In an effort to disclose, let me first tell you that I am not a Bankruptcy Attorney….or any other type of Attorney for that matter. This blog is not to be interpreted as legal advice because, it’s not. For legal advice you need to speak to a law professional. This blog is just my opinion and should be consider as nothing more.
In my opinion, the concept that Bankruptcy guarantees homeowners a stop to foreclosure is a myth! Let me explain why I have this opinion.
First off a creditor, your bank, can petition the court to remove the stay you received as protection from creditors when you filed for bankruptcy protection. In many cases, the moment the bank learns you filed for protection, they run to the court and ask for the stay to be lifted.
So, why would a court ever agree to this course of action suggested by the bank?
A simply reply, is because the bank has the right to ask and have their request considered fairly among the evidence provided to the court.
It also depends greatly on what type of bankruptcy protection you are under, if it’s Chapter 7…..most likely the bank’s request to lift the stay will be granted and that’s because Chapter 7 bankruptcy isn’t designed to protect you from foreclosure, sad but true. If you want a much better chance at protecting the home from foreclosure, you may want to consider Chapter 13 which puts you on a repayment plan and allows you to pay off your debts over time and therefore, gives homeowners a better chance of protecting the home however, either way….nothing is guaranteed.
Now, just because the bank request the stay to be lifted, it doesn’t necessarily always mean it will be. The truth of the matter is, your Attorney will have arguments to the court, on your behalf, to keep the protection in place but, even then, nothing is guaranteed.
My point is, just because the bank request the stay to be lifted and just because your Attorney is going to argue against it, nothing and, I do mean nothing ever guarantees you will be able to stop foreclosure. It simply boils down to a variety of conditions such as, hardship, skill of the Attorney and the willingness of the court. Unfortunately, many times the homeowners’ walk away wishing they never started the process from the beginning.
Ultimately all bankruptcy protection does is buy you some time. You will ultimately still find yourself across the table negotiating with you lender trying to save your home. Only this time, you are also having to pay Attorney fees.
A Short Sale may be a better option.
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In the past few weeks, I have received many questions from agents about what can a real estate virtual assistant do when they initially receive the asset. Real Estate Transaction Coordinators do many tasks.Listed below are the tasks that we can begin or complete in the first 24 hours of you accepting the assignment.Do a tax search for the property.Save an MLS search for initial Broker Price Opinion.Send the occupancy status to the Asset Manager via emailComplete the initial BPO.Bid request from vendorsHOA ResearchSchedule with all of your preferred vendors:Re-KeyOrder sign and lock boxUtilitiesTrash outMonthly Maintenance of PropertyNotification of any hazardsTo your business success!
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One of the keys to a successful REO Transaction is having an organized task list. I have talked to many agents who have the task list in their head. This may be good for some, but if you have the task list in a documented format – that is just one less thing you have to remember – one less thing that is a to do item!With so many things to do, it is possible that you can forget a task that is very important. Maybe you forgot to follow up with the lender for the appraisal because there was a family emergency that happened. Or you forgot to check with the co-agent on the inspection. And since there are deadlines to be met, there is no leeway for being late. Especially if your client has to pay a per diem fee for a missed deadline.That is why it is crucial to have a task list and that task list has to be organized.What are the steps that you take when you first receive an asset from the bank?Are you on the phone for a long time with the utility company trying to find out the status?Are you trying to juggle your time to inspect the property to find out the vacancy status?Are you working into the night to complete the initial bpo that is due?Do you have a systemized way of tracking your expenses to turn in your reimbursements on time to the bank?If you have all of your tasks documented – GREAT! But if you do not, it is time to begin doing it.The immediate benefits will be:Being confident that your assets will be handled in an organized manner.Your Asset Manager will be more likely to give you more listings and you will develop a better rapport with your Asset Manager.Your business will be continuously growing with more reo listings.To your business success!
