Ted's Blog

Video about the next "Mother of all" government bailouts

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:05:58 -0600

Watch this fascinating discussion about the next bailout and real estate crash with attorney Steven Meister on Fox Business.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27371346/fed-s-housing-fix-broken.htm

As readers of this blog know I had predicted this crash a year ago and the next "Mother of all bailouts", now finally has hit the main stream media.

Getting Local Short Sale Leads

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:53:01 -0600

If you want to get short sale leads in your area you might want to get a domain that targets your specific area and combines your place name with the phrase "short sale". An example of this is http://south-lake-tahoe.shortsaleleads.org. This website is targeted to generate short sale leads in the South Lake Tahoe area. By integrating the place name in the domain name, the search engines will give higher relevance to your website.

Placing links back to your website with keyword anchors you also increase the ranking of your site and acheive a higher placement than a site that does not integrate the place name in the domain name. Be sure your site includes references in context to your taget area.

Government Gives The Green Light To Pretend and Extend Commercial Loans

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:18:22 -0600

Last week government bank regulators officially put their blessing on the practice of "pretending and extending" by issuing guidance to banks that allow them to modify commercial loans without being viewed unfavorably by their regulators. It has become clear to Washington that the next banking crisis and government bailout is right around the corner. They have taken this step to ease the pain that is sure to come.

Analyst estimate that there is about $270 billion in negative equity that has to be resolved in the next few years. This comes from about 1.5 trillion in debt that is maturing on CRE loans. This property can not be refinanced because of the negative equity. If the banks were to foreclose and not modify the loans, they would be forced to show the real value of the property on their books, wiping out the profits they reported earlier this year and causing a liquidity crisis in an already overstressed banking system.

By allowing the banks to modify these loans, the bankers and property owners are allowed to "kick-the-can" down the road some more years.

Prior to this change in guidance, if a bank were to modify a loan, and the loan amount was greater than the market value, the loan would have been considered "adversely credit classified". Such a loan modification would not have been considered prudent based on sound banking principles. This new guidance allows them to modify the loans even if the loan amount exceeds the market value.

Property owners ought to contact their bank or a professional that specializes in commercial loan modification.

FHA the new sub-prime hazard

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:59:24 -0500

Have a look at this video with Larry Kudlow discussing the FHA and its rediculous underwriting.

Blog: FHA the new sub-prime hazard http://bit.ly/46vkQ

Interest in commercial loan modification business intensifies

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:37:13 -0500

Interest in the commercial mortgage modification consulting business has intensified as the residential loan modification industry in California is squashed in its infancy by SB 94.

The law prohibits advance fees for loan modifications on residential properties of 4 units or less. The new statute was enacted to protect the public from a group of attorneys (16 in total are being investigated) who allegedly took advantage of vulnerable homeowners by collecting advance fees without obtaining results for the clients. In a few cases homeowners actually lost their homes when they believed the attorneys in question were processing modifications on their behalf.

In one fell swoop thousands of for-profit housing counselors, intake clerks, receptionists and loan modification processors got pink slips this week. While there are some companies that will remain in the business, they can no longer collect any fees until specific work and milestones have been completed.

Essentially an attorney or loan modification company would have to provide unsecured financing for people who have already demonstrated their inability to pay. Recent data show that over 50% of modified mortgages re-default within six months. This demonstrates the fact that the credit risk is too great for service organizations that rely on income produced by service fees to finance continuing operations.

Those who have built their livelihood on helping homeowners get modifications in California have to find a new line of work. Homeowners will have a hard time finding someone that will take their case under the new statutory terms.

Mortgage brokers and attorneys who were doing residential loan modifications are now looking at the commercial mortgage modification business as an alternative. Advance fees and retainers are not prohibited for commercial property under SB 94.

There are many misconceptions about the commercial mortgage modification business especially in how it relates, in scope to the residential business. Let's have a look at the numbers.

There are about 125,000,000 single family homes in the United States. Extrapolating the data released from RealtyTrac today who said that foreclosure reached one in every 136 homes, gives us a little over 900,000 homeowners in imminent danger of losing their home. Several hundred thousand more loans will default in the coming quarters as Alt-A and the toxic pick-a-payment loans reset in 2010, peaking in 2011.

