These ready-to-use handouts are available free to REALTORS®. Give them to clients, use them to convert FSBOs into customers, or make them the basis for articles in your client newsletter or local newspaper. You are free to customize each handout with your branding and information specific to your market; some handouts have blank spaces that show you exactly where to insert market-specific information. These handouts are available in English and Spanish, and in a PDF or Word format.

Click here to view them.

YPN is a growing group of young, career-minded real estate professionals who want to stay abreast of the latest tools, resources, and networking opportunities. As a member, you’ll receive invitations to exclusive events at REALTOR® conferences, news on how to get involved in leadership roles at NAR, and updates on new tools and resources that will help you grow your career. Membership is Free!

Click Here for more info 

Last Friday, November 16th, the House passed H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007, by a vote of 291-127.

This piece of legislation provides protection to consumers of home mortgage products by providing certain minimum standards for consumer mortgage loans, and prohibiting steering incentives to mortgage originators, including incentive compensation.

The bill additionally establishes minimum repayment standards for mortgages and prohibits refinancing that does not benefit the borrower. For more information regarding the bill, you can click here.

Via MortgageOrb.com

Sounds like a good idea. It also sounds difficult, eh? Not really. There’s a new website, Catalog Choice, that lets you opt out of hundreds of catalog mailing lists with the proverbial click of your mouse. By jumping off the catalog bandwagon, you’ll do your part to spare some of the 8,000,000 tons of trees consumed each year for catalog paper consumption.

www.catalogchoice.org 

Here are thirteen quick, painless and easy (yet powerful) things you can do to protect your privacy and help defeat invasive data mining done by corporations and governments alike.

1. Don’t Use Your Middle Initial. So many people make the mistake of using their middle initial in everyday life without realizing the impact to privacy. If your name is John Larry Smith, using your middle initial makes it much easier for database operators to connect records. While there are many John Smiths out there, there are not nearly as many John L. Smiths. In most cases, you can get away with removing your middle initial from your driver’s license, checks and most legal documents. Read the rest of this entry »
   

You probably already have Microsoft Word, but sometimes find it just isn’t enough for your marketing and publishing needs. So you look online and get sticker shock when you see the price of the “pro” applications from Adobe and MS Publisher. Well, we might have a great solution for you - and it’s free!

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of “press-ready” output and new approaches to page layout.

Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

Best of all - it’s FREE. Yep, totally free. CLICK HERE to go to the site and learn more.

Andrew Santana Fundraiser Flyer

Andrew Santana is a hopeful 14-year-old Freshman at Enoch’s High School in Modesto. He’s a great kid and loves life. However, he was recently diagnosed with Synovial Cell Sarcoma Cancer - a rare type of cancer that is found in only 1% of people in the United States. This is a highly-malignant cancer that arises in the connective tissues of the body, and often appears in young adults. Andrew has it in his calf muscle.

Currently, Andrew is undergoing treatment at UC, San Francisco. Because of his family’s limited resources, a special fund raiser dinner has been planned to help pay for his treatment. Even though his diagnosis is serious, Andrew’s spirits are up and he continues with a passion for music. With your help, he will be able to continue getting the treatment he needs and can look forward to someday being a successful music producer and entrepreneur.

Please consider helping Andrew today!

December 8, 2007
6pm Socialize/drinks … 7pm Dinner
Benefit auction follows the dinner
Escalon Sportsman Club
25195 E. River Road, Escalon CA

$25 per person
(Checks payable to the Andrew Santana Fund)

CALL:  (209) 572-2301 or e-mail adillian@pmzloans.com

Download the flyer by clicking here.

Linda Stein, also known as the “Realtor to the stars”, was found beaten to death at her New York apartment today.

Her clientele included Hollywood stars such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie and Michael Douglas.

CNN reports that the broker she worked for was quoted saying that he assumed she fell and hit her head and when he found out she was beaten to death, couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to murder Stein.

I know the market has changed for buyers and sellers, but it’s definitely not something to murder someone over. Or is it? Apparently being a Realtor is a very dangerous job!

Read the CNN.com Story