Anyone else feeling totally conflicted on whose mandatory webinar training to attend, you know, ever since they started SCHEDULING RIGHT ON TOP OF EACH OTHER?! lol. Trying to get me to choose who I will serve or just major coincidence?
So obviously, they're not getting 100% attention tomorrow as I'll have my screen split and be fading the volume from one to the other every so often...since they TRACK your attendance. *sigh*
Thankful for replay links, I am...
Good night.
It's not dead, it's gone in to hiding so the industry can recover from the onslaught of politicians with nothing else better to do but "save" everyone and, in doing so, cripple an entire industry. Not to mention them going against one thing that is supposed to happen with a capitalism economy; right alongside success is also failure. Companies fail and get rebuilt. People fail and homes, cars, boats, etc. get repossessed by the banks. It's the capitalistic circle of life! Industries are built on this circle. From mortgage brokers to real estate agents. The irony is that many of their saving programs failed and we will be right back where we were. In the meantime, how many in our industry will now fall? The current administration only saved a few but in doing so they caused a quite a few more to fall. How is that progress? How is that change? To make it worse, those that were saved only failed later. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying there weren’t some serious issues in the foreclosure world. There was fraud, invalid foreclosures, and a few other problems. The government, with the National Mortgage Settlement, made those at fault pay to the tune over $51 billion. However, that still doesn’t change the fact that foreclosures will not die so long as we have capitalism. Banks will still lend, and, for many various reasons, people will still default, and the banks will repossess. We won't have what we did 5 yrs. ago but there will be plenty to go around and if another bubble bursts I bet that there will much less of a noticeable celebration in the industry that makes money from it......after all, we wouldn't want to give the politicians another opportunity to grandstand at the expense of the real estate industry.
Now, speaking of politicians interfering. One of the first things done when the current administration took office was a moratorium on foreclosure activity. All banks that had foreclosures were ordered to stop processing them. Next come the reviews, audits, fines, etc.. (all of which were dealt with as mentioned above and the National Mortgage Settlement) and here we are a few years later and they are now finally getting back to where they can proceed with business, which does mean finally processing those properties in default. Interestingly enough those orders did not include Fannie and Freddie with whom the government has a significant vested interest. What’s the point you ask? Well, have you seen Fannie’s profits for the 2nd quarter? $10.2 BILLION! Yes, that’s billion with a B. So, in essence, the government shut down all of their competition and reaped the rewards. How would you like to shut down every real estate agent in your market area and take every listing out there for nearly 4 years? Pretty slick if you ask me.
I have a webinar to teach in an hour so I better end the rant. I will close by saying what I started with, that REO’s are not dead, but merely in hiding. Banks want to keep a low profile on their foreclosures activity so they won’t have politicians interfering again. Wouldn’t you if you had to pay $51 Billion the last time they interfered? In addition, if you don’t really believe me then understand I have been doing this for 10 years and I know patterns when I see them. Keep an eye on all of the reports and you will see some that state foreclosures are down while others state they are up. Why the confusion? Well…..good question…why?
Financial Gurus Still Believe Rental Property Is a Safe Investment
(Investment Properties: Part 3 of 5)
The record low interest rates for mortgages have helped the real estate market to slowly improve month by month for the last several quarters. Thanks to these low rates real estate has continued to be a sound investment for people who wish to diversify their portfolio. For those people that are considering buying their first investment property here are some considerations to keep in mind.
Neighborhood History
It is wise to pick areas that are accustomed to rental homes. One of the most obvious choices would be neighborhoods close to a major university or college. If there are no colleges or universities in your area then look for certain neighborhoods close to quality schools. Schools often attract stable, hardworking tenants that will likely pay on time.
Understanding the Role of Landlord
There are two major ways to prosper from owning rental property. The first is to buy the home at a significant discount and then sell the place at a profit after the home has appreciated. The second way is to have positive cash flow. The second method takes considerable planning. Just because the tenant is willing to pay more per month than the actual mortgage payment, it does not mean that the home is profitable. There are other items to consider such as regular maintenance and repairs.
Determining What to Charge in Rent
Appraisers and real estate agents can provide information about rental rates for a certain area. This gives the investor some idea of what can be charged per month. The monthly mortgage amount and allotted figures for maintenance should be subtracted from the rent. There should be at least 15% left over after subtracting the payments and expenses. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing money.
