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Are commission advance fees tax deductible?

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

Are commission fees tax deductible? The answer is yes if your commission advance proceeds are used for your business expenses, the costs are tax deductible.  You may opt to use Express Cash Flow on every transaction or just when there are more bills than commission.

Commission Advance Fee Tax Deductibility

Because commission advances are used for business purposes, they are considered a tax-deductible business expense. The commission advance fees are similar to interest costs on a loan. Agents and brokers should include an itemized summary with their tax return detailing all advance fees paid to any commission advance service provider they used in the year.

As an independent contractor, owner of an LLC or Corporation, the fees you pay to secure a commission advance are a fully deductible business expense. It’s a true cost of doing business. For sole proprietors, this means recording the fees as a business expense on Schedule C of your tax return.

Business Expenses

Further benefits when receiving a commission advance is the fact that business expenses paid for with your advance proceeds are also tax deductible. For example, say you use a portion of your commission advance to pay for office rent. That rent payment is a tax-deductible expense, even though you used your commission advance to make the payment. The same holds true for any other legitimate business expense, such as purchasing marketing materials, car related expenses and meals.

Personal versus Business

As with any sole proprietorship, it’s important to keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses for tax purposes. For example, client lunches can be tax deductible whereas paying for a kid birthday present is not.

See www.irs.gov/publications/p535 with the title Publication 535, Business Expenses.

Tax issues are complex and could change over time. As such, it’s advisable to always consult a tax professional prior to filing your taxes.

What are the advantages of using Express Cash Flow for Commission Advances:

Since 2015, Express Cash Flow has helped real estate agents and brokers in California balance their cash flow between closings.  Express Cash Flow can pay you now on a pending transaction to help you grow your business with a commission advance.

  • Low rates
  • Experienced and trusted partner
  • Advance up to 75% of your net commissions
  • No credit checks
  • Real-time processing
  • Personalized Experience
  • Multiple advances at one time

Get to the Application Page to receive a commission advance on unearned sales commission today. Express Cash Flow offers Commission Advances for real estate agents and brokers nationwide.

 

Recruiting Real Estate Agents pointing at contract

Real Estate Agent Recruiting Tactics

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

We all know that agent recruiting is the life blood of any successful real estate office, and it should be the goal to recruit the most, best agents.  But how does a real estate brokerage actually go about doing this?  Here are some of the tactics used by the most successful recruiters from around the world.

  • Some of the best agent recruiting is done by your current agents! Ask your agents whom they’ve enjoyed working with on past transactions, and whom they look up to at other offices.  Then provide incentives (trips, meals, a boost in their split) for the agents that provide you with the best referrals.
  • Get involved with charities and your local community. Sometimes the best way to find good real estate talent is in the most unlikely of places, and being involved in communities outside of your industry will help you grow your network immensely.
  • Get involved in communities in your industry, too! Hold a new agent training for your local board, and make sure to follow up with any qualified candidates.  Have your agents support you in this endeavor, and encourage them to follow up as well.
  • Email all of your top recruiting targets with their end of year sales and what they could have made working for you- NOTE: make sure you are confident of their current splits and that this would compare favorably before sending.
  • Organize an outing or mixer for some of your top agents to mingle and socialize with your top recruits, so the recruits can get a feel for what will allow them to continue to grow and succeed.
  • Everyone wants to grow their network, make sure you not only connect with your potential recruits on social media, but ensure that you impact your relationship with them positively.

Once you’ve had a chance to implement all of these tips, agent recruiting will no longer be about hunting whatever agents you are able to convince they should switch to you, but rather farming your various networks for the most, best agents around.

Happy recruiting!

Open House Sign

Realtors plot statewide database to combat Zillow, Redfin and other apps

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts
Open House Sign
Open House Sign

Is the Realtor, run property listing service in California obsolete?

Several brokers, agents and “multiple listing service” operators expressed concern during a panel discussion Wednesday that commercial websites like Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com have overtaken the patchwork of industry databases agents use to find homes for clients.

“The world of big data doesn’t seem to have come to the MLS in any meaningful way,” said David Silver-Westrick, a partner at San Clemente-based Keller Williams OC Coastal Realty. “We’re missing the boat on lots of big data opportunities. To the extent that consumers have better tools than we do, we just become irrelevant.”

