Make your real estate business recession proof with foreclosures

Foreclosure sales represented 47 percent of all homes sold in the first half of 2009 with no signs of slowing. Google shows searches for terms like “homes,” and “real estate” were down by more than 50 percent from the previous year, yet terms such as “foreclosure homes” were up by roughly the same number.

So the real estate business has not slowed, it has changed. If you are not part of the change, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Selling foreclosures also pays more per transaction than conventional real estate, and foreclosures are actually easier to sell.

Foreclosure real estate is recession proof.

In an up market when buyers and sellers crowd the landscape, anyone can be successful by answering their phone. How many people do you know that are now serving drinks rather than submitting loan applications? But even in an up market, buyers want to save money, it just may not be their number one priority. In a down market, priorities change and saving money goes to the top of the list in every case. When the market turns and the field is cleared of the “order takers,” it’s time for the true professional salesperson to make his or her business grow.

When everyone is talking about recession and how they can’t sell anything because nothing is selling, that are wrong. They just can’t see it because they don’t know what they are looking for. The professional who recognizes the possibilities of the foreclosure market has his opportunities increase in direct proportion to the number of real estate “order takers” leaving the market.

Old methods aren’t working.

Most real estate professionals were taught to get listings and sit on them until they sell. If the listing doesn’t sell, the agent is prepared with several different methods to get the seller to reduce the asking price. This price reduction mentality does not work when the majority of homes are already over mortgaged.

Then what? Wait until the seller saves enough money to sell their own home? Bad idea.

This is where the mental shift has to be made in order to adjust to the market and keep ahead of the competition.

The old methods aren’t working. The old rules often do not apply and they certainly don’t reflect the current market. Something has to be done or your business will continue to shrink or it may die altogether.

Are you missing the boat?

If you are not in the foreclosure market, you ARE missing the boat, and the pier, and soon everything else. Foreclosures do not have to be your sole focus, but if you are not at least knowledgeable in the single most active segment of today’s real estate market, you are making a huge mistake.

Personal story:

After years of selling residential property, I felt immune to the ups and downs of the market. Then in the early 90’s the bottom fell out of real estate. I had several employees, and that means payroll. Out of desperation, I hired a consultant to look into what I was doing with a fresh pair of eyes.

Within 30 minutes of listening to my situation, he said, “You need more pillars holding up your front porch.”

A turning point in my career! I added foreclosures to my toolbox and went from 50 transactions a year to more than 200 overnight. Either perceived or real, the word “foreclosure” signals the possibility of a good deal. Learn to work the foreclosure market and add pillars to your front porch.

For more real estate foreclosure news and information, visit www.ushud.com, America’s only free foreclosure resource.