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REO Transaction Management Software – Feature Tips – Part IIf you are looking for REO Online Transaction Management software for your business, there are many features that you would want to consider before purchasing. Because you want the software to make your job easier not harder! You want it to be able to streamline processes rather than bog them down.I will touch on five features:Task Lists – is there a feature where you can use the same task lists for each property? Can you assign a task list to a property with one click? And can you edit the lists easily if need be?Email Tracking – does it automatically store the emails under the particular listing? And also are you able to use your default email provider when sending emails. And if you are able, will the system still track the emails?Expense tracking – If this is an important feature to you, it is important that you find a system that does it accurately and preferably in real time. With so many vendors involved with your assets, it is crucial to have accurate records. Also does this system have an easy way to import and export files, such as an Excel spreadsheet.Support –This is very important because for most agents, it is needed 24/7 because of the many tasks that may be due on a particular property. And some agents may not be able to get to their computer until late in the evening because they are out in the field all day.Document Storage – How much can the transaction management system store? If it is not unlimited, how much will they be able to store before they charge a fee? Also how easy is it to access documents and photos for each file? How user friendly is the filing system? Is it customizable to your business or do you have to use the software’s filing system?These are just five features that should be considered when considering a REO Online Transaction System. The most important point to remember is will it streamline the system you are already using? You want to be able to have a tool that makes your job easier and more organized.In part two I will touch on five other features that you should consider when purchasing REO Online Transaction Management software.
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The Default Servicing Industry certainly has a lot places that are now giving information out, for a price, on how to build your REO Business. The focus of this post is not on REO alone, but how to build a successful real estate business.Many Realtors jump on the latest bandwagon and try to "get something for nothing". The real estate business is an exciting business where a person can make a lot of money for little start up cost. The expense is time and effort.Too many people think that REO is going to be the panacea for their business, however, this is an incorrect assumption.It is important to not place all of your eggs in one basket! What happens to your business if you focus solely on REO and we eventually get through this mess and there are not many (or No) REO's? You put yourself out of business!Be in front of the curve, not behind it! This business can be likened to riding a bicycle.Riding a bicycle with a broken spoke can weaken the wheel and lead to host of problems that ultimately will leave you stranded. Pay attention to your spokes, keep them strong, add others, but not at the expense of the ones that are working for you! Pay attention to the bumps in the road, if you hit one, get up, brush yourself off and start again.Focus on balancing your business....referrals from other agents, relocation, a company eteam, etc. Let that be one spoke of your business. REO should be one spoke. Short Sales should be one spoke. For Sale By Owners, Expired listings, sphere of influence, buyers, etc., etc,etc. All of these areas of the real estate business should be focused on. Read more…
Posted by Linda Porter on January 31, 2010 at 5:52am
Back in April, I completed a small subcontracting job for LHP Contractors. Job was completed in full as requested, photos, invoice and documentation were all submitted as requested. I even bid on the larger repair jobs to be done. Emails were exchanged but I never received payment. Then my emails starting being ignored as were my phone calls. I was busy trying to get my company going and put it aside for a while. In November, I made another attempt even faxing the "president" of the company....no reply. I was able to obtain the primary contractor who LHP was working for and contacted them. They immediately contacted LHP, sent copies of their paperwork showing they had paid LHP' invoice and ask for assistance in getting me paid. LHP gave them the same gibberish they gave me but seemed very willing to make sure the situation was resolved. I thanked the contractor and contacted LHP again....no results and ignored again. Although I hated to, I contacted the primary contractor again. They said they had done all they could do and were no longer working with this subcontractor. Any suggestions on collecting my funds? Please pass the word...I don't want LHP Contractors taking advantage of anyone else!! Thanks!!!
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Regardless of your opinions on the necessity of the bank bailouts aka TARP, let us all agree they haven’t worked. I am not sure any other industry knows this better than ours, the default industry because, we still see the direct effects of frozen credit markets, the shadow inventory and bank failures throughout this country.