The commercial property marketplace is much smaller in terms of the number of property owners. There are about 5 million commercial properties in the US. With the default rate on commercial loans running just under 3% this represents about 150,000 properties in which the owner is in need of modification consulting. There are more potential clients that are not in default but this number represents a nominal market place population of under 50,000 individuals since many commercial property owners have more than one property.

With the termination of an entire industry in California, somewhere around 10,000 and 25,000 entrepreneurs and their employees in California are looking for a new business model. Many are exploring commercial modification as a new line of work.

The misconceptions about the commercial modification business starts with the numbers and continues with the scope of work required to complete a successful modification. In residential modifications, 70% of the deals were cookie cutter deals that fit nicely within the Obama modifications plans like HAMP and Making Home Affordable and other programs put forth by the FDIC and Federal Reserve. There are rarely any negotiations. The loan mod company simply submits a package that has been underwritten according to the guidelines published by the FHA, FNMA and Freddie Mac and approved by the loan mod company before being sent to the loan servicer. This is why many companies claimed a 90% or more success rate. They were easy to do if you knew how to get it done.

The commercial modification business involves real negotiations, in-depth market research, financial analysis and hours of tedious data collection, discovery, verification and reporting. Most of this is foreign to the residential mortgage broker turned loan modification consultant.

I am getting several calls and inquires everyday from loan mod companies who are in this position. On one call I got, the owner of the company who has been processing hundreds of deals per week for residential modifications asked me how much for commercial leads and could he get a volume discount. I asked what he needed and he replied that he needs 500-1000 leads per week. I chuckled.

SB 94 Signed into Law

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:02:02 -0500

SB 94 has been signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. In a statement regarding the veto of the more restrictive AB 764 he said.. "Although I support the prohibition of individuals charging advance fees for mortgage loan modifications, I do not agree with the provision of this bill that will only allow fees to be collected if a modification is successful. This could adversely affect legitimate businesses that provide loan modification services. As such, I am signing SB 94 that accomplishes this prohibition against advance fees without unnecessarily harming legitimate companies."

The law applies to mortgages on primary residences and does not restrict the ability of attorneys and consultants to collect advance fees for modification of commercial mortgages.

CA SB 94 Leaves Homeowners in Unfair Fight

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:10:39 -0500

Going to a gun fight with with a knife isn't likely to end very well. With the passage of SB 94 this is exactly what the California legislature and the Governor are asking California homeowners do. The sweeping law, that will be signed next week by Governor Schwartzenegger will make it a crime for anyone, including attorneys to accept a fee in advance for the purpose of loan modification.

The bill authored by Rep. Calderon was heavily backed by banking interests and lobbyist for the banking industry. The law carries an urgency provision which makes it take effect immediately upon the Governors signature.

Oddly enough, the bill does not make any provision for banning advance fees earned by attorneys and others who work on behalf of banks and loan servicing companies prior to a successful loan modification. These lawyers are still able to collect large fees from banks to ensure that the collection and foreclosure process works to the banks benefit.

The Danger Point

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:46:10 -0500

The Danger Point

Danger does exist of the means taken proceeding to unwholesome inflation. If the Government does not carry out its intention of reducing its expenditure and so of balancing its budget, and makes up tremendous deficiency by borrowing, with a consequent continual emission of notes, the people would lose confidence in their currency, and there would be a flight from the dollar...

Interesting current events? No, this is a quote from "The Sydney Morning Herald. - Mar 11, 1933" (http://tr.im/AzVK). In an article describing the government attempts to cause "wholesome" inflation.

At that point in our history, we were emerging from the great depression. Deflation was countered with inflation of a sound money supply because federal reserve notes (dollars) were exchangeable in gold at the Federal Reserve Bank.

Today, we find ourselves in a similar situation. An asset bubble has burst and the government is attempting to reflate it by use of inflation. The key difference today is that the government can't come out and say they are trying to cause inflation because Federal Reserve Notes are nothing more than paper and can not be exchanged for gold. All they can do is print more and hope that no one notices that they have no intrinsic value like real money.

Press Release: CommercialModification.com announces marketing partnership with Genesis Financial

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:13:57 -0500

CommercialModification.com announces marketing partnership with Genesis Financial

Sep 23, 2009 – South Lake Tahoe, CA. Today Leadsnet Inc. a leading provider of commercial mortgage leads announced their marketing partnership with Genesis Financial and Real Estate Services of Scottsdale Arizona. Genesis provides loan and workout consulting services to owners of commercial properties nationwide.

