THE FOLLOWING IS A CUT AND PASTE FROM DRUDGEREPORT WHICH CITED (LOS ANGELES TIMES) -- LETS DISCUSS THE CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP

An important angle in the IndyMac failure that may get lost in ominous headlines tonight and tomorrow: federal regulators pointedly cited U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., in explaining the bank's failure. In simple language, federal regulators blamed Schumer for a run on the bank.

Here's from the press release issued by IndyMac's regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision: "The OTS has determined that the current institution, IndyMac Bank, is unlikely to be able to meet continued depositors' demands in the normal course of business and is therefore in an unsafe and unsound condition. The immediate cause of the closing was a deposit run that began and continued after the public release of a June 26 letter to the OTS and the FDIC from Senator Charles Schumer of New York. The letter expressed concerns about IndyMac's viability. In the following 11 business days, depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts.

"This institution failed today due to a liquidity crisis," OTS Director John Reich said. "Although this institution was already in distress, I am troubled by any interference in the regulatory process."

Schumer's response? In an e-mail quoted by Bloomberg News, he says: "If OTS had done its job as regulator and not let IndyMac's poor and loose lending practices continue, we wouldn't be where we are today ... Instead of pointing false fingers of blame, OTS should start doing its job to prevent future IndyMacs.''

If any of my fellow AR'ers are here -- Give me a call 804.307.2247

Let's get together!!!!  I'm staying 2 miles from the Marriott!!

Give me a call, if you are around here!

-Jason

My Original Blog

This is regarding the guy who told me that I was too lazy to show him homes-- since I refused to show without a pre-approval letter. 

I got a call last night from an agent from a Discount Brokerage and we started chatting about her buyer.  Soon, I realized that she was calling about the same guy that I had spoken to-- who called me lazy since I wouldn't show him a listing without a "piece of paper".   She told me that he was supposed to be bringing proof of ability to finance (after numerous other showings) -- when she showed him my listing. 

When I quoted him to her "Well, I'm not married to my agent" -- she acknowledged that this buyer was not loyal to her or anyone else.  She was aware that he was trying to go unrepresented -- so he could received whatever benefit he perceived he could obtain.

She also told me that she has shown this guy about a dozen houses before-- and she is finally putting her foot down to require proof of ability to pay.

Initially-- I thought I made a mistake-- I mean this guy wanted to look at and potentially buy one of my listings ($375k) -- unrepresented-- I'd make a FULL-BIRD COMMISSION.  However, my belief and conviction not to show un-approved buyers a house --- Was affirmed when I realized that he was looking at over a dozen listings-- and not providing any proof.

 The reason I am posting this follow-up blog-- is because some agents agreed with me-- others disagreed with me-- Those who disagreed -- did so on two fronts:  1)  I am not representing my seller by refusing to show the property 2) I could have earned a double commission

Thanks

-Jason

Following up on a blog written by Evil Rich:  See His Article Here

 Has anyone advertised on Realtor.com?  If so, is it worth paying their monthly fee?

Love to hear what people have to say!

-Jason

Just got off the phone with a prospective buyer who wanted to look at one of my listings. 

Right off the bat-- he told me that he wanted to see the property.  No problem here, I'd love to show it.

However, I never rush into a property showing--- without finding out:  Do you have an agent and are you approved for a loan?

 When I asked if he had an agent--- his response was "Yes, I have someone I have been working with"  to which I promptly responded-- then it is best that your current agent shows you the house.  I do not believe in cutting out agents -- who work to show my listings-- I will need them one day.

He replied back "Well, I'm not married to an agent"

This is when I noticed that this guy was a disloyal buyer.

When I asked about loan approval, he responded "Oh, that's not a problem".  

I informed him that I do not show properties without proof of ability to fund the deal.  His response was "Well, if you are too damned lazy to show the house..."

My response was immediate "If you feel that I am too lazy, then you are best working with another agent."

His response was "I just sold a $600,000 house-- I think I can afford a $400,000 one) .  He then asked if I would require some sort of proof -- to which I responded "Yes".

Then he again stated his belief that I was too lazy to show a house to get my money. 

I simply stated that he would be best working with another agent-- and promptly ended the call.

As a REO listing agent-- my time is valuable -- and my time is best spent doing things that produce income.  Those things include working on my portfolio, networking with other REO Agents, working to build my REO client list..." --- my time is not best spent --- showing people with questionable qualifications houses.