The California Association of Realtors sponsored Wednesday’s event, held at CAR headquarters in Los Angeles, to plot the future of broker-run MLS sites and to find ways to meet the association’s 12-year-old goal of forming a single, statewide database in California. There currently are more than 40 MLS’s in California.

Agents use the MLS to disseminate information about homes for sale, providing property details as well as insider information about showings and compensation.

The statewide MLS effort so far has led to the formation of the Diamond Bar-based California Regional Multiple Listing Service, which currently represents most of Southern California and the Bay Area. CRMLS includes more than 92,000 agents and 37 local Realtor associations. But that’s still less than half the local associations in the state and doesn’t include San Francisco, Ventura County and most of Santa Barbara County, according to the MLS’s website.

“I think that there is an opportunity that is fast fading,” said CRMLS CEO Art Carter. “If we do not do it shortly, then we will forever be chasing others that will most likely take the handles and move forward.”

Other panelists lamented MLS problems include inaccurate and outdated data as well as the lack of consolidation.

“As someone who lists and sells real estate, I need it to be more efficient,” said Jeanne Radsick, an agent with Century 21 Tobias Real Estate in Bakersfield. “I need to not have to go to multiple sources to find what I’m looking for.”

Technology isn’t an issue, panelists said. Carter said a statewide MLS could be established in three months once the paperwork is in place.

The main obstacle is politics. Concerns among agents and brokers include the question of who controls broker information — the MLS or the brokers themselves. MLS employees also worry about losing their jobs under a consolidated system. And smaller MLS sites fear larger, out-of-area brokerages will take away their business if the outsiders have access to property data in their areas.

“The politics (is) on the local level with (small) MLS’s. You can’t even get Arrowhead and Big Bear to talk, and they’re right next door to each other,” said Sandra Deering, a broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Newport Beach. “The reality is those people are still protective of their jobs. … They don’t have the bandwidth, I don’t think, to see beyond their day-to-day operation. I don’t know how to overcome that.”

Deering has to join 25 MLS sites for her business, “and just managing the licensing, the payment process is a full-time staff person,” she said.
“These changes in the environment, particularly on the consumer side, have given the consumer … the ability to have information that is equivalent, if not superior, to what the agents have,” said Joel Singer, CEO of the state Realtor association. “The question is can this current structure survive? Or perhaps the question is should this current structure survive if it doesn’t alter.”

Singer said that when he bought a house last year, the MLS data from his broker “didn’t compare very well to the data that I got when I signed up with Redfin. … Is this a problem for us?”

Carter and other panelists see a statewide MLS as a precursor to forming a nation-wide system.

“It’s a process of becoming a lot more aggressive,” Carter said. “Consolidate with the willing and (share data) with the unwilling to consolidate and go around those that are just willing to do neither.”

Source: Redfin California

Zillow CEO responds to new competition from Facebook and Amazon

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts
Zillow Logo

As one of the largest, if not the biggest, players in online real estate listings, Zillow is watching its list of competitors rapidly grow with more and more companies eyeing the potential in the real estate market.

Zillow may dominate the space right now, raking in $266.9 million in revenue in the second-quarter of 2017, but top-producing companies like Amazon and Facebook have recently encroached in Zillow’s territory.

But the small moves from others in the industry to take some of Zillow’s long-standing dominance isn’t enough to scare the CEO.

It is enough, however, for investors to ask Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow Group, about the growing competition. Zillow Group includes brands like Zillow, Trulia,SreetEasy, HotPads, and Naked Apartments.

Slipping in an answer to one more question that was submitted online before wrapping up the earnings call, Rascoff answered the question, “What do you see from Amazon and Facebook in real estate?”

Here’s Rascoff’s full response:

“With respect to Facebook, as I’ve already said, our partnership there is strong and advertisers/agents view us as an effective way to buy Facebook advertisements, more effective than from buying it directly from Facebook. In the case of either of these horizontal players, I do think it’s very difficult for horizontal players to compete with vertical companies that are focused on the vertical and have as big a brand as our family of brands have. And I do think it’s also important to understand how this ad product that we have differs from other ad products. We saw an ad product that connects the consumer with the real estate professional at the time and place that they’re shopping for a specific home. That’s very different from Amazon’s rumored directory of real estate agents or Facebook’s ad product that tries to drive traffic back to a brokerage website. So, a lead generation product that’s tied to a home search is quite different, and I think will always be more attractive to an advertiser than a branding ad product or a product that tries to drive traffic to their website. So those are some of our concluding thoughts on our ability to compete with horizontal players.”

