So, how many agents are leaving the industry due to lack of
work? Have you ever stoped and asked yourself that question? Most likely not
but, I did this week because a friend of mine who owns their own real estate
brokerage told me that he is expecting that by the end of this year, his office
is going to shrink......so much so, that he may actually close his doors.

You see, many, if not all brokerages are built around reoccurring
revenue streams brought in by the agents. Obviously, I am not going to go
through every single office business plan I know of but, ultimately they all
revolve around either one of two...or both of these ideas.

Idea # 1: High
monthly fee and little to no commission split. These offices charge agents a
high monthly fee....like $500.00 a month or so and, yes...that is high in my
area. Now, these offices don't really care if the agents on their roster do any
business at all because, the broker is paying bills and making money off the
monthly fee. Normally, in these offices, the broker isn't making any money on
commissions anyways so, he is working for just that monthly fee.

Idea # 2: Low to
no monthly fee and high or graduates commission splits. These offices make the
bulk of their money on the performance of the individual agent. These offices
will typically charge little to no commission splits however, they typically
have a skeleton staff and expect the agent to be able to handle most all issues
with little to no broker involvement.

Now, as you can
expect, plenty of pros and cons with either major model however, what happens
to these models when the number of agents in the industry or in local markets
begin to dry up?

Well, the
competition for agents becomes more fierce and these 100% or low monthly fee
offices begin attracting a lot of agents. Much like we have now in my market.
The problem is these office typically attract the type of agents that most
people should steer clear of. Now, granted, this isn't true in every market and
this is strictly my opinion however, my experience is that before a agent truly
gives up on their business they go into the Realtor Death Spiral. Yes, this is
a phrase I just thought up.

So, what is the
Realtor Death Spiral? Ok...so, here it is. It's when you have a Realtor who has
been struggling the past few quarters and is now having to make a decision. Do
I stay in the business or do I go back to do what I know how to do? You see,
most Realtors, 99% of us, didn't grow up thinking...oh, I want to be a Realtor.
We grew up thinking, I want to be a fireman, a police officer, a marine or in
my case, a secret service agent...yes, that is true. My point is, we all came
from another industry and we either fell into real estate because we had a
friend who was selling their home or it was a part time "job" for
vacation money or...whatever reason you can think of other than, I want real
estate to be my career.  With all that
said, it means that many of us....almost all of us thought to ourselves, well,
if I can't make it big and live like Donald Trump, then I will go back to
teaching, being a stay at home mom or steel worker.

Now, let's look
at the graph above...yes, I pasted that in here for a reason. The graph is the
latest information I could find from the National Association of Realtors on
the number of Realtors by year. Look closely at the nose dive in the past 4
years. You see, the graph clearly shows that when real estate was good.....or
easy, people were becoming Realtors left and right. In fact, if you look at the
graph just a little closer, see how we doubled the amount of Realtors from2000
to 2006. That's right people, in 6 years, we doubled the number of people in
our industry. Now, consider that when I tell you that back in 2007, NAR release
a statistic that said something to the effect that 93% of all Realtors, DID NOT
CLOSE MORE THAN 3 DEALS A YEAR! In fact, I read at one time that the average
income of a Realtor was like $26,000.00....that's not even a million dollar in
sales in my area.

Well, I will
leave it up to you to come to your own assumptions and conclusions however, I
am of the mindset that our industry does need to do some "house
cleaning" if you will. In fact, I venture to say that as the housing
bubble was blowing up so was the rank and file Realtors and now, as the bubble
is busting....those same agents are looking at themselves in the mirror and
saying, "Damn, this is much harder, much more expensive, much more
involved than I thought or ever experienced it really was". Yes, we are
going to start seeing a mass exodus of agents from our industry, in fact, many
of us in the industry have noticed this for the past 2-3 years. I must admit, I
am glad to see it. Personally, I am sick and tired of dealing with agents who
have been in the business for 3,4,5 years, sold 3-5 homes a year, has a full time
or part time job in another industry and then complains that they want to do
REO and no one will help them get into the business or that they attended some
conference but, they had no ROI.

Our industry
needs to purge the part time agent. These agents don't do much for our
industry. Yeah, maybe they have a place and time but, it's not now. Now, we
need to get back to professional standards, common sense and the Realtors who
are here, participate, contribute and improve our opus.

