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Simple Things to Get Your Home Ready to Sell

Getting ready to sell a home involves a lot more than just the home. There are also emotions, schedules and other things to consider. Here are some tips to help you in getting ready for the day you hand over the keys to the new owners.

Remove Old Items

Over the course of time most people accumulate lots of things that are no longer needed. It is fairly common for folks to have clothes that they no longer wear, old books and magazines and other items. Go through the closets, cupboards and other storage areas to get ride of all the unnecessary items. Make sure to get things off the kitchen and bathroom counters too.

Separate Yourself from The Home Emotionally

Now is the time to make the decision to say goodbye to the home. It is important to realize that the memories and emotions you have from living in the home will always be a part of you. Moving away from the home is merely separating yourself away from the structure. Imagine how the new owners will enjoy the home and be able to make their own happy memories.

Get Things Organized

Organize-House-300x168.jpg?width=300Since potential buyers will be coming through the home and inspecting every possible area it is a good idea to get everything as organized as possible. If you need some ideas, here are a few suggestions:

* Put spices in alphabetical order

* Arrange all coffee cups to face the same direction

* Put shoes in order

* Place dishes in nice stacks

Remove Personal Decor

Remove the photographs and items that may have your surname or initials. People who will potentially buy the house want to be able to imagine their own belongings and decorations in the new home. By having generic items in the house it will be easier for people to see themselves enjoying their new abode.

Take Care of the Little Repairs

Give potential buyers a great first impression by making sure all of the little items are handled. This includes

* Replacing light bulbs

* Applying oil on door hinges

* Add new filters to the air conditioner

* Tighten or repair any water leaks

* Fix any holes that may be present in windows, doors or walls

Add More Storage Space

It can be a good idea to find a nearby storage rental agency and get a contract on a small unit. The extra space can help you remove some of your belongings to make the home seem larger. Removing empty bookcases, taking out extra leaves in dining tables and extra chairs can free up space throughout the entire home. It can also be handy for storing seasonal items that you may not need when you are ready to move.

Once you have cleaned up the home and organized everything it will be much easier to sell and start your new life in a fresh new home.

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I just heard an incredible story that I don't know is true or not but, the point the story makes is going to be a key to any aspiring REO agents success and that is what I want to talk about.

So, Lisa the REO Listing Agent calls me wanting to know if I had ever heard of Rodger the REO Expert. I told Lisa yes, I had heard of Rodger. She stops me mid sentence and ask me if I think he is any good. I wasn't sure exactly what she was referring to so I asked her, good at what? Lisa tells me that Rodger is selling a program where he can get you into REO Bank of North America and he only charges $20,000.00.

After I picked up my chin from the floor I started laughing, it's only $20,000.00, I would charge more than that....I thought to myself. She asked me why I was laughing and I asked her, if Rodger guaranteed she would make her money back. She said on yeah, he told me he could get me in to REO Bank of North America in a couple of months when I join him and a representative of REO Bank at the conference in Dallas later in July. So, I asked her, did he give you that guarantee in writing? She said no however, he was sending over documents via email. I told her to call me when she got the documents.

So, a couple days go by, I heard nothing back from Lisa so, I called her. She got the documents, she was all excited, she was finally going to be in at REO Bank of North America in just a couple of months. So, I asked her, did he give you a guarantee. She said yeah, it's right here in these documents so, I asked he if she wouldn't mind letting me look them over for her, what could it hurt, having an extra pair of eyes, right? A few minutes later, I have the agreement .....and.....well, I didn't see any guarantee.

I called her up and I was like, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, can you tell me where the guarantee is. She says, yeah, look at page 3, first paragraph......

I read it over and I didn't see any guarantee but I did see, a statement on their commitment to doing all they can to help her get introduced to a Bank of America employee.

I explained to her, what my thoughts on the agreement were and I told her, Lisa...one part of this you are not catching is something the Bank refers to as "Business Need". The bank, regardless of how experienced, nice, bubbly, and charming you are has to have a business need in your area before they are just going to add you to their ranks. Without that, regardless of how much you pay for access, you won't get in. Well, she just didn't want to hear that. Rodger the REO Expert had this big, nice agreement, had a nice car, was at all the conventions speaking, he had to have the inside scoop. In fact, Rodger even gave her references of others he had helped, 2 in fact. So, against my advice, off to the races she went. Paid the $20,000...all up front and now we are about 8 months down the road and she still isn't a REO Listing Agent...with anyone, Rodger is telling her that he is going to shop her out to a couple other banks.