The competition from Amazon is not nearly as concrete as the competition from Facebook.

Back in July, Amazon quietly made a move in to the real estate industry. Tucked into the website’s Home and Business Services section, where users can receive quotes from professionals for various services including assembling new purchases or setting up new technology, Amazon listed a “Hire a Realtor” webpage. But the page wasn’t up long and was taken down the same day HousingWire reported on it.

The announcement from Facebook was a lot more prominent and actually happened shortly before Zillow reported its earnings. Earlier this week, Facebook rolled out Dynamic Ads for Real Estate allow brokers and agents to advertise their listings directly to Facebook and Instagram users who searched for properties on the broker’s website.

An article by Monica Nickelsburg in GeekWire explained that the ads would compete with Zillow’s product, which allows real estate agents to advertise to prospective homebuyers and sellers on its site, according to the article.

Attractive blonde young woman at the wheel in her new car

Realtor Tips – Buy vs Lease Vehicles

by Commission Advances
Realtor Tips - Buy vs Lease Vehicles
Realtor Tips – Buy vs Lease VehB

Realtor: Buy vs Lease

A typical realtor makes well informed decisions when it comes to the vehicle they are going to drive.

In today’s economy, if car dealerships had it their way, everyone would be leasing their vehicles.

For starters, the shorter term life cycles of leases guarantee more transactions will happen, keeping dealer volume high.  When a customer returns a vehicle on lease to the dealership, multiple transactions happen.  In addition, customers enjoy the perks of a short term lease, such as a full manufacturer warranty, and customer loyalty is always the goal.  This is the dealer’s best case scenario.

Do Your Homework

Any realtor looking for a new ride will want to map out goals ahead of time.  Having a plan of what you want will help avoid the pitfalls of an unethical salesperson.  If you are going to consider a lease, keep in mind that realtors drive more than almost any other profession.  In fact,  National Association of Realtors (NAR) estimates the average realtor driving in excess of 30,000 miles annually for business alone.

Dealerships often offer leasing as an attractive option due to a lower monthly payment, but this can be misleading. The monthly payments may be lower and tempting, but so is the annual mileage allotment.  Exceeding this mileage allotment will result in extra payments, and possibly even a higher payment than the purchase option.

Let’s see which real estate agents should NOT lease:

Any agent who drives more than 17,000 miles per year. NAR estimates that its own agents average about 30,300 miles annually for business-related driving. If you do that much driving from open houses to showings, or if your lease is not set up correctly (cannot afford the payments of high mileage lease), don’t get talked into leasing a car. Since leasing companies charge between 15 – 30 cents per mile you drive over their standard limit of 10,000 miles annually, a 7,000 mile overage could end up costing as much as $2,100 at the end of the lease.

The Decision

If you are not into changing cars every three years, and would like to buy one and drive it until you are ready for a change.

If pre-owned is an option. You can save several thousands of dollars on a one-year-old, low mileage pre-owned vehicle.

It’s practically impossible for buyers—who on average only buy three to five cars in a lifetime—to keep track of it all and be informed enough so no one takes advantage of them. There are many loopholes and facts to be aware of and so make sure you do your homework before going into the dealer.

About Us:

Express Cash Flow provides commission advances for real estate agents and brokers.  Check us out at www.ExpressCashFlow.com or call us at 844-818-2274.

referral

Building The Best Referral Base

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

Referral Base Is Key

Much is made of how real estate agents are always doing business “by referral only” and mention that the best compliment you can give them is a referral of a family member, friend, or associate.  This is on business cards, email signatures, personalized notepads and perhaps even hanging on a sign in real estate offices.  But how do all these real estate agents go about building the referral base they seek?  We’d like to share with you some of their tricks of the trade.

