Vacation Rental Property Management & Short Sale Guy's Blog of Destiny

The Mysteriously Elusive Second Mortgage at McDonald's (Thanks Ronald)

James Milliman (Done-Deal Realty, Inc) — Sat, 17 May 2008 01:27:10 -0500

I had a listing appointment a few weeks back and everything just went too well for it to be legit.

Ran my market analysis and the seller was agreeable to my pricing suggestions, negotiated a fair listing agreement and commission percentage, took photos, etc. I always ask the homeowner what they owe on their mortgage and if they owe a second mortage. Of course, they said no.

So I strut back to my office feeling good about the outcome and spend the time entering the forms into the MLS and writing a description, uploading photos, etc. A couple of days go by and as is customary for me, I contacted the seller to let her know the listing was active and how to find it online, yadda, yadda, yadda...Well, then out of nowhere she starts telling me about how she went to her bank to try to get a debt consolidation loan and they turned her down, so she got one from a guy that she met at a local McDonald's to sign the paperwork.

I immediately began to get suspicious. I said, "You signed up for a debt consolidation loan from a guy who wanted to meet with you at the McDonald's?" She said he was very helpful and it was a quick and easy process and she was able to borrow $20,000 to pay off her car and some other bills and do some remodeling.

I said, "Sounds like a 2nd mortgage!". She said, "No, No, No, this guy never said anything to me about this loan being tied into my house." I said, "Well you better call whoever it is and find out what you are dealing with before someone comes along and puts a full price offer down on your house and you get sued for failure to perform because you didn't realize you had a $20,000 2nd mortgage that was going to need to be paid off at closing in order to exchange title.

Sure enough, she called me back the next day and said it was a second mortgage and swears that she was completely misled by the person and had no idea that the $20,000 loan was secured by her home.

This was an incredibly mind numbing experience, a complete waste of time, because the listing had to be withdrawn. Now I'm no genius, but come on...wouldn't common sense tell you that if the person who is soliciting this "debt consolidation loan" wants you to meet him up at the Mickey D's (his office) to sign paperwork, that there might be an issue there?

If anyone else has a similar story of painful ignorance to share, or simply wants to comment on the laughable grief I've recently been put through, I'd love to hear some of the hair-brained things some of your clients are up to.

Best of luck avoiding anyone like this to all of you,

Jim Milliman - Done-Deal Realty, Inc - Colon Michigan

Vacation Rental Property Manager and Short Sale Specialist among other hats I wear...

St. Joseph and Branch County Michigan

Short Sales - Southwest Michigan - We can help you and your client

James Milliman (Done-Deal Realty, Inc) — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:47:28 -0500

Hello Activerain Community,

Jim Milliman here, and I'd like to talk a bit about short sales.

Lord knows that just about every real estate agent out there in Michigan who is doing any kind of volume listing properties is probably dealing with several sellers who are a few months behind and looking for a way to avoid a foreclosure. Realtors who don't sell these homes before they are foreclosed on get paid zero commission. That's bad since you've probably just spent several months marketing a property that had little hope of being sold in a traditional manner. You have invested your time, advertising dollars, gas money at almost $4 a gallon running around and taking care of your duties to this property. So why allow your clients to sit back and have the bank foreclose?

It's been my experience in speaking with some area realtors and brokers that many folks, (realtors included) have no idea that a short sale can be a very effective way of getting your clients out from under a poorly thought out mortgage decision and still give the realtor a much needed commission during these lean times. Maybe there are other Realtors who just have no interest in the work it takes to negotiate them, and quite frankly, if you weren't fully prepared and knowledgable about how to conduct a short sale negotiation, you should allow someone else to negoatiate them on your client's behalf so your client has the best chance of getting the short sale done before a foreclosure is processed.

Short sales are not easy. To negotiate them with the lenders requires dedication to be in constant contact with everyone involved and includes an absolute ton of paperwork and annoying phone calls with loss mitigation departments accross the country. This is something that most Realtors and Brokers would really rather not spend time on. It's a long, drawn-out process that can easily take 4-6 months to accomplish.

Let Done-Deal Realty, Inc negotiate your short sales for you. Give yourself the advantage of having professionals who have closed dozens of short sales in the past year doing the work for you. Let us handle the paperwork, the phone calls, and let our expert negotiators work out the details for you and your client so that the short sale is done, done properly, and your commissions get paid.

We are assisting Realtors in St. Joseph, Branch, Calhoun, and Kalamazoo Counties, as well as other surrounding areas.

Do not wait another minute to find out how we can help you turn those possible foreclosures in potential commissions.

Carole Maddox, our broker, has been negotiating short sales in Palm Beach County Florida, one of the toughest and most competitive real estate markets in the United States, and with a very high rate of successful closings over the past year and her services are now available here in Southwest Michigan as well. She has over 25 years of real estate experience and she likes the challenge of working with the lenders to help you and your clients accomplish your goals.

For more information or to inquire if this program would be right for your specific clients, simply give us a call at 269-432-5328 or 269-341-2227. You can also email me at jim@mydonedeal.com and we can talk about how we can help out. Visit http://www.mydonedeal.com/shortsales for more info.

Contact Carole directly at 561-262-8034

Work smart...let us handle the unattractive aspect of negotiating your short sales, and you can be the hero who helped your clients get out from under a foreclosure and got a commission too.

We do not charge any upfront fees for this service. Our fees are handled at closing, and typically the lending institution pays for them.

