Dennis Swartz

It is so easy to fall into one of the scams that are out there, always looking for someone to rip off and take their hard earned money. Why? Desperate people sometimes resort to desperate means, and let's face it, some of the scammers are good!

If you are in foreclosure, or simply behind in your loan, you need to be proactive, not reactive. What this means is that you need to reach out to someone and get the ball rolling, not sit back and wait for them to show up at your home. So the questions is "Where does a person start?" After all, its not like a legitimate agency is going to be easy to find.

My suggestion is to start with the government, specifically Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as that is who is in charge of the massive FHA housing program. I would encourage you to log on to http://www.hud.gov/foreclosure/ . This site has a mixture of booklets, forms, and place to research different topics from knowing if your home is in foreclosure, to some refinancing options to what to do if you are actually going to lose your home. This information is nonbiased and very easy to understand. You can even click on your state and city to find a HUD-approved counselor in your area. A quick check in my area of Columbus, Ohio found several agencies located around town waiting to help.

Another source would be the Homeownership Preservation Center, who runs the Homeowners' Hope hotline 24 hours a day to provide free couseling to people who are trying to avoid foreclosure. Yet another is the Institute for Forelclosure Legal Assistance at www.foreclosurelegalassistance.org that can provide subsidized legal aid to families facing foreclosure.

Bottom line is to do something, and make sure you are responsive to your lender. Make sure that any help you get does not cost you money or involve you in a scam or you will end up worse off then before. Always get help from reputable sources.

So let's think about this for a few seconds. You are behind in your mortgage payments, and probably some other payments, and along comes someone who claims they can help. So you go to your retirement, make an emergency withdrawal of a few thousand dollars, and pay someone cash upfront to help you so you won't be behind in your bills and lose your home. In addition they tell you not to communicate with the lender anymore, they will handle that for you.

My sister tried this on me one time when she brought me a fresh brownie from the kitchen, but said not to tell mom that she gave it to me. What a suprise I got when I bit into it and found it was made from dirt!! However, when I got fooled I was six.

In these trying times scammers profit from the desperate, people who so want to believe that there is a magic pill that will save them. There really isn't a magic pill, and I hope you find out before losing the only thing you may have left, which is your retirement.

If you are in trouble there are 2 things that you need to remember: There are people who will help you without upfront fees; and very few things in life work out for the good when you pay for something upfront with someone you don't know.

In the next few blogs I will give you some agencies that are legitimate that you can contact for help for your debts and some practical advice. I will tell you that one of the most important tactics is to communicate with those that you owe. They really don't want your home, only the money that you owe. Unfortunately, so many people get behind then don't communicate with their lender that they force the lender to foreclose.

Remember rule number 1: If you can't make your house payment, contact your lender before they contact you.

Stay tuned for my next blog on some helpful agencies that you can trust.

Seems like real estate has been going downhill for the last couple of years with no bottom in sight. The news media are still touting the doom and gloom aspect and the Chicken Little's are still running around with their heads in their hands!

Being in the business daily, I have noticed that calls have picked up and showings have increased. People seem to be calling and wanting to see houses and while sales have not gone up, they are beginning. See, it starts with interest and then things start to turn. The interest rates have dropped and there are good deals out there and people are getting stir-crazy.

So why do you care? Maybe you have had your eye on a particular home or thought about something larger, or smaller, or just different. You may have seen the bottom and you may want to think about making that move this year. Don't wait too much longer or you may miss the bottom as it sweeps past!

Education is the key to success, especially in a down market. We have developed a class in our real estate degree program called "Real Estate Investing" at Columbus State Community College that can be taken totally online, and if you are working on a degree in real estate this is a must-have.

The class is for basic investors looking to learn how to run numbers on properties, pick the right properties, understand basic landlording skills, and understand the foreclosure situation.

However, it is also great for agents seeking info so they can be the knowledgeable source for their clients who may be looking into real estate as an investment. Without knowledge on investing, you will have a hard time as an agent selling property to an investor. We will teach you how to figure out CAP rates, GRM, cash-on-cash, and all the important numbers.

Best of all, it is very affordable. It is 3 credit hours and is a 11 week class with a final project at the end, and you will be happy with the class. I have about 10 spots left for winter 2009, which starts the first week on January. Go to www.cscc.edu to register or find out more info. You will have a hard time finding a class that is this comprehensive at this price, and can transfer to most colleges.

Its time for college to kick in again, and have you ever thought of your local community college for real estate education? I teach a class at Columbus State Community College that is called Residential Sales Practices, and it starts the 24th from 6 to 9 PM.

Its kind of on the basic side, but do you have any idea how many new agents get their license and have no idea how to get started? We start with building a basic business plan, working on presentation skills, working on prospecting, and actually build a presentation manual.

We meet for 3 hours, one a week, for 10 weeks so that is over 30 hours on hands-on training. You can't get that at your local 3 hours and done CE class. Affordable? Probably around $275 for 10 weeks of classes. You can't beat that price anywhere!

So if you are local to Central Ohio, log on to www.cscc.edu and sign up! We do not offer it as a web class yet, but that might be coming. If you are not local, check your local community college for a list of their classes.