  1. Always be involved in your community: This doesn’t just mean involvment in your community to secure buyers and listings, but also when it has NOTHING to do with real estate. Get to know the people living in your community.  Become an advocate for these issues and make yourself a local presence, for everything that isn’t about your own self-interest, and you will start to your referral base grow.
  2. Pick a Non-Profit You Are Passionate About, and Support It: This gives you an opportunity to do work that you care about.  It also helps build a network of like-minded people. What’s more, non-profits are generally led by successful people whom are more likely to transact in real estate, and eventually be a boost to your bottom line.  See?  It really is all for a good cause!
  3. Be A Resource for Others: One of the best ways for people to remember you as a savvy business person is to always have what they need, right then. This means knowing the right contractor, plumber, electrician, landscaper, photographer and hairdresser at a moment’s notice.  Being the resource people trust in the business community will help you build relationships.  In time, this will lead to reciprocity amongst your referral base.
  4. Pick A Strong Networking Group: Many industry veterans will tell you that belonging to a networking group is a must.  BNI, Toastmasters, Le Tip, ProVisors and other networking groups are all great options. These groups are crucial to building your networking skills and referral base.  However, it is crucial to pick the right group.  If the whole group is new to their business together, this will be a slower path towards growth.
  5. All The face time: In today’s world of modern day technology, we have more ways than ever to avoid actually sitting and talking with other people. We can email, text, call, Facebook Message, Tweet or Snapchat all of our contacts.  We’re to the point where getting face time is not the same thing as FaceTime.  We humans are social creatures, and the best way to stay top of mind is the old fashioned way.  This means being in the same place at the same time, and having meaningful conversations.  So schedule coffee, lunch, drinks, dinners, gym sessions or walks on the beach.  Spend time with people.  People who enrich you both personally and professionally, and whom have genuine interest in your business.  The ROI on this time spent with another real live human is the best way to grow your referral base.

About Us:

Express Cash Flow provides commission advances for real
estate agents and brokers.  Check us out at www.ExpressCashFlow.com or call us at 844-818-2274.

referral

family-photo-of-new-house-being-built

Best Mortgage In America

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

family-photo-of-new-house-being-built

Mortgage Today

Applying for a mortgage can be a tough task for aspiring homeowners.  Especially so for borrowers with low to moderate incomes or perhaps less than stellar credit. While the availability of credit in the early-mid 2000s made it possible to get a mortgage, this was irresponsible.  These types of mortgages would typically include a teaser rate, eventually leading to payment shock.

These days, NACA seeks to avoid that mess.  In addition to a wide depth of resources available to homebuyers to ensure they get the best possible deal, NACA also provides what has been dubbed the “Best Mortgage In America”.  This means that qualified borrowers will be able to take advantage of the following mortgage perks NACA has to offer:

  • No down payment
  • No closing costs
  • Below market interest rates
  • No Points
  • Buy-downs to near-zero interest rates
  • No fees

Seem too good to be true?  For once, it isn’t!  What’s more, NACA is not a program only available to people with certain income or credit scenarios, it is available to all qualified borrowers who do not currently own a home!  Even if the desired property requires more renovation than the buyer can afford, NACA will finance that renovation as well to allow the buyer to purchase their dream home, even if it is a fixer-upper.

This underutilized and underpublicized product is a great tool in the tool belt of first time homebuyers and realtors alike who are striving to get the best deal.

You can read more about the different programs available at www.NACA.com.

 

About Us:

Express Cash Flow – Commission advances for real estate agents and brokers www.ExpressCashFlow.com.

When to lock mortgage rate

When to Lock a Mortgage Rate

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

When to lock mortgage rateReal estate agents are often asked to advise homebuyers on financial matters especially on mortgage rates and when to lock them in. These can be difficult conversations, because things like whether to lock or float an interest rate can be guess work. A mortgage rate lock simply guarantees a specific interest rate if a loan closes by a particular date. Rates can often be locked for up to two months. At Express Cash Flow, we work with agents to keep their cash flowing with commission advances, and we’ve picked up a few tips for homebuyers who are deciding when to lock in an interest rate.

Commission Advance Cost?

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

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How much does a commission advance cost?

 

This is usually the first and most important question to real estate brokers and agents who inquire about commission advances. This is a very reasonable question, but not a simple one.

While other companies have flat fee or fixed pricing based on the amount requested for an advance, Express Cash Flow don’t operate that way. This is almost always to the benefit of the agent requesting the advance.  A one-size fits all approach doesn’t take into account the different variables of a real estate transaction.  It also doesn’t factor in experienced agents and inexperienced agents. If no two transactions and no two agents are exactly alike, then it makes sense that those transactions have different risks. If they have different risks, then it would only make sense that those different risks resulted in different pricing. So, what are the different risks, and how do they affect the commission advance cost?

