Amy Ransdell ~ Atlanta Short Sale~Short Sale Daily News

I keep wondering to myself - did I REALLY do this? Part of me is so excited I can barely contain myself and the other part of me is so anxious I just want to curl up in a ball and hide!

January 6, Southeastern Home Team became Southeastern Realty Group! With the brokerage comes a renewed commitment to providing a real estate experience that goes well beyond the expectations of buyers, sellers and agents. A few days ago we made it official with our press release, created our new Southeastern Realty Group Facebook Fan Page, and we are recruiting passionate agents who are or desire to be top producers.

When we opened our doors in 2002, I knew there was a need beyond that of a typical real estate office, and at that time, there weren't any other short sale offices out there. We were all about the short sale and foreclosure market, and saw the opportunities in rehabbing and flipping houses before it was in vogue. It seems like everyone is attempting to do them now. Even today, our success rate in bringing a short sale to the closing table is three times better than the national average.

So I know I’m tooting my own horn – but 3 CHEERS for the Southeastern Realty Group!

As a certified Mastery Coach for Fortune Builders I'm ALWAYS looking for the most bang for our marketing buck not only for my company but also to help my students! We spend time and resources testing the effectiveness of varying marketing campaigns. In fact, the majority of the budgeted expenses for real estate professionals involve marketing.

What I don’t get are agents and investors who spend a ton of money to promote their brand, their services, properties, etc…. but, don’t do anything to capture their audience. Why spend money on pay-per-click campaigns, blog maintenance, social media management, SEO services, and developing kick-butt ad campaigns that do not encourage the consumers who view your information to interact?

A click to anything you have spent money to develop or place is a valuable thing. You need to capture clicks. Clicks are potential consumers that you could sell a service to now or in the future.

This is the …. “Call to Action.”

Always include something for readers of your blog, viewers of your video, or site visitors to interact with. They need a reason to call, buy, opt-in for free information, subscribe, get more property details, etc…

To take this a step further…

Oft-times I will watch a video on YouTube or visit sites that are really cool to look at. But, while I’m enjoying the entertainment, the brand is lost along the way. If a click-through potential consumer listens, watches, reads, or visits, they should leave not only remembering your cool information, they should also remember who you are and what you offer.

Including a Call to Action is an extremely simple thing to do and essential for protecting your budget.

Beyond simply including a Call to Action, you should also think about cultivation. Leads that take the Call to Action should receive an automatic follow-up campaign. This could be an auto-responder email series that also include Call to Actions. For leads that directly contact you by phone or email, they should be placed in email and follow-up call campaigns as well.

Also remember that any Call to Action marketing needs a web presence in today’s web age. If you send a campaign, make sure that consumers can find your brand if they Google you. They should find a web-site, not just blogs or social media profiles. The web-site should also repeat the same Call to Action marketing.

Your business is counting on leads. Your business is counting on growing a referral network. The key is to capture and grab consumers who find your marketing materials (web or otherwise) and are compelled to interact with you due to your well placed, well thought through, and cultivation ready Call to Action.

Investor calls me today and says, “I got a great deal on a property. Bought it for a 57% discount.” I asked him what it was a discount from? He answered back, “the original mortgage balance.” Say what?

What is a real property discount exactly? The word “discount” is riddled with relative meaning. RealtyTrac and all the other housing report number crunchers love to tout macro analysis of the average property discounts. Unaware buyers jump up and down with excitement and demand to receive at the least the national average.

BUT…..stop everything.

We need to bring the discount talk into perspective. Properties will sell for what buyers are willing to pay. A property that sells below market, for a ‘discount’, is a property that is selling below the average comparable same condition sale. The farther below the current market value the steeper the discount.

It is not a discount to buy a property 57% below the original mortgage balance if the purchase price is equal to current market value.

