Keith Maahs

Is there a secret to getting short sales done? Well the answer is a definite "maybe!"

One thing I have really prided myself on is keeping a list of any executives I have had contact with at all of the lenders and servicers I have had to deal with. I know you have probably heard that if you get stuck on a file with the services or lender that you should keep asking for the supervisor of the department. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't but if you are lucky enough to get a human contact that pulls through for you DON'T LOSE THIER INFORMATION! Over the years (I really do mean years), I have built a great contact list that has really saved files literally from a type of "Purgatory". Even some of the tough ones like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase, they all have someone that will be able to jump in on a file and get things moving. If you are having trouble getting through to anyone, call customer service and ask for the HR Department (Human Respurces) and ask who is the VP of the department or if there is an executive office that you can be in touch with. This type of persistence will payoff in the years to come when our next "second wave" hits us between July 2010 and July 2011.

Good luck and build those secret contact lists!!

Keith Maahs, CMMS - Certified Mortgage Mitigation Specialist

CMMS is a highly specialized program created to not only inform the Real Estate Practitioner in the area of short sales but also to develop and demonstrate a working knowledge of getting short sale sold and closed.

What?? How often have you sat there with your mouth hanging open listening to the bank "negotiator" say "I am sorry but we are rejecting the short sale because of _______________" (you fill in the blank). Has this happened to you:

You sent in a file that makes perfect sense for a bank to accept a short sale, i.e., the seller is unemployed, has no assets, and the purchase price is within reason, and the bank rejects the sale because the seller isn't behind by 3 months yet, or the seller is still showing good credit, or the bank wants to cut your brokerage fee out...whatever the "unbelievable reason is", and the sale falls apart. The buyer walks and finds another home. 1-2 months later the bank negotiator calls and asks if the sale can be put together still (yes, incredible as it sounds, they call back and ask). Now, what happens next is that the home ends up with a lower offer as time goes by and the bank ends up taking an offer that is tens of thousands of dollars below what you sent them originally!

Banks are literally stepping over dollars to pick up dimes!!

A bank "closes" a file because the agent said they will not take a 2% cut in the brokerage fee to 4% to be split between 2 agents. On the $300,000 sale, the bank rejected the offer for $6000. The home ultimately sold for $260,000 months later and the bank took the offer.

The bank negotiator said we needed to get a 1% fee from the buyer as a "short sale processing fee" and we had to lower our commission 1%. I said that we are countering this by asking for the price to be raised by 2% and have these 2 issues covered. The short fused negotiator said "are you telling me I need to close the file?" The buyer decided not to get involved with the sale because of this nickel/dime stuff but additionally the offer was rejected before I could tell the bank the buyer walked. The offer was rejected because the seller was current on her loan and the bank wants her to be behind by 3 months. The seller stopped borrowing money from family members. The price is now much lower then the 3 months of payments the bank wants the seller to miss.

Please tell me your stories of banks making unbelievably bad decisons that cost them more in the end

I am starting a grass roots movement to stop banks from COSTING US TAX PAYERS MORE MONEY by making stupid decisions on short sales. If you have a story to share, please let me me know. Reply here or go to http://www.facebook.com/keith.maahs share your story and become my my friend. I intend to pile up the responses and get these to my political representatives. Maybe we can stop the banks from wasting the bailout money and keep them from asking for even more to waste. I bet we could have cut the losses at the banks by 25% or more if they would just listen to reason.

Keith Maahs, CSS, CIA, CNS

Keith Maahs is a real estate sales executive with Coldwell Banker Burnet in Coon Rapids, MN. He is a Certified Short Sale Specialist, a Certified Internet Agent, a Certified Negotiation Specialist, and certified in many other areas. Keith Maahs is a renowned speaker and lecturer on many topics of interets to real estate agents. His 10 - week sales training program, The Elite Sales Force Sales Academy, has produced countless top producers and changes agents careers. Currently Keith is highly involved with short sales and speaking on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Agents.

OK. I have to admit that I wasn't exactly sure I should have put it so bluntly. I have watched the careers of some of the best agents in my area go down the drain while others are having their best years ever in this market. Even my new agents in my office are doing well. Being a new agent in this business at this time is probably a HUGE advantage to making a great living in real estate today. Why? Because they don't know any better then the current market they are in. They are being trained on how to go out and find the business and all they know is that they need to work hard plus build a referral base. Experienced agents were so used to the 5-6 years of having it easy that they are having trouble going back to basics! Which to me means working a longer day, making extra phone calls, or having more open houses. Yet the new agents know nothing more THEN THE BASICS! These newbies are out there doing what they are told to do (because they don't anyything else) such as, call your friends, build a business referall network exchange, become an expert in a niche, hold open houses in the most active price range, etc... For the past 9 years, I have had the great fortune of training some of the best agents in the twin cities. The program that these agents attend is called "The Elite Sales Force sales Academy." I havebeen documenting and recording their results over this 9 year time peiod. While conducting the course, I have always found that the top performers all seemed to have 7 common key elements in place whereas the agents who did not do well in the course ALWAYS fell short in one or 2 of these areas. Now, I need you to know that in good markets and bad, winter, spring, summer, or fall, these agents have been averaging over 2 listing appointments a week and almost 1 unit a week!!

Todays real estate agent needs to take a lesson from "The Sales Academy" and learn the "7 Key Elements of Highly Affective Agents." Once you see what they are, you need to master every one of them and then WATCH YOUR CAREER SKY ROCKET!

Element #1

Goals are the first element. I know that every company probably has a goal setting exercise. You are always asked how much money do you want to make and everyone writes down $100,000. A year later they brush off their goal form and see that they didn't hit their goal again and throws the sheet away.

Attendees of the course go about goals and planning a little differently. We figure out how much money they need to do the things they want to do. Look at 2/3 of their income coming from listings selling and 1/3 coming from working with buyers. Once we have this down, we factor in how many listings we need to sell, how many listings we need for sale to hit that goal, how many listing presentations we need to list one house and then how many total presentations we need a month to hit our goal. My agents know that they need 3 times as many listings (maybe 4) as they needed a few years ago to hit their goal. We also figure that if we have our listing goals that the buyer activity and buyer controlled sales will take care of themselves. Once we figure out how many appointments we need, we start to look at how many calls we need to make daily in order to achieve our goal. This is the first step to hitting your income goals.

Next time, we'll discuss the 2nd key element of what HIGHLY EFFECTIVE AGENTS are doing.

Keith Maahs is a national speaker, national consultant, and writer. He is a Certified Internet Agent, a Certified Negotiation Specialist, a Certified Electronic Marketing Specialist, and a Certified Marketing Specialist. Keith Maahs speaks at many company functions throughout the year. If you are interested in having Keith speak at your next company function or conference, feel free to conatct him at Keith@KeithMaahs.com or call him at 763-412-1203.