Now, don't get me
wrong, people got to pay bills, people got to do what they got to do in a
country with an unemployment rate of 9.1% but, let's make sure we are all
looking at this with an ounce of perspective. Let's make sure when we see
brokerage office closing, or agents retiring their license that we stop and
realize, fortunes are made in times of recession and those who can survive
deserve to be here and reap the rewards of their commitment.

If you are selling your home as a short sale and it needs work you may get one or more offers from flippers. These can be contractors or investors who want to buy your home at a discount, fix it up, and then resell it for a profit. I do not believe there is anything unethical about this, and in fact I used to flip homes myself, but that was a different market.

However, there are many banks who disagree and often will put limits on the minimum time a home must be held before they will lend on it for the next buyer. That is an issue for the buyer of your short sale. As a seller there is a more important issue for you. Some banks will make a buyer sign a notarized document promising not to resell the home for a minimum of 90 and up to 180 days after the purchase.  If you accept an offer from a flipper it is a good idea to find out ahead of time if your lender has a policy about minimum holding times after close of escrow.  there is no point in taking your home off the market for 4-12 weeks and then get a notice from your lender that the buyer needs to hold the property for longer than they want. If this happens the buyer will walk, and you will need to start over again.

If you have any questions about short sales in San Mateo or Santa Clara Counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer C.D.P.E.

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

This company used to pay within 30 days, but they have seemed to run into problems. Have not been paid for jobs completed over 6 months ago. Latest response eceived 10/17/2011 from the company is below. Anyone else having the same issues with this company? Makes it kinda hard for me to want to complete any more jobs for them at this time. PLMK. Thx.

Dear Brian,

 I sincerely apologize for this delay but I cannot give you a date at this time.Agent payments continue to be our number one priority. To be as fair as possible we are making the most overdue payments first and moving forward. I offer my sincere appreciation for your all your hard work and understanding.

 Sincerely,

Nancy Parker

Accounting

 Summit Valuations, LLC

I am currently working on/producing a YouTube docu-drama (my term for documentary/drama mini-series) on foreclosures in my home state. It is called Life in Foreclosure. The plan is to document all aspects of foreclosure with interviews from asset managers, investors and even people who have lost their home to foreclosure.

Check out the link and let me know what you think:  http://youtu.be/1q88A4fmKQQ

We all get busy completing tasks, taking new assignments, closing out old ones....... Day in and day out, working toward the next commission check we sometimes focus so much on the short term we lose sight of the long term.

It has been  apx 6 years since we sold our last investment property and we are ready to jump back in. Going to focus on some long term rentals as well as some short term rehabs with a partner.

What are you doing as a real esate pro to set you up for life?

 

A group of lawmakers  and industry experts from both sides of the aisle got  together in Washington, D.C., yesterday —  brought together by think tanks Progressive  Policy Institute and e21 — and came  up with some pretty interesting ideas for  solving the housing market’s woes.

Some of the ideas floated during the New  Solutions for America’s Housing Crisis conference were really novel, like  reducing student loan payments so young people have more money to put toward a  home purchase. Others have been floating around for a while, like finding a way  to help home owners refinance when they owe more than their homes are worth.

The panelists, including Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Johnny Isakson  (R-Ga.), Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries,  NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® President Ron Phipps, Mortgage Bankers  Association CEO David Stevens, and the Center for Responsible Lending’s  Executive Vice President Ellen Schloemer offered up even more suggestions:

1. Streamline government programs that help financially troubled home owners  and expand the federal Making Home Affordable mortgage help program  so that creditworthy home owners who owe their mortgage lender more than their  home is worth can refinance to take advantage of today’s low interest  rates.

2. Provide down payment vouchers of $2,500 for single taxpayers  and $5,000 for married people to help first-time home buyers get into starter  homes.

3. Offer shared appreciation mortgage modifications for home  owners who owe more than their homes are worth. With a share appreciation  modification, the lender agrees to forgive the difference between what the home  owner owes and what the house is worth. In exchange, the lender gets a set  proportion (usually 25%) of any future home price appreciation.

