Just do it!!!!!!!

Do you remember how, as a child, you would dreamily spend hours gazing at all the wonders found in the holiday catalogs, wishing, hoping and dreaming for those special delights? For most of us, those delights remained largely within the catalog covers, but a couple of important lessons were learned. One, dreaming, hoping and wishing are not particularly effective means of getting what we want, and two, it sure was fun to dream! And even as adults, it's great fun to dream of castles in the air, and much more so when you begin to build foundations under them, and that's what goal setting is all about.

And how often did the youthful you wonder what you were going to do "when you grew up?" For many, that dream has changed a number of times, subject to revision with each new interest we encountered. Still others made youthful decisions to follow a certain career path and remain committed to that decision. Others are evaluating options and making career decisions well into maturity and adulthood. And many never really discover the answer to that magical question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" No matter where you are in your professional life, goal setting can help.

If You Can Conceive It, and If You Believe It, You Can Achieve It!

A number of years ago, the renowned contemporary philosopher Earl Nightingale offered a classic definition of success – "The progressive realization of worthy goals." Whether the decisions facing you are major – like making a career change – or relatively minor, like planning a vacation, goals will help you achieve the success you seek. Since success is a journey, and not a destination at which you arrive, goals become the pathway to achieving whatever you want to be, have, or do. That is the good news.

Even better news is that the pathway is built of ten clearly defined and recognizable stepping-stones. As you are about to take the first step, remember that goal setting is fun, and goal achieving is even more fun!

Getting Prepared for the First Step

Before stepping out onto the ten stepping-stones, here are a couple suggestions to help assure a productive journey. Your goals must be just that – your goals. They should be written commitments to what you intend to be, have, or do, and they need to be specific – "I'd like to lose some weight" does not work. "I weigh _______ pounds by September 1st" does, because it conforms to the definition of what we call QUALITY goals.

A QUALITY goal is: Q – quantifiable (measurable), Unconditional (not subject to reservations), Achievable, Literal (specific), Inspiring, Time Dated and Yours (Your goal for yourself). Some goals – quitting smoking, losing weight, running a 10K – become more doable when interim goals are established. Writing goals as outcomes, rather than processes, can be effective. For example, "Learn to speak Spanish" is not as effective as "I converse easily in Spanish." And remember to make them positive – "I am a non-smoker" is more powerful than, "I don't smoke anymore." Some goals will require a detailed plan to make them happen and some will not. If "a clean basement" is a goal, it may not be necessary to analyze all the available options to accomplish that goal (of course, that depends on the condition of your basement!). However, if your goal is an income goal, then in all probability a careful analysis is in order.

It was mentioned earlier that it is important to put your goal in writing. This lends clarity and focus to its attainment. If you are like so many others, you may not even be sure what your goals are, or should be, and that's perfectly fine at this stage of your journey. Remember the holiday "Wishbook" that was alluded to earlier? Goal setting requires a wishbook, too. This is where your journey will start – write down anything and everything you even think you might like to be, have, or do. At this point, don't complicate things by recording only what makes sense. Forget QUALITY goals here – "First we get it down, then we get it good!" You've dreamed of climbing Mt. Everest ? GO FOR IT!! – in the "Wishbook", anyway!

In all probability, you have spent more time in the past planning a weekend trip than you have spent planning your life. Remember how planning that trip led to positive expectations and anticipation of good things? Magnify those feelings a thousand fold and you'll have an idea of the positive expectancy, energy and anticipation you'll experience as you step out onto the ten stepping-stones of goal-achievement.

"A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

...begins with the first step", and so does the journey on the ten stepping stones of the pathway to achieving your goals. You may set any number of goals in each of the ten areas, though it is suggested that no more than four or five in each area is a manageable number. Here are the ten stepping-stones and a couple of example activities in each area:

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. Read 2 books a month; attend seminars
OWNERSHIP. New toy trains; that Mont Blanc pen you've always wanted
PROJECTS. Build a ship model; clean rain gutters
SPIRITUAL. daily prayer; tithing
FINANCIAL. investments; savings
BUSINESS AND CAREER. promotion; increased business
RECREATION. Attend a reunion; start a new hobby.
FAMILY. more family activities; be a better role model.
COMMUNITY. Be a regular blood donor; volunteer
PHYSICAL. exercise program; medical check up
Congratulations in Advance on Achieving Your Goals!