Choosing Tenants
Once you have some interested parties and they seem capable of paying the rent it is time to begin the screening process. Experienced landlords hold fast to the rule of checking out prior landlord references as well as the tenant’s credit file and even a criminal check. The criminal check could spare you from inadvertently leasing to a felon and finding major damage to your home due to a police raid.
Research the Possibility of Using a Rental Management Firm
Some companies specialize in managing properties for investors. These firms will review applications from potential tenants, handle collecting rent payments and, most importantly, take care of the maintenance issues that pop up at the most inopportune times.
For instance, if you get a call in the middle of the day that a toilet is leaking, can you leave work and fix it? If you get a call at 2 am on Saturday morning notifying you of a sudden hole in the roof, are you capable of fixing that problem? Some people have the skills and time to manage these issues, but most people do not. In these instances it is a good idea to use the service of a reputable management firm.
Investment/Rental Properties (5 Part Series)
Property Management, Rentals and Short Sale: The New Niche
From the time we sign up for real estate school, to the most experienced agents with 30+ years under their belt, we have all heard that to be successful in real estate, we need to find our niche. Well, I am here to say that’s a bunch of hog wash. I would go as far to say that by “finding your niche” you’re a signing, your own business’s death certificate. Many of our colleagues found out in 2007 – 2008, when the real estate bubble burst, having a niche meant you didn’t know how to work in a shifting market place. I understand that for most all of us, real estate was steady and predictable so, this niche thinking was rampant, accepted and promoted amongst our ranks however, now we have learned that being a niche Realtor means certain death as real estate become more and more volatile each day.
Now, I say all this but, let’s be honest, REO is definitely a niche, I like to think of it as being the undertaker of the real estate world. Yes, by extension, that means I am a housing mortician. As such, we see highs and lows and we are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in the market place. For some, that’s just fine, we have learned to work with these convulsions and have shielded our lives and business from times of drought however, a vast majority of us ended up in the foreclosure lines ourselves when the real estate market heard those fateful sounds, snap, crackle and finally….POP!
As a Realtor and full time Broker, I have found that taking a more diversified approach to my business offers me and my family a more stable outlook to my career. This means, I have done away with the niche and expanded my income streams to include things like; Property Management, Rentals and yes, Short Sales. I do have some other things I do in real estate like, investing however, that is another conversation for another time. Let’s stay focused on the whole “niche” thing.
True, you can say that each of those three I just wrote about are niches amongst themselves and, you would get no argument out of me here however, all together as a part of your service portfolio, they become more, much more. All together they become an inoculation of sorts, from the market place unpredictability. By adding more services you can offer, you are riding out the waves of instability in the market place by being able to quickly and effectively shift your business to more profitable ventures. Ok…yes, you are still working the “distressed property” niche so…..yeah, it’s still a niche but, it’s a niche with diversification.
Right now, many markets are seeing short sales take over and even outpace REOs however, we don’t see a flood of agents clamoring to do short sales like we did with agents clamoring to get REO assignments and, why is that? Have you thought about that? If not, why not? My argument is, the skills you learned to be a kick ass REO agent are really the same skills you need to be a kick ass Short Sale Professional. I would go as far to say, no real difference exist between the two required skill set that would stop any outstanding short sale agent from being a outstanding REO agent and vice versa.
Granted, short sales are much more time consuming and require much more paperwork but, these things shouldn’t scare you away but, should entice you to add short sales to your service portfolio. Let’s face it, if you can close a complicated short sale, you can close any REO. My bigger point is, due to the complex nature of a short sale, becoming a Short Sale Professional will build on skills you already have or at least, develop skills you don’t have and therefore, making you better in the long run.
Don’t be afraid of short sales, they are fast becoming the new REO. As REO agents, you already have the basic and even advanced skills to be a great Short Sale Professional so, grow a pair and get to work. Your area has hundreds or even thousands of homeowners who need the help of an experienced distressed property agent who knows the front and back of the foreclosure process so that they can avoid the foreclosure if at all possible.
As an idol of mine says, “You beda weeerk!”
Just an FYI.
The site PropertyTransactor.com has been updated to allow vendors and field reps to list their companies as available resources for REO Property Preservation. The site also allows new agents and brokers to submit maintenance requests free for a year. As an added value, vendors who register with PropertyTransactor.com will receive a listing in the Vendor List that is search engine friendly!