Needless to say, she is beyond pissed off, that $20,000 she paid was her 401k she cashed out and here we are in the midst of tax season and she doesn't have the money to pay the penalty. She can't do much about Rodger, the agreement she signed was very clear and specific, all he was doing was selling access to one person....one bank and if that didn't work out...for whatever the reason, he would shop her around to others.

I guess she got what she paid for.

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I have been doing short sales for about 3 years, I have seen a lot but I am still learning. I known that banks sometimes might denied a short sale in the following cases:

  • 80/20 they can agree on how much each one is getting, sometimes the 2nd mortgage wants more than what the first mortgage is willing to approve.
  • Contract price is too low or property is so ugly and has to many issues that no one is interested to pay what the bank has approved.
  • Too many liens on the property and bank wants seller to pay for all or some of them and seller doesn't have the money to do it.
  • Strategic short sale, the homeowner is comfortable making payments but because they are upside down they want to sell, but there is no real hardship.

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This is the new one. Homeowner bough property with FHA loan back in 2007, got married and move out of the house and rented the property from 2008 to 2009. Husband loss his job and they moved back to the house in 2010. She was denied a loan modification, Wells Fargo send her a letter advising her to short sale the house. Then when I sent the concent for the bank to release information to me, they told me that FHA rejected the short sale because she used the house as a rental for a period of time and that she can't even do a deed in leiu.

We learn something new everyday.

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What does it take?

With a new year, comes a fresh group of REO Agent hopefuls, scratching at the door of the industry ready to eat their own just to get that first listing. With this feeding frenzy comes all the questions like, “How do I get my first REO?”

Almost like tradition, each year I have tried to write a blog answering just that question yet, I don’t find myself invited as a keynote speaker to any conference, or quoted in anyone else’s blog or better yet, asked for my advice on some cable television news network yet, here I am, writing away and sometimes, I feel it’s into oblivion.

None the less, let’s sit down together for just a moment and discuss what it really takes for an Agent to get that first REO listing.

Now, before I share the secret to my success, we need to build up the reader with suspense and excitement. One way you can accomplish this is by talking circles around the actual answer causing the reader to build excitement through the anticipation. The reader begins to wonder will the next line hold the secret but, of course, we have to let the reader down and say something that leads the reader on another path, which may seem far away from the answer. Just another way to build up excitement, ooooh I just love this, don’t you?

Well of course, let’s remember what the REO industry is. We need to understand that the REO Industry is all about money. Yeah, yeah, you most likely already know that but, what you don’t know and why you keep reading is because you don’t realize that the REO Industry is all about MONEY!

Ok, that last paragraph may sound a bit silly but, let me explain. Many of these Asset Management companies see these vacant properties not as vacant properties but as non-performing assets. We call them that because when we say “assets” it reminds people that the vacant house isn’t just a vacant house, it directly represents a dollar amount, money. It keeps it real for us.

Let me ask you a question, who would you trust with your money? Seriously…..think about it for just a second, who can you actually trust with your social security number, your pin, banking account numbers, credit cards, debit cards (for those of us getting out of debt), etc…? Many of us may be able to answer that question with just one or two names. I bet most of you would say spouse and possibly your parents, that would be it……no one else? Why not? Ok…..I know that answer and you do to, it’s a rhetorical question. We don’t trust anyone with our money because it’s our money. That is the exact same mentality of the REO Industry and if you haven’t clued in to that yet, that is likely why you are still waiting for your first REO. Maybe I am being a bit harsh and cruel, maybe I have upset your sensibilities but, you asked and more importantly you continued to read this blog. J

Ok, so now, let’s move from the metaphorical to the realistic and ask another question, a more appropriate question and that is, “How do I get a Asset Management company to trust me with their money?”

Now, it’s important that you understand something, every single agent who currently has REO inventory can answer this question differently. This phenomenon is because, most of us got into the business uniquely. Truth be told, very few us got in just because we were selected from a list of random applicants with shiny resumes that smelled like Chanel and were written on pink paper (name the movie if you can?) It’s true, some REO agents can regale you with stories about how they just got a random call from Joe Schmoe Asset Manager Extrodinare however, most of us, I guess about 90% of us, are going to have a much more interesting story about how we met an Asset Manager at a conference or were referred to one by a friend or….something like that.

Ok, this blog it getting to be a bit longer than ususal so, let me cut to the chase. I know my readers and they are already wondering why I have taken so long to just get to the damn point already…..aren’t you?