Goals should be written on paper, but never chiseled in stone. Setting and achieving goals is a life-long commitment to growth. It is not uncommon for goals to change, to evolve, to mature. Remember, too, that if a goal hasn't been accomplished in the desired timeframe, perhaps the timeframe, not the goal, requires tweaking.

Welcome to the wonderful world of goal setting. It has been said that only about three to five percent of adult Americans have written goals for their lives. You are about to walk with that elite group on the ten stepping-stones to achievement. Congratulations!

Referrals

Imagine you are going to dinner with your spouse or significant other to celebrate something. You've selected a special restaurant based on an expectation that it will help you commemorate this occasion.

After waiting for a few minutes, even though you arrived on time for your reservation, you are seated at a table that is not in the best table in the house. Service continues to be less than anticipated and when the food arrives, it doesn't measure up to what you were expecting either.

Your last hope to redeem the evening is dessert. Instead of tempting you with a visual and verbal description of each of the offerings, the waiter asks "Have you saved any room for dessert" to which you immediately answer "No."

You and your spouse go home that evening with a recognized amount of disappointment because what should have been a memorable evening for another reason, will be remembered because it didn't live up to your expectations.

The waiter did not know what the specials were and of course, had not tasted them. You wanted a recommendation on a wine pairing but he didn't have a clue because he doesn't drink wine.

The food was okay but there were no garnishes on the plate and it wasn't presented attractively. The food came out together but your spouse's wasn't done properly; they agreed to take it back but left yours. You waited for the other entrée to return and by the time it got there, yours was cold.

Let's face it. You got the dinner but not the experience you wanted. When you get to work next week and your friends ask you about your weekend, you'll talk about it but not favorably. In all probability, you'll never go back to that restaurant again.

That experience was based on an evening and a meal that might have cost a hundred dollars.

Now, let's compare that with the purchase or sale of a home that in a dollar comparison is 15 to 20 thousand times greater. The memory of a meal, no matter how special the occasion, will fade quicker than the unpleasant experience that might be associated with the sale or purchase of a home.

NAR tells us that most people can't remember exactly what they paid for a home within 45 days of closing and some buyers can't remember their agent's name within 90 days. One of the things that are vivid in their mind long after the closing is whether they were able to close on time.

The daily grind of real estate sales is business as usual for most of us. It's understandable because buying and selling a home is common for REALTORS® but it is obviously an infrequent event for our customers. Most people have thought, dreamed, and planned for this purchase or sale for a long time.

Psychologists say that moving and obtaining a mortgage are two of the most stressful events a person can encounter with only loss of a spouse or loss of job as being greater. Simple understanding of this alone should help agents to show more compassion during the sale process.

On more of a strategic approach, we might make a decision to drop by our buyers' home once a week for at least six weeks after they buy it. Taking a small gift each time you go by that has little cost but is valuable nevertheless will make an impression. You'll also have the opportunity to ask if they need any help with anything.

This type of gesture will cement your relationship as a person who wants to genuinely help and it will give you the opportunity to find out if the buyers have any friends who might be moving.

The types of gifts that you can give each would include:

1) A ready to eat meal on moving day
2) A bucket of cleaning supplies
3) A page of return address labels
4) Postcards to notify their friends of their new address
5) Home Inventory to record their personal belongings
6) Homeowner's Tax Worksheet to track the basis in their home
7) Mortgage Accelerator to show what additional principal payments will do to save on interest and shorten the term
8)Labels to record when they changed the filter in the HVAC
9) Calendar with a picture of their home
10) Home Maintenance Checklist
11)Chart showing restaurants that deliver
12) Energy saving tips checklist
We must be sympathetic to the anxiety that is attached to these transactions. We must exercise every amount of care possible to insure that the sale goes smoothly and without difficulties. If problems do arise, and they usually do, we need to take care of them expeditiously.