This is a new and emerging site, so its growth will be measured by the prefessionals who join the network as new members sign on. I believe this will be a great resource for Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Brokers, Contractors, Sub-Contractors, Service Providers, Sourcers, Field Service Agents/Reps, Field Service Companies, Foreclosure Cleanup Companies and Real Estate Vendors.
I would love to know how this resource can work for you!
Below Is part of an email I received this week I am wondering if anyone here on REO PRO has had a track record with this program with other outsourcers that may have tried this before. If you have ran into this already how easy was the conversion any problems to look out for?
One or more of the properties assigned to you has/have been selected for Fannie Mae's Utility Management Pilot. As part of the pilot, Fannie Mae has authorized a third party vendor to take over the management and payment of electric utilities on selected properties.
Please read the linked FAQs and make a note of the properties listed below which have been selected for the pilot. A utility management company will contact your AMP within a week to request utility documentation. We ask that you work with your AMP to ensure they have the most up to date utility bill. Please Note: If you also work with Fannie Mae directly, it is important that you submit 571 reimbursements on AMP properties to your AMP rather than to Fannie Mae.
Pilot Details
This pilot only affects the electric bills on the list of properties shown below unless the property has joint utility billing. If the property receives one bill for multiple utilities, then those properties will also be included in the Utility Management Pilot. All other bills and properties remain unchanged and you are required to continue to pay them as outlined in the Fannie Mae REO Sales Guide. If you have any assigned properties that are not selected for this pilot, it is your responsibility to continue to pay the electric bills of those properties. In addition, there are no changes to how you submit for reimbursement. Continue to submit to your AMP for reimbursement for all bills which you have paid.
The electric bills for the properties below will be transferred to a third party vendor and will no longer be sent to you. In order to facilitate a smooth transfer, you must activate service. If you do not activate service, the transfer cannot take place. Once the transfer takes place, a representative from the third party vendor will notify you and your AMP of the exact date service is transferred.
Important
If you have not recently submitted an electric bill to your AMP for reimbursement, one of our third party vendors may contact you for a current copy of the bill. The third party vendor will provide you with a Letter of Authorization from Fannie Mae allowing them to procure utilities on our behalf. We ask that you cooperate and promptly provide the assigned vendor with a copy of the most recent electric bill for the property requested.
Please be mindful of the following points during the utility transfer to the third party vendor (utility management company).
Thank you for your assistance with this initiative
Earlier this year I had a scare when my 3yr old daughter started sneezing and later coughing up blood. I did my best to keep my cool, but I inside I was freaked out. What I needed as I drove to Kaiser was an accurate diagnosis of what was wrong so we could make the best decisions possible.
Later this got me thinking about blast BPO companies (don’t ask me why). These blast BPO companies are paid by their client to compile the most accurate information possible, but instead send the order to the first person that raises their hand. What if instead of going to a qualified pediatrician for my daughter, I sent out a blast message to anyone who had taken a science class? What if I didn’t choose the person with the most experience, or the person that had performed well in this area in the past, but rather I chose the first person to respond??
That would be STUPID!! I’d probably end up with some college dropout who took a semester of biology instead of a trained physician. Isn’t it just as STUPID though when we’re talking about a family’s home? This BPO can decide whether that family gets a needed loan mod or gets rejected; whether they successfully short sale their home or go to foreclosure? Whether the underling investor loses 150k or 225k?
Just a thought, who do you think is more likely to be sitting in front of their computer all day fondling the refresh button hoping to capture an order? The successful broker who has sold tons in the area, or rather the lame-brain agent who last sold a home when Reagan was in office?
Anyone else have a different take on this? Which BPO companies have you had the worst experiences with?
You should market your REO team that you work with. This would include your vendors. Such as:
1. Maintenance and Repair and/or
2. Property Preservationist
3. Accountants
4. Assistants
5. Listing Coordinators
6. Transaction Coordinators
7. BPO/MMR Coordinators
Sometimes asset management companies would like to know if you work with a team and what are themilestones you have reached. So if you do work with an REO team, you shouldtake the time to create a marketing package that includes a brief descriptionof each team members unique qualifications that contribute to the success ofyour REO team.
This also allows the asset company to see that you are equipped to take on a good amount of REO work and completeit successfully.