"This partnership allows us to bring more value to the table on behalf of commercial real estate owners who want help in negotiations with mortgage servicers", says Ted Schmidt, President of Leadsnet. Leadsnet owns and operates the commercial mortgage modification web portal www.CommercialModification.com, the country’s top ranked website for commercial modification queries.

With the number of commercial loans coming due in the next few years combined with the fact that commercial real estate values have fallen often 30% or more, balloon loans that are maturing will fail. Properties with income sufficient to service the debt cannot even refinance if the value of the property is less than the indebtedness. This imbalance is estimated to be about $270 billion and growing.

Many commercial properties are experiencing increased vacancies along with decreasing rental rates. This disastrous combination makes the monthly debt service almost impossible for borrowers. “Sometimes there is a better alternative to foreclosure” quotes Roger Simard, president of Genesis Financial and Real Estate Services. “In our consultative and advisory role, we use our extensive network of experts in accounting, commercial real estate and bankruptcy law and mortgage lending to assist us.

Sometimes alternative solutions such as purchasing the note, to assist the owner in stabilizing their property or bringing in an equity partner is the best solution”, added Simard.

Recent changes in IRS tax rules allow owners of commercial property whose loans have been packaged into CMBS (commercial mortgage backed securities) and sold to investors by REMIC's (real estate mortgage investment conduits) to modify loans prior to default without jeopardizing the REMIC's tax exempt status.

"Since the IRS rule change last week we have seen a marked increase in traffic and lead production at our website. The past cases that we have attempted modification on and were denied because they were CMBS loans, can now be reworked in light of the changes, With Genesis on board, I am confident that the commercial property owners we refer are in very capable hands", says Mr. Schmidt.

IRS Relaxes Rules for Modification of Commercial Mortgages

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:09:10 -0500

Effective today, the IRS has issued a new rule (IRS Revenue Procedure 2009-45 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-09-45.pdf) that eases the restrictions on modifications of commercial mortgages that have been packaged into commercial mortgage backed securities.

This action allows borrowers to open discussions with the loan servicer prior to any default in an attempt to work out the loan. Prior to this new rule only a very small number or loans in a servicing pool could be modified and they must already have been in arrears.

Commercial property owners who want to open negotiations with their lender can get a free consultation at http://www.commercialmodification.com

How to pay the national debt.

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:28:17 -0500

With the absence of a government plan to pay off the national debt I put forth my own.

Here are the assumptions.

We owe about $11 trillion
Our debt will grow by $2.3 trllion. per year for 10 years
In 2019 our total debt will be about $33 trillion
With 300 million people thats about $110,000 per person

If we start today and each person pays about $1,166 per month for the next ten years, at the end of ten years our debt will be paid.

I have 5 people in my family and I am the only one who produces an income, so my share is $5830 per month. Of course this is on top of the taxes I already pay. I better get to work...

Questions for Geithner regarding commercial mortgage modification

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:39:30 -0500

I was invited to Washington, D.C. by CNBC to question Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in a town-hall meeting on September 10 http://bit.ly/4i9MfO. The question I plan to ask is this:

In July you testified before the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Maloney asked what administrative guidance the Treasury will issue regarding commercial loan modifications as they did with residential modifications. You said "we have not made a judgment as to whether that is necessary, appropriate or possible and would be willing to discuss it in more detail". Would you please elaborate on what plans the Treasury has to address the issue of commercial modifications?

What questions would you have for Mr. Giethner?

A New Paradigm For Commercial Real Estate Financing?

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:18:12 -0500

By Ted Schmidt

Commercial real estate is financed primarily through three channels, portfolio lending, commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) and direct cash purchases.

Portfolio lenders are regional banks, insurance companies, pension funds and others that lend money directly to property owners. These loans stay on the lenders books for the life of the loans. Portfolio lenders have pulled out of the market and are actively trying to reduce their exposure to real estate.

CMBS loans are made by mortgage banks that fund the initial transaction and then sell the income stream that the loan produces as investment vehicles on the stock market. The CMBS market seized up in 2008 following the sub-prime crisis and even with efforts from the Federal Reserve with the Term Asset Lending Facility (TALF) program to "prime the pump" the market is still effectively locked down. The TALF program allows institutional owners of CMBS to use the securities as collateral for extraordinarily low interest rates loans. This was designed to grease the wheels of the CMBS market but does not address the nearly $270 bn. capital deficiency on the exiting $800 bn. in maturing loans in the next 2 years.

