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With 50 + listings in 2011 year's end and 50 + sales in 2011. I have received the following award.

I am now a 50/50 member with Coldwell Banker and have won the International President's Elite award for 2011.

COLDWELL BANKER REAL ESTATE LLC 1 CAMPUS DRIVE PARSIPPANY, NJ 07054-0642

February 2, 2012

Congratulations! You achieved impressive results in 2011 that entitle you to the use of the President’s Elite designation within the Coldwell Banker brand during 2012. As a member of this distinguished group, you are among the top three percent for President's Elite, for all Coldwell Banker sales associates, depending on the designation you earned. Wow!

From the early days of this network, it has been a dream to offer our members a quality training and certification program however, early on I had not developed the relationships and gathered the expertise that I felt was strong enough to truly give our membership a program to be proud of. So, I spent these past years networking and now I feel we have in place the right people, the right experience, the right insight for a short sale training and certification program like none other in this industry.

So, what makes our training and certification so different? Here are the top 5 reasons we are different and the top 5 reasons you should obtain our certification.

1. No annual dues: As many of you have come to expect, REOPro does things a little differently, with the agent in mind first and foremost so, it was important to me that if we were going to offer a Certification that we don't take advantage of the agent by charging them annual dues. You see, I realize it's not the dues you pay that determine if you are truly "certified experienced" as a short sale agent, it's performance.

2. Your training is not revocable: In other words, once you have been trained and passed the exam, you can always say you have obtained short sale training by REOPro. This isn't something we can revoke or take back from you.

3. You achieve the Certification, you can't buy it: Just taking the training course and passing the exam in no way guarantees you the certification. In fact, taking the training and passing the exam is only 2 parts of 3 that must happen in order for you to achieve the certification. You must still provide us proof of at least 5 short sales completed in the form of client referrals. That's right, you can't buy the REOPro Certification, it must be earned in the form of actual successful closings.

4. Your continued Certification depends on your performance: Once you obtain the Certification, now you must maintain it. Now, unlike other Certifications, to maintain the Certified Experienced Short Sale Agent by REOPro means you will have to complete at least 5 short sales a year with client referrals. In other words, paying dues, attending a continuing education class or visiting with us at a conference isn't enough, you have actually got to perform to maintain your Certification.

5. The quality of the training material and our instructors is based on their successful experience getting to the closing table. Real world experience is by far, the best training anyone can get....at least that is our opinion and therefore, the training material and our instructors are actually experienced and successful Our material is proven to work because we are working it now, using it and being successful.

So, from what I have listed above, as you can imagine we are truly making a difference in this industry and I am proud of this training and certification program so much so, that I will personally be involved in its instruction.

For more information or to register, visit,

 http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=shpa9aiab&oeidk=a07e5hjyc328c7e2ce2

I have not heard this topic brought up much when taking REO courses and online discussions on how to grow your businees. I have read talks of failed banks on post and names of banks along with a direct link to US Treasury in various places but not how it relates to growing your REO business. I have to think there are numerous ways to use this list to help to gain new listings after all these banks have assets they are holding and if the bank is closing this would most likely direct you to think they may be toxic assets.

FDIC: Failed Bank List  here is a link to find the official list.

The FDIC has released the financial statistics on the banking industry for the of 2011 to date 116 .

As of May 20, 2011, the FDIC has participated in the closing of 116 banks this year.

With the first two quarter results now available we can observe the actual shrinkage in the number of banks in the United States.

On March 31, 2011 there were 6,453 banks in the United States, 77 less than existed on December 31, 2010.

There were 6,773 banks in existence a year earlier.

At the start of the recession in December 2009, there were 7,284 banks in the banking system.

The largest drop in banks in the first quarter was in the smallest institutions: there were 51 fewer banks with assets of less than $100 million at the end of the quarter than at the end of 2010.

Banks between $100 million in asset size and $1.0 billion in asset size dropped in number by 34 units.

AIG tries to payback the bailout money and the fed says no?

Federal Reserve Bank of New York and BlackRock (BLK: 196.10 -0.95%) sold $1.3 billion of subprime mortgage bonds the Federal Reserve acquired from AIG upon bailing out the insurer three years ago.

The sale of the bonds came after the Fedearl Reserve rejected a bid from AIG to repurchase all of the assets in the Maiden Lane II portfolio for $15.7 billion.

 Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said the central bank's "duty is to get the best returns on any investment and to do that in a responsible way."

 According to the Fed's website, it announced an offering of $1.5 billion in former AIG securities assets this week.

The Fed chose to have BlackRock sell the assets off in smaller pieces under the notion it would produce a higher profit for taxpayers.

