I'm a new member and would appreciate feedback for those agents that focus on pursuing short sales in your given market areas:
Have short sales overtaken the number of listing assignments you've received from your clients?
(some colleagues have the opinion that short sales will be more prevalent this year and ongoing vs REO assignments)
Have you partnered with companies to receive short sale leads and has it paid off?
(Titanium is providing me info about my market area, anybody work with them)
Are lenders still "passing the buck" on agents with commissions in short sale situations?
I have a background in credit counseling and I'm seriously considering adding short sales into my business plan.
Any and all advice is appreciated!
E. Shaw
Replies
Short Sales are growing quickly in market share coast to coast, and will continue. In Detriot, the current inventory is only 3% REO, yes, 3% REO and 69% short sales. Lenders are constantly looking for better ways to minimize their losses, and short sales are the best options. I have closed several hundred in my area of Florida, and thousands nationally now through The Short Sale Specialist Network. We have an online training course for short sales that is only $150 if you can use any training! We also assign short sale listings to agents in every area of the country, and we launch a lender directed borrower outreach program next month as well. MANY of our members are on REO Pro here!
Mike
what is typical amount of time under contract in the last 6 months and have you seen any stabilization in commissions paid or are lenders still expecting shortfalls to become reductions in commission to agents?
Thanks for your input! Have you ever heard of Titanium or worked with them for leads?
Most lenders are OK paying out at least 6%. It is becoming easier and easier. Most of the commission reductions lately are made by agents making a contribution to a 2nd position lien holder and are basically voluntary. I would say, that in the event that there is ONE loan, agents are getting 6% commission at least around 75%-80% of the time right now, and a few years ago maybe it was only 20%-30% of the time.
As far as titanium goes, I had a few agents on my team who used to do work for them a few years ago. Their training was LMC (Loss Mitigation Consultant) and now is called HRC (Home Retention consultant). I used to hear mostly good about them, but not as of lately. Most of the agents I speak to about them say that they don't get as many assignments as they used to, and many of the ones they do get are already listed. Most of their assignments are basically door knocking assignments, but many can turn into listings. Many agents say it USED to be worth it to work their assignments, but lately I just hear that it isn't worth it from more and more of them. Many say they don't get as many from them anymore either. They have been around a few years now, and I'm honestly surprised they haven't done more in the industry than they have. They were "HOT" a few years ago but fizzled out a good bit. They have an REO division that is newer as well.
We have modeled a borrower outreach program after their outreach program. The main difference is that Titaniums assignments are just to gather financial information for the most part, our assignments will send agents out with a solicitation letter FROM their lender offering a short sale program to them in advance.
We will definitely be out at the REO Expo! I'll be out of the country for 5-star, but a few from our company will be there as well as exhibitors. RSVP for our dinner event at the REO Expo if you are heading there - www.theshortsaleguide.com/events/reo-expo-2011,as we love to meet as many agents that we work with as possible at our conferences!