Busy summer! whew seems it just started and when I turned around and July was half over! I have not had time to post here often enough and lately not even time to read the posts placed by others. I guess that is a good problem to have. Not all work though. Had a daughter graduate High School and we're busy getting her ready to head off to college in the fall and all the little things that have to happen to make that happen. Business has been good, not heavy just steady enough to keep me busy and pay the bills. Buyer's seem to be coming back out looking I have shown more in last week than in last 2 months. Sale prices are not dropping as fast, distressed properties are selling for less for 2 reasons there is more of them to choose from and  asset managers want an abbreviated sale time and are willing to drop the price to achieve this. Overall most REO sales are not a true reflection of a properties fair market value but of a motivated seller. Any thoughts? I have noticed the price per sq ft has dropped significantly in our area even for good condition owner occupied properties. Some good bargains out there for the 1st timer looking to stay for put 5-10 years and put in a little sweat equity. Most REO companies I work with are starting to realize that they have to at the very least have working utilities to make these properties appraise out for loans a few still stick with AS IS period. Things may be looking up in this area although foreclosures are still high and not all have hit the market as of yet.

Another thing that intriques me- why is it when I tell buyer's it is a forclosed property they want to know the name of the Bank? Why? and what difference does it make?

What are your areas looking like- are folks out buying again? or is it still fairly slow. Just curious.

HAVE A BLESSED DAY

Ever wonder about what is going on in the world? Seems that lately most of our news outlets are stuck on Presidential Race Politics- Here's a neat link I thought I'd share with the gang of Active Rain folks.

http://www.globalincidentmap.com/home.php

     I don't know about you but personally I am tired of the "doom and gloomers" out there. Yes our forclosure rates are higher than we are accustom to and yes some folk have lost their homes. Some because of predatory lending, some because of poor judgement, some because not everyone is cut out to be a home owner and some due to circumstances beyond their control. That being said the default rate is about 2-5% of existing loans, which means a whopping 95-98% of the loans are still being paid!!! Why don't we hear about that side of the story? And yes there are even some market areas out there that are stable and oh my gosh increasing in value!! I say enough of the doomsayers "off with their talking heads" LOL

First a great big THANK YOU for all the encouragement on my first foray into blogging! As promised the Best of the story. When I take an REO I am aware that this is a listing because of someone else's misfortune, however if it is not resold to someone that will rehab it and fix it up I have now allowed one person's misfortune to become the whole neighborhood's misfortune. I feel that by turning these distressed properties I contribute to the neighborhoods they are in by helping them keep the value in their homes. It is a good feeling to drive by a REO that I listed and sold that was a real eyesore and see the finished product after the new owner has fixed it up. TTFN

I seem to have ended up with 95% of my business being in the REO markets. This was not something I actively pursued. I did make some choices early on in my real estate career that positioned me for this market. My first week in the office I was asked if I would do a BPO for a lender. I took on the task thinking it would be a great way to learn my local market and earn some mad money for it. I enjoyed it so much that I went online to find if there were sites that you could sign up to do these on a regular basis. I found them an signed on. What a great way to get paid to learn your market! Soon I began to be asked to list forclosed properties, and over time the clients I have worked with have evolved so even that initial assignment and listing process is less and less time consuming.

I know my current niche in Real Estate is one that is frowned on in some circles and some in my office believe I work too hard for the pittance that some Asset management companies wish to pay in commission and then want a referral fee in addition to that, plus most dictate the co-broke % you must offer. Granted it is not high dollar amounts that can be realized by listing owner occupied properties. However, I look at it this way, if I don't someone else will, plus I don't have to go beat the bushes for listings they are assigned to me weekly(lately) sometimes 3-4 per week sometimes 3-4 per month, the point is I do volume and I adjust my marketing dollars accordingly depending on what the skin flints want to pay minus referrals, it gets and keeps my name out there in the public for when the current high forclosure rates end and I will need some experience on my resume when I start beating the bushes again for listings. see next posting for the BEST of the story and why I am not ashamed to take on REO listings......