4. To  reduce the number of foreclosed homes being held by the government’s mortgage  market giants — FHA, Fannie  Mae, and Freddie Mac — sell foreclosed homes to investors either in bulk  deals where hundreds of homes are sold in a single deal, or one house at a time  to small investors.

5. Make financing available to small investors.  Right now, about 90% of mortgages come through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or FHA.  Opening these loan programs to small investors would help investors buy  foreclosed homes and turn them into productive rental properties.

6. End  the current Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac practice of charging extra fees to  creditworthy home owners who want to refinance but don’t have a lot of equity  and to home buyers who can only put down a small down payments.

7. Put a  stop to proposed regulations that will raise the cost of mortgages when home  owners have down payments of less than 20%. A proposed regulation called the “qualified residential mortgage” rule will make it more  expensive to finance or refinance a home with a down payment below 20%, even  if you use private  mortgage insurance.

8. Create national rules about the best way to  handle home owners who can’t make their monthly payments. Banks, faced with  class action lawsuits and angry state attorneys general, would like the federal  government to make consistent rules about the fairest way to manage loans when  borrowers stop making payments. Now they’re dealing with rules from different  states and even local governments, which are passing laws about servicing  loans.

9. The best idea of all came from Richard Smith, president and CEO  of Realogy Corp., in Parsippany, N.J., which owns such brands as Century 21,  Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Sotheby’s International Realty. His suggestion: Start  with a cohesive government policy that defines how and why we, as a nation, support home ownership.  Once you’ve established that home ownership’s family, community, and national  economic benefits make it worthy of federal support, it becomes easier to remove  the current roadblocks slowing the real estate recovery.

What do you think of these ideas as ways to jump-start the housing  market?
 

  
  Stimulus doesn't work......why you may be asking? Because
the people who put the numbers together may or may not realize that the numbers
they are working from are not as accurate.....as they could be. Now, you might
be wondering why I would be talking about unemployment rates in a default real
estate blog.....right? Well, if you are one of the few lucky ones that
are.....let me leave you with a simple thought. No jobs, no housing market.

Ok...so, the above chart was President Obamas Council of
Economic Advisers predictions of unemployment. Now, the red line is the actual
unemployment rate.....as of this last week. The top light blue line is the rate
as projected by the Council of Economic Advisers if no stimulus money was ever
spent. Do you see the problem........nope? Well, if you can't see the problem
here, go speak to any 5th grader who is learning about graphs and
measurement....they will explain the problem to you.

Now....here comes the kicker. You see the bottom dark blue /
green line.....well, that is what the "advisers" said would be the
unemployment rate with stimulus spending.

In case you don't get it....let me break it down for you. We
spent stimulus....so, per the advisers our unemployment rate should be around
7.5% however, instead, it's at 9.1% so, my question is, at what
point....literally, at what point do we determine stimulus spending isn't
making a substantial enough impact that we stop the failed wealth
redistribution policies and get back to common sense?

The housing market isn't going to recover without jobs and
jobs aren't going to come with failed stimulus spending so, let's all start
acting like responsible adults and stop trying to politically "capitalize"
on the situation by pushing agendas.

Ask yourself, why is it so hard for elected officials to
speak truthfully to the American public, tell us just how bad it really is,
stop the failed spending policies, reduce our debt and begin working on
policies that stimulate small business ownership in this country? Maybe it's
because this message doesn't get you re-elected?

IF we don't start focusing on the real issues in our
domestic economic policies, we can all forget about a housing market because we
are going to be too concerned with paying over inflated prices for common every
day goods that people aren't going to be able to afford a house anymore.

Hello,  Can anyone tell me more about Mainstreet Valuations.  I signed up with them a few months ago, and recently received a couple of BPO orders.  The problem is that both orders were more than 25 miles from my office and they were only paying $20 per order.  Is this thier standard BPO fee?   I can't do BPO's for $20 that is an insult.  Needless to say I turned them down. 

Is anyone doing $20 dollar BPO's for Mainstreet?  I have done property condition reports for other companies for $20  but they don't require comps. and it takes about 5 minutes to complete the form. But to do an entire BPO for $20 dollars seems unreasonable.  Am I missing something?

Thanks for your help.

