Tested' signs BYMARIAN MCPHERSON Staff Writer MAR 5 Faster. Better. Together. Inman Connect San Francisco, Jul 17-20, 2018 LEARN MORE For Houston-based Realtor Ellis Young, a traditional “For Sale” sign just won’t do. Instead, Young likes to add uncanny and hilarious phrases — the latest being, “Not Haunted.” Young’s latest listing in Manvel, Texas, is a 3,600-square-foot home with four bedrooms, three and a half baths and a private backyard — all features that should draw in potential buyers with no problem. Ellis Young’s “Not Haunted” listing, 3223 Spring Ridge Dr., Manvel, TX 77578 Young, who is with Realty One Group-Lone Star, and his sellers thought the “Not Haunted” sign would, at most, draw in curious buyers and, at the very least, give passersby something to laugh at. But Young got a little more than he bargained for when a couple neighbors wrote a Facebook post calling Young “unprofessional,” and then sent the post to ABC 13 in Houston. “You can’t do it the same old way. You’ve got to spice it up. You’ve got to look different. You’ve got to keep it fun,” Young explained to ABC 13. What’s stopping you from putting in the effort? Tom Ferry: How to get out of your coma and supercharge your production READ MORE Young told Inman he got the idea from his sign maker, who serves clients in Louisiana. There, the sign maker said, real estate agents use “Not Haunted” signs as a serious marketing tactic, so he jokingly asked Young if he’d like to start using them. “I was like, shoot, let’s do it — let’s roll with it,” said Young with his Texas twang. Young’s “Harvey Tested” sign. (Credit: Ellis Young) He put out the first “Not Haunted” sign six months ago, and he has a few other signs in the rotation, such as “Gluten-Free House,” “Harvey Tested,” “Room For Activities,” “Free VCR with Purchase” and “Backyard Included.” Young’s “Harvey Tested” sign. (Credit: Ellis Young) His favorite sign is “Room For Activities,” a reference to a scene in the movie “Step Brothers,” where Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly’s characters build a makeshift bunk bed and excitedly declare, “So much room for activities!” The jokes don’t stop with his signs — Young’s car reads: “Voted 13th most attractive realty team in the Pearland area,” which he says is ironic since there aren’t even 13 realty teams in the area. Although some don’t understand his humor, Young says he’s not stopping anytime soon, and he’d rather be authentic to himself — something that helped him earn a Houston Association of Realtors Top 20 Under 40 award last year. “Just be yourself,” Young said. “It’s cliche, but that’s what it is. Find a brokerage that allows you to be who you want to be. If you’re genuine, people tend to gravitate toward that versus someone who is scripted.” View news coverage of the “Not Haunted” sign here, courtesy of local Houston news channel ABC13. Email Marian McPherson

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Homes Record Breaking Returns

Bay Area homes deliver record-breaking returns Louis Hansen PUBLISHED: February 28, 2018 at 10:01 am | UPDATED: March 1, 2018 at 7:42 pm Categories:Business, California News, Latest Headlines, News, Real Estate Richard Rogers looks at the kitchen at an open house at 5893 Taormino Avenue in San Jose, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group) (Click here, if you are unable to view this photo gallery on your mobile device.) The good times started to roll in April 2012. The Warriors had a solid new back court named Curry and Thompson and local home prices started to climb again. Since then, Bay Area homes have gained value year-over-year for a record 70 straight months, according to real estate data firm CoreLogic. It’s been nearly six years, and the Warriors and the housing market look stronger than ever. Some counties have seen average property values nearly double during that stretch, including appreciation of more than 80 percent in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. That’s nearly twice the national increase during the same time. In Alameda and Solano counties, real estate offered better returns than even the Dow’s 87 percent run-up between April 2012 and December 2017. “It never cooled down,” said Mark Wong, agent at Alain Pinel in Saratoga. “It just kept heating up.” The streak tops the real estate fever that overtook the valley during the dot.com boom from early 1996 though September 2001. But agents say there’s more stability now in the region’s economy from established and expanding tech giants such as Apple, Google and Facebook. They don’t expect the real estate run-up to slow down. The latest sales report from January reflects a steady rise in home prices, pumping up values for property owners while leaving first-time buyers busting budgets to purchase a starter home. Experts say prices were boosted by continued tight inventory and a growing, well-paid workforce. The sheer scarcity of homes for sale is driving up bids. The Bay Area median price for a resold home rose to $712,000 in January, an 11.8 percent gain from a year ago, according to a report released Wednesday by CoreLogic. Median sales prices in San Mateo rose 30 percent from the previous January, reaching $1.31 million. Santa Clara prices jumped nearly 24 percent to $1.05 million. Alameda rose about 14 percent to $755,000, and Contra Costa home prices went up 7 percent to $535,000. Gains have reached double-digits for the last six months. But rising prices also meant a drop in home sales. The 3,410 purchases of resale homes last month represented a dip of nearly 4.5 percent from last year, according to CoreLogic. Over the long-term, the Bay Area bounced back more quickly from the real estate crash than other parts of the country, said CoreLogic research analyst Andrew LePage. He noted that other metro areas in the west, including Los Angeles, Seattle and Phoenix, have seen similar strong runs in their housing markets. But the Northern California run has been notable for its record-busting prices. “The Bay Area is impressive, or daunting, depending on your perspective,” LePage said. Local agents say the streak has been fueled by the combination of a strong local economy steadily adding tech jobs, rising stock prices that benefit tech professionals, and confident buyers. William Doerlich, an agent with Realty One in San Ramon, said the market began to turn around 2011 and 2012 with the help of federal tax breaks. “It really started what we’re seeing — this fairly robust market,” he said. Alain Pinel’s Wong said many clients were looking to catch the bottom of the market around 2012. “But whenever you see the bottom,” he said, “you’ve missed it.” Wong has seen houses in hotspots like Cupertino, Los Altos and Mountain View going for almost 50 percent over asking price. “It’s a very good long-term investment,” he said. Agents continue to point to the shortage of new homes being built as a key reason for escalating prices. By one estimate, the region added 6 times as many jobs as new housing units between 2010 and 2015. “We’re not nearly keeping up pace,” said Gustavo Gonzalez, a San Jose agent. “We’re not trying to send somebody to Mars, here. We’re trying to build more houses.”

