I would like to offer free coaching to a few new realtors for 30 days.  I am looking for realtors, that are not closing atleast two deals a month and have about two hours a day to implement some "marketing" tactics.  I was a sucessfull realtor that had sold a real estate company and foreclosure company in the last year.  There were many tools I used to generate real estate leads which most of them worked pretty well. I exited the business to get into Internet Marketing business online,  and avoid having the headache of employees and office space.  At the time, I simply wanted out of the real estate business.  Now being stress free, online marketing business is going well, I want to share some of my knowledge with agents out there and potentially get into the coaching business.   

During my coaching phase, I will provide you with a customized marketing plan to generate more leads then you can handle.  You may ask, why offer to help for free?   Well I have a full blown coaching course I will offer in the near future and I would like to work with a few agents, initially, to have "testimonials" from agents that are open to learning and using my system, and verifying the results of some of the tactics. 

I know that there are many "skeptical" realtors out there, hence the "free" offer.  I have been on Active Rain for about four years now, and this is my contribution, expose some pretty good lead generation tactics to new agents at the same time build some relationships with other agents around the country. 

One tactic I will teach, is how to generate money without selling property.  Secondly, I will show how to generate leads in any state and get paid without doing much work.  Third how to outsource the parts of the business you do not wish to deal with.  How to market 24/7 without spending a dime. Lead generation on the cheap.  These are just a few tactics in the course for new realtors.  Secondly, I will show you about 30 different marketing methods designed to generated one lead a day.  You can't possibly use all 30, however you will be able to effectively implement atleast three methods a week and you will generate deals.   I am looking for testimonials that i can use and good references for the future. 

Please PM to show interest. 

During my real estate career I have pretty much outsourced every aspect of my business.  For experienced realtors, outsourcing is the way to go. The only part of my business I didn't really outsource was creating relationships with the title company and other affiliate business'es.  Other then that, you can outsource every part of your business, even working with the homeowners.  I don't want to go into the team building, however I wanted to give you insight on the max you should pay for virtual assistants.

Virtual assistants can be hired for 1K a month, for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.   You can use these virtual assistants to develop websites, internet marketing, creating blogs, writing articles, link building, and much, much more.

Well I want to give you ten tips before you begin any outsourcing activities.

1. Be sure you know exactly what you want and don't take shortcuts writing your specification. You almost want to write as if you were explaining every imaginable detail you could think of.

2. Ask to see detail examples of the freelancers previous work similiar to projects or task you are requesting.

3. When posting a bid on any of the outsourcing sites, you want to put a specific question that requires a specific answer within your post to avoid any bots or canned responses. 

4. Ensure that you check the freelancers profile and review the feedback and ratings, all feedback is not negative as some customers are hard to please, however if you see a trend, be aware.

5. Always start with small task before you hire a freelancers, if you can't get a small job completed, you may want to reconsider.  You want to make sure you get a preview of the VA's work first.

6. You always want to use an third party escrow service never pay upfront.

7. You want to ensure you have constant contact with your virtual assistant, and you want to use skype of an free instant messenger service that you will be always able to contact your assistant.  If you do not get a response within the hour from your assistant then you want to look into another.  (during the hours the work is suppose to be performed)

8. You always want to give detail instructions, and keep all records of any conversations you have with your VA online or off.   Attempt to always communicate with your VA on the platform where the payment is being kept to ensure that you are documenting in case you must request a refund.  Record all your calls if you have technology to do so. 

9. Always keep in mind that your virtual assistants are human, and when they make a mistake its human, however when they do a good job, praise them as that will encourage them to keep up the good work.   Appreciate your VA's because most likely you are getting an extremly good deal if they are good.

10. Last but not lease ALWAYS pay on time, and when you can, always pay a little extra bonus, when they make you money.  You can get two assistants for less then 2K a month.  If you instruct correctly, you will be getting a great deal.