At the quarterly report of the Special Inspector General’s office, Neil Barfosky warned our country in a report to Congress that TARP only made things worse because ultimately it never addressed the underlying problems that created the financial crisis from the start. Think of it like this, let’s say you break your leg and you are rushed to the Emergency Room for treatment. You get the x-ray and the diagnosis is, your leg is broke. The doctor prescribes some really good pain medicine and says, “Take 2 of these and call me in the morning” however, he never re-sets the leg or even puts it in a brace or cast. In other words, the doctor is just covering up the pain hoping you won’t notice your leg still looks like the golden arches outside your local McDonalds. The worse part of this whole story is, instead of raising hell and getting a new doctor, one that can fix the problem, you end up riding a wheel chair out of the ER, a leg contorted like a Chineese Acrobat smiling and saying, “The pain medicine is necessary to prevent amputation; it will help me walk again”. Ok, so…..the story is a bit absurd however, it really is what we did as a country, oh wait a minute, I forgot to add this part of the story.
So, it’s 2 weeks later…..all you have been doing is popping pain pills left and right and, in fact, the pain seems to be getting worse. You start to notice you can’t feel anything in your pinky toe so, it scares you and you go back to the Emergency Room but, this time you go to a different hospital because, deep down inside you’re not to sure that other doctor knew what he was doing.
The new doctor is dismayed, shocked, stunned, repulsed and even angry at what the ignorant, incompetent, doctor did to you. He goes on to tell you, that now, the bone has started healing, in the shape of an arch and to fix the problem, they will have to re-brake it, do surgery to fix nerve and vessel damage and potentially, you could loose the leg due to infection setting in. The doctor explains to you that the broke leg was never “fixed” and now the damage has had time to fester and cause more damage than originally. So, the cure is going to be worse than if it was all handled correctly the first time.
Pay special attention to that last line, “The cure is going to be worse than if it was all handled correctly the first time.”…………..this line is very important because, we were all told by our leaders in Washington that the financial crisis would have been another Great Depression, double digit unemployment (oh wait, we have that now), bankers jumping from their windows (haven’t heard of this yet) and soup kitchens with lines three blocks down (maybe sooner than I thought). So, if that is what we averted by simply taking pain pills (TARP) and now it’s potentially worse than before because the problems were never fixed…………………….AAGGHHHH! ARMAGEDDON!?!?
Well, I don’t know if it will be Armageddon but, as I have always maintained, TARP was never a fix…..it was just a pain pill and, it seems our leadership in Washington is now a prescription drug addict with a couple TRILLIONS dollar habit and is looking for their next fix!
Make no mistake America, we did this to ourselves……go all the way back and Google the Community Reinvestment Act, see how Barney Frank and the GSE’s screwed this country so bad that now we poo sideways. Make no mistake, plenty of blame to go around. Democrats are the only party guilty of this. Progressivism is the problem, this idea we can move beyond our Constitution, this concept of wealth re-distribution but, I digress.
Here is the reality. We never fixed the problems with the banks, all we did is momentarily stop the pain. Now, the pain pills are loosing their effectiveness and either we go and get better pain pills or we head into surgery, re-brake, re –re-set and fix the problem once and for all however, I have one question to ask you….just one.
ARE YOU SURE THE DOCTORS WE HAVE ADDRESSING THE BREAK ARE UP TO THE JOB?
You may re-post this blog as long as you give me the credit for writting it.
Thanks for reading.
