Is anyone else seeing an increase in REO companies wanting to potentially rehab their property to increase listing price??  The last several years  we are seeing an increase in REO companies wanting rehab bids during pre marketing and even as far as going the route of rehabbing the property and selling home at Subjects top market value.  I have 2 currently being rehab between $18-30k and  have had 4 properties rehabbed this year ranging between $10-35k. The most frustrating thing with this is for 1 the asset companies expect us to dish out the Money for the rehab. I'm in Arkansas so our average home sales price and commissions are smaller on the average than say California or New York. 2nd if anyone has ever dealt with companies that use LPS you know how frustrating it can be to get paid with no complications or delays.3 the subject is a foreclosure and being sold for top market value in its area. Most buyers/investors do not want to buy a foreclosure that you cannot get any equity out of. Is anyone else having to do rehabs as well? Thanks

Probate, trust and inherited properties represent some of the most promising listing opportunities in a competitive market, but this niche is often shrouded in mystery with more questions than answers.

ProbateChatter.com was spawned to provide clarity. This blog site is everything probate marketing and adding a new revenue stream by reaching out to Personal Representatives, trustees, heirs and fiduciaries tasked with bringing the estate closer to final settlement by selling the biggest asset in the estate - real estate. 

Nashville's housing market is due for a correction. Ask any local agent and they will tell you, we have never seen times like this before. My point is, our local market is completely and utterly operating outside of its balanced, healthy parameters. The only time in our history that we saw markets like this, was back in 2006 / 2007. The local housing market correction will be preceded by a national market correction which I do believe will happen towards the end of 2016....if not sooner. So, what's happening?

 All of the measures used to prevent the total collapse of our economy in 2007 during the bubble burst, has done nothing more than further weakened our economic foundation. Sure, you may think I am sounding a bit like the sky is falling but, I have to tell you, I really do believe the Nashville housing market is overly blotted by speculation, lack of inventory, cheap money and greed.

As a homeowner or a potential buyer you need to be aware of this pending correction but, prepare for it as well.

#1: The stock market wipe out: Margin Debt - This measures the amount of money being borrowed to invest. What this reveals is that banks and wall street firms are leveraging their money at record levels. The last time we were this high, was in 2007. Essentially the stock market is going up because people are gambling with debt….not cash. They are borrowing money on credit to invest in the stock market.

#2: Participation Rate: This simply measures the volume of the stock market. Right now we are selling at extremely high evaluations but, astonishing low volumes. So, in other words, even though the stock market is selling at all time highs, very few people are actually investing. The biggest factor for this is because of stock buybacks. Essentially companies are borrowing money to buy their stocks back to increase their share prices even though their profit margins are falling. To make their business look healthier than it really is, they borrow cheap money, to buy their stocks back on debt and increase their share prices. For many companies on the stock market, their high share price has NOTHING to do with them increasing sales or making profit but, how much stocks they can buy back. VERY DANGEROUS.

#3: Price to earnings ratio: The measure of the stock of a company vs. how long it takes to actually a return on the investment. The Shiller PE Ratio is historically 16, right now it’s 27. The last time we saw this was in 2007.

NOTE: if the stock market drops 70%.....that will put us back to our 2009 levels. That will collapse real estate world-wide. Let me explain.

#4: Home Equity Slaughter: On average, prices are up about $40,000 per home. Some areas, are up much greater….100k+. The problem is, homeownership rate is at its lowest level since 1965, nationwide.  So…how is real estate so strong? Over 10 million people lost homes in 2007. This was s huge buying opportunity for private equity funds. In other words, big investment companies swooped in and bought  billions of undervalued / distressed nonperforming assets to drive up prices. We saw Fannie sell HUGE portfolios, worth BILLIONS, to these funds, like Blackstone or “NBS’s” aka Non-Bank Servicers, like OCWEN. They were tasked by this administration to “Save people from foreclosure” or “Preserve homeownership” and that’s exactly what they did but, by doing so, we created a nightmare of a situation where a select few companies own so much real estate, if they flood the market, they can collapse the housing market in a city, over night. Now, you would think that would never happen but, let me just leave you with one, spine chilling thought.