Are you writing down your weekly, monthly and yearly goals?  Have you reached those goals?  If not, you can benefit from having an Accountability Partner.  What is an Accountability Partner?  Somebody you team up with and make a commitment to. Let's take REOPro....you can team up with another agent across the country or someone a state away. As an example, if your goal is to make 20 new bank or AM contacts per day or week, put it into writing or maybe one of your goals is to visit 4 local banks in person per day, or whatever you do as a dollar productive activity, put it into writing and email them to your accountability partner.  Pick an accountability partner that is successful and committed to their business, someone that is in the same business as yourself, so that they know what it's all about, someone that is nice, but also tough.  Someone that will push you and encourage you.  You can check in with this person at the end of every day by phone or email or set a time with communicating 2 or 3 times a week, whichever works for you both.  Also, set up a reward at the end of every month or two if you meet your goals, did you make those personal contacts and cold calls each day.  Rewards could be a weekend getaway in the mountains or a 3 night cruise, something you can look forward to for all your hard work.  Now on the other hand, if you didn't reach your goals, maybe you need to give $500. or more to a cause or person that you don't particularly like or something equally as painful.  Your accountability partner could mail the check for you to keep you on the straight and narrow.  You make up the rules to begin with and then stick to them. Every 3 to 6 months, re-evaluate your goals and make necessary adjustments or changes.  You can do the same for your partner.  Remember, it's easier to keep on track if you have someone that you are accountable to.

Have you given it a second thought as to how secure your email is?  With our dependence to the digital world email hacking has been more prevalent.

What can we do to save our sensitive information?  How can we prevent someone from hacking our emails?  Is it a big deal to take precautions?

Here are a few tips:

• Use elaborate passwords including letters and numbers
• Back up emails in secondary accounts
• Use only secure internet networks to check your emails

Care to share?  How do you protect you email? 

HAS ANYONE HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE FREDDIE MAC SHORT SALE FORM THAT IS GENERATED BY B OF A.

ITEM 13 ON THE FORM READS " EACH SIGNATORY AGREES TO INDEMNIFY THE SERVICER AND FREDDIE MAC FOR ANY AND ALL LOSS RESULTNG FROM ANY NEGLIGENT OR INTENTIONAL MISREPRESENTATION MADE IN THE AFFIDAVIT INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, REPAYMENT OF THE AMOUNT OF THE REDUCED PAYOFF OF THE MORTGAGE"

HAVE HAD MULTIPLE SHORT SALES FALL APART RECENTLY --THE AFFIDAVIT REQUIRES THE CLOSERS ATTORNEYS  IN CT TO SIGN AND THEY REFUSE.  EVEN TO THE POINT THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL IS CHECKING INTO THE LEGALITIES AS WELL AS THE ATTORNEY FOR THE CT ASSOC OF REALTORS IS CHECKING --NOBODY WANTS TO BE ON THE HOOK FOR NEGLIGENTS OR MISREPRESENTATION

LET ME KNOW THOUGHTS

JIMHUDG@MSN.COM

WM RAVEIS REAL ESTATE    

It is estimated that about 25% of home in the US are underwater, that is the owner owes more on the mortgage than the home is worth. So if the owner has to sell, they would have to either make up the difference or do a short sale.

However, just being underwater is not enough reason for most banks to do a short sale. They want to know you have a hardship. what is a hardship?

there are a number of reasons that banks will accept as a hardship. they basically want to know what has changed since you purchased the home. some examples of hardships would be:

1. Job loss

2. Relocation

3. Death in family

4. Illness in family

5. Increased expenses from things like debts or an increase in mortgage payments

6. Divorce

So basically if your income has decreased or your expenses have increased or you need to leave your home it is a hardship. there are others, but they all have in common that something has changed in your financing or circumstances from when you purchased or refinanced your home.

If you have any questions about selling or buying a short sale in Santa Clara or San Mateo counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

I have an urgent need for a key contact in Loss Mitigation at American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc.

The internal contacts I have are literally the most incompetent people I have ever encountered in a financial institution or loan servicing company.

They demand paperwork, it is provided, then they demand the same paperwork after acknowledging the receipt of the previously requested paperwork

Then they just scheduled the trustees sale date of our home because the requested paperwork was not sent to the correct number even though the paperwork was Correctly sent to the number listed on their letter requesting additional paperwork. REALLY!