There are a variety of different ways to make money in the real estate business.  To my real estate agents out there, I had a very specific method for performing lease modifications and invested countless hours in perfecting the methods to get current Landowners to re adjust business owners current leases.  When the real estate market is in a distressed state, there are plenty of people looking to save and maintain there current state, including owners of large commercial businesss.   Even though I was a realtor in Arizona, I was sucessfully able to negotiate on behalf of owners nationwide and still get a fee, that was held in escrow until the lease was either readjusted or reduced to prevent the tenant from bailing out. 

For those of you strugling with Short Sales, actually the lease modification were much easiers as you are dealing with rational thinking "Business Owners" not large institution banks.  Your phone time with lease modification will be at most four to six calls and less then an hour on the phone total. 

You should know within a week or two if the lease modification will become sucessfully.  The hardest part of the lease modification was convincing the business owner that the Landlord would listen to your proposal and readjust the lease. 

Well hopefully you get an oppurtunity to look into commercial lease modification, as I found it a very nice method for realtors to add an additional income stream to there business.

First let me mention, I am no LONGER a ACTIVE REALTOR.  I could NOT hack it as a Realtor, and I will be the first to admit it!  I did very well as a Real Estate Agent and got burnt out with the REAL ESTATE business. I average 6 closings a month..  I realized the more leads I generated the busier I became and the less time I had. The amount of leads I generated resulted in starting a real estate company, having employees, all the office expenses, and managing realtors, so I basically switched from one head ache to another.  Managing client expectations to managing realtors with "different skill levels." I initially to many "clients" buyers and sellers, and I had to many realtors looking to work with my leads!   I generated leads for agents on a monthly basis and charged 50% of the comission for this service. As the company grew, I realized that my headaches also grew, in a variety of different ways. 

Enter the world of ONLINE INTERNET MARKETING! As I entered the world of Internet Marketing, I thought, hey this is easy, no employees, no clients calling me 24/7 asking for property udpdates, no lawsuits from agents wanting to take my comissions, or brokers complaining about my agents paper work.  While online, I am doing all the marketing I would do as a realtor, with no headache in the "people" business.  The comissions aren't as big, people aren't complaining about pricing, and I still have the freedom.   When I got out of the real estate business, I was coaching other realtors and telling them all my secrets of how i was generating business online as a real estate coach, in the meantime I was running my internet marketing business on the side generating cash flow on a daily with none of the headaches, making just as much as the top realtors.   Then it hit me!

With all of the marketing Realtors are doing, why aren't they getting paid for there efforts?  Its not because of a lack of efforts, its a lack of Internet Marketing skills.  Every realtor marketing online should ben making aleast a 100 dollars a day with there online marketing skills, while generating big dollar comissions?

Realtors who aren't making money online, should look into the following.  I am sure they are leaving more money on the table then they can imagine!  There are a variety of ways a realtor can make money, while attempting to generate new real estate leads, buyers or sellers.

Making money with there Blogs. 
Affiliate marketing links on there listings.
Sale traffic on there website.
Allow banner advertising on there website.
Email Distribution on behalf of another company.
Local business advertising to there current clients.
Video marketing on there blogs and websites for a fee.
Online Article Marketing Of Affiliates
Network marketing across different states.
Create membership sites on there website, for exclusivity to one of there specialities.
Charge for Survery Marketing to There User Base.
Referral marketing on there sites. 
Display commercials on there current website.
Even when door knocking, why not charge another company to market there fliers while you are marketing yourself.
Generate leads in another state, and sell leads to other agents.

REAL ESTATE PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT

(SHORT SALE)

            THIS REAL ESTATE PURCHASE AND SALE AGREEMENT (hereinafter referred to as the “Agreement”) is hereby entered into by and between ________________________________________ (“Seller”) and Small Family Homes, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company (“Buyer”) as of the ________ day of _____________________, 2008.  Seller and Buyer are referred to throughout this Agreement collectively as the “Parties”.