I am not a tour guide.  This guy probably did have the money-- but if I showed him houses-- and then he would probably do to me what he did to his agent -- find another property-- and just call the listing agent. 

I encourage all other agents to take a similiar position-- we should not be showing houses to disloyal buyers -- with no proof that they can afford a house that we are showing them. 

Am I too lazy?  Perhaps.  But I'm not out wasting my time -- and money showing houses -- for no return on investment.

-Jason

What other things have you seen on your property checks?

This is one that I saw when driving past one of my listings!

Oh, the area code is 804-- if you want to appear on JERRY JERRY JERRY!!

-Jason

For those of you who don't know-- REOTrans has been down more than it has been up in the past week.

Also, for those of you who don't know-- a score card is assigned to you (but you can't see the information on it).  If you ask the people at tech support -- to give you your grade -- They'll give you a dozen reasons why they can't give you your score. Or they will tell you that they can't -- because they don't know what data is used.  But they won't tell you your ontime percentages either.  We can't see it, why?

The way you are graded (one of the ways) -- is based on the timeliness of tasks completed.  If you complete in the green-- you get the most points--- yellow  is less points -- and RED is dead.

I spoke to the "Retention Manger" over there-- and he initially thought that they were going to implement some sort of fix-- so that the scores are not affected for anyone negatively. However, he just emailed me-- and told me that "... Senior Management has decided to do nothing.  Since the scores are based on a comparitive basis-- everyone is affected the same-- and thus it is a wash.

The problem with that -- is some people lost points and went RED...  Others went to the yellow.  Others lost countless hours of work.  So not everyone was affected the same.

REOTrans makes several hundred per deal closed on their fees.  I've got some deals where they are charging a "$300 Technology Fee" ...  However, I can't help but feel like an unwanted child.

Have you tried to get to REOTrans tech support now?  It is designed to filter our (Agent) calls out! 

 Some of my asset managers dislike their system as much as I do-- But they too are tied. 

For those of you who have listings-- Call REOTrans-- Ask them what your "On Time Percentage Is"  -- then ask them how you were "Affected by THEIR system being DOWN constantly".

If I seem a little upset-- I am.  I don't like paying --- being the proverbial "Pissing Boy" -- and not being able to do a thing about it.

-Jason

My growth has been wonderful-- and I have truely been blessed by the deals that I have to work.

My in house assistant was unable to keep up with the demands of working REO (for me) and has quit. 

I've been considering working with a Virtual Assistant (VA) -- to handle some of my tasks.

I've spoken to two VAs so far.


For the $30-$40 they charge per hour, are they worth it?

Most of the VAs that I have spoken to -- do BPOs but they do NOT:  Pull Comps, Pull Market Info or Determine Pricing (I can understand the pricing issue).  However, it seems they only enter the factual information (beds, baths and SQFT) and make no adjustments.  Is it worth sharing $15-$30 to have them enter the info that takes less than 10 minutes?  Most of the time -- is spend on thought (how much do we adjust)?

The questions I have are: 

-Is it worth the money?

-Do they pay for themselves?

-How much do you trust them with?

 Based on my initial research-- finding a GOOD VA is a task in of itself.  However, if you find one that you get along with-- then they MIGHT be worth GOLD. 

What are your thoughts?

-Jason

Recently, I've been considering going to a centralized showing service.

The benefits as I see them:

Less work for my assistant and myself

Better tracking of showings and feedback

Drawbacks:

When I had to do this one time before-- I canceled the showing since the person on the other end was interogating me

Lack of shared information between the buyers agent and myself

Questions I have for the AR group:

-Do you use these services? 

-Which ones?

-How Much are they?

-Do they call back for showing feedback?

-Do they track feedback?

 -Are you overall impressed with these services?

I went over to one of my listings the other day -- and I met my contractor to give me a bid on repairing some steps that are a trip hazard (if you walk on them, you'll probably break your ankle).

Well-- When I gave him the address and inquired if he needed directions he started to laugh -- and told me that he has done half of that street.  Well, when we went to the house across the street (another REO) he again laughed and told me that he too did that one.

He conveyed the following story to me "When I went to this house before I was talking to the agent-- and we saw the faucet coming and going out of the wall--like something out of the Goonies.  When we looked in the house-- we saw someone stealing all the copper piping. Needless to say that we called the cops-- and that got quite interesting."

Well, this might not convey as funny as it was hearing it in person-- But I'd love to hear some stories from other REO people.  :)

-Jason