Effectively there is nowhere to go. The options for both lender and borrower are few.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernake says that these loans "ought to" be modified. Portfolio loans have some chance of being worked out and restructured since it is easy to identify and contact the owner. The major obstacle for regional banks who own these loans is that if they modify the loan or accept a short sale, they have to recognize the loss on their books. At a time when they are already hurting for capital they are reluctant to acknowledge the loss and would rather keep it on their books at full value.

CMBS's cannot be modified because no one even knows who owns them and there is no clear legal path to contact the owners. Furthermore they all have divergent interests and there is no way to get them all to agree.

Commercial property buyers remain on the sidelines as values plummet. Property owners and portfolio lenders are in still in denial about the true market value and can only sell at distressed prices. Right now, only seller financing and all cash deals are being accomplished in the commercial real estate space.

We need an entirely new way to fund commercial real estate transactions. Will the government step in with a commercial real estate bailout? Who will they bail out? Will congress pass new laws that will circumvent servicing agreements and force investors to accept renegotiated terms? These questions need to be answered.

We need a new paradigm in commercial lending. Comments please.

No End In Sight To Commercial Real Estate Financing Crisis.

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:36:30 -0500

By Ted Schmidt

The commercial real estate crisis continues and it is proving to be more devastating to banks than the residential sub-prime crisis that sparked the financial meltdown in 2008. The Financial Post reported that US banks have been charging off (effectively assigning to the write-off bin) their commercial real estate loans at the fastest pace in since the late 1980s.

The majority of bank failures this year have been a result of commercial real estate losses and the number of regional banks that will fail in the coming quarters will increase. "Commercial real estate in the United States of America is going to get worse consistently over the next several quarters," said Jamie Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., last month when he discussed his company's earnings.

The government will eventually attempt to solve the crisis by passing laws circumventing existing commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) servicing agreements and offer incentives to servicers as they do now for modifying residential loans. This will cause a tremendous loss of confidence among investors and cause more declines in CMBS values, bank write downs and failures.

Last quarter banks showed improved earning mostly because of free money from the Fed, trading profits and accounting changes. This will prove to be short term as the economic stimulus wares down and the inevitable change in monetary policy forces interest rates up.

Gov Has No Plan for Coming $1 Trillion CMBS defaults

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:25:21 -0500

Earlier this week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernake appearing on Capitol Hill said that commercial mortgages packaged into CMBS "ought to" be modified the same way residential mortgage backed securities are now.

The total arrears on all CMBS reached $817 billion in June. This represents a 4.5% delinquency rate. This has increased from a 2% rate last year and is expected to reach $1 Trillion by the end of the year.

On Friday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, appeared before the House Financial Services Committee.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who described the commercial mortgage situation as a "ticking time-bomb" questioned Geithner about commercial loan modifications. She asked what administrative guidance the Treasury will issue as they did with residential modifications. He said "we have not made a judgement as to whether that is necessary, appropriate or possible and he would be willing to discuss it in more detail".

Rep. Maloney went on to ask what the problem is with giving modifications on CMBS the same as residential mortgage backed securities. He said "it is an enormously complicated set of issues and we will talk to you and your staff about it later".

We will have to wait and see what will happen in the coming months as the fuse burns down. It is obvious by Giethners testimony that our leadership in Washington has no plan to deal with this issue. Giethner does not even know if it is necessary?

Commercial Mortgage Modification Consulting

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:11:38 -0500

Commercial property owners are increasingly under distress in today's economy. Over the next few years billions of dollars in commercial mortgages that were made in the bubble years of 2004-2007 will need to be rolled over with new financing. The problem is that many of these loans were made with loose underwriting standards to feed the demand for CMBS's. Now that values have declined 30-50% or more in some hard hit areas, refinancing is out of the question. Right now the water is receding and curious onlookers are rushing to the water's edge as the tsunami approaches.

Property owners are left with few choices and loan servicers are left with even fewer. Commercial securitization and servicing agreements prohibit loan modifications without unanimous consent of the actual securities owners. This is almost impossible since they are spread all over the world. Furthermore, senior tranche holders will never agree to modification since they stand to lose money to the benefit of the riskier junior tranches.