Mortgage rates are at historical lows. In fact, the prime rate can’t get any lower….it’s virtually zero. It’s a fair and valid argument to say, fast, easy, cheap money is causing buyers to come out of the wood work and that’s why housing is booming. With that being said, what happens when those interest rates go up to 6-8%, which is historically what we consider a balanced healthy market? You see, many, many people are getting 30 year fixed rate mortgages and because the money is so cheap, they can buy a bigger, more expensive home because their money goes further. When interest rates go up, that same money becomes more expensive and buyers who could once afford a 200k home, now can only buys a 150K home…..as such, this will account for nearly a 20-40% loss in home values.

Let me put it this way, the fact is, interest rates rise, buyers evaporate. The fewer buyers in the market, home prices have only one direction to go. When those prices start falling, all those private equity firms will begin off loading properties at unbelievable rates to cut their losses.  Don’t think it can happen…..well, HUD is already doing it, RIGHT NOW! That’s right folks, HUD has announced it’s MM3.7 winners and will be releasing hundreds, of foreclosed properties into the markets that are “booming” so they themselves can recoup their losses while the getting is good. Once it gets out that HUD is about to start driving down prices in “over heated” markets…..watch these equity firms start off loading as well. When this occurs, combined by the drop in the stock market this year…..2007 will look like a cake walk. We may be talking 2^nd Great Depression.

Normally I would not complain about someone sending me business but after dealing with 24 Asset Management (hereinafter 24AM) on a number of JP Morgan Chase owned properties I had to file a formal complaint with the Illinois Attorney General's office.  In hindsight I should have reviewed the negative comments on the Better Business Bureau website. http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/business-reviews/financial-services/24-asset-management-in-miami-fl-90054792/complaints

To beign with, 24AM classifies the real estate agent as an independent contractor and then proceeds to make demands with deadlines and time consuming tasks.  No compensation is offered except the "promise" of a listing agreement somewhere in the future.  ALL OF THE WORK PERFORMED IN ABSENCE OF A LISTING AGREEMENT IS CONDUCTED AS AN ADHOC EMPLOYEE!!!! and subject to minimum wage laws.1

When the listing does come, it is for a reduced rate with a 35% referral stipulation to 24AM. Ok, no real shocker there as most of the listing referral services require some type of KICKBACK for their involvement.  I say kickback because they are getting asset management fees from the bank or investor as well.  

Has anyone ever worked a short sale with Bayview Financial? After my seller was three years in the short sale process, and two years with buyers waiting to close, the buyers lender needed one more day to close due to TRID requirements. And this was due primarily to the note being sold two times during the process. Buyers were packed and ready to move. Tenants in the short sale house were packed and ready to move. Bayview had the closing disclosures in hand. And Bayview refused to grant one more day. After that, employees of Bayview would not return calls or e-mails from me or the attorney that was handling the short sale negotiations. Buyer beware of Bayview Financial.

You attended a seminar on passive income generation with mortgage notes, learning how to enjoy high returns while sitting on your couch, and you are ready for your first purchase. But, hold on. Is this how you make your investment decisions? There is no doubt about the efficacy of mortgage notes, but you must understand them before buying your first note.

In this post, we’ll look at the basics of a mortgage note and the tax benefits of adding mortgage notes in 401k Solo retirement plans.

What is a mortgage note and how does it work?

In simple words, mortgage note is a legal agreement, involving a lender and the borrower under which, the borrower agrees to repay the loan amount along with interest in a definite period. Every mortgage note must include the names of both the buyer and the lender, descriptions of the property, the term period of the loan, the interest rate, installment amount, any legal protections favoring the borrower in case of a default, and details of previous financing, if any. If this is your first purchase, try to include detailed descriptions of the legal terms of the loan and cover any loopholes in the process. Once a deal is struck, the borrower deposits monthly repayments along with the interest to your account. You can hire a service company to manage the note and send regular payments for a monthly fee of under $100.

What are the different types of mortgage notes?

• Fixed and adjustable mortgage rates: The most common types of mortgage notes are those with fixed and adjustable mortgage rates. As it sounds, a fixed mortgage rate comes with a fixed interest for the complete loan term, and the principal amount decreases after every single payment. On the contrary, adjustable mortgage notes have a varying rate of interest, which tends to be lower initially, and then changes in accordance with the economy.
• FHA and VA loans: These are loans guaranteed by the government and are available through federally approved banking institutions. The credit requirements and down payment terms are strict in comparison with private lenders, although there is a guaranteed repayment, making them an attractive investment option.

Why invest in mortgage note through 401k Solo plans?

