Mike Norvell Sr / Norvell Consulting Group

I have been buying and selling distressed properties for a long time. We used to call the short sales a different name. They used to be called "Work Out Properties".

We used to be able to get a list from a local banker and we would have a short appointment to see what we could "Work Out" on getting the non performing assests off thier books. It was not that big of a deal to see the few deals they had available, and surprisingly, many of them actually had some equity left in the deal.

But with the lending practices that took over in the run up of 2002 thru 2006, there was a different approach to the whole process. Now the local banks were not making the crazy loans, they still had a local board, and tended to stick to basic banking principles. Its not that they didn't get caught, they just did not do the volume of the crazy lending.

So, as the investors took over the market, Wall Street was making billions per week pushing paper profits. A rising tide will float all ships the same, so suddenly Mr and Mrs Homeowner were being tempted to refinance and pull cash out, or trade up into a bigger, monster house. All the homes were increasing in value in most neighborhoods, some areas went up over 100% in a few years, some went up more.

When the crash came, values began to drop, and sellers were looking at the false values the world had placed on thier property. Banks are looking at thier balance sheets dropping by the week,and when the foreclosure process starts, its really a long drawn out ordeal for a reason. The banks don't want the property back that is worth less than they have it mortgaged for. With NO ONE stepping up to purchase these assets, they drag their feet to not put them into an REO status.

In a nut shell, over 85% of all Central Fla properties are carrying a mortgage. Over 60% of these properties are worth less than the mortgage... If the banks foreclose all the properties at once, there will be a crash of the housing market as we know it. The comps of 50 cents on the dollar will kill the neighborhood values for YEARS to come, and the repercussions of all the homes dropping off the charts will be the worst recession in history.

So, when we are complaining about the banks not reacting quickly to all our lowball offers, think about this same deal in your neighborhood.......Times twenty. Just think what will happen when the banks start accepting all the low, below actual market offers. It won't matter if they are cash or not. The trick will then be to offer lower and then lower, based on the NEW established neighborhood values.

Be carefull what you ask for. Cause, when it does happen, and it will, there will be a terrible price that the normal people like me and you will have to pay. The banks will get thier bailout, and they will clear thier balance sheets.

It will not be pretty.

What a time to be in Real Estate.

THere are so many deals, so little time.

I am still operating as a buyers agent for investors, that is what we do at Developers Capital Realty, LLC

Our days involve sorting thru the various emails and Fed Ex packages that come in every day. I want to thank Active Rain for the opportunity to let like minded professionals know that we are actively pursuing deals.

Pictured with me is the Famous Broker Bryant. He is doing preliminary research with us on a subdivision in his area that a client of ours is purhasing. We met on a day that was very windy, and I notice that my hairstyle is more reactive to the wind. By the way, this subdivision is in the Kissimmee/ Poincianna Area, its called Doral Point.

We do hope to be closing on the subdivision in June, and are under contract on a few other large deals as well. We do hope to work with Broker Bryant and TLW for marketing this subdivision, there are 166 lots and 8 finished homes that will be ready to sell soon. Unlike many subdivisions we have found, this will be marketed very strongly to Realtors. Due to our distance away from the project, we will rely on the expertise of Local Experts like Broker Bryant Tutas to handle the sales of all these lots.

Developers Capital Realty is working closely with hedge funds and individual investors on deals of most any size that makes sense. I appreciate all the emails and deal offers so far, we promise to look at most any investment grade opportunity.

Thanks to some early support from Broker Bryant, I came to Active Rain nearly a year ago and feel like this is home. I welcome any emails or comments.

Best Wishes to ALL in our Field!!

What a wonderful way to end the day...sitting here in my office listening to Debbie Andersohn, yes thats Brads wife, singing her song on the video he put out on todays blog.

I was listening to it about 5:30 AM this morning, and somehow this afternoon I liked it better. I think its great to get to "meet" some of our Active Rain family this way.CONGRATS TO BRAD & DEBBIE FOR THIS VERY NICELY DONE VIDEO!!

Speaking of Active Rain family, I got to meet Broker Bryant in person today!!

We were both a bit pressed for time, but we made time to meet at one of the subdivisions my client is buying. It is in Broker Bryant's area, and who else should we call to give us insight about the demographics? So far, Broker Brant has sent sales reports, subdivision reports, and overall provided local insight as to what my client can expect to encounter to build new homes here..

Isn't that why we use Realtors. Realtors are supposed to have local knowledge. And Broker Bryant did in fact have good local knowledge, and we do hope we can work out an arrangement between his company and mine to sell off the 166 homes at a reasonable profit for us all.