The only way to modify these loans is by judicial cramdown in bankruptcy or by other action of law. At some point the government will get involved to make provisions for commercial loans to be modified. The first few bailouts did not address the commercial real estate problem. There is likely to be a shift in political will towards forcing commercial modifications.

As for loans that are not securitized, there is an opportunity to negotiate and come to a resolution that works for all parties.

Consulting Opportunities

These business owners will want to prevent or delay a foreclosure to preserve the cash flow that they are receiving. In some cases these are high income individuals who have lost their primary source of income and are living off the cash flow from their building. Other cases are small businesses that have suffered a downturn in business and have fallen behind. The opportunity exists in helping these people save their property and preserve their income.

Ted Schmidt, President, Leadsnet Inc., 530-387-3631 http://www.mortgageleads.net

Increase in commercial mortgage modification requests

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:57:15 -0500

South Lake Tahoe, CA. May 15 2009. Leadsnet Inc., a provider of commercial mortgage leads reports that requests for commercial mortgage loan modifications has increased steadily since the company rolled out their commercial mortgage modification portal at www.commercialmodification.com.

“We have seen a steady increase in traffic on our commercial mortgage modification portal” says Ted Schmidt, President of Leadsnet, Inc. “Anticipating the commercial mortgage meltdown, we published the site in January 2009. Since then, the volume of leads has increased steadily. The average loan amount is about $2,500,000 and average LTV is about 80%. Commercial property owners are using our service to find consultants that specialize in commercial loan workouts.“

The seizure of the commercial mortgage backed securities market has made it increasingly difficult to refinance loans that are coming due this year, next year and peaking in 2011. This will lead to more defaults in the years to come as vacancies increase, rents drop and property values fall.

Earlier this month Fitch Ratings reported that commercial defaults surged by 48 percent last quarter to $23.7 billion, and that this quarter will see even more delinquencies among commercial mortgages. During the peak of the bubble, commercial underwriting standards were loosened to feed demand and now the lenders are paying for the relaxed guidelines.

As mortgage holders and servicers foresee the coming crisis with the inability to refinance, they will be more likely to want to negotiate a modification to avert greater potential losses through foreclosures.

The Federal Reserve is also making efforts to reduce losses on commercial mortgages by including CMBS in the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. It will take some time for this program to get off the ground since commercial lenders have not been making loans for the past year designed to be bundled into CMBS, since that market seized up a year ago.

For more information about participation as a commercial mortgage modification consultant, contact Ted Schmidt, Leadsnet Inc. at 530-387-3631 or visit http://www.commercialmodification.com

Crackdown on loan modification companies

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:00:25 -0500

With the recent crackdown on loan modification companies that charge upfront fees and then do nothing, the government and press has painted the entire industry with a broad brush and labeled the business model as a scam. This has resulted in a decline in lead volume and increased acquisition costs. The vast majority of companies in this business are not scams and do offer a valuable and needed service to homeowners.

How can you, as a legitimate business distinguish yourself from these scammers and gain the confidence of the prospect? Here are some suggestions.

Join and become accredited with your local Better Business Bureau. Having a BBB link on your website and a sign prominently displayed in your office with let the consumer know that you operate a transparent business and they will know they have some recourse if things don't go as planned.

Use testimonials. Ask clients that have used your service to write a short paragraph about their experience with you. Post these on your website and also in your office.

Mortgage Lead and Loan Modification Lead Pricing Overview

Real Time Internet Leads - $20. These leads are sent to you instantly when a homeowner submits the form on our websites. They are filtered by state, loan amount and behind in payments Yes or No,

Cherry Picked Leads® - $1 - $15 ea. (no minimum)
These are the leads that did not get sold 3X as a result of real time
delivery. Prices go down over time.

Live Transfer Leads. - $55 ea. (10 minimum)
We call and qualify prospect and put the call and completed lead form through
to you. Qualifications are - Must be 30 days or more behind, Must be
employed, must be aware there is a fee for service and must have a 1st
mortgage over $120,000. No BK

Ted Schmidt, President

Mortgage Leads Network Leadsnet Inc.

http://www.loanmodificationleads.org

http://www.mortgageleads.net

voice: 530-387-3631

Which loan modification leads are best?

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:29:52 -0500

People often ask me which leads are the best. The answer to this question depends mostly on you. A person working on their own has different needs than a person managing a sales forces of 10 reps. Most of my customers fall in to the first category. Someone who is new to the business has different needs than someone with years of closing experience.