Transaction Risk
No matter how solid a real estate deal seems, there is always the chance that it could fall apart. Sometimes a buyer is unable to qualify for financing, or has a cash emergency. While this is rare and unfortunate, it does happen. There are a number of hurdles to each transaction, and any of them can be its undoing. As such, an advance requested early in the lifespan of the transaction will always be more expensive.

Agent Risk
While there will always be risks associated with a transaction, we also measure your production history as a real estate agent or broker and the risk associated with a replacement transaction should your transaction fall apart. The more history of closed transactions you have, the lower our risk, and the lower your pricing will be.

Delay Risk
It is also entirely possible that there will be delays.  Because of this, we have to have protection from these delays since close of escrow date determines pricing. So, the only fees you will ever see besides our initial quoted fee is if your property does not close escrow on time. Note, however, that the close of escrow date we agree on does not have to be the same as the close of escrow date on the purchase agreement. In order to avoid these fees, you can project a close of escrow date after the scheduled close of escrow, which is a savvy, cost saving move.

Conclusion
There is only one right answer to our most frequent question “How much does a Commission Advance Cost?” That is, we don’t know yet, but would be happy to look at your scenario individually.  If you’re able to provide us all of the details, we should be able to give you a ballpark price.  The good news is, unlike some of our competitors, we give you the full amount you ask for and are paid back only at close of escrow, so our interests are aligned with yours throughout the transaction.

About Us:
Express Cash Flow provides commission advances for real estate agents and brokers. Check us out at www.ExpressCashFlow.com or call us at 844-818-2274.

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How to Appeal to the Millennial Homebuyer

by Express Cash Flow Blog Posts

In a world where millennials are more likely to walk into your home in search of Pokémon than to check out your kitchen remodel, home sellers may want to take a step back and assess how appealing their home is in its current state to the next generation of homebuyers. Often ignored as a generation that prefers renting, that trend has reversed course, as millennials have been the largest sub-group of homebuyers in 2013, 2014, and 2015 according to the National Association of Realtors.

Once home sellers are paying attention though, it is important to take note of the nuanced preferences of millennial homebuyers. While it may seem obvious that the home needs to be “hip”, there are a number of things sellers can both do and avoid to accomplish that goal. Here are some “Do’s and ‘Don’ts” of selling to millennials:

 

Do:
• Focus on the home’s sleekness by adding modern light fixtures and window coverings.
• Use newer flooring materials like hardwood, vinyl or patterned tile
• Stick to light colored walls with darker floors for a glamorous look
• Use high tech “smart home” features to enhance the home’s “future value”
• Stage the home with sleek furniture to give it a finished, move-in ready look

Don’t:
• Have family portraits or old-looking art cluttering up your home during showings
• Utilize old fashioned décor such as wallpaper, rocking or recliner style chairs, antiques or quilts
• Allow deferred maintenance that might appeal to the bargain hunter but not the millennial
• Too many mirrors or full length mirrors

Following these tips can get the newest (and largest) demographic of homebuyers to look more closely at your home, but you’ll still need to stay top of mind throughout the negotiation process in order to successfully open (and close) an escrow. The last thing millennials will want is to have to wait more hours or days than necessary to get a response, so you’ll want to coordinate with your real estate agent efficiently. This means that the days of waiting until all parties can physically be in the same location are over. With email, text, file sharing and cell phones, it should be fairly easy to take the next step in a negotiation within 24-48 hours, and millennials expect this. Make sure you find a realtor who can meet these demands and is familiar with negotiating in a high tech world.

From there, you’ll also want an escrow company that is as efficient as the millennials expect them to be, to minimize their frustration during the escrow. Of course, there will always need to be some documents that need to be signed in person, such as loan documents or other things that need to be notarized, but many escrow companies will allow electronic signatures, or at least provide a courier or shipping label, so busy millennials don’t have to take time out of their day to go sign documents at the escrow office.

Now that you know how to appeal most to a millennial, go out and apply your knowledge to get top dollar for your home!

About Us:
Express Cash Flow provides commission advances for real estate agents and brokers. Check us out at www.ExpressCashFlow.com or call us at 844-818-2274.