3 Secrets for a Better Retirement in 2018 By ELIZABETH O'BRIEN January 1, 2018 Retirement, like all life stages, is a work in progress. Whether you’ve been out of the paid workforce for days or decades, there’s always room for tweaks to improve your finances—and your fun quotient. “No matter what step you’re at, take some time to say, ‘what’s next?'” advises Keith Lawrence, co-author of Your Retirement Quest. Here are three steps for making your retirement even better in 2018: Check Your Spending It’s common to worry about your spending rate in retirement. A conservative way to ensure your money will last is to avoid dipping into your principal and instead let the income and investment gains your portfolio generates cover your living expenses, along with Social Security and any other income sources. If your portfolio isn’t big enough to generate enough income, or the markets go into a prolonged slump, a general rule of thumb holds that you can annually withdraw 4% of your nest egg—regardless of its size—and never run out of money throughout retirement. While some financial experts have questioned the sustainability of the so-called 4% rule amid expectations of lower future investment returns, it’s still a reasonable starting point, many advisors say. It’s important to note that this 4% should be enough to cover both your regular expenditures and one-time items like a new roof or a big vacation, says B. Kelly Graves, a certified financial planner in Charlotte. “Retirees should save up for the large expenses and build a kitty for them,” he says. A tool like T. Rowe Price’s retirement income calculator can give you an estimate of whether your portfolio is on track to meet your spending goals in retirement. The tool estimates how much of your monthly income will come from your own portfolio versus Social Security, pensions and any other income sources, and projects how long your savings might last. If your goal is to spend, say, $2,000 each month from your investments, you can ask your brokerage firm to set up a “paycheck”: the firm will transfer the desired amount each month from your investment portfolio to a checking or savings account. (It’s best to create a “cash bucket” for this purpose, so you’re not forced to sell stocks in a down market to generate the needed amount.) It gives many retirees peace of mind to replicate the paycheck they got while working, says Jay Hummel, head of direct sales and service at American Century Investments. Take That Big Trip You want to ensure a sustainable spending rate in retirement so you don’t run out of money. But you don’t want to be so conservative that you miss out on the fun that’s your reward for a lifetime of hard work. If you’re not comfortable doing the math yourself, a good financial planner can assess your situation and give you permission to spend. (Certified financial planners have passed a rigorous exam and must adhere to a code of ethics.) If your budget and your health allow, don’t delay checking big-ticket activities off your bucket list, Hummel says. That means, go ahead and take that wine tour of Italy, or the snorkeling trip to the Maldives that you’ve been dreaming of for years. “Health issues happen, family issues happen,” Hummel says, and folks wind up with regrets: “Boy, we really wish we could’ve done it when we had the opportunity to.” Since research suggests that experiences bring more happiness than things, you’ll be boosting your bliss in the process. At the same time, proceed with caution on making big purchases, Hummel says. He’s seen retirees rush to buy second homes in places where they enjoy vacationing. But then they feel pressure to spend a lot of time there to justify their investment. This can lead to stress and marital discord, if one spouse wants to spend every vacation at the second home while the other wants to spend time with family members or explore new vacation destinations. A better bet? Use the 6% to 8% of the home’s value that you would spend in annual carrying costs on the second home and stay in a hotel or a short-term rental instead, Hummel says. If you and your spouse both still love the location after test-driving it for a few years, then you might be ready to buy. Make Some (Good) Friends Loneliness can damage your physical health as much as smoking, research indicates. Feeling alone may also contribute to your risk of developing dementia. (It’s thought that loneliness produces an inflammatory response in the body that’s similar to what an illness might produce.) To combat these health risks, you need “2am friends,” Lawrence says. Not to be mistaken for Facebook friends, “2am friends” are people who, as their name suggests, you can call in crisis in the middle of the night with the expectation that they’ll pick up and do their best to help. You need at least several of these friends and your spouse, while potentially a great source of support, only counts as one, Lawrence says. Affinity groups are a great way to develop close friends. Choose something you love to do, whether that’s reading or restoring old cars, and chances are there’s a group devoted to it near you. Check the web site Meetup.com for like-minded people. Volunteering is another great way to make friends; volunteermatch.org is a site that connects volunteers with worthy causes.