It is so astonishing that I am blogging about this, as I cannot fathom a seasoned agent (or educated adult for that matter), spelling their clients name wrong.... much less a client that gives you 100 listings a year!

 In 2010, every agent with the slightest amount of tech savvy would know that you can Google virtually anything in 2 seconds if you are unsure (or forgot to read your listing agreement). Heck, Google will even correct you if you're mistaken!

I'm forgiving of the occasional misspelled word or typo, and I realize most MLS sites don't have spell check (which we are all way too accustomed). However, isn't listing data important enough to check, double check, and triple check? Not only to make sure you know whose property you are listing, but so the buyer's agent knows who to write the offer to?

Not counting the myriad of funny variations I see on "bank of record"... here are the best of 2010:

• "First Presten", instead of "First Preston". Ok here is an easy way to keep it straight… think "Presto Logs"! No joke... if you can't keep it straight, possibly consider another profession.

• "Capitol One" instead of "Capital One". The capitals of a state, a capital letter, and/or a capital investment… are not the same "capitol"that is a congressional building. Hint… capital = money = bank. If all else fails, you can Google that too!

• What do foreclosures and REO have to do with cattle you ask? Got me! Guess I need to ask the agent that calls them"Oxwen Loan Servicing" instead of "Ocwen Loan Servicing".

Last, definitely not least, but by far my favorite....

"Fanny May" or "Fannie Mai"... instead of "Fannie Mae".... Really?

Do these people watch the news? Heck, are you even alive and living in the United States? This is an easy one guys, come on!

Agents, please remember - When the bank asks you to upload the listing image for review… It's not so they can spell check it for you!

If you are a bank or asset manager looking for an agent that can spell your name right at the very least, don't hesitate to contact me today, or visit us on the web at www.PacificNorthwestREO.com for your all of your REO needs.

***Photographs courtesy of Flickr, and yes I have permission to use them

Also a proud member of...

I have found that being in the BPO and REO business is much like playing a competitive sport when you were a youngster. Whether your favorite sport is football, basketball, baseball, soccer or any other sport, one of the first things you were taught was offensive skills, which of course was soon followed by defensive skills. The better you were at both, the more likely that you would be successful at beating your opponent, right?

The same scenario and expectations applies within anyone's BPO and REO business, the only difference is that we are now all grown up and more is on the line and at stake.

When I got started in the BPO business in Sept. of 2006 the phrase, 'Broker Price Opinions' was something that a very select group of people in the real estate business knew about. I'm guessing that the percentage was very low at the time.

I was able to put together a BPO Manual for others (in Jan 2008) who wondered what a BPO was, what it involved and every possible question under the sun as it applied to broker price opinions. Sales of my BPO Manual really took off in early to mid 2007. I had to presume that at this point the 'secret' was out of the bag. So, it had to be a matter of time before everyone jumped on the bandwagon. I was right!

For those that heard about and saw the tremendous opportunity they benefited greatly if they dove into doing BPO's. For many REO listing became the next logical product of the vast amount of BPO work they did. For the next two years, I saw more and more people jumping into the BPO and REO business.

During this time I also talked to lots and lots of people in the business. They came from all walks of life, backgrounds, time in the real estate business and everyone had own their opinions about the BPO business. I appreciated each and every phone call, email and letter that I shared with my fellow peers. They helped me understand so much about the business that I would never have been able to figure out on my own. I owe a lot to these countless number of fine folks. If you are one of them, thank you very much for everything! :-)

I guess a good secret can't stay hidden for long though, huh! Thank goodness. This business is filled to the brim with open-ended possibilities.

And in the end, if you have found or are finding that many in this business stay very guarded and extremely secretive about their own BPO and REO business (I can respect and understand the need behind this) there are a few others that will share their knowledge and expertise with you. Me being one!

Feel free to drop me a line sometime, I'd be more than happy to help in anyway I can!

Keep your chin up and keep shooting for the stars!

Warmly,

Nicole Ocean

I woke up this morning and started looking over all of my favorite business news websites and I saw that the headlines for today was something like…..,

“Economic Growth at a Standstill, Revised Government reports 2^nd Quarter Growth Down Sharply”

I get asked often, “who is your business” because, people want to know, is housing recovering. My reply to this question is normally,

“The worse the economy gets, the better my business. I am Bentley shopping have you seen the new Bentley Continental GT?”

