I trust you all had a nice and relaxing holiday weekend. Personally, I feel a sense of renewed strength and re-direction in my priorities, purpose and possibility. I have met with a lot of REALTORS to help them with their short sale businesses and I always like to ask a lot of questions in the beginning:
1. What is your main focus? Buyers, listings, short sales or all three?
2. How much time do you spend prospecting?
3. How much time do you spend with lead follow up?
4. When do you typically go on listing appointments?
5. How much marketing if any are you doing?
6. Are you currently time blocking and following a schedule?
What I hear the most from REALTORS in regards to these questions are the following:
1. Types of clients: I have been spending more time with buyers as a majority of the listings out here are short sales and I do not want to deal with a short sale.
2. Prospecting: I try to spend a little time here and there but I get pulled in different directions during the day and end up going with the flow of whatever comes up and needs attention.
3. Lead follow up: I usually get in 20 minutes to an hour.
4. Appointments: When ever my client is available.
5. Marketing: I do not have the money to spend on a lot of marketing.
6. Time blocking: I have a family and it is hard to keep a schedule.
I wanted to share a story with you. Before I started my business I was blessed with the rare opportunity to be a part of one of the top Real Estate teams in San Diego led by one of the top leaders in our industry today. I had a vision to help people in the current state of the market and I focused all of my attention on cracking the short sale code. At that time not many people were aware of how to approach this side of the Real Estate market. While I was on this team I had learned a lot of valuable lessons on how to be successful but I was also told something that has stuck with me: “Run your real estate business but don’t let it run you.”
Wow! There is a lot of truth and power in that statement. When I left and started my company I was eager to be successful and eager to get out there and knock on doors and help home owners who were in default. I quickly learned a few things:
a) I could not knock on enough doors nor could I get enough people to respond fast enough.
b) My time was spent in too many directions that was causing me to be in-effective and in-efficient and at the time I only had an assistant helping me.
c) I was slowly losing sight of what my true goal and purpose was for starting this company in the beginning.
I wanted to help people. I wanted to offer something special to home owners who were suffering and needed direction. That was my original motivation. The same person said something else that was very profound to me at the time however it was not remembered until I desperately needed direction. “Instead of focusing on one person to help, find a way to help many.”
Lotus Realty Group was born and I decided that I was going to put all my focus on helping REALTORS expand their business, take listings and close their short sale transactions. By putting my focus into ONE thing, one thing I knew I was good at and mastering that has allowed me to do the following:
1. Develop a system that runs like a well oiled machine for me and for REALTORS.
2. Receive 3-5 of my OWN listings monthly just through referrals and my newsletters thus keeping marketing costs down and saving the time it takes door knocking. The majority of my business is helping REALTORS close their short sale transactions therefore I am reaching more homeowners who need help than I could get to on my own.
3. Manage my time so I can work smart, effective and efficient!
By re directing my priorities, purpose and possibility, all the other parts of my business just started falling into place. We are in a time where there is a lot of uncertainty in the market and a lot of people that need your help. Some questions to ask yourself are:
a) What is your passion in this industry?
b) Where would your time be best spent?
c) Are you involved in a part of the market (short sales) that are going to be around for quite a while? If not, why?
d) Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
e) What is your desire for the future?
f) How can I help others right now that are suffering in this economy with the tools that I have and are readily available to me?
My possibility for the future is to offer a solid platform, foundation and culture for REALTORS at Lotus Realty Group. To offer extensive training, support and accountability and continue to help REALTORS expand their business, take short sale listings and close their short sale transactions. Well oiled machines. Imagine how many people we can help together.
Here are some tips that I have learned that have helped me tremendously grow my company:
1. Surround yourself only with people who share your possibility. People who uplift you and support you no matter what.
2. Pick one thing and with all your heart approach it with 100% commitment and determination to persevere in whatever obstacles may come your way.
3. Have a longing, a desire and be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal.
4. Self mastery, discipline is necessary to give your very best.
5. Time management. To be effective and efficient time block for prospecting, appointments and lead follow up. When done properly you will be able to accomplish everything you need to accomplish with ease and grace.
6. Be willing to deal with all types of personalities.
7. Never, never, never, give up. (Guess who said that and you get a Starbucks card!!!!)
Now is just as good a time as any to put your business plan, your hopes and dreams for the future in motion. What’s your dream? Think about it.
(Quote :) Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.
~ Marie Curie
REALTORS, what is in your business plan this year? What are you doing to create a system that will allow you to build your short sale business? How often are you out there prospecting and how do you know if you are taking the listings that are going to be successful and not a waste of your time?
