Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque vehicula aliquam eros a tempus. Aenean sodales dictum augue, in faucibus nisi sollicitudin eu. Quisque et urna lacus, quis aliquam purus.
Technology to drive sales and grow your book of business
Dedicated support team to handle scheduling, showing assistance, transaction coordination and more
Sales training and coaching
Competitive pay:
Linkhome Agents earn cash compensation in multiple ways, including: a base salary, transaction bonuses for deals closed, event pay for hosting tours or other field events and additional performance bonuses
Collect a higher commission split when any of your existing customers go under contract within your first year at Linkhome
Obtain additional bonuses for closing transactions with repeat customers
Multiply your transaction bonuses as you hit Silver, Gold and President’s Club tiers
Top performers can earn a President’s Club trip to an international destination
Earn Linkhome stock as you advance
Industry-leading benefits, including:
Medical, dental and vision plans with low out-of-pocket expenses
Reimbursement for mileage, MLS dues, license renewal fees, mobile and more
What you’ll do:
As a Linkhome Agent, you’ll spend your time building relationships with customers and helping them buy and sell homes. We’ll handle the advertising and logistics while you provide expert guidance through pricing, negotiations and closing. You’ll work from home and in the field, with occasional in-office team meetings .
Qualifications:
Active and unrestricted real estate license
You’ve closed 10 or more residential transactions in the last 24 months or 20 life time transactions (excluding leases)
Highly skilled in guiding a customer through the home buying and selling process from beginning to end
Deep understanding of market trends, market statistics and accurately pricing a home
Expertise in architectural home styles, neighborhood and subdivision characteristics, city developments, new construction, builders, school districts and local amenities
Well-versed in contractual language and terminology, state forms and fair housing laws
Highly skilled in evaluating and weighing multiple offers, assessing inspection reports, negotiating and winning for the customer
Strong interpersonal communication and customer service skills
Ability to learn and use new technology
Reliable mode of transportation and ability to travel within your market
Growth opportunities:
51% of our real estate managers and directors started in agent or support roles. We provide paid training and mentoring to help you meet your goals, move up and even explore other roles at Linkhome.
As the Sr. Account Executive you will play a key role in expanding our digital ad sales efforts. You will play a crucial role in achieving our revenue objectives by identifying customers and sales strategies to generate direct sales revenue. You will own and drive all phases of the sales lifecycle including identifying and developing leads, meeting with clients, developing value propositions, financial deal structuring, contract negotiation, and closing.
As a well-versed sales professional you can call on your own book of business with client direct and ad agency contacts.
The Role
Selling complex advertising programs
Source, develop and cultivate relationships with new and existing digital media agencies and brand marketers direct
Identify, target, and acquire new direct business to meet or exceed revenue targets
Follow-up on incoming new leads and communicate ad offerings and capabilities to potential buyers and ad agencies
Ensure excellent service and support to prospects and clients
Lead full sales process from sourcing to close independently
Collaborate with programmatic sales, sales leadership, and sales support teams to ensure seamless execution of campaigns and grow accounts
Plan and coordinate sales activities, including management of the sales pipeline and accountability for Win/Loss reviews on new accounts
Partner with sales leadership to develop sales strategies across display, native, email marketing channels, and video
Promote Linkhome Real Estate Advertising at industry events
About You
6+ years of digital media sales experience, preferably at an online publisher
Experience conceiving and negotiating large partnership programs ($1M+)
Self-starter who likes to hustle and win
Track record of exceeding revenue goals
Strong consultative selling and negotiation skills
Exceptional interpersonal and problem-solving skills
Strong relationships with agencies, trading desks, and brands
Comfort with ambiguity, uncertainty, and a rapidly changing environment
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
Exceptional presentation skills
Some travel required
What We Offer
Competitive compensation packages with a salary, bonuses, and restricted stock grants
Generous benefits, including three weeks of paid vacation, medical, dental, and vision insurance, and fully paid family leave
A high-growth company, providing opportunities for continued professional development and growth
Job duties:
Market Intelligence Analyst
1. Develop and manage a real estate product strategy, using marketing data analysis to guide the evolution of new features and ensure alignment with emerging market trends and consumer needs in the real estate sector.
2. Identify opportunities for AI-based features by analyzing real estate market trends, customer behavior, and marketing data, creating innovative product elements that cater specifically to home buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals.
3. Collaborate with outside engineering, product, and marketing teams to develop and implement platform features that leverage artificial intelligence, ensuring these features offer enhanced user experiences and improve the overall quality of real estate transactions.
4. Establish automated processes to track the performance of new features, using data-driven insights to guide product iterations and marketing strategies on the Linkhome platform.
5. Enhance product development processes by presenting insights from AI-based analytics to key stakeholders and executive leadership, ensuring the platform aligns with customer expectations and the latest real estate market demands.