If you are new to the business I recommend that you call the leads that are 6 - 8 or more weeks old. These leads are available in the $1 - $2 range. They all have a date and time stamp and have the web site that the homeowner originally went to. We never sell a lead more than three times, so these leads have not been "hammered". When you call I would say something like this. "Hello Mr Smith, I am calling to follow up on the inquiry you made on Jan. 27 at www.loanfix.us for loan modification". Did you get your loan modification completed? Is it in process? What has your experience been?

This will give the new person an opportunity talk to qualified homeowners without the need to burn up hot leads. These leads are also very productive for larger operations that have a few telemarketers that can call these to generate live transfers for their closers.

If you are working on your own and already have several closed deals under your belt then I believe the recent cherry picked leads offer the best chances for success. Managing your time may be your most important task. Our Cherry Picked Leads® allow you to log in and get a lead when you need one. I recommend buying lead one at a time. When you need to call someone, log in, get a lead, call that lead, repeat. Don't log in and buy 10 fresh leads - unless you have 10 reps to call right away.

If you do have 10 experienced reps then an order for real time leads and live transfers would work best. The real time leads are sent to you by email instantly after a homeowner fills in the form. These can be filtered by almost any criteria you can think of including minimum loan amount, minimum interest rate, state or behind in payments yes or no.

Pricing Overview

Cherry Picked Leads® - $1 - $15 ea. (no minimum) These are the leads that did not get sold 3X as a result of real time delivery. Prices go down over time.

Live Transfer Leads. - $55 ea. (Min 10) We call and qualify prospect and put the call and completed lead form through to you. Qualifications are - Must be 30 days or more behind, Must be employed, must be aware there is a fee for service and must have a 1st mortgage over $120,000. No BK.

Ted Schmidt, President Mortgage Leads Network

Leadsnet Inc. http://www.loanmodificationleads.org

http://www.mortgageleads.net

voice: 530-387-3631

Loan Modification Leads and Specials

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:38:19 -0600

I have had several people ask me about the different lead programs and specials we have going on now. Let me go over the different types of lead delivery programs we have.

Real Time Internet Leads - $15 ea.(no minimum)
We can deliver 100-200 per day depending on the filter. These leads are
delivered by email or post in real time as the consumer fills in the form.
They may be sold up to a total of three times.

Cherry Picked Leads® - $1 - $15 ea. (no minimum)
These are the leads that did not get sold 3X as a result of real time
delivery. Prices go down over time.

Live Transfer Leads. - $50 ea. (Min 10)
We call and qualify prospect and put the call and completed lead form through
to you. Qualifications are - Must be 30 days or more behind, Must be
employed, must be aware there is a fee for service and must have a 1st
mortgage over $100,000.

Live Call In TV Leads, - $40 - $50 (min 10)
The live call ins are produced by advertising a toll free number on the
Internet ($40), TV and radio ($50). When a caller dials the number it is
instantly routed to your call center, the call is recorded and you have a
limited time to qualify the homeowner and continue or terminate the call with
no charge.

What is a "cram down"?

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:53:46 -0600

A cram down is when a bankruptcy judge reduces the amount of a debt in a bankruptcy proceeding, often at the objection of one or more creditors. Right now, cramdowns of mortgages on primary residences are not allowed in federal bankruptcy cases but proposed legislation will make the practice a legal remedy that judges can use to modify mortgages on a primary residences.

If you have filed for bankruptcy contact your attorney and ask him or her how the proposed regulations will affect your case.

"the first offer they make, may only be designed to lock you into a longer term loan often with teaser rates and negative amortization"

If you want to avoid bankruptcy and modify the mortgage on your primary home, you may be able to ask your lender to change the terms of your original note, Often they will flatly deny you if you are not at least 60 day behind in payments. If they are interested in a loan modification , the first offer they make, may only be designed to lock you into a longer term loan often with teaser rates and negative amortization.

Many loan servicing companies, who collect payment and pass them on to investors often have no incentive to modify loans and also risk being sued by investors if they do. Before you agree to any modification, have the documents reviewed by a loan modificaiton attorney .

