When Buying Foreclosures I often tell buyers ” The Early Bird Catches the Worm”.  Buying foreclosures like any transaction can be frustrating or rewarding depending on how you go about your business.  My advise to buyers is to not be afraid to write an offer because you want your offer in front of the Asset Manager before others are being considered. Next, do not get discouraged if your first offer was not accepted. Asset managers will negotiate with you and it is up to you how you negotiate but if persistant you will be successful.

 In my experience working with buyers and buyer agents they tend to not understand the process of buying foreclosures and get stubborn and in the end they loose. In the end its all about your attitude and what you bring to the table when negotiating with Asset Managers and foreclosure properties.

                                                                                                                          

If you get your offer in first, continue to negotiate, and keep your emotions in balance then you will be successful. If not then ” If you Dont Succeed Try and Try Again”

I am looking to build a real estate team asy business is growing. I am actively seeking agents who have an interest in working with an experienced REO agent and Short Sale expert. I see the demands to be successful in todays real estatearket requires team building. Anyone interested can contact me. Or anyone who has a team I looking for suggestions on how to build a team and what to avoid.

Missing in the State of the Union was the topic of Real Estate and for good reason. Real Estate is the last thing to recover in a bad economy so lets not focus on it while we are trying to act positive.

President Obama decided it was best to focus on Jobs because he knows this is the number one priority of most people. With new jobs comes economic recovery and from there Real Estate should improve.

I agree with President Obama that one of our biggest problems is jobs but government cannot create jobs and this is my concern because without jobs people will not be buying homes.

It seems the future health of Real Estate is caught in the middle between the inability of government to create new jobs and the private sector not being able to borrow money to create new jobs.

I am afraid to say Real Estate in 2011 is going to look like it did in 2010. I am very cautious about what I say and predict when working with buyers and sellers these days.

I will look forward to the State of the Union in 2012 and hope we will be in a better position.

 

 

 

 

Home prices in the Chicago metropolitan area set a new low since prices peaked in 2006, falling 2.2 percent in November from October and 7.6 percent over the year.

 

That is according to the latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price index, which showed prices weakening across the country and also setting new post-peak lows in eight other cities.

 

The annual decline in the Chicago area was the second biggest among 20 major metropolitan areas, trailing only Atlanta, which posted a 7.9 percent decline. But the drop in the Chicago area was an improvement from the 8.5 percent annual drop reported in November 2009.

 

The index for the Chicago area stood at 119.57 in November 2010, falling below the 119.71 level of last March, which had been the low for the year, and marking the lowest point since April 2002, when it stood at 118.97.

 

The 10-city composite fell 0.8 percent over the month and slid 0.4 percent over the year, while the 20-city composite fell 1 percent over the month and dropped 1.6 percent over the year. Home prices fell in 19 of 20 metropolitan areas over the month, excluding San Diego, which reported a 0.1 percent gain. Only four metropolitan areas showed gains over the year-Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

 

The eight other metropolitan areas that set new lows since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007 are Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte, Portland and Seattle.

 

"With these numbers, more analysts will be calling for a double-dip in home prices," David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P said in a statement. "Certainly nine cities setting new lows and with the only positive news concentrated in southern California and Washington, D.C., the data point to weakness in home prices."

 

 Thirteen of the metropolitan areas and both composites have posted at least seven months of decline since the beginning of 2010. The Chicago area has posted five months of decline since then. As of November, average home prices across the country are back to the levels they were in the latter half of 2003. Since June and July 2006, the 10-city and 20-city composites are down 30.3 percent.

 

Home prices in the Chicago metropolitan area set a new low since prices peaked in 2006, falling 2.2 percent in November from October and 7.6 percent over the year.

That is according to the latest Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price index, which showed prices weakening across the country and also setting new post-peak lows in eight other cities.

The annual decline in the Chicago area was the second biggest among 20 major metropolitan areas, trailing only Atlanta, which posted a 7.9 percent decline. But the drop in the Chicago area was an improvement from the 8.5 percent annual drop reported in November 2009.

The index for the Chicago area stood at 119.57 in November 2010, falling below the 119.71 level of last March, which had been the low for the year, and marking the lowest point since April 2002, when it stood at 118.97.

The 10-city composite fell 0.8 percent over the month and slid 0.4 percent over the year, while the 20-city composite fell 1 percent over the month and dropped 1.6 percent over the year. Home prices fell in 19 of 20 metropolitan areas over the month, excluding San Diego, which reported a 0.1 percent gain. Only four metropolitan areas showed gains over the year-Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The eight other metropolitan areas that set new lows since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007 are Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Tampa, Atlanta, Charlotte, Portland and Seattle.

"With these numbers, more analysts will be calling for a double-dip in home prices," David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P said in a statement. "Certainly nine cities setting new lows and with the only positive news concentrated in southern California and Washington, D.C., the data point to weakness in home prices."

 

Thirteen of the metropolitan areas and both composites have posted at least seven months of decline since the beginning of 2010. The Chicago area has posted five months of decline since then. As of November, average home prices across the country are back to the levels they were in the latter half of 2003. Since June and July 2006, the 10-city and 20-city composites are down 30.3 percent.

Working with Banks in a Short Sale is like being a parent with a child. You need to:

Feed Them:

 

 Like a parent with a newborn infant, the parents role is constantly feeding the infant with information until the baby is full. The bank wants  a complete Short Sale package and will not even look at incomplete file. So make sure the baby bank fills its tummy otherwise you get no rest as a parent.

 

Change Their Diapers:

 

Once the baby is full then its time to change the diapers. The bank is always requesting

new documents in the process because the old ones are obsolete.

 

Terrible Two's::

 

As babies grow up parents have to deal with the terrible two's and the word "No".  If you have been doing Short Sales how many times have you heard the word "No" from your bank. I know I have heard the word "NO"  many times when I asked them to confirm if they received the documents I sent.