6. Oversee the deployment of new features and coordinate with testing and beta programs to gather customer feedback for continuous improvement.
7. Collaborate with marketing and sales teams to develop go-to-market strategies that highlight the unique advantages of AI-based features, identifying opportunities to increase customer engagement and market penetration.
8. Define, monitor, and adjust key performance indicators (KPIs) based on marketing data analytics, leading efforts to optimize marketing campaigns and product features for improved customer adoption and satisfaction.
Qualification:
1. Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Marketing, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, or related.
Refinancing could save you money in the long run if you know when and how to do it
Homeowners tend to Refinance their mortgage to either access their equity or lower their monthly payments. This happens by changing the term or type of loan or removing mortgage insurance.
Once you’re sure you can lower your interest rate it may be time to look into refinancing. Still, other factors like your break-even point, budget, and personal circumstances should influence your decision too. In this article, we’ll explore the factors that go into deciding whether or not to refinance your mortgage and the benefits—and drawbacks—refinancing can offer.
What does it mean to refinance?
When you refinance your home, you essentially take out a new mortgage to replace your current one to lower your interest rate, get a lower monthly payment, or access equity. You can accomplish this when mortgage interest rates lower, you’ve paid off more than 20% of your home’s current value, your financial situation improves or your credit score goes up, or by changing the type of mortgage or the length of the loan term.
Lenders typically require a borrower to wait six to 12 months after getting their original mortgage to begin the refinance process.
When you refinance your mortgage, you’ll have to go through the same or similar process you did when you initially applied for a mortgage. You’ll pay origination fees, undergo a title search, and credit check, and wait for an appraisal. That’s because, just like your original mortgage, how much you’ll be qualified to receive and at what rate largely depends on the value of your home and your creditworthiness.
Closing costs vary but usually end up between 3-6% of the loan’s principal amount, and in most cases you can roll the costs into the refinance amount instead of paying them in cash at closing.
How do the interest rate and loan term affect your payments?
Generally speaking, the longer the term of your loan, the more you’ll pay in interest over the life of your loan, but the lower your monthly payment will be. To determine what’s better for you, consider how long you intend to stay in the home, how much you can comfortably pay each month, and what your break-even point is, which we’ll explain below.
A 15-year fixed-rate mortgage will come with a higher monthly payment but you’ll end up paying less after the full term than with a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage since you’ll be paying for a shorter period. The opposite is true of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, which usually comes with a slightly higher interest rate and a larger overall cost, but lower monthly payments since the interest is spread out for a longer period.
After you refinance, how much you’ll pay each month will ultimately depend on your new term and loan amount. Understanding how all of these things are related will help you when it’s time to decide whether or not to refinance—and what mortgage product to apply for.
We break down your monthly payments and your total loan costs here:
Purchase price
Down payment
Total loan amount
Loan Term
Interest rate
Monthly payment*
Total interest over the life of the loan
Total paid over the life of the loan
$300,000
$60,000
$240,000
15-year loan
4.9%
$1885.43
$99,376.70
$339,376.70
$300,000
$60,000
$240,000
30-year loan
5.6%
$1377.79
$256,004.24
$496,004.24
*Monthly payment does not include property taxes, homeowners insurance or HOA fees
What is the break-even point?
When you choose to refinance, it may be hard to decide which kind of mortgage to choose. One simple but important calculation you can make to see if—and when—your refinance will be worth it is to find the break-even point.
Since you will pay closing costs on your refinance (just like you did with your initial mortgage), the break-even point is when the amount you save each month adds up to the upfront cost of refinancing your mortgage. Ask yourself: how long would it take me to save, with these new rates, the same amount that I would spend on closing costs for my new mortgage?
For example, if your cost for a refinanced $300,000 mortgage is 3% ($9,000), and your monthly savings are around $150 per month, it’ll take you around 45 months’ worth of savings to make back your $9,000.
These numbers are simplified and don’t take into consideration other fees and costs like property taxes and private mortgage insurance but the idea is the same. If your break-even point is years away but you don’t plan to stay in the house the whole time, it may not be worth it. But if you’re refinancing to lower your monthly payments for the life of a 30-year loan, a 4-year break-even point may be a great deal.
6 reasons you may want to refinance
1. To lower your interest rates
Interest rates fluctuate over time. When they go down, you may be able to lock in that lower rate with a refinanced mortgage. That means you’ll have a lower monthly rate and will ultimately pay less by the end of the loan term than if you kept the higher interest rate of your original mortgage.
For instance, in 1981, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages reached a peak of 18.63%. Two years later, they were down to 12.59%, and four years after that, in 1987, they fell to 9.03%. If you bought a home in the first part of that decade and then refinanced at the end of the decade, you would have cut your interest rate in half.
Similarly, in 2020, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest rates on 30-year mortgages plunged to 2.65% from the previous high of 4.94% in 2018. Now, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have risen to 5.81% with more rate hikes possibility.
