Tips to Help Your Mortgage Business Get More Loans

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Sandra James

Finding a loan in today’s digital landscape can be very challenging if you have no idea of the important aspects to consider. Check out these few important sales tips to help you close more loans.

Get to know what buyers want

While personality, speed, and rates are a great way to get a client’s attention, this isn’t the only thing that they’ll buy. If you happen to find a client who has no idea what the value of your offering is, you are hardly going to make a sale.

One of the reasons could be because the client doesn’t know how to read & understand the details of the loan. However, if one of your sales representatives has a one on one conversation and explains everything, you may end up signing the client.

Don’t Underestimate the Light Moments

This may seem obvious, but you must always be positive, fun, and light. Never convince yourself that there is no solution to your problem or challenge. If you find a client who wants to put off a refinance decision but isn’t sure what to do, it’s your job to build that goodwill.

If they happen to bring up another different loan officer, you should not be quick to dismiss them. Take them as if they’re good, but you are a better choice.

Don’t Give Up

You need to realize that it will take you more than one or two meetings with a prospective home buyer or business owners to earn a sale. Many loan officers give up after the first two meetings. It is however important that you try to evaluate every refinance opportunity, credit maturity, as well as the existing loan before reaching out.

You should save important borrower information and dates on your CRM to help you schedule follow-ups in advance without raising any questions.

As for Business

Providing a prospect term sheet doesn’t guarantee conversion. Some borrowers may even have a term sheet and all the necessary information they need to make a decision. Be candid enough to ask for the business.

If a potential borrower doesn’t seem interested at that time, drive the point home “be the first person they call” once they’re ready.

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How much should a small business put away for taxes?

Posted on May 8, 2020 by Sandra James

How much should a small business put away for taxes?

Are you running a small business but aren’t sure how much you should be putting away for taxes? It’s an important question that many owners face. Without the right preparation, you could be hurting by the time April rolls around. To put yourself in the best position to succeed, it’s important to have a game plan in place. Let’s look at how much you should be putting aside as a small business.

Step 1: Determine your tax obligations

We all wish taxes could be a single figure that was easy to calculate. Unfortunately, small businesses may be obligated to pay several different kinds of taxes. To keep everything straight, it’s important to know what you’re in for from the start. Here is a list of taxes you might have to consider:

– Self-employment tax
– Income tax
– Payroll tax
– Sales tax
– Franchise tax
– Property tax
– Excise tax

Ideally, we could provide you exactly the taxes you’ll have to pay, but it’s all dependent upon your operations, the state you’re operating in, and more. Knowing what you’re obligated to cover will make it possible to get ahead of your taxes as a small business.

Step 2: Save roughly a third of your income

The 30% rule is something small businesses and self-employed people around the country use to buffer their savings come tax season. This rule-of-thumb is a conservative estimate of how much you’ll end up having to pay out of your yearly income. Some people even recommend bringing the number up to 40% to remain on the safe side, but it’s all up to you. If you land somewhere within that range, you should have more than enough saved by the time the IRS comes knocking at your door.

Step 3: Implement a method of saving

Depending on the age and style of your small business, you might choose a different method of saving that 30% mark. You might take a third of every payment or simply do it monthly.

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How is small business income taxed?

Posted on May 1, 2020 by Sandra James

How is small business income taxed?

Taxes are something everyone can look forward to coming their way. Every year people spend countless hours preparing to pay their taxes. Yet, few of us ever think about how small businesses are taxed. While large corporations are paying federal and state-mandated taxes, the vast bulk of small businesses are generally not considered corporations. Consequently, they do not tend to pay the corporate business rate of taxes. But instead, small businesses are classified as “pass-through entities”. So, instead of paying the business tax rate, the income of small businesses gets passed through to be picked up by the owner at the rate worked out in their individual tax returns.

Aside from taxing things like income, small businesses can be taxed at a rate of 7.65-percent on gross payroll as determined by what employees have been paid. This rate of taxation will inevitably change due to other factors like unemployment and worker’s compensation. The payroll tax tends to be one of the largest tax obligations that a small business must pay.