Prospecting

Almost any agent in real estate can improve their results by doing more prospecting. When an agent is brand new in the business, oftentimes prospecting takes up a large part of their time because they really have no active transactions they're working on. But sometime thereafter agents can get out of the habit of prospecting regularly once they feel busy and working on activity. The problem here is that feeling busy doesn't necessarily translate into making more money, oftentimes leaving agents feeling frustrated at why their results aren't improving.

Sometimes when leading seminars in front of audiences I ask everyone how much their income would increase over the next 12 months if they made sure to prospect 10-12 hours during every week that they're working. When answering this question, the majority of people in the room feel that their income would at least double, some even feel it would triple, and most everyone in the room feels that their income would increase by at least 30%.

And sometimes when working with my coaching clients I ask them to track the number of hours they're prospecting every week. I do this because oftentimes agents have lulled themselves into believing they're prospecting more hours than they really are in their business. And once these clients recognize that the number of hours per week they're actually prospecting is abysmal, they recognize that it's definitely time to get themselves moving.

So in case you're wondering if you're prospecting enough in your business right now, I've identified what I consider to be the three warning signs to watch out for that may indicate that your level of prospecting needs to be improved.

Warning Sign #1

After Years in the Business, You're Still Doing a Lot of Cold Calling, Not Warm Calling

If you find after years of being in the business that when you prospect people, they still don't know who you are, you're not prospecting these people enough to build the kinds of relationships that will easily lead to more business for you. Agents who prospect a lot get to a point where many of their calls are "warm calls," meaning that they're calling and talking to people they've already talked with before. So if you're not experiencing a lot of warm calls after having been in the business for a number of years, it may be because you're not doing a lot of prospecting.

Warning Sign #2

You're Finding People and Companies Who Have Requirements, But After It's Too Late to Begin Working with Them

This is one of the biggest nightmares a real estate agent can experience. You've identified someone who's ready to take action, but they're already committed to working with someone else...your competitor. So why weren't you in contact with these people months ago when they were just beginning to realize they needed to talk to a real estate agent? It may be because you haven't been doing much prospecting on an ongoing basis throughout the year.

Warning Sign #3

You Hear About Transactions Closing in Your Area That You Never Even Knew Were Happening

If you find out through others or through the media that someone has bought, sold, or leased a property that's in the territory you work in, and you didn't even know that the property was available, or that the people or company were looking for a property, this too is a sign that you may not be doing enough prospecting.

So how did you measure up? Did you find that any of these three warning signs applied to you?

Prospecting is one of the most difficult activities for many of us to continually do in real estate. Who normally wants to put themselves out there in a situation where maybe nine times out of ten you'll be rejected or end up talking with people who just aren't interested in doing anything?

The point is, though, that the one call out of ten where the people may be interested in doing something is the one that will make you huge amounts of money throughout the year, as long as you're making these calls every single week (or canvassing in person if you prefer).

So evaluate where you're at in your level of prospecting right now. And if you feel your income could definitely be improved by prospecting 10-12 hours or more every single week, do what you must to make sure you get this prospecting done.

30 Year Loans

For 60 years, CMHC has been in touch with you, the housing industry,

helping pave the way for innovations and helping you house more Canadians.



Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, working with Sutton Mortgages, is offering homeowner mortgage loan insurance on loans amortized up to 30 years as part of a pilot project to improve access to home ownership and choice for Canadians. The availability of extended amortization periods will improve access to homeownership by lowering monthly principal and interest costs. The features of the pilot project are as follows:

Extended amortizations are available for purchase transactions only and for loans secured by first mortgages.
The maximum amortization period beyond 25 years, is the lesser of 30 years or the useful life of the property.
A premium surcharge of 0.25% will apply to mortgages with extended amortizations beyond 25 years except in the case of loans insured under CMHC’s Affordable Housing Partnerships and Energy-Efficient Homes products.
Extended amortizations are not available for CMHC Line of Credit (LOC), Flex Down, or Refinance products.