Everyone laughs in nervous anticipation thinking I was joking and that any minute now I am going to say something to diffuse the un-comfortableness floating in the air like a lead balloon but, I don’t. My point with my reply is, the economy isn’t growing, it’s not even set to grow. In fact, the economy is actually set to fail and fail big. People are amazed or even combatively when I say these things, it’s almost as if they are walking around in a drug educed stupor with the thought bubble floating over their head that reads something like,

“YES, WE CAN” or “HOPE” and even better, “CHANGE”

The economy reminds me of that scene in the movie Constantine where Keanu Reeve’s character “John Constantine” has a face to face encounter with the angel Gabriel who want’s to make the human race earn the love of God by hastening the coming of Satan’s son. Gabriel explains her madness by elaborating that the human races is capable of such incredible triumphs but, through her years of observing us, she realizes that we only change when we are on the event horizon of total destruction or despair. She goes on further to say, she will bring further our destructions so that we can rise to the occasion and be found worthy of God’s love and grace.

Yes, it’s a sick, crazy understanding of human nature but, what could we ever expect from a being (an angel) who has felt as a 2^nd class race for eternity? You need to understand the concept from Gabriel’s point of view. She knows, God has put her and her race as 2^nd, in behind humans which in her eyes have done nothing but, thrown Gods incredible grace back in his face whereas, she and the other angels have served and will serve for eternity without such love or forgiveness.

In many ways, this battle that Gabriel struggles with, in the movie, is suppose to be a reflection of the concept of communal grace or collective salvation and manifest destiny.

In other words, Gabriel can’t be saved from these wretched horrible, less than desirable position behind humans unless everyone can be saved and she believes it’s God’s will and that she is doing God’s work and come hell or high water, she is going to make it happen.

Now, let me ask you, do you believe this theology could be present in our current Government leadership?

Yeah, I know….the movie analogy is a bit fanciful and maybe a bit ridiculous but, it’s a good analogy none the less.

Is it possible that our Government is being lead to bring forth fundamental change in the way of transforming our country into a socialist utopia where Government knows best. Is it possible that some in our Government feel it’s their destiny to make these changes and they are doing a good work by following what they believe is God’s will for their lives? Is it possible that some in our Government are working towards this transformation by creating a environment of total destruction so that they can rise up as our saviors and cleanse us of this evil capitalism that we suffer from?

Here is what I know. I know that Franklin Roosevelt announced in a radio program that he believed in a 2^nd Bill of Rights, of which, this administration has succeeded in accomplishing a few of those items.

The specific right I want to focus on is “The right of every family to a decent home.”

2^nd Bill of Right # 2: The right of every family to a decent home;

Once again, the politicians realized you can’t just give people a home but, you can collapse the housing industry and everyone who has a home and paying a mortgage can keep their homes regardless if they pay or not because, the government can raise taxes, create bailouts or take over banks and simply cancel out the homeowner’s debt at the expensive of the tax payer.

Let’s be clear, the Progressive agenda to move away from our constitution or to transform our constitution has been in the works for a long time. With the Progressive control of the White House and both houses of Government, we are simply seeing a fast forwarding of their agenda.

Make no mistake, you can’t have a housing recovery without jobs and from my point of view, this Government hasn’t done anything to increase jobs. In my opinion, they have done what they can to kill jobs and that leaves me with a question…………..why.

The next time your asked about your business, the next time someone ask you when you think we will recover from this economic crisis I hope you remember this blog, I hope you ask yourself do you really know what is happening in our Government that will forever impact our industry and how we do business.

This isn’t a Republican vs. Democrat argument, this is a Constitution vs. Progressive argument of which, both go to the core beliefs that you may have about this divinely inspired country.

OK, so I have been struggling with good formating for photo slide shows, mixed media, video to present my listings for sale in a variety of online applications, socail media and postings. I think this is a big thing for many Realtors right now.

I finally found a great little photo slide show editing tool, mixing in video is my next step, it also has GREEN SCREEN and mixed media applications. It is low cost and easy enough for 2nd graders to teach me all about it and show me how it is done. They made a cute sample slide show for me about fake homes for sale and even took one of my listing photos off my web site and used it in their sample.

Now, if I can figure out how to post on REOPRO .... and of course the best options are when I can post the slide shows, mixed meadia automatically in multiple great on line social media areas.

I go to classes, seminars, study online stuff for HOW TO. But the secound graders have really taught me something great!

As you can imagine the answer to this question depends on who you talk to. For me, I have personally experienced doing BPO's in a rural setting and talked with numerous agents all over the U.S. who work in very urban settings.

My experience leads me to believe that doing BPO work in a rural setting is much more limiting. It is difficult to find comps that just aren't there, even after going out up to 10 miles from the subject property. If you go further than this than it is likely that your vendor rating goes down and your QC issues go up.