Call us today and let us show you a system that works to help you expand your business and effectively and efficiently close short sale transactions.
LOTUS REALTY GROUP
PROFESSIONAL SHORT SALE NEGOTIATORS
At Lotus Realty GROUP, helping people ethically succeed is at the forefront of who we are...
Call today to find out how Lotus Realty Group can assist you in closing your short sale transactions or go to WWW.LotusRealtyGroup.com
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Financial institutions expectations in a short sale transaction
REALTORS, there have been a lot of frequently asked questions in regards to some of the requested documentation that the financial institutions are asking for when submitting a short sale package. We are all experiencing changes in the industry constantly, from the rules and guidelines to the paperwork. Experience has taught me that if these expectations are not met up front it will only hold up the process in the end when we are trying to push these through.
Let’s start with one of the biggest challenges we are facing today in short sales.
Submitting the right offer.
What we are seeing with some of the major financial institutions this year is that they are paying close attention to low ball offers. A rule of thumb to keep in mind is they generally want to see 90-95% of the balance owed. Is that realistic? NO. So how do we remedy that and show the financial institutions we are bringing them the highest and best? We simply create a listing history. Hopefully REALTORS, you are not taking on listings with sale dates less than 3 weeks away, 12 months of delinquencies and excessive HOA balances. These types of deals will be nearly impossible to push through. But if you have a qualified seller who fits the parameters for a successful short sale transaction then you have time to create a realistic picture for the bank.
1. Price the property close to what is owed on the loan for 30 days.
2. Set 3 price reductions on the 1st and 15th of the month moving forward. By the time you get to the 3rd price reduction you will have created a listing history for the financial institution to show them that you actively and aggressively marketed this property for a substantial amount of time and you will have all your data to support the value of the offer you submit.
I can share with you from experience that moving forward the financial institutions wants the homeowner to call and inform them that the home will be listed as a short sale. Bank of America will now send an appraiser out to the property before the home is listed and tell the listing agent what to list the property at based on their value. You will be asked to give them a weekly update and price reductions will occur every 21 days. If you have not experienced this yet, you will. We at Lotus Realty Group have been educating you for over 2 years to follow this system. Now the financial institutions are starting to implement this. I had a Bank of America representative call me on one of my listings in Carlsbad that I actually listed quite high to start my listing history. I was told to raise the price by nearly $25,000 and schedule a price reduction in 21 days even after I told him that it was listed at my price for 3 weeks and I had not received one phone call from a buyer.
The financial institutions are really going to start cracking down on this so it is my suggestion that we all work smart:
a) Prequalify the seller and do not take on a listing that does not make sense.
b) Have an addendum that has the listing price and the dates and prices of your reductions signed by your seller so you do not have to keep going back to your seller to modify the terms of your listing.
c) Mark all price reductions on your calendar as reminders to stay on task.
d) In the mean time, make sure you are gathering all documents and have a solid short sale package ready to go so that by the time you get the right offer you can submit it right away. I would tell your sellers to automatically send updated financials every month.
e) Use counters and addendum’s to set expectation with buyers. They need to understand short sales are sold as is. There are fees a bank may or may not cover. I would also make sure buyers are DU approved, not just pre qualified through a letter through their lender.
f) Submit the short sale package with your listing history, 3 active, 3pending and 3sold MLS listings and a comparative market analysis with a nice cover letter to explain your circumstances.
g) Set expectations with all parities in regards to timelines to keep everyone on board.
h) Follow up tenaciously.
Here are some other requirements that will save you time if you request them up front:
1. Financial institutions are requiring 4506 T’ s to be completed. I have made this part of my short sale package.
2. There have been a lot of inquiries on whether or not the Equator system requires buyer information. Social security numbers, date of birth, phone numbers and addresses. YES. There may have been occasions where you can get by with generic information but a majority of the time it is required so I would get into the habit of requesting it up front.
3. We have seen a lot of offers come in without proof of funds and pre-quall letters. Equator will not accept an offer without it so make sure you request it up front. We receive a lot of incomplete packages and it really does slow the process.
REALTORS, we at Lotus Realty Group has worked hard to tighten up our systems and keep all of you up to date with all the changes in this ever changing industry. It is my hope to help you move through this frustrating and tedious process in an effective and efficient manner to help get you what you want in the time you want.
(Quote) We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
- Nelson Mandela
REALTORS, what is in your business plan this year? What are you doing to create a system that will allow you to build your short sale business? How often are you out there prospecting and how do you know if you are taking the listings that are going to be successful and not a waste of your time?
