The trend today is home based jobs with more and more people leaving their work cubicles at office only to stay home and work. This method of working seems to be picking up speed over the past few years with more and more moms turning down their office jobs to stay home and take care of the kids while earning a handsome income from doing jobs at home. It is considered the best home based business ideas. It is very hard to find stay-at-home moms taking care of the home and the kids alone, she is bound to be a work-from-home as well, adding an income to the family’s budget.Though presently more and more people are turning to the internet to earn their extra dollars there still are many who earn a living doing other jobs as well. However the internet has many home based business ideas that one can choose from according to the particular skill that you possess.Network marketing is fast developing with online trading sites like eBay, Amazon and the like. These sites are always in need of sales assistants to sell the products of many manufacturers and dealers. The commission that is offered for selling their products is very high and one can consider this as one of the home based business ideas to earn money.Besides this affiliate marketing, article writing, blogging, travel writing etc. are well known methods that most people adopt to make steady and lucrative incomes that would settle their bills at home, or at least allow for a luxurious vacation each year.Online tutoring is an effective way of earning money and spreading knowledge. Teachers are always in demand throughout the world. It would be one of the best home based business ideas to do online tutoring of children in reputed schools and colleges, while sitting at home. Though the wages you get would seem high the proprietors would feel relaxed at not having to spend thousands of dollars employing a regular tutor to visit the campus everyday and teach the children.Counseling and consulting services are also much in demand. Many students are very anxious to soar high in their careers but they have no idea how to go about with their plans. By setting up a counseling center you can assist them with their plans and help them take the right decision based on their skills and qualification, in return for a commission that you can charge.Medical transcription and legal or other transcription jobs are flooding the internet searching for reliable transcriptionists to do transcribe their interviews, conference chats, speeches etc. Medical transcription is a continuous flow of work for the right person who can take care of the transcribing job efficiently.Photography, web designing and many such home based business ideas can bring in lucrative income while at the same time keeping you occupied and happy doing something that you love. Make use of the services of the internet to find more home based business ideas that would suit your skill and knowledge.
How to Promote Your Home Based Businesses Without Spending a Penny
The Internet has brought a revolution in the world of home based businesses providing various ways to make extra money from home. The best thing about a home business is that you can work as many hours as you want and whenever you want to. There is no additional commuting time spent and all the money that you make, goes straight into your pocket and not to a company that would take its chunk out first! Luckily, there are various ways that you can use to promote your home based business without having to pay a penny! Below are the Top 3 ways:One of the best ways to promote your home based business is to convince the other business owners to refer new clients to you. While this may sound difficult, it is often more easily achieved than you may think. Typically, there are many business owners who would like to work on joint venture basis. You should try to connect with several such business owners, by visiting social media sites like Twitter, Face book and even some of the forums regularly. After developing a healthy relationship with some of the goal oriented people, you can ask them, if they would like to promote your services to their clients, by telling them that you would also refer them to your clients who might be interested in taking benefit of their services. This method of promotion is not instant, but can give you great reward, if you work on with the right business owners. A second way to promote your business, will depend on how you want to run your business. You might want to start off your home based business by having clients who are your friends, family members and neighbors. It is important that you treat them politely and give them prompt service, when you are working with them. These three characteristics will help you convince them to spread the news about your business to their friends and family. This entire process is called word of mouth marketing. The best part about it is that it costs nothing to you! A third way to promote your business is through solicitation. While this may seem like a rather hard way to promote your business, finding the right people and providing a valuable service every time, will bring you new clients. When you are making new contacts, you need to make sure you are polite, prompt and professional. So that you will be in position to convince them that the service provided through your home based business will assist them to have best success online, which may turn them into your lifetime prospects. Whether you choose to have other business owners refer you new clients or try to get clients through any other way, see that you run your business in a positive manner. The customer is always right, no matter what they want to do. Being polite, prompt, and professional will make a positive impression on their mind. This impression may just give you additional clients with no work other than being a good business owner required. There are plenty of ways to market your business that do not require money, you just need to find them!
Tips For Using a Bird Dog For Real Estate Investors
Disclaimer: I am but a lowly associate broker, and so my legal opinion is of questionable value. So take this article with a grain of salt. Definitely do NOT depend on it for legal advice – this is just my take. And, this is specific to Arizona.
Many Real Estate investors I talk with make use of bird dogs. Recently, I ran across several agents who claim to be using them. Bird dogs are usually unlicensed individuals who find deals for the principal in a transaction. Further, investors usually pay bird dogs a finder’s fee.