There are several ways to market yourself as an REO Agent to obtain more business. I am going to
focus on a few. Listed below are two marketing techniques that you can utilize
for free!
1. Social Media
a.
Blogging – as we know this is can be a very
powerful marketing tool. And really there is no shortage of subjects to blog
about. Three quick tips to successful blogging.
i. Relevant and interesting material that will
solicit comments from your readers
ii. You need to do it on a constant basis to
continually build your reading audience
iii. Address a need that maybe your readers are
struggling with. Such as key tips on how to communicate successfully with Asset
Managers.
b.
Networking – Online or through conventions
i. You can join online groups that are relevant to
your industry
1. Once you join – don’t forget to participate by
answering and asking questions!
2. Creating Groups – if you are a blogger, this is
a terrific way to network online. You can produce your own content and invite
others to join. As your readership increases, you can offer free seminars to
the group. You can also invite others to produce relevant blogs/content to help
the group.
c.
Signing up with Asset Management companies
i. If you have the time, sign up with as many as
you can. And check back every month or so, to see what your status is or if you
have to submit up to date records.
ii. Signing up as an appraiser or recommending one –
sometimes the asset management companies are looking for other vendors other
than REO agents. If you can refer another type of vendor to them, that is a
good way to network. They will remember that you took the time to help their
business.
iii. Signing up to do their short sales – the asset
companies are also looking for short sale agents. So this may be a way for you
to obtain some short sale work – that is if you are willing. But this is just
another avenue to look at.
So these are just a few marketing tips. Feel free to add any additional helpful tips that you would like to share!
I’m curious how other agents see short sales and REOs mixing.
If you are an REO agent and are assigned a listing, you are happy. If you then find out that one of your associates in your brokerage has had it listed as a short sale within the past 6 months, your happiness might turn into a sense of loss. You need to tell your seller that the property has been listed with your brokerage and let them decide if there is a conflict of interest. In fact, the seller probably is already aware that the property was previously listed with your brokerage, in which case they may not have assigned it to you at all depending on their policies.
Do you, REO agents, consider this scenario potentially damaging to your business? One reason I was motivated to build my own brokerage was I could control what listings we handled and avoid sellers in distress since potentially we have a better chance of selling their home as an REO listing than selling their over-priced, underwater short sale home. When I worked at a franchise brokerage I had to turn down pre-listing bpos because another agent in my office currently had the properties listed. This happened a few times and I decided that it was up to me to solve the problem by leaving.
Now, the whole game is changing and short sales are becoming part of the mix with management companies that previously only managed REOs. I have heard some short sale agents claim that they get REO listings by being the short sale agent for the owner in default but I have yet to see any proof to back up this claim. Usually the short sale agent gets a call from the REO agent instructing them to remove their short sale listing from the MLS because the property has a new owner. These are uncharted waters so my question is:
Will a short sale assigned by a management company be more likely to be kept by a listing agent if it fails to sell and becomes an REO?
I have been using ebrokerhouse for about a year now based on my husband attending a CREOBA conference. He really liked the option of managing our offers since agents were sending them left and right to my email, his email, office offers email, fax, efax. They were coming out of everywhere and some were not even found. So we decided to go to an offer management system and the low cost of ebrokerhouse seemed attractive over the REOMaestro prices.
It worked well in our offer management system, we could view and respond to all agents, have our assistants notify the rejected offers quickly and input additional lender required information. We could now locate where all offers went. Locating lockbox combonations was made easier. And my bookkeeper had a great time managing the PGE and other billing. The customer service wasn't bad because they would call us to find out about our input. (I don't know if they ever applied it. )
BUT we found a few flaws: 1. You could not sort the property page. So if you entered a property 20 properties ago, you had to slowly go through all pages to locate it. 2. The weblink we listed on our mls for agents to submit offers often times was too lengthy that agents cut and pasted not enough of the link and took them to wrong pages and they would call and not know what to do. 3. Agents seemed to not understand the way to upload offers (this was most part on the other party for their passive approach to new technology) but that caused agents to call and be frustrated and send offers to all our emails or fax- again diminishing the point of having this offer management system.
Although the system helped us manage our pipeline, I really felt that it seemed archaic and lacked the 2010 technology to it. They definitely need to update the functions. But I am still an ebrokerhouse user - I think it's due to my passive approach to change too.