Recitals

                A.            Whereas, Seller owns all right, title and interest in the real property and improvements made thereto located at ________________________________________________________________ (“Property”);

                B.            Whereas, Seller currently resides in and occupies the Property as its primary residence;

                C.            Whereas, Seller, due to events outside of its control, has fallen behind on its mortgage payments and may be or is in the process of losing the Property to its lender through foreclosure or a trustee sale;

                D.            Whereas, Buyer is in the business of acquiring residential real estate;

                E.            Whereas, Buyer desires to purchase the Property from Seller for _________________________________ dollars ($_______________) (“Purchase Price”), through, what is commonly referred to as a “short sale”. 

                F.             Whereas, Buyer intends to sell the Property to a third party upon execution and performance of this Agreement; and               

                G.            Whereas, Seller and Buyer desire to enter into this Agreement to effectuate the sale of the Property. 

Agreement

                IN CONSIDERATION, of the mutual promises set forth herein and for other good and valuable consideration hereby acknowledged by the Parties, Seller and Buyer agree as follows:

1.             Short Sale:  Seller acknowledges and understands that this Agreement is for the short sale of the Property and that Seller will likely not receive any money or proceeds from the sale of the Property.  Seller has read, acknowledges receipt of and understands the Short Sale Transaction Disclosure attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference. Seller is advised to consult with independent legal counsel and an accountant prior to executing this Agreement. 

By initialing below, Seller acknowledges a complete understanding and approval of the foregoing Paragraph 1.

                                                                                                                Seller’s Initials ________ / _______

2.             Short Sale Condition Precedent:  Buyer acknowledges that Seller owes more for the Property than the Purchase Price and the Property is encumbered by loans, mortgages, or deeds of trust that exceed the Purchase Price.  Prior to Close of Escrow, and as a condition precedent thereof, Seller and Seller’s lender(s) shall agree to sell the Property for less than the total loan amount(s), including, without limitation, Seller’s lenders right to collect the loan amount from Buyer, including any and all unpaid principal, interest, fees or costs.  Seller and Seller’s lender shall also cause the promissory note, mortgage, or deed of trust to be released from the Property on or before the Close of Escrow.  In the event Seller and Seller’s lender are unable to reach a mutually acceptable agreement concerning

I hardly ever use generic documents as an investor and real estate agent I want to be protected from lawsuits and lack of disclosure. It is expensive having lawyers drawing up every document, however it's critical to have documents to protect you.  It's not only critical you have documents to protect you, it's all critical you as an agent is aware and informed on what documents and contracts are being utilized by most investors.  Here are two pages of an Option Purchase Contract being used by Investors to secure control over short sale properties.

Option Contract for Sale and Purchase

3.         DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY BEING SOLD:

STREET ADDRESS) CITY/STATE/ZIP:     __________________________________________

Parcel#: ______________________________________________________________________

4.         PURCHASE PRICE

The Purchase Price is $ _______________ or the total purchase price will be the negotiated balances of all liens, mortgages and closing costs. 

SELLER understands that this transaction is a short sale and is contingent upon acceptance of short pay offers that are satisfactory to the buyer as payment in full by all current lienholders and that the SELLER will receive NO funds at closing.  The Option period shall be reasonably extended for the purpose of obtaining said satisfactory approval(s).

The parties acknowledge that the purchase price has been initially based on an estimated negotiated debt at closing.  During negotiations, there may be several different preliminary contracts with different estimated purchase prices submitted by Buyer to the lender(s) until a final discounted figure is accepted.

Accordingly, Seller agrees to authorize Buyer to prepare various negotiating offers with various prices without obtaining Seller’s signature or approval of each and every negotiating offer.

