Foreclosure Specialist Andy Tolbert

I've been coming across several resources that I'm going to be using in my business, so I thought I'd share some of them with you! Today's 2 are:

FIRST: A link to a self-analysis of whether you have "Chinese Drywall" in your home. It asks several yes or no questions and also has good pictures of "normal" and "problem" systems. (this would be a good link to send out to your farm list) CLICK HERE

SECOND: By now, I KNOW you've heard of loan modifications, and you've probably been approached about doing them as a business, the problem with that is most of these companies charge THOUSANDS of dollars in fees, AND they are very controversial (whether they're legal or not, they probably soon won't be!) Obama AND the Florida Attorney General are telling consumers: "if you have to pay, walk away" and telling homeowners to do their own modifications. Great! Do you know anyone that's tried to do their own? One friend of mine was offered by their lender to take the $8,000 in delinquency and they'd make it a balloon payment due in September. WOWZA! That's generous! (if he doesn't have the money now, what makes them think he'll have it in a few months?). I told him to go back to them, tell them that's unacceptable, and ask "what's my next option?"

Here's a good solution where you can make a little bit of money and help your friends and clients with their modifications, totally hands off! There's a company that has written a "How To" guide to doing your own modification. It sells for $199 but there's a $20 discount for online purchasing, so it's only $179. If you refer a client, they'll give you $50 of it. That's it! No work, just send the ordering link to the client and it's done! (also, if you refer 3 clients, you'll get the kit free, and if your clients refer other clients, you still get a little commission too!). It costs nothing to sign up to be an affiliate, so what do you have to lose? I've already signed up and started attending their training webinars (they have webinars both for reps AND training for people doing their own modifications)

CLICK HERE for the site, and the promo code is R201738 (they're also going to be doing a live 3 hour training in Altamonte Springs in July... it's $199 and includes the manual/kit)

Hope they help!

Andy

p.s. If you'd like to subscribe to my weekly e-zine for real estate pros, visit www.AndyTolbert.com

I know, I know, that sounds like a headline from the crazy boom days, but it's real and has been for a long time. It's been called Rural Housing and USDA financing (when I see USDA I think of a big t-bone steak!).

But don't be fooled by it's "rural" name... there are many beautiful subdivisions that qualify!

Eric in my husband's mortgage office just closed a beautiful townhouse overlooking a golf course and IT went USDA financing!

Here's the quick skinny: 620 minimum score, no monthly MI (but there is up front "guarantee fee" of 2% that can be rolled into the loan), they'll actually finance up to 102% of APRAISED value (not purchase price) so it could actually be the purchase price plus all closing costs if the deal is structured right!

Interest rates are just a smidge higher than an FHA rate, but without that pesky MI or 3.5% down!

Imagine getting your client into a house for nothing down AND they get $8,000 back! Whew!

Many MLS systems have a "financing available" field, so check if the property is eligible and then update your listing!

Here's where to check: USDA Property Eligibility Link If the property is listed as eligible, you're good to go!

In fact, go check all of your listings right now and start marketing the eligible ones with 102% financing! I've even seen it marketed on 1/2 million dollar loans! (there is no official "loan limit" but the borrower needs to be UNDER a certain income level... so it would be hard for someone to qualify in this instance)

But don't be discouraged... the income limits are much higher than you might expect! Talk to a knowledgeable mortgage broker right away. (In Florida you can call my husband Tim or Eric in his office at 407-831-2277)

Hope that helps!

Andy

p.s. To subscribe to Andy's weekly e-zine for real estate pros, go to www.AndyTolbert.com

I love real estate... without it I couldn't come up with all of these crazy stories that I like to share with you! (nope...it's all real! I couldn't make it up!)

Yesterday my husband Tim & I went out and previewed 16 houses for the Blue Jeans Rehab Bus Trip that starts Friday evening, and in the garage of one of the Bank Owned/REO properties, we stepped into the garage and here was a stripped our car! (that's me giving the listing agent the VIN number so she could call the police)

This car was completely stripped out: steering column busted, radio gone, NoS system gone (nitrous oxide...makes it go really fast!) obviously the wheels, and all of the interior panels were ripped out and they even slashed the seats up! I immediately called the listing agent and asked if she KNEW there was a car in the garage and of course, she said no. The crazy thing is that she said the house had been shown several times and nobody else even mentioned the car!