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Fannie Mae says it will cover the closing costs on purchases of its REO homes – an incentive the GSE hopes will help it pare down a bloated supply of repossessed foreclosed properties.I found this article on DSNEWS, I think it is a positive sign when lenders are starting to give incentives to buyers in order to move their inventory, that help us all, our buyers, and our listings, I hope Freddy and HUD continues this trend with every reo and short sale transaction.Also this could be an indication that they are expecting their REO inventory to increase in the near future and now they are trying to do a quick inventory close out. Like the retail stores doing their clearance mark downs.Well here is the article:"The nation’s largest mortgage financier has announced a temporary seller-assistance program under which people purchasing a property through HomePath, Fannie Mae’s REO disposition operation, will receive up to 3.5 percent of the final sales price, which can be applied toward closing costs or used to purchase appliances for their new home.The offer is available to any owner-occupant who closes on the purchase of a property listed on HomePath.com before May 1, 2010, the company said. In addition, many FannieMae-owned properties are eligible for special HomePath Mortgage and HomePath Renovation Mortgage financing, with as little as 3 percent down.“Attracting qualified buyers to the market and reducing the inventory of vacant homes is critical to stabilizing neighborhoods and helping the market recover,” said Terry Edwards, EVP of credit portfolio management for Fannie Mae. “Many families are taking advantage of the federal homebuyer tax credit to buy a new home so this is a great time for Fannie Mae to offer some additional help.”Recent data from Fannie Mae show an increase in the acquisition of foreclosed properties and an escalating rate of seriously delinquent loans, which means even larger volumes of REOs could be coming down the pipeline.According to the GSE’s most recent quarterly filing, Fannie Mae acquired 98,428 homes through foreclosure during the first nine months of last year and sold 89,691 REO properties during the same period. But at the end of September, Fannie Mae still had 72,275 REO properties on its books, marking a 7 percent increase year-over-year.Furthermore, Fannie Mae’s monthly summary shows significant growth in seriously delinquent single-family mortgages held or guaranteed by the company. Up from 2.13 percent in November 2008, loans three or more months behind in payments or in the foreclosure process soared to 5.29 percent in November 2009."
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With the money from the income tax returns, the decline in property prices, the tax credit with a contract before April 30 and even FHA is easing the seasoning rules. All the planets have aligned to create a great Spring for the housing industry, the momentum may carry to the always busy Summer.Last week I was really busy with new REO listing, Short Sale listing and even some buyers. Even with the snow today, my listing had a lot of showings. Lets take advantage of this break that we all needed and enjoy this spike, congress might not extend the $8,000 tax incentive, and we don't know if the lender will start lending again, there are too many houses under water, and some loans are due to re-set this year and the upcoming years.Lets have fun and make the best of this HOT market while it last, and lets sell, sell and sell. We don't know what the future might bring, but the present is good.
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Posted by Johnny Huang on January 30, 2010 at 12:11pm
Lately, I'm finding myself (and I'm sure the other folks in this forum) a bit impatient regarding listings and REO's.When REOPro announced their Realty Pilot, assigning REO's, referral fees, people jumped for joy and wanted it now!When Excellen announced their survey was going out, I knew everyone would be excited like kids at a candy store waiting for a free hand out. It is wonderful to hear new developing news, but really, it's developing news!When Res.net sent out that "email" (granted it was announced premature by the CEO of Excellen), I bet people signed up for Res.net and AMP without blinking.I WANT TO SAY HOLD YOUR HORSES, HOLD YOUR POSITION, OR WHATEVER YOU WANT...JUST BE PATIENT AND GET OUT THERE AND PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS LOCALLY!Who can we blame? No one but ourselves. We are a "I want it now" generation. I want my email now, I need my listing now, I need my coffee now! Forget brewing it, I need it NOW!!!Ok folks, time to step back and look at your position in the real estate chess board. We all want business, but are we lined up correctly? Do you have your education lined up? Do you have your contact management lined up? But wait, we're in real estate! It's not just about listing, right?I think we are missing the other half. Buyers need us as well! Do you have a marketing plan to generate buyers, even if you don't have listings? Do you socialize outside your friends and families and stick your neck out of your comfort zone? Are you using Meetup.com, chamber of commerce, realtor marketing groups to generate referrals?After reading "The Millionaire Real Estate Agent" it's all about the 3 L's. Leads, Listings, Leverage. Leads is a big part of the business, without it, you can't hit the listings.GL, HF, DD :-)