5.         FINANCING AND INSPECTION PERIOD:  The Property is being sold “As Is” with regard to the physical condition of the Property and any improvements. Seller is giving no warranties to the BUYER as to the physical condition of the real property or any improvements.  BUYER shall have ____ days (the “Financing and Inspection Period”) following the Effective Date to inspect and evaluate the Property.  SELLER shall grant to the BUYER reasonable access to the Property for purposes of inspection and evaluation (such as environmental testing, home inspection, and BPO or appraisals, etc.).  If prior to the end of the Financing and Inspection Period, BUYER gives notice to SELLER that BUYER elects to cancel this Contract (the “Cancellation Notice”), this Contract shall terminate. If BUYER does not deliver the Cancellation Notice the Contract shall continue.

______   This transaction is contingent upon buyer obtaining acceptable financing;

                        OR

______   This is a cash transaction.

6.         REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES: To induce the BUYER to enter into this Agreement, the SELLER makes the following representations, warranties, and covenants.

A.        The property is being sold “As Is” with regard to the physical condition of any

improvements. Seller is giving no warranties to the BUYER.

I reference about 400 documents, I guess I am a document collector!

Realtors who do short sales, please be aware of your New Short Sale Approval Letter.

We have just been alerted to the fact that Countrywide has a new form of short sale approval letter, in which it now attempts to retain the right to invalidate a transaction for events which may have occurred at the loan’s inception or in our transaction.    This condition was found in paragraph 16 and read as follows:  

“If the property was acquired by any means of fraud, [lender’s name]   reserves the right to pursue any and all actions available to it to pursue any and all actions available to it to offset its losses.   If it is determined that Sellers and/or Buyers participated in any way to the fraud, this short sale will be void, and the Note and Security Instrument will remain in full force and effect.”

Title insurance cannot be issued to either the buyer or the buyer’s lender free and clear of the loan if the lender can assert after close of escrow that money is still due.    There is no workaround to this provision. 

If you receive a short sale approval letter with this condition, advise the Lender that the condition must be removed, in writing, or we cannot close.    If one lender has started inserting this into their short sale approval letter be assured additional lenders will follow suit.

Litton Loan, Foreclosure Sale Alert.

Just wanted to alert everyone that there is a company called First American REO Servicing that claimed and sent notice to the homeowner that they are currently evicting a client (sent a eviction notice). I just so happened to receive an approval on this short sale and it doesn’t have a foreclosure sale date until 5/19. I have confirmed and reconfirmed this about 5 times with the lender Litton Loan, the attorney’s for Litton Loan which is Quality Loans and they have told us to ignore any notices from First American REO Servicing as they have nothing to do with Litton Loan. If your homeowner brings in eviction notices, double check with your lenders and attorneys as this becomes a complete scare to the homeowner.

Another tip from a loan modification and short sale expert!

This is an actual letter from a small business written to his employees.  I am sure many of us who own real estate companies, mortgage companies and have put in many hours, can relate.  One of the best letters I have ever seen, I sent out to all of my employees.

 To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the Economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing Political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interest.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a back story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last year's Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.

However, what you don't see is the back story.

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs they worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the Goodwill store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's.

My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had. So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9 am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at  5 pm, I don't.

There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations...  You never realize the back story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bail-out all the people who didn't.  The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has its benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes.  Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.  The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check?  Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it.  Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?  It's quite simple.  If any new taxes are levied on me, my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I fire you. I fire your co-workers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem anymore.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire.  You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

If you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steam rolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about...

 Signed,

 Your boss

I just hung up with Chase (subprime), and due to the new Affordability Loan Modification Program just released, Chase has placed a hold on all loan modification requests.  This hold can be as long as next week.  The reason for this is, they are updating their policy procedures because they are still uncertain of what documentation the government/investors will require from the homeowner in order for them to be considered for this program.  The documentation may consist of more, or less, but until they are certain all requests are on hold.  Chase is also going paperless and has a new fax number to fax in your documents.  This fax number is 888-219-7813. 

WARNING-  be very careful when submitting your packages over to Chase.  As some of you have already experienced, if Chase does not have a complete, up-to-date package, your file will be declined and kick out with no call to you, the negotiator.  I am told, that they have too many requests in, and it is too much to call for updating documentation, so be prepared.