One thing that has really helped me was to not guess at what I was supposed to do or assume what I was expected to do when given a challenging rural BPO. Instead, I had absolutely no hesitation in calling up the company that gave me the BPO order. I'd ask for their advise and guidance on what to do in the situation that I was up against. Someone in their QC (Quality Control/Quality Review) department would likely get on the phone and walk me through which parameters I should use as to avoid getting my order kicked back because of inappropriate comps.

Another thing that was extremely beneficial to me was to seek out each companies 'Guidelines' or their set of 'rules' that they wanted for me to adhere to when doing BPO work for them. Most times I found this information was listed somewhere on their website. If for some reason I couldn't find it easily then I would give them a call and ask where I could find it. By doing this, it makes you look good and helps build a rapport with the rep that you talked to.

Who doesn't want to do their job to the best of their ability? Sometimes we just need a small compass to help guide us safely and confidently to our destination.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this too. What are your experiences with this?

Warmly,

Nicole Ocean

Certified Real Estate Instructor/Founder of BPO University

Hot off the presses! Huge News for ANY REO Listing Agent....

Freddie Mac/Homesteps just announced that they will be doing live on-site interviews at the upcoming REO Expo Event for open positions they have for listing brokers around the nation. Don't miss out or waste any time because this opportunity will pass by quickly!

To learn more check out this link for all of the details: http://www.reoexpo2010.com/freddie-mac

Plus, if you looked at the above page and want to get a head start, download their questionnaire/application to hand to them live and in-person at the REO Expo do so by clicking here: http://www.reoexpo2010.com/FreddieMac_Pre-Interview_Questionnaire.pdf

Please note: They do not have openings in every state, but don't let that stop you from trying anyway. As you know in this business, there are no guarantees and you never know when doors to opportunity will open up.

Lastly, NFSTI & The BPO Automation Group will host a 10x10 booth to help promote our networks during the REO Expo convention. During the negotiations with the guys of REO Expo we were able to heat up the offer for attendees who use our discount code (REOXNFSTI).

All members utilizing this code will receive a $100 discount off the registration price.

Here are the details of the REO Expo:

• What: The REO Expo
• Who: Hosted by Housing Wire and REO Insider Magazines, MC'd by Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee Emmitt Smith!
• When: June 6-9
• Where: Dallas, TX (Hyatt Regency Reunion Tower)
• Why: To share the latest in Default Servicing, Display new technology, learn new aspects of the REO trade, and for the Pinnacle Award Ceremony.
• How: Registration is online at www.REOExpo2010.com. Be sure to sign up sooner than later because attendance is capped and the free classes that we're being offered through the Open Door Institute and Default School are closing up fast.

Don't Miss Out....Sign up Today!

Nicole Ocean

That Troublesome Contract! ….part two

For part one of this “mini-series” please see: http://reopro.ning.com/profiles/blogs/that-troublesome-contract

As you see from Part One, this all started the week after Christmas, yes...Christmas of 2009. But let me get you up to speed with the latest.

Finally, after weeks of back and forth between the buyer's agent and the bank's asset manager, we come to an agreement on terms. Which were pretty good on paper, key phrase here is “on paper”. The deal was $4000 over list price (no competing offers) so the buyer could get more closing cost paid. The bank normally would not pay more the 3%, but the buyer needed up to 6% to make the deal work according to her lender. Red flag #4 or 5, not sure as I had stopped keeping track by now as we were in the second month of this transaction and still do not have a binding agreement. Almost all the delays were cause by the buyer's agent, having him re-write the offer 7, yes 7 times, before he got it right!

I get the A/M to finally understand what was going on and their net did not change, this only took 3 or 4 emails. The A/M send me the contract back to have the buyers initial off all the changes to the contract before he signs it. WTH? Why didn't he go ahead and sign it? But anyway, I roll with it and send it to the buyer's agent with instructions on what to do. This bank's division does not use addendums, they just mark out what they don't like on the original contract and initial all the changes. I've gotten use to it but some agents get very confused about this. I tell the agent the buyer must initial each and every change or it will be sent back to him. Well, it took 3 attempts to all the initials in the proper places, still not sure if it was the agents fault or the buyer's but I'll blame the agent anyway, he should have known better!

So after 2 more weeks I send the contract back to the A/M for his final signature. Shouldn't take more then a day, two if he's busy...right? Wrong again! Three WEEKS later I get the signed contract back and guess what, now we have got to re-negotiate the closing date as by now we only have 8 days to close a FHA loan. Finally, a closing date is set for April 20.....cool! Or so I thought.

Well, by now the buyer has swapped lenders, another red flag! I called the lender to confirm the approval letter like normal, “no problems” says the lender “we can close by the 20th”. COOL! Or so I thought again. This was early mid-March so I thought they had plenty of time to get this done. Wrong again!