Self directed Solo 401k retirement plans are retirement solutions for small business owners and self-employed individuals, offering privileged features such as self-directed investing, checkbook control, and participant loans. According to the current IRS guidelines, a Solo 401k plan holder can invest in a wide variety of investment assets including mortgage notes, tax liens, real estate, and other untraditional investments.

What gives Solo 401k an edge is the tax-deferred growth. You can purchase mortgage notes under the name of the plan, and redirect your repayments into the account, where they enjoy tax-deferred growth until distribution. In case of Roth Solo 401k, the taxes are paid upfront and there are no taxes upon distribution, offering completely tax-free growth.

I have been a huge fan of the site for a while and I have read many of the blogs. However, I don't recall any blogs related to the day to day management of BPO's. I would like to compile a list of BPO hacks (simular to life hacks for BPO agents).  Please share YOUR strategies or techniques adopted in order to manage your time and daily activities in a more efficient way, as a BPO agent.  

For example:  

1. What are the best camera brands and models to use? and Why

2. How to handle unexpected occupants?

3. The Best way to handle subject information while licensed in a "non-disclosure" state.

4. The easiest way to keep track of order payments.

5. Best and Worst times to take drive-by or interior photos.

6. Best and most economical data entry technique/software.

7. Best and worst BPO business practices.

8. Best way to build a BPO staff.

9. Best ways to handle BPO quality issues

10. Share your hacks/ideas/questions...........

Homes for Heroes in Wisconsin!

Homes for Heroes is a national program dedicated to providing extraordinary savings to heroes who provide extraordinary services to our community each and every day, when they buy or sell a home.

Who Qualifies?
-Active Military
-Veterans
-Teachers
-Healthcare Workers
-Firefighters
-Law Enforcement
-Clergy

What are the savings?
Savings will depend on the sales price of the home. As an example, a $300,000 house would receive over $3,000 in credits and discounts from all the participating affiliates and vendors involved.

What does it cost me?
Nothing because it's FREE. There is no cost to you. All costs are covered by your local participating vendors.

Can I buy any home and in any area?
Yes. This is not a government program with limitations or restrictions. This is the private sector giving back simply as our way to say Thank You for all that you do every day.

Are there any other benefits or savings after my transaction is done?
Yes. Through the "Friends of Heroes" Network participating vendors will offer discounts on various other services such as moving, storage, pest, lawn care, plumbing, electrical, cleaning and remodeling to name a few.

Are there a lot of extra applications, forms or some future obligation?
None. The Homes for Heroes Promise is:
-No hidden fees 
-No red tape 
-No catch

How do I find out more?

HeroesInWisconsin.com

Did 2 rush BPO's for this Company in the most dangerous area in South Florida and haven't been paid.  It's been almost a year for the first BPO and it's been  8 months for the other. Anyone else have that problem with this Company (Brokerpriceopinion.com, a First Valuation Company)?? They keep blaming it on accounting.  Anyone have any suggestions other than not doing anymore BPO'S for them (which I did stop after 2nd BPO)??

Thank You for your input,

Kevin Novack

First National Realty Services

hello out there.  

I have been a PAS agent that is a Wells Fargo agent and received many listings over the years especially here in South Florida which still is one of the top states for foreclosures.  I know the REO market is not what it use to be but after speaking with the other PAS agents in my area they too have not received a listing in 6 to 7 months.  I thought it had something to do with the banks wanting more financial assets on their books for end of 2015. We are now into 2016 and I know they are out there i have friends who work for the Inspection companies driving around handing out notices and checking on bank foreclose and vacant properties for the different companies out there.

Does anyone have any insight what has happen to the Wells Fargo REO's?

Wayne

Homesaver Real Estate LLC 

https://twitter.com/waynegebhardt

The Leader in BPO Automation Software Since 2009

 Are You Working For The Companies That Matter?

Since 2009, my team and I have been very fortunate to have worked with thousands of BPO & REO professionals all over this great nation. During these last 7 years that my software company has existed, I try to do a special blog posting once a year, where I give my top 10 favorite BPO mills or companies that I recommend that people sign up with to do BPO work.

Below you will find a list of my absolute favorite companies. Know that I am using my own industry experience as well as that of many of our software subscribers.