Mortgage rates will generally rise and fall with the overall economy so it is always hard to predict where they will be in the future. That’s why lenders often suggest that if you have the money to buy a home and can afford the initial payments, it may be cheaper to lock in rates now and plan to refinance later. You can wait for rates to drop before you buy but they may just keep going up instead for a few years.
You can use an online refinance calculator to see how lowering your interest rate could reduce your monthly mortgage payment and how much it could save you over the life of the loan.
2. You’ve raised your credit score
Your credit score affects the interest rate that you can get on a mortgage. If you took out your existing mortgage when your credit score was lower and have since raised your score, you can look into what a new interest rate might be. It’s still important to run the numbers to see where your break-even point is between what you’re paying in costs and what you’re saving in the long run.
3. You want a shorter home loan term
If you initially took out a 30-year mortgage with a higher interest rate and now want to reduce the loan term to a 15-year loan, refinancing is the way to do it. A benefit of a shorter-term loan is the interest rate will likely be lower.
Even if overall interest rates have stayed the same or risen since you took out your initial mortgage, you may still be able to lower your refinance interest rate by reducing the term of your loan. This strategy could raise your monthly payment but result in paying off your loan faster and reducing the amount of total interest you will pay.
4. You want to change the type of home loan
In the world of mortgages, there are different loans to choose from Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA, fixed-rate, and adjustable-rate mortgages (ARM). Each one comes with its requirements, advantages, and disadvantages. If you decide that you want to change the type of loan you have after reviewing the pros and cons, refinancing is the way to do it.
5. You need, or want, some cash
The difference between how much you still owe on your home loan and how much your home is worth right now is your equity. As you pay down your mortgage and owe less and less than what the home is worth, your share of the equity grows. So, if you owe $250,000 on a home that is valued at $300,000, you have $50,000 in equity. You could sell your home, pay back what you owe, and after closing costs keep some of the $50,000. Or, you could refinance to access the $50,000 and stay in your home at the same time.
There are two ways to access equity in a refinance:
Cash-out refinance
If you need, or want, some cash to cover bills, take on home repairs or upgrades, pay off debt, plan a wedding, pay tuition, or even go on a vacation, you can apply for a cash-out refinance. You’ll refinance into a new mortgage for the amount the home is worth right now (depending on the maximum loan amount allowed by your lender) and at closing you’ll receive a check for the available equity.
So, assume that you bought your home with a $300,000 loan and have since paid back $100,000 of the loan principal. You now owe $200,000. But let’s say the home has increased in value to $400,000. You owe $200,000 for a $400,000 home so you have $200,000 in equity. You can refinance a new mortgage with new rates for the home’s current value of $400,000. The loan would go to paying off the $200,000 remainder of your original mortgage and depending on the maximum loan amount allowed by your lender you would have equity available to borrow.
Usually, a lender requires that you maintain 20% equity in the home so you will not be able to cash out all of your equity in this example, but rather something closer to $120,000–or 80% of your equity. This is one way to access at least some of the equity in your home for rates usually lower than a personal loan.
Home equity line of credit
A home equity line of credit (HELOC) or a home equity loan is a different kind of refinancing option that gives you access to your home equity but not as cash. In a HELOC refinance, your equity acts as a line of credit you can borrow from to pay for repairs, upgrades, and other home-related items. Just like with a cash-out refinance, you’ll take out a new mortgage for the current value of your home but instead of getting cash back, your equity will sit as a line of credit you can use as needed. And, unlike a cash-out refinance, you only pay interest on the funds you borrow instead of on a lump sum. A HELOC can be a first lien or a second lien, depending on your lender.
6. You want to remove mortgage insurance
Borrowers who pay less than a 20% down payment are often required to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). PMI protects the lender if you can’t make your payments.
Generally, PMI will automatically stop once you owe 78% or less of the value of your home at the time of origination. But you can wipe it out sooner if you refinance into a new mortgage that does not require PMI.
Questions to ask before you refinance
It’s important to discuss refinancing with your lender and ask questions to fully understand the risks and rewards. Here are a few questions to get you started:
What will my new interest rate be?
What will my monthly payment be?
What is my break-even point for this refinance?
How much equity do I have in my home and how much can I borrow of that equity?
What is the best type of loan for me and my circumstances?
Can I get rid of private mortgage insurance?
When should you refinance?
Ultimately, the decision to refinance comes down to your financial goals, your current and future needs, and the current interest rates. Understanding your situation as well as the cost to refinance, and your break-even point will help you choose to benefit you in the long run. When you’re deciding whether or not it’s a good idea to refinance, make sure to discuss the options with your lender and take the time to understand the benefits and downsides.
About the author: Stephanie Mickelson is a freelance writer based in Northwest Wisconsin who specializes in real estate, building materials, and design. When she’s not writing, she can be found juggling kids and coffee.