If I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times…..it’s Networking!

Ok, so the secret wasn’t so much a secret after all but, let me explain why so many of you aren’t working your Networks, building your Networks, making your Networks successful for yourselves.

First off, when you get up in the morning, you aren’t thinking about writing a blog, your thinking of getting the kids washed, fed and off to school, the husband / wife up, washed and off to work, yourself 1 hour on the treadmill, wash, fed and off to the office. By the time you reach the office, you are thinking of voice mail you have to return, which continuing education classes you need to take, how you are going to pay your office bill this month, explaining to that homeowner why you haven’t sold their home in 5 months or explaining to that buyer why he can’t get a loan. My humble point is, none of you make time to network or don’t have time to network or can’t network for this or that reason. This is exactly why you aren’t successful because no one important enough know you well enough to trust you with their money.

Let me say that last line once again because, I know many of you missed it.

NO ONE IMPORTANT ENOUGH KNOWS YOU WELL ENOUGH TO TRUST YOU WITH THEIR MONEY.

Granted, it’s not just that simple but, that one line drills down to a foundation that answer the question you posed earlier and that was, “How do I get my first REO listing?”

I have written many….many blogs on how to network, where to network, when to network, what to say, what not to say and, still….I look back at some of my blogs and I see it appears they have been lost to the vastness of the blogosphere. Better yet, I get the wonderful question from the “default professional” who just joined REOPro and says, “How do I get a REO listing?”

Dear God, was I the first email you wrote on this network, was I the first name you saw, did you even bother to read some……3…..2…..or at least 1 blog?

No, you most likely didn’t, you most likely saw that I owned the network, assumed I was a fount of free flowing information, thought you would be bold and a go getter, sat down at your desk and wrote me a one line email, “How do I get my first REO listing?”

Let me just say, you would not be one I would trust with my money…..why on God’s green Earth would any Asset Manger trust you with his?

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This week’s Ask the AM really spurred me into action. I hear moans and groans all the time from agent s who just don’t like social networking. They gripe about how time consuming it is or they were never successful or, it’s too monotonous, or……….whatever else and all I got to say is, SO BAD, SO SAD, AINT YOU GLAD YOUR MOMA AINT YOUR DAD!

As Ned points out in the article, someone is using Social Networking and taking your business. This mysterious agent has become savvy enough to create a LinkedIn profile or Facebook page and is now using it with maximum force.

You see, while your setting back, accepting those listing assignments, this mysterious agent is sharing tweets or swapping emails or learning about your Asset Manager’s terrible weekend because they lost their dog Sparky (thanks Ned). Before you know it, this agent and your Asset Manager are developing a friendship vs. a business relationship. So, when the next assignment get sent out, who do you think is going to get it?

Granted, I know social networks take time to create…..I created REOPro for goodness sake however, I can’t stress to each of you, your lack of involvement is at your own detriment. Now, you may never have a social network of a thousand or more or ever have a goal to reach twenty five thousand but, a well oiled social network of a few hundred and make a huge difference.

Here is the stark cold truth. Asset Managers are loosing their jobs, getting re-assigned or simply dropping out and all this is happening because the business is changing so, what do you think these Asset Managers are doing when they are no longer Asset Managers? Well, let me tell you, they are getting real estate licenses and taking over territories for their friends back at the Bank or Asset Management Companies. My point is, if you aren’t on a first name basis, dirty joke telling, birthday card sending, meet up at the conference having drinks relationship………………..someone else is or is trying to be.

Now, as many of you know, I try to adhere to a high standard of morals and ethics so, don’t misconstrue what I am trying to say. No, you don’t go put in hardwood floors at your Asset Manager’s vacation home or send them a Visa Gift Card worth $5,000.00 to their P.O. Box , hopefully if you did they would refuse it but, you do call them regularly if nothing more to just shoot the breeze or say “Hi”.

Let me put this another way, hopefully it will ring true to you. REOPro currently has over 18,000 invites to join our network that are outstanding. In other words, these are members who downloaded their address books in to our system and REOPro system each person an invite to join. By now, we should have blown though our goal of 25,000 member however, I am still only getting maybe 15-20 new members a day. This is contributable to the fact that many of the people who received an invite never got a follow up saying, “check out this network”. Social networking is a lot like that follow up. If you don’t follow up and say “Hi” or learn about people, then why would anyone want to invest in you?

I will leave you with a quote, who it came from, I have no idea but, here it is…….