Here is my Top 10:

1. Altisource

2. Proteck

3. RRR

4. Clear Capital

5. eMortgage Logic

6. BPO Fulfillment

7. Servicelink

8. Specialized Asset Management

9. Solutionstar

10. SWBC (fka: Equi-Trax)

Bonus: Honorable mention goes to: Single Source Property Solutions

Top BPO Portals: Res.net and Equator

There you go! Please note, I choose the above companies because they all have a combination of being:

• A stable company
• Around and in business for years
• Able to maintain a positive reputation in the industry overall
• Having a high volume of BPO work across the nation
• Smart enough to have adopted the NABPOP's BPOSG
• Seen in the industry as a good company to work for.

To wrap this up, I can guarantee that if you are signed up, with more than one of the above companies (and don't have all your "BPO eggs" in just one basket, you are more likely to be successful in this niche business)

Not Signed Up With All of the Above Companies Yet?

We've made it easy to sign up with the companies listed above in our FREE BPO Companies Directory. Click here to go there now!

I hope you enjoyed reading this posting and if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to help. Simply post a comment below!

Warmly,

Nicole Ocean,
Founder & Owner
BPO Automation Group LLC

 All Rights Reserved, BPO Automation Group LLC, © 2009-2016

Hello,

It's been said that there are "riches in niches", and divorce real estate is one such area that savvy agents can get a competitive edge. Sadly, over half of marriages end in divorce and while the house is usually considered the biggest asset of the marriage, it can also be the biggest point of contention given the financial and emotional value. 

How to establish yourself as the "go to" person in your market for divorce real estate? 

The over-arching message is, "now is not the time to hire a traditional REALTOR", that the decisions made during this trying period will have wide-ranging consequences that require the guidance of qualified professionals, including a real estate agent that understands the tax and financial implications of divorce. Moreover, you have the exceptional communication skills needed to facilitate negotiations between two spouses and represent both parties impartially. 

Want to get some ideas on how to market yourself as a divorce expert? 

To see the complete sites and other examples, you can visit www.jimrutkowski.com/portfolio to see a few example divorce sites. 

In future posts, I'll delve deeper into divorce real estate marketing. Till then, A-B-C. Always Be Closing! 

By Jesus “Jesse” D. Gonzalez Jr. Broker / Owner of Liberty House Realty LLC

Mid Tn housing recovery is poised to bust.

For many, here in mid TN, you have seen your home prices rise over the past 12 – 18 months. If you live in the inner core of Nashville and your neighborhood has gone through a gentrification, not only have you see prices rise, you have seen them sky rocket. For all intents and purposes, the vast majority of mid TN residents can say their property values have at least returned to 2007 pre-recession levels and in some cases, have exceeded pre-recession levels. This robust housing recovery is spurred on by several different factors however, I am going to focus only on a few here in this blog, in order to explain why I believe our market is poised to bust in 2016.

Free Money

Like it or not, let’s all be honest and acknowledge the largest impact to our property values rising is the role government has played in making mortgages easier and easier to get, all in the name of affordable housing policy. If we step back a little and take a look at the even larger picture that government has played in creating cheap or even free money, you have to go all the way back and look at all the bailouts and freewheeling Federal Reserve policies on lowering and lowering interest rates. Lets also not forget the massive capital injections, better known as quantitative easing. All of this cheap or in some cases, free money is that our economy has started growing and as a result, the housing correlation that the better the economy does, the more housing we need has kicked in. As a direct result, here in mid TN, homes have seen more competition from buyers and a direct result prices have gone up.

The problem with this model is that borrowing money can’t always be free….or at least very cheap. Due to fears of inflation, interest rates have to go up, just as we saw last month. Of course, raising interest rates isn’t the problem, it’s raising rates when essentially the fundamentals of our economy are unchanged and the lessons of the 2007 collapse seem to be fading in the minds of policy makers and Wall street alike. The really scary part is, here we are, moving our economy forward through “free money” policies with no real plan in place to guard us from having to slam on the brakes, if necessary.

Europe is no Joke

People are always talking about how China is the huge economy in the room and that when it sneezes, the rest of the world economies get a cold. The problem is, that’s not true. Some of the world’s economies will get a cold but, others will catch the flu and, still others may end up terminal. Let’s be clear on a couple things about Europe, their economic fundamentals are no better than our own and in some cases, when it comes to wage growth, unemployment and the migration of refugees, their economies are fragile. Let’s not forget, some of those countries like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland all had massive debt crisis that caused austerity measures that resulted in civil unrest. If and let me be clear, when China’s market collapse, as our number 1 buying partner, our economy takes a hit because the Chineese people just can’t buy as much of our stuff but, when this happens, it also causes Europe to take a hit and being our 2^nd largest trading partner not buying as much of our stuff, it would be a 1, 2, knockout punch for our economy. If and I speculate when, China’s market really starts nose diving in 2016, it will take Europe with it and as such, our two largest trading partners will keep their hands in their pockets and we will be left with products on the shelf that aren’t moving. Prices will drop, profits will be lost and short selling will begin. This will cause a ripple effect through our economy which will result in job losses, starting with the economic low classes. I truly do believe some of the first housing casualties we will see at the start of this next recession will be low income housing and by the time we react, it may be too late.