The four month pilot, which begins March 3 and runs until the end of June 2006, is also available through any other Approved Lenders who wish to participate (CMHC must receive written confirmation from the Approved Lenders Head Office). CMHC will assess the pilot results and then determine whether this will be a permanent program.









Depuis 60 ans, la SCHL est en constante communication avec vous,
le secteur de l’habitation, afin d’ouvrir la voie à l’innovation et pour
que vous puissiez aider un plus grand nombre de Canadiens à se loger.



En collaboration avec Hypothèques Sutton, la Société canadienne d’hypothèques et de logement lance un projet pilote afin de mettre à l'essai un produit d’assurance s’appliquant aux prêts hypothécaires pour propriétaires-occupants assortis d’une période d’amortissement maximale de 30 ans et, ainsi, de favoriser l’accession à la propriété et d’offrir aux Canadiens davantage de choix en matière d’habitation. La prolongation de la période d’amortissement facilitera l’accession à la propriété parce qu’elle permettra de réduire les versements mensuels (principal et intérêts). En voici les caractéristiques :

La prolongation de la période d'amortissement est possible dans le cas des transactions d’achat seulement et des prêts garantis par une hypothèque de premier rang.
Il est possible d’allonger la période d’amortissement de la durée normale de 25 ans, et ce, jusqu’à 30 ans au maximum ou jusqu’à la fin de la durée utile de la propriété, selon l’échéance la plus rapprochée.
Une surprime de 0,25 % sera exigée pour les prêts hypothécaires comportant une période d’amortissement supérieure à 25 ans, mais celle-ci ne s’appliquera pas à l’assurance des prêts visant à favoriser la production de logements abordables par l’entremise de partenariats ni à l’assurance prêt hypothécaire pour habitations éconergétiques.
La prolongation de la période d’amortissement n’est pas possible dans le cas de l’assurance des marges de crédits, de l’assurance des prêts hypothécaires avec mise de fonds multisource, ni de l’assurance des prêts de refinancement.
Le projet pilote durera quatre mois, soit du 3 mars à la fin de juin 2006. La prolongation de la période d’amortissement sera également offerte par l’entremise d’autres prêteurs désireux de participer au projet pilote (la SCHL doit recevoir une confirmation écrite du siège social des prêteurs agréés). La SCHL évaluera les résultats de ce projet pilote et décidera si elle offrira ce produit d’assurance à titre permanent.

Gettinfg a price reduction

Asking for price reductions can make or break a top real estate agent's business. Not only will price reductions quicken the sale while minimizing overhead in a real estate agent's business, but it will also prove to everyone that your marketing systems work. Remember, price is 90% of any marketing plan and the faster you achieve market value, the faster everyone's needs are met.

We've all experienced the seller who, no matter how much information is given them including pre-listing sales packages with pricing technologies and the right scientific research showing the exact value of their home, still wants more! What are we to do?

All I can do at this juncture is to assume that the right questions were asked prior to and during the listing presentation, and they received information on how to price their property correctly. At the listing presentation, this information was reviewed and the scientific information was discussed. If after all of this has been done and the price is still too high, your options are to not take the listing or to receive a pre-agreed reduction based upon the success of marketing.

All of this leaves me to believe, that if everything that should be done has been done and you still have an overpriced listing, you (1) knew it was overpriced and took it anyway or (2) made a mistake based upon the fact that you liked the property more than anyone else did. There is a possible third problem - maybe the seller was a better salesperson than you and sold you on the high price.

This leads us to one conclusion - if you have been a victim of any of the previously mentioned three problems, you're now going to have to consistently ask for price reductions.

Asking for price reductions may be one of the most embarrassing aspects of this business. How do you ask for price reductions when you told the seller that you could market the home at the agreed upon price? Sometimes, their response might be furious, "Well anyone could sell this house at that price!" You might also hear, "The other agent said that they could get more," "I can't buy my new home if I get that price," or "Do you expect me to lose money?" All these questions ignore the main subject - market value is market value. None of the above questions has anything to do with market value.