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Managing a Successful OperationRather you're a large real estate company or a one person operation; a system must be in place for you to manage your work flow in order to be effective and efficient in real estate today. E-Broker House (EBH) is a system that every office and or agent should not go without.Short-sale transactions and, Bank owned properties dominate the market and are not going away anytime soon, as well as, the rise and need for property management. If you truly want to be effective, organized and on top of your game, not only for your clients, but also for your vendors; this system is worth a Free 30 day trial. After trying it I knew there was no way I was going back to paper. Here are just a few things that E-broker House Has Streamlined for my office.Vendor Management: All of my vendors can be tasked work assignments, and contacted trough the use of EBH.Document Storage: Every property that is listed and sold can be archived on the system and later downloaded to a Flash Drive or CD. (The days of large paper files are over)Contract & File Mgmt: When's the last time that 100% of your agents used a conversation log? With EBH the conversation log is built in for every property and places an automatic date and time stamp of every entry made.Offer Management: For every property listed, offers can be uploaded and stored with in the system for each property by buyers agents. Multiple offers are easy to manage and a counter can be sent out to all agents with one click of a button. Sample Link Below http://ebrokerhouse.com/property_search.php?display=136Monthly & Annual Commission Reports: I could go on for ever, however we all have limited time these days. Try the system for yourself and let me know what you think. www.ebrokerhouse.com Is your business worth the investment of 29.00 per month for a system that will make you more effective?Regards,Jonathan BurgessCode 3 Realty & Mortgage CorpPresident/CEO
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Now that the administration has determined that the Home Affordability Mortgage Program is not working, we are on to the next program - Home Affordability Foreclosure Avoidance (HAFA). After months of lost paperwork, more paperwork, phone calls, more phone calls, more waiting on hold, the time has come to sell the home.The HAFA plan sounds good for those who have exhausted all means of saving the home because it does short sale the home with a "paid as agreed" on their credit. That is an enormous incentive for those who have always paid their bills on time and value their good credit. It also provides relocation costs. The homeowner can save his credit, move on, and buy another home later at a more affordable price.It's also good for buyers. These short sales are approved BEFORE they are listed! Buyers will return to the short sale market knowing they won't have to wait months to get an approval letter from the lender. Look for HAFA on April 5, 2010.Now, let's look back to Loan Modifications. They haven't been replaced, we are just going to approach them differently. Beginning June 2010, the administration would like the lenders to get "upfront documentation" before proceeding with a loan modification. No more 3 month trial period, then going through the process of making sure you are qualified for a permanent loan modification. Just tell the homeowners upfront if they qualify or not. Makes sense, right?Let's hope we get it right and get the market back to where it should be. Maybe 2010 can be the turning point for homeowners, buyers, sellers, and the entire real estate industry.
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Posted by Johnny Huang on January 29, 2010 at 10:35am
I just received this in my email...Dear Vendor,As many are aware and have brought to our attention, it has become difficult in several areas to accept orders that have been sent out to numerous agents at once. We have received input from several agents regarding the use of auto-accepting/refreshing software to automatically accept orders and have addressed it accordingly.In an effort to eliminate any unfair advantage produced by utilizing these so called auto-accepting programs we are introducing a new process to accept orders. The acceptance process will be relatively the same as before however the system will now prompt you to enter a validation code prior to accepting an order. This is known as a CAPTCHA.A CAPTCHA is a program that protects websites against automated bots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. For example, humans can read distorted text as the one shown below, but current computer programs can't:This process will only be performed once per order just prior to accepting. If selecting multiple orders from the Ordered worklist to accept at a single time, the CAPTCHA is only required once for the batch (not for each individual order).In the event that you’re unable to read the words provided in the CAPTCHA you can click the link below the word box (Get another CAPTCHA) to get a different verification phrase.This process is planned to go into effect on Sunday, 1/31/2010.I commend M2M for doing this and hopefully agents will get their fair chance at their BPO. I for one have been a losing agent to acceptance in with this company. I even have my email forwarded as text to my mobile phone and SMS messages but still was too late in accepting any assignments.This time, It's a fair free-for-all game. I'm all for it.