So what does the law say about that? Specifically, ARS 32-2101 defines what a “Real Estate Broker” does (excerpted):
32-2101. Definitions
In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
47. “Real estate broker” means a person, other than a salesperson, who, for another and for compensation:
(a) Sells, exchanges, purchases, rents or leases real estate or timeshare interests.
(b) Offers to sell, exchange, purchase, rent or lease real estate or timeshare interests.
(c) Negotiates or offers, attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental or leasing of real estate or timeshare interests.
(d) Advertises or holds himself out as being engaged in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, renting or leasing real estate or timeshare interests or counseling or advising regarding real estate or timeshare interests.
(e) Assists or directs in the procuring of prospects, calculated to result in the sale, exchange, leasing or rental of real estate or timeshare interests.
(f) Assists or directs in the negotiation of any transaction calculated or intended to result in the sale, exchange, leasing or rental of real estate or timeshare interests.
(g) Engages in any of the acts listed in subdivisions (a) through (m) of this paragraph for the sale or lease of other than real property if a real property sale or lease is a part of, contingent on or ancillary to the transaction.
A close reading of this indicates that a broker does pretty much what you expect – buys and sells or negotiates Real Estate transactions for others. Of particular interest is item (i), which indicates that a broker is also the person who gets leads.
This is important because of the next section (excerpted):
32-2122. License required of brokers and salespersons
A. This article applies to any person acting in the capacity of a:
1. Real estate broker.
B. It shall be unlawful for any person, corporation, partnership or limited liability company to engage in any business, occupation or activity listed in subsection A without first obtaining a license as prescribed in this chapter and otherwise complying with the provisions of this chapter.
C. Any act, in consideration or expectation of compensation, which is included in the definition of a real estate, cemetery or membership camping broker, whether the act is an incidental part of a transaction or the entire transaction, constitutes the person offering or attempting to perform the act of a real estate broker or real estate salesperson, a cemetery broker or cemetery salesperson or a membership camping broker or a membership camping salesperson within the meaning of this chapter.
So this section seems to say that we have to have a license to do anything falling under the definition of “Broker”; in particular, we cannot find leads for a principal and be paid for it, unless we are licensed. The law seems pretty black and white on this. So how do investors legally pay bird dogs? My feeling is that in most instances, they just pay them and hope not to get caught.
There are a few ways that a bird dog can be legally paid, however. One way, perhaps the “cleanest” way, is for the bird dog to be the initial purchaser of the property; they would write a purchase contract as “Bird M. Dog and/or assignee”, and get the contract signed by the seller. Then, the principal would pay the bird dog an assignment fee, purchasing the contract from the bird dog. Nothing wrong with that! However you might want to ask your tax accountant about the implications here – Is there a step up in the buyer’s basis as a result of the assignment cost? And what happens with any representations and warranties – do they flow from the assignor (Bird Dog) to the assignee (Principal) ? Good questions, I do not have the answers.
A second possible way is for the bird dog to again write the contract, but be a direct party to the transaction throughout: “Bird M. Dog and Joe Principal” are the purchasers, and a separate compensation agreement between the two can be arranged. The question here is, can a separate compensation agreement be made between the two parties without it being considered a commission? And, is a side agreement really needed – to make sure that there is no misunderstanding later that Mr. Dog and Mr. Principal are co-tenants?
A third way is for the bird dog and the principal to form a partnership (or LLC or other entity) which is then the purchaser of the property, and the partners share in sales. Perhaps Mr. Dog has to put in $100 as his contribution, and for his work in finding the property, his compensation is the return of his capital plus $1000. Does this work? Maybe, ask a lawyer!
What must happen is that the bird dog needs to be a party to the contract; then they are not “practicing Real Estate without a license”, instead they are one of the principals in the deal. But let’s suppose for a moment that they are not a party, and just get paid. What’s so bad about this? Is the public really harmed, and, does the State really care? Apparently they do. There was a case where a Real Estate brokerage was paying a monthly fee to a mortgage lender so that the lender would forward all their mortgage leads to the Broker. The fee was not based on whether or not a transaction would close, it was a flat monthly fee. The broker was substantially fined, but not by the State; this was found to be a RESPA violation. RESPA is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and disallows Real Estate licensees from making payments to unlicensed individuals; the fine is $10,000 per occurrence. So not only can the State go after the recipient of the finder’s fee for unlicensed activity, but HUD can go after the Principal (if they are licensed). My advice? Make sure your bird dog is on the contract as a principal. Even then, talk to a good attorney and make sure what you are planning is in compliance.