China is a Bust

I hear the media reports, like many of you, and I am lead to believe that China is now the largest economy in the world however, what if that was all a lie? What if it’s not as big as they say they are and all they have been doing is lying to the world about exactly what they are capable of economically? What if all these money control policies they enforce on their market place like, no short selling and the mandatory 15% cut off were all in place just to keep the world from seeing that all the money we have put into China to develop its economy and turn it into a consumer economy was a waste? Even worse, what if….just stop and think about this for a minute, what if this fall of the Chinese economy was purposefully planned by their Communist regime in an effort to collapse the American economy to ensure a change in the world currency from the American Dollar to the Chinese Yuan? China is no trading partner with the USA, it’s a trading adversary and sadly, our politicians don’t see it this way and as a result, we are heavily leveraged and as a result, we will pay the price with whole American companies collapsing with China and as a result, job losses on a global scale.

Unemployment, not as it Seems

So…you think unemployment is at 5%.....how wrong you are my friend and let me explain. In an effort to prop up a failing domestic jobs policy, the Obama administration has decided to put some of that common core math logic to our unemployment numbers. In fact, our government has 6 different ways of describing unemployment and sadly, most people don’t even know this. The U3 Unemployment rate is the “official” unemployment rate used by the bureau of labor statistics however, it’s not the real unemployment number. For the real unemployment number, you need to look at the U6 Unemployment number which as of last month, was at a 9.9% unemployed. You heard me correctly, that 5% you have been hearing on the news is a farce at best. In fact, this is why our economy isn’t seeing a boom with gas prices as low as they have been because the truth of the matter is, all that money people are saving from cheap gas is going to pay bills just to survive because nearly 10% of our population is unemployed or marginally employed at best and can’t spend those energy savings on anything other than bills, just to survive. For more information on where our nation’s real unemployment is at and descriptions of what it all means, visit, http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp

Wage Growth or Lack Thereof

Not only is our government trying to deceive us about the unemployment status of America, even worse is that those who do have jobs are noticing that they aren’t making as much as they did before the Great Recession. Simply put, we have so many people looking for jobs, employers can offer jobs at lower and lower wages. It’s a matter of supply and demand. When you have hundreds of people competing for the same jobs, that competition puts downward pressure on wages and benefits. Even if you have a job, you are much less likely going to ask for that annual raise when you know you have 20 people in the wings ready to take your job for the same wage you’re making now…or in some cases, willing to do your job for less. Truth is, wage growth is a great way to see just exactly how well or in this case, how poorly our economy is doing. Let’s face it, if we were doing well as a whole, people would have jobs and those jobs would pay well and the truth is, that’s not where we are at. Make no mistake my friends, we aren’t as recovered as the media and politicians would have you believe.

Energy May Send Us Into a Nose Dive

Everyone need to be watching energy prices, specifically the cost of sweet crude oil. Essentially, this is where America get’s it’s gasoline and gasoline is one of the biggest cost of goods and services. Today, crude got below $30.00 a gallon and closed at $30.44 per barrel. The fact is, most American energy companies can’t pay their bills with crude prices at this level. What’s causing me to stay up at night is the fact that leading economist are suggesting, by end of the year, crude prices could be as low at $22.00 per barrel. At this price, we will begin seeing energy companies go bankrupt and massive energy sector layoffs will begin. Truth of the matter is, I really suspect that 2016 will be the year that the oil wars escalates, prices fall and the largest contributing factor to the 2016 recession will be cheap oil.

Conclusion

Our economy has a lot of downward pressure from many different sources both nationally and locally. Like I said earlier, we just don’t know what the straw will be to break the camel’s back. Right now, I see too many home buyers paying too much for their homes, yes…I said that. Sadly, I do believe a lot of buyers are going to be stuck holding the bag when the bottom falls out of this fragile economy.