Leadsnet Inc offers websites that homeowners visit to request free consultations from attorneys and loan modifications companies. Attorneys, CPA's and licenced mortgage brokers can register for service at www.loanmodificationleads.org

The next "mother of all" government bailouts - followup

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:36:14 -0600

Originally posted in October 2008, I felt it was worth posting again. Our politicial and economic leaders continue to feed us more of the same. They believe an expansion of the money supply and re-inflation of the housing bubble is what can lead us out of the coming depression, they are wrong. Only deflation of the bubbles (housing and next treasury bonds) will bring us back into equilibrium where the demand and supply of housing sets the price. Government can't do much to stimulate demand for housing.

First we get an economic stimulus package of $150 billion, then there is a $300 billion housing bill passed in July followed by the nationalization of Fannie, Freddie and AIG. Next we get a $700 billion rescue package. What's next? I think the next one will start with a capital "T" as in trillions. I wonder what they will call the next bailout? The $2.3 Trillion "mother of all bailouts" or the "Save Capitalism Bill"? The next one will be probably be another emergency rescue package / economic stimulus designed to mitigate the recession. Then later down the road we will see another bill designed to address social security and medicaid which include the $45 trillion we have in unfunded entitlements.

I see a pattern here. First there is the dot com bubble of 2001 which led to a recession which the federal reserve tried to derail by lowering interest rates. This precipitated the housing bubble. Now instead of letting that bubble naturally deflate the government intervenes in the market to prop it up. Now we are in a recession again. The recent rate cuts by the fed and other central banks will not do anything to address the long term problem and root cause - easy money. Market forces will prevail and unintended consequences of government intervention will cause inequities and massive wealth redistribution. Government bailouts only prolong the agony.

Ted Schmidt

The loan mod business isn't what you think it is.

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:34:49 -0600

I started producing loan mod leads in May of 2008 and decided I would try to do some loan mod deals myself with the help of an attorney. I was producing an extra 50 leads per day or so that did not get sold and figured I could just cherry pick my own database, open 5 new cases a day and make an extra $25,000 per month. What a life. To my utter shock after about a week of calling very interested and motivated prospects I was not able to close a single deal! I decided I was better off doing what I know and trust and can believe in.

A loan modification is not an easy sale. If anyone thinks that this business is some kind of bonanza like the gold rush. trust me, it is a lot harder than you think. Operating this business is just like most others, many hours of hard work with commensurate pay. That is not to say that people don't make good money. They do. They have a very well oiled machine with sufficient capital to sustain them since they can't really spend the money collected from the homeowners until after the modification is completed, this can take months. If you do use the money collected to fund your operations, then you risk being called a scammer that takes peoples money and does nothing - regardless of how many hours you worked on the case.

I support the loan modification industry 100%. It is a business that requires many hours of hard work and is by no means an easy money proposition for anyone contemplating getting into it There are plenty of companies that are profiting and those were mostly in business and profiting before the loan mod boom hit and they will still be here when this is all over.

Ted Schmidt

Prolonged Recession Leads To Commercial Loan Modifications

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:02:05 -0600

With the economy in a prolonged recession, more and more business are having trouble meeting their obligations on commercial real estate loans. They are turning to a specialized group of negotiators targeting commercial loan modifications.

The alarming number of commercial real estate defaults have prompted commercial lenders of all sizes to become willing to renegotiate the terms of commercial mortgages to help avoid foreclosures.

Mortgage Leads Network has assembled a team of experienced attorneys and consultants that specialize in commercial loan restructuring to help commercial property owners gain leverage in negotiations with lenders.

Commercial property owners in the United States or Canada can log on to http://www.commercialmodification.com to register for a free consultation with an experienced loan modification consultant that specializes in commercial mortgage workouts.

Commercial Loan Modification is when a business or individual that owns a commercial property such as a strip-mall, shopping center, apartment building or mobile home park, agree with the mortgage holder to permanently change the terms of the original note.

These loans are often known as portfolio loans since they are often not securitised like Fannie Mae or other single family residential loans. Since the investor of the loan is often easier to identify and approach, the attorney hired by the property owner is much more effective in negotiating a solution to the benefit of both parties.

Qualified commercial mortgage specialists can register for service at Mortgage Leads Network web site http://www.mortgageleads.net.

Fannie Mae to suspend foreclosures through the holiday season

Ted Schmidt (Mortgage Leads Network) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:40:12 -0600

This just in...

Fannie Mae to suspend foreclosures through the holiday season.