“A lead will make you some money, a follow up will make you rich”, I like to change that around a bit and say……

“A lead will make you some money, a active social network will ensure your kids don’t have to work”

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Do you pay to get listings?

For many Agents, paying to get listings seems the only way to get their foot in the door. I understand why they do it and, admit…..I was one of those agents to. As you read this blog, understand that I am jaded, burned and completely angry about this business model, as described above and, for those of you doing this to agents…..well….just wait and see. (Insert evil, diabolical, angry, bone chilling laugh here) I really can’t remember who said this to me or where I read it but, it has completely stuck and I am more than happy to pass this wisdom on to my fellow REOPro members. “If the company charging you upfront fees for listings isn’t confident in their leads enough to take a payment out of closing, how can you as the agent ever be confident the leads will ever close?”……unknown. In that one statement, you can find a lot of wisdom. Well, I can tell you that many of these firms, “see a leaf fall and believe they now which way the wind blows but, I tell you that a hurricane is coming that will sweep away their pride.” Elizabeth, The Golden Age The death of these firms is that they are all doing the same thing. Everyone is charging Realtors, everyone believe us to be the cash cow, everyone wants an up front fee and the moment someone enters this industry with a new, innovative, completely crazy idea, many of these companies will wash away with the tide. The really sad part, a lot of Agents will be out hard earned cash and will bear direct witness to the folly of this business model. Sorry for all the cryptic writing and vivid imagery but, a Hurricane is coming, I can see it on the horizon, can you?
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Ok, I announced that I was needing everyone to come on and update thier profile information, specifically zip code and the network exploded. Thats great but, my problem is that most of the people who came on to update thier profiles I had never seen before. In other words, I had no clue who they were. Granted, I am not going to know each and every single member, considering we have 2800+ members however, I would think that at least I should be able to recognize you from your picture because I see you regularly on the blogs or forums.....right? My point is, I have an incredible opportunity in the works, and I suspect the details will be hammered down no later than this time next week so, I am going to need agents but, why on God's beautiful green Earth would I select some Joe Schmoe who has never blogged or ever responded to a forum or ever chatted or ever downloaded video or ever updated events or did anything other than fill out the profile form.........I WOULDN'T! So, what do you need to do to get my attention and keep it. Well, start blogging, start creating forum threads, host a group, download some funny real estate videos, add your local events to our events tabs, send in a Ask the AM or Ask the REO Atty question, etc..... GET INVOLVED ON THIS NETWORK! I promise I will first go to those who are involved before I ever will someone who isn't.
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!WARNING!BLOG!WARNING!BLOG!

Are you blogging........why not? Don't have time, don't know how or just don't see how it will help your business, well..........that is all about to change! I have an incredible! INCREDIBLE! oppurtunity coming and it will only be offered on a beta basis to those who are active bloggers on this site. Once it's out of beta testing, it will then only be approved for those that are active on this site. My point is, I am using your blogs as your resume so, if you don't have a resume, you won't be given the opportunities that are coming. You will have about 2 months or so to get active and stay active, don't let this pass you by!
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Many factors go into answering this question and the truth is, I don’t have the time to explain each one so, let me give you my top 3. 1. REO Experience = REO Listings; I know for many of you, this fact is frustrating but, it’s a fact none the less. Why is this the case, you may ask? It boils down to what “Experience” really represents. In other words, if you have REO Experience then you have a direct knowledge through direct exposure to REO and, therefore you have the “know how” or “procedural knowledge” it takes to get the job done. Keep in mind that the rule isn’t REO Training = REO Listings, it is REO Experience = REO Listings. 2. A Proven Track Record of Sales: It may be hard to believe, because your calls never get returned by that power house REO listing agent but, a REO Agent with a large number of listings has a proven track record of sales. This proven track record establishes confidence on behalf of the lender providing the listings and as long as the sales are occurring with little to no problems, that agent will continue to be given the opportunity to do so. 3. The Asset Managers are Graded as Well: Just like a REO Agent has a performance evaluation, so do the Asset Managers. If an Asset Manager is performing poorly because they have a poor Realtor in the field, it’s the Asset Manager who is held liable and risking their job. The banks consider the Asset Managers ability to choose high quality, high performing Realtors as a part of their job and if they can’t do that, they don’t keep that job for long. This is why points 1 and 2 are critical and most Asset Managers will not budge off them. I hope this has given you a different prospective, if you have questions, comments or concerns I would be happy to help out.
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