I was just scammed by Team Lear. I paid them $449 for the right to list a property that was foreclosed and in redemption. I just drove by the property and another Realtor's sign was in the yard. I ask he if it was via Team Lear. She sad no it was bank direct. She had been scammed by Team Lear in the past. Look them up on -line and read the scam complaints WATCH OUT

Think local and branch out from there.

There are myriad different criteria that Google uses to determine the authority and relevance of your website and on-page keyword optimization is only one of these dizzying metrics, but let's start there. 

Most online searches begin with local terms. For example, if you are a Nashua REALTOR®, you may optimize your site for terms such as, 

• Nashua real estate
• Nashua homes for sale
• Nashua NH real estate
• Nashua Realtor
• Nashua real estate agent, and so forth. 

Once you've determined which key words to optimize for, you can sprinkle these words throughout your site. In the above example, you can have pages such as yourdomain.com/nashua-homes-for-sale, yourdomain.com/about-your-nashua-realtor, yourdomain.com/nashua-real-estate-testimonials, etc. 

Write for humans.

There are two audiences to write for when developing web content, humans and a google robot. The challenge is in writing for both, and this is both an art and science. You can stuff keywords on a page in the hopes to get ranked high for relevant searchers, only for humans to hit the back button when they start reading your page because you bore them with repetitive words.

Actually, Google can penalize you for too much keyword stuffing, so you can both alienate human readers AND get frowned about search engines if you are too liberal with keywords. 

The key is to provide insight and resources on your site. For example, on a page titled "Living in Nashua", you can provide information on schools, walk time to attraction, statistics on their neighbors, different happenings, etc. In the words of Google's own Matt Cutts, a prominent software engineer for the search engine: 

Take a sniper's approach.

Local traffic is key, and you have to put a finger on competition. It is much easier to get ranked for "Nashua real estate" than "New England Real Estate". Easier to be found for "Riverside Realtor" than "Southern California Realtor". Taken a step further, if you have a niche in condominiums, better to be ranked for Riverside Condominiums For Sale, or lasering in on a specific community. 

Narrower keywords will generate less traffic, of course, but less competition and more targeted traffic. Let's face it, you probably can't compete with Zillow, Redfin, and other elephants for the top results that appear for broad keywords. It's been said that there are niches in riches, and this is especially true for real estate SEO. 

Cover your bases with similar keyword variations.

In your research, you may find that very specific keywords draw the most eyeballs. But don't be limited to those exact phrases and think in terms of synonyms. Take for instance, not just "homes for sale". A related set of terms might be "houses for sale" and "properties for sale". Google recognizes these related terms, and they should be used liberally throughout your site. This will also help you write unique content and avoid being overlooked or even penalized for repetitive phrasing.  

Mention your keywords elsewhere.

You should integrate your desired keywords in the content of your site, of course, but it doesn't stop there. Google can dig deeper and recognize the name of your photos, ALT tag, meta description, etc. 

Diagnose your website - are you getting found? 

To get a FREE SEO analysis of your website, enter your website address here. I will furnish a detailed report of how good it is optimized, and suggest rooms for improvement. 

Amber MARTIN Alert

A thought-out scheme of lies, deceit & thievery – Amber Martin Exposed!

I would like share a scenario with everyone so that no one else suffers the same consequences. A few weeks ago I was approached by a virtual assistant, who goes by the name “Amber Martin”. Amber had disclosed that she found me on Active Rain. Amber (I say the name lightly) had disclosed she was located in Texas. Her email signature reflected the same. After reviewing her resume, I brought her on for a trial period until I received her background check and finished completing other formalities.

After a week into the trial period, Amber failed to send me certain information; claiming she had a family emergency in Washington State. When she returned, she still failed to provide the requested information. I was not able to obtain a background check as Amber apparently did not exist. Another one of my VA’s then contacted me to tell me that when on a call with Amber, she sounded like a man. At this point I decided to end her trial period.

When I contacted ‘Amber’ and brought the issues to ‘her’ attention, I found out that ‘she’ is actually a ‘he’ and ‘Amber’ is really ‘Andy’ who lives in the Philippines. Yes, we found that “Amber Martin, A.K.A. Andy” is actually Andy Cano! Trying my best to remain professional, I explained I did not appreciate being lied to and that I can no longer have her perform any further work.

