Ever wanted to get in front of Reo Asset Managers? Well now its your opportunity to do so by joining the REO Agent Directory.  Go on over to http://www.thereoagentdirectory.com and join for free today during the testing phase, on July 1 there will be a $25 registration fee. This registration fee will allow TheReoAgentDirectory to print the directory and mail it to asset managers in our database. So don't get left out and join today.  

As an added bonus #1 if you pay the $25 registration fee you'll receive our listing of over 50 Asset Management companies to join, bonus # 2 our listing of BPO companies you can join and start making money today simply by doing BPO's (Broker Price Opinions), bonus # 3 our contact list of Asset Managers, bonus #4 listing of Loan Modification companies where you can sign up and provide Loan Modification assistance to home owners in trouble while earning a commission. 

**Again you can join today without having to pay a dime up until July 1** However if you want the bonus items they require the $25 fee. Just don't click on the PayPal buttons. The Directory Administrator will add you to the Directory within 24 hours. 

If you are new to the REO business I encourage you to get the list provided. They also offer additional Monthly links to companies you can register with.  There are also a number of other great things coming down the line that I cannot mention yet until the site goes live and out of Beta Testing. 

 

O.K. so you're going to the 5 Star Conference, well so am I! As well as the next 40 agents who read this post. If you're going let me hear a who ha! I am definately looking forward to meeting some of you during the conference, my question is "What are you handing out?"....Yes you heard me right...handing out...let me guess your packing five hundred business cards in your luggage? Brochures anyone? I have a feeling that most of our material ends up in the garbage, and yes I am sure some of the asset managers will have us sign some sort of list. But I want to get their attention, I want them to think of me the next week when they are back in their office, I want them to remember that chubby guy from Central Florida...yeah that's who am gonna call to give this listing to!

So how can you and I leave that impression? Without going to extremes and getting into their hotel rooms and trying to leave subliminal messages? How can we become the "That was easy" Staples voice in their head? Or that FreeCreditReport.com jingle Pirate dude...he cracks me up! Yes that's him in the middle down there!

Without having to dress like a pirate, build a ridiculous mamoth red button that does nothing, and pass out five hundred business cards that will end up in the can there has got to be a way to say...Yo if you need an REO agent that kicks ass, communicates, markets your properties, wants to actually sell a home and make a nice living for his family, and like Jerry Maguire wants to hear "Show me the Money" the you've found the right one baaaabyyy! In a professional way of course. So I leave you with this question, what are you handing out?

I'd love for this guy to be with me while I do the Asset Manager rounds...betcha I get calls back!

So often our communities are stricken with personal hardships and struggles.  It is no different in our Realtor families, we spend time helping those trying to reach the American Dream. But when it hits our personal families who can be there for us?  I am reaching out to all of you today, our Realtor and Mortgage families across the ActiveRain family throughout the United States.  Our Realtor family has been stricken and we hurt over the tragic accident of a fellow Realtor's daughter here in Central Florida.  Below is their story, I am asking our AR community to assist to chip in when the chips are down, not only financially but in your prayers.  I know the economy is down and some of us are facing financial struggles daily, I am asking that we look beyond ourselves at this time and assit a fellow Realtor in need.

If you can help financially you have my heartfelt Thanks, wether its $5 or $10 or $100 every little bit helps. I know we all have our charitable organizations that we assist, would you please consider helping the Loiacono family? Sheri Loiacono is a Realtor here in Central Florida. Below is the address to send your charitable contribition please pass this on to your fellow agents, mortgage brokers, and friends. Thank You AR family for your help and prayers for this dear family!

To make tax-deductible donations toward Melissa Walsh's medical expenses, send checks to Mosaic Community Church, P.O. Box 1098, Oakland 34760 or to the Shepherd Center, 2020 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30309-1405 with a separate note designating the amount to Melissa's account. If the donation does not have to be tax-deductible, checks can be made out to Pete or Sheri Loiacono and sent to Lisa Bennett at Windsor Realty Group Inc., 160 S. Main St., Winter Garden 34787.

Oakland Florida teen-ager coping with paralysis after car accident

THE WEST ORANGE TIMES 720 S. Dillard St. - Winter Garden, Florida 34787

 

Fund-raisers are being organized and donations are being accepted to help the Loiacono family with increasing medical bills.

By Amy Quesinberry

The vibrant Oakland teen-ager had just graduated from West Orange High School and was ready to start classes at Valencia Community College. But 18-year-old Melissa Walsh's life was changed in an instant when she was severely injured in a one-car crash Aug. 11.

The good news is that she survived. But last Thursday, she was flown to Atlanta to a center that specializes in spinal cord rehabilitation.

Melissa's injuries were serious - damage to her spinal cord, a fractured pelvis and her neck broken in three places - and she is paralyzed below her shoulders. Doctors have told her parents, Sheri and Pete Loiacono, that she will likely be "a complete quadriplegic."

Following the crash, in which she was thrown from her vehicle, Melissa was put into traction to prevent further injury. Within 24 hours, she had been through two surgeries, where neurosurgeons fused her spine so they could sit her more upright to see if her diaphragm would work on its own and she could breathe by herself.