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I am cuurently in an escrow with a not too uncommon issue. Illegal or an unpermitted addition exists at the house.Some of you may have read here or elsewhere that I published a blog on the differences between FHA and Conventional financing. THERE AREN"T ANY...as far as a seller is concerned. They specify what is necessary to close are far as inspection items and if it is missing the toilet...well that will be a problem, except for cash offers.The heat is turned up when there is an illegal addition, like a non permitted patio enclosure. True to form the appraiser went to the city to inquire about permits and and found there was not any for the patio modification. The Chino building department did a driveby and susbsequently issued an order that it be taken down back to the roofline of the original house. Here we are now stalled, waiting for the seller to fix it up. Although my buyer is ok with the correction needed, the listing agent is left with an embarrassing situation to explain to the seller (luckly this is a normal sale) the current state of things.We as listing agents need to do our diligence and pull permits on our listings , especially if something seems questionable. We would not look good to the asset manager if we acccepted a financed offer and then said" Guess what? We need $2000 to bring the property into compliance with code." We will then be able to advise the AM that there is a potential situation here and seek direction on how to proceed. I notice all too often that things say "AS IS" but there are certain items that need to be expalined to a potential buyer upfront that THEY will have to restore the residence and that will drop many aspiring homebuyers and unless they are able to get FHA203K financing. I am glas the appraiser took this extra step with my transaction. Know too that some companies will do a pre sale inspection for the seller at about $150.00 . That is stress relief in itself and should be made a standard practice. Homeowners get all too creative with their homes. Finally I submit this actual excerpt I got from my loan officer:
My firm recently switched from Taza REO to Ebrokerhouse.com to manage our REO listings. While Ebrokerhouse is much less expensive and easier to use, the keycode feature alone would justify the switch. We post a link in our listings. Agents register for showing and receive instantly the keycode specifically set for each property, while I receive an email on my cell from the inquiry. Agents then register their buyers offers, attach a scanned copy and submit. When I log onto Ebrokerhouse, all of my new offers are clearly labeled that require my attention. Taza took weeks to initially setup and launch. Ebrokerhouse was setup instantly, we were up and running the first day, no training classes, no tech support issues, nothing. While Ebrokerhouse.com is a fixed monthly fee of $29.99 for unlimited use, Taza had a sliding scale starting at $150 per month for up to 50 active properties, then $300 per month from 51 - 99. Cost savings, ease of use, responsive, and the wonderful combo/keycode feature makes Ebrokerhouse a no brainer.Richard StewartREO Specialists llc914 S Burdick StKalamazoo MI 49001www.REOmamma.comRead more…
Could this be the beginning of standardized training?REO Insider joins forces with Real Estate Educate to launch the Open Door Institute, the first open real estate network of its kind.DALLAS, TX—January 28, 2010—REO Insider, the only trade publication dedicated to corporate-owned real estate management (REO), announced that it has joined forces with Missouri-based Real Estate Educate, Inc. to form the Open Door Institute, an organization committed to connecting professionals that buy, sell, and manage distressed residential and commercial real estate. As a truly inclusive network, the Open Door Institute will focus on setting meaningful industry standards for real estate professionals conducting business within the REO industry.“Recovery in the ailing real estate markets is dependent on an ability to open doors for professionals that work with REO properties, connecting them to education that matters as well as connecting them to the broader real estate market,” said Paul Jackson, publisher at REO Insider and an executive director at the Open Door Institute.“Foreclosed properties no longer live in a separate world from the rest of the real estate market.”The Open Door Institute will offer networking and training opportunities for real estate agents and brokers, property investors, maintenance professionals and contractors, and more. “There are many underserved groups, like property investors, that have never had a group like this to join,” said Jackson.Through the partnership, REO Insider will provide the Open Door Institute with access to its leading industry media platforms; the publication will also market the Open Door, and organize live training and networking events nationwide. Real Estate Educate will open its platform of standardized training to members, to equip them for business in the REO sector.Already utilized by acclaimed training providers such as DefaultSchool.com, Real Estate Educate’s online training programs are currently one of a few available educational offerings officially recognized by major lenders/servicers.Real Estate Educate also operates GoHomeBuyer.com, a consumer-focused website that offers free homebuying education. With membership in the Open Door, real estate professionals can connect their businesses directly to consumers via GoHomeBuyer.com.