When your business sells assets or earns a profit off an investment opportunity, any income or profit made on such efforts leads to a capital gains tax. How much this form of taxation costs depends heavily on how long the asset or investment being made has been held by the company. This implies that everything from dividends to real estate is all part of the total taxation incurred by a small business.

Small business Taxation is generally governed by the numbers. If you were to divide a business’s total tax paid by the taxable amount earned, the value you would acquire is the effective tax rate. Most small businesses appear to achieve an effective rate of right around 19-percent. The average for sole proprietorships turns out to be around 13-percent. For partnerships, this value increases to 23-percent. So, while a small business may not directly pay income tax, it does tend to get the opportunity to pay its fair share of other types of taxes.

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What taxes does an LLC pay?

Posted on April 24, 2020 by Sandra James

What taxes does an LLC pay?

An LLC or Limited Liability Company is a type of private business not subject to as many laws as standard businesses which makes the structure more flexible. An LLC cannot be double-taxed because the pass-through status allows them to report business income on their personal tax returns. LLCs can be classified as a single member or multi-member. Learn what taxes an LLC pays.

Self-Employment Taxes

Since LLC members are considered self-employed business owners, they don’t make payments to Medicare or Social Security. However, one member of a multi-member LLC gets classified by the IRS as sole owner and must pay social security taxes and Medicare taxes to the IRS. The amount an LLC pays for Social Security and Medicare are commonly higher than standard corporations because employers match employee contributions, but you can deduct half of this expense on tax returns. You file these self-employment taxes under Schedule SE with your personal income tax on the 1040 form.

State Fees and Taxes

The LLC does not pay state or federal taxes itself, but you still have to report state taxes on a personal income tax form. Each state varies on how it classifies the business for tax purposes and may charge excise fees or franchise fees. New Hampshire, Delaware, California, and Wyoming are some states that impose franchise fees. Not paying these fees or taxes could result in stiff fines. You can find if your state charges these fees and classification information on the secretary of state’s website for your state.

Profits and Losses

An LLC still has to recognize profits and losses. The profits should be included in the member’s income and divided based on member percentage interest. For example, if a member has a 30% interest, you would give them 30% of the profits. If you want to give members more profit, you must report this according to the rules. Multi-member LLCs must file form 1065 and the LLC must include profits and losses for each member on form K-1. The members attach this to their 1040 form with Schedule E.

LLCs can also elect for corporation status to retain more income. These are some of the taxes an LLC has to pay. If you are unsure of anything, seek the advice of a tax professional.

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What are the 4 primary types of business taxes?

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Sandra James

What are the 4 primary types of business taxes?

In the United States, there are four main types of business taxes that the federal government administers. Business owners or managers should be aware of their responsibilities in paying each type of tax, as well as any additional taxes they may have to pay at the state level.

Income Tax

Except for partnerships, all businesses in the country are required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to pay income tax. Businesses can choose to pay their taxes throughout the year by opting for the withholding tax payment method, or they can pay estimated income tax when they file their federal tax returns. Business owners should be aware that many states require additional income tax payments. A partnership that doesn’t pay taxes at the corporate level typically pays it at the individual level.

Self-Employment Tax

Anybody who works for themselves must pay self-employment taxes to the IRS, which uses this money to fund Medicare and social security for the individual. The tax is 15.3 percent and is applied to the first $106,800 of a person’s income. Independent contractors, sole proprietors, and members of partnerships are all examples of people considered to be self-employed by the federal government and are therefore required to pay self-employment taxes.

Employment Taxes

Businesses are required to pay employment taxes to fund Medicare and Social Security for their employees. The business owner provides half the cost of these programs themselves, while the other half is taken out of the employees’ pay. States also require employment taxes to fund compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. Businesses can pay these taxes electronically, through checks or cash.

Excise Tax

Many, but not all, businesses must pay federal excise taxes. Whether it is necessary depends on several factors, including the type of business, the products manufactured or sold, the equipment used, and the services they receive payment for. There are excise taxes imposed for air transportation, communications, environmental impact, and the retail sale of vehicles.

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