As real estate professionals it is our job to become experts at deal analysis. Whether we are investing or assisting investors as their strategic partner, we must be able to thoroughly analyze the market and project property value at the time of possible acquisition. If you are aiming for discount deals then tracking recent sales of all types, knowing property condition and cost of repairs, and understanding potential ARV values are key.

Don’t let MLS list prices and MLS “discount” claims fool you. Do your leg-work!

To your investing success!

A veteran agent on our team today had an epiphany. After years of working in the industry as a top 5% producer, she learned for the first time that FHA and VA borrowers in default can apply for a short sale ahead of having a contract on the property.

FHA and VA borrowers with provable hardship and who meet other requirements of the programs may be given a pre-approved minimum acceptable net and marketing period. The borrowers have to seek the services of a licensed agent to help them with the sale.

As agents looking to differentiate yourself in seller services while simultaneously looking for a marketing edge to attract buyers, the FHA and VA default sellers is a niche you should target.

You can purchase pre-foreclosure or NOD lists that are specific to FHA and VA loan types. Tailor your marketing message to meet the offer of FHA and VA. Your knowledge of the programs is a fantastic foreclosure defense for these borrowers.

After receiving the pre-approved minimum net you can market confidently an “APPROVED SHORT SALE NET” in the MLS remarks. Buyer’s agents hesitant to show short sale properties will show yours.

If you want some more information on both programs – use the links below.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/nsc/faqpfs.cfm – Info on HUD about PFS Program

http://www.vba.va.gov/ro/houston/lgy/compsale.html — Info on the Houston Regional Loan Center Site

Both programs come with fine-print criteria you need to know. Feel free to Ask an Expert any of your FHA or VA short sale quandaries.

Ever read Horton Hatches an Egg? He sits on an egg for 51 weeks because the bird was tired of waiting.

I just read this story to my 2 year old and could not help but correlate the story to the typical short sale right now. Not to say that with the right combination of lenders, loan types, # of liens, investors backing the loans, etc.... that you cannot get a short sale approval very quickly.....BUT, we all know that most take a considerable amount of time. That time-line is at the mercy of the lender - and sometimes, no matter how good you are at negotiating and putting together a great package, you cannot change the lender's time-line.

The story rang a bell because one of the biggest complaints we get from buyers and their agents is that the process takes too long..... We have may of our colleagues who negotiate short sales say that one of the number one reasons buyers bail is the lengthy timeline. I even had a fellow AR rainmaker make a comment on an earlier blog-post that they don't show short sale listings because "no buyer wants to wait forever."

See - buyers in this market are like the bird in the story. It is boring and tedious to sit and wait for lender approval. So........where do we find a Horton to hatch the egg?

Often times the best solution for deal specific situations is to build a list of wholesale investors. If the property meets their investment criteria - they may want to place an offer on the property. If the seller accepts - you can send it to the lender and get the proverbial short sale ball rolling. The investor is usually more willing to wait however long it takes to see if they can get a great investment deal. They will also be not as likely to pester you during the process. Alot like Horton - they will just sit and sit and sit no matter what because they 'offered what they meant, meant what the offered, because they mean it 100%.'

If the lender does not approve the offer, then the investor doesn't get the property. BUT the deal is not dead ---The BONUS is that you will likely have the approved net that the lender or investor behind the loan wants as a result of the egg sitting process.

Your next step is to effectively market the property for a buyer that meets that minimum net criteria. If you are in verbal negotiations with the loss mitigator - talk with them about leaving the file as "open." If the negotiator has to close the file - you will still be able to get the next offer in a little faster since the BPO will still likely be valid and whomever you talk to should see the previous negotiation notes. [Be sure you mark the file repeatedly as meeting the terms of the approval]

Find some Hortons in your area---- and build a buyer's list.

We have some suggestions for doing both - call us.

[If you do not get my literary reference - you have to pick up a copy of Horton Hatches an Egg - I guarantee you will look at short sales differently]

www.managesmyshortsale.com

Thanks

Amy Ransdell