“We see a need to set meaningful standards within REO, for many corporate sellers, and we’re addressing that need head on,” said David Parrish, CEO at Real Estate Educate and an executive director at the Open Door Institute. “Our clients have reiterated to us time and again the importance of ensuring that education remains at the forefront of managing their real estate operations.”Available training programs for Open Door members span renovation lending to green real estate and short sale certification programs—all developed in conjunction with corporations, banks and asset managers.The newly-formed group already has the support of numerous lender/servicers, including Denver-based PMH Financial.“We’re excited to work with our industry peers to help determine solutions to elevate real estate management,” said David Boxall, Vice President, Product Development at PMH Financial and an executive director at the Open Door Institute.The Open Door Institute will accept memberships in February. Visit http://www.opendoorinstitute.com for more information, or call 866-229-1294
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It's a good idea to get out in front of this for some additional business....NAR Teams Up With NCST to Help Rebuild Foreclosure-Ridden Communities01/28/2010 By: Brittany DunnIn an effort to help rebuild American communities devastated by the foreclosure crisis, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a trade association with 1.2 million members, has partnered with the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), a nonprofit organization that facilitates the transfer of foreclosed and abandoned properties from financial intuitions to local housing organizations.This collaboration will bring more than 1,400 state and local Realtor associations into a side-by-side relationship with leading nonprofits and state and local leaders to develop comprehensive and targeted plans to help bring stabilization to struggling neighborhoods. The partnership was made possible by the new federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which provides $6 billion in funding to reclaim neighborhoods permeated by high levels of foreclosed and abandoned property, property disinvestment, low prices, and low resident confidence.“Realtors build communities and have the market expertise and property transaction tools to help local housing organizations understand local market conditions and how to put foreclosed houses back into the hands of stable homeowners,” said Vicki Cox Golder, NAR president. “Working in this partnership with NCST gives Realtors a seat at the community table to perform a leadership role in restoring vitality to communities across this great nation.”As part of NAR’s Foreclosure Prevention & Response Program, Realtors have been engaged in foreclosure prevention efforts since early 2009. Over the past year, Golder said many state and local Realtor associations have shown outstanding leadership and have become active participants in community problem solving, proving that Realtors are a valuable local community partner.“Neighborhoods across America have been decimated by high concentrations of abandoned and foreclosed homes. To reverse neighborhood decline, we need the Realtor community working hand in hand with other housing providers,” said Craig Nickerson, president of NCST. “This ambitious new campaign will harness the unique abilities of Realtors to remarket newly renovated homes and to rebrand the tarnished image of hard-hit neighborhoods.”NAR and the NCST will be working nationwide on this new initiative, but a focus will be placed on enhancing capacity in states experiencing the highest level of foreclosure and abandonment. Based on severity of foreclosure problems, NAR began initiating contact with targeted state associations on January 27. In addition, in-depth training and education materials developed and provided by NCST will be available on NAR’s Web site.
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Posted by Megan Zavieh on January 28, 2010 at 10:20am
All of us trying to work in the REO field have to deal with BPOs. They're not particularly lucrative or fun, but they are definitely educational and absolutely necessary. Any agent in this field knows you are not going to become an REO agent if you don't do BPOs.This necessary task leads me to check our local offerings on Equator.com every morning, clicking away and trying to beat out every other hungry agent hoping to snag an assignment. When I do finally get one, off we go to take our pictures, scout our comps, and put together our presentation. By the time we're done, we spend at least 3 hours of our valuable time on each assignment.So I have to wonder, what strategies are you all employing to make this process smoother and more efficient? We have gotten signficantly better at BPOs since we started, largely through trial and error. When we submitted our first BPO and learned that "functional utility" meant "is there power and water service" and not "is there a utility room", we got better. When the quality assurance person told us that for differences in square footage, we should adjust by the difference between the square footages multiplied by half the price per square foot on the comp, we got better. So each BPO takes a little less time, and we get fewer (or no) error messages back. But how are our colleagues making their BPO-completing systems better? We would love to hear your strategies and share ours.
