Society » opiaadz.gq

Real Estate Auctions – The New Land Rush

On a sunny afternoon in Florida, an energetic crowd gathers on the lawn of a high end luxury estate. A loud and eager banter between an auctioneer, a group of bidders and bidder assistants fills the air. For several minutes the auctioneer asks for the next highest bid and the bidders respond. Suddenly the bidders grow silent. The high bidder holds his breath in anticipation of winning the auction. The auctioneer calls for one more bid. In a loud clear voice which rolls over the audience he says, “Fair warning, last chance” the auctioneer pauses, “SOLD!” And in less than 10 minutes another multimillion dollar estate has changed owners.

Successful real estate auctions like the one above are happening all over North America and the Caribbean. Recently real estate auctions have been on the rise, the increase in popularity is partly driven by growing inventories and fading buyer confidence. Properties that were selling in weeks using traditional methods are now languishing on the market unable to attract buyers even as seller’s lower prices. Many say the real estate boom is over but savvy buyers and sellers are profiting from real estate auctions.

Real Estate Auctions Work in Up or Down Markets.

Regardless of trends or market cycles, real estate auctions provide an open and transparent process for buyers and sellers. Properly conducted real estate auctions attract ready and willing buyers and motivate them to act now.

The auction method removes the “wait and see” attitude which serves to further depress real estate values. Buyers are always concerned about overpaying. Buyers gain confidence with their purchases at real estate auctions because they can see what others are willing to pay.

When market demand is high and inventories low, real estate auctions can deliver selling prices well above what a willing seller would have accepted in a negotiated private treaty sale. In good selling climates many property owners using traditional real estate methods; negotiating with one buyer at a time, leave thousands of dollars of equity on the table. During up markets real estate auctions are the best way to establish top market price.

Evaluating Your Real Estate for Auction

Not every property or seller for that matter makes a good candidate for auction. First of all sellers must be ready to sell now and for the current market value. Also a real estate auction will not fix problems caused by a downturn in market value of your property, if you owe more than a willing buyer will pay, be prepared to come to closing with your check book.

Properties that do well in real estate auctions have a high uniqueness factor. Ask your self, “What makes my property different from most others?” Maybe you own a resort property or high end luxury home, commercial properties and land do very well at auction. Real estate auctions thrive on uniqueness. If your property is like everyone else’s, the best thing you can do is offer the most competitive price.

Most importantly sellers must be reasonable about setting a minimum bid. A seller must look at the lowest, most current comps and price below that to generate the interest and urgency necessary for a successful real estate auction. Once the auction begins and qualified bidders start competing against one another you can watch the selling price increase.

Locate a Qualified Real Estate Auctioneer

Start by checking with the National Auctioneers Association, the best real estate auctioneers belong to this organization. These real estate auctioneers are well trained and adhere to a standard of practice and a code of ethics. Many attend the annual International Auctioneers Conference where the latest techniques and innovations in the real estate auction industry are presented.

Find out if the company you are interviewing is a full time real estate auction firm. Many real estate agents are getting auction licenses yet have no experience with the auction method of marketing. Conducting a successful real estate auction is nothing like (private treaty) traditional real estate sales. Go with a real estate auction pro.

You’re probably better of with an auction house that specializes in real estate auctions. There are many qualified auctioneers who have generations of experience selling personal property; furniture, dishes, lawn equipment and the occasional rare painting. Selling real estate at auction is a complex matter that should only be attempted by full time experienced real estate auction professionals.

Commissions and fees may vary, sellers must pay all marketing expenses up front and buyers typically pay 10% of the sales price to the auctioneer of which a share goes to participating real estate agents.

Types of Real Estate Auctions

Auctions are effective because they create a seller’s market. Professionally conducted real estate auctions create urgency, a reason to buy today and competition for the property. Terms and conditions of sale are established ahead of the auction. Real estate auctions will follow one of these three approaches:

Absolute Auction

The property is sold to the highest bidder regardless of price- using this process often returns the highest sale price.

Minimum Bid Auction

Seller agrees to sell at or above a published minimum bid price – this method is useful for internet auctions.

Seller Confirmation or Reserve Auction

With a reserve auction, the seller “reserves” the right to accept or decline any bids usually within 48 hours of the auction. Reserve auctions are used when there is a lien on the property from a lender or a court ordered sale with a minimum selling price.

Tags: Animals Arts Business Computers Education Finance Health Home Internet Marketing & Advertising Online Recreation & Entertainment Shopping Society

Deaf Parenting – An Individual Education Plan (IEP) To Effectively Meet Educational Needs

It is important for parents of deaf and other special needs children to understand what an Individual Education Plan is and how to ensure your child’s education needs are being met in his or her IEP.

In this article, I will discuss:

What is an IEP

Give tips for having an effective IEP that meets your child’s educational needs

An IEP is a document that details the special needs services for special needs students. The IEP includes any modifications that are required in the classroom and any additional special programs or services. In the USA an IEP is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004). The IEP will address your child’s educational needs, and contain specific, measurable short term and annual goals for each of those needs.

This written statement is developed by your child’s teachers, and is reviewed and agreed to by your child’s special needs education funding organization and you, the parents. The IEP describes the goals the team sets for your child during the school year, as well as any special support needed to help your child achieve his or her educational goals.