She reported it to the police and had to meet them out there to let them in (Tim & I didn't stick around... to much to do! although we were curious. Oh well. But we DID tell the listing agent to tell them that we did NOT touch anything!)

I'm going to turn this into a real estate lesson,of course :)

If you are EVER in any house and see ANYTHING that looks out of the ordinary, report it to the listing agent IMMEDIATELY. Don't wait, just pick up the phone and dial it now.

We've seen: Dogs tied up in the back yard of an abandoned house with no food or water (we called Animal control on those... we've seen it more than once), fire sprinkler heads in condos covered up with paper cups and tin-foil, evidence of "squatters" and drug use, and now, stolen cars (sorry, ALLEGED stolen cars...)

If it was your listing, you would probably want to be informed, wouldn't you? do the same for the listing agent on the houses you look at... we all need to help each other out!

By the way... there's still time to get your seat on the Bus Trip... there's more info at www.AndyTolbert.com

P.S. I couldn't show you a picture of the other side of this car...had bad words spraypainted all over it! We ARE going to this house on the bus trip, so maybe you'll get to see it if it's still there! But don't touch!

What Advice Would You Give…

I’ve been asked to speak at a conference next week for about 100 college juniors and seniors that hold leadership roles in their sorority. They’ve asked me to speak about what they can do to succeed in today’s tough job market besides just getting their degree.

I’ve really been thinking about this a lot. What a big difference I might be able to make in these young ladies’ futures! It’s an awesome responsibility that I’ve agreed to bear.

I think I’ve come up with a few things to focus on…see if you agree with me and please, forward me any other ideas you have.

When I first graduated college (we won’t mention the year!) we were in the middle of bad economic times as well. Florida’s unemployment rate hit 8.2% and over half of the employers didn’t show up to the campus job fair. I know what it’s like. I know it’s been many years since I’ve been “in the job market”, however, I think after all of these years in the real world, I know a little bit about what it takes to be successful.

You’ve got to set yourself apart from the rest of the thousands of college graduates that are looking for a job. I personally would rather hire a B or C student that was very active in extracurricular activities than a straight A bookworm that has no knowledge outside of the classroom. Here’s some things that I personally would like to see on a resume:

~If you worked while a student, was it in your desired field and what skills and responsibilities did you take on? (as opposed to flipping burgers, or if you flipped burgers, how did you do your job better than anyone else and what extra duties did you do?)

~What clubs and associations were you active in and what leadership roles did you hold? Everyone always thinks that President is the best position to hold, but when you’re looking for a job, that just tells me you were popular and had a lot of friends, it doesn’t tell me how capable you are. I’d rather hire the vice president that usually does all of the work, the treasurer that watches the budgets, the membership chair that’s a great recruiter, or the secretary responsible for keeping it all straight. (Although if I’m hiring a sales person, I’m probably going to look at the president, they sure can talk their way into things!)

~Did you make the most of your elective credit choices? I’ve always thought that the “underwater basket weaving” type classes are a complete waste of your time and money, but if you are well rounded by picking up things like public speaking, a foreign language, or even a sport (I took Volleyball I & II) you will make a more balanced employee.

~What specific skills did you need or gain in the positions you held? And how will those help my company? For example, I didn’t know how great it would be on my resume at the time, but my senior year I was editor of the Panhellenic Recruitment Magazine. The entire magazine was a giant sales pitch for joining the Greek system, and I was responsible for: recruiting and selecting my “staff”, coordinating photo shoots, selling advertisements to help with the budget, negotiating with printers, and working with the design staff on the layout. How’s that for “real-world” training?

~What were you active in OFF campus? Church, Charities, Chamber of Commerce? (wow, that’s a bunch of C’s!) That shows that little bit of extra “drive” that I want from my employees.

The next thing I’m going to suggest is that you do whatever it takes to get your foot in the door. And once it’s in there, make yourself invaluable to the company. I first took a part-time job at a store at the mall and showed them what I could do and then quickly moved up. No, it was not my dream job by far, but hey, I had to pay the bills!

How can you make yourself invaluable once you’re in there? Well, keep this in mind: If money’s tight and I need to lay someone off, will it be the person that COSTS me money or MAKES me money? Exactly! So do whatever you can to MAKE your company more money. That means help bring in new clients, even if that’s not your job description!