The following lead-ins can be used to ask for a price reduction. It is very important that you use new topics as often as possible, so you won't sound monotonous! Remember, an agent who asks for price reductions soon after the listing presentation will have a weary seller; mix your price reductions in with new and exciting marketing concepts. Concepts such as a page on your website from your lender showing five ways which the home can be financed, adding a special home of the day button to your site, or sending your evaluation surveys to all the agents who have seen the home. I have a million of them. Remember, the seller likes the real estate agent who is ingenious in their marketing methods, and the seller will then listen more intently to the following reasons for a price reduction.

Here are the lead-ins that you can use to ask for a price reduction. I have done in subject form because scripts would be too difficult knowing every situation is different. However, here are the subjects of price reduction scripts that will get you started:

1. There's been a new sale in the neighborhood that affects your value.


2. Here are some of the responses that we've received from other agents.


3. Here are the responses that I received from buyers I have shown.


4. Here are responses that I have heard from buyers shown by other agents.


5. Here are the responses from the agents in my office.


6. Here are the attitudes of the real estate agents who attended the broker open house.


7. Here were the attitudes of the buyers who walked through your home on the open house.


8. Here are the responses that we have received from the ad that we've placed in...


9. If this were my home, here are some suggestions that I would do to make it more appealing to buyers. By the way, rather than just making these improvements, why don't we drop the price to compensate for some improvements the buyer may want to make?


10. Why don't we increase the selling office commission? If I sell it, I will stick to the original terms of the listing agreement.


11. May we add a selling office bonus?


12. I know that this offer was low and the buyer did not accept our counter offer; however, may I lower the home to the amount that we mentioned in the counter offer to attract more interested buyers?


13. May we ask for some concessions on the home that you're buying and then supply those same concessions to any potential buyers on their home?


15. May we offer preferential owner financing and make the property more affordable to any potential buyers?


16. We have an open house/new ad/new web blast going out and I would certainly love to be able to market this home at a new and improved price.


17. I'm going to be taking the property out of the MLS and resubmitting it as a new listing, thereby acquiring a new look and new enthusiasm among the cooperating real estate agents here in town. I'd like to do that at a lower price.


18. Is there anything that we could throw in that would "sweeten the pot" - appliances, vehicles, maybe even a free vacation at a timeshare?


19. Many times we have found that emotions play a big role in the sale of a home. Can we make your home more emotional by having it professionally staged and decorated by a local design group?


20. Cooperation among real estate agents is paramount to getting the property sold. Yes, I am the one agent who is handling the marketing, but I am marketing to more than 3,000 real estate agents who handle a large percentage of buyers. My job is to market to them so that they can express their excitement of your home to their buyers. Let's discuss what we can do to make this home more exciting to the real estate agents here in town.


21. Real estate agents have many properties to show and sometimes the determining reason for showing is ease of access. Let's do some items to improve the showing procedure that will make it easily accessible to real estate agents at any time and a moment's notice.


22. I would like to obtain a price reduction and do some things that I have never done to market a home, such as advertising them in The Journal De Montrea and The Gazette. Spending money on an ad that would reach outside our geographical area is risky, but I would be willing to go ahead and give it a try if we had a more marketable price.


23. I was looking at your holding costs and found that if we drop your price and obtain a sale, we may eliminate many months of payments, taxes, insurance, and upkeep that I believe would compensate you for this price reduction. Let's discuss how this might work.


In all the years that I've done business, one of the hardest things I have to do is disappoint a client. The continued marketing of this property at the current price, that I now find is too high, only tends to disappoint you; therefore, I'd like to ask the following favor: would you please consider a price reduction? If that is impossible, would you allow me to discontinue my marketing efforts? It's very difficult for me to express to you since you have been so fair with me; however, I truly believe that unless we drop this price, the property will go unsold. I'm willing to give up my marketing effort and my listing to show you how clear I am that we need to adjust our price today.
I hope you can use one or all of these reasons to obtain a price reduction or to make improvements in terms of value. The phone is the most effective way to do this. Having your assistant call or mailing a price reduction request has proven to be ineffective. There are times when the real estate agent must pick up the phone - asking for a price reduction is one of those times.