A few days later I received an email from Amber demanding payment for the little work “HE” completed. Included in the email was also a threat that if payment wasn’t remitted in 24 hours, Amber would contact my clients and disclose “he” wasn’t paid as well as contact the companies my clients work with.

This person ANDY CANO cannot be trusted for he is a scammer and he has scammed me with Php 76,000 money… I have filed a complaint against this person with CIDG Philippines Cyber Crime Unit

-Roh Ramos-Tadina

Long story short, I found a connection between Amber Martin and a company called Cano BPO Services. Cano is registered in Australia under the name Amber Martin; however, the soliciting emails my agents have been receiving from Cano, reflect the company is based in the Philippines. I also tried to locate people whose name is Amber Martin and found an agent who used to live in Texas, but has since relocated. Amber had said that she was located in Highlands, Texas and also provided phone number that would matched that area code. Come to find out found out, the address was a recently ‘for sale by owner property’ and the phone number was an invalid Google number. I am not sure how she goes about selecting her address, but the bottom line is that it is not her residence.

If you have been contacted by an Amber Martin, Andy Cano, Cano BPO Services, Online BPO Services and/or Meschelle VA, I advise you to perform due diligence. Not only because she/he is actually overseas, but because she is committing fraud by providing a fake name, fake address, claiming to be a women when ‘he’ is clearly a man, soliciting my clients, etc.. I cannot be certain she is using the identity of an agent either, but that is how it appears.

I would also like to point out that since Amber had mentioned she found me on Active Rain,  I brought her on board under the impression that the site was safe.  This just goes to show that you can’t even trust the reputable sites of which you think are safe. 

All info provided by Amber Martin, A.K.A. Andy Cano, was stolen – the name, the address, the phone number, and falsifying this info not just to me but also on LinkedIN, Active Rain, Paypal, Facebook, Trulia, Elance, etc. And the lineage that this was a thought-out scheme of lies, deceit & thievery. -Pam Maglione - Owner, CEO of Pam's VAS

This scenario has taught me a great lesson. I will now be performing pre-contracting formalities prior to having anyone perform work –even if it is only a trial period. If you have been a target of “Amber Martin”, please reach out to me and share your story. If you have dealt with a similar scenario, I would love to hear your story as well. These are things we shouldn’t feel ashamed about sharing. The problem with situations like these is that the perpetrator does not suffer any consequences for their actions. The only consequence someone like Amber could suffer, is losing their source of income. With that said, I think the more awareness we bring to these matters, the less chance there is of it happening to someone else, and the more difficult it makes for a fraud to get away with it.

♦ Upon further investigation, we found multiple profiles on multiple platforms linking to Amber Martin, A.K.A. Andy Cano. While some link Amber to Cano BPO Services, others link her to Online BPO Services as well as Meschelle VA. The email she contacted Pam’s VAS through was “Amber Martin [mechellemartin27@gmail.com]” I would also like to point out that each profile reflects a different location. Here are some of the sources:

LinkedIn: A. Meschelle
Virtual assistant/Owner at Meschelle VA
Houston, Texas AreaInternet

Facebook: Meschelle VA

Active Rain: Amber Martin, I Help Real Estate Agents and Brokers on BPOs
Services for Real Estate Pros / Highlands, TX
Broker Price Assistance

LinkedIn: Andy Cano
Broker Price Opinion Analyst / RE Assistant
Region X – Northern Mindanao, PhilippinesReal Estate

Active Rain: Andy Cano, Real Estate Assistant
Services for Real Estate Pros / Auburn, WA
Online BPO Services

♦ Please share and reply using #hashtag #AmberMartinAlert ♦

I came up with this phrase explaining SEO to real estate clients that are unfamiliar with this subject. 

Title. Headings. Content. Plus a link to a credible site. 

To rank high in search results, Google must view your site as credible. There are myriad ways to establish credibility with Google, going beyond the scope of this post. For now, I'll focus on on-page optimization where you can create a page or post that is optimized for keywords. 

This is very unscientific and a comical example for illustration purposes. Let's say you are a REALTOR in Rancho Cucamonga and trying to rank for "Rancho Cucamonga homes for sale". Using THC - Title, Heading, Content, a blog post might look like this. Far from scientific and comical, but you get the gist. 

Find Rancho Cucamonga Homes For Sale

Are you looking for Rancho Cucamonga Homes For Sale? As a Rancho Cucamonga Realtor, I have a mastery of the Rancho Cucamonga real estate market and help buyers and sellers find their way in Inland Empire Real Estate. Let me relate a story. 

