How to Hire a Marketing Assistant

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Alex and Danny were both hired as minimum-wage marketing assistants, but they’ve leveraged their positions to set them up for future success. Here’s how.

We hadn’t had much success in the past hiring high-paid marketing assistants, so we decided that a new strategy would be necessary. Instead of hiring a high-paid expert, we would hire someone who would agree to work for minimum wage in exchange for the education and opportunities that we can provide here at Vyral. This process has yielded good results so far—just ask Alex and Danny.

They were both initially interested in the position because of the opportunity of a $50,000 + salary six months down the road. However, once they went through the interview process they realized it was a perfect fit.

We’ve created a culture here at Vyral that is all about improving and learning each day.

 

This was no accident. Our eight-step hiring process ensures that we only get the best and most motivated candidates. With all the steps we take to filter candidates, it’s inevitable.

Our interview process is a bit unorthodox, but ultimately rewarding. We first contact candidates via email and ask them to fill out a personal assessment, as well as answering five questions on video. After that, we set up a Skype meeting, then an in-person meeting, then an interview.

It’s a big deal when you make the wrong hire. That’s why we have a process in place to ensure we only get the best candidates. You should have one, too.

We’ve created a culture here at Vyral that is all about improving and learning each day. That’s why we’ve been able to attract such great talent.

Should I Have Real Estate in My Retirement?

Should you invest in real estate as part of your retirement? Today I’ve listed some pros and cons to help you decide if this is right for you.

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Today I want to talk to you about investing in real estate as part of your retirement plan. I’m a little biased, because I have invested in real estate as part of my own retirement, but I’ll do my best to be objective. Here are some pros and cons of investing in real estate:

Cons

1. You have to have active knowledge about the industry. If you want to invest in real estate locally, you have to learn about the industry and understand its inner workings.
2. You have to actively manage the properties. This can be time consuming, because you will be actively managing maintenance calls, setting up showings, and running the properties. Unless you have a ton of capital, you’ll be doing all these things yourself.
3. You have to have a significant amount of capital. There are stories about ways to get creative and put little or no money down, but those are the exception, not the rule.

A good strategy is to buy a property at or around the birth of a child.

 

Pros

1. You’ll get a significantly higher return on your investment. This is assuming you’re in a decently appreciating market like south-central Pennsylvania and you’re holding the property for the long-term, not just short-term sales.
2. There are significant tax advantages to investing in real estate. It’s best to speak with an accountant about the details, but if you buy enough real estate, those tax advantages do add up over the years.
3. You can eliminate most of the risks involved in investing in real estate if you’ve taken the time to understand the industry and you’re investing in a market that remains moderately stable and isn’t as volatile as some of the other markets in our nation.This is especially true with long-term ownership and residential rental properties.

One of the strategies that I particularly love is buying a property at or around the time of the birth of a child. You can then pay it down and use tax-free refinance income or equity to pay for all or part of the child’s college education. You can then pay it back down and do the same thing to supplement your retirement income later down the road. You’re using the same property for a dual purpose, and it makes the investment valuable to you and your family.

I think that real estate investment is a great way to save for retirement alongside other investments like securities and other investment tools and is a great way to get you farther in reaching your retirement goals.

If you have any questions about real estate or anything else in the real estate market, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be happy to help you.

How Elections Historically Affect the Real Estate Market

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According to a Huffington Post article written by David Cross, real estate values continue to increase on average during an election year, but usually at a slightly slower pace than the year before or the year after. I’ve included a graph to help you get a picture of what that looks like. In general, according to historical averages, prices increased the year before at a 6% rate. During the election year itself, the increase slowed to 4.5%. Then in the year after, the rate went back up to 5.3%.

According to that information (and after doing some additional research), Cross didn’t deduce any correlation as to why the market slowed during election years. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that this information is not market-specific. Meaning it doesn’t necessarily represent this specific market, this specific time of year, and this specific election.

Values continue to increase, but usually at a slower pace.

In South Central Pennsylvania, for instance, real estate is continuing to increase at a moderate rate compared to last year. In fact, according to the MLS, it will increase at a faster rate than last year. This is obviously in opposition to the graph’s information. Overall, things like interest rates and other economic variables can have an impact on what home values do, even if - on average - they increase at a slower rate.

If you have any questions on what your home is doing this year, would like a free home value estimate, or just have a general real estate question, please don’t hesitate to contact me or my staff by phone or email!

3 Reasons to Downsize with a New Home

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 At a certain point, you don’t need a large home anymore. Maybe the kids are off to college or you’re just looking for something that requires less upkeep. In a world where bigger often seems better, sometimes less is more. Here are three benefits to downsizing with your next home:

1. More money: If you are looking to get into a smaller home than the one you have now, it frees up equity in your current home and will result in lower mortgage, tax, and insurance payments. You’ll have to spend less on upkeep and maintenance as well.

2. More time: This is a big one. A smaller home means you spend less time cleaning and upkeep. That means more time for you to do the things you like to do, like spending time with your family.
   Start with asking the simple questions like
   “How much is my home worth?”

3. Increased efficiency: A smaller home needs fewer resources to heat and cool it, reducing your carbon footprint.

There are plenty more things to think about when downsizing, but most people start with asking the simple question, “What can I get for my home?” and “What kind of home could I buy in this market?”

If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. Dave would be happy to come out to your home and give you a free home value estimate. Just call or email us saying, “I’d like Dave to give me a free home value estimate” and we’ll get it done for you! We look forward to hearing from you.