The future of advertising

Rapid advances in technology have changed everything from health care to communication. Now, as the latest technology becomes more accessible to a broader market, the advertising field is changing, too. Ten years ago, you could plan your advertising campaign around a few television commercials and print advertisements. And most companies would never have considered spending a sizeable portion of their advertising budget on the Internet. But in 2006, online ad expenditures are expected to reach $17 billion.

Today, the use of traditional media outlets, such as radio, television, and print, is eroding as alternative advertising options increase. Rather than reading the newspaper first thing in the morning and watching broadcast television news every night, people can find out what's happening in the world, almost in real time, via the web. Newspaper subscriptions are at an all-time low, and consumers TiVo the news so they can watch it without viewing the commercials. So where does that leave marketers that want to maximize their return on their advertising investment?

Advertisers who want to reach their target audience and remain competitive in this high-tech world have to change with the times. You need to keep abreast of emerging new technologies, what media types are most popular, and how consumers use what is available to them.

If you want to stay current and advertise your products and services in ways that reach your target audience on their turf, consider the following forms of emerging media.

1. Blogs

Blog is short for "web log," essentially, online journals that people without any HTML knowledge can create easily from any computer. They are frequently updated and usually include the owner's thoughts or musings on topics ranging from what's happening in the news to what they ate for lunch.

Companies or individuals can keep blogs. Company blogs usually promote products in what is known as an "adverblog." However, those blogs started by individuals without a commercial affiliation usually have more credibility.

About fifty million people keep blogs. And many different categories exist, including travel, health, and business. Blogs are popular because they provide a concise summary of news and information and give users power by providing information all in one place and on a timely basis. A blog dedicated to heart health, for example, will likely pull information from sources all over the Internet, so someone surfing for heart health information doesn't have to search several sites for the most up-to-date research about the topic; they can find everything they need on a heart health blog.

As far as advertising on blogs, ads are generally related to the blog topic. That heart health blog could be an excellent place to advertise a health food or exercise product. If you're interested in advertising on blogs, first look for help from marketing companies that measure hot blog topics and provide market research based on blog content.

2. Podcasts

Podcasts deliver digital audio and video files to a user via the Internet. The name comes from the iPod, but they aren't just for iPod users. A pod cast is an audio file in MP3 format that a consumer can download to their iPod, MP3 player, or computer. Then the person can listen to it over and over again, share it with friends, and save it on a computer's hard drive.

Six million people have downloaded podcasts, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. And of the twenty-two-million iPod owners, twenty-nine percent have downloaded podcasts.

Podcasts are an emerging media form that will continue to grow, and as this media outlet increases in popularity, the advertising possibilities will grow as well. Viacom, Disney, and Clear Channel all have radio-type podcasts, and even print media outlets use podcasts to broadcast interviews and other audio supplements to their print stories. For example, you can read an issue of a magazine and listen to an interview in its entirety on the magazine's website.

3. Gaming

Sixty-eight out of 108 million households currently play video and computer games, according to the "Digital Gaming in America" Ziff Davis report of August 2005. Advertisers can reach this market, which is mostly comprised of young males, in two ways.

First, advertisers can use gaming technology to insert their ads in popular games. For example, say you are playing a football video game on your XBOX 360. You'll see ads placed on the sidelines and on the scoreboard just like you would if you were in a real football stadium or watching a real game on television. Video games are also played online, allowing gamers to compete with opponents in other parts of the world. These games offer many opportunities to place logos and products that a huge audience will see.

Another way to advertise using games is literally to create your own game that the consumer can play online. This is commonly referred to as Advergaming. Many companies, such as Lipton and Mountain Dew, have used this advertising technique. The greatest benefit of these games is that they get people involved in the brand. Game designers create these games to interest a particular target audience, such as young children. Be aware, though, if you're marketing to kids, to closely monitor the game's content.

4. Mobile Advertising

Nearly 199 million people in the United States subscribe to mobile phone services. And every phone produced in the last year is capable of accessing the Internet. What does this mean for advertisers? Yet another method for reaching the target audience. People now use mobile phones to search the Internet, play games, and instant message as well as to access sports scores, learn breaking news, and even check out horoscopes.