Call us today and let us show you a system that works to help you expand your business and effectively and efficiently close short sale transactions.
LOTUS REALTY GROUP
PROFESSIONAL SHORT SALE NEGOTIATORS
At Lotus Realty GROUP, helping people ethically succeed is at the forefront of who we are...
Call today to find out how Lotus Realty Group can assist you in closing your short sale transactions or go to WWW.LotusRealtyGroup.com
Let’s start with one of the biggest challenges we are facing today in short sales.
Submitting the right offer.
What we are seeing with some of the major financial institutions this year is that they are paying close attention to low ball offers. A rule of thumb to keep in mind is they generally want to see 90-95% of the balance owed. Is that realistic? NO. So how do we remedy that and show the financial institutions we are bringing them the highest and best? We simply create a listing history. Hopefully REALTORS, you are not taking on listings with sale dates less than 3 weeks away, 12 months of delinquencies and excessive HOA balances. These types of deals will be nearly impossible to push through. But if you have a qualified seller who fits the parameters for a successful short sale transaction then you have time to create a realistic picture for the bank.
1. Price the property close to what is owed on the loan for 30 days.
2. Set 3 price reductions on the 1st and 15th of the month moving forward. By the time you get to the 3rd price reduction you will have created a listing history for the financial institution to show them that you actively and aggressively marketed this property for a substantial amount of time and you will have all your data to support the value of the offer you submit.
I can share with you from experience that moving forward the financial institutions wants the homeowner to call and inform them that the home will be listed as a short sale. Bank of America will now send an appraiser out to the property before the home is listed and tell the listing agent what to list the property at based on their value. You will be asked to give them a weekly update and price reductions will occur every 21 days. If you have not experienced this yet, you will. We at Lotus Realty Group have been educating you for over 2 years to follow this system. Now the financial institutions are starting to implement this. I had a Bank of America representative call me on one of my listings in Carlsbad that I actually listed quite high to start my listing history. I was told to raise the price by nearly $25,000 and schedule a price reduction in 21 days even after I told him that it was listed at my price for 3 weeks and I had not received one phone call from a buyer.
The financial institutions are really going to start cracking down on this so it is my suggestion that we all work smart:
a) Prequalify the seller and do not take on a listing that does not make sense.
b) Have an addendum that has the listing price and the dates and prices of your reductions signed by your seller so you do not have to keep going back to your seller to modify the terms of your listing.
c) Mark all price reductions on your calendar as reminders to stay on task.
d) In the mean time, make sure you are gathering all documents and have a solid short sale package ready to go so that by the time you get the right offer you can submit it right away. I would tell your sellers to automatically send updated financials every month.
e) Use counters and addendum’s to set expectation with buyers. They need to understand short sales are sold as is. There are fees a bank may or may not cover. I would also make sure buyers are DU approved, not just pre qualified through a letter through their lender.
f) Submit the short sale package with your listing history, 3 active, 3pending and 3sold MLS listings and a comparative market analysis with a nice cover letter to explain your circumstances.
g) Set expectations with all parities in regards to timelines to keep everyone on board.
h) Follow up tenaciously.
Here are some other requirements that will save you time if you request them up front:
1. Financial institutions are requiring 4506 T’ s to be completed. I have made this part of my short sale package.
2. There have been a lot of inquiries on whether or not the Equator system requires buyer information. Social security numbers, date of birth, phone numbers and addresses. YES. There may have been occasions where you can get by with generic information but a majority of the time it is required so I would get into the habit of requesting it up front.
3. We have seen a lot of offers come in without proof of funds and pre-quall letters. Equator will not accept an offer without it so make sure you request it up front. We receive a lot of incomplete packages and it really does slow the process.
REALTORS, we at Lotus Realty Group has worked hard to tighten up our systems and keep all of you up to date with all the changes in this ever changing industry. It is my hope to help you move through this frustrating and tedious process in an effective and efficient manner to help get you what you want in the time you want.
(Quote) We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
- Nelson Mandela
REALTORS, what is in your business plan this year? What are you doing to create a system that will allow you to build your short sale business? How often are you out there prospecting and how do you know if you are taking the listings that are going to be successful and not a waste of your time?
Call us today and let us show you a system that works to help you expand your business and effectively and efficiently close short sale transactions.
LOTUS REALTY GROUP
PROFESSIONAL SHORT SALE NEGOTIATORS
At Lotus Realty GROUP, helping people ethically succeed is at the forefront of who we are...
Call today to find out how Lotus Realty Group can assist you in closing your short sale transactions or go to WWW.LotusRealtyGroup.com
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