She has had multiple tubes running from her body, feeding her, helping her breathe. Now that she's more cognitive, she can speak in a whisper. Friends said she was even able to softly sing a song to her boyfriend.

Melissa's friend, Lee-Anne DeVitis, who was riding with her and also ejected, suffered a broken tailbone and fractured pelvis. Two days after the accident, Leigh Anne left the hospital, but she is still on crutches and continues with physical therapy.

The girls, who were on the OARS crew together during high school, had registered for several classes together at Valencia this fall. Lee-Anne, an Olympia High graduate, is expected to start school next week.

Sheri Loiacono is a well-known Realtor in West Orange County, and as news of her daughter's accident spread, e-mails began spreading as well, giving periodic updates on the injured woman's condition and asking for prayers.

Lisa Bennett, who co-owns Windsor Realty Group in Winter Garden with Loiacono, has helped her friend in this task.

Friends, business associates and churches have rallied around the family and are planning several fund-raisers in September.

A giant yard sale is set for Saturday, Sept. 20, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the east side of the First United Methodist Church of Winter Garden. To make a donation to this sale, call Julie Butler at 407-656-3244 or Janna Crouch Figueredo at 321-299-2457. Donations can also be dropped off at Tanner Hall in Winter Garden on Tuesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. during the Winter Garden Rotary Club's weekly meeting.

Other events being organized by the Rotary and the Historic Downtown Winter Garden Merchants Guild will be announced as they are confirmed.

The medical costs are already rapidly adding up and will only get higher as Melissa continues her hospital stay and rehabilitation program.

Mosaic Community Church provided $7,500 for Melissa and her mother to fly to Atlanta last week on an air ambulance through Critical Care Medflight in Lawrenceville, Ga. The company - founded by the late James Justice, who once was a patient at the Shepherd Center - is an official flyer for the center. Melissa's flight was coordinated by Ed Stanley, a former West Orange county resident who works for Critical Care Medflight.

"God has just really opened doors," Sheri Loiacono said. "It's amazing."

Melissa is expected to be at the Shepherd Center for six to eight weeks, her father said. The family's insurance will cover only the first 21 days, and the cost is approximately $2,500 a day after that, so the Loiaconos are looking at possibly $88,000 in those expenses alone.

Shepherd provides a room for families for 30 days. After that, another facility will be available to the Loiaconos at an inexpensive rate.

Once released, Pete Loiacono said, Melissa will come home. Modifications will have to be made to their house once they know her limitations.

During the past week at Shepherd, Melissa has had an entire medical team assess her for her individual recovery plan.

"We're looking for major healing and restoration," Sheri Loiacono said, "but it will be whatever the Lord's will is."

Her husband said: "We're hanging in there. We're doing what we have to do to make it work."

The Loiaconos spent the weekend in Atlanta helping Melissa get settled. Pete took their two sons, 18-year-old Chris and 13-year-old Nicholas, to see their sister.

The West Orange Times spoke on Monday morning with Pete Loiacono, who was back in Oakland. He said his wife had just reported that doctors had checked on Melissa and said "all her breathing numbers were good."

An e-mail update Monday evening reported that Melissa ate a little real food.

Mom has also been sending text messages to friends, keeping them updated on what's happening in Atlanta.

One of her messages read: "I love Shepherds. God is so good."

Sheri Loiacono told the Times just before the flight last week: "We are simply so thankful for everyone's prayers. They are working."

The couple wished to thank the community, local churches "and other families that have been in this situation for all of their support, prayers and care they have shown for Melissa."

To make tax-deductible donations toward Melissa Walsh's medical expenses, send checks to Mosaic Community Church, P.O. Box 1098, Oakland 34760 or to the Shepherd Center, 2020 Peachtree Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30309-1405 with a separate note designating the amount to Melissa's account. If the donation does not have to be tax-deductible, checks can be made out to Pete or Sheri Loiacono and sent to Lisa Bennett at Windsor Realty Group Inc., 160 S. Main St., Winter Garden 34787.

I currently have a bank owned property here in Orlando that caught the eye of an agent who quickly got interested in buying it. My problem, this licensed agent of 2 years that submitted the offer had absolutely no experience.  None...has not closed a deal, worked on one, even listed a property. So why the heck does she have a license? I gotta say I was pretty cool and collected, since she was the self represented buyer I had to walk her through the process just as I would if it was my own client.  I had to explain to her that she did not have to write an addendum that read "Subsequent to review by Broker". In the proces of submitting her counter offers she continued to add addendums that just didn't make sense, like Addendum 1 " $2000 towards buyers closing costs" .  Addendum 2  "6% to go towards buyers closing costs".  
I called her and asked her to repeat was she wanted to do because I could not believe it, not only was she going to receive a commission for 3% of the purchase price, she wanted $2000 + an additional 6% for closing costs which came to  a grand total of = $32,000+ back in her pocket. Yeah the bank was really going to go for that!  What kills me is that this person has a license to be a Real Estate Agent and yet she is acting like a late night TV informercial host who says "You can buy properties in foreclosure for pennies on the dollar".  
Lastly, and the kicker of it all after working and helping this agent with this deal on both sides she decides to withdraw her offer.  Thank you, thank you for wasting my time, energy, and knowledge!  