Another quick fact or two I learned today:

1. Of the neighboring subdivisions we visited in person today, they admitted that since they started putting their inventory on the LOCAL MLS the sales had gone up dramatically...Imagine that, paying Realtors to sell houses....what will they think of next????
2. One of the more successful subdivisions had a surprising statistic from carefully accounting fro the traffic flow in their seven developments......They sold 1 out of 27 people who came into the models and looked !!!!!! One out of twenty seven actually closed......Since they began listing in the MLS....they now have records that prove 1 out of 7 closed that came in with a Realtor...One out of Seven!!!
3. In a Lake County Subdivision sales office, the manager admitted that when the existing contract with the paper was up, they were going to Realtor driven events only for the next six months, and that Realtor direct closings accounted for over 80% of the homes sales under construction at that time.
4. When I told them I was also a Realtor, I was told that if I could sell an inventory home that I could practically write my own commission check.....

So, its been a long day. Developers Capital Realty, LLC put a nice commercial corner under contract yesterday, and we will hope to have an Orlando Motel in Foreclosure under contract by the end of this week. We are also bidding as buyers agent on a very large subdivision in Sumter County Fla as well. There is a ton of Real Cash available out there for investing in the right deals...Anyone who can find such deals should give me a call at the info listed on my profile page.

Have a great Day all, and thanks again to Broker Bryant for all his hospitality.

What....no ice cream here either.....

I guess I will have to work for a living..........Whats this world coming to when there are Realtors who want to get paid just for listing the property. ...Of course, when I contacted my lawyer today to discuss a deal we are involved in, I realize my time was free and I will get a bill whether I close or not from the lawyer....

Apparently, my time is not worth as much

Ok, so there are like 79,530 members of Active Rain now...Over 2500 online, thats enough unless all at once there is a massive coffee break. As we get more members, I notice we have a lot more cut and paste articles coming on, some posters lay 5 or six on at once, one right after another. They have one paragraph, enough for the minimum word count, and the next post picks up right after that with the next paragraph or so...Whats up with that...Points I guess...

Anyway, I am over here at Developers Capital Realty, LLC with a job on my hands. I have been flooded with pro formas of every imaginable type from many of you here at Active Rain. While I am pleased with the response, the variety of formats the pro formas are presented in give me a bit of a problem.

How do I compare all the projects, when they are all presented in so many different formats. I have one project, a very nicely detailed one, that is over 20 pages, one over 40 pages, with graphs and numbers and I am really lost in the amount of detail in these two,...But neither of them give me an exit strategy for my investors, so I have to root thru all this stuff to arrive at the numbers that will produce these answers.

Do ya think when we are sitting down in a conference room with the investors, that they will be so overwhelmed with a huge pro forma that they won't ask for when the money gets paid back....??? I can tell you, that question is always coming, lets be prepared for a reasonable answer.

Some pro formas are one page, I had one that had 6 projects on 2 pages. Heres a hint....If you are truly looking for millions of dollars to fund a deal, don't make us ask more than once for the basics..PLEASE.

Now, on to the main question...I have been researching a few template software programs that will take all this disjointed information and break it out in a manner that is in a consistent format. This is imperative to me when comparing projects, we need an apples for apples approach. I have found a few that are not bad, but before we spend a few grand and get heavy in the learning curve, are there any favorites out there that someone could recommend. Right now, we are looking at Argus and Tract-Pie Solutions...

What do you experts think!

Welcome to the Active Rain Blogging world. Its not often you will find a forum like Active Rain. If you are looking for a way to move up on Google, then this is your best bet. In fact, I cannot believe how quickly blogging on Active Rain will make a difference.

I suggest using phases that will show up in normal searches for your area in your blog. If you are in Lake County, Fl, then use Lake County, Fl in your blog. If you put a title like " Short Sales Specialists in Lake County, Fl in your title, then when someone is searching Google for Short Sales they will come across your article.

Try posting with your name in the title. If you put Mike Norvell Sr is finding bargins in Lake County, Fl in the title, then try putting the same thing in Google a few hours later...Yep, its that powerful.

Now, if you want to increase your odds of Google finding your content, then use BOLD. So, I might use Short Sale Specialists in Lake County, Fl in bold and this may help. I also recommend some titles that are very self serving, but get your point across. Try something like...Mike Norvell Moves to Developers Capital Realty....see that come up later in Google.

Also, use links ( once you learn how) to posts that you have already done. Google likes these links. Most of all, if you want to make a difference in your exposure right away, start posting to localism right away. I recently had a couple relocating to Leesburg, Fl that found a story I wrote about a 2 bed, two bath, owner finance doublewide mobile home...They liked what they saw, and when they came to Leesburg, Fl from Texas, guess what happened. Thats right, a deal was made in days....

There are posts on here that show you how to post to Localism..Mike Norvell is well known in Leesburg Fla on localism. It makes my phone ring. I am # 2 in Lake County, Fl and being # 2 still makes me featured in this Lake County, FL area. This is my example of how to write a story, get a point across, and still have Google find you to get your info to awaiting buyers...

Best wishes, from Mike Norvell Sr, of Leesburg, Fl Specializing in Foreclosure & Short Sales of Subdivisions and vacant Land in Lake County, Fl......