I know this sounds absurd but it is happening right now and it is happening to me with my home. The trustees sale date has been set for mid November.

I Need A Key Contact Who Can Review The Transaction And Correct Their Error.

My wife was literally been driven to tears of frustration this morning by their blind incompetence and lack of accountibility. We have very accurate records of the doc requests, timelines kept and errors made at AHMSI. I am looking into legal options to remedy but think it makes a lot of sense to reach out to the REOPro Community for the best alternatives to fix this.

While I expect most to ignore this post due to the lack of interest since "Who cares if another home goes down" but I am hoping that someone in REOPro reads this who knows a way to get me in contact with a person at AHMSI who can fix their mistake.

I know they exist because I know several who can do the same at BofA, Wells Fargo, and Chase.

If anyone has a way to help, I really need to hear from you right away.

Milpitas Single Family homes

Active Short Sale Listings:  23

Active Bank Owned Homes: 9

Pending Short Sale Homes: 49

Pending Bank Owned Homes: 11

Sold Short Sale Homes: Last 6 months 23

Sold Bank Owned Homes: 19

Milpitas Condo Townhomes

Active Short Sale Listings: 12

Active Bank Owned Condos:  4

Pending Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 43

Pending Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 4

Sold Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 19

Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes 26

Unlike San Jose, where short sales far outnumber bank owned transactions, the numbers are much closer for short sales and bank owned homes in Milpitas. There are many more pending short sale listings than bank owned, but short sales take so much longer to close that number is not surprising.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures in Milpitas please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer C.D.P.E.

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

San Jose Single Family homes

Active Short Sale Listings:  371

Active Bank Owned Homes: 77

Pending Short Sale Homes: over 578 (mls stops counting at 500 and there are more than 500 San Jose Short Sales waiting for bank approval, 41 bank approved waiting for buyer to remove contingencies, and 338 just waiting to close)

Pending Bank Owned Homes: 127

Sold Short Sale Homes, Last 6 months 378

Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 378

That is an amazing coincidence!

San Jose Condo Townhomes

Active Short Sale Listings: 166

Active Bank Owned Condos:  78

Pending Short Sale Condos/Townhomes: 578

Pending Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes: 104

Sold Short Sale Condos/Townhomes:  210

Sold Bank Owned Condos/Townhomes 314

So, if you add up all the short sale activity there are/were 2281+ for short sales and 1078 bank owned transactions.

My conclusion: even there has been a lot of press recently about how foreclosure filings are up in California right now short sales are dominating the distressed property market in the city of San Jose.

If you have any questions about short sales or foreclosures anywhere in Santa Clara or San Mateo Counties please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

D.R.E.  01191194

Hi Everyone,  I was assigned an REO in May and have been doing a weekly inspection for 5 months.  It's a gated community, you know the drill "follow a car in and avoid getting hit by the bar".  The foreclosure was finalized and recorded, it's been 3 week now.  I was asked to put electric account in my name and all of a sudden I get an e-mail saying the property is being put on hold for listing and placed on a Discount or Non Profit list.  Today I get a questionaire from closing agent of -Community outreach Services. When I question the asset manager to please explain the process and what it will mean to me, I get no e-mail response.  Meanwhile I'm expected to continue doing inspections, paying for electric bill with no listing agreement.

Has anyone out there had an REO property put on a Non-profit list ?  Please let me know what's in it for the Broker/Realtor.

Great story in DS news about the panel that NAWRB National President Desiree Patno spoke on yesterday on running a top-rate REO office.

Some REO Brokerages Prosper Despite Decreased Inventory

Desiree Patno, founder of the National Association of Women REO Brokerages and founder of Desiree Patno Enterprises based in Irvine, California, said her staff takes 15 photos of each property each week and then once each month conducts a comprehensive walk-through taking about 200 photos.

Patno’s staff photographs plumbing, cabinets, utilities, etc., so that they can report and address any damages when they occur.

Patno also stressed the importance of being constantly available to clients. She makes sure someone is answering the phone in her office from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/some-roe-brokerages-prosper-despite-decreased-inventory-2011-09-12