Mobile advertising presents a great means to reach the high school and college student markets with banner and video ads. Currently, mobile ads are simple and usually text banners. But down the road, as this technology continues to advance, cell phones may be capable of displaying television ads. However, this media outlet is not without limitations. Everything in your ad has to be cleared by the phone company, so you must consider the logistical aspects of placing mobile ads.

The High-Tech Future of Advertising

If you want to remain competitive in the future, technology will be key to your success. You should consider these four, and other new types, of digital media when putting together any advertising strategy, because traditional media outlets just aren't as effective as they once were. While it's difficult to predict exactly where the trends are headed, when you keep an eye on new technology, you and your service won't be left behind.

Tell your buyers to be careful of what they say.

Using phrases that may give away your true feelings about a property may weaken your negotiating position.
Some of these may be familiar.

I love it.
It's perfect for us (me).
We (I) just fell in love with the house.
I (we) just found my next home.
It's our dream home.
We've loved it for years.
We love it. We want it.
It's the perfect house for us (me).
We love this house. Dearly.
Here are some tips to help you save some money once you find the perfect home.

Instruct your agent to keep you away from listing agents or sellers when you're viewing a home. As much as the listing agent or homeowner wants to follow you around to sell you the home, ask your agent (yes you should have your own) to tell the listing agent or owner that after a quick verbal overview of the property features you would like to see the property at your own pace, unaccompanied by them. This way if the love starts flowing they won't know it, unless you're screaming with glee.

Adopt a poker face. From the minute you meet real estate agents or sellers, be approachable but not overly engaging. Real estate sales persons first thought is to try to qualify you as a buyer. Resist extensive conversations by extracting yourself with ?we're on a tight property tour timeline today", "it's our first day out", or "some features work for us, but it isn't 100%".

Don't stay too long. The longer you stay, the more likely the listing agent will find out way too much information about your feelings toward the home, and that will not serve you later, if and when you enter into negotiations. Even if you are in love, on the average don't stay longer than half-an-hour. Book a second showing if you need more time.

Moderate picture taking. If you need to take some photos, do, but limit to overview photos and not every detail such as the insides of kitchen cabinets. Pick up the listing sheet and some additional information, but when offered every mortgage rate sheet, listing agent card, refrigerator magnet, decline the offer. You're trying to save some trees and not appear in love.

Delay feedback. Before you leave the home the selling agent or homeowner will ask what you think of the home. No commitment answers please. A quick "thank-you for showing us the (your) home, we need to think about it", "we've seen so many today, but we need to assess which will work the best for us", or "it has features we like, but it's stretching our home search parameters."

Ask factual questions, which can you, can independently verify answers. If you get stuck being questioned by an agent or seller, take charge of the conversation and ask basic questions that you can verify independently later. This is a good lie detector test, so if you start communicating later on a contract, you'll know who's who. Ask what are the most recent taxes, any planned special assessments by the homeowners association, annual, quarterly or monthly assessment amount, how long have you (or the sellers) lived in the home. Use the listing sheet to verify answers.

You haven't tipped your hand, but if you are in love, here's some next step tips.

Sleep on it. Unless you're in an over-heated sellers market (beware of top-of-market-prices) take some time alone and weigh the pluses and minus'. Don't react or be impulsive. You'll feel more confident if it's the right thing to do over time.

Take a second or third look. You'll discover your love level on the second or third tour of a home, or if it's not exactly what you want. If you go back more than three times, you might start to alienate the listing agent or seller and they might not think your decisive enough to go to the closing table.

Review closed sold comparables from the last six months. Compile data from recently sold homes that are similar to the one you are interested in will let you know if yours is over or under-priced or fair market value. These comparables will help you strategize your negotiations.

Don't waive contingencies. Just because you want it, don't give up your legal rights in a contract. Don't let your agent or love convince you to strike attorney, home inspection or mortgage contingencies. Have an attorney review all real estate contracts.

The sellers and their real estate agent will know you want the house when they're presented with a real estate contract. It's a sure sign of love in realty circles.