 

Remember they Loose Things:

 

Young children are known to loose things and banks are just like young children. They banks are just like children. They are constantly loosing files so be prepared to re-send them often.

  

Act like Bully's and Temper Tantrums.

 

A big problem with children these days is they sometimes have Temper Tantrums and  act like bullies. With children, parents have to be firm and in control of the situation and have consequences for children when they loose control. Banks also exhibit similar behaviors. How many times have you heard the bank say " if we do not get the documents we need in 24 hours then the file will be closed". Unfortunately for us parents working with the banks, the banks have the upper hand and we have not figured out a way to get back control.

 

Think they Know it All

  

As children grow up and become teenagers they think they know it all. The banks think they know it all too.  How many times have we scratched our heads saying " the bank will net less if this goes to foreclosure" and guess what the Short Sale is denied and the property is foreclosed and the bank accepts less money in the future. With children we hope they learn by making mistakes.. I am not sure the banks are learning anything.

CARE

Webster's Definition : noun 1. the work of caring for or attending to someone or something 2. Judiciousness in avoiding harm or danger 3.  An anxious feeling. 4.  A cause for feeling concern. 5. Attention and Management implying responsibility for safety. 6. Activity involved in maintaining something in good working order. verb 1. Feel concern or interest.2. Provide care for. 3. Prefer or wish to do something. 4.Be in charge of, act on, or dispose of. 5. Be concerned with.

An Acrostic Poem for the word Care:

Contscientious AcoountableResourcefulExceptional.

Over the last 3 years I have been involved working with homeowners, lenders, buyers, attorneys, asset managers, investors, in the distressed real estate market. The more I work in this market the more I see the biggest hurdle as the lack of caring .

It is because we have lost sight of  caring for others that we are in the mess we are in. We have also lost sight of the process of caring or making people care. I strongly believe we have to make people accountable for their actions, bring back the human element which is caring for others into the process or we are all going to be lost for ever.

When working in the distressed real estate market ther tends to be a void one feels. There is no sense of feeling good about a transaction because someones gain is someones loss. This void is compounded by the lack of caring expressed by others in the transaction.

Is the word Caring a lost art in the distressed real estate transaction? I hope not and I hope we realize this collectively as a group because I do care...

I am sharing this poem I found because we all need our spirits lifted when we need it the most.  This is my New Years Wish to all...

Things Work Out

Written By: Praveen  |  Category: Life  |  Trackback  |  No Comments  |  1,643 views

Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,
Because men do what they often shouldn't,
Because crops fail, and plans go wrong-
Some of us grumble all day long.
But somehow, in spite of the care and doubt,
It seems at last that things work out.

Because we lose where we hoped to gain,
Because we suffer a little pain,
Because we must work when we'd like to play-
Some of us whimper along life's way.
But somehow, as day always follows the night,
Most of our troubles work out all right.

Because we cannot forever smile,
Because we must trudge in the dust awhile,
Because we think that the way is long-
Some of us whimper that life's all wrong.
But somehow we live and our sky grows bright,
And everything seems to work out all right.

So bend to your trouble and meet your care,
For the clouds must break, and the sky grow fair.
Let the rain come down, as it must and will,
But keep on working and hoping still.
For in spite of the grumblers who stand about,
Somehow, it seems, all things work out.

by Edgar Guest

Read more: http://www.poetryoflife.com/things-work-out/#ixzz18KTbfZhW

I just received an email linking me to an article by RIS Real Estate article which stated that fewer home owners are underwater in their mortgages. This at first sounded like good news but then it went on to qualify that news by saying that this is more likely not the cause of an improved real estate market but because there are more homeowners loosing their home to foreclosure.

I had to stop and think about that for a moment... Is this news at all? and if it is news what is it actually saying? As I see it there are fewer home owners because of foreclosure so of course there would be fewer homeowners underwater. This is like reporting the obvious.

Now if homes are being foreclosed the negative equity in these homes is actually being transfered from the homeowner to the bank and investor and I say is this news? No because if you have been in the business the last year we can see what prices homes have dropped because of the number of foreclosures.

I think this article is a bunch of crap not fact... What do you think.

 

 (I take off my Hat to all the Good Guys out There)

I refuse to believe in the saying" GOOD GUYS finsh LAST" when it comes to my Short Sales. I will fight to the end and do whatever I can to get  my Short Sales  approved by the banks.

As is the case on a Short Sale I am working on right now as I right this blog. I have gone around and around with 2 banks and am 50% of the way there. I have had an enourmous amount of obsticles along the way but I am not giving up. Right now I received an approval letter from the 2nd lien holder and am waiting for the first lien holder to give their approval. I have been working on this file for almost 16 months and refuse to let it go into foreclosure.

If I can give any advise to anyone doing Short Sales today, it is don't give up because if you do the "Good Guys will finish Last" and remember its not over until the "Fat Lady Sings"

I will keep you posted and let you know if the Good Guy wins or the Fat Lady Sings...

  

Let's face it there is Good Advise and Bad Advise

I recently met with a Short Sale client of mine and was upset to hear my client recently received what I call Bad advise from two different people.

Both people told my client they should let their home go to foreclosure. I think telling a client to let their home go to foreclosure is terrible advise. I would never tell my clients to do when I think a foreclosure can be prevented.

A foreclosure would be the last thing I would like to see happen to one of my clients and therefore would never suggest to them to give up and let the bank foreclose on their home when I know a Short Sale would be successful.

Even if I did not have an offer I to negotiate with a bank I would still try to do a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure with one of my clients.

A foreclosure would be the last resort so I say to people Giving Advise "Watch what you Say" and just because its FREE doesn't mean you do have responsibilities.