I met a women at match.com and met her at the Rancho Cucamonga diner. She was a teacher and told me great information about Rancho Cucamonga schools and also shared with me that she was renting and seeking Rancho Cucamonga Single Family homes and possibly, Rancho cucamonga Condomenums for sale. She was especially intrigued by Upland real estate. 

At any rate, she needed the expert guidance of a Rancho Cucamonga real estate expert, and she found the right person in her Rancho Cucamonga Home Search. She stared in my eyes and told me that how impressed she was with my knowledge of Rancho Cucamonga real estate trends. 

"Yes. I can find Rancho Cucamonga Homes for Sale", I said. And our love was sealed forever. 

For good measure, I gave her Rancho Cucamonga real estate reports, including a list of nearby Rancho Cucamonga attractions. We were married, and got our own home, finding a house for sale in Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91701. 

With a growing family, we are now looking to find bigger Rancho Cucamonga properties. I am so grateful that I am the best Rancho Cucamonga real estate agent!!!!! 

It goes without saying that potential home buyers take to the Internet to search for homes, but just to make it official, REALTOR.org reports a staggering 92% of home seekers utilize the Internet in some capacity and 50% use mobile websites or applications in their efforts. You can view the highlights here. 

Real estate agents want to get found online, but many find Real Estate SEO to be esoteric or an exercise in frustration, so I wanted to avail a post that covers the basics, without getting bogged down in technical details (those will come later). 

Let's put aside the arcane speak for a moment, and at the risk of over simplicity, consider the over-arching goal of search engines. It is to provide relevant, targeted search results for users. When someone searches for something, they are seeking information. The search engine attempts to match the searcher with repositories of the information their users seek. Since the search engines want to provide a positive user experience, they will evaluate the credibility of the site that is spewing out information.Is the site credible? If so, it is ranked high. 

There are many metrics they will use to gauge the credibility of a site, and gone are the days from yesteryear where you can simply stuff keywords on a page and guarantee that you appear at the top of search results. The biggest metric is fresh, updated, and unique content, and I know this from experience. 

For the better part of a decade, I sold real estate and other leads and had half a dozen or so websites that showed up on the front page of Google for pre-foreclosure leads, mortgage leads, and other keywords. I rarely had to make cold calls, because people would find me. What is remarkable about that is that I made no attempt to do any SEO. That's right, I did not try to optimize my websites for Google, yet my pages appeared at the forefront of search results. Why? 

There are two audiences to write for. One is a Google robot that crawls the web. The other, human beings to engage, inform, and converse with, and for a long time I ignored the former and wrote for human beings. By writing prolifically and often, Google notices that. 

SEO gurus will tell you that when generating content, you should branch out a little and mention keywords that are related to your main keyword. So, for example, since it's October, maybe you are searching for Halloween costumes. People searching for this very broad, competitive term may also be searching for "scary Halloween costumes", "Halloween costumes for kids", "Ideas for Halloween costumes", "best Halloween costumes", etc etc.

But if you have a passion for Halloween costumes and have a business selling costumes, these related phrases will be mentioned naturally. Naturally is the operative term. You wouldn't necessarily have to forensically analyze content, keyword count, etc, because these terms would appear organically. 

This is a lead in to what your real estate website is about. 

Many real estate professionals have taken the easy route by putting up a generic website, a prefab and uninspiring website furnished by their brokerage firm or some third-party company that makes every site look the same, merely changing a few things. This cookie-cutter sites are nearly impossible to be indexed by the search engines, much less to be viewed as a credible site with all of the duplicate content. Again, Google loves fresh, unique content. If you want to be found, you have to set yourself apart and have more than an expensive business card.

This requires a concerted approach to write about local schools, hang-out places, neighborhoods, attractions, the local yogurt shop. New developments sprouting up, changes in the rental market and so forth. It's been said that all politics are local. To that I would say all search is local. The search engines eat up locally specific information, and this need not be an arduous task, and I want to part with this thought. 

SEO should be fun, to the extent that you are communicating with the visitor and establishing yourself as a local real estate expert. It's the start of a conversation that leads to relationships and profits. If you view SEO as being a technical task to get found online, get some Ibuprofen. If you have a paradigm shift and view content as informing/engaging, you will succeed. I guarantee it. 

In the next posts, I'll try to tackle some of the nitty gritty details, putting a little structure to your real estate content.