Any employee at any level in any company can always do a part in increasing revenue, whether it’s “selling” your product at every opportunity with your friends or researching some potential new clients for your boss. The other way to help put a dollar figure on your value to the company is to keep your eyes out on a way to cut costs for the company. One place I worked had an employee make a small suggested change and she saved the company over $250,000 per year on overnight mail. She has made herself valuable to the company.

Another way to make yourself invaluable is to learn all of the systems and be able to perform multiple jobs within the company, it’s called Cross-Training. If you are able to cover different positions and run different programs, you will be less likely to be laid off.

The third thing I want to suggest is that you learn whatever you can about selling skills and communication skills. These are probably the two most critical things that you can do in ANY field you want to go into. As you become a better communicator you will quickly see how it will get you where you want to be, not only in your career, but in your personal life as well. (by the way, one of my favorite books on this subject is “Instant Rapport” by Michael Brooks. It’s about $10 at the bookstore and at Amazon.com)

I know many of you will argue that you’re not going into “sales” so you don’t need selling skills, but you will quickly discover that EVERYTHING in life is sales… dating and interviewing you are selling yourself, want to take the lead on a new project at work? Better sell your boss on the fact that you can handle the responsibility! Want your husband or kids to do the dishes? Yep, that’s selling too… see what I’m getting at? Even if you’re not IN sales, you’re IN sales.

And of course, I’m going to talk about the joys of entrepreneurship (can’t help it, that’s who I am!)

I NEED YOUR HELP! I would like to give the ladies a handout with some of my key points, and I want to share some of your golden tips with them as well. Please send me a 1 or 2 sentence piece of advice that you would give to someone graduating in the next year and going out in the real world. I will put all of our golden tidbits on a handout for them to keep as inspiration. Email them to Andy@AndyTolbert.com and in the subject line put “college tips” or post them as a comment, and also if you don’t want your name shared on the handout, just tell me to make it anonymous, if you don’t specify, I will share your name, if that’s ok with you!

Thanks for reading today, it’s kind of a long one, but I’m really excited about it!

Andy

p.s. If you read all the way down to here...you might have even picked up some tips for YOUR business!

p.p.s. If you'd like to subscribe to my weekly e-newsletter filled with all kinds of tips, ideas, and a fresh/positive outlook on the market, please visit www.AndyTolbert.com and you can also download my free paper on the 6 Critical Questions Every Real Estate Professional Needs to Ask About Foreclosures.

More Market Updates...some good, some not so good!

I'm sure by now you've realized that the market changes on a daily basis. Since my husband is in the mortgage industry, I get to hear about many of these things before the "general" real estate public, so I want to share with you when I hear things that might change the way you do business...here's a two that have happened over the last few weeks.

1. FHA has announced revised loan limits for the remainder of 2009 (this is probably GOOD news for most of you!). These loan limits apply to people who are credit approved during '09. That means that it could potentially close in early '10, but the process would have to be started in '09.

I have made an Excel spreadsheet of all of the counties in Florida and their new loan limits and have posted it for you, CLICK HERE. If you are outside of Florida, you can go to www.Hud.gov and find it the information.

2. Got Condos? Sorry! If you've been in the business for a while, you remember the days when you couldn't GIVE a condo away...well, they're back! Many parts of Florida are bombarded with vacant condos on the market and here's the kicker...even if you find a buyer for it, they probably won't be able to get a loan! Many lenders have now just announced a blanket policy of "We don't lend on condos. Period." So even if you have a condo that DOES meet FHA/VA or Fannie approval guidelines for the community, good luck finding a lender!

Tip: for starters, think long and hard before taking a listing of a condo...if you can't get it sold, the seller will be mad at YOU. One thing you can do is look in public records to see what's sold in the last few months in your association and see what lender financed them and then see if they're still financing currently. The only other option is to talk to your seller about owner financing or lease/optioning the property.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Andy

My Blurb: I write a weekly e-newsletter on ideas, tips, and market changes we're facing. If you would like to subscribe, go to www.AndyTolbert.com and you can also download my free report: "The 6 Critical Questions that every real estate professional needs to aks about foreclosures"