In our case with our deaf son, Larry, we lived in Marlboro, MA and Larry attended school at The Learning Center for Deaf Children in Framingham, MA. The town of Marlboro funded the cost of his education. So we dealt with the special needs education supervisor in Marlboro and Larry’s teachers in Framingham.

The IEP meeting is usually attended by the child’s classroom teacher, the child’s department supervisor, the funding special needs education supervisor and the parents.

The IEP document can be very daunting lots of pages with a lot of official sounding documentation.

Here are tips based on our experience on ensuring your child has an effective IEP that meets his or her educational needs:

Tip#1: You as parents need to be proactive and take an active role in developing the goals for your child’s IEP. You need to have regular interactions with your child’s teachers and school supervisors to understand what your child is being taught, how your child is progressing and what your child will be taught next. This will help you in 2 ways: firstly you will be able to understand what is being stated in your child’s IEP and you can make sure which educational needs will receive the most attention. Secondly your child’s teacher will realize that you are interested in your child’s education and they will make extra efforts on behalf of your child. I firmly believe that it is always good to set high expectations for the people working with your child.

Tip#2: Usually your child’s special needs education funding organization will have meetings a few times a year to discuss their plans etc. Attend as many of these meetings as possible and develop a relationship with the supervisor for your child’s special needs education. This relationship will allow you to discuss and make requests suited to your child’s educational requirements.

Tip#3: We requested a copy of Larry’s IEP 2 days before the IEP meeting so my wife and I could review the IEP. Your child’s teacher is usually very busy developing IEPs so you need to give the teacher early notice that you need the IEP for review. Having a relationship with your child’s teacher and the funding special education supervisor will really help here because you will already know what level of education your child is at and what is the next level of education and services to be addressed in the IEP.

Tip#4: You need to remember that you as parents can bring with you to the IEP meeting others involved with your child that you feel are important for the IEP team to hear, such as, your child’s psychologist or tutor. I would recommend keeping surprises for the IEP team to a minimum and again your working relationship with your child’s education team should help you resolve issues and have agreements on your child’s educational needs before the IEP meeting.

Tip#5: Parents should remember that IEPs can be updated any time during the year. For Larry, he was very good at mathematics and we had the IEP amended during the school year to provide Mathematics tutoring during the summer for the next level of Mathematics. Since we had a good relationship with our town’s special needs education supervisor, this was easily done and Larry had his Mathematics teacher as a tutor during the summer.

Tip#6: Here are a couple of things I wished we would have done differently. In middle school Larry was struggling with Reading and English. He had a literature class where the reading material was Shakespeare. We knew he was struggling with Reading and English and this class was frustrating him a lot. We should have had a discussion with this teacher and the Middle School supervisor and find a solution that met Larry’s needs and have his IEP amended. In addition, we should have requested a tutor for Reading and English where the tutoring was done in American Sign Language

Tags: Animals Arts Business Computers Education Finance Games Health Home Internet Marketing & Advertising Online Recreation & Entertainment Shopping Society Sports

What Is Travel Marketing?

Like other niche industries, the travel industry is an entity of its own. Consequently, the ideal marketing solutions for this industry are travel-specific and dedicated to this large and very dynamic field. Marketing to the travel industry involves its various sub-categories like hotels, tour operators, airlines, etc.Yet like most marketing done today, travel marketing is intensely data-driven-it has to be in order to be cost-effective and ultimately successful.

It’s All about the Numbers
A careful examination of data reflects a minutia of details that are important to businesses working in the travel industry. Depending on the data you examine, it might tell you whether it’s profitable to market your boutique hotel to families or what time of year it’s best to market your airline ticket specials. Marketing, of course, is an investment so it’s important that the investment pays you back. Choosing a travel marketing specialist with reliable data is, of course, the ideal way to begin your strategic marketing plan.

Data for Business Optimization
How can data help specific travel-related businesses market better to increase business? Agencies that capture data find it so important that their entire business models are completely based upon it. Moreover, it has fallen to their expertise with managing this data to update it. When businesses contract with a travel marketing firm they have access to the data sets they need to make the smartest decisions about their marketing campaign-and ultimately about their money. Of course, it isn’t always easy to understand the numbers or the trends within those numbers so companies have also come to rely upon the optimization specialists in their preferred travel marketing agency who understand how to transform data into an actionable marketing plan.

Translating the Numbers
How can data help you if you are a car rental company or a hotel chain? In other words, what can a travel marketing agency do for you? Whatever the business-hotel, car rental, cruise ship, airline, or some other tourism-based endeavor-a travel marketing agency can help the business expand its customer base, tailor its operations to its most successful offerings, and inevitably make more money. It does this through various measures depending on the business in question.

In the case of hotels, for instance, a travel marketing firm can drive bookings through the hotel’s website, increase brand awareness with data-backed results, reach likely customers, and even find ways to engage frequent flyers. Similarly, travel marketing agencies can increase bookings for cruise and airlines by recommending timely offers. Moreover, it may increase profit for these businesses by identifying ancillary revenue opportunities.

Working with the Experts
While a company’s own marketing executives have definitive know-how and a level of business-specific expertise that is immensely important for any company, the travel marketing agency has a broad level of travel-specific expertise that regularly looks at the big travel picture-a perspective that can be essential for a travel-related business. Working with a renowned agency is a decided way to expand and improve business through carefully wrought marketing solutions that are based on reliable data. Chances are if you are a business that relies on tourism or travel, this data and these experts could dramatically help you too.

« Older Entries