Title Wise
The New Jersey Real Estate News You Can Use
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Greetings!
As our market continues to shift, shrink and narrow, the best way to move into the next economy is to allow old thinking to dry up, and allow new processes and tools to become part of our business model.
The Internet has been here for 30 years, but it took 15 years to become part of the way we work. The same thing is true with artificial intelligence and other smart technologies. One thing isn't changing: we are in a people business. As long as we treat our customers, like kings and queens, I am convinced the new tools that we use and learn to use, will help us meet our objective: to deliver the very best service that is available.
Please feel free to email me at ralph@counsellorstitle.com if you have any questions or would like to follow up on any of this edition's articles.
Ralph Aponte
Founder & President
732.914.1400
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Building Your Referral Pipeline |
People are always talking – but what they are saying is called referral marketing.
A referral pipeline is often overlooked by many businesses because they do not have the infrastructure to manage it, or even understand the dynamics of referral economics. But a successful referral marketing program is an innately positive business tool vital for its your success.
Getting your consumers to tell other people YOUR STORY, and then enable them to make it part of THEIR STORY is proven to be one of the most effective and reliable ways to increase your revenue and, maintaining the monetary momentum necessary for long-term success.
Here are some stats from Nielsen:
• 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know
• People are 4 times more likely to buy a product/service when referred by a friend
• 77% of buyers will buy a new product or service that they hear about from friends or family
When people refer you — especially on a consistent basis — it is because you delivered an expected outcome. Here are a few more stats to chew upon:
• 85% of positions are filled via networking and referral networks
• ONLY 48% of people report that they keep in touch with their network
• The other 49% of people who don’t maintain contact with their network said they don’t have enough time for referral marketing
• 79% of Americans agree that networking plays a vital role in their career progression
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Gen Zers Jump into Home Ownership
According to a recent Redfin report, Gen Zers are definitely the new kids on the block, both literally and figuratively! In this crazy upside-down world of home buying, Gen Zers are coming out ahead of their predecessors.
Redfin is reporting some pretty significant and ground-breaking findings:
■ The report found that 30% of Gen Zers owned homes at age 25 in 2022.
■ This metric surpasses both Millennials and Gen Xers when they were the same age.
■ Gen Zers enjoyed the benefit of a very robust job market that jettisoned them into some pretty high-paying positions.
As you can recall, the economy was red-hot, and employers not only were hiring at a ferocious rate but were actually paying signing bonuses and retention bonuses!
In contrast with the pandemic economy, Millennials were battling the challenges of the 2008 market crash and ensuing recession, which was ultimately labeled, The Great Recession.
In addition, the Gen Zers had another very powerful advantage: record-low mortgage rates. In 2021, the average fixed rate mortgage was 2.96%! It climbed to an average of 5.34% in 2022, so the low rates and hot employment market really gave Gen Zers a leg-up on Millennials and Gen Xers.
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Home Equity Rises $1 Trillion |
Homeowner Equity Q4 2022 reported by CoreLogic analysts shows U.S. homeowners with mortgages (roughly 63% of all properties*) have seen their equity increase by a total of $1 trillion since the fourth quarter of 2021, a gain of 7.3% year over year.
But since the pandemic, the fourth quarter of 2022 showed that the total number of mortgaged residential properties with negative equity increased by 6% from the third quarter of 2022 to 1.2 million homes, or 2.1% of all mortgaged properties. On the year-over-year basis, negative equity fell by 2% from 1.2 million homes, or 2.2% of all mortgaged properties, in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is projecting that home prices will increase by 3% from December 2022 to December 2023.
The average borrower earned about $14,300 in equity year-over-year, as compared with the $63,100 gain seen in the first quarter of 2022.
Florida homeowners benefited the most with the highest annual equity growth in the fourth quarter, of $49,000. Florida has posted the largest year-over-year home price gains in the country for the past year, according to HPI data, with prices up by 13.4% in January.
Four Western states and one district posted annual home equity decreases: Idaho (-$21,400), Washington (-$18,900), California (-$8,500), Utah (-$4,600) and Washington, D.C. (-$8,300).
This partially mirrors trends recorded in CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index (HPI), which found that Idaho, Washington and Washington, D.C. saw home price growth decline slightly year over year in January 2023.
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Counsellors Title is initiating this feature of Title Wise called Life Quotes.
Oftentimes we are so busy doing that we forget the reason(s) why. Life Quotes are those mental speed bumps that we will occasionally come across and insert, just to rehearse the important things in life.
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BEFORE GETTING TOO FAR INTO 2023...
Before you can go to where you want to be, it is prudent to consider where you have been. The first Perspectives by Counsellors Title Agency is just that - it is a compilation of the best of Ralph's Title Wise blogs posted during 2022.
Some of the blogs include: Your Network Is Your Future, Professionalize Your Home Work Space, Decluttering Checklist, Historic Surge in Home Equity, and Marketing Chemistry.
Click the image of the eBook to download it. You can also pass it along to people who might need the information included in it. |
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A.S.A.P. Attorney Settlement Assistance Program
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Our real estate secretarial services are able to assist you in every aspect of the sale, purchase, refinance or loan closing process. We will directly communicate with all the parties involved in the transaction and coordinate and obtain all the items necessary to bring the matter to closing.
Our ASAP services can be individually customized to fit your needs. These services include:
- Documentation Preparation
- Disbursement of Funds
- Attendance at Closing
- HUD Preparation or
- Post-Closing Matters
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Our Commitment to Excellence |
Counsellors Title Agency wants to thank you for the opportunity to work with you and your clients to grow your business. Please feel free to click the link above or here to leave us a review on Google. We appreciate your business. |
Sales: Leading NJ title insurance agency seeks experienced licensed salespersons to help expand its market share throughout the entire state. Benefits include health insurance, 401k with an employer match, flexible spending account, expense account, & marketing support. Send resumes by fax: 732-914-8898 or ralph@counsellorstitle.com
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Free Online Title Insurance Calculator |
Counsellors Title Agency announced its updated Title Calculator for New Jersey home purchases & refinances at: Title Calculator
Loan officers, real estate agents and home buyers can find out how much title insurance will cost for purchases made in New Jersey.
Easy-To-Use Functionality
This online tool includes many of the endorsements involved in calculating the cost of a title policy in New Jersey. CTA's Title Calculator is a great tool for real estate salespersons, loan officers, attorneys and those who are buying or refinancing their home.
It calculates the cost of title insurance based upon the purchase price of the home, the loan amount, and the various endorsements that can accompany the loan. The calculator provides the user the scalability of selecting the various endorsements involved in the transaction.
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Handy Guide to Real Estate Sources |
Here are some of the most widely used governmental websites for the real estate industry.
I look forward to being of service to you, providing you with outstanding real-time information and some humor to make doing business a pleasure.
Sincerely,
Ralph
Ralph Aponte
Counsellors Title
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Counsellors Title Agency, Inc. specializes in providing title insurance, title search services and loan closing services serving attorneys, Realtors, banks and various mortgage companies throughout the State of New Jersey. CTA offers full search and insurance capabilities within all 21 counties of New Jersey for commercial, residential and new construction purchases in our Toms River, Freehold, Chatham, and Union locations.
CTA is equipped with the latest digital technologies to ensure a complete and timely transaction.
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Mr. Ralph Aponte
Our Office: 504 Hooper Avenue,
Toms River, NJ 08753
Phone Number: (732) 914-1400
Fax: 732-914-8898
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