atlanta short sales: We DID IT! Southeastern Home Team became Southeastern Realty Group!
- 01/07/11 06:27 AM
I keep wondering to myself - did I REALLY do this? Part of me is so excited I can barely contain myself and the other part of me is so anxious I just want to curl up in a ball and hide! January 6, Southeastern Home Team became Southeastern Realty Group! With the brokerage comes a renewed commitment to providing a real estate experience that goes well beyond the expectations of buyers, sellers and agents. A few days ago we made it official with our press release, created our new Southeastern Realty Group Facebook Fan Page, and we … (1 comments)
atlanta short sales: Simply Simplify
- 12/09/10 12:17 PM
In today’s world, can you really afford anything to be more complicated? Doesn’t life seem to get shorter and shorter? Believe it or not, simple can be the way to go. Let’s discuss how that relates to marketing, at least from a digital standpoint. We know you’ve got a lot to say, especially about a topic you’re passionate about. What could you possibly be more passionate about then your own business and the industry where you work each and every day to put ends meat on the table. Trust us, we get you. However, when you’re trying to convey your … (1 comments)
atlanta short sales: Why The Heck Am I Doing This?!?
- 12/08/10 12:22 PM
I did not choose real estate as a career. Oops, I can hear my business partners at Short Sale Daily News and team at Southeastern Group and Southeastern Home Team cringing at my admission. But, the truth of it is, I really did not want to pursue real estate when I was deciding “what to be when I grow up.” In fact, the idea of helmet hair and a gold coat (no offense to C21 or anyone with helmet hair) was absolutely NOT what I wanted to do with my life. As a kid, I associated real estate with what … (5 comments)
atlanta short sales: Backward Progress…Not an Oxymoron, Moron!
- 12/07/10 10:15 AM
Are you generating enough leads to support your business? If you are not closing the number of transactions you need to stay afloat, then you are most certainly NOT. It may be time to take a step (or maybe a few leaps and a jump) backwards in order to EVER move forward as a business. If I am speaking to you, don’t cry in your chardonnay. If you think your lead generation efforts are on track, GREAT. But even if you deem yourself a lead generation superstar, more leads are still the merrier, right? So what do you do to … (1 comments)
atlanta short sales: Are Standards The Answer?
- 12/06/10 11:24 AM
The Governor of the Federal Reserve, Dan Tarullo, spoke before the Senate Banking Committee last week and urged Congress to set up national foreclosure standards. Tarullo detailed how examinations from regulators have uncovered numerous deficiencies in both the servicing and foreclosure processes. He believes the industry must make major investments to fix the current problems and fundamental changes in the current mortgage system need to be considered. This is all stemming from the robo-signing controversy that made major headlines this Fall.Congress is being pressured by numerous consumer groups, legal agencies and other government arms to make changes to prevent such … (2 comments)
atlanta short sales: Stripped & Unprotected?!?
- 12/06/10 03:10 AM
The Federal Reserve has issued a proposal to amend a 42-year-old provision of the federal Truth in Lending Act. The change would make it far more difficult for homeowners to stop foreclosures and get out of predatory home loans with extremely unfavorable terms. In response, numerous foreclosure defense attorneys, civil rights, labor and consumer advocacy groups have formally written the Reserve’s Board of Governors to ask for the withdrawals of the proposal. In addition, they have suggested any future changes or updates to the Truth in Lending Act be handled by the newly-formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This new bureau … (1 comments)
atlanta short sales: Rolling a Giant Boulder Up a Hill?
- 12/01/10 12:02 PM
Have you ever had muscle fatigue? You know, you are holding something really heavy and your muscles start to shake and ache and finally just give in. Have you ever pushed with all you’re might against something extremely heavy that just won’t budge and your legs buckle or your feet slip? I have felt that way while trying to keep my business afloat in between real estate deals. Have you? Every business has monthly costs. Those costs are a recurring event every month. Bills don’t wait just because you haven’t closed a deal or a real estate closing is delayed. … (7 comments)
atlanta short sales: And the Answer Is...
- 11/30/10 11:36 AM
Question: How many days can you go without paying your mortgage before you lose your home? Answer: 492
That’s according to the latest data released by Lender Processing Services for October 2010. And that number is just the average. In some states, particularly those with judicial foreclosures, that number is over 500. Consider this. In January of this year, the average days in default before foreclosure was 410. That’s about a 20% increase and we’re not even all the way through 2010. Even more depressing? The average days in default in January 2008 was 251—which means that time-frame has essentially … (7 comments)
atlanta short sales: Do YOU Have An Ugly Website?
- 11/29/10 01:00 PM
All too often we run into a new agent or investor and the first thing they do, though we have other methods we would recommend for marketing yourself, is hand us their card. Fantastic, right?! Now we've got your info and we'll go right to the office and check out your information. What a great opportunity this could be in the making. We sit down at the computer and punch in the web address on the card and voila! Nothing!