Waterfront Property Owners in St. Joseph, Branch or Kalamazoo County Michigan?

James Milliman (Done-Deal Realty, Inc) — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:02:58 -0500

Have you thought of renting your vacation property for extra income?

If you own lakefront or riverfront property, a lake house, a cottage, or waterfront property you could be missing out on thousands of dollars in vacation rental income. Maybe you don't use your vacation property much anymore? Kids all grown up? Health Problems? Too much work to maintain year in and year out?

Done-Deal Realty, Inc is located in Colon, Michigan and is a fully State licensed, local, professional real estate brokerage offering vacation rental property management services to homeowners in St. Joseph, Branch or Kalamazoo Counties. Because we specialize in lakefront properties and vacation rentals, we have contacts and methods to help get your rental properties booked faster and for higher rents than just doing it on your own.

We handle everything for you.
We pay to market your property and get your property 1000's of website hits.
We pay extra to target out-of-town renters in Chicago, Detroit, South Bend, etc.
We screen clients to make sure your investment is respected and protected.
We help you prepare your property with furnishings and equipment lists.
We use fax, phone, and email to set up bookings for your property.
We host a public online booking calendar for your property.
We handle all rental agreements, rules and policy enforcement, etc.
We receive and process all booking fees, deposit payments, etc for you.
We can take rental booking fees and deposits by Visa, MC - Can you?
We greet your rental guests when they arrive so you don't have to.
We make sure your rental is professionally cleaned between bookings.
We have over 2000 hits a month on our company website and we're growing.
We keep records of your rental income for easy tax submission & accountability.
We make your life easier by offering security and peace-of-mind.
We do all the hard work so you don't have to worry about it.

If this sounds like something you may be interested in please call us at 269-432-5328 or 269-341-2227 or email us today at jim@mydonedeal.com for a private, free consultation about your specific situation. Refer a friend or neighbor to us.

Please visit us on the internet at http://www.mydonedeal.com/vacationrentals

Avoiding Foreclosure in Michigan

James Milliman (Done-Deal Realty, Inc) — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:46:13 -0500

Hello Everyone,

Today, I wanted to say a few words about how to avoid foreclosure. If you are already a couple of payments behind on your mortgage, you know exactly how quickly the pressure mounts when foreclosure is staring you in the face. Homeowners get emotional because they feel an attachment to the property or home, but the banks look at Homeowners as numbers, because they are in business to make money.

A foreclosure is a very public and for most people an embarrassing thing. It's a matter of public record. Your name appears in the paper as a foreclosed homeowner. Other people in your area will see that you did not satisfy your debt. There are ways to avoid all of that. A "short sale" may still be an option for you if the bank hasn't foreclosed yet.

With a "short sale", we contact your lender and negotiate with them, on your behalf for the lender to accept less than what you owe on your mortgage to facilitate a sale to a new buyer, rather than allowing the foreclosure to take place. You are short of what you owe at closing, so hence, "short sale". This is an attracitve option because no foreclosure takes place. You avoid having a foreclosure on your credit report for 10 years, and the bank's don't end up owning your house, (Which they do not want anyways)

Yes, you will have to sell your house, yes you will have to explain your financial woes to your lender, but as long as this is your primary residence, you won't be taxed for the debt forgiveness. To accomplish this in a timely manner, you need to list your property right away with a Realtor who is not only able to assist you with marketing the property, but also someone who is a proven, skilled negotiator familiar with how short sales work, what lenders require, and willing to go the extra mile to help you.

Give us a call today if you are facing possible foreclosure for a private, free consultation with people who know how to help.

Areas we'll serve:

Sturgis, Bronson, Colon, White Pigeon, Centreville, Nottawa, Three Rivers, Coldwater, Sherwood, Union City, Battle Creek,

Kalamazoo, Portage, Vicksburg, Schoolcraft, Mattawan, Paw Paw, Mendon, Constantine, Leonidas,

Galesburg, Augusta, Comstock, Oshtemo,

269-432-5328 Office - Colon, Michigan

269-341-2227 Direct/Cell number

or email to jim@mydonedeal.com

Or visit this webpage http://www.mydonedealcom/shortsales

and then call me.

James Milliman's New Real Estate Blog

James Milliman (Done-Deal Realty, Inc) — Fri, 02 May 2008 02:55:39 -0500

Hello internet real estate customers,

Welcome to my new real estate blog. I'm happy to be here to help anyone who has a need for my services.

My name is Jim Milliman and I am a licensed Realtor for Done-Deal Realty, Inc in Colon Michigan.

We specialize in short sales and short sale negotiations for those who are facing and want to avoid foreclosure in Southwest Michigan. Realtors...we can help your clients too. If short sales are not up your alley, call us and we can offer some assistance so you still get a commission before your client gets foreclosed upon.

We also provide property management services for owners of vacation rentals. If you own a vacation rental in Southwest Michigan and would like to make money efficiently and effectively with a professional company handling all of the hard work, then feel free to call us. Likewise, if you are looking to rent a lakehouse or waterfront property for a vacation or getaway, contact us so we can see if something in our inventory would be suitable for you.

Of course, you can call us for any other real estate questions or needs you may have.

We're looking forward to working with you.

Jim Milliman can be reached by email at jim@mydonedeal.com

or by telephone at 269-341-2227 or 269-432-5328

Visit www.mydonedeal.com for much more information.