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I read on REO Insider today that they are joining Real Estate Educate Inc, to form Open Door Institute. they are creating this to "focus on setting meaningful industry standards and providing networking opportunities for real estate professionals conducting business within the REO industry." the article also says that PMH Financial and other lenders and servicer are already supporting the new institute.I am wonder if this is another designation or mandatory courses for PMH and others that we will have to pay in order to continue doing business with them.I am getting frustrated with all these new designations, classes, platforms, fees, etc that we have to put up with to be in business. I am not naive and I know that we have to invest in order to be profitably but I feel that we everybody is bleeding us and no one is standing up and be our voices, I pay for all these platforms, certifications, designations, classes, registration fees, referral fees, etc. and I also pay MLS, CE, license fees, insurance, local boards and NAR.I know some of them are a necessity, but NAR needs to step up and start representing the thousands of default agents. They need to come with a recognizable designation and not that remedial short sale class SFR, I have that designation, and create one that all lenders and servicers can recognize, I know that will put several of these institutes and universities out of business, but if they can be certified to teach that one standard certification they can continue to exist.NAR and the local boards need to accept our education in the default industry as a CE for licensing. Like I said I know I have to invest in my business and myself with education, I love education I was a former teacher and I recognize the importance of it, but I don't want to pay and take the same class over and over with a different name and get a different designation or training for a particular client.I know we all compete for the same clients and to get business but it is time for all of us to unite to stop the money bleeding. we need to demand NAR to listen to us.This forum has 3,000+ agents, Five Star, REOMAC etc, always have thousands of agents, I know there are thousands of agents doing short sales and REO and we need to unite to protect our interest, at the end of the day, the seller wins because they get rid of a problem and clean their books, that gives them the possibility to make more money, the servicer get pay and they make money look for their clients and increase their business or in the short sale case, they get to save their dignity and their credit. Buyers gain because they get a property for less than market value and can enjoy the equity, etc. WE are probably the one that gain less from a transaction, and at the end the ones that pay more.Lets do the math, add all the fees we pay, all the money we invest in our business, CE, technology, etc. lets divide that by the transactions and that is the cost per transaction. with all this new fees, platforms, classes, etc, my cost per transaction is increasing every year. I hope this year my ROI at least stays the same of it goes up. Also it is interesting to get the average time per transaction and divide your net income by the hours you work to get an idea of our hourly wage.Well I am talking to much, lets see what your point of view is on this.
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After hearing President Obama’s State of the Union speech, I thought about what he said and how it applies to us in the Real Estate Profession.Personally I entered into Real Estate 9 years ago with the notion that I would genuinely help guide people to make some of the most important decisions they would make in their lives. In doing so I knew I would forever impact how and where they lived. I was careful not to show them properties beyond their means and coached them on how not to let their emotions dictate how much they would spend. I turned down unethical business proposals, never crossed the line or looked the other way and for that I am still able to sleep at night. Today I feel that it is my duty to help, because it is my passion and my calling, not because it produces an income.We, as REALTORS are licensed to serve. We work countless hours, often for free, but are rewarded at the end of the day when we have helped someone achieve their dreams or accomplish their goals.Now, more than ever, when our entire country is faced with record high numbers for unemployment and foreclosure is when we need to be professional and unwavering in our commitment to serve. We are trusted advisors, mentors and problem solvers that have always put the needs of our clients before our own.Please! Keep a positive outlook, don’t look for someone or something to blame. Get to work and make a difference in your community. Help your peers. If you have been successful, “pay it forward”! If you are suffering, ask for help.We are strong!We are resilient!We are REALTORS!
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