Two weeks before any closing I usually start calling the buyer's lender to see how things were going and if there were any snafu's popping up. Well, when I call the lender his office phone number has been disconnected (red flag # 30 something by now?) but he answers his cell phone. Kids and a TV in the background, he quickly tells me he is swamped and would call me back in 10 minutes. Three days later I call him back, same story...will call you back in 10 minutes. I then call the agent, he says he will talk to the lender and call me back in 10 minutes. LOL, this is starting to become a funny game. Two days later he calls me back and says “no problems, we will close on the 20th”. It was around the 15^th, (the closing was the 20th) so I say COOL! (I have got to stop saying this)

On the 20^th the agent calls me early in the morning to say there is a problem. No kidding? There has been a problem since the very start! I told him he gets one shot at extending the closing date, talk to the lender and see exactly what the problem was and how long he needs to get this done and closed. That afternoon he calls me to say that the lender told him that the buyer's credit score was 613, that they were working on some credit repairs and would need an additional 21 days. WTH? This “lender” issued a letter of approval knowing that the buyer is not qualified? And I believe the agent knew this all along!

After I calm down and come off the ceiling, I tell this agent that this was unacceptable and that he needed to find a way to get this closed by the end of the week, 7 days max. To send me a closing extension request form before 4pm. Well I get it at 10pm that night.....requesting the 21 days I told him earlier he would not get. Needless to say that the bank rejected the request and I prepared the Termination of Contract and Release of Earnest Money form, sent it to the A/M on April 21 for him to sign, the day after the scheduled closing. COOL, I think to myself, I can get this back on the market in time for the last week or so of the tax rebates. Which did prompt a lot of activity locally.

Well, not so fast there big boy! Even so the A/M said that the bank wanted the earnest money ASAP because the buyer failed to close, and I sent the form to the A/M last month for him to sign and send back, I'm still waiting. The contract is still active and I cannot put it back on the market because in Georgia, contracts do not automaticly expire if not closed. It MUST be terminated in writing, no if's, and's or but's. This was explained to the A/M when I sent him the form.

I inquired again this past week with the A/M, as now I'm getting nasty letters from our business office wanting the paperwork or threatening to fine me. Again the A/M says that the contract has expired because it did not close, to send him the E/M ASAP. Now I can understand that keeping up with contract laws in multiple states can be overwhelming and hard to do, no problems. He tells me that other agents in my state do not require this form, why am I?

Because it's Georgia contract law and these other agents are wrong, not to mention breaking the law. I was only trying to protect them from any future legal liability. He did not believe me and requested documentation on this, so I found an article written by the very attorney who writes the contract forms for the Ga. Assoc. of Realtors (GAR) that states exactly what I have been telling him. Still not good enough and they call one of the partners in the mega law firm that handles all of their closing services.

That was Thursday, I'm still waiting for a one page form needing one signature and fax/emailed back to me and I'll take care of the rest.

I'm starting to think this house is jinxed! This is the third contract that has failed to close, I've had to fire a team member over it (that's for a whole other blog there), and now I expect to be fired by the bank because I refused to break contract law. Not to mention that I'm about to get a $50 fine for not turning in paperwork that the A/M has refused to sign.

I'm hoping that Part Three is a much shorter story to write!

Steve Adkins – REALTOR®

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers

404-843-2500

Hiram Office

www.The-Adkins-Group.com

It is becoming ever more important to stand out from the crowd and show that you are a true professional in an otherwise mediocre world. That is why I chose to undertake the RDCPro^TM Certification course in REO Best Practices and Advanced Evaluations.

Today´s real estate market is ever changing. The number of Real Estate Owned and foreclosure properties is rapidly increasing putting more demands on the companies that own these assets. These financial institutions, mortgage lenders, and REO services use real estate professionals to manage, market, and sell their assets. They rely on the expertise of these local specialists to provide the best service and to represent their property. These companies have less time and staff to train current and new brokers and agents they are using. This is exactly why Graham Holmes REO listing agent studied to become an RDCPro^TM Certified Agent.

Default School fills that void by providing online and traditional training for the corporate seller and their brokers and agents. In addition, they provide the necessary tools any broker or agent need to become an REO specialist. Default School provides a variety of products for the default servicing sector and the real estate professionals managing these properties. Each course is designed to make you a quality REO broker or agent.

Graham Holmes RDCPro^TM Certified REO Bank Owned Listing Agent serving Hemet, San Jacinto, Yucaipa, Beaumont, Calimesa and any other Inland Empire city.