Don't get me wrong there are absolutely great deals in the foreclosure market today. What people fail to understand is that the banks have already lost on these propeties and they are selling below value in order to get these homes off their inventory.  So if you are an agent with a license and are looking to score a good deal for your clients be sensible. The best thing you can do is speak with the listing agent, they will give you the ground rules and at times also help you and your client reach an agreement wth the bank. I have helped buyers agents often through the process with just honest communication the transactions work smoothly and everyone is happy.  

Have a Listing Nightmare...share it with everyone on Activerain!  Trust me you'll sleep better at night!

Home411.com offers a call capturing system designed for real estate agents, F.S.B.O.'s and home investors who have a need to easily provide prospects with information 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The call capture system is the best source to find potential clients BEFORE they find another agent. Right now potential clients will take your flyers but most of the time they never call you.  But with the call capture system, you display the toll free number on a sign-rider that sits on top of your “For Sale” sign.  When they call to hear info about the house, their phone number is instantly emailed to you.  This means that you are in touch with buyers BEFORE they have a buyer’s agent to represent them which means more business to you.  There is no need to waste a potential lead.  Why just give them a flyer and let them go find someone to represent them and get a 50/50 split?  That doesn't make sense. 

After the callers hears the home tour, they can either leave you a voice mail, request an automatic fax of specs for the home, find info about financing the house, or simply hang up.

Regardless of what they do, you will be notified within 30 seconds in an email containing their phone contact information.  It truly is an ingenious way of being able to find clients before the market even knows they exist.  So why waste the lead? BEST OF ALL, ITS FREE!

So what are you waiting for? ITS FREE!   Join in today and become a marketing friend of Home411!

The only cost that you may incur is for the sign riders which will cost $5 each (This is optional). However, you can use the 800 # and property ID # on any of your marketing materials, Flyers, walking cards, postcards, and whatever else you can think of. Give it a try its working for me. If any of you use the service let us know what you think. Good Luck!

 

I don't know about you but I tend to spend quite a number of dollars calling 411 information services from my cell phone. Although I have a Blackberry I tend to need 411 when I am driving. As talented as I am to drive and look up a number on the web I think my chances of an accident are getting slim each time I do it! So in comes Goog411 service from Google. It is free....you heard me Free...and it will not cost you $1.25 or whatever your cell company charges.  So give it a try, you have nothing to loose.  There are some other free 411 services out there that make you sit through a 20 second commercial before getting your info, with Goog411 that is not the case, its as simple as calling 411!

  

(1-800-466-4411)

 

http://www.google.com/goog411 

 

Enjoy! 

Just wanted to check with my fellow AR'ers and see if any of you have had experience with the ForeclosureU.com and products that are being offered through their website. I've seen their ad here on AR on every page I've visited, and although I am looking to expand my REO business I am not sure if the info they offer is worth the money.  

Any Thoughts? 

Since late January I picked up an REO listing in a premiere Windermere Florida neighborhood. I went through the task list of getting the property ready to be listed and re-keyed.  Spoke with the Asset Manager and listed the property in the MLS and within 2 days I had already agents showing the property.  Within three weeks of listing I received three offers and sent them to the bank for approval. And since then I have been waiting.....and waiting...and waiting....

Today I received an email from the REO Assistant that what I first thought to be was counter offers was low and behold a new listing agreement, increasing the listing price, lowering the commission, and telling me I had 48 hours to contact them and fax them the MLS sheet. Below is my response, let me know what you think:

 

 

O.k. ActiveRainers I challenge you to listen to the story of Allison Wright below. I know we have our days, when nothing seems to go right. When we are farther from a sale, a client, or a listing than we have ever been. When we wake up in the morning and just don't feel like getting out of bed, or even turning on a computer. When prospecting, farming, and even sending out a postcard just doesn't seem like we are accomplishing anything.

So here is the story of Allison Wright and her father Edward. I came accross their story while listening to NPR on a long ride. After listening I just couldn't find a way to complaint about whatever life has thrown at me, and started looking at the positives with the heart and the smile of Allison.

Building Her Business

Allison Wright runs her own framing business. She also has Down syndrome. New government programs are now encouraging people with disabilities to work while they continue to receive federal support. In the past, disabled people who earned income were penalized by having their benefits withheld. Allison and and her dad, Edward, started a micro-business inside Edward's framing company. They got a micro-loan from the government, which Allison used to buy a specialized carving tool. Her next step was to hire her first employee, a business manager.

Allison and company now pitch new clients, fulfill orders, and design new products. Dick Gordon talks with them about the challenges and rewards of their new enterprise.

I've started using RealBird.com web widget to post with my listing on different websites and I gotta tell you that I've gotten some pretty good feedback. One of the best features of RealBird.com is their map birds eye view of the actual property listed. Not only does RealBird.com provide listing widgets, but they give agents a free presentation tool, you can build property showcase websites with their own urls, and even print your listing flyer. Not bad for an all in one site for agent listings.

Don't miss your opportunity to use this easy tool to draw traffic to your site and impress your sellers.