If I even find the site, it's the most boring, drab thing I have ever seen in my life. I … (12 comments)
atlanta short sales: Big Banks Begin the Refiling of Nearly 200,000 Foreclosure Affidavits
- 11/29/10 02:31 AM
The big banks that have been in the news so much because of the robo-signing of foreclosure paperwork may need a forest of paper to get through the massive re-filing process. Bank of America estimates it will re-submit 102,000 affidavits in which the foreclosure was pending. Wells Fargo is in the process of re-filing 55,000 affidavits. Citigroup (parent of CitiMortgage) has found 14,000 affidavits it will need to re-file. No word on how many JPMorgan Chase will redo or some of the other big contenders in the mortgage lender arena. What all these firms are trying to skillfully avoid is to … (0 comments)
atlanta short sales: Roast or Fry the Short Sale Turkey?
- 11/24/10 08:37 AM
Alas, the Butterball help line is not available to assist you through the short sale process. Yes, they did open their lines earlier this week, and yes, they probably hire reps based on the same criteria as loss mitigation departments. But, unless you can break-down your short sale into cooking time per pound you will end up with an uncooked bird. If you have ever fried a turkey then you know that it cooks a lot faster than roasting. I prefer a fried turkey. I also prefer a faster short sale. Here are some short sale cooking tips from the … (4 comments)
atlanta short sales: MMMMM - mmm Better than Punkin Pie!
- 11/24/10 03:46 AM
For those of you handling buyers of short sales or who have real estate investors interested in short sales, it looks like Thanksgiving has come a little early for you. All the recent foreclosure paperwork problems (with the big banks being found out about using robo-signers) are causing some shoppers to stay away from distressed properties. This means more opportunity for you and your investors. Campbell Surveys’ conducts a monthly study of home sales and real estate market conditions and its October survey was answered by more than 3,000 real estate agents nationwide. These servicing issues disrupted both REO and short … (1 comments)
Backstory first…. We had a short sale bust up two days prior to close due a seller’s refusal to cooperate with the short sale approval terms. Despite a binding contract and likely suit for non-performance, the seller filed bankruptcy and bailed on closing. [Even teams as great as ours, have our share of war stories] The buyers of the property were from Vietnam. This was their first home in the United States. They had spent money to turn on the utilities for inspections, … (52 comments)
atlanta short sales: October REO Sales See Steep Decline
- 11/18/10 02:42 AM
Bank-owned (REO) properties experienced a sharp decline in sales in October, says real estate data provide ForeclosureRadar. The decreases were felt the most in those states already hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.
In Nevada, REO sales to third parties were down 41.5% in October from the previous month. Rounding out the top spots, Oregon experienced a 36.5% drop and Arizona and California each had a 26% decline. Not coincidentally, October was also the month the robo-signing scandal came to light and when the largest banks, including Bank of America, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC Mortgage) and JPMorgan Chase all imposed … (0 comments)
Properties Prices Are at All-Time Lows! A “bad” economy does not mean a bad time to invest. In fact, if you study the investment models of some of America’s wealthiest you will note their patterns to buy when the economy tanks. Remember: A good investment is anything that means a gain over a term. Right now properties are sitting at 20-50% … (3 comments)
The lenders are tired of getting a ton of offers that are not fully ratified. Too many offers confuses the ‘overwhelmed’ negotiators. Not to beat a dead horse here. But, the main reason that you don’t send in multiple offers is that the lender does not own the property until they foreclose. Yeah, that’s right. In a short sale, the property owner is the distressed seller. The seller reviews offers. The one they accept is the one that is sent to the lender for … (1 comments)
It used to be unspoken under-the-table practice to juice a seller in a short sale transaction. You know, the 1973 couch is suddenly worth ten thousand on a bill of sale. But, we must remember that a seller is asking for their lender to take less than is owed. The mortgage debt that they will potentially walk away from is the only way they profit from the deal. Sellers are not allowed to be paid any money … (33 comments)
atlanta short sales: Be a Short Sale Business Superpower…Going Way Beyond Commission!
- 11/15/10 09:59 AM
Be a Short Sale Business Superpower…Going Way Beyond Commission! We have it drilled in our heads that we have to leverage, automate, and outsource to take our businesses to the next level. We should all hire virtual assistants to do the grunt work so that we can list and sell more homes. But, what if you think about this in the reverse? You could be missing out on a source of revenue that other agents and investors are passing on. Short sales require a systemized approach. With the right systems, you can maintain a high closing rate that makes short … (0 comments)
atlanta short sales: Pull Up Your Big Girl Pants and Find the Win!
- 11/12/10 02:49 AM
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that I have a sign in my office that reads: “No Excuses, No Whining, No Tire-Kickers, No Time-Wasters.” As I have gotten older (in my young age) I have less and less tolerance for non-committal not driven real estate dreamers.
We all know the agent or investor that wants to go from real estate ‘interested’ to successful real estate entrepreneur but does not want to commit to the work required. No one, except for late-night infomercial gurus, promises that a successful career in real estate will be easy. Worse than non-committal are those that … (2 comments)
atlanta short sales: Generate Motivated Seller Leads The SOCIAL 14
- 11/10/10 08:54 AM
In today’s market you simply MUST be harnessing the power of the social web. Did you know that the average person spends over 20 minutes a day on facebook? Using social media you can reach out to hundreds, even thousands, niche specific consumers with a targeted message for FREE in just a few minute. No other platform provides this kind of power.
Old school real estate like politics had always been ‘shaking hands and kissing babies.’ But, the issue with shaking hands is that it takes a long time to